Watch this exclusive interview with former ‘Full House’ actress Candace Cameron Bure, sar of GMC TV’s ‘Finding Normal,’ by clicking on the video player at the top of this page! (In some viewers it may appear as a black box.)

Order ‘Reshaping It All: Motivation for Physical and Spiritual Fitness’ by Candace Cameron Bure, available from Amazon.com by clicking on the book cover above!

Every time I hear people babble on about child TV and film stars who struggled to become fully formed adults, I think about Candace Cameron Bure.

Playing DJ Tanner on ABC’s long-running sitcom, “Full House,” didn’t seem to ruin her life. She married a National Hockey League All-Star, Valeri Bure, gave birth to three children, continues to act and is writing her second book.

CANDACE CAMERON BURE podcast excerpt: “I’m very selective in what I’ll do. I love acting but I’m very passionate about family programming.. What I want to do is good, wholesome programming for families to watch together. If I can’t sit down and enjoy it with my kids, I’m probably not going to be in it” 

You can LISTEN to this interview with actress CANDACE CAMERON BURE, star of FINDING NORMAL and FULL HOUSE, by clicking the audio player above!

Oh, and she’s about to make her second appearance on Mr. Media.

Not bad, right?

Candace, who was last here with “Frasier” star Peri Gilpin to talk about their work on the ABC Family series about high school gymnastics competition, “Make It or Break It,” is back to talk about starring in a new GMC TV movie, “Finding Normal.” It airs Saturday, May 18 @ 7 p.m., 9 p.m. & 11 p.m. & again on Sunday May 19 @ 7 p.m., 9 p.m. & 11 p.m.

In “Finding Normal,” Candace plays a great surgeon who is a little lacking in interpersonal skills when it comes to dealing with everyone in her life.

Candace Cameron Bure Website • Facebook • Twitter • Pinterest • Order Reshaping It All from Amazon.com

Listen: Mr. Media’s first podcast interview with Candace Cameron Bure (2009)

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Watch this exclusive video interview with Tampa Bay Times ‘Real Florida’ journalist Jeff Klinkenberg, author of ‘Alligators in B-Flat,’ by clicking on the video player at the top of this page! (In some browsers it may appear as a black box.)

Order ‘Alligators in B-Flat: Improbable Tales from the Files of Real Florida’ by Jeff Klinkenberg, available from Amazon.com by clicking on the alligator above!

They don’t create journalists like Jeff Klinkenberg much any more.

And they aren’t opening any new newspapers with the budget or patience to send a reporter and photographer into the backwoods any more in hopes they might find a captivating story or two.

Klinkenberg — just “Klink” to anyone who has spent more than five minutes in his gentle presence — has enjoyed a remarkable freedom to roam the back roads and small towns of Florida during more than 35 years with the Tampa Bay Times.

JEFF KLINKENBERG podcast excerpt: “Sometimes I resent a little bit that ‘Weird’ Florida has become the national narrative: hanging chads, flesh-eating zombies, bizarre trailer park crimes. It’s certainly part of Florida culture, but it’s not the whole thing.” 

You can LISTEN to this interview with journalist JEFF KLINKENBERG, author of ALLIGATORS IN B-FLAT, by clicking the audio player above!

In the latest bound collection of his newspaper stories, Alligators in B-Flat: Improbable Tales from the Files of Real Florida, Klink once again takes readers from the flatlands of the Florida Everglades to the legendary mountains of Chesty Morgan and down deep into the water hazards of the state’s numerous golf courses.

And, of course, he is always up to his ass in alligators, mosquitoes and roadkill.

Order ‘Seasons of Real Florida’ by Jeff Klinkenberg, available from Amazon.com by clicking on the swamp above!

Every week in the Times, Klink introduces loyal readers to beloved Floridians such as Oil Boy and Conrad Yankee, or he’ll take us to one of his favorite places, from Mack’s Fish Camp to Gatorama — from which the book’s catchy title comes.

What ties each of these stories together is the respect Klink gives each and every one of his subjects, no matter how bizarre or how far off the beaten path their lives have taken them. No matter where you live, you’ll marvel at the stories he has to tell.

Jeff Klinkenberg Website • Real Florida @ Tampa Bay Times • Facebook • LinkedIn • Twitter • Order Alligators in B-Flat

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You can watch the exclusive Mr. Media® Interview with musician Nat Osborn of the Nat Osborn Band — and his live performance of two songs, “Yours Always” and “Little to the Left,” by clicking on the video player at the top of this page! (In some browsers, the video may appear as a black box.)

Order ‘The King and the Clown’ [Explicit] by the Nat Osborn Band, available from Amazon.com by clicking on the CD cover above!

All the featured performers had to go through me for an interview and I had a blast talking to Herbie Mann, Dave Brubeck, Richie Cole and flirting with the charming Judy Roberts. I also got to know many of our great Tampa Bay-based jazz talents, including Fred Johnson and Gumbi Ortiz.

It was, always fun because, of course, while I loved their music, I had no idea what I was talking about.

NAT OSBORN podcast excerpt: “I like seeing what a jazz musician sounds like playing rock ‘n’ roll, and what does a rock musician sound like playing jazz mixed with reggae. It’s a fun experiment.” 

You can LISTEN to this interview with musician NAT OSBORN of the NAT OSBORN BAND, by clicking the audio player above!

Well, it’s many years later and I still get a thrill from being introduced to new jazz talent — such as today’s guest, keyboard player and singer Nat Osborn.

Osborn brings a modern swing to his performances fronting the Nat Osborn Band, a joyous exuberance reminiscent in many ways of early Harry Connick Jr. The band just released a new album, The King & The Clown, and Nat joins us today to talk about his work and perform a couple tunes from it, “Yours Always” and “Little to the Left.”

Nat Osborn Band Website • Facebook • Twitter • Order The King & The Clown from Amazon.com

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You can watch the exclusive Mr. Media interview with Jacques Boyreau, editor of ‘Sexytime: The Post-Porn Rise of the Pornoisseur,’ by clicking on the video player at the top of this page! (In some browsers, it may appear as a black box.)

Order ‘Sexytime: The Post-Porn Rise of the Pornoisseur,’ available from Amazon.com by clicking on the book cover above!

I had a lot of really great jobs as both a high school and college student in my youth, from hauling carpets in a Sandler & Worth retail store to working in E=MC2, a science fiction bookstore across the street from Princeton University and being a substitute rural mailman.

But my favorite was working as a ticket taker, usher and concessionaire at the Royal Park Cinemas 4 in Gainesville, Florida.

Frankly, a lot of my memories of that place revolve around sex. There was the time our manager, Mr. Symons, defied local police warnings and ran the classic full-length porno, Debbie Does Dallas. You know, the one where the panicked guy says, “Don’t choke, baby! Don’t die!”

Yup, that one. And the police shut us down on Friday night after oh, I don’t know, the second or third showing they monitored. (The staff watched it, as was tradition, on Thursday night after the projectionist assembled it.)

JACQUES BOYREAU podcast excerpt: “Pornography is a type of storage device for our species and contains an unbelievable amount of information — not just the obvious!” 

‘
You can LISTEN to this interview with JACQUES BOYREAU, editor of SEXYTIME, by clicking the audio player above!

It was the Royal Park where I met the first girls I ever had sex with myself. And it was where it seemed like all we ever did was talk about sex — getting it and not getting it.

I also got one of my first major magazine assignments thanks to the theater when adult film director Russ Meyers came to the Royal Park to promote his new film, Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens. My future best man, Allen Solomon, and I had a two-hour lunch with the legendary director and had to return later to collect our jaws.

Order ‘Trash: The Graphic Genius of Xploitation Movie Posters,’ available from Amazon.com by clicking on the book cover above!

And the Royal Park was also where, late one night after the weekly midnight screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, my co-workers and I discovered a treasure trove of neatly folded ’70s porno movie posters behind a silver screen.

I cannot tell a lie: by now, someone has probably discovered that the one-sheets for Flesh Gordon, Sex World and many others are no longer in their hiding spot.

Sorry.

Fast-forward many year and I saw a tease for Sexytime: The Post-Porn Rise of the Pornoisseur. It was a book after my own nostalgic heart — even if I don’t know exactly what a “Pornoisseur” is.

Joining me to explain it all is Jacques Boyreau, co-editor with Peter Van Horne of Sexytime.

Sexytime Fantagraphics • Order Sexytime from Amazon.com

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Shelf Life co-creators, co-stars Yuri Lowenthal, Tara Platt, Mr. Media® Interview

Experience ‘Shelf Life’ for yourself at http://www.shelflifeseries.com

I’ve gotta go with Marvel Comics’ 1960s silliness, Not Brand Ecch!

Stan Lee and his bullpen knew all the stereotypes, archetypes and tropes better than anyone — having created most of them — and they showed no fear in ridiculing themselves, their competition and the hippie-dippie era.

But each new generation needs its own jokes, and today’s bunch of superheroes is no different.

YURI LOWENTHAL podcast excerpt: “It should have come from my twisted brain, but it actually came from (Tara). I’m the one who collected action figures and knew all about that world. But Tara is the idea woman. We were looking for the type of show we could produce on a small budget and maintain. Tara came to me one day with this idea about action figures on a shelf!” 

You can LISTEN to this interview with YURI LOWENTHAL and TARA PLATT, stars and co-creators of the web TV series SHELF LIFE, by clicking the audio player above!

So whether you love comic books or comic book movies, or even if you think the genre is totally ridiculous, you’re bound to fall in love with the crude, wicked humor of Shelf Life, the YouTube series about plastic action figures come to life on a little boy’s shelf.

It’s Toy Story for young people who have graduated from PG-13-rated movies to a hard R.

Hero Man, Travis Willingham

Samurai Snake, Bryan Enk

Hero Lass, Tara Platt

Bug Boy, Yuri Lowenthal

The series, now in its fourth season of short, brutally funny-yet-crude episodes, was created by the husband-and-wife team of Yuri Lowenthal and Tara Platt, who play Bug Boy and Hero Lass, respectively. In addition to their characters, other off-the-shelf players include Hero Man, Samurai Snake and Black Velvet.

If you’ve been skeptical of the world of TV series created specifically for the web, Shelf Life is a good excuse to indulge your curiosity. It’s quite clever and reminds me a lot of NBC’s Community, with Tara a lot like Allison Brie’s character in terms of her sexuality and knowing a lot more about life than you might think… and Yuri capturing the innocence and humor of Danny Pudi’s Abed.

Shelf Life Website • YouTube • Twitter • Facebook • Vimeo

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Watch this exclusive Mr. Media® interview with Keith Dallas, editor, American Comic Book Chronicles, by clicking on the video player at the top of this page! (In some browsers, it may appear as a black box.)

Order ‘American Comic Book Chronicles: 1960-64′ by John Wells, available from Amazon.com by clicking on the book cover above!

It’s no secret that I’m a lifetime comic book fan.

I can trace my love of the form — comics that is; women were a few years later — back to the mid-1960s when my grandfather and I were on our way to catch a Suburban Bus back to New Brunswick, New Jersey, from the Port Authority in Manhattan and we stopped at a newsstand. He wanted a New York Daily News and he pointed me toward the comic book section so I could read something on the ride home, too.

My eyes went right to the latest issue of The X-Men. I knew nothing about them — yet — but they looked so cool. And I remember that moment of discovery like no other.

There were other opportunities to read piles of comics in the years that followed; my cousin Fred Sirotkin lived in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and his entire basement was given over to his alphabetized collection of what I recall to be mostly Archies.

KEITH DALLAS podcast excerpt: “Think about the more recent uproar when DC and Marvel raised comic book prices from $2.99 to $3.99. It was essentially the same thing in the 1960s to go from a dime to 12 cents.” 

You can LISTEN to this interview with KEITH DALLAS, editor of THE AMERICAN COMIC BOOK CHRONICLES, by clicking the audio player above!

Order ‘Stan Lee & Jack Kirby: The Wonder Years’ (Jack Kirby Collector / Presents), available from Amazon.com by clicking on the book cover above!

And my older male cousins on my father’s side, Mark and Scott Shoham, always had a stack of Marvel and DC superheroes in the basement of their Bloomfield, Connecticut, house to divert me from their more mature teen pursuits whenever we visited.

In the 1970s, I built my own substantial collection of thousands of comics, less for their collectible value and more for the sheer joy of reading and re-reading.

My first paid writing assignment, at age 13, was about the growing popularity of comics, produced for a Midwest hobbyist newspaper. And I wrote dozens more stories, paid and unpaid, about comics throughout high school, developing a style and speed at a very young age.

All of which is my way of saying that when I heard about the first volume of TwoMorrows Publishing’s new series, American Comic Book Chronicles, I had to see it.

Curiously, the book starts off with the years 1960-64, skipping almost 30 years of history that came before. To be honest, that’s fine with me; I was born in 1960. Did anything really exist before me? I find that hard to believe.

Volume One, written by John Wells and edited by my guest today, Keith Dallas, is packed with industry anecdotes and behind-the-scenes tales of not just the birth of the Marvel Age and the rebirth of DC Comics, but it also tells many stories I hadn’t read before involving lesser publishers such as Charlton, Dell, Gold Key, Harvey and ACG. Those are important because they employed so many creators — such as Steve Ditko and Neal Adams — who went on to be huge influences on the decades to come.

Enough of me; let’s talk comics!

American Comic Book Chronicles Order 1960-64 • Order The 1950s • Order The 1980s

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Watch the exclusive Mr. Media interview with Jamie Malanowski, author of ‘The Book Of Levon: The Trials and Triumphs of Levon Helm,’ by clicking on the video player at the top of this page! (In some browsers it may appear as a black box.)

Order ‘The Book of Levon: The Trials and Triumphs of Levon Helm’ by Jamie Malanowski, available from Amazon.com by clicking on the book cover above!

I can’t imagine what it must have been like to be musician Levon Helm.

So much raw talent, so much enthusiasm for what he did in life, so many loyal friends and anonymous admirers… and yet so much personal and professional frustration.

Most of us know Helm best from the 1978 Martin Scorsese documentary, The Last Waltz, which captured the break up of The Band, in which Helm was a vital part alongside Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko and the rest.

JAMIE MALANOWSKI audio excerpt: “While so many others wee pushing the limits of content and recording styles in the 1970s, these five guys in The Band — four Canadians and Levon Helm, from Arkansas — went back to roots, Americana music and played the fiddle, the old organ, and went back to country, rhythm and blues, gospel at a time when America was being ripped apart.” 

You can LISTEN to this interview with writer JAMIE MALANOWSKI, author of THE BOOK OF LEVON: THE TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS OF LEVON HELM, by clicking the audio player above!

Order ‘And the War Came: The Six Months That Tore America Apart’ by Jamie Malanowski, available from Amazon.com by clicking on the book cover above!

The Band, for those who don’t know the ubiquitously named rock outfit, was long known for backing first Ronnie Hawkins and then Bob Dylan for many, many years before establishing its own brand.

The breakup of The Band — and, in particular, Robertson’s role in tearing it asunder — left Helm bitter and frustrated for most of the next 35 years before his death on April 19, 2012.

Jamie Malanowski, former editor at Spy, Esquire and Time, has written an ebook, The Book of Levon: The Trials and Triumphs of Levon Helm, that catches us up on the post-Last Waltz life of Helm. It presents us with a profile of a man who, though often down on his luck, never let go of his musical gifts and always found a way to keep the world entertained.

Along the way, he engendered a tremendous amount of loyalty, too.

You can download The Book of Levon right now for as little as $2.99 from Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble.

This is Malanowski’s second visit to Mr. Media; he was last here to discuss his fascinating Abraham Lincoln history, And The War Came: The Six Months That Tore America Apart.

Jamie Malanowski Website • Twitter • Facebook • Order The Book of Levon from Amazon.com

Order ‘Spy: The Funny Years,’ available from Amazon.com by clicking on the book cover above!

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Watch the exclusive Mr. Media interview with Sam Dawson, author of ‘Broad Appeal,’ by clicking on the video player at the top of this page! (In some browsers, it may appear as a black box.)

Order ‘Broad Appeal: Wit and Wisdom From Women Ages Sixty to Ninety’ by Sam Dawson, available from Amazon.com by clicking on the book cover above!

Sam Dawson began with an interesting concept:

I’m not as old as the world thinks I am.

Then she went out and found 70 more women who felt exactly as she does. They don’t think, feel or act old. Sometimes they’re conservative; sometimes they’re liberal. Sometimes they ache all over; sometimes they get that old familiar spring in their step. And sometimes — sometimes — they’d like a little good ol’ fashioned, um, intimacy.

Yup, that’s the word: Intimacy.

SAM DAWSON audio excerpt: “Women are freer than they’ve ever been in their lives! The oughts, coulds, woulds and shoulds don’t matter any more. We’ve done it! We may not look as cool as we used to, but we’re really living high. We’re having a good time!” 

You can LISTEN to this interview with writer SAM DAWSON, author of BROAD APPEAL: WIT AND WISDOM FROM WOMEN AGES SIXTY TO NINETY, by clicking the audio player above!

Dawson, a long-time professional woman who has been married twice, raised three daughters and has been a grandmother to seven, has published a book called Broad Appeal: Wit and Wisdom from Women Ages Sixty to Ninety.

Broad Appeal captures the unvarnished thoughts of women whose generation came of age in the 1960s and ’70s and in many ways were nothing like their mothers before them. And yet…

My own mother celebrated her 75th birthday this year and that inspired my interest in the wisdom of Dawson and her friends. What are they really thinking, I wondered?

Let’s find out.

Sam Dawson Website • Facebook • Twitter • Order Broad Appeal from Amazon.com

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Watch the exclusive Mr. Media® interview with actor Matthew Ziff, star of ‘Treachery’ and ‘Six-Gun Savior,’ by clicking on the video player at the top of this page! (In some browsers, it may appear as a black box.)

Treachery stars Michael Biehn and Matthew Ziff

Usually, I like to see a film in its entirety before inviting an actor to be a guest on Mr. Media.

But I’m told that Treachery, an explosive new family drama starring Matthew Ziff and Michael Biehn, is still being put together in post-production in anticipation of its test screening at this year’s Sunscreen Film Festival, April 18th to 21st in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida.

So, because I want to help raise awareness of our local festival, I’m going to talk to Ziff a little blind here. The trailer looks pretty dynamic, though, so we’re going on faith that the film will match up.(Don’t they always?)

MATTHEW ZIFF audio excerpt: “If they seem pretty cool, like they’d be into Quidditch, I’ll tell them I play it pretty quick. Because it’s a pretty big part of my life. If people don’t like that, it’s their loss.” 

You can LISTEN to this interview with MATTHEW ZIFF, star of TREACHERY and SIX-GUN SAVIOR by clicking the audio player above!

A few interesting facts about Matthew Ziff:

• He has been modeling professionally since he was two months old;

• He attended the University of Miami (as did I, at least for my freshman year);

• He has 1.6 million followers on his verified Twitter account;

• And, get this: in July, 2012, he represented the USA in the International Quidditch Association’s Summer Games during the Olympic Torch Relay in England, where Team USA won the Gold medal.

So he’s got that going for him.

There will be an exclusive test screening of Treachery at this year’s Sunscreen Film Festival, followed by a Q&A session with the cast and crew. Before the movie, there will also be a screening of a Ziff short, Speed Demon.

The event is Saturday, April 20 at 6 p.m. at Muvico-Baywalk.

Matthew Ziff Website • Facebook • Twitter • IMDB • Sunscreen Film Festival • International Quidditch Association

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Watch the exclusive Mr. Media interview with ‘My Brother The Devil’ writer/director Sally El Hosaini and star James Floyd by clicking the video player at the top of this page! (In some browsers, it may appear as a black box.)

My Brother the Devil, a film by Sally El Hosaini

In the first half of My Brother the Devil, you will think you know where director Sally El Hosaini is going with the story. It seems somewhat predictable and it’s easy to see that some viewers will shrug and ask themselves, “What’s the big deal?”

But that’s why movies, like life itself, rarely unfold in a single act.

Set in London, this story of youth gangs, frustration, sexuality and brotherhood may remind some of a 1992 British film that I can’t mention by name because it will give too much away.

SALLY EL HOSAINI audio excerpt: “When I started writing the script for ‘My Brother the Devil,’ I was attracted to the youth in my area, specifically the Arab youth.  This mix of cultures and their struggle for identity was something I could relate to.” 

You can LISTEN to this interview with SALLY EL HOSAINI and JAMES FLOYD writer/director and star, respectively, of MY BROTHER THE DEVIL, by clicking the audio player above!

Let’s just say, watch My Brother the Devil in its entirety and you’ll know what I mean.

The film stars James Floyd and Fady Elsayed as brothers sharing a room — and a bunk bed — in their parents home, a place that has clearly become crowded by expectations of life and the stranglehold of neighborhood gangs.

What may surprise many viewers is that this testosterone-driven indie drama was written and directed by a woman, Sally El-Hosaini, making her feature film debut. It may take a few more successful efforts, but don’t be surprised to one day hear her name mentioned in the same breath as Zero Dark Thirty and The Hurt Locker director Kathryn Bigelow.

My Brother the Devil Facebook • Sally El Hosaini on Facebook • James Floyd on Facebook • Fady Elsayed on Facebook • Twitter •Sally El Hosaini on Twitter • James Floyd on Twitter • Said Taghmaoui on Twitter • Fady Elsayed on Twitter

Fady Elsayed, James Floyd, My Brother the Devil

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