Frank Cipolla

July 21, 2014 Candace Broxton Leave a comment

As a network news anchor at the Wall Street Journal Radio Network, broadcaster Frank Cipolla’s voice is heard coast-to-coast, delivering news reports twice an hour. A native of Queens and a graduate of St. John’s University, Cipolla got his start on the college’s radio and television stations. After graduation, he worked as the news director at WCRV in Washington, New Jersey and later WJDM in Elizabeth, New Jersey. In 1986, he was hired as the full-time afternoon anchor for the renowned Soupy Sales Radio Show on WNBC in New York, where he worked alongside Don Imus and Howard Stern.

After WNBC was sold to WFAN, Cipolla moved into local television news and launched the first live call-in news talk show at Time Warner Cable in Staten Island and later co-hosted the popular Morning Edition with Mizar Turdiu at News 12 New Jersey. In 2001, Cipolla joined WWOR-TV in New York as a reporter, and later served as a fill-in anchor before moving into his current role of broadcaster at the Wall Street Journal Radio Network.

Entrepreneurs

Matthew Ayers

July 16, 2014 Candace Broxton Leave a comment

Matthew Ayers hails from the small town of Sevierville, Tennessee. The son of real estate professionals, he became familiar at an early age with auctions, property leasing and the deal-making process. Encouraged by his parents to branch out, Ayers became fascinated with computers, and some of his early entrepreneurial efforts included building computers from scratch and selling bootleg copies of movies.

After graduating from the University of Tennessee in 2009, Ayers has resided in Knoxville, where he has started, grew and sold both a Crossfit gym and a frozen yogurt store. He currently manages a commercial real estate portfolio and is in the process of building an alpine roller coaster in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. In addition, in January of 2014, Ayers launched hiretiger.com, a website that matches job seekers with local hourly positions.

Authors, Chefs

Paul Kirk

July 15, 2014 Candace Broxton Leave a comment

In the world of barbecue, few men have accomplished more than Kansas City’s renowned Baron of BBQ, Paul Kirk. The recipient of over 530 cooking and barbecue awards, Kirk has won seven world championships, including the prestigious American Royal Open, the world’s largest barbecue contest.

Kirk, who has been barbecuing since the 1980s, was named the Chef of the Year by the Greater Kansas City ACF Chapter in 1990 and is a member of the KCBS Barbecue Hall of Fame. He prides himself on his ability to concoct a recipe on the spot, never test it and still win any contest.

In 1997, Kirk released his first book, Paul Kirk’s Championship Barbecue Sauces: 175 Make-Your-Own Sauces, Marinades, Dry Rubs, Wet Rubs, Mops and Salsas (now in its 19th printing), and his most recent publication, America’s Best BBQ – Homestyle: What the Champions Cook in Their Own Backyards, was released in 2013. In addition, he has written numerous articles for publications such as the KCBS Bull Sheet, The National Barbecue News, The Goat Gap Gazette, Fine Cooking and Chili Pepper Magazine. He and his barbecue have appeared on the Today Show, The Discovery Channel, CBS This Morning, E!’s Talk Soup and Tony Bourdain’s In Search Of.

Actors & Actresses

Dillion Harper

July 14, 2014 Candace Broxton Leave a comment

Adult actress Dillion Harper was born in Florida on September 21, 1991. The shapely brunette studied dental care in college, then got her start in the adult entertainment industry as a nude model for various websites including Hustler, Score, Brazzers and Bang Bros. Her first foray into movies was in 2012, and she has since appeared in numerous X-rated films for such companies as Devil’s Film, Diabolic Video and New Sensations.

Readers can learn more about Harper on her website, which will be officially launching soon, or by following her on Twitter.

What were you like growing up?

Growing up I was a daddy’s little girl, so I spent a lot of time doing what most little girls aren’t used to… instead of dolls and braiding hair, I would always have a fishing pole in my hand and a live shrimp at the end of my hook. Swimming pools, and the smell of grilling hot dogs and hamburgers. I loved being outdoors and I always had a big grin on my face but could be a little stubborn.

Video Game Developers

iToken

July 11, 2014 Candace Broxton Leave a comment

Born in Osaka, Japan in 1976, video game developer iToken currently resides in Taiwan, where he is hard at work on the follow-up to his 2013 release, Womb, a sci-fi tale taking place in the lonely solitude of an abandoned space station, as the protagonist toes the thin line between sanity and insanity.

Readers can learn more about iToken and his projects here.

What was your introduction to the world of role-playing games? Perhaps along those same lines, are there any particularly memorable gaming experiences from your childhood that you still fondly recall?

The first RPG game I played was Mother 2. I think in the U.S., it was release as Earthbound. We were the only family at that time that had the NES console in the neighborhood, so many of my friends would come to our house and play with us. They all wanted to play games like Super Mario Bros., Punch Out, etc., taking turns. When my turn comes, I boot up Earthbound and all of them go home, because they don’t dig RPGs at that time and not to mention the long playing time. I was hooked into RPGs because it’s the first time that I played a game that tells a story. Zelda, Pirate Higermaru, Chrono Trigger… those were classics.

Ten Minute Interviews

Frank Cipolla

Matthew Ayers

Paul Kirk

Dillion Harper

iToken

Getting to Know Fascinating People