Elliott Brown:
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Welcome to the SeniorDiscounts Guide Book – your map to finding the gold in the golden years.

This Guide is the most comprehensive resource for finding age-related discounts from businesses across the country. It lets you put your age to work for you by saving money every time you shop, plan a vacation, fix your car, or go out on the town.

Inside you will find:

•    Age-related discounts from over 145,000 businesses.
•    Expert tips on how to save on everything from groceries to airfare.
•    Simple organization that makes it easy to find the discounts you’re looking for.
•    A free membership to the SeniorDiscounts.com website, allowing you to perform customized online searches, get maps, and keep up to date on new deals with our weekly newsletter.

Whether you are a discount hound or just trying to save a buck here and there, this Guide offers unsurpassed opportunities to make the most of your senior status. It will pay for itself if you enjoy just one discounted round of golf, meal, or car rental.

Take a peek inside to see all the ways you can save.

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(Sound of car engine revving)

Get ready. Get set. No, not yet.

(Pause)

Go! To the Annual KUSF Rock and Swap, this Sunday at McClaren Hall on the USF campus. From nine till five, the Swap will feature over 50,000 fuel-injected used and rare albums, as well as the opportunity to ride shotgun with your favorite DJs. Records will be squealing out of the bins faster than a 425 hemi, so warm up your engines and get there early.

The KUSF Rock and Swap, this Sunday from nine to five at USF’s McClaren Hall.

Brought to you by the station with the lead foot—KUSF, San Francisco

Financial Literacy Programs: Almost all of us have unanswered questions about our finances. While it’s easy to cross your fingers and hope for the best, increased financial literacy can empower you to make financial decisions confidently. Through intimate, customized consultations, we will teach you everything from how to understand your financial picture to how to conduct basic financial analysis, putting the power where it belongs—in your hands.

Anyone can benefit from these services, but women who gain new levels of financial responsibility through sudden changes (like divorce or the death of a loved) one are particularly well-served.

Financial Concierge Service: The services of money managers and legal advisors can often leave a gap in the management of your financial affairs. From offering advisory services when it comes time to make a big decision to performing family office financial operations, we offer personalized solutions that compliment and complete your existing financial relationships.

Certified Divorce Financial Analysis: As court-recognized experts, we work with couples, individuals, and legal professionals at all stages of the divorce process. Our detailed evaluation of complex scenarios enables divorcing couples to split their assets fairly while they establish a sound financial plan for the future. Additionally, our specialized knowledge of tax issues commonly triggered by divorce helps clients save money, streamline the divorce process, and achieve the best outcome for everyone involved.

Services for Legal Professionals and Financial Institutions: In addition to supporting clients directly, we’re also here to help you provide your clients with the best service possible. Often, a seemingly equitable divorce settlement (or other financial move) can have unforeseen consequences that leave your clients worse off than they should be. From the tax implications of the sale of an asset to basic cash flow issues, we are court-recognized experts in divorce financial analysis. We can save your clients time and money before, during, or following a major life change. We are also experienced with helping unprepared or inexperienced clients take control of their financial futures. Our services to professionals include:

    •  Case Support for Divorce Financial Marital Settlement Agreements
    •  Expert witness testimony
    •  Customized training, speaking, and financial literacy programs

Does a New Pope Mean a New Soul?            April 2005

Why are you cast down, my soul, why groan within me? -Psalm 42:6

Today marks the unveiling of a new pope, and I couldn’t be more excited. You see, one of the pope’s big duties is to take care of our soul, and while John Paul II deserved praise for his many accomplishments, bringing the soul wasn’t exactly one of his strengths. In fact, we have to go back three popes to Pope Paul VI to find a papacy that combined rhythm, blues and raw passion to create a wonderful musical mélange.

Pope Paul VI served from 1963 to 1978. During those years, the world saw the rise of Motown Records and all other things Detroit. Meanwhile, Stax Records arose in Memphis and there were soulful murmurs from as far off as Philadelphia and Muscle Shoals, Louisiana. But as Paul VI aged, he lost his touch. Soul morphed into disco. Then both disco and Paul VI died during the summer of 1978.

Their successor, John Paul I, took the pulpit with many revolutionary ideas under his cloak. He brought us punk and the early trappings of new wave. Sadly, he died a month after his appointment and the fate of music was left to twist in the wind during John Paul II’s 26-year tenure.

"For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?" -Matthew 16:26

Indeed, soul almost died under John Paul II. It was replaced by sanitized, pitch-perfect, major label R & B. The top sellers on the current Amazon.com Neo-Soul chart (no “soul” chart even exists) are watered-down collections of over-produced slow jamz by Tweet and Erykah Badu. In terms of soul, John Paul II certainly left us in worse shape than he found us – just look at what happened to Michael Jackson.

Fortunately, Pope Benedict XVI brings new hope. Long before his ascension, there were signs that soul might be returning. While these signs weren’t of biblical proportions – no stars aligning or burning bushes – they were visible to the astute record shopper in the form of wonderful re-releases of lost or forgotten material by Candi Staton, Bettye Swann and Willie Hightower (all of them self-titled).

Equal parts pain and optimism, warm bass and barbequed vocals, the songs on these albums feel like classics that somehow avoided you over the years – almost as if someone adroitly slipped them between Aretha Franklin and Marvin Gaye on oldies radio. They’ll make you dance, they’ll make you reflect, and most importantly they’ll get you ready for soul’s second coming.

“Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.” – III John 2

And so it is that a new pope arrives with a new soul. Not a neo-soul, mind you, but a rejuvenated old soul that would have made Paul VI proud. This new soul comes in the form of Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings. If you would like to bear witness, I recommend checking out their new album, Naturally. The album combines the energy of James Brown with the rough emotion of Otis Redding. It is simultaneously vintage and fresh. 

Go pick up Naturally if you feel like greeting the new age of soul with open arms. Better yet, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings are currently on tour. Go forth and pay them your respect, but don’t forget to thank the Big Guy at the end of the day.