Every long journey starts with a first step, and our started with Close Up Radio! Thank you for broadcasting our message your wonderful world-audience!
Our first big visit to the airwaves!
Wednesday, November 15, 2023 at 11:00am EST is a day I will always remember with great affection! The headline was: Close Up Radio to highlight Jose Marcelo Baqueroalvarez of Half Life Crisis. This profound interview is something you don’t want to miss. Please take a moment to enjoy the interview at the following link. And below I give you some behind the scenes highlights that made this already wonderful experience even more meaningful.
Half Life Crisis at Close Up Radio Interview 11NOV2023
Getting Discovered by Close Up Radio.
The story started in the first days of October 2023. My ship, the world-famous USS COLE DDG 67, was in the Naval Weapons Stations Yorktown after so many months of back-to-back missions. As I walked towards my car, I had a voice message from Close Up Radio. Somebody had discovered my content! My articles in particular. This was the beginning of an existing journey.
Upon first opportunity, I called back and learned that the research team at Close Up Radio had found my page www.halflifecrisis.com and that they liked the value in my articles. I was invited to speak at their radio show to be interviewed by Jim Masters. Jim Masters is an Award-Winning Television-Radio-Multimedia On-Air Personality, Host, Presenter, Journalist, Voice Artist, Spokesperson, Executive Producer, Writer, Motivational Speaker, Content Creator, Actor, Emcee, Entertainer.
I enjoyed Close Up Radio even before they reached me. I especially appreciated the fact they feature people with unique and inspiring stories. To be asked to participate was very humbling, and even with my very-chatty nature, I found myself at a loss for words.
You’ve probably have noticed by my accent, vernacular, and even idiomatic blunders that English is not my first language (in fact it is my third). But despite my language barrier, there is a lot bouncing in my mind. And being able to share this message with a larger audience is a dream come true. Especially because Close Up Radio has a worldwide reach. Even today I just saw the metrics from my website, and our visits are spanning so many countries around the world after the interview. It all started with that one phone call.
Because I have been gone most of this… and the last couple of years – essentially floating around the planet onboard USS COLE; Half Life Crisis (and everything else for that matter) were placed in the back burner. In the last couple of years, with so much time away from home (floating all over the place), I was able to complete four manuscripts, and have a few others who are not yet completed. As you can probably gather, I love writing. I’m sure I’ll get better at it at some point. That’s “a” goal at least.
Sometime before I received the call from Close Up Radio, I was still working on the process to release my debut book “AUTHORITARIANISM & PROPAGANDA The Puppet Master Tools.” One thing is writing the manuscript, but the publishing and distributing process is a whole other beast. I went the self-publishing route because I did not want to run the risk my words would be taken out of context. Yes, even with my idiomatic blunders.
Nobody is perfect, and neither am I, but I felt the message in this book is emergent enough to push it as soon as possible. But I also wanted to retain control over my words. I was spot-on about the message being emergent. I see the topic being spoken in the news and by many media outlets far and wide. But I am also approaching the topic in a down-to-Earth manner that aims to be more inclusive rather than divisive.
I figured, if somebody can view past any idiomatic blunders, then they are ready to understand the big picture and context behind it. People who get hanged up in the smallest blunders and “kill a forest to save a tree” – tend to have a higher proclivity for being exploited by a propagandist. I kind of see it as what I would like to call the “Yoda” effect. Yoda speaks in what some would say – in a pretty funny manner – in the sense of how he phrases his wisdom; but there is a lot of depth behind his words. It was very humbling and reassuring to hear Close Up Radio had found the value of my message and vernacular.
As my book was going to be out, I knew that I am just a dude – with a still largely unknown platform. The advantage is that I can control my content in my little Half Life Crisis platform. And I did not know where to start to make my message resonate. Circa that time Close Up Radio called, and it is all history from there. I cannot thank them enough for helping me broadcast our story and my book’s message.
Working with the Close Up Radio Team.
If you ever had the chance to work with the Close Up Radio team, they are all all-around awesome. The first thing that I want to highlight is that they made me feel truly appreciated, and it inspired me to continue doing what I am doing. To spread my message, and be myself. They were encouraging along the way, although it goes without saying exceedingly professional. It has been a wonderful experience from the very start.
Working with one of the scriptwriters, she is amazing and after having a conversation she perfectly captured our essence and story. Further she helped me think outside the box to put all the elements on my message in a coherent and relatable manner. I get chills just thinking about it. By the way, I am going to have the pleasure of working with her again in the very near term, as I was invited to return to the show. I am very grateful.
The team took into consideration my message, and what I wanted to highlight. They worked on the press release and I won’t be able to make it justice with words. To say I was ecstatic would be the understatement of the year. The team helped me with the press release and it went to more news outlets and posted them on more websites that I can even count. I intend to reach each one of them and link them to our social media, and hopefully be able to speak with them in in the future.
This press release coincided with my debut book release date. I prepared it to coincide with my daughter’s birthday! Seeing this press release and our images and photos all over these media sites and websites was the best gift I could ever wish for my child. Afterall, everything I do is directly aimed to give her a better future. Especially as the world continues to go unhinged. But far from being a fatalist, I want to do my part to spark a deeper [and frankly overdue] conversation.
They made sure I was well prepared when the show was to be broadcast. This is an experience I will forever cherish.
Showtime!
The day was finally here. I woke up earlier that day to get my daughter Sammy ready for school. Mom (my wife Alicia) was on a train somewhere crossing to the other coast (she does not like flying – at all). My brother Dave and my fluffy doggie Aki were also here in time for the interview. I prepared my home-office/studio for the interview. OPTEST (Operated Tested) my devices and went over my message to avoid going on a tangent.
I was not nervous, but rather very excited. I do get a bit anxious about my accent – but that is not something I can change. Nor do I want to, having this accent is part of what makes me, well – me. I was just hoping that the audience would not be wondering if they could only understand one of every 7th word I was saying. Because of my accent. So, I did my best to articulate my words, and had a very large glass of water to ensure I was good to go.
A few minutes before the show started, I spoke to Jim Masters. He is phenomenal, and really appreciated his candor and I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation. We chatted a little bit as the prompters let us know about the timing of the show to start. It was happening, and I was there sitting in my studio, the same desk where I had created so many other projects and dreams before. But I was about to speak in front of the largest audience in my lifetime.
I thoroughly enjoyed the entire experience on the show. We covered many topics that ranged from Half Life Crisis, my company BeeZee Vision, LLC and what we do, my Naval Service, my family of course. But taking a central message, we spoke about my book “AUTHORITARIANISM & PROPAGANDA The Puppet Master Tools.” Most importantly the books message because it is emergent. The world is not a happy place right now, and it is up to the collective to make it better. But every bit of positive change starts with personal introspection. That is the main message behind this broadcast.
If you haven’t gotten a chance to hear it, please take a moment to enjoy it as you listen to our talk. I promise you, there will be some value in the time you invest in it. I am very adamant about my book’s message because history is repeating itself. And I am very concerned about what might come next. I’ll just say that nothing that has been going on at the geopolitical level has surprised me. I do find it disturbing, but it can get worse. And that is why I want to spread my book’s message, because that addresses the common denominator. The people.
Half Life Crisis at Close Up Radio Interview 11NOV2023
I received a call from Jim after the show, and we had a very deep and energetic conversation. The type of conversations where depth and that important context is addressed as a catalyst towards a larger solution. I cannot start to tell you how much I appreciated speaking with Jim. We spoke about my family, the deeper context behind the book, and other manuscripts that will be released subsequently. I was very grateful and thrilled when Jim invited me back to a future show.
Looking forward to returning to the show.
Shortly after the show I received a call from the Show’s Executive producer, and we had a really awesome conversation. It is wonderful when there is a human connection that is paired with the utmost professionalism from the entire team. As I type this, tomorrow I will be talking again with the same script writer I had the pleasure of working on for the first show. I am so excited to continue this conversation!
In the next show appearance, we will talk about my second book, which is currently in production. The title is “WOKE & PROUD The Charlatans’ Inconvenience.” This is a spin-off from my debut book “AUTHORITARIANISM & PROPAGANDA The Puppet Master Tools.” My second book is meant to be a shorter read, but the reason is because the topic is also emergent. Therefore, I wanted to make it as easily assimilated to a larger audience. However, much like my debut book, this book is meant to be read a few more times. There are hundreds of easter eggs hidden (like in all my art), and each time you read it the context will expand.
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This book will also be available worldwide almost everywhere where books are sold. For the next show we’ll decide what else we’ll get to talk about. But what I can promise you is that you will find a lot of value in the message we convey.
I just want to close this article by saying THANK YOU to the entire Close Up Radio team. I could speak for hours about them. But I wanted to take this moment to immortalize this sentiment. I cannot wait to work with all of you again. If you (my dear readers) for whatever reason haven’t come across Close Up Radio, please listen to the inspiring stories featured on their site. They are truly remarkable, and they will give you hope for humanity. There are wonderful people out there. And I am sure you will be able to identify yourself with many of their stories. HLC