A FROG POND STORY

By Steve Trash - Illusionist, Eco-Educator, and Rockin' Eco Hero

The mailbox was old and needed to be replaced (there were now new homeowners and the door of the mailbox had completely rusted off)... So the new owner kindly gave it to our family as a keepsake/family memory (it had been the Art Goddesses' - Grandmother and Grandfather's home and mailbox for years and years and years).  Over this past year or so, I had noticed that even though the house was "vacant", the mailbox was not "vacant" (I jog past it every day).  A bird had taken up residence... nested... laid eggs... made baby birds.  So I decided I'd plant this mailbox in a garden right in front of our home, in the hopes that a new bird family might find a home here, with us, at our home.   But, to make this happen, I needed something that I didn't have.  A mailbox needs a post.  It's needs a good, strong, solid post.  It needs a post preferably cedar (cedar is a very solid, solid, solid, hardwood that will last many years buried in the ground).  So I went searching.  The first few posts I found weren't very solid (pine mostly).  Finally... I found a cedar post.  It was just the right size.  It was just the right material... cedar.   It had been leaning against our "horse barn" for years and years.   In fact, it had originally been the "gate fence" post that kept the horses (Frisky, Dave, Apache) in the field just above our house.  This post had family history too.  It had been cut, nailed, buried, and secured in place by the Art Goddess and her kids (Jennifer, Aaron, and Emily) when they first moved onto this land in the early 1980's.  Because we no longer have horses and the field has been reclaimed by nature... I'd pulled that post out of the ground to make way for a tractor several years ago... It had been waiting patiently for some grand new purpose.  Yesterday, I found that purpose.  A family post, with a family mailbox, for a family to live in.  #sometimesitsthemeaningyougivestuffthatmakesyousmile  #lifeisgood  #frogpondfamily #sweethomealabama #frogpondsstyle

STEVE TRASH SCIENCE

Coming to Public Television

Alabama Public Television is excited to partner with Concrete Dream Inc./Steve Trash on a new show for children ages 6-10 that makes science fun. STEVE TRASH SCIENCE will be a weekly 30-minute series airing Saturday mornings  on Alabama Public Television beginning in June 15, 2019.

Rockin' Eco Hero Steve Trash® has entertained more than 25 million people since 1984. He's appeared on CBS, ESPN, CNBC, HLN, and VH1. Steve travels the world, bringing his unique brand of eco‐magic to theatres, fairs, and festivals in many other countries including Japan, Australia, Canada, Portugal, Spain and the United Arab Emirates.

In his magic show, Steve Trash teaches kids about recycling using a combination of fun – and funny – magic routines that engage, entertain, and educate. Essentially, the show is all about environmental science, which the magician has been studying for decades. Steve Trash Science will take this act to television, exploring themes including ecosystems, food chains, soils, weather and climate, solar energy and more.

STEVE TRASH SCIENCE is designed for use in the classroom as well as at home. Episodes have been developed to follow school curriculum standards for science, with teachers involved as advisors in the production process. Online resources including suggested science activities for STEVE TRASH SCIENCE will complement program videos.

Like the best public television children’s programs, STEVE TRASH SCIENCE will engage parents as well as children. This is important because it encourages parents to talk with kids about what they’re watching, and possibly reinforce what they’ve learned with reading and other activities. Parents can easily access APT’s online videos and science activities.

APT is offering STEVE TRASH SCIENCE  to other public stations that need strong science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) content for children. The program will be distributed to PBS stations across the U.S. by the National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA).

#stevetrashscience #science #stem #steam #stevetrash #realsciencerealfunny #sciencevsmagic 

SATURDAY MORNINGS AT 10AM

It's official... if you live in Alabama... you'll be able to tune in to STEVE TRASH SCIENCE - SATURDAY MORNINGS - on Alabama Public Television starting this June 15th.  Did you get that? Starting in June... Saturday mornings... at 10am... your old pal Steve Trash will be performing magic, explaining science, and doing funny things RIGHT ON YOUR TV (if you don't live in Alabama check your local listings we're distributed NATIONWIDE by NETA to all PBS stations). Tune in and be a part of the fun.

PBS IS MY HOME

I've always had a VERY SPECIAL place in my heart for PBS.  It's always felt like "home" to me.  When I was a kid, I loved MR ROGERS, ELECTRIC COMPANY, and SESAME STREET.   Those characters, ideas, and stories came into my physical home (through my TV) and they took root in my heart and soul.   They became a part of me.  When I grew older I became passionate about DOWNTON ABBEY,  THIS OLD HOUSE, NOVA, and the PBS NEWS HOUR.   Along my life's journey (56 years strong) I've been lucky enough to tour the world (Japan, Australia, Canada, Portugal, Spain, UAE and all 50 US states).  I've gotten to share my passion for the environment, science, magic tricks, recycled music, and funny stuff, in thousands of LIVE performances.   I LOVE doing this.  I love interacting with REAL people, in REAL time, in a REAL moment, but I've always felt that I could do more.  I've always felt that I could be better.  I've always felt that I could do more good.  I've always felt that I could have a greater positive impact.  Last year, I got my chance.  The opportunity walked right into my life and basically said to me, "hey... here's the deal... work longer... work harder... work more... work through sickness... take larger financial risks....and you can have EXACTLY what you've been dreaming of."  So I puzzled over this for about two seconds and... then... I JUMPED RIGHT IN.  With the guidance and support of the AMAZING executive staff at ALABAMA PUBLIC TELEVISION, we began a partnership to create something so special that it met (or exceeded) the "best of the best" on PBS.  I believe we've done it, or at least... we've gotten really close.   STEVE TRASH SCIENCE is a mashup of STEM (or STEAM) ideas and CHARACTER EDUCATION ideas,  MAGIC TRICKS, silly MUSIC VIDEOS, and tons of FUNNY STUFF.  With the help of the Art Goddess, a dog that listens to me fuss without telling me to "shut up and just throw the ball" and a flexible and excellent production team we made it happen.   SEASON ONE of STEVE TRASH SCIENCE is ready to roll out this JUNE.  Thanks also to the excellent staff at NETA - National Educational Telecommunications Association - for first understanding what we were doing,  and then, for working very very quickly to make us available for broadcast to ALL PBS stations across the US... Yeah... NATIONWIDE... baby!   Steve Trash now has a home on Alabama Public Television - and PBS stations across the nation.  I'm very happy about that.  It totally "feels" right.  Do you want to help keep a "safe place" for kids that FEELS LIKE HOME?  Do you want good, positive stories to come into your kid or grand-kids heart (through their TV, tablet, smart TV, or other electronic device), then you gotta share the love.  Go to your local PBS station and donate.  The DONATE BUTTON is usually the biggest button on the web site.  It's that way because they live off of our support.  I've been donating my whole adult life.  Do it.  It will help keep excellent programs on the air (like mine).  Do it for kids like me.  - Steve :)

THEME MUSIC... ARE YOU KIDDING?

THEME MUSIC - Immediately after I got the FULL-TILT-WE-ARE-GO-GREEN-LIGHT-YOU-NOW-HAVE-A-DEADLINE-TO-DO-ALL-THIS from Alabama Public Television, I started the process of figuring out what EXACTLY my kids science tv show would LOOK and SOUND like. I had TONS of ideas. A friend of mine (who's a famous puppeteer and she had an even MORE FAMOUS puppeteer mom) gave me some very very GOOD advice. She (my friend) had won an Emmy for producing her Mom's kid TV show and she had some valuable insights into what makes a very good show for kids. One of the SUPER VALUABLE things she brought to my attention was the need for a THEME SONG that holds all the elements of a show together. I LOVE music, and it's a super-duper-important part of my shows, but I'd never really considered having a theme that could weave in and out of the whole episode. Realizing that there are "smart people" out there that want to help me MAKE GOOD STUFF, I remained open to this idea. The idea that I could have a STEVE TRASH SCIENCE THEME song stayed in the back of my mind as I toured and brainstormed the show. Months pass... and... Low and Behold... A professional musician, composer, and Bon Vi Vont... appeared in my life. Composer - Mark Pettey - had recently moved back to Alabama after a lifetime of globetrotting with various famous bands. He was open to creating something for the show. He was talented, smart, and willing to "give it a whirl". As he composed various ideas, I'd drop them into the timeline (of the video) and we'd see what worked and what did not work.  My original ideas simply did not work.  He’d make something and I’d put it in the timeline and I’d say… “you know… that’s what I asked for, but it TOTALLY does not work”.  And we’d try something else.  Eventually (through a bunch of trial and error) we came to a song that I'm simply OVER THE MOON happy with.   It’s so cool to call this song… the official - STEVE TRASH SCIENCE THEME SONG. It's actually got a bit of a Charlie Brown/Vince Guaraldi and Miles Davis Trio vibe to it, but MAKE NO MISTAKE... it totally rocks. As stressful and fear-inducing as the process of producing a TV show has been (and can be) I'm grateful for the many creatives that have made this project ROCK.  Thank you Mallory!  Thank you Mark for bringing some music magic to this project!  And now... onward... I've got to spend the next five hours making editing notes for my beloved editor.... Jim. Peace.   Oh yeah… By the way... in the picture… Mark is the one with the trumpet... I don't know who the other guy is. :) #thememusic #music #vinceguaraldi #milesdavis #stevetrashscience #apt #pbs #science #magicvsscience #sciencevsmagic #lambchop #sharilewis #mallorylewis #puppeteer #puppet Mark Pettey​ Mallory Lewis​

A LIVING CHRISTMAS TREE - CIRCA 1996

Christmas Tree 1996. Wayback in the day 1996–ish we (the Art Goddess and I) chose to have a live Christmas tree in our home at Frog Pond Manor. We decorated it. We lit it. We put gifts under it. We watered it. Then after the first of the year… we took it to the front yard and planted it.  All these years later - approximately 22 years - it’s lasted and lasted and lasted (it's 45 + feet tall) but, nature has finally run its course and it has died. Thank you beautiful Christmas Tree for all of the years of shade, beauty, oxygen, and being a home for countless blue birds.  And... thanks for the magic.  It was much appreciated.  #magic #christmastree #sweethomealabama #stevetrash #bluebird #nature #beauty #grateful #tree 

#frogpondstyle

A BIG SIGH OF RELIEF

I breathed a BIG HUGE sigh of relief yesterday afternoon... As Andrew (my prop master) and I unloaded the last prop box into storage at FROG POND MANOR, a beautiful thought came to me.  All the raw footage for 20 episodes of STEVE TRASH SCIENCE are officially "in the can".   I've done it.  It's been my ONE overriding goal (except... don't die while touring extensively) since March of 2018 - when we got "the green light".   So a BIG HUGE thank you goes out to THE TRASH TEAM - Dianne, Danny, Morgan, Andrew, Damyon, William, Allison, Tim, Wes, and Lee - for working so hard to make it happen. It was quite an undertaking to get everything (plus 20 more episodes of STEVE TRASH SAYS - produced by Armosa Studios) all written, financed, covered by insurance, formatted, re-written, covered by contract, approved, science checked, re-written, numbered, planned, 650 visuals purchased, shot, recorded, re-labeled, backed-up, checked, and rechecked, in such a short period of time (all this jammed-in between my constant touring... of course). THANKS TRASH TEAM for working so hard on this project. Your good spirits and willingness to "pitch-in where needed" really really made things better.   This particular team gelled extremely well together and made the long days fun and enjoyable.  We now take a little "time-off" to enjoy family and friends, and MOST OF ALL... to rest. REST! We'll refill our tanks and then "jump back in" to editing at 4 Mile Post in the next few weeks. I hope you... MY READER FRIENDS... are all pleased with the final product and tune-in on Saturday mornings (or the APT app or Chromecast, AppleTV). We've worked very hard to "get it right"... I'm satisfied that we've done a "good" to "very good" job on this project.  I hope to inspire kids to love asking questions... using the scientific method... and develop a passion for the magic and wonder of the world around us.  We premiere on Alabama Public Television in June 2019