Comedy, Cancer, and Kicking Ass – Woody Roseland Speaks

[00:00:00] Now on the AMPD UP211 Podcast, Woody Roseland. He's an entrepreneur, filmmaker, endurance athlete, keynote speaker, and oh yeah, a cancer survivor eight times over. At 17, Woody was a high school football player with big dreams until a rare bone cancer changed everything, eventually leading to the amputation of his left leg. But if you think that slowed him down, think again.

[00:00:23] Woody turned adversity into fuel, built a creative empire, tackled endurance sports as an amputee, and now uses his story to inspire audiences worldwide. So sit back, turn it up, and let's get AMPD UP with Woody Roseland.

[00:00:45] This is the AMPD UP211 Podcast. My name is Rick Bontkowski, the host. However, I would just like to turn it over to my friend Woody here. Woody, would you please? Thank you, Rick. Thanks for having me on. And I'm going to start this episode with a little rant.

[00:01:00] To give people, I feel like sometimes you're listening to a podcast and you don't know the person at all, and you're like, is this worth the next hour of my life? So I'm just going to dive right in. I'm not going to start with like, you know, generic backstory. I'm going to start with something that's making me angry right now. All right. So I've had a little bit of problems with my prosthetic leg recently, and I took it into the office, and they're like, oh, you actually qualify for a new prosthetic leg.

[00:01:28] And I was like, cool. Let's check out what the market has in prosthetic legs in 2025. And the prosthetic leg industry's lack of attention to aesthetics is so annoying to me. When I'm wearing shorts, my prosthetic leg is my loudest fashion accessory that I have.

[00:01:53] I could be wearing a clown nose, and it wouldn't be as loud of an item as my prosthetic leg is. Right. And yet, year after year after year, there's just no thought put into how the leg actually looks. Like, for instance, my prosthetic said, you know, here's a leg. It's got a bunch of good new features.

[00:02:15] But they didn't have any option for like a case that gives it the silhouette of a leg all the way down to the ankle. And he's like, well, I can make you like a foam tube for your leg. And I was like, I don't want to be wearing a foam tube around my leg every day. I don't want to show up in the world with a handmade foam tube. It's like one of those pool noodles, you know, that the kids use.

[00:02:44] Exactly. I'm like, come on. Like, this is, you know, like, it's also like such a fun design opportunity to create something interesting to, you know, embrace the medium of like, it's not a real leg. Like, how can we like take that brief and do something interesting with it?

[00:03:06] And, but yet, time and time again, it's just like they see it as a medical device over anything else. And they design it in the same way they design a shower chair for elderly people. This is true.

[00:03:23] Shower chairs, which, you know, I happen to use on occasion, are definitely not something that I would ever imagine Architectural Digest would be interested in doing a photo shoot of. They are definitely not attractive. Sort of a very utility kind of, let's just tuck this away somewhere so no one can see it kind of situation. But. 100%.

[00:03:51] You know, I want to echo what you're saying because I agree in that it is, at least in the summer months here, it makes a big statement because it's out there. And I would as well hope that as we evolve in this community, that more innovation in that design piece gets utilized.

[00:04:20] And not necessarily always that it has to be lifelike. Because I know in certain cultures, at least my prosthesis has told me, in certain cultures, let's say the Hispanic community, for example, he has a number of patients that do want a leg that is very lifelike. And when I say lifelike. I mean, down to skin tone, painted hairs. Yeah.

[00:04:50] That match their, you know, their other leg. So there's sort of this focus on, I really need this to look lifelike. But also in the utility sense of coming up with something that, you know, is innovative in design, isn't so mechanical looking.

[00:05:11] I tend to see a lot of AKs in that situation where the prosthesis becomes just, and I'm not saying it's, for some people it's not cool because some people like that look. But sometimes they look very robotic. And that may not necessarily be the intention that you're going for, especially if you're kind of fashion forward in thinking.

[00:05:40] And you're like, well, this, like any other accessory, right? This really doesn't go with me or what I'm wearing or I just don't feel comfortable in this situation. So I do think there needs to be more thought put into that. And definitely not just in the, hey, we'll wrap some foam on it and just make that.

[00:06:10] It's such a huge opportunity. And I think, I don't know, I've always had this thought that the, like, it's kind of a tough market because there's just not a ton of amputees, you know? So the incentives for designing a, well, you know, like there's not a huge payoff if you really nail it because it is just a smaller community. Yeah.

[00:06:36] There isn't going to be like a volume order of, you know, 50,000 units of those. Yeah. Yeah. It's not an iPhone that, you know, you can ship far and wide, you know? Exactly. Do you know, like, what is the number of amputees in the world or amputees in the United States? Do you know? We're going to find out right now. Because it's like, what, 300, okay, could we, could we make predictions? 330 million people in the U.S. Now you probably already know this and now you're going to show off.

[00:07:05] It's probably like, what, one out of every hundred thousand? So what, 10 per mil? So then that's three, no, I don't know if that's right. 330 million. Well. I mean, it's 700 amputees. That's wrong.

[00:07:25] According to Google, over 57.7 million people worldwide live with limb amputation. Okay. So we're getting close to 60 million. Okay. I mean, that's certainly a big audience. However, you and I both know that in many, many underserved parts of the world, getting

[00:07:54] access to the types of technology that you and I are fortunate enough to engage is pretty difficult. So I know a lot of people as well. I'm sure you do. In the space of, hey, we, you know, we go out to these countries and we repurpose the prosthetics, the feet, the ankles, the sockets that essentially get tossed.

[00:08:22] And, you know, my prosthetist, Dave Rotter, and like some of the people over at the Range of Motion Project, good example. They harvest lots of parts, they harvest lots of parts, pieces. And you know what, man? They go out to those places, those far off places in the world, and they repurpose them.

[00:08:45] They figure out a way to repurpose those tossed pieces of technology for people that just don't have access to any of this stuff. And that is, to me, is just such an incredible endeavor and such an answer to a call to action,

[00:09:09] which I know you've spoken about, because being a cancer survivor and, you know, I've spent the last week doing a deeper dive on Woody, sort of, you know, digitally stalking you, let's say, looking at your blog. And I think I watched your TED Talk maybe three times.

[00:09:37] And, I mean, the thing I really like about the way that you sort of project these ideas, first of all, is the comedic piece. Incredibly funny guy. And you do a great job of sort of balancing the severity of a situation, cancer, amputation,

[00:10:03] trauma, but also being able to pepper comedy. And, you know, a one-liner or a zinger or something that sort of, you know, de-escalates a bit for an audience. Like, holy shit, this is like heavy stuff. But man, that was funny. That was really funny, right?

[00:10:28] Because it's that sort of tightrope that sometimes we walk as people that have gone through a trauma or gone through illness. You know, you're someone that survived cancer eight times. Do I have that right? Yeah. Which, you know, people think about cancer and they're like, okay, yeah, it's this terrible thing.

[00:10:53] You know, everyone's got their mantra, you know, you know, F cancer, cancer sucks, you know, all that stuff. And to meet someone that has revisited death's door that many times, it's pretty extraordinary. I mean, it's pretty extraordinary. And the thing I really appreciated about your TED Talk was, you know, that whole you are here

[00:11:20] concept that, you know, I'm here. What am I going to do with that? I'm here. I survived. And I can only relate in the sense of, you know, I was sick for four years. I went through a transplant. I lost my leg. There was many times, as I'm sure for you too, where the, you know, your team, let's

[00:11:50] call it, you know, we all got our team, you know, all those smart minds in the hallway going, oh shit, this ain't going to work out. How are we going to tell them? How are we going to tell them to get his affairs in order? You know, visiting that conversation over and over again, managing feelings about your mortality, it really does turn some screws.

[00:12:20] And the question becomes, who are we on the other side of that? And I think the humor piece is important, but I also like sort of your, your defiance in terms of like, yeah, this, this negative energy, I'm not having that, you know, where does that, where do you think that comes from?

[00:12:49] I mean, I don't know. I, since I've had my leg amputated, I feel like met a lot of people, talked to a lot of people, and I kind of feel like once you get to level 10 of trauma and pain and loss and difficulty, it like, it's kind of all the same, you know, and it like, it can go up to a thousand,

[00:13:12] but once you reach level 10, you're all kind of in the same boat, you know, with someone who lost a parent or someone who lost a child or, you know, someone who's, I don't know, I feel like it's as, as difficult as my amputation process was, like, I'm not that unique in that I dealt with pain and difficulty.

[00:13:35] And so I feel like, I don't know, some people, you know, might put their pain on this pedestal of like, I have suffered more than anyone else, but kind of the feeling of like, I don't know, man, I've had, I've had worse days, you know, like, you know, like, just when you're living a regular life and something happens where expectation and reality are not in sync, and that difficulty of dealing

[00:14:04] with that, like, I, that, I've had moments like that that are worse than my amputation, you know, like, I kind of expected my amputation after having cancer for three, four years. And so to me, it's like, okay, yes, the, the thing is bad. Let's, let's give the, the, you know, the moment, the weight it deserves that I lost my leg and I hit cancer. And that's very sad and very difficult.

[00:14:27] But still, like, there is, like, to me, that's a boring conversation of like, let's have pity and sadness. And it's like, okay, sure, there's a moment for that. But then what are you doing afterwards? What is the, you know, the next move? And honestly, I have, I kind of have this theory that trauma is the secret sauce to make someone interesting. That if you meet someone that's had

[00:14:53] too chill of a life, they're just like a very boring person. But the more trauma someone has, you're like, oh, you got, you got some stuff going on and you have some perspective and you're kind of dark and, you know, that's, that's where the fun stuff is. Like, that's life. That's real of, you know, we're all hurting. We're all doing our best to figure it out and to, to lean into that side

[00:15:20] of things of like, okay, yeah, like this is, this is just life. Yeah. I really, really appreciate that concept because there's such a depth of experience that you go through when you deal with trauma. There is such a unbelievable amount of not only,

[00:15:42] you know, processing, reflection, but recalibration that occurs on the back end of it, where you really end up not just seeing the world in a different way, but you discover yourself in a way that you would never have experienced had you not gone through

[00:16:08] that. Because yes, on the good days, when things going great, you know, no one's dying, you know, everyone's getting fed. Everyone has a roof over their head. Career's growing. All is well. I mean, I consider that to be, you know, kind of an interesting, you're just kind of coasting.

[00:16:33] You're just sort of status quo. Everything is ho-hum. But man, when tragedy strikes, when illness arrives, when the grim reaper comes calling, it's like, whoa, okay. Time to really, really do a deep dive

[00:16:55] on me. Who am I? Like, what's going on here? What's my, you know, how am I going to navigate this? And if this is my moment, what's my legacy? Have I done the things I wanted to do? What's left to do? If given another chance, what will I change? I mean, there's so much to it that it just kind of erupts

[00:17:24] like a volcano. And, you know, reading about your story and reflecting on being told, you know, it's back, it's back, it's back. I mean, at what point in that process of, you know, revisiting cancer,

[00:17:48] were you just like, like, like, really? Are you kidding me? Like, like, like WTF, man? Like, what, what is going on? Yeah, it's a good question. I mean, in hindsight, it's easier to, like, it, it looks more extreme and absurd than I think it felt in the moment. Like, you know,

[00:18:13] when you hear eight-time cancer survivors, like, that's, that is a lot. But in the day-to-day of it, it was, it was always just one more, you know, it's like fast and furious, you know, one more job, you know, we just, we got to do one more round of treatment, one more surgery, and everyone's feeling pretty good about it. And so that's kind of how it was for just years and years. And,

[00:18:39] you know, I was diagnosed at this interesting inflection point where I was 17 years when I was diagnosed. And so still a kid, still living at home. And I had it until I was, you know, 23, I think. And so, you know, that transition from child at home with parents to independent adult in the world. And so kind of throughout all of it was just this, you know, little constant side quest

[00:19:07] I had of ducking into the hospital. And, you know, it's, it might sound bad to say, but there was something about it that was kind of familiar and comforting and nice. And I had a fun time at the hospital. I had, I liked my nurses. I had my routine. I knew the drugs I liked, you know, I'd go in, I'd be like, yo, give me that IV Benadryl, like, let's go. And, you know, it was like,

[00:19:34] it, it kind of was this process that felt natural and this place I could just go to. And there were, you know, always kind of nonprofits in the mix who were like, hey, you want to go to a Broncos game? You want to, you know, go on this trip? Do you want some money? And so it was like, there was part of it that was, you know, just kind of this little second community that I had as I'm navigating that

[00:20:02] transition from childhood to adulthood. But I think, you know, the amputation was like, oh, this is very serious. This is, you know, this is, this is a big deal. Because before then it was like, you know, I, I'm a sponge for attention. And, you know, you, you're the kid with cancer. And all of a sudden, you know, everyone's like, oh, cancer. Oh my God. So it was like, you know, but then I lost

[00:20:29] the leg. I was like, okay, this is bad. And then we started running out of treatment options. Because, you know, chemotherapy, it's kind of like an antibiotic that once you do one, you can't really do it again, because it's built up a resistance to it. So, you know, by five, six, seven times, they're kind of scraping the bottom of the barrel of treatment options. And so I remember

[00:20:53] I did this, this kind of coast to coast trip where I was looking for drug trials, and going to different hospitals and seeing different possible options. And that's where I ended up finding, I went to the Baylor School of Medicine in Houston, Texas, and they had this immunotherapy drug trial that was showing

[00:21:19] promising results. It's funny, I remember, I met with the doctor, and he's showing me all these slides in mice, where he's like, I had this mouse had this much cancer, and then like, none cancer. And I was like, wow, you know, that's, that's pretty good. I was like, how many people have done this? Well, 27. You're like, oh, and how are they doing? How are they? Yeah, how are the humans? He's like,

[00:21:47] some of them are doing great. And you're like, cool, some of 27 are doing great. Oh, man. But you know, it wasn't a lot of good options. And honestly, like the program looked really impressive. And so ended up going with that. And it saved my life. And that's why I'm sitting here chatting with you today, because there was funding for that program, and people were donating to cancer research, and there were federal research grants that were happening. So yeah, I lucked out

[00:22:17] in my journey that there were enough options to just keep me going. Like, when I talk to people who have been re-diagnosed, I'm like, yo, just, just stay alive and keep trying things, because there's a lot of stuff out there, and you just need one to work. So like, you may be depressed, you may be like, I'm so sick of having cancer. But if you can find that one treatment that works, then you're good. And

[00:22:46] so I was super fortunate. And yeah, that's why I'm sitting here today chatting with you, Rick. Yeah, that's, I mean, talk about a Hail Mary pass. I mean, that was, that's pretty extraordinary set of circumstances. And going back to what you said before about, you know, joking around, people gravitating towards you based on your humor, and you enjoying,

[00:23:12] you know, sort of the medical community around you. I would imagine that when people met you, and seeing how you were in some way embracing your situation, and trying to make the best of it, right? Because I've seen some of your video blog where, I mean, dude, you make like cancer look

[00:23:41] like kind of fun. Like it's, it's funny. I mean, some, some of the stuff is just funny. You're like, oh, here are the typical reactions of a cancer patient. And it's like all these things that you like go through, you know, I'm cold, I'm hot, I'm this, I'm that, all this stuff. And I'm thinking, this is crazy. Like this guy is, I mean, he's, he's on the verge of, you know, destruction.

[00:24:08] And he's finding the funny. He's finding the funny. And I would think people would see that in you. You know, you're mentioning like, hey, you want to go on this trip? Or, you know, you want to take part in this thing we're doing? To go, this is, this is the kind of person, this is the type of

[00:24:29] energy that we need in this community. Because you went from, you know, and still remain in sort of this, you know, cancer survivor space, right? And now you're also playing double duty, because

[00:24:50] now you're in the amputee space as well. And negativity is, it's a very, very, in some ways, an immovable reality at times in the community. And I will say, given through my own personal lens,

[00:25:16] with the podcast, with the people I meet and interact with, Woody, it's hard to dig some of these people out. I mean, it's tough, man. Yeah. Can I talk to you about a personal inspiration of mine? Absolutely. Are you familiar with the story of Frida Kahlo? No.

[00:25:38] So, Frida Kahlo, famous Mexican artist. So, she was born in Mexico City. And when she was 16 years old, she got in this bus accident. A bus and a city tram smashed into each other. And the list of her injuries is horrific. It's like she was, her uterus was punctured by a still pole. She broke her back.

[00:26:04] She shattered her pelvis in four places. She broke her shoulder. Her, you know, her femur was fractured in five. It's this crazy list of things that happened to her. And the rest of her life, she lived with pain. It was just a part of her existence. And she spent long stretches of her life

[00:26:25] in, you know, hospital beds or on bed rest. And this was in like the 1930s, you know? Maybe even earlier than that. No, I think it was like 19, like 1915, 1920s. And so, she lived her whole life in pain. She could never escape pain for her entire life. And yet, she created, she was a prolific artist.

[00:26:53] She was opinionated. She joined all sorts of political movements. She was like meeting with all these, like communists were fleeing Russia and coming to Mexico City. And she just like lived this incredible life despite the pain. And I think when I think about my life and being an amputee, there is this acknowledgement that I am going to have more pain in my life than I probably want.

[00:27:19] And there are going to be moments in my life where the pain and the difficulty is in direct conflict with me enjoying my life. Like I've had moments where my wife and I've gone on vacation and something just happens with the change in pressure or altitude or whatever. And I land in a city and my leg just doesn't fit right. And it's like, cool, I'm on vacation.

[00:27:43] And my leg hurts. And it's tough to walk. And just this kind of acceptance of that difficulty that like, you know, when you're playing a video game, you choose like what mode are you playing it on? It's like you just, you're just playing it on hard mode. And like, there's no getting rid of that. But that's okay, because you can still do all these things. There's still so much possible.

[00:28:13] You just have to like, kind of accept the difficulty that's coming. And, you know, I think I think some people are kind of caught in that, you know, I was living like a pain free, easy life. And now I'm not upset. And I'm really upset at that. And so when I deal with the pain, I have this resentment towards it. Instead of this, like, nah, man, let the let the pain wash over you that this is just, this is

[00:28:42] just like, you just have a new operating system on your computer that you're using. And it is it is pain OS. But that doesn't mean that doesn't mean that your goals or your wants in life have changed one percent, you know, it's like, you can still do everything. It just is, you kind of got to roll with it. It's funny, you mentioned the travel piece, because I've experienced that as well. And

[00:29:11] I've gotten off, you know, the plane and, you know, you're walking up the jetway and you're like, wait a minute, like something, something doesn't feel right. Yeah, it's a thing. And, you know, I'll look at my partner, Sarah and say, yeah, I think I, I think I need to reset. You know, she knows what that means. You know, I need a quick, quick trip to the bathroom so I can take

[00:29:37] off my leg and just sort of, you know, re, re, redawn my, my prosthesis, you know, take off my liner and give myself a moment, you know, for my leg to breathe, so to speak, and basically try again. And every once in a while that works, but most of the time it doesn't.

[00:30:02] And I do agree that there is a certain level of acceptance that's necessary to stay present in the good and to remain in that space of grace and appreciation for, hey, I'm traveling. There are people that can't travel. There are people that are disabled to a point where they

[00:30:30] can or don't have the financial resources so they can't. I'm here. And that makes me very, very fortunate. And, you know, tomorrow's another day because I always tell newer amputees what you're going to see over time, hopefully, if you commit yourself, there's good days and

[00:30:57] there's bad days. And brand new baby bird amputees, unfortunately, tend to have a lot of bad days. You're still figuring it out, whether that's your prosthesis, whether that's management of your limb. You're learning the tricks of the trade. You're a sponge. You're trying to get it all right. You're trying to find the secret sauce. And as that progresses and evolves, and hopefully,

[00:31:26] you engage and become active and mobile, some of those bad days become better days. And hopefully, over the passage of time, your bad days are fewer than the good days. And I know, you know, you come from, you know, being an athlete and continue to push yourself in that space.

[00:31:54] What were some of the bigger challenges that you faced, you know, being athletic and wanting to pursue things that tested your body in that way? What would you say were the challenging moments, you know, for you on that part? Yeah, I mean, I think you touched on it. The whole kind of,

[00:32:17] yeah, the full first year for me was real difficult. Kind of figuring out the leg. I mean, for me, I love biking. Biking has been huge for me because it's low impact. You know, I feel like I'm really cautious about my good knee. Like, I don't want to, you know, people are like, oh, you can do the one leg ski or the, and I'm like, I don't know, man. I'm going to throw myself

[00:32:44] down a mountain and mess up my, my, my good leg. Like I joke around that my, my good leg is like a single mom, you know, that like she gets, she does twice the work and gets half the credit. And I'm like, no, man, I'm protecting, I'm protecting this leg. I have never heard that before. It's hysterical. My good leg is the single mom. Yeah, she, she working. Um, and so, yeah, just like the,

[00:33:11] the biking has been great for me because, you know, like, I think that movement, that's something I miss as an amputee, just that freedom of movement, you know, like, I feel like sometimes I'll be at the park with friends and I'll, you know, see someone like play catch and the ball, the ball goes off into the distance, just the ease to like gently jog over and grab the ball. I feel like that's what I miss when I'm like, Oh, just that. Like, let me do it. I'll grab it, you know? And the bike kind

[00:33:40] of gives that to me where I can be, I can be athletic. I can, you know, take some risks. Like this might sound bad. One thing I love, I love like riding my bike in traffic, but like, you know, I'm smart about it, but also just that feeling of like, okay, I'm competent and I'm powerful and I'm like owning my space and I'm like, I'm signaling, I'm coming over, you know? And like, just that

[00:34:04] ability of like, I am keeping up with traffic. I am signaling to everyone I'm moving. Um, you know? And so that, that's been really helpful for me to your, to your question about what are the, the low points and the difficulties. Uh, I mean, I think it's just the, like you said, the bad days when you're, you know, when, when, when the legs not fitting and you just,

[00:34:33] there's such a tax on movement with the pain. And, you know, like when I first had my leg amputated, I was living in downtown Denver and the closest parking garage was four blocks away. And so there'd be times where I needed groceries, I needed to leave the house, but my car was this like monumental distance away. I'm like, man, I gotta walk four blocks to get my car, then do the thing. Then when

[00:35:02] I come back, I gotta walk four more blocks. And so I just kind of hermited myself away, uh, during that chapter of my life because the, the tax on movement was so high. Yeah. I know what you're saying. It's, uh, when you say ease of movement, just that simple being able to jog over to get something. And I found as a new, newer amputee as well,

[00:35:30] that everything I did was so planned out. There was so much pre-thought, so much planning. Hey, you want a muse for dinner? Uh, okay. I'd find myself Googling like the restaurant, trying to figure out like through Google maps, like, okay, what's the exterior of the building

[00:35:55] look like? How do I get in there? You know, how am I going to access? How am I getting in and out? Or even entering an unfamiliar room and, you know, like a cyborg, like, you know, scanning the room where, where am I going? Where are the steps? Where are the hazards? Where are the people?

[00:36:17] You know, just everything in terms of that mental space required to navigate unfamiliarity or something, you know, uh, that seems challenging and sort of building a strategy, building the steps in order to get from point A to point B. And now that I'm, you know, seven years along

[00:36:46] as an amputee, it's such a pleasure that I do that so much less now, which is so nice. So being impromptu, being spontaneous with a friend, with a partner and just kind of, you know,

[00:37:07] going because when I'm a new amputee, I mean, just getting ready. It's like, oh shit. Uh, yeah, I, I need, I need, uh, an hour and a half to get, to put myself together, you know, figure, make sure I've got, you know, all my equipment and I'm fully showered and this and that, and my legs okay. And,

[00:37:33] but, you know, now it's such a, uh, it's such a pleasure because I can be more spontaneous now. And I don't feel that every aspect of my life requires such a tremendous amount of challenging. Obviously when you travel, yeah. Yeah. You know, there's, there's quite a bit of planning

[00:37:57] that goes into being an amputee, uh, because we do have some gear, so to speak. We have, we have, we have stuff that we sort of carry around, but I do find that over time, even that becomes just as every day is like a toothbrush or your shaving kit or, you know, whatever. It's just, these are the

[00:38:20] things that I need. And, um, if we have good support systems in our life, people that understand that, it, it makes it, you know, it makes it a lot easier where you don't feel that everyone's waiting on you. It's like, okay, well, you know, make sure you have everything you need. We want you to have a good time. So, um, I think support systems, you know, are super important as well. Um, you know, I was,

[00:38:49] uh, late last night, I was watching your YouTube channel and can you give me a little bit of, uh, a little bit of a narrative or backstory on that film that you made that's on your channel? Uh, the one in Portugal? When you were a kid. Oh, yeah. Uh, I would love to talk about

[00:39:16] the film my brothers and I made. That film was extraordinary. I mean, I watched the entire thing. And Woody, I found it very compelling. Uh, well, you know, I, I feel like I can't take too much credit because my brother was the director on that film. Um, but yeah, one Christmas,

[00:39:40] we had a home video camera and one Christmas we got the, um, what is it? The, uh, like the little box that you use to digitize, um, you know, those old cameras, you know, cause they didn't have SD cards that were shooting on tape. And so we got that. And then we had the original call of duty video

[00:40:06] game and we found in the file directory that, uh, they had all of the sound files. That's where you got, that's where you got some of the sound effects from. Yes. They had all the gun sounds. They had all the music tracks. They had all the ambiances. Yeah. You know, desert battlefield or, you know,

[00:40:30] the sound, the soundtrack was what kept me engaged. You know, which scene I thought was so genius. So, I mean, what kids come up with, let's make a movie about an assassination attempt on the president. And, you know, it's just talk about something I would never think of, especially at that age. I mean, in terms of the, the scripting, it was very well done. I mean, was it lacking of

[00:40:58] audio quality? Yeah. I mean, yeah. Says the podcaster. Yeah. I mean, you're, you know, I was struggling a couple of times to hear what someone had said and, you know, maybe their delivery wasn't perfect or, you know, you had a couple of scenes where this was like a full shadow in front of someone's face. You can't even see them. And that, to me, that, that added to the novelty that added to the authenticity of it,

[00:41:25] that these were just kids that made a movie. And I, I love the genius of, I don't know how you staged it, but you were coming off of a chopper, right? Yeah. So the strike team's like coming off the chopper and you shot it from behind. So you couldn't necessarily see like the actual aircraft, but you had the chopper sound. So you guys were like

[00:41:53] jumping off and I'm like, Oh my gosh, like they figured that out. Like they figured out how to make the viewer think, yeah, we're, we're, we're going in, man. Like we're, we're jumping off the chopper right now. That's so funny to hear. I feel like what I remember most from the process of making that movie with my brothers and neighborhood friends is that, you know, we would, we would have an idea for the scenes

[00:42:22] we were going to shoot that day. We'd spend all the time to get all the props and the fake guns and the fake blood and the people. And, um, you know, my brother would direct it and he was like the director and the filmer and the, uh, um, you know, cinematographer. Yeah. And he was the Spielberg, you know, we spent, he, he, he was, he was Spielberg and we would, we'd spend all day doing it.

[00:42:47] And then we'd bring it into the computer and we choose our very best clips and we'd line them up. And then we'd put the sound effects under the different little things. Then we put a song underneath the whole thing. And when we watched it, it was a real movie. And just that, the, that magical feeling of the intention and the music and the acting and the scenes.

[00:43:14] And it felt like something and it was something and it was like, we created a real thing. You did. And I feel like that's a lot of what I still do today. Cause I do for work, I do film and photography projects and that same feeling of it all coming together in the edit and the music hitting and the emotion hitting, it's still is such a satisfying process. So, and you know, because that's still a discipline and, and, and part of what you do,

[00:43:43] I mean, obviously creativity has been, you know, a big part of your life. Mm-hmm. I mean, it's, I always feel like, and maybe I'm a little biased cause I'm a musician, but I've always felt like creative people, at least the creative people in my orbit, always seem to be sort of like the highest performers, the people that are really, really doing like

[00:44:11] genius type stuff. They're, they're very forward thinking. They're, they're, you know, it's, it's not, it's not just about math and science. It's about, you know, the possibility of imagination and what you can do if you, you know, just dream it up. And I was very similar in that regard as a kid,

[00:44:34] we would, we would make, um, little mini movies and stuff, uh, not on, not on the level that you did, but, uh, the one we used to, we used to create these like custom songs as well. Well, we would take, yeah, we would take like little clips of popular music and we would like

[00:44:59] string them together, but we would also add like, like narration in it. Wow. So, you know, there'd be like a dialogue and then part of a song and then more dialogue and then part of a song. And it would kind of like create this original story from all of this sort of mashup of words and music and stuff. And, you know, like you're mentioning,

[00:45:27] we would, we would spend an enormous amount of time on this. Just, just digging deep into our creative mindset and saying, okay, we like why we need, why we were compelled to do this. I don't know, but we did. And, and then we went through this phase where we were doing, uh, this is when MTV

[00:45:50] first arrived. We were, we were doing these like, um, you know, like lip sync videos where, you know, you just play a song and then, you know, you know, people had, you know, like instruments and you do like a full blown video with like lights and all kinds of nonsense. But that was such a great outlet to just explore creativity and invest time into something where you'd end up with,

[00:46:18] like you mentioned, like something tangible. Like this is a thing, like we did this thing, right? And, uh, yeah, I also enjoyed that, uh, that video you created on, uh, on the Flamin' Hot, uh, uh, mac and cheese. That's really good. Thank you. Thank you. That's really good. That's really good. My masterpiece. Yeah. I was like, wow. And be honest now, how was it? Was it good?

[00:46:49] Okay. So for the viewers at home, the listeners at home, my, um, my contribution to the American culinary scene is, um, a Thanksgiving dish called Flamin' Hot Mac and Cheese. And kind of the, the broad strokes of it are, it's a indulgent, cheesy, cooked mac and cheese, but the big,

[00:47:14] the big three ingredients are, uh, Cotillac cheese, um, this Ethiopian spice called berberi. And the third one, what was the third? That was the third big ingredient. You dumped a lot of chili powder in there. Yeah. A lot of chili powder. Um, oh God, I'm forgetting the third big ingredient. But anyways, there was something that you,

[00:47:39] yeah, no, there was something you blended and then you poured in. Oh, it was the, uh, adobo, adobo chilies. There you go. Um, those are the big three and it's a, it's a really fun thing. To bring to Thanksgiving because Thanksgiving dishes usually aren't spicy. And this is, it actually has some good heat and it's really dumb. Like it's more, I joke that it's more kitsch

[00:48:04] than cuisine, you know? Yeah. And, uh, you know, it's a crowd favorite. And then you top it with, uh, with actual hot Cheetos and you bake it in the oven. And, um, I think it's good. I, in the process of making that video, I, I made it probably four times over the course of a month.

[00:48:28] And that's way too many times to eat hot Cheeto, to have like a whole, uh, casserole dish of hot Cheeto mac and cheese way, way too much. I really enjoyed the, the, the cutaway you did twice where it's like, here's Woody in the future reflecting on what I did, making recommendations like from the future. And I think the second one, I don't know, you look like you're on another planet or

[00:48:56] something. Yeah. I'm like, that's, I'm like, that's brilliant. It's just, just that little subtle, like, you know, poke you back kind of humor, which I, I, I really enjoyed. I got a kick out of that. Um, I wanted to ask you, uh, in terms of, you know, your amputee journey, I mean, what would the,

[00:49:20] uh, what advice, you know, would you give, you know, to someone that's either facing amputation or, you know, is a new amputee? Uh, that's a great question. I actually was, uh, I have a friend who I had, we had the same type of cancer back in the day. She's actually getting ready to have her leg amputated on March 5th. And so we were, we were hanging out the other day talking

[00:49:43] about it. Um, and I, I think, I think my message is that, you know, going back to the Frito-Calo thing, it is difficult. You are making this step up in pain and difficulty for your whole life, but that doesn't mean that, you know, your life has to be less enjoyable or, or that you can't

[00:50:07] achieve the things you want to. Um, and I think, you know, it's like, it is, it's all tangible, especially, especially for amputees in America. I'm like, there is, there is, um, um, you know, like the infrastructure here where there are clinics and you can get good legs. And,

[00:50:31] um, I think, you know, like I did this, uh, this trip to, uh, Central America for this amputee trip. And I met a bunch of, uh, Central American amputees and most of them were just on crutches, you know? And it's like, as, as an amputee in America, like you are, you are, you're still winning. I know you, it's easy to feel bad for yourself that you're the victim and that have been

[00:51:00] dealt this awful blow, which in some ways you have, but also like life moves on, you can move on, you can, you know, you can still claim a great life and you just have to be intentional about it and you have to want it and you have to, uh, you know, try and stay above the, you know, those kinds of lower feelings of resentment and anger that can, can bubble up from, from it.

[00:51:28] Yeah, no, that's, that's great advice. And, uh, you know, I'd recommend our entire audience to, uh, check out Woody Roseland, uh, check out his channels, check out his video blog. Um, really just a incredible story. And I so appreciate you, uh, spending time and, uh, I know we're not going to connect in person in, uh, in April, but, um, this is, this is just as good,

[00:51:56] man. Um, I, uh, I'm so happy that we're able to dedicate an episode, you know, to sharing your story, um, with our growing audience. So thank you so much. I appreciate you having, having me on. It means a lot. Oh, pleasure is all mine. Woody Roseland, my name is Rick Bonkowski. This is the Amped Up 211 podcast and I want to wish everyone health and happiness and we'll see you next time.