Episode Transcript
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(00:05):
Welcome or welcome back everyone to anotherexciting episode of Aaron's Opinion, the podcast
for blind people where we speak aboutcritical issues in the blind news community and
all other issues from across the universeand galaxy. My name is Aaron Richmond.
To get in touch with the show, so many great ways to do
it one two four zero six,eight one nine eighty six nine one two
(00:26):
four zero six eight one nine toeight six nine Aaron's Opinion six at gmail
dot com a A R O Ns O p I n io N six
and that's the number six at gmaildot com. To be added to the
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(00:47):
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(01:11):
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(02:14):
to know when we go live nexton YouTube, and here we go,
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(02:35):
download the episode before playing if youwant, and don't forget to rate and
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It would help a million if youwrote a review and gave me five stars
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(02:57):
that other people will find out aboutthe content. So kind of a best
fair thing to do, rate,review, share. Thank you now for
the guests. This is a personthat we we actually we were debating if
we have ever met each other inperson, and I'll tell you why in
a minute, and I don't thinkwe have. Their name is Jazzy Daniel
Smith. However, tonight we're gonnajust call him Jazzy Dexter Smith in our
(03:22):
heart around the podcast world, he'sJazzy Dexter Smith, and I don't think
I'll mind that at all. JazzyDexter Smith is Saint Lucian and I actually
volunteered in Saint Lucia many years ago, many years back, as we would
say, and I volunteered for theorganization that he is the second vice first
or second vice president vice president of. So this is this is actually a
(03:45):
really fascinating person. You guys rememberdollar Bill from way back and the different
people that we've interviewed from One VisionMedia and Zollihood. Well, this is
one of the co founders of ZollihoodUh, of the Zollihood franchise. Basically,
so he explains it much better thanI do. But One Vision Media
is a basically an umbrella company,and under that company they have an organization
(04:09):
called Zalihood, which basically you haveZalihood Radio, Salihood cinema, Salihood Music,
which is a new branch, Andto make a long story short,
what Zalihood does is amazing. It'sall volunteer, although I think Jazzy was
saying that at some point they're inthe process of setting up a shopify.
(04:30):
It's an all volunteer organization of blindpeople from all walks of life, all
four corners of the globe, justlike Aaron's opinion, and they come together
and they record different they do differentthings. They do a lot of voice
acting, a lot of audio dramas, a lot of videos, a lot
of music, a lot of things. There's a radio station. It's a
lot of fun and it's a really, really, really fascinating organization. So
(04:50):
Jazzy could not say it better himself. And he does a great job at
promoting what they do and engaging meand having a wonderful hour long conversation tonight
or this morning, or whenever youchoose to listen. It just happens.
So happens to be evening when I'msitting here talking. But yeah, Jazzy
does does a great job with this. I've always wanted to interview Jazzy,
(05:13):
I would say, I always wantedJazzy, When am I going to get
to pull you aside? Man?You are so busy, you're blessed with
so much work. When can Ipull you aside and interview that Jazzy Dexter
Smith. Well, how about nowclick the link in the description for more
information about Zolihood. Definitely give hima follow, give him a click,
give them a view. This isan organization that does great, great things
(05:34):
for blind people and people with disabilitiesand anyone else. Really, it's just
a great it's just a great company. So definitely give them a like,
follow along and share this episode withanyone who would like to get into voice
acting or things like that, becauseI think that this is a really,
really incredible thing. So, Jazzy, you did a great job. And
let's talk to Jazzy. All right, So how about let's say you're listening
(05:58):
to the Aaron's Opinion pot My nameis Aaron Richmond, and now let's sit
back and let's listen to Jesse DexterSmith. Before that, I need to
come up with a title, right, So this is the Aaron's Opinion Podcast,
And now sit back and relax,and let's get into a very musical
and a very serious and a veryupbeat episode by calling this episode all that
(06:25):
Jazz with Jesse Dexter Smith. Welcomeor welcome back everyone to another exciting episode
of Aaron's Opinion, the podcast forblind people where we speak about critical issues
in the blindness community and all otherissues from across the universal galaxy. This
(06:46):
morning, this evening, this afternoon, whenever you're tuning in and listening,
we have the distinct honor and pleasureto find and finally be joined by someone
who we have wanted to have onthe show for a while. His name
is Jazz Dexter Smith. He joinsus now. So you know the famous
question that I like to ask everyone, and I want you to tell the
(07:09):
story of you know, your yourlife story, what's going on and then
all the stuff you do for Sollihoodand all the different projects. And I
understand that you have a project goingon right now that you need, you
have some sort of marketing project rightnow. So I want to hear.
I want to hear the whole story, and so do we. So who
is Jazzy Dexter Smith. Your hourstarts now in a nutshell Jazz danel Or
(07:39):
as some people call me, mynickname Dexter Smith right, is a person
who wears multiple hats. I amobviously the co founder of Zlihu. I
am the CEO of the alex Inboab. I also be second best persion on
(08:00):
my association, which is the CencialBank Welfare Association, and I also have
many other small projects doing. Butto start off my introduction, I'm a
person who is with a visual impairment. I'm very short sighted. I do
(08:20):
not see anything in the left eye. I only see my right eye.
And from the age of three monthsright my parents notice that I had some
visual impairments and when I took itto the doctor, I was diagnosed with
lucoma and cataract. And from thereI have been with the Senutionial Blank Wealth
(08:45):
Association, where we have been theassociation which have helped me with my visual
impairments, you know, getting thenecessary medical assistance as well as helping me
with my calling. And like Isaid when I begin, I am now
the second best president on that association. So you could see the length of
(09:09):
time which I have been with them, and how much you know I have
grown and how much you know wehave trusted me as a person, you
know, being the second vice presidenton the association. So that's me.
So I'm curious if you knew alreadyor remembered that about ten years ago,
(09:35):
I volunteered there in Saint Lucia,that's Lime Welfare Association. I remember you
told me that. Really, well, that's that's interesting. I didn't bit
you, but you told me thatyou and you did some voluntary work with
the Senwich blank Waking Association. Yeah, yeah, I had a wonderful,
(09:56):
wonderful experience. It really was.Yeah. Yeah, I don't think.
I don't think we ever met inperson when I was there, though,
at least I don't think we did. But who knows, who knows?
I don't know. Really, yeah, we we could have met without me
realizing it. But I but Ibut I don't know anyway, So yeah,
(10:20):
I mean another huge another huge biteof the pie, or another huge
slice of the pie. Is thiswhole Salihood Company. Now I was under
the impression because you know, it'squite a large organization. Now luckily,
thanks to God for that. Ithought that Zalihood was actually part of One
Vision Media. I thought it wasa a branch under under the umbrella of
(10:41):
one one Vision Media. But whydon't you break down all the ingredients of
Zalihood and how it all works andwhat projects you're working on. Well,
let's start of there. You arecorrect, it is a branch of one
Vision Media. There are many differentbranches which was under the ov M branding.
(11:03):
One of the biggest ones does notbecause that's where we have pushed most
of our time and effort into,which is the whole Zoni Nass. But
there is also the alexing for hub, which is present. You have the
business class network, you have thebasically what I call a family group,
(11:24):
which is in do Kaya, wehave OVM cares. So there are a
lot of you know, sub branchesunder the hole solely the OVM branding.
So you are right, excellent,excellent, So why don't you so for
people who don't know, Jesse,why don't you walk through a little bit
(11:46):
about what OVM is, just justfor the listeners that may be forgot or
are less familiar because we're using alot of vocaps. So please walk through
some of the ingredients of how OBMOVM developed and then how Zalidhood came out
of that, and then all thedifferent sub branches of Zalahood and all the
different projects. Yes, m okayso o them means One Vision Media and
(12:11):
the whole synopsis of that we asa people, we founders at that time
me see Percy Right Vision soul offor sure if you know of him.
We came together to form this OneVision Media right and our aim was to
(12:33):
unite you know, people with variousdisabilities from around the world, you know,
because we believe that everyone have youknow, an inner potential in them
and once they have the right platform, you know, they can have that
artwood expansion in their life which theycan tap into, whether it be music,
(12:56):
whether they the arts, whether bethe ready you whatever since that they're
interested in. So that was thewhole coming together from in the One Vision
brand and from there we broke itdown further and then we had Zolihood Universe,
which is an entertainment company right whichfocused mainly on music, aio,
(13:24):
drama and the radio division. That'swhere we do in the whole Zolihood.
In the alex tin for Hub,we focus more on holistic health, journalism,
technology, those kinds of stuff.Then we have OVM Cares where we
(13:48):
want to give back to the society, so we have we do stuff like
Hampers and so on and so forth. Then we have a family group because
you know where we discussed men's issues, women's issues and so on and so
forth. That's also there. SoI think that should give you a scoope
(14:11):
or an expansive view of what becauseof a in the whole one Vision Media
Global. Yeah, yeah, it'sa lot to take in. It's it's
a lot of programs and and anda lot a lot of options for people.
Definitely. Yeah, I know that. I've you know, I've done
(14:31):
a lot of voice acting for foryou guys with with the Hollihood Universe and
things like that. I really enjoythat aspect of it. Yeah, with
with doing the audio dramas those arethose are a lot of fun. H
Yeah, definitely. And how didyou know how did you come to create
alex info Hub? By the way, what was the story behind that?
(14:54):
Well, the alex Info Hub,it's not we way back where when I
just began on the works up right, and there was a group where it
was many about health, which Icall Nevana, and then we do a
little health stuff, you know,fitness, exercise, you know, good
(15:20):
eating and so forth and so on, and then we had zi guys,
right, where we do you knowa little bit of journalism, you know,
use content, you know, technologyand so on and so forth.
And then as you know I developed, I began to flush out those ideas
and put them under one brand whichis called alex in for herb and to
(15:46):
the as food Nevanda zorlihood not onlihoodZai guys. And so those are the
two major branches under the alex infohub. Right wow, wow, yeah,
this is really good. So howcan how could the public you know,
(16:08):
get in touch with some of thesedifferent branches and organizations, like let's
say they wanted to get involved orlisten to some of the products and some
of the streams and videos that comeout of all this. Like how I
think the public would want to knowwhere they could find these these various videos.
Well, the first time form wasZolihood. You can find it on
(16:30):
just about every social media platform.We are on YouTube, we are on
TikTok, we are on Instagram.You know, if you type in zolihood
unis or and this called official,you will find us there. Excellent,
(16:52):
very good. So I've also cometo understand that you're working on some marketing
projects. What's right? Now,what's what's going on with that? There's
a lot of new stuff going on, right right, there is a lot
of new stuff going on, andone of those new stuff is remarketing.
So I did a course with theYear which is the youth economy in my
(17:17):
countries and Lusha, I did abusiness planning cost and after that business planning
course, we when we finished thecourse, we got an angel fund of
five thousand easy dollars. And whatI plan to do based on the whole
business plan was to find ways orgenerated revenue for the business. And as
(17:44):
we speak and planning on opening aShopify store which is going to be called
Zoli Illuminations, which is the taglinewhere style meets brilliance. So that's going
to be our online store where peopleare going to get their various marchess with
big calves, T shirts, underwearsand so on and so forth. So
(18:08):
that is what we are currently workingon. It's not out yet, but
you know, we're in a monthor two, first will be set up
and we will be ready to goin terms of the whole marketing campaign of
it. So so far we arejust getting ourselves ready for the photo shoot.
(18:29):
You'll get some handsome men, somebeautiful long ladies, you know,
to advertise the shoots, the carafs, the underwears and so on and so
forth, so we can decorate ourstore and we can begin with the marketing
of our much. Yeah, Idefinitely, I definitely like the sound of
(18:52):
that. Yeah, that's that's reallyfun to create, to create merchandise for
things. Yeah, yeah, that'sthat's really good. I I I especially
enjoy shirts, coffee cups, thingslike that. There's a lot of cool
stuff you can do though. Definitelymm hmmm, yeah, definitely, mm
hmmm. Yeah, that's that's reallygood. So what what does and and
(19:18):
I think you jazzy because there's somany people that are involved. Where do
you, like are you do youconsider yourself to be like the CEO of
zlihood like where where do you consideryourself? Like? What what is your
your I guess job within this wholebeautiful When I had this perstim, I
said that was the co founder ofVerse because the whole origins of the of
(19:45):
theolihood it was between me and s. I think you had an interview with
him many Yeah, you had aninterview with him many moons ago, and
he called me it was three approachingthe morning his time, nine o'clock in
even my time. And then wecame up with the whole concept of Solihood
(20:07):
Universe. We did our first recordingyou know, shortly after we liked how
it sound, and then we startedrecruiting people and we're now where we are
right now with free branches, youknow, the music, the radio,
the audio dramas, battle things.We have Zolihood mom Zanzi, which is
(20:33):
you know, our whole subdivision ofLollihood in Africa. We have Soliwood Western,
we have Solihood Americas. So wegrew were growing. Oh no,
that's that's really good. So Iactually have some some very detailed questions.
So as far as the music sectionof Zalihood, how how does that work?
(20:59):
And the reason why I'm probably askingis I have worked with in the
past here in Aaron's opinion. Youknow, I've come across several musicians from
around the world who I have alwaysfelt may may benefit from some you know,
some professional help and some and somesupport. So what would Sally the
music do for for a musician who'sblinding, you know, whether they're in
(21:22):
the States or or overseas, whatdo you think what we are currently doing
in the whole music department is beingthat, you know, mental assistance to
persons who are in the music departmentbecause you know, like you said,
(21:44):
you know, there are a lotof people who are in the music department,
but they did not know where tobegin in a way to start.
You know, some are good withmusic that has may not good with certain
aspects in terms of vocals, youknow, the whole instruments. So one
of the things that we are workingon right now Sollywood Western. Right we
(22:06):
have two groups and they're working ontwo songs to the moment. One of
them is our Sollihood song and anotherword is one Africa. So they should
be completed too very soon. Andfrom there we will know the artist's various
strengths, the weaknesses and so onand so forth, and from there we
(22:26):
will be able to give unnecessary guidanceto the artists, you know, in
terms of taking their career foul.I will say that the music side of
things is our youngest division, sowe are trying to build on it.
But as we grew the music departments, you will see where we start to
(22:52):
you know, sign people on therecord labels and all those other stuff because
we be with that. You know, every person needs that opportunity to shine
and be counted in whatever space thatthey decide to choose. Mm. Yeah,
because I can think of at leastthree or four musicians who would love
(23:15):
to be signed by by a label. Yeah, m hmm, definitely.
Yeah. So how would I mean, I know it's a kind of a
new section there, but how wouldsigning someone on the label work? Like?
What what is in what is inpractice right right now? Okay?
So when I do many people whoare interested in the music, I let
(23:38):
them speak to Sea, who isa musician himself. They would have that
discourse and from that, you know, discussion, we will move forward to
you know, them being signed underour record label and we will be able
to give them be necessary guidance assistancethat they needed. Mmm mm hmmm.
(24:04):
What about I mean I'm just purelycurious. What about like monetizing the label
and and things like that. How'sthat? How does that work? All
those things? That stuff that weare putting in place, because like I
said, it's sort of about ourUS branch. So we are still you
know, doing that where we cameable to monetize and you know, give
(24:27):
the artists the necessary exposure that itis so when it's released their songs and
so forth. Mmmm. Yeah,that is uh, that is really really
really interesting. Yeah, because there'sone person who I know who's sings American
(24:48):
country music, and then I havetwo other people several other people who write
their own songs, and they dohave their own they've developed their own labels,
but they they've always wanted to havemore of a global more of a
global label. So and then Iknow someone in I know someone over in
in Thailand, but I believe itor not, who's a musician who would
(25:11):
probably also who may be interested.Yeah m hm, well you can always
put me in contact with them andthen we can take it from there.
Yeah, that would be that wouldbe really really really fascinating. Yeah.
So let's really dig into another anotherarea that I really really love, considering
(25:32):
that I love using my voice andI love voice acting. Are the audio
dramas? So how's that whole audiodrama thing going these days? What are
some audio projects that you're working on? Okay, so currently we are approaching
Easter, so we are working onnot one, but two Easter drama scripts.
(25:53):
I think I sent you a partfor you to record for me as
well you did. And by theway, so who is that character and
what is the I saw the wordsthat I will say, But what is
it? What is the context ofthat? Basically, you will be paying
a commander of a military soldier.So you are one of the Roman soldiers.
(26:18):
Oh perfect, So I'm a Romansoldier answering to a commander or or
I or I am the command youare? You are? You are a
commander of the the Roman army orthe Roman legion, and the soldiers coming
will ask you. But there issomebody who wants the body of Jesus to
give him a proper burier. Andthen I say those words, yes,
(26:41):
as the commander would say those wordsright right now, those words will fit
into what exactly what will those wordsfit into? Like what like how will
they come across? We will fitinto the whole scream because that's just one
part of the entire I'm seeing.You have the soldier which I mentioned,
and other people you know, likeJoseph a Baramofia will be part of that
(27:06):
scene. So when I get allthe voice notes right, I'll put them
together and then you'll have one sceneright right, and so now will this
be like on you on on theYouTube channel or exactly where where will this
surface within within the community. Yes, it will be on all our social
media platforms. Definitely YouTube, youcan definitely sit on our Facebook page,
(27:29):
ours only good Cinemas your differently onour Instagram, so we will spread it
fun wide. So that's what weare working on for Easter. We are
working on toaster script because we wantto be more of a radio style kind
of all fashion, you know,narrative of the passional prist and the second
(27:53):
one is a more modern version,you know, to the whole passion price.
You know, if Jesus was heretoday, what would his passion look
like? That kind of a thing. So that's what that's what we are
currently engaged in at the moment.So these are our two instant cripts,
so that should be out by GoodFriday, and after that we are moving
(28:18):
into the whole law Breakers, whichis our series. We are launching the
next episode and once that has beenreleased, we will be working on the
next episode as well as going backto another series that we had we is
(28:40):
called I Never Saw It coming.We're going to release another episode I Never
quite saw it coming and between thosetwo releases, what we are doing right
now, we are doing stand upcomedy. So I am a comedian,
I do some comedian, you know, so I would be releasing a few
comedy scripts place so you can lookforward to that, you know, between
(29:10):
the whole series coming out. Mmmmmhmmm hmm. Absolutely, absolutely, yeah,
yeah. So what types of comicplays are you writing? How would
you describe your flavor of comedy?Well, I do, well, it's
stand up comedy, right and Ican see am I'm sure if you're familiar
(29:30):
with Kate Williams, the comedian,one of the greatest comedians in America,
so I think I have more ofhis style or Trevor Noah Canada style.
Mm hmmm. So my comedians standup so it's about ten fifteen minutes long.
You know, I make fun onyou know, different political matters,
(29:52):
whether it be the politics, whetherit be crime, whether it be you
know, the whole culture of youknow, South Africa, America's you know,
That's what I'm going to be doingin the whole comedian kind of you
know experience. Absolutely absolutely, absolutelyyeah, yeah, mm hmmm. Well,
(30:18):
can you can you give me anexample of some of your stand up
right here? Can can? Ican I kind of put you on the
spot because I love comedy. Youtry to put you on the spot.
Okay, And I'm going and I'mgoing to put you on the spot because
I know that Jersey can do it. So come on, try to try
to try to try to give mea good a good laugh, a good
(30:41):
a good taste of your of yourcomedy. I mean, I mean I
knew, I mean, I alwaysknew that that you do a lot of
things, but comedy was honest togod, I didn't necessarily put you in
in in in comic, in comedy, like I didn't necessarily associate you with
comedy. You're more You're more serious, which is great. But well that's
(31:03):
the whole surprise about the whole thing, because actually my comedic Jerzy the Dexter,
you know, came out during oneof our drama series and I never
saw it coming. So my showis called The One Night's Stand with Dexter.
Sha Lalla coming to your Life fromZolie who Universe your truly Good night,
(31:33):
good night ladies and gentlemen, pleasantgood evening too, all the beautiful
ladies tonight, And before we getstarted, I just want to say that,
you know, it's not good nightas in get up and go,
(31:53):
but good night, you know,as in disguise dark. So that's what
that's what I'm capable of doing.I see, I see. So you
have sort of a sort of aphilosophical sense of humor, sort of like
that kind of a social sense ofhumor. Mm hmmm, yes, yes,
(32:16):
a social sense of humor because I'vebeen doing culture politics and so forth.
But also you know, going intothe whole you know, witty kind
of person, you know, youknow, making fandom of various personalities and
so forth. Mmmmmmm mm right.So what are some cultural things that you
(32:37):
want to talk to me about inmaybe a comical way? What what is
your perception of culture these days?Anyway? Well, one of the last
culture things that I did was inSouth Africa, and it was the whole
san Gooma stuff. You know,it's basically a rbal doctors who I went
into the different types of sun Goomaswhere you have the Nianger, you have
(33:01):
the Sangoma themselves, you have youknow, those you know people who are
you know, the profits of youknow, the whole stuff. Yeah,
you know, that's what I wentinto. The whole sango ma experience in
South Africa. Well, can youtell me about that experience, that Sangoma
(33:22):
experience. I've been to Swaziland andI've actually met a Sungoma, so I
do know what you're talking about.Well, where there you go. So
that's what, that's that's what.So basically the whole sangoma. You know,
like I said, there are manydifferent branches of sangoma. And you
know, there are some Sangomas whoare more into the herbal stuff of stuff.
(33:46):
I would say they are more likethe d I y Caravi a sanglema.
So you go to them, youknow, and you know, you
tell okay uncertainties or that, andthey will give you you know it for
you to go out and do ityourself kind of a thing, right,
and then you have the sample mostwhere you go to them, and you
(34:07):
know they are more like how theysee it a physician, you know,
do some you know, counselor's kindof stuff. You will tell them what's
your problem and so forth, youknow, and it will give you advice.
And you know, based on youradvice, they will give you X,
Y and z, you know todo. You know, because if
(34:28):
you come to them and say youneed it. I'm having problems your relationship.
They will say, okay, Iwant you know, to be more.
Let's see energiants in bed. Theysay, that's what your problem.
Your problem is X Y and Z, and you need to do with X,
Y and Z. That kind ofa thing. I've heard of this,
(34:49):
Yes, that is that is veryinteresting. Yeah, h because you
know, in most in many treasonswe would say in the West, you
know, people go to doctors andpeople don't use the concept of a san
goma and any longer in many countries. So it's very special actually mm hm,
(35:10):
very special to the whole Africa SouthAfrican experience. Hmmm hmm. Well
I met I met one of thoseSonomas when I was in East Spontine in
Spaziland. Actually mm hmm. Yeah. Did you went for a session?
(35:30):
No, I was not, personally, I mean I didn't actually I was
never actually examined or I don't evenknow if that's the right verb. I
was never really uh uh. Itnever went for one of the sessions,
the right I just I just watched, like they got us into a big
group and they mostly just talked aboutabout what they do. H Okay,
(35:52):
cool, cool. Yeah, yeah, it is. It is very,
very very interesting. Okay, Soso you see you've covered cultural stuff.
What are some other what what aresome other news stories that you like to
talk about on your on your comedything that you do. Well, one
(36:12):
of the next things I'm going tobe doing, I the following up that
in the West, I'm going tobe talking about voodoo at some point in
time. You know, hating isvery prevalent with udo, and I think
there's also a misconception with voodoo,just as you know, I think I
see voodoo as very similar to asaangoma. Right, It's not good or
(36:36):
bad. It just depends on howyou utilize the acts, you know,
because they have the global experience aswell, you know, and all that
kind of stuff. You know,but when people focus on it, people
see the negatives. And to bemore honest, if you most of the
negative connotations with voodoo a more eurocentricinterpretings and what you would see on the
(37:00):
Hollywood kind of a thing and hasnothing to do with the actual voodoo itself.
Mmmmmmmmm right right, absolutely, absolutely, yeah, So that's what I've
been talking about. I was alsobeen talking about politics, are probably touched
(37:20):
on the American elections, you know. You know, that's another big now
that now that you brought it up, I have to hear your perspective on
you brought it up. I wouldhave to hear I would have to hear
your perspective. Now tell me ifyou want, Jessie, Well, let's
put it is where I see,this whole American election has a great circus,
(37:44):
you know, and if if therewas a person in charge of that
circus, I would say Generald Trumpis definitely the man in charge of this
whole circus because you know, insteadof you know, we going into the
things that affects you know, thepeople, you know, we are more
focused, you know, on thewhole comedy side of things. And what
(38:08):
I realize is that you know,a lot of times when people go to
vote, they're not voting basent policies, you know, of what the senator,
this politicians, this president can dofor me or the country, you
know. To be more precise,it's who is more entertaining, you know.
And that's why I was too surpriseus when Donald Trump one, you
(38:30):
know, the first time around,you know, and I definitely wouldn't be
surprised if it is the second timearound, because at the end of the
day, instead of we, thepeople vote for people that you know,
have good skills in organizing and youknow, bringing the issues you know,
(38:52):
front and center and dealing with it, we are more interested in doing the
whole theateral aspect of with the wholecomedy read you get my points. I
definitely do, and I definitely agreethat it's mostly about the personality of these
people. I I absolutely absolutely agree. Yes, definitely, it is.
(39:14):
It is very strange, and it'sa it's a very it's a very odd
thing. But that is you know, that is the that is the situation
that we have now, you know, but but that's but that's all all
extremely extremely interesting. Yeah yeah,So okay, and outside of all of
(39:35):
this, what are some of yourlike, what are some audio dramas that
you want to try to put togetheror some like future ideas that that you
might have that you've always wanted somefeedback about. What do you think?
Okay, So there is another onethat we are going to launch very soon.
We as who do we have focusedon crime, we have focused on
(39:58):
love, we have focus not everythingelse, but we haven't done any drama
around people with disability. So Weare going to be launching the drama series
called We Are People Right, andwe're going to be focusing on the various
(40:20):
aspects of the disability. What peoplewith disability peace on a day to day
basis, you know, going intothe clinic, you know, dealing withnesses
that are not cooperative, and theactions a blank person. You know,
why are you here? You know? Who impregnated you? You know,
and all that kind of thing.Are you sure you are not? Who
is your husband? You know,who is the father? You know,
(40:45):
those kind of things that you knowpeople ask, you know, people who
are disability or even words you know, like when you know somebody is pregnant,
you know, you know, howdid you have sex? Like okay,
that something that you need to seefor you to do, you know.
(41:05):
And then I always ask people,so guys, do you do it?
The lights? Oh do you dolights? Or they say, oh,
okay, thank you asked the badquestion. So if you the light
of and you are complete decided,why do you think I did lights?
That's another part of my comedy district. I hope you've got a comedy right
right? No, no, Iget it. So you're going to create
(41:28):
now, are you going to createlike a fictional storyline where people can learn
about the challenges of people with disabilities. We are going we are going to
well, we are going to coverreal issues and people with disability pace.
We're not going to necessarily use thepeople's names, but you know, we're
going to use real situations where peopleface on ad to be business. People
(41:52):
who are will share brown where theyhave to get from one place to another
place. The people who are completelyblank and they now have to navigate this
whole, you know, from pointto point b on their own. You
know, people who are deaf andpeople who don't hear properly, you know,
(42:13):
as one person. You know,my former teacher said, you know,
people like when you know someone who'sblind, you know they're blind because
you know, you see the walkingstick, you know, somebody assisting them
and so forth. But for peoplelike us when we have low vision,
to some people we can see andto some people we are blind. So
(42:36):
we get the I wouldn't even seethe best of us. But we get
both sides of the of the scenario. People live, Okay, hey he's
getting so blank, he can see, he can walk, he has looking,
Yeah, he can see. Sowhen you tell you can see they
look at you when and that's somepeople as soon as you have a low
(42:57):
vision to believe that so blind youneed to guide you three everything to let
your bridge right. And this isthis is a huge problem, you know,
if you want something that I typicallynotice or something that I have yeah
(43:24):
noticed several times, especially especially inairports, there is a seems to be
a large percentage of the population thatdo not understand that blind people can walk.
So you get where I'm coming from. So they believe they have to
(43:45):
put your the wheelchair because they believeif you you know, also your legs
is part of I don't know,you know, and and quite frankly,
I don't actually under you know,it's such a strange and inappropriate it saying
that I don't actually understand what thewhole I don't understand what that whole philosophy
(44:07):
is. But if you include itin the show, you would need to
kind of, in my opinion,you may want to emphasize the fact that
either way blind people can walk wouldbe what it would have would have to
be, would have to be thethe kind of the kicker in the end,
you know, because that's that's ahuge thing. Yeah, it's really
(44:29):
weird. It's a weird thing.I completely get what you can get from
because you know, you know theabilityble Okay, when you at the airport
or any place where wheelchairs are,they want to put you in a wheelchair,
they want to drive your own Ican walk up to right. So
other blind people have commented I've beentreated this way, and all other blind
(44:52):
people are being treated this way,and it needs to stop. So I
think if you include it in yourseries in the right way, in an
informative way, I think that Ithink that would help. On the other
hand, I having nothing to dowith you, Jesse, I have very
little faith that anything either one ofus has to say will change the perception
and plain people can walk. Unfortunately, I don't think it will. I
(45:15):
don't between you and I don't think. I don't think you putting it into
your series will do. Really,I know it's going to be great in
your series, but I don't thinkthat one idea will do any good.
Society from reaffirming to you and Ihow annoying it is. But apart from
that, you should still put itinto your series because it might actually help
one or two people to understand alittle bit more, you know. But
(45:35):
that's that's I agree with it toa such an extent. But I think
what we need as people with thatthis ability is to sensitize the public.
And you know, that's where thisdrama series is going to come from.
And you know, once it's released, you know, people like you shand
(45:59):
it around to your other people whocan relate to that story. And once
we have this whole group of peoplewho have a ship experience, then you
know there is as you would say, their strength in numbers and meeting as
people with the disability be able toyou know, fight, you know,
(46:23):
for change and inclusivity, which iswhat's only good and VM is all about,
right right, Well, that wouldbe that would be good. That's
so in other words, with theselike this new society section, I guess,
(46:43):
would it be like skips where youlike illustrate these different social situations in
a comical way, or would itbe where you illustrate these situations in an
informative way to educate people about thetruth. Like what, I guess what
is the flavor of this new socialsection? It might take up both of
the comical and you know, howto say it's your educational backgron or as
(47:10):
as as people say in the waystit's going to be an editainment kind of
a program, but it's going tobe educational at the same time, right
right, mm hmmm, hm,that's gonna be That's gonna be good.
That's going to be good. Ithink I think that I could definitely contribute
something to that and definitely make somemake some statements, you know, about
(47:34):
about these different social issues, especiallythe ones that I've experienced, you know.
Mm hmmm, yeah, mm hmmm. All right, So that would
be really that would be really thatwould be really really fascinating. Yeah.
The other the other topic, havingnothing to do with that, man,
the other topic that I'd love totalk about is science fiction and like thrillers
(47:55):
and things like that. I thinkhave you ever thought of maybe creating some
sort of Zollihood sci fi or azalihood, a Zollihood thriller, to be
honest if you we haven't gone thereas yet, but that could be another
(48:19):
project, you know, but wego into behold sci fi rems mm hmmmm
h right, yeah, because there'sa lot that I think I would like
to do in that too. Iwould love to do voice acting where I'm
some sort of some sort of anauthority figure in some sort of thing where
(48:40):
I'm like the leader in some sortof science fiction society and I have to
like, you know, like addressthe people, you know, type of
thing, you know, do likea lot of speed, like like like
the person that's like the public speaker, you know, or some some type
of role like that. You know, that's my that's my type of thing
for you. Welcome to the KingAaron who is the president of the Moon
(49:09):
and he leads the Moon people somethingthe galaxy something something like that, something
like that, except I would kindof take a twist on Okay, you
know, did you read The Giver? No, no, you should.
(49:30):
It's a great story. Okay,basically in two sentences, it's about a
futuristic society that resembles the society wehave today where people are basically brainwashed to
forget the past and anyway in thatsociety and a lot of things happen.
It's a very complex thing. Butbut but anyway, in that series,
(49:53):
they have this one particular you know, there's several leaders that speak and things
like that, so really jazzy.Any role that you could see my voice,
and I like, I really enjoyvoice acting when I when I have
the time and when I can,But I also enjoy using my voice to
be I think some sort of asome sort of an authority figure or or
(50:14):
a narrator too. I love doingnarration, you know. That's you know,
being a voiceover narrator in a certainseries can be very interesting too.
Yeah, we differently can use youryour your your parent's opinion voice on our
different projects. Yeah, especially ifyou create like characters for me and new
(50:36):
new embodiments for my for my voice, you know. Definitely, Yeah,
definitely, no problem. That's that'sreally that's really interesting. One of the
things that I want to do interms of the whole accident for because member
I mentioned journalism in parts of theicing for her, and I don't want
(51:00):
to do the whole boring kind ofjournalism, you know, the same way
that I'm doing the stind of comedyand I'm touching on various points, you
know, and there you have thewe are people and we are also touching
various points. This is the kindof journalism that I want to do,
whether it be in audio formats,you know, writing. So I want
(51:22):
to inform people about SOT and stuffin not the traditional way that people come
and do it, because this isvery boring as far as like considering the
whole news program is boring, andI think we need a different way of
reaching the people where most of theyouth are using phones, computers, laptop
(51:45):
with various social media and I believethat if we package news in a more
comedic way, in a more scifi way, as you mentioned, in
a more dramatic format, people canget the meaning absolutely from that make the
(52:06):
necessary change that they want to makein society. Absolutely. Well, you
know, so you can you cansee how WebM and the various branches are
now linking together, so you knowhow the entertainments, you know, the
editainment parts of stuff from Zoni whois going to link into the alex hub
(52:28):
and BCE you will serve you knowthat kind of thing. So everything has
been now going to be interlink mmhmmmm absolutely absolutely, yes, yes,
well well good. You know thereis this thing called Spotify and there are
these things called podcasts which we're makingan episode right now. So when are
(52:52):
you guys going to open up yourpodcast because the podcasting is, in my
opinion, a very easy way tocreate a lot of that can easily be
downloaded all over the world. Speakingof getting a message to be global,
I agree and want to. Ithink, like, since you mentioned that
you have a podcast, I thinkwhere we can depinicely use your expertise is
(53:16):
in the whole Spotify, Spotify NationCalele thing. Because I'm not too familiar
with Spotify. I know how itworks in a nutshell, but I definitely
will need the assistance, you know, whether it be to get it because
we have a Spotify, but wenever really made the full use of it,
you know. So if you canhelp, you know, in terms
(53:37):
of that you know, grew inthe page, happiness, upload and so
forth, that would be brilliant.Hmmm, Well we'll have to Well we'll
have to sit down. You andI will have to sit down off air
sometime one of these days and talk. But I guess what do you I
mean, what do you personally wantto know about podcasting? Because it's a
(53:59):
really powerful meetia your form when youused properly over a period of time.
What do you really want to knowfrom me about it? Well, the
whole I guess, the uploading componentsor stuff, how it works, in
a nuture because you know, tobe honest, you know, it will
be nice to get our audio onit, you know, audio drama series
(54:19):
upon it. It'll be nice toget you know, other artists songs up
on our podcast so as well,and you know all the good stuff that
we do. You know, it'sjust again two things that you generally have
the problem with you no time becauseyou know, we are a small crew
doing a lot, so that's one, and you know two, you know,
(54:43):
being consistent that it mm hmmm,yeah, Well it takes I would
say it takes a lot of practice. Just like anything else. You have
to figure out over a period oftime where you want to host the podcast
and you know how you want toset it up. I can tell you
that now that you're in Aaron's Opinionfamily, you'll get to meet several other
podcast several other podcasters who would bejust as I am, more than willing
(55:07):
to help you guys get it,you know, get into that and start
doing more building up a podcast,and once you really get used to it,
it could be you know, veryvery very easy to do. Yeah
mm hmmm. Well, as youmentioned in that, you know, I
think I think you'll be putting mycontacts you know, at the bottom of
(55:29):
the hobby. So you know,anybody who is interested in acting music radio
or want to talk about it anyway, like I just mentioned the whole podcast,
you know, free, free toreach out to me. You know
my number is seven one six fivefour seven zero. You know, you
(55:50):
know, well I should put seeone seven five seven one six five or
seven zero. That's the best we'regetting with the area code. Yeah,
so seven one is seven one bypast seven zero, right, absolutely,
or they can they can click intothe links at the at the bottom.
(56:13):
But there's there's a lot that canbe done very very easily. Everything from
I mean we I mean we wouldhave I mean we would have to talk
about it, and you know,I'd have to think it over and we'd
you know, we can think ofsomething together. I mean, I mean
it could be as simple as yougive me. I mean, the simplest
way to do it. And I'mnot saying it's necessarily what what you want
(56:34):
or what you know. I don'tknow if it's the best way, but
one way is you know, youdo I notice that you do a lot
of recording through WhatsApp, right,and you're able to easily send recordings over
WhatsApp. Correct. Correct. Well, Let's say, for instance, that
you put together an episode of somethingand you did all the editing. Let's
say that you were able to sendme a recording over WhatsApp. I could
(56:58):
potentially, you know, there maybe some potential for me to have the
ability to actually upload it either eitherlike here on Aaron's Opinion, and of
course I would like label it withyour name and your art and your stuff
obviously, or now I don't knowif you I don't know if that would
work or if that's something that thatyou would want, because you would end
(57:19):
up you would end up growing youraudience and growing mind. We would kind
of blend our audiences together, whichis both good and bad. You know,
it's each of us would benefit indifferent ways from that, and that's
also a very creative thing. Oryou know, in some regards, if
we got really good with you sendingme stuff over on WhatsApp, and I
(57:39):
saw there was a lot of stuffthat I could work with, then I
could actually open a new podcast onmy on my channel that would just be
your podcast that I would upload foron you know, on on behalf of
things. You know that is thatis a possibility. And after I have
the thing is the option, becauseI tell you we do have we do
(58:00):
have Spotify. We have that oneverything, so we can always give you
the credentials and so often since youare pretty good at it, we can
just allow you to do the uploadsand so on and so forth for us.
You know, that can also bea possibility. Maybe maybe I don't
know, I don't know. Iwould have to take a look, take
a closer look at that. Andwhat in other words, like you just
(58:20):
in other words you have like aSpotify account where you just upload music and
they have a Spotify. But likeI said, we have never already used
it in this you know full extent. But you know, like you said,
you know there are people you knowon your on your events opinion and
well also good have Spotify. Soif you know, if we can put
a small team together, right,we can we can make something happen,
(58:45):
certainly, and certainly if you comeover to my WhatsApp, which I know
you will in a few minutes,and you if you leave a voice message
and then all your information, you'lldefinitely get some get some responses. But
so I mean, I'm sure Jazzythat you certainly have some questions, you
know, some things that you've alwayswanted to ask, you know me,
(59:05):
you know, considering that, youknow, it's been a few years,
We've always we've always wanted to talk, and I'm just really appreciative that we
finally found finally found the moment.You know. So, I'm sure over
these years you've had questions for AaronRichmond and and Aaron's opinion. So you
know, what do you what doyou really want to know? By the
way, m hm okay, Soif there's some one question, I would
(59:28):
say that I probably would like toknow, how did the whole RAN's opinion?
You know, podcasts begin? Sincewe are didn't we podcasts? Absolutely?
Absolutely? Well, well, sincewell, since you're on a podcast,
I've been more than happy to tellyou, and I love talking about
it. It started during the pandemic. I was sitting at home, just
like I'm doing now, but doinga lot of teaching work, and I
(59:52):
was listening to a lot of podcastsaround the blindness community, and I noticed
that they just were not open tomy opinions, and so I wanted to
create some sort of environment where peoplefrom all over the world can come up
to my microphone and talk about what'sgoing on. And that's how it began.
(01:00:13):
And I went on to Facebook andI would read people's questions that they
were asking around the blindness community.And from there, I I uh,
I started to notice over time thatyou know, if I if I answer
someone's question on Facebook in an audioformat, that turns out to be a
podcast because I already have an audiencemember, so you know. So yeah,
(01:00:36):
so that's how that's how this wholeconcept began. Yeah, m hmm,
okay, that's that's that's you knowa lot of things came out of
COVID, because you know, evenZoliehood, you know, came out of
COVID. You know. Yeah,let's let's let's make let's make a state.
I have a statement. I wouldhave preferred to skip the COVID.
(01:00:57):
I just would have preferred that.I think all of us would have been
very much appreciative of just scenes keepingthe So let me just we just have
to have that. We just haveto have that on the on the on
the on the records record system here, you know, let's record let's let's
not think. I don't think Idon't thank a sickness for causing a pot
You don't. It's like, youknow, I could you stand up about
(01:01:19):
that? Okay, let me tellyou here's my standard. Okay, No
you don't know. No, no, you don't thank a sickness for causing
audio material. Okay, it's justit's just not done. Okay. That
would be like that would be likesaying that would be like you know when
people go to the barber, youknow this and this is where I can
really do some comedy, man.Okay, you know when people go to
(01:01:43):
the barber, sit down in thechair and they put that tape, that
magical tape over your shoulders, youknow, because you know, because I
know that you can't see what Iwhat I look like. But I'm you
know, like, but I'm I'mlike, I'm like an Eastern European super
hairy white guy, you know,with with a beard and a lot of
hair, you know, and soand so I sit, I sit down
(01:02:05):
in the shop, and you know, they see the other people usually see
how much hair I have. Andyou know, some people some some people
run and run home. Some peopleget scared and just leave, you know.
But then but then they always putthe cape over over my over my
head, and the you know,over my shoulder, and then and then
they say, you know so,so how here's here's the strange that's me.
The strangest thing. They say,how can I cut your hair today?
(01:02:30):
All I'm sitting there is thinking,so you see this hairy guy sitting
in your shop? Okay, yousee he's covered in hair. Okay,
just chop it off? Okay?Have have they ever thought about that?
Instead of saying, instead of saying, how can I cut your hair?
They should They should just say,okay, give me the give me the
(01:02:51):
fifty dollars bill right now, anddon't talk. I'm gonna chop your hair
off and you're gonna just run out. Okay. That will save so much
time and so much energy. Nowlet's go back. Let's not let's not
thank a sickness for causing a podcast. Let's say I totally agree with you're
(01:03:12):
my brother, I am full agreementof you. But I'm sure that I'm
sure that you enjoy my my mycomedic. Yeah, yes, yes,
sir, But let's just say youknow that you know, out of this
whole sickness and this whole death,you know absolutely it hangally made people to
realize that, you know, lifeis precious, absolutely shouldn't be taken for
(01:03:38):
granted, and some people need toget up the behinds and actually do something.
And people like us, you know, realize that we need something during
COVID, and you know it's sadthat some people, you know, whis
they want home. It's a completingyou know, they're at home, didn't
(01:03:58):
do anything the extra time. Ithink once you speak right, absolutely absolutely
absolutely, But yeah, I wouldsay one thing about this whole Batman saying,
you know, you know one thingthat I notice, you know,
in a barbershop, you know,you know, they always make you feel
like Batman, but they always putthe kid the wrong side. That's true,
(01:04:27):
that the front right. Yeah,I want to feel like but the
iss right. But then what butthen what good would that do? Because
then the hair would still fly allover the place, which which that's a
That's another thing too, is thatwhen you have really thick hair like I
do, it still flies all overthe shop. It's not like it's making
less of a mess because I havethe cape. It's just the cape is
just keeping the hair off me,but it gets on everybody else. It's
(01:04:48):
just it's that you know, barbershopsare a huge sense of social comedy.
They really, they really are.You know, it's it's it's always it's
always very you know. You know. So, man, if you can
ask me only one more question toreally make me sweat, to see if
I'm worth myself as a podcaster,what do you want to know about me?
(01:05:09):
Oh? You want to make yousquirts? Yeah? Okay, the
man? You see. Let mesee, let me see what is?
What would if you had to say, what is your most high points your
high point of error's opinion? Whatwould that be? What would where you
(01:05:30):
look back at the whole eron's opinion? You know what makes your smile?
All of it? Because every episodematters, and every guest has contributed something
that I've learned from. I don'tagree with every guest, and not every
guest agrees with me, and someepisodes get more downloads than others, and
(01:05:50):
some people like certain episodes more.But the highlight or the high point is
that each time I record an episode, whether it's or everyone else, I
know that I'm doing the right thing. So that's the high point. Dissatisfaction
of being helpful and enjoying it anddoing the right. Thing. That's good.
(01:06:11):
That's that's good to hear. Youknow, you know, and I
must say that you and Viera's opinion, has you know interviewed h I will
say, a handful of our actors, I think I mentioned, I think
you have met interviewed the young Iam oh several times. Well, we
(01:06:31):
are, we are very When whenyou join the group, he will he
will never stop talking to you.We are You're you're going to be.
You're already friends with many people.I wonder how many people in my group
you actually already are good friends withmany of them, not all, but
many. Yeah, well let's dothat. When you add me to the
group, I will mess you out. Okay, I guess that might be
(01:06:59):
the fun partook to see how manyof my audience of my now understand it's
a guest group. So it's notthe it's not for the public. It's
a guest group for the for yes, all of that, all of that,
it will be will be very interesting. I'll get to that in certainly
in in in a few in afew minutes here for sure. But all
right, everybody, well, thankyou, thank you Jazzy jazz. Daniel
(01:07:24):
Smith, but Daniel Smith Daniels yourreal middle name. But but Dexter is
cool. You're in Dexter. Icould have seen the name this is.
This is my acting name. Somy whole acting name is Dexter Shamalala.
So I have an English first nameand Africa. Oh I see, I
see that is that is very interesting. But your real name is Saint Lucia,
(01:07:47):
though your real name on paper isJazz. Daniel Smith is right?
That is that is super cool?Jazz Smith. Yeah, that's it.
I got to hand it to you. That is a beautiful name because it
sounds strong and beautiful at the sametime. That's cool. That is a
really cool name, Jazzy. That'scool. Yeah, well you can.
(01:08:09):
You can thank my godfather and afew the family members for that. Okay,
well we'll stay tuned for that episodehere on Aeron's Opinion. But until
then, thank you for listening everybody. Uh and of course, as we
wrap up the audio. As wewrap up the audio and say thank you
for listening everybody, Jazzy, doyou know how I end an episode of
(01:08:31):
Aaron's Opinion, No, but I'mshow up with the bang outs. Well,
you certainly will. Thank you somuch, everybody, and our our
slogan here at Aaron's Opinion. Helpone person today, Help one million people
to marrow. Attatatatatatatatatatatata