On Hold... the return

Well it sure as heck has bee a while. But for anyone who remembers the fact that once upon a time I used to host a podcast with my buddy Devon called On Hold.... well those days are back my friend. We got sidetracked by life midway through last year (around the same time this blog went on hiatus) and I was unfortunately unable to keep up the cast until now. On Hold is back! We'd made it to episode 96 if you can believe it, and now with Devon and me back on track, our goal is to make it to episode 100 at least. Past that who can say, for now though let's just rejoice in the bounty of Episode 97...

Thanks to all the fans out there We do it for you!

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where am I?

You may be saying to yourself, hey where the heck has Geoff been the past 3 or 4 days? Probably not, but maybe. I know I haven't blogged at all in a little while, but I'll tell you I've been quite busy online. If you'll go check out the fantastic newly redesigned On Hold... podcast website, you'll see what I mean.




I'm pretty happy with it so far. I'm now using a blogger template and FTPing the site from here, which makes things much much easier for me. I know there's still work to be done, but considering how much was involved in this changeover and how long I've been putting it off, I'm stoked that its for the most part done now. Please check it out and then go listen to my podcast ;)

Lates.

Amazon Unbox, Apple Showtime event

A couple quick things so far today.

my podcast On Hold... got a mentioned on one of the most famous podcasts in the world The Dawn and Drew Show. It was very exciting. For listeners, you'll know that in On Hold...ep024 we had a special guest star of Devon's roomie Laura on the show. Well ,she called into the D&D show and gave us a shout out along with her comment and they played it. Hooray for us! I don't really know if that would lead to more listeners, but hey its still cool. Obviously I don't know numbers, as that seems to be a closely guarded podcast secret, but I know that Dawn and Drew get somewhere in the range of 100 000 listeners per episode. We, don't quite get that... but maybe one day ;)

The Apple store is down right now. I'm hoping that means that after their press conference today well see some movies up for sale there.... more to come on that definitely.

This past week Amazon launched their service Amazon Unbox. I browsed through it and it seems fairly standard. They do have movies, both for rental ($3.99) or for purchase ($14.99+) but there are some really annoying restrictions on them. Seriously I mean it would probably work if you rolled out every movie for like $10. Its a friggin digital copy! I would never pay that much, especially considering I can only download it to two machines, then only to two portable devices from said machines. Yes they allow you to back it up, once. And then once it's burnt to dvd you can only play it on the same machine you downloaded it on. Basically its retarded. They did have a few tv shows on there that I hadn't seen on iTunes, notably Star Trek TOS, and Enterprise. They also had a few animes, Escaflowne, Gundam SEED, and Outlaw Star. However these anime cost a whopping $3.99 an episode! It's practically criminal. I have a feeling whatever iTunes offers it will blow Amazon out of the water.

I'm going rock climbing this evening for my very first time! Should be a barrel of monkey fun! I'm being taken by a cool new friend from work, Tara. Very exciting, I wish Erica could come but she's just too busy. Anyhow, that's all for now. Maybe I'll be back later today with Apple news. bye bye.

ps - ilounge. has good coverage of the event going on right now. So far they've announced 2nd gen ipod shuffle, 2nd gen nanos, a new 5GB ipod (60% brighter screen, games from iTunes Music Store, iTunes 7, and an updated iTunes store with more album art, some increased organization stuff, video resolution increase to (640x480), and NFL season 2006 available. I'm gonna go watch the rest now. Later.

Podcast Blues

You know, one of the things that really bugs me? When I do a podcast, and I finish it up. and then I just feel like... wow, that could've been better. Like it wasn't horrible, but man, our (read my) audio levels were totally blown out, and I basically monopolized the show talking about my stupid stuff. I know that these shows can't all be winners, but it's just frustrating.

Recently On Hold... has gotten some new listeners, we're also starting I feel like we're finally getting into territory of maybe, just maybe, becoming a show that has a bit more of a broader appeal. When Devon and I are on were really great. Tonight we weren't off, but we just weren't as on as we could've been. And audio issues at this point just make me feel stupid, 'cause I know we can sometimes sound great.

I understand that ultimately the most important thing is that we keep going, keep doing it ever week. But consistency in both quality and content is important with podcasts, especially if they want to reach a real audience. I worry that I'm not bringing that to the table.

Zee and Zed Tribute Post

Brace yourselves, cause I don't know if this'll make too much sense, and if you don't listen to podcasts you probably won't get it anyhow. It's nothing earthshattering, but it is something important, that's upset me that I wanted to talk about. If you listen to my show you know that I can get a bit geeky, a bit overhyped some of the time. Ok, pretty much all the time. Honestly I'm not like that usually, in 'real' life, whatever that is, I'm much more laid back about things. I actually sometimes cringe when I listen to On Hold and hear myself rambling on and on about Optimus Prime or some crap. I wanted to break it down real for you though. I'd like to try to infuse a bit more of that into the show too but its pretty hard for two reasons. Firstly Devon acts as a really good foil for my personality, although I admit I kind of think some of the things he says are a bit offensive, or at the least crass, I know he means well, and his relax-itude balances well off my excited nerdy guy thing. Also, it seems one of the two (when talking duo podcasts) always has to be the nerdy one who does all the technical podcasting stuff, and the other guy is always a bit 'cooler'. Secondly though, I get honestly pretty amped up when someone puts a microphone in front of me. I get excited and I start rambling a lot, I mean A LOT. If I didn't have Devon to anchor me I would talk forever. And I know that's not a horrible thing or anything, its just mostly that I talk to avoid being nervous. Put my in front of a crowd and I'll do the same thing, if I don't I'd probably have a panic attack. Very uncool...

Podcasting means a lot to me though, It was just about a year ago that I discovered it. Actually it was whenever the updated version of iTunes came down that supported it. I thought I'd try it out, see if I enjoyed it, seeing as I already had an ipod and a long commute. It worked great. I always enjoyed talk radio, and this was like wow, I can just listen to talk radio about things that interest me. cool. It wasn't for another two months or so that I got it. And when I say got it I mean like I all of a sudden had a lightbulb turned on in my head GOT it. Podcasting means more than a silly little talk radio show, it means more than just filling time on the commute, it is the start of what I honestly believe is a technological revolution. For reals. Its not about what it is even right now, the form doesn't matter as much to me as the message behind it. I suppose McLuhan would tell me that in fact the medium is the message but I think that in the context of podcasting, the medium is the form, its the framework and the people, and their intent is the real message. Podcasting is a million times better than terrestrial radio because in it I can see the future; of not just user controlled, but and this is key here, user generated media.

That is the message, and the promise of podcasting. I am not a corporation, I am a person, just like you, hell I am you. In the larger sense this is really what podcasting means to me, and why I call it a revolution. Because from now on, when the message spreads, when the potential is realized and technology continues to grow and it allows us to say what we want and feel organically, truthfully everything will change.

This is a very big deal to me. And now, a piece of the puzzle, some of the people behind this big moment for me, people that I really respect are leaving podcasting. And I'm a bit upset.

Haha, how very Canadian of me.... oh well. I'm not angry at all, I'm just sad and I don't know how to explain it. Upset. A few weeks ago Dan Klass, host of The Bitterest Pill podcast decided to hang it up, at least for a while. That really meant something to me, not because I'd been listening to him for so long, but because he had something important to say, whether he knew it or not, every time he opened his mouth. The exact same goes for Karen and Ross, of Zee and Zed, who have today after 40 fantastic episodes, called it quits. If you are at all interested in podcasts please check them out, they really had so much going for them. And I don't even know what to say....For me its like they were always there. I found them through listening to Adam Curry's Daily Source Code, which incidentally I don't even listen to anymore (although I suppose that's beside the point). It was a promo, for a show hosted by a sarcastic American and a wry Canadian, quirky funny, about a Canadian living in the states, I could definitely relate.. I remember sitting in SFO waiting for a plane sometime last September, about to head off to a wedding on Salt Spring Island, and I had downloaded episodes 8-12 (which was their newest), Karen talked about cheap box wine, and Ross complained about Don Cherry. I was totally hooked. It was right around this time, these few weeks that I started to piece together in my mind what the true potential for podcasting could be. And it was Zee and Zed, along with another 'cast called Hot Buttered Pop Culture (who are still on hiatus...) pretty much cemented the idea that I needed to be a part of this myself.

I guess I'd have to say I felt compelled. So I started forming a plan, one which would take me to the brink of world domination and beyond... but I'm getting ahead of myself, what I want to explain is why these guys were, are so important to me; so that you might get why its such a shame to see them go. It took me 4 months to get my podcasting plan into action. I got active on a couple forums, mainly HBPC, and chanced to meet another awesome podcaster, Angie, who currently hosts one of my desert island 'casts (those are the top 5 'casts that I'd need if I were to be stranded to a desert island with only my ipod and a podcatcher) Pop Culture Shock. She was just about to get started too, and I really drew inspiration from her, although she probably doesn't know it (until she read this blog I guess ...hehe) But here's the truth of it, in podcasting community is everything. Yes you have to podcast for yourself, just like you have to blog for yourself, but its the community that makes you love it. These people, Mark and Matt, and Angie, and the girls, and especially Ross and Karen mean a heck of a lot to me. And if Mark and Matt were the guys that convinced me I could do a podcast, because I could be as ok as them (well maybe not - but I could try), Karen and Ross were the people that made me realize I should do a podcast, if only to try to be as good as them.

Karen was one of, if not officially our first 'real' listeners. I don't mean like family and friends listener I mean like the first person out in the Podosphere that I know of who actively downloaded On Hold because of me. It was literally the day I registered the cast on Podcast Pickle and Karen mailed me saying "hey Geoff is that you? Are you podcasting now?" She actually honestly remembered me from like one or two little comments I'd sent. Amazing. And so sweet. It really meant more than they know. And then what, despite our total crappiness at the start, she actively promoted our show, on hers! Sounds crazy, but that's just what cool people they really are. Completely genuine.

So I'm sad, I'm sad to see them go. I'm sure they have a good reason, they're very sensible people. I just have this attachment for them that's not going to go away easily. My podcast really isn't anywhere near as good as it could be, and funny thing every time I ever asked Karen what her secret was she always said that they only liked some ridiculous amount, say 25% of their shows!? For real. Those guys are either absurd perfectionists, or they shouldn't be quitting because they have so much untapped potential. Personally I know that their show was great; be your own harshest critic all you want, but Zee and Zed have loyal and devoted fans, not because they tell us about Target Adam, and restart their show 10 times an episode... but because they are genuine real people, and that kind of honesty is refreshing.

I don't know if you'll see this Ross or Karen but thanks guys. Your show will be missed, it was absolutely great.

Americanadian forever.

I'm so excited

Hooray! its like 4:05pm Friday afternoon. The weekend is almost upon us, and I am totally stoked. I, along with a whole mess of other people are heading down to Santa Cruz for the long weekend... Actually it's not technically a long weekend. My work isn't giving Monday off, but screw that, I'm taking it off and giving myself a nice loooong weekend.

Beachfront property, really big house, hottub, BBQ, like 10 friends, just kickin it in the sun.... I'm very very happy to be getting the heck outta Dodge this weekend. And then back agian for the 4th and maybe check out some fireworks. Yay!

Last night I recorded another cool episode on On Hold... with Devon. Check it out if you get a chance. Other than that, I'll see you all next week.