009 – The “Backwords Dude”, an autist with a unique talent: John Austin

00:13:12 John lived with Asperger’s for 46 years without knowing it

00:15:47 The profound effect John’s inability to read people had on his self-esteem

00:17:47 Dating and relationship challenges that can’t be solved with an app

00:19:07 How starting a YouTube channel led to John’s diagnosis

00:22:30 Asperger’s versus autism: a little bit of lemon in your water

00:25:55 How John’s brain processes information differently to yours and mine

00:28:49 Being picked on as a different child, and having to deal with the baggage later in life

00:30:48 How another John took John under his wing and changed everything

00:33:18 A backwards career: how John became a professional video editor and then went to film school

00:34:51 How his Asperger's makes him a better video editor

00:36:35 Editing is a feeling

00:39:04 The number one thing other people misunderstand about John

00:40:46 Sometimes you just have to make the wedding cake upside-down

00:44:59 The tremendous challenge of learning to deal with things that don’t run like clockwork

00:46:52 A self-diagnosis that took years to confirm

00:47:24 Tips for people who think they or someone they know might have Asperger’s

00:49:55 How knowing about his condition changed John’s life for the better

00:50:50 Mixed messages on the dancefloor

00:52:20 How to be supportive towards people with Asperger’s syndrome

00:53:53 Next up for John: getting in front of the camera rather than behind it

00:57:16 Where you can find out more about John and see his videos

00:58:34 How much wood a woodchuck could chuck backwards

01:00:41 The extraordinary people who helped John be his mythical best

01:01:40 A message for the world

01:03:10 How some people react negatively to John’s youthful looks

01:04:13 From hanging out with much older people to hanging out with much younger people

1:47 Rob Konrad

Hey, it's Rob Konrad from Switzerland and special gifts often come with a curse. And this certainly was the case for today's guest John Austin, aka the ”backwards dude“. When he was five years old, he discovered that he was able to speak backwards as easily as he can speak normally. But he also felt different from other kids his age and had difficulties connecting with them, which led to bullying and isolation. When he grew up he also discovered that while he has the ability to work on certain things with extreme focus and dedication, he would get extremely irritated if things didn't go the way he liked it. That‘s something that led to a lot of conflict in his workplace, but also in his private life. It wasn't until he was 36 years old that he was diagnosed with a specific form of autism, a condition called Asperger's syndrome. So today, we'll talk about what it means to be different, we'll talk about autism, Asperger's and the challenges of living with it and of course, we'll talk backwards a little bit. Thanks for taking time on New Year's Eve, actually – John Austin.

2:49 John Austin

Yeah, glad to be here. This is exciting.

2:53 Rob Konrad

Yeah, thanks for making time. I mean, we're very close to to midnight here in Switzerland so thanks for taking time, I really appreciate it.

3:00 John Austin

Oh wow. That's right. Yeah, it is almost midnight over there isn't it?

3:03 Rob Konrad

It's like 10 pm so we have like two hours to go so… but as I said we got three little kids so there's nothing much to do anyway so, they just get grumpy and then it's not not much fun anyway so but I don't want I don't want to keep you too long from from celebrating tonight. And so yeah, when I hear autism like I think of that you know that dude from Rain Man with what is the name of that Dustin Hoffman played like a Raymond or something like am anyway we talked a bit before, and you seem perfectly normal, you seem, like, you know if I would meet you I wouldn't, I wouldn't ever suspect you have autism or Asperger's?

3:42 John Austin

Exactly. And you know that right there is the whole conundrum with the whole thing is, you know, people will meet me and they think, oh, John is a great, great guy and he's so normal and then when they get to know me a little bit it's like John's kind of weird you know, and it's not anything that I do. It's like sometimes I don't really make eye contact with people or I don't really speak up enough. You know, I have a tendency to be a little quiet and I am not interested in the same things that most people are interested in, sports, video games, things of that nature, so it's hard to connect. But I'm very personable and the people that do know me really like me and I'm thankful for the friends I've got in my life so you know that's.

4:26 Rob Konrad

Okay okay. Okay so but before we get to the details of that I I'm sorry but we have to do it can we do a little bit backwards thingy?

4:35 John Austin

Yeah, absolutely I've got the app right here let me pull it up. Gosh, I've got requests coming in from my YouTube channel right now I'm swiping.

4:46 Rob Konrad

I'm sure you've done this a million times but it's just sometimes.

4:49 John Austin

I have.

4:52 Rob Konrad

People who haven't watched this and we will edit this and afterwards anyway in higher quality but just just

4:59 John Austin

Yeah yeah

5:01 Rob Konrad

And so so we haven't we haven't actually I don't know what to say, could you say, so my three daughters they have very special names for Switzerland. They are called they are called Sienna, Savannah and Missouri.

5:23 John Austin

Sorry and Missouri. What's the other one Sienna and what?

5:24 Rob Konrad

Sienna, Savannah and Missouri.

5:27 John Austin

Okay Sienna, Savannah and Missouri.

5:31 Rob Konrad

So could you say Happy New Year Sienna, Savannah and Missouri?

5:35 John Austin

Okay. Your wisdom analysis is Sienna Hold on. I gotta do it again. Deanna a nice Sienna, Savannah, Missouri heroes. Some analysis a nice review in the back.

5:53 Rob Konrad

Okay.

5:57 John Austin

Happy New Year Sienna, Savannah Missouri. Did you get that?

6:03 Rob Konrad

Yeah I heard it.

6:04 John Austin

Okay. Cool.

6:09 Rob Konrad

So what goes through your mind if you if you know, get these kind of requests? So can you like, does it come naturally or you because you don't seem to have to think about it really?

6:21 John Austin

Well, actually, I had to think about that one a little bit. Just just because I'm nervous. But no, I wouldn't have to think about it like anyone else would. What comes to my mind are the sounds and then after the sounds, the order of the words. So the words are their own sounds, but I've got to put them in the correct order. And so the longer a sentence, the more difficult it becomes to say, because you've got to not only switch the sounds around, you got to switch the order of everything around to make it of course, you know, of course, that's very difficult. You know, I've had people give me things like, how much wood could a wood chuck chuck if a wood chuck could chuck wood? And I've learned it, so it's easy to just read off. But, you know, if someone were to just give me something like that, and I'd never practiced it what I would do is, I would have to write it down. And that way, I would have to, like, study it. And it's, it's weird. People tell me that, when they see me do it, they can see my brain working. You can look and see my eyes like flooding almost like a matrix type of thing. You know? Yeah. Yes, like, you know, I'm literally my brain's literally flipping all the sounds, and then I'm going okay. You know, and I might see a word that I've never done before and so I have to quickly learn it. But it's like, instant. So it could take me 30 seconds to a minute, to say, how much wood could a wood chuck chuck, if a wood chuck could chuck wood after it's been written down, and I have to process it, maybe 30 seconds, but then I have to read, to commit it to memory I, when I did that one for memory, it took about an hour to commit it to memory backwards.

8:04 Rob Konrad

Okay. Okay. So I guess because I think the human brain for most people, they can store like eight pieces of information at a time. So like, like, eight numbers, or something is like the maximum you can put in your short term memory. So I guess if you get a long sentence, it would be hard enough to remember it in like, the right direction. So doing it backwards, the problem is also to memorize that's and like, forwards.

8:30 John Austin

It's a lot of information and for the most part, I can do it very easily. So when people give me a simple sentence, that's, you know, five, six words, and then I'm able to just wrap that off, you know, like, it's butter, you know,

8:45 Rob Konrad

Okay, if it's the coffee tastes great?

8:48 John Austin

Oh, yeah. Okay, I'll do that for you. Coffee tastes great. If you notice, I'm repeating it, downloading it into my mind. Coffee tastes great. Taerg setsat eeffoc. Coffee tastes great. That's just off the cuff without practicing it or anything.

9:14 Rob Konrad

Yeah. Okay. It's so but the words itself, they kind of they appear in your head, or how does it work? How can I because, because if I would have to do it, because the way I would start with is like, okay, coffee, like COFFEE. So it started like, e f. f. o. c. So how does it?

9:33 John Austin

You are visualizing it. You can't visualize it. You have to hear it. And that's the trick. You can't read backwards and then have that come out forward. See in some words you can like coffee? You know, it's about e and then foch, you know that would be right. But tastes great. If I were to spell that backwards it'd be taerg, setsat or something stat. Yeah. And that wouldn't come out right? If you really have to think hard to do that because I can't just speak to you backwards the way a word is spelled because that doesn't make sense to my brain.

10:20 Rob Konrad

Okay, so you can't just spell backwards, its really something that's somehow it's there or

10:29 John Austin

Exactly exactly. I never forget when I was a little kid when I first got into all of this I asked my mom what my name was backwards and she told me it was nitsuanojh and that's incorrect. That's how it's spelled but it's really John Austin backwards is Nitsua nhoj. Also for a little boy to realize that, you know, at such an early age, I would say maybe I was six or seven, you know, but for someone of that, that young to realize that, and what the difference is, that's really huge, and, to have such a hard time in school and, and not be able to do my school work and not be able to focus on it and be put in special classes with troubled kids and when really I did not belong there. That's frustrating and I look back at it and I think, you know, that's, that's just not right you know, why could they not see, you know, the brilliance that was there? And I never counted it as brilliance until, you know, a couple of years ago, when, when that doctor told me, I was brilliant because I could do it. It's like, well, wait a minute, not me. So this has been a very eye opening thing for me. So I'm very grateful for backwards talking and backwards things. You know, it just shows you what the human mind can do.

11:51 Rob Konrad

Absolutely. So, so let's start also backwards in terms of you know, your discovery that you were diagnosed with Asperger's few years back. So how old you are you now you're?

12:02 John Austin

I am 48 right now.

12:04 Rob Konrad

48 right now okay.

12:05 John Austin

Yeah, yeah, 48.

12:07 Rob Konrad

You look 10 years younger.

12:09 John Austin

Yeah, yeah, exactly. 10 years younger. So when I went to film school at 38, everybody thought I was in my mid 20s. And so it worked you know. I was given a second chance at learning a social life because of my youthful looks, and going to school late. And so I learned socializing in my late 30s, early 40s. And so I've been able to enjoy a normal social life, all the way from 38 on up to 48, last 10 years. It's been very nice. And a lot of my friends now they're like, John, we just don't see that there's anything wrong with you. Are you sure you've got this Asperger's? I'm like, I'm pretty believe me. You know, sometimes I ask my friends questions like, well, if some person says, this or looks at me this way what does that mean? And a lot of times, they'll say, well, you know, John, don't worry about that. That person has a problem. And most of my friends are a good 10 to 20 years younger than me. And so they're kind of having to tell me these things and, and they get it. You know, they've been friends with me for a good, you know, good while and it's nice to be able to have this kind of conversations. But yes, yes, I'm 48, look look late 30s and was diagnosed at 46.

13:33 Rob Konrad

Okay, got it. I'm sorry.

13:38 John Austin

Yeah. So it's not very

13:39 Rob Konrad

Okay in my prediction I thought you're like, okay, he's like, 38 in line something.

13:44 John Austin

Of course, of course. Right.

13:46 Rob Konrad

Gotcha.

13:48 John Austin

But no, no, I went, um, you know, till 46 years old, not knowing. But the thing was, is I realized that, you know, in my late 30s, that I needed to start working on this. And I thought, you know, what, I'm gifted with, you know, video editing and audio, and things like that and do a good job but I'm kind of stuck where I'm at, I need to go, live in another town, go to school, get that experience and I'm so glad that I did.

14:17 Rob Konrad

Okay. Okay. So before you get diagnosed with, 46, how was life for you? So how did you feel different? Was it like you had problems socializing? Was it that you had, we had our first discussion, you talked a little bit about how, you know, are very specific with the way how you like things, and how you get frustrated and irritated if things are not working out the way you you know, want them to be so. So how was life before the diagnosis for you?

14:47 John Austin

Well, you know, where I'm from, I'm from the southeast. And in the southeast, people are very nice to you to your face but then they talk bad about you behind your back. They'll, they'll never be upfront with you. Those things started coming back to me and I started realizing, you know, that there's something that I'm doing, you know, and I want to change and so then I went out to Los Angeles and my point here is that people are more direct with you. They, they will tell you, if they don't like you, they will tell you if you've done something. And so the word that they use for me was aloof, which means distant, uninterested, maybe cold with a chip on the shoulder. And I thought, really, you know, I thought I was being very personable. But it turned out that I wasn't being read that way at all. And that really upset me. And I thought, you know, no wonder, you know, people have thought, you know, gee, you know, we don't want to be around him, or work with him, you know, it's when you come across as cold or uninterested or you don't want to hear what they have to say, really and truly, what was going on in my mind was, I was just trying to process what was going on with them, and what their projects and stuff and trying to take knowledge that I had, and put it in. And then sometimes some of those people wouldn't even come to the table with the necessary information. And that was where it was their fault. But then you lost the part that was my fault. And so those two things just couldn't work together. That's, that's what I found. It was just frustrating. Most people would be able to sit down, and they'd be able to assess a situation with a client and if the client doesn't know what they're doing, that person could make the decision whether or not to continue working with that client. And I just did not have that ability. I couldn't read them, right. So there were some times that the problem was me, there was other times that the problem was them, and then there were times that there were both so you know, that's just just how it went for many years. And I, I thought I wasn't worth anything to be honest with you. And but I thought, you know, I'm not giving up that easy. I'm, you know, I'm too much of a fighter.

17:07 Rob Konrad

So on a social layer, it was like a mismatch between how you perceived yourself and how the rest of the world perceived yourself. And on your end, it was a bit of like, feel the failure in certain ways. So you are, you can feel the information or social interactions in the way that most people can do it or interpret it put it this way.

17:26 John Austin

Sure. Well, you know, sometimes people might take a jab at you like, with kidding you. And so I would try to do that but sometimes I would say it in a wrong way and it would offend the person, you know. You know, and then sometimes, you know, it's not that what I did was wrong but that was not the type of person that they were. They weren't the type of personality to do that with.

17:51 Rob Konrad

Okay, okay. That I think I understand, yes. So, so

17:54 John Austin

I also don't understand, when people are flirting with me. I can't, I can't read those signals. I literally cannot tell because I've had a lot of people, come up to me like John, these girls, are – they really like you? And I said, I had no idea. I had absolutely…

18:14 Rob Konrad

So how did the does that work for out for you in terms of relationships?

18:19 John Austin

I was, I have never really dated.

18:22 Rob Konrad

Okay.

18:23 John Austin

I've never really dated, I am I get very nervous with people too close to me, for one. It's not that I wouldn't ever date, I've dated a couple of times. And it just, you know, just wasn't the right fit, I guess. And I don't know, I, I might be fine without ever being married. But there's part of me that would like to be married, you know, be in a relationship.

18:48 Rob Konrad

I understand. So it's like, it's, is the main problem like getting into it? Or would it be something that's also complicated once you're in a relationship because you're so picky with certain things and so specific with certain things that might make it difficult?

19:02 John Austin

I like to be alone a lot and with a relationship, you know, you you don't get to do that. But then again, being alone a lot, you get lonely?

19:13 Rob Konrad

Yeah, sure. I understand.

19:15 John Austin

That that's why I'm very open to you know, as time goes on, to get into a relationship with somebody. My dad was 47 when I was born. So yeah, Mom, so it's not too late. You know, it's never, it's never too late, you know, and I am definitely a testament to that.

19:36 Rob Konrad

Yeah, sure. So, um, how did you get diagnosed?

19:43 John Austin

Very interesting story. So I just my friends that I told you about, told me about the apps that are on my phone. And that caused me to start a YouTube channel Backwords Dude. And another one of my friends from film school agreed to go out in downtown Charlotte where I live with a great big sign that says, I'm the Backwords Dude, I can say anything backwards. Just give me a sentence. And we would film their reactions while I would do the thing with the phone and the app and people would just freak out. Well, like I said, I work in film and so me and my buddy, we were on set one day, and he brought one of his friends in that works in the video department of a place called Southeast Psych and they specialize with Asperger's syndrome. And I didn't know any of this. And so the guys there on set, and my friend Charlie said, John, talk backwards for Sean. And Sean is like, what is this, and he flipped, he's like Oh, my Gosh! And he went and he told his employers who deal with Asperger's patients all the time and they had me go in and and they met me and they started telling me how brilliant I was. And they had me do a short video skit with them, where I'm doing everything backwards and need help and go to them and they teach me how to talk forwards through using the app. It's a cute little thing that we did. And we did it kind of quick. But he then said, you know, why don't you come into my office in a couple of days, and sit down and have coffee with me, and I'll tell you why you're brilliant and why you don't think that you are. And so I said, okay. And we sat down and he said, you have what they call Asperger's syndrome. And I said, wait a minute, isn't that autism? And he said, yeah. And he said, but wait a minute, he said, you don't really have full blown autism. He said, what you have is a gift. And he said, you're incredibly brilliant. He said, it's not about talking backwards. He made that very clear. He said, this is about how your brain works and processes information and the fact that you learn to talk backwards when you were five shows how incredibly powerful your mind is. He said, that's just a funny little thing that you latched on to as a child and now you've got this thing as an adult that you can do. He says, there's something else that you're very good at. And he's like, you got to find out what that is. And I still don't quite know what that is. But my mind has a unique way of processing information. And I'm gifted, its brilliance and so after 46, it's like, wow, I'm now able to see myself in a right way and not put myself down and not step back and say, oh, you know. I think it's this way, but I what do I know I'm stupid, you know, okay, that would kind of be my way in the past, and it would be frustrating for people.

22:52 Rob Konrad

I understand. So for those who are not familiar with Asperger's, can you explain what Asperger's is and where it sits on the like autism spectrum, maybe also talk a little bit about autism itself.

23:04 John Austin

Absolutely. So Asperger's is a higher functioning form of autism. It's in the autism family and there are several different places on this spectrum, from high functioning to lower functioning, you know, that you can be with Asperger's. So I'm very high functioning with this. You can't tell talking to me. There are other people that when you talk to them, you probably want to strangle them. They just, they rattle off information all the time and talk too much and, but they're brilliant, all at the same time. You know, there's several people in history, Sir Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison who else, Alfred Hitchcock, Dan Ackroyd who, who are on the autism spectrum with Asperger's. Mozart had Asperger's. He started writing music, you know, as a small child, and I wish I had a gift, like that. Just talking backwards, but talking backwards is pretty cool so I'll go with that. That, so that's Asperger's right, there it is. as Dr. Frank Gaskell at Southeast psyche calls it, there's a little bit of lemon in your water just a little bit.

24:17 Rob Konrad

Okay. So Asperger's, how does it work? What are the effects of having Asperger's? It's, it's one of the things is being very focused on the narrow field of interest.

24:28 John Austin

Mm hmm.

24:30 Rob Konrad

So what what are other like characteristics?

24:36 John Austin

Uh, gosh, we are incredibly honest, we're too honest. It's hard to tell a lie. And you can get yourself in trouble with people because you just don't always say things to other people exactly the way they are. It's offensive, or it's unnecessary and it can cause tension. What else? I have a tendency to talk to myself a lot and if I if you give me a backwards request, you'll see me do it, you'll see me do what I will catch myself doing now. Like, if I'm all alone, I'll just go feral, you know, to kind of like that. It's more in a trance when I do it and I have noticed that I go into that trance when I start wearing a short sentence backwards for somebody and you'll see it in my videos. In fact, you'll you'll see me going like this and just kind of moving my mouth, which you would say that's normal. He's figuring this out. But at work, if I'm sitting at my desk, and I've got stuff going through my mind and my mouth moving and talking, that's weird, because nobody knows what's going on. So that's something that I'm trying hard to, to work at. It's stopping but it's hard. It's like my, it's like, if a computer's rendering out video and audio files, it does it with all the picture and sound on it can, it can drive you crazy. Well, that's what my mouth. My mind is constantly on as most peoples are but my mouth's moving as to, to what's going on. And I'm aware of it so it's just it's weird characteristics like that.

26:14 Rob Konrad

I see. Okay. And you said that your brain processes information a different way. How's that? So, so how is it different from like me, for example, or any other person?

26:31 John Austin

You know, the only the only thing I have to tell you is I can't do math. And, you know, I think a lot of people can do math, you would think that I can do math, but I just see it differently. You know, I'm sitting here counting my fingers, right? As to where other people they can do it, just like I do the backwards talk, they can just figure it out. You know, somehow I noticed that when I went back to school, you know, my, my younger school mates, they were able to just figure this stuff out. And they're like, like, I don't know how I do it, I just do it. And that's what it's like, with the backwards talk. I just do it. I guess, I guess I am more privy to audio, but also kinetic very kinetic learner, but also with audio based learner. So audio plus kinetic, that would be my field. And also if I can put my hands on it. And that's another interesting thing, so when I grew up, you know, this would be the 70s and the 80s to play something backwards, you had to record on tape, and you had to open up the cassette tape and reverse little wheels, inside and then rewind them so very, very hands on and kinetic. And I think the process and going through all that trouble, helped me learn it better.

27:53 Rob Konrad

Okay. Okay. So you're in need to be hands on to really process information and have the impression. Okay, Okay, got it. So when you were younger, I mean, in our pre pre interview you mentioned that's the you experienced bullying a lot when you were younger, because you couldn't connect with people your age?

28:13 John Austin

Correct. Yeah, I mean, once again, you know, if you, you've got this one kid, and he sits over here, it doesn't say anything and never his school work, you know, you're going to be privy to or open to bullying and it wasn't too awfully bad for me. You know, you hear these horrible cases today. With me, the kids would just laugh or they'd be like, you know, you're so weird or something like that and then there'd be occasional name calling there. There wasn't a whole lot. I never got beaten up, which was nice. I actually got into some fights as a young kid, you know, like, second grade, and I think fourth grade, I got into a fight but after that I didn't, because I turned out to be this really, really skinny kid and all the other kids were a lot bigger than me. So I couldn't really do anything. And I think that's another thing I kind of learned to shy back and, and not state my opinion as much because I was, I knew that if I did, you know, I'd probably get an ass whooping. But yeah, yeah, I mean, that's what it was like, growing up, but but not, you are always being seen as stupid being told I was stupid. And I think that hurt more than anything, being called, you know, gay because I didn't date anybody. And, and then I also thought, well, what girl would want to go out with me? You know, I don't, I don't have a right to ask a girl out on a date. So, you know, you, you just get picked on and in that regard.

29:56 Rob Konrad

Okay. Okay.

29:57 John Austin

It's hard. It makes, gives you a bad self image growing up, and then you got to deal with it later on in life.

30:04 Rob Konrad

I see. Okay. You also mentioned that you had, you were more inclined to people who were much older than yourself.

30:14 John Austin

Yeah, absolutely.

30:16 Rob Konrad

Yeah, so when you are years old, like you're, you're drawn towards grown up people, for example.

30:22 John Austin

Yeah, those would have been my friends back then, and my, my siblings are a good 16 and 23 years older than me. So I always felt that I belonged with their crowd. And, of course, rejection there because, you know, kid can't really be hanging out with 20 year olds, you know, going out and drinking beer and what not. And so, you know, that didn't work. But, but because of my curiosity with how movie theater projection systems worked, I wound up meeting a guy who was, I guess, a little bit older than my brothers and he took me under his wing and taught me how to run the projectors of the movie theaters when I was about 10. And I could run those projectors I mean, like, the first day that he showed me, and he noticed that my mom didn't really believe in me, and that even my mom was saying things like, well, we've got so many problems with John and we just don't think he's going to make it. And so my friend John, his name was John as well, came up and he would say, you know, your son's very smart, there's no, he said, most people who come into this projection booth, it takes them a long time to learn this stuff and he's learned it like the first or second time he's ever done it. And my mom just just dismissed it. And years would go by and, you know, I would go by to see John and John would say, John, don't listen to anybody tell you that you're not smart. He said, you are so smart. And then he even talked about the backwards talk. He's like, I've never seen anybody that can just say words backwards like you. He said, that means you're brilliant and he's like, I don't know how it's going to be applied but you're going to do something great. So, you know, I prefer to hang out with older people and became friends with older people, and went to work in the movie theater business, and then became friends with the man who was 90 years old and still working as a service technician. And he will have all these stories to tell me, you know, from the 1920s on through the 20th century about the movie theaters, and then he and I would go get lunch right after he retired around the age of 90 the friendship continued. So, it was always somebody older, like to be my parents age or grandparents age, you know, I just felt more comfortable there.

32:49 Rob Konrad

I see. Okay, okay. And so when you were, when you finished school, and you were about to enter profession, how did that go? I mean, did you say okay, I'm because you had this bad self image so did you ever think about the future? So, so

33:05 John Austin

Well, the way that worked was I dropped out high school at the age of 16, because it was getting to the point where I was so miserable and, and at school and didn't like the kids and they didn't like me, and I wasn't learning anything. So my mom said, okay, you know, we're going to pull you out, you know, on one condition, you still have to get your high school diploma but we did it through the Community College. So I got it and wound up learning my math and getting better reading skills and I mean, doing stuff that I thought I would never be able to do. But because of the poor self image did not really apply myself and did not go to college. I just continued to work the movie theater business and then one thing led to another. I got involved running TV cameras on a volunteer basis at a church. And that was the beginning of my career in television. Then I just started doing some videos on my own and would go rent an edit bay at a production company in Charlotte and they ended up hiring me and so I got my first job as editor. And then that just, you know, multiplied, you know, it just, I moved from there, just another place, and then another place and moved up and had a career as an editor. That's, that's how that began and I started seeing that there was a lot more out there, and I decided to go to school, you know, in my late 30s. So I did things a little bit backwards. I realized the older I got, it's like, okay, wait a minute, I jumped way ahead of myself, you know, in my teens, and 20s, and now I need to go back and I need to make up for some of this. And I did and I did you know, I caught up.

35:02 Rob Konrad

So how does your, how does like Asperger's help you in your editing job or in your professional video editor?

35:09 John Austin

Oh, it absolutely helps me. So being able to be a very visual person that that's something that people with Asperger's have, they're gifted with that so I can just see things happening in my mind. So you know, when I sit down to do a project and I start putting things together, that gift comes into place, because I might have something arranged a certain way, and I can look at it, and I say, you know what, I'm just not feeling it. I'm just not feeling it. And then I'll realize, you know, what, I take this shot, and I put it here, and I rearrange this, and I do this part first. And then this part, it's really going to make a lot more sense. And it feels more balanced. And so for me, having those kinds of feelings and those kinds of intuitions makes me a very valuable asset as an editor.

36:15 Rob Konrad

And also as a job that requires a lot of patience and I've been doing a fair bit of video editing for my stuff and it just drives me fucking crazy at times. Now, I've got someone to do it for me, but sometimes it just faster because I know what it want to do and the way, I know want to look have it look like and stuff. So sometimes i just do it myself, like before you explain it to somebody, I probably do it myself, and it just drives me nuts with that like, Ah,

36:37 John Austin

Absolutely, I understand. I've been there, I've worked with people who wanted to do that and then I worked with people who don't even want to touch it, and they want me to do it. And then I'm the same way with my stuff, you know, I'm frustrated with it, I would like somebody else to look at it, or I know exactly how I want this to go. It's it's one of those things, it's, it's a very interesting profession. And good editors are very hard to find. There are a lot of people out there who have software and know how to push the buttons but this is not what this is about.

37:10 Rob Konrad

Absolutely.

37:11 John Austin

It's a feeling. It's how you feel. It's how you see things. And it's also how you relate to people, that is very, very important. And I have found that to be true many times over within my profession. It is very important. The relationship that the editor has with the director and the producer is just absolutely paramount.

37:34 Rob Konrad

Absolutely. And I've seen as many times when I give stuff to edits to do someone I outsource it. When you're trying to find someone who's really understands what you want to do, it's often so frustrating because you give them a lot of raw material, and in your mind, it seems clear what you want to do with it and it's like okay, this, I mean, that's the stuff and I mean, come on, it needs to be this this that way, then just people are completely hopeless. And then they sent you back something like, what the hell is that? I mean, that this doesn't make any sense. And then like, ah, and then you have to, you know, you run through several iterations and sometimes you find someone who understands you, and then hopefully they are going to stick with you for a while. But it is, it is frustrating. It is definitely frustrating. I can I can relate to that.

38:17 John Austin

It has to be the right fit, you know, and I worked with people like I've said in the past, you know, it's been a perfect fit, and then I worked with other people, it is not a fit at all. Yeah.

38:27 Rob Konrad

Is there any kind of, is there any category that you prefer working on? Because I could imagine if you are bad with interpersonal things, then telling interpersonal stories in the video might be something that's…

38:41 John Austin

No I actually love stuff like that. No, I mean, because I'm able to feel it more when I do that and so that's very rewarding to be able to work on projects like that. Yeah.

38:52 Rob Konrad

Okay. That's funny. So basically when people are out of the equation, then you're good with people stuff. Strange.

39:04 John Austin

Isn't that weird? Yeah. Um, but no, you know it and you don't get the skills overnight? You know, nobody does. So, one thing that I'm really blessed with is, you know, a lot of editors, a lot of really good editors are older because they, you know, the more life lessons you get under your belt, that that translates into your work.

39:28 Rob Konrad

Okay, okay. Okay. Makes sense. That makes sense. What would you say is the one thing that people misunderstand about you, most of the time?

39:40 John Austin

I have a tendency to, to jump ahead of them, and, or I'll vocalize something and they'll think that I mean it for them and when I don't. I'm trying to think of an example. I was working with a client once and they were telling me something, and I went, No, no, no, no, no, no, no, but I wasn't talking to them, I was talking to the computer, the computer was doing something like, they thought I was disagreeing with them. That that's, that's, I don't know, that's one instance right there. Hmm. You know, I think with Asperger's and having this type of mind, we have a tendency to think that we're right, and everyone else is wrong. And, you know, sometimes that might be the case. But, you know, how do you how do you make that case? How do you present that to somebody? Are you making them feel bad? Are you making them feel like they're wrong? And people don't like that. So, there, there are ways to do that. Sometimes you need a situation to play out a certain way and, and just satisfy that person like, okay, you want you want me to make this wedding cake, but you want it upside down? Okay? Well, if you do that, the, the layers are going to fall over, you know, because small layer is going to be on the bottom, and it's going to go like this and like, well, that's the way I'm seeing it and it's like, well, if you're going to do that, you're going to need to put some sticks in it or something to hold it up. I don't want sticks in it. I just wanted to, okay, you know what, we'll do it your way. And, and there's sometimes there's, you know, you got to be patient because somebody might have an idea, and they need your help to do it. And they do have a way to make it work and if you'll just cooperate, you know, it'll turn out.

41:37 Rob Konrad

Okay. It's, it's, it's funny that you mentioned that because I have a good friend, he's kind of an on off business partner that I have, we've been working together for like seven years and sometimes we just have a project to work on really intensely, and we're really close and then we managed to not communicate for a year and then we just kind of get back to it. And a couple of actually days after we get in touch, just by pure pure chance, we get in touch again and he told me that he was diagnosed with Asperger's in his mid 30s. And he's like, now I finally understand because, because that explains so many things. And and that explains why I'm so good at certain things, and so bad at other things and why I'm so bad at social things. And what you mentioned is true, because he's the one guy that I love for being brutally honest. And I think there were so many times like, dude, you're an asshole, you are fucking asshole for telling me that. I'm just telling you how it is. Like, don't tell me that way. I mean, you can say it in a nice way at least, you don't be a dick about it. I mean, I am not being a dick, I am just telling you like, yeah, but so we had these, these arguments almost and, and said, no, that's not this is one of the things that I now understand because that's, that's just me and I am not a weirdo in the sense that I'm you know I had a bad personality, it's just the way I think and I don't see anything bad about telling people that they're wrong. And if I think they're wrong, then it they're just fucking wrong and I'm going to tell them they're fucking wrong, right. And that's sad. And then, of course, you have other people who might not be very receptive for this kind of communication and that's how you get into trouble. And then then again, there's, there's so many things, there's really brilliant in terms of being very, very focused on certain things and know having the ability to do incredible deep dives into certain topics in a very short amount of time. We say, whoa, where did you learn that so so yeah, but he mentioned it like he described it in the similar way than you did like that it was a revelation to understand what's wrong with him in a way. Yeah,

43:48 John Austin

What he needs to change, what he needs to improve on, you know, so, yeah, same here. Absolutely.

43:55 Rob Konrad

So if you get irritated, for example, by something what are just for someone who has never been in touch with or maybe has been in touch with but never understood someone who has Asperger's or some form of autism, what kind of things that annoy you, and how does it express itself when you get annoyed by something?

44:17 John Austin

Hmm, let me see, traffic, I think traffic everybody gets annoyed, everybody. But I think traffic is a good example. You know, you're going someplace, and usually the traffic is okay, and you've left just in time to where you get to your destination, right on time. I'm the type of person, I like to be right on time. And if something makes me to where I'm not right on time, I can get pretty upset and use a few choice words. So you get in the car and it's like, okay, I've got plenty of time to get there and all of a sudden, the traffic's backed up, you know, it's just this, and everybody knows that feeling, that's why I'm using that example. So it would be like that with other things at work, you know, you're, you're, you're working on something, and you're making really good progress on the project, and then all of a sudden, somebody else comes in with some project that has to be done, and you really don't want to do it, because it's just some, you know, miniscule thing but it's got to be done and you've got to stop working on what you're doing. Everything in me wants to say, well, I can't right now and this is just going to have to wait, and maybe you can get someone else to do it. Oh, but you're the only person here that does this, you know, and so, for me right now, you know, I can't say that to the people that I work for, I have to say, okay, you know, I'll stop doing this. And in my mind, I'm, like, err, you know, and then I do the other thing and, and fix it and send it on, you know, in the, in the past, you know, relationships were broken, because I would vocalize my frustrations like, well, we can't, or I can't, and you don't want to use that language, I can't, we can't, you can, you know, you're just going to have to rearrange your schedule. In other words, people who are on the Asperger's spectrum like everything to flow like clockwork. And when it doesn't, we have a tendency to get mad.

46:31 Rob Konrad

Okay. Okay. You were familiar with autism before you got diagnosed? And you heard about Asperger's before that?

46:41 John Austin

I did.

46:43 Rob Konrad

Yeah so did it ever occur to you like, I might have that, or was it something that you just?

46:47 John Austin

It actually did occur to me, you know, that I might have that because and it first occurred to me out in Los Angeles, when I had, when I had gone to school, and I started noticing some of the same things had, you know, kind of followed me, there's like, well you know, why did this follow me? And, and then I started kind of putting two and two together, and it seemed like, I did some research, maybe I wasn't even doing research, and it just sort of popped up, Asperger syndrome. And I thought, you know what, I'm betting money, that's what this is.

47:23 John Austin

Oh, thought that, it had been confirmed.

47:28 John Austin

So it's, um, yeah, yeah so that, that that's what happened. You know, I, I kind of diagnosed myself back then, before the actual diagnosis took place, because I put it on my mind, my friends are like, no, John, you don't have that. So, there, I was, you know, when Dr. Frank Gaskell at Southeast Psych told me and it just clicked, it's like, you know, what, I kind of had a feeling that this might be what it was, and we just, just smiled at each other.

48:00 Rob Konrad

Okay. Okay. So if someone has a feeling this might be something that, you know, I might have on my friend might have, what's a good step to take? What would you recommend? Who could they see? Do you go to a psychiatrist who, who does the diagnosis, because I guess that's not someone that your, your everyday doc could

48:23 John Austin

Yeah, I don't know if psychiatrist

48:24 Rob Konrad

Psychologist, psychiatrist, who?

48:26 John Austin

Psychologist, like a therapist, and what I would do is, I would look, you know, for somebody that specializes in that. You know, people with Asperger's, they have a tendency to be attracted to machinery, or computers, you know, at a very early age, and they'll tell you everything there is to know, you know, examples for me, would have been fans or edgers, you know, for the lawn and vacuum cleaners was a big one.

49:00 Rob Konrad

Okay.

49:00 John Austin

Yeah. And that's a funny one that that my family won't let me live down because they have memories of me going over to their homes and pulling the vacuum cleaner out and insisting on using it, because it was different from the one that we had. And I liked the differences.

49:19 John Austin

Okay. It's a very, very specific reason, you know, it's, it's, you know, you've got to have it this way, and not that way. And it's this thing over here that no one else ever really thinks about. And, oh, bells and bell towers, you know, think things like that, and wanting to go up and see them and touch them and just be there, you know, that high up, you know, things that were high up, and so, I would say, you know, those are all things that seem to be in line with, with people that I've talked to with Asperger's, that they're all common commonalities.

49:57 Rob Konrad

Okay. Okay. So, so definitely go to a therapist, talk about it, and see if you can get the diagnosis.

50:05 John Austin

Exactly. And, you know, if they don't specialize in it, they might know somebody that, you know, you can go to and with, with the internet these days, you know, you can always contact somebody on the web.

50:19 Rob Konrad

Okay. And how has how has knowing it helped you in your daily life? Is it that you're more aware of things? Is it that you, that you can explain it to other people?

50:31 John Austin

Hmm. Well, um, I would say that, you know, first of all, having a much better self image and, and see myself as a person who's brilliant and worthy, it changes everything, you know, see, seeing yourself in the right way. That's the first thing. The second thing would be to, watch myself kind of keep myself accountable and, and always consider, you know, how the other person might feel in a situation. You know, I've got the funniest story I've got to tell you. So I told you, I've never really dated and so I don't like dancing either. I don't like people up in close proximity to me. People with Asperger's have a tendency to look down when, when we talk to you and I've been noticing that and so when I see that I'm doing that I, you know, immediately, you know, lift my head. A friend of mine likes to go contra dancing and so this is a few years ago, and we went and I wound up dancing with this older lady and I thought, okay, you know, I'm going to look at her, but I didn't know I had Asperger's at that point. I looked at her and she went like this, you know, like, what on earth are you looking at me like that for? And I realized, she thought that I had the hots for her.

51:56 Rob Konrad

Okay.

51:57 John Austin

Because when we got through dancing Sienna, and she was old enough to be my mother, and she, she, she looked at me, and she said, now, you go find a young lady to dance with. And I thought, Oh, my gosh, I'm never coming back here again because I did not mean that I did not mean it. And I was so embarrassed it, but, but that's how she took it and I thought, you know, this just isn't ram along. And so I just told my friends, I said, listen, you know, we'll go hang out and get a few beers every once in a while. I'm not coming back here.

52:36 Rob Konrad

Okay, so if I know someone has Asperger's or autism, what's a good way to react to that or how to approach them or how can I be more supportive in a way that people might not feel as uncomfortable or might not feel you know, impacted by the way I treat them?

52:56 John Austin

Sure. I think giving them a chance is, is a really big thing. You know, I've had situations within work where, you know, I was right about something and just like your friend, you know, I said it in a certain way, but I was right, but they did not want to hear that. And so it ruined the project that we were working on, made it very difficult. And so I would say, give, give somebody a chance, you know, if you see that they're working hard and trying to process through something, and you know, that they got this or they might have it, give them a chance, you know, say, you know, do you really, I see that you're, you know, working hard at this, I think maybe you're doing it for the wrong way, or going a long way around what could be a short way, you know, but if you really feel this, you know, go ahead and do it. That can be a tricky one, though. Because if, if you have two people that think they're right about something, it can be, it can be hard. I mean, you know, it's, I guess it's hard to know how to answer that question you know, you have to, first of all, you know, is it worth having them there? You know, do they know what they're doing? Because it could be that they don't, maybe it's not a good fit, you know, but, but giving somebody a chance, I think is the best thing you can do.

54:22 Rob Konrad

Okay. I understand. So what's next for you? What's next for the backwards man? Backwards Dude, I'm sorry.

54:29 John Austin

I'm starting to step into the in front of the camera instead of behind the camera. And I've been told by producers that the camera likes me and that I got a good look. And I'll be in my first TV commercial next year for Insurance King. It's here in the States, of course, and it's Midwest. So it's local to Midwest and I'll be with Dustin Diamond from Saved by the Bell. He played Screech. That's going to be fun. There's the possibility of being on America's Got Talent because they asked me to audition for them here in Charlotte. And when I went to the audition, they had camera crew follow me around for a bit. And they also had me go back into the audition twice. So that's one thing. I don't know if I'll get on or not but I'll know around Spring but even if I don't, things are really starting to happen and you know hopefully with doing the TV commercial I'm also on the radio about once a month here in Charlotte's and so things are just starting to pop. I'll probably continue editing because I enjoy it and do commercials, do commercials on the side. Who knows? You know, maybe maybe do the voice of a character in a movie or something. That would be nice. Yeah backwards voice.

55:52 Rob Konrad

I noticed the same thing you were that's why I was initially so no, confuse is the wrong word but I was surprised to hear that you're like on the autism spectrum because when you look at your YouTube videos, and you like you talk on camera like a regular dude. I mean, it's like, yes, he's talking backwards but I wouldn't ever expect that, you know, you have some sort of autism, you're on the autism scale, but this way, and you're really a natural in front of the camera and it's, that's what I noticed as well.

56:23 John Austin

Yeah, yeah, that that's what producers are noticing and so I'm, I'm thankful for that. Um, I know when to turn that stuff off. And even as a kid, you know, I knew that I was being erratic in some of my behavior, but I thought people will get it, you know, that they'll, they'll get it, they, they know that I'm not being serious when I do this, but they they just did not know that. I've got tape recordings of myself from when I was five and six years old. And let me tell you what, it's pretty out there. It's pretty erratic, or if you're dealing with, you're listening to a child, but when that's you, you know, it kind of changes everything. It's like is there anything wrong with me there? You know, but when I look at other five, six year olds, today, they're a lot more calm than I was. And I know my peers back then were a lot more calm and more focused than I was. I was just all over the place and you know, trying to turn fans on in people's homes and pull out the vacuum cleaners you know, pull out the film projector at school even if we weren't sure because back when I was in school they had the actual reels film and I was mesmerized by that, you know, and I would pull this that out, and, you know, and the teachers would be upset, you know. It's just, yeah, you know, I've come a long way. So you wouldn't be able to tell it at this point.

57:46 Rob Konrad

Okay. Okay. So where can people learn more about you, where can they watch more videos, you have a YouTube channel?

57:52 John Austin

I have a YouTube channel it's called Backwords, Dude. And it spelled different. It's Backwords dude, and you can go there on YouTube and watch my videos, you can send me requests. And if they're lucky, I might do their request. I've got tons of requests coming in all the time of things to say, or to teach somebody how to say, you know, I'm always grateful and, you know, down for teaching people how to say something backwards, like their name, or something like people requesting me say things in a foreign language, which I can do as long as I can say it forward and if it's short enough, I can say it backwards. So it's, yeah, that's how they can.

58:35 Rob Konrad

Yeah, we are going to put the link in the description and make sure that everyone can have a look at it. And definitely check out the YouTube channel there's some amazing stuff up there and really, it's really entertaining, it's really a fascinating to see you do all these requests, definitely. And you're also working on website. What's the address going to be? It's not finished yet you said?

58:56 John Austin

It would be backwordsdude.com. Yeah.

59:02 Rob Konrad

Okay we're going to also put that in description. Awesome. And I have two last questions but before that, so how much woods and so on and so on. How does that work backwards?

59:10 John Austin

How much wood could a wood chuck chuck? Okay, I'll do it. It sounds really freakish. Here we go with the backwards app – do cash the cash do a bit guys dust don't. Dumb woh. Doesn't that sound crazy?

59:31 Rob Konrad

Yeah, it sounds backwards.

59:34 John Austin

Chuck, chuck if a wood chuck would chuck wood. The amazing thing about that is, it's still backwards but you can understand it, you know.

59:47 Rob Konrad

Yeah, awesome. Hey, I know you got to run for well, New Year's Eve dinner so I don't want to keep you too long. I have two last questions that I'm always asking anyone I've been talking to. And the first question is, you know, this is a series of interviews with extraordinary people and who is someone that you consider extraordinary who has inspired you or is inspirational or does something extraordinary or you know, takes this world to next level. Any, anyone that comes to mind?

1:00:18 John Austin

Absolutely. Two guys that have a show called Good Mythical Morning – Rhett and Link and it was through watching their YouTube channel that I started and this is before I was diagnosed with anything. And I realized that, you know, they had my same kind of comedy and, and the same kind of, I don't know, the way of doing things that I do. They even made a backwards video and did a very, very good job job. They wrote a song about 600 or using 600 pillows. And they did the whole thing backwards. And I did not even discover that when I first started watching them. I discovered it years later and I thought, no wonder I like these guys. And so they wound up putting one of my intros on their show because I sent it in backwards. And they, used it and, you know, they didn't tell me, but, you know, they've got so much going on. They don't have, you know, they figured well, you know, he'll catch it when he sees it. And so, I was really, really honored that they did that. And I feel that we need people like that, you know, they helped me to step out and do my own thing and they always say, be your mythical best. Well, I'm being my mythical best with my backwards talk.

1:01:32 Rob Konrad

Okay. Okay. That's awesome. And the last question that I have is been and I want to close the conversation with that, Jesus never happened to me. Well, what's, what's one last question? Um,

1:01:52 John Austin

Something about how I want to leave my mark on the world. Or?

1:01:58 Rob Konrad

Oh, yeah, yeah, sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Yeah.

1:01:59 John Austin

Oh, what do I want to contribute or something?

1:02:01 Rob Konrad

Yeah, sorry I'm getting I'm getting tired, sorry yeah. So last question I always asking is, what's your message to anyone who's watching this? Or who's listening to this video? What's your message to the world?

1:02:16 John Austin

Well, my message would be to be accepting and patient with one another, and to not be too quick to put somebody down.

1:02:26 Rob Konrad

Okay.

1:02:27 John Austin

That's my message.

1:02:28 Rob Konrad

That's wonderful. John Austin, the backwards dude, thank you so much. Go watch this channel. It's amazing and yeah, have a happy new year, and we'll be in touch.

1:02:40 John Austin

All right. Happy New Year to you as well.

1:02:43 Rob Konrad

What's happening to your backwards?

1:02:45 John Austin

Raeywenyppah.

1:02:47 Rob Konrad

Wonderful.

1:02:48 John Austin

Raeywenyppah.

1:02:50 Rob Konrad

Cheers.

1:02:51 John Austin

Cheers.

1:02:52 Rob Konrad

Bye bye.

1:02:53 John Austin

Bye.

1:02:54 Rob Konrad

Perfect Thank you.

1:02:55 John Austin

All right. Awesome.

1:02:57 Rob Konrad

I never lost track of that part, it's strange. Well, it was okay?

1:03:03 John Austin

Yeah, yeah, I liked it. In your intro you said, I learned it when I was 36 learned was Asperger's and 46.

1:03:12 Rob Konrad

Sorry, I thought you were just, I really didn't think you were 48th.

1:03:18 John Austin

Yeah, yeah, I'll be turning 49 next month and so by this time, next year, I'll be hitting 50. Well, yeah, I can't believe and nobody that I know, can be believe that. But, you know, I think that that's a gift, you know, the good good genes run in my family on both sides. And it seems like I've got the best of both. I have got great health and, you know, great, you know, youthful looks.

1:03:45 Rob Konrad

Absolutely. Yeah, that's, that's crazy.

1:03:46 John Austin

It has, it's, it's got a negative impact with people and not not too much but I have a tendency to run into people who, are around my age who don't like that, and so then I start getting, I get a little bit of grief and, you know, what is it you know, tease not not teased, but a lot of negativity about it, it always, that is always indicative to me that they have a problem with themselves. And it goes back to the days in school, you know, when somebody would tease me or I've had somebody at work, give me a lot of trouble over nothing. It's really more about them than anything else. I'm grateful that I don't have too many of those people in my life right now. I have a tendency to, to run with a very young crowd because of this and that's another thing that drives these people crazy, but I've never, I've never been married, I don't have children and so it just works you know.

1:04:05 John Austin

Yeah, I understand, okay. okay. How did that change? I mean, you, you've been you know, had a tendency to be with older people now you're, you're like the opposite?

1:04:59 John Austin

Yes, it's the opposite end of the spectrum for me, you know. This is what I noticed, when I went to school. I noticed that the kids that I was in school with were a lot like my mentor and my brothers because they were as old as their children. And so my, my older siblings, 16 years older and 23 years older, had kids around the same age, if not a little older, you know, than my classmates. I could see similarities in them, in the in the way they looked, in the way the types of things that they liked. And then I also noticed they liked a lot of the same music that their parents liked. My music's always been classical music. I've never been into popular music and so I for the first time got to hear Journey and I got to hear, you know, more Led Zeppelin and things like that. And then more of today's bands, you know, like the Shins or Broken Bells or something like that and so I've got a very wide palette when it comes to music, because of the different age ranges that I've been with in my life. I go all the way from 1940s jazz on up to Band of Horses and, and on beyond that. So you know, it's in classical, Beethoven, Bach, Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky, you know, the Masters, especially the French masters, like Debussy band Ravel. I think it's a little different, too. And why would you not do that I mean, you know, I think younger, you should sit at the feet of wisdom you know, yeah, you learn so much by doing that. And then, you know, for me, it just made sense to go to school later and so then, you, kind of absorb what you've missed and then you wind up getting a little more culturally with with newer music and a newer,newer generation, you know, because regardless, you know, we're all moving forward, we're all doing this together. And I think it's better to be relatable, you know, in the workplace and that's one thing that this makes me, it's relatable.

1:07:13 Rob Konrad

Yeah, yeah, cool. Hey, so I don't keep it longer and you said you need to run at quarter past so I think we're pretty well in time so yeah, thanks again for doing this really appreciate it. I really really enjoyed it and definitely hope we'll stay in touch and so as I said the _____going to be launched around the end of January. I'll let you know beforehand. I'll send you a link to everything I mean, you could in theory, if you have any ideas how to edit this in a special way?

1:07:47 John Austin

Are you recording on that camera at 60 frames per second like you said?

1:07:51 Rob Konrad

Yep,

1:07:52 John Austin

Okay. Is that the camera that you're that you're that I'm seeing right now?

1:07:56 Rob Konrad

Exactly. Yes.

1:07:57 John Austin

It is. Okay.

1:07:58 Rob Konrad

Yeah, you're probably you're thinking through zoom so I guess zoom is just dumping it down to whatever but but yeah, 60 P Yeah. Okay,

1:08:10 John Austin

I've got my GoPro here and it's filming from this angle over here.

1:08:15 Rob Konrad

Cool.

1:08:17 John Austin

It should work, it should work.

1:08:21 Rob Konrad

Yeah maybe if you could send me just the raw material and then I can we can see how

1:08:26 John Austin

What's the best way to get it to you because I'm afraid the file size might be too big?

1:08:31 Rob Konrad

How big is going to be?

1:08:33 John Austin

I don't know it's probably going to be a few gigs.

1:08:36 Rob Konrad

A few gigs.

1:08:37 John Austin

I can send it to you via Google Drive but I'll try Google Drive first.

1:08:45 Rob Konrad

Google Drive, we transfer would be an option or FTP just plain old FTP.

1:08:51 John Austin

Do you have an FTP site?

1:08:53 Rob Konrad

I can I can set it up yeah.

1:08:55 John Austin

Okay. Send me the link and I'll just upload it to you that way I get my audio as well so I'm on.

1:09:04 Rob Konrad

That'll be cool yeah, but but I'm going to stop the Zen caster thing here. If you could keep the window open for a few more minutes because it's like uploading the wav it's going to take yeah, probably 3,4,5 minutes just keep it open so that can just upload it to wav file otherwise going to interrupt that, that would be cool. Yeah I'm going to send you the FTP and then yeah, let's let's take it from there.

1:09:32 John Austin

Nice.

1:09:34 Rob Konrad

Yeah, I really enjoyed it hey, so thank you very much and then that well, happy new year and thank you for doing this today.

1:09:39 John Austin

Yeah, absolutely. This was cool.

1:09:42 Rob Konrad

I really love this and yeah, I hope we'll stay in touch and we'll know we'll see we'll be in touch anyway regarding this but …

1:09:49 John Austin

Right right right I know you had sent an email about wanting me to do freelance editing for you. The only thing I can't right now because of the workload that I've got the time, plus the Backwords Dude stuff. But you know if I leave that job or anytime soon then maybe we could talk you know.

1:10:14 Rob Konrad

Yeah I mean just let me know I mean it's just something you never know and sometimes just a new new new corporations opening up for these things so that would be nice. Hey, once again John I thank you so much. was really a pleasure and Happy New Year.

1:10:33 John Austin

Happy New Year to you.

1:10:33 Rob Konrad

And in 2019 then.

1:10:36 John Austin

Exactly.

1:10:37 Rob Konrad

Wonderful. And I'm just getting the message that Zen caster is actually, oh no, it's done on my end. Sorry, it's 30% in your end so, a few more minutes, just keep it open. I think it's a little status thingy it would be great. You can you can just leave it running and don't need to watch it actually.

1:10:55 John Austin

Okay.

1:10:56 Rob Konrad

Perfect. Okay, cool. Thank you. And yeah, have a great one. Bye bye.

1:11:01 John Austin

Yeah, too as well.

1:11:03 Rob Konrad

Cheers. Bye bye.

1:11:05 John Austin

Bye. See you. Goodbye.