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IT'S THE ONLY WAY TO DESCRIBE 2006
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It started with the whirlwind
entrance into my new position as
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Administrative Assistant at
Unity
Church of Christianity.
In the Unity
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structure, the Senior Minister
is the Administrator, so what would be an
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administrator in the corporate
world, is called an Administrative Assistant
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in Unity. Either way, I answer
only to the CEO of the church, the Minister.
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Since I was brought in after
the church had gone a year without an
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assistant, there was an incredible
amount of work to do. I dug in,
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came up
for air once in a while, and the year seemed to
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instantly become history.
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There were many surprises throughout
the year, but the biggest
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was an addition to my job description
as the Executive Producer
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of our Internet Television Ministry,
which launched in July. As of this
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moment, I have started
editing and completing the 34th show. It's called
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"Yes, You Can!"
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You may recognize the voice
singing the theme
song. Yeppers,
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that would be me. I wrote the
tune after the title was created,
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recorded it, and had our Minister
sing some of the background vocals.
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I continue to head the Audio
/ Video Technology Team at the church.
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We've attracted some very good,
reliable people to run cameras
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for the tapings on Sunday mornings.
This
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has allowed me to place my
focus in other areas within
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the Ministry, such as video
editing and production.
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Thanks to my son's vast experience
with video editing, any questions
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I had were quickly answered
and I was able to move beyond my
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comfort zone once again, and
learn a new skill. Thank you, Adam.
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Here's
the Intro. Here's
the Outro.
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One of my tunes from my 2001
CD, "Michael
Kontras", was selected
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to be the theme song for a
state-wide TV program called,
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"You Need To Hear It with Marv
West." I wrote a theme
song for the
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show, but they liked "Just
For Fun"
instead. I am very flattered
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to have had my music chosen.
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The year brought sadness for
our family. My mother, Viola, made
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her transition from this earthly
plain at approximately 4:30am on
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July 14th. I do not wish to
dwell on the medical issues
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except to say that she started
experiencing severe abdominal
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pain on the Thursday prior
to the Memorial Day Holiday
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Weekend and passed seven weeks
later.
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Although she was not a member
of our church, (she was Greek
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Orthodox), she
was visited by our Minister two different times and
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many of
the members of our Board of Trustees came to her
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viewing. I
was very thankful for their support.
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My father seemed to hold up
well through the process. I know how
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much he loves her (still) and
how he desperately misses her. They
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weren't just husband and wife,
they were best friends and great
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on the dance floor together.
Early in their marriage, they worked
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at different jobs, and then
later on, they worked side by side
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for nearly 24 years in the
restaurant business. Their life together was
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unpredictable and routine;
comedic and serious; fun to watch and be a part
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of. I am blessed to have had
such a wonderful woman be my mother.
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I asked to give the eulogy,
which (I found out) is not done during
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a Greek Orthodox Memorial Service.
I had to wait to speak at the
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gathering that occured after
the burial. Nothing I've ever done - TV, radio,
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live performances, interviews
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by far the most challenging
public statement I have ever given.
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My legs were shaking the entire
time.
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Adam, using the music of Nat
King Cole in the background,
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created a beautiful
video of her life
in pictures.
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The Recording Studio was busy
this past year. The most memorable
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project was the recording of
a CD for the Angels With Autism Foundation.
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Some very talented young vocalists
came together to create a great
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collection of recordings as
part of an annual fundraiser for AWA.
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The highlight of all the sessions
was the day that 10 young ladies,
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ages 8 to 12, came in and recorded
background harmonies
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for the title track, "Angels
Amoung Us." They were great!
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You can listen
to the tracks and,
if you would like to contribute to AWA,
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you can be linked to a website
where you can purchase the CD.
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The musical group FOG,
that was formed in 2004 and played in
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2005, is no longer in existence.
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Late in the year, I began forming
a new "rock" group that will
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perform at our church. Our
Minister has decided that it's
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time to "crank it up" on Sunday
mornings.
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That's all I needed to hear!
I've already found a drummer and
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bassist, and we have many vocalists
to choose from within the
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congregation. We're still seeking
a guitarist, and we're
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confident one will join soon.
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The music will be energetic
and uplifting. We are working on some
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popular music that has spiritual
overtones as well as some contemporary
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Christian music that will energize
the Sunday Worship Services. All of my
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experience putting musical
groups together will certainly come in handy.
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Some wonderful opportunities
have presented themselves for my wife,
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Lonna, my second-born son,
Kenny, and my first-born son, Adam.
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Lonna started with a Job
Training Services Company
back in December of
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2005. This was a radical departure
from the many years she spent in the
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Insurance Industry and has
been one of the best decisions she has
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ever made - next to marrying
me, of course. ;-) She loves her work
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which is helping others with
physical challenges to re-enter the workplace.
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(It's called Vocational Rehabiltation.)
This is her nitch. She has really
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taken to the position and has
gone way beyond the call to doing wonderful
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things for the company. She
has a high respect for her employer
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and really enjoys her work
environment. She has also become very
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involved in the Youth
& Family Ministry
at church, creating the cirriculum,
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working with the children to
create Youth Sunday Services, etc. It's a
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very critical position and
she handles it well. She also works closely with
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our Minister's daughter and
together, they are co-directors of the YFM.
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Kenny is now 17 years old!
I haven't spoken much about him because
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he was young and I wanted to
make sure that I didn't "embarrass"
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him during his "formative"
years, with his peers.
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My second-born has always had
a passion for automobile mechanics
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and restoration. He started
working on cars with our neighbor when he
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was 12 years old. He probably
knows more about what's under the
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hood than most of us learn
in a lifetime. A year and a half ago, he
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landed his first job at a very
reputable 50-year- old, family-owned,
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automobile
repair shop
in our neighborhood. He still has that job!
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He's had 2 pay raises and the
owner tells me that Kenny does a great
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job. Kenny will get financial
assistance from his employer for his
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education and training to become
ASE Certified, on all levels, if he stays
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employed at the shop. He worked
it out with his school to go to
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work in the morning from 8:00am
to 10:30am, then school from
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12:00pm to 2:30pm (the program
is called A.T.E.C.), and then back
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to work from 4:00pm to 7:00pm.
This is his schedule five days a week.
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I certainly hope he continues
to excel in this area. He is highly skilled and
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intuitive when it comes to
automobiles, even at 17 years of age.
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What a year Adam has had!
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Early in the year, he auditioned
for "America's
Got Talent" on NBC
and
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was told he was in. He then
was told that he would have to wait for the second
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round because there was no
other act like his for him to compete against.
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Then, he found out that he
wasn't going to be called back. He was very
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disappointed until he went
to the first taping, and realized that this was not
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the show for him. Rather than
being a legitimate talent contest,
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it turned out to be more like
"The Gong Show."
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During this time, his cartoon,
"Let's Bomb Iran" gained
world-wide
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recognition on the web and
ended up being featured on
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"Countdown
with Keith Olbermann" on MSNBC.
Adam was scheduled
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to be interviewed live by Olbermann
the next evening about the
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parody video that shows George
W. Bush and Dick Cheney playing
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a game of "Risk" and George
wondering what the next move
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should be. Unfortunately, some
big news story broke and Adam
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got bumped from the line-up.
The video certainly created a lot of
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controversy. Many thought it
was a pro-war video which it certainly is not!
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Adam also created another great
video about the Katrina
disaster.
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The song was featured on the
Mother
Jones Radio Network
several
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times during that period in
our nation's history.
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Then, the most amazing
thing happened.
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He found out from a friend
here in Columbus, that CBS's "Early Show"
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was starting
a contest called "Living Room... Live!" The
contest involved
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amateur talent from all over
the country, submitting their living room
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videos to CBS with voting for
the contestants being done strictly
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on the internet. Adam entered
a 2-minute clip of "Adam and the Egos"
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(formerly, "Adam and the Trinitrons")
and was featured as a contestant.
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Many will remember his live
performances of "Adam and The Trinitrons" in
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L.A. at the Comedy Club and
in Columbus, Ohio. (Because the name
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might have caused some legal
issues with the Sony Corporation,
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he decided to change it to
"Adam and The Egos" during the "America's
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Got Talent" auditions.) The
video was shown on The Early Show and
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also on the CBS News website.
He called everyone he knew around
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the country and had them rig
their computers to vote as many times as
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possible. He won the first
round but lost to a rock group in the second
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round, that had approximately
17,000 "MySpace" web fans voting for them.
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(They ultimately lost to a
country singer who had nearly 75,000 "MySpace" fans!)
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It wasn't over.
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He received a call from the
show's producer stating that the Vice President
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of CBS News wanted him
to come to New York to announce the winner of the
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entire contest, live on The
Early Show. (Shake head wildly, saying,"huh" and
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then ask yourself, "Why would
a second-round loser be asked to come to
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New York to introduce the winner
of the whole contest?") That's what Adam
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was thinking. It didn't make
sense.
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Apparently, the V.P. of CBS News
really liked Adam's creativity and Adam
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was also the sentimentel favorite
among many of the people at The Early
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Show. However, since
it was more of a popularity contest than a true talent
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contest, the person with
the most internet votes decided
the outcome,
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not a set of judges.
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Adam, being the driven person
that he is, was not about to let this
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opportunity go by without presenting
something to CBS. He brainstormed with
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his manager and they decided
that he should pitch the idea of having
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"Adam and The Egos" host the
next version of the contest, "Living Room... Live !"
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Kids' Edition!. He met with
the producers and they said to go ahead with the
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pitch to the V.P. He did, the
V.P. loved it, and Adam was contracted to
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do 13 weekly 6 minute episodes
of Adam and The Egos presenting the
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contestants for "Living Room...
Live!" Kids' Edition!, that would be promoted
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on The Early Show every Monday
morning. As a demonstration
of his creativity
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and video editing ability,
Adam showed them this
video as part of
his pitch.
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The video only took ten minutes
to write and produce.
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This opportunity has changed
Adam's life in so many ways.
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He will no doubt go on to bigger
and better things.
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As a father, words can't describe
my feelings about his success. He has
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certainly worked hard and stuck
it out through lots of tough times.
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Well, that was 2006. God only
knows what 2007 will bring. I can't wait!
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Thanks for taking the time
to read this page.
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Sincerely,
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Michael
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