Click on any of the entry titles to get more information about all the awesome things written about!

Sunday, September 30, 2007

Experiment Failure...

Well now.. so much for live-ish updates from the Expo, eh? I was definitely busier this weekend than I thought I would be.

So... you all get the post-expo wrap-up, after I am safe (and rested) within the Arizona realm again!

Friday, September 28, 2007

Expo Day 2, Pt.1

Sitting here in the convention center, I have to thank GeekFit Steve's Blackberry for allowing me internet access so I could give you an update on the opening of the Convention!

Had a wonderful breakfast with Podcasting for Dummies author Tee Morris, and got inside information on the presentation he's going to be making on Sunday. Then I went over to the convention center and finally got to meet my dear sweet Joss-fan Tabz! (Tabz if you remember is one of the creators of Buffy Between The Lines, premiering October 6!)

We then hit the expo floor, and ran into many other podcasters. I would link to them all, but I can't remember all of them. I do have a growing collection of business cards, so I will have to come back and link later on.

At noon I headed over to the LA Podcasters booth for the panel on Women in Podcasting. I again need to add names and links later, but it was hosted by Shelly of Shelly's Podcast, and one name a lot of you will recognize on the panel (besides my own, of course!) is Podcast Queen herself Mur Lafferty. It was so great to finally meet the legend- she is awesome! It was a great discussion about how we as women feel we've advanced and grown in podcasting. There should be audio after the expo- I will be sure to give you all a link to it.

So now I sit, and I think I need to go back to the hotel for awhile and rest before the Couplecasters and friends meetup tonight. Before that is the awards ceremony, so I will try to catch some of that as well.

Very good times, and some very good photos being taken all around- I can't wait to share!

Expo Day 1: The Arrival

Oy.. I'm so tired I am going to tell you about my day in timeline form:

12:00pm: Boarded the plane to Ontario, met by fellow podcaster Barely, who is a wonderful contributer to many episodes of my podcast. And I just love his laugh!

1:15: landed in Ontario, only to wait over an hour for a shuttle. Who'dathunk you were supposed to call from the phone in the airport for shuttle service? Not us dorks! Ended up sticking around a bit longer, since by then Aaron of The Big Show had landed.

3:15: Arrive at Marriott. Realized I was sharing a shuttle with Dr. Dave of Shrink Rap Radio. Charles Cadenhead arrived way before us because he was smart enough to call from the airport for a shuttle.

3:40: Chris Moody of Podiomedia Chat calls and says everyone is waiting on me. I go down to lobby and yes, everyone is waiting on me. Walk across the street to catch the tail end of Podcamp SoCal.

4:00: back to Marriott, with Andy and Mignon in tow.

4:15- 11:30: whirwind of podcasters, food, drink, and Tee Morris raspberry-ing me on the neck. Crazy stuff I tell you- CRAZY! Great weather, group of us sat outside later that night and just chatted, and twittered. Jason Tucker and I decided to meet at the hotel gym 7am.

So I guess I'd better rest up. Also have a panel on women in podcasting at noon!

You can instantly see what I'm doing at any point this weekend (for those hardcore voyeur-types) on my Twitter page!

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Heading out to the PNME







Yes friends, the time is almost here- and I'm going to do a little more live-blogging now that this year I have my handy-dandy laptop! So stay tuned and this addict will give you as many live updates as she can!

w00t! Mommy taking a vacation, hanging out with audio geeks! :-D

Changes to top 100 on Podcast Pickle

Now we podcasters have to work for our status in the ranks! From PDilly's blog:

"One of the first things we are changing is we will no longer zero out the My Playlist votes (previously called my favorites) twice a year. Once you add a podcast to your playlist, they will remain on your playlist until you remove them.

The Top 100 will be calculated from several different factors. Among them are the My Playlist Picks, The Reviews, Subscriptions, Episodes Played, and the Podcaster Tree . The new system will also take into account how long it has been since a listner has been to PodcastPickle.com. The longer the time since a listeners last visit, the lower their input counts.

We are going to attempt to build an unbiased ranking system of what the top 100 shows are according to our users."


Although it was nice to see rankings based on how many added your cast to their playlist, I can certainly understand the need to have the more unbiased strategy. Too many people can recruit others to merely join the site only to add their show. That isn't really fair to the other podcasts, when you think about it.

It will be interesting to watch how the ratings change, that's for sure.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

The Red Panda Returns

It's here! It's here! Season three of The Red Panda is here!!

Well, it's been here for a few days now.. but hey it's there forever now...

"A pyromaniac is preying on the slums and tenement buildings of the city, bringing danger and misery to the lives of the some of its most vunerable citizens. The police are searching in vain for the firebug who holds the city in a grip of terror. But if a certain masked duo is right, there may be more to this arson spree than meets the eye. Can even the Red Panda and The Flying Squirrel withstand the flames of... Brimstone Alley?"

I also noticed there is a Director's Cut of the Season Two ending- complete with a deleted scene- now un-deleted!

"They say the hand is quicker than the eye... but when a baffling jewel robbery proves that someone's hands are quicker than a hundred eyes, the Red Panda is on the case! And when the culprit adds murder to their crimes, the hunt is on in earnest... and it's Rabbit Season!"

Welcome back Red Panda!

Try Going Wireless

Going through a whole bunch of emails I've been neglecting... getting my last posts in before the big Podcast Expo this weekend! I will still be posting, but more of an update thing as this audio addict hangs out with awesome podcast and new media folk from all over the globe!

But first- I shouldn't have sat on THIS email for so long- what a great company!!

----
"As an on-going project, we are uploading on average two plays a month and we pride ourselves on producing new and exciting writing, stuff you haven't heard before from new actors. We are a new company, but we're doing well so far - with a great hit rate - and we're planning to record a whole season of Shakespeare Plays this summer along with other classics to go along with the National Curriculum. We also have some more damn talented comedy writers coming in to record for us very soon."

"We are interested in submissions from actors, writers and anyone who has a love for audio theatre. The Company is also interested in showcasing plays which have already been recorded, providing they are of high quality and enjoyable! But most importantly, we want to spread the word with audio drama fans everywhere!"
----

Click the sub line and take a listen!

Monday, September 17, 2007

New script writing tool for audio cinema writers

Swiped shamelessly from The Sonic Society:

Documentary Film Editor, Radio Play Editor, & Versioning Lead Feature-Rich New Release

September 2007: St. John’s, Canada: Celtx – the first software to integrate the entire media pre-production process – has released a new version (v.0.9.9.5) targeted at improving the user experience for media writers and collaborators.

Celtx now includes two new script editors – a dual column AV editor supporting documentary filmmaking, music videos, advertising, and general AV projects, and an Audio Play editor for standardized radio scripts and podcasts. Also, all script editors now feature Dual Dialogue and reversible, colour-coded Index Cards.

Server side, Celtx sports an innovative new LaTex-powered TypeSet function – for precise industry-standard script formatting. Encryption technology has also been added to protect every upload & download between the desktop and the Celtx server.

New collaboration enhancement tools have also been built into Celtx Web Services. Snapshots are used to track a constantly evolving project, allowing the media creator to revert back to a known state at any time. Automatic Event Notification has also been added to keep project members up-to-the-minute on updates posted by team members.

Celtx also gets a face-lift in 0.9.9.5, with a new Splash Page design to provide direct access to popular script templates, plus a re-designed and re-engineered Project Central project publishing website, to better showcase the work of media creators.


About Celtx
Celtx is the world's first fully integrated software for pre-production and collaboration of film, theatre, radio and AV. It has all the tools media creators need to bring their stories to life – combining intelligent writing and planning tools, storyboarding, and scheduling with internet-friendly technologies. Open source and free to download, Celtx is the most complete media pre-production software program available anywhere, at any cost. Over 100,000 independent media creators in 160 countries create with Celtx.

--
Knowing that Jack Ward was an integral part of Celtx's development, it is definitely worth checking out!

Website: http://www.celtx.com

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Creepy Colonial Radio


Oh my favorite time of year is quickly approaching! See, since I live in Arizona, there is no change in the weather to signal a change in seasons.. so I have to rely on what I see in stores and what is playing in movies and tv... and in radio drama!

Colonial Radio Theatre has an extensive list of spooky audio to satisfy during the upcoming "spooky month"... including the premiere of Ray Bradbury's "Something Wicked This Way Comes" on October 1st! (Look for a review soon!) Other things you will want to check out are:

THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW (2005)
Washington Irving's classic story of the Headless Horseman in the
definitive audio production by CRT. Winner of the Ogle Award for Best
Fantasy Production of 2005. 100 min. Available at Barnes and Noble,
Borders Books, and many, many stores online, including Spoken
Network. Just search "Legend of Sleepy Hollow Colonial Radio" and
there it is!

THE DEVILS BARGAIN (1997)
A classic New England legend…General Jonathan Moulton, hero of the
French and Indian war, makes a bargain with Satan. 30min. Available
at Spoken Network and many audio download sites.

THE STORM BREEDER (1997)
A classic old New England ghost tale…the story of Peter Rugg, the
missing man. 37min. Available at Spoken Network and many audio
download sites.

MINOT'S LIGHT (1996)
Suspenseful tale of a haunted lighthouse in Boston Harbor, one that
has kept sailor and landlubber alike spooked for over an hundred
years. 30min. Available at Spoken Network and many audio download
sites.

DIBBLE'S HALLOWEEN SPOOKTACULAR (2003)
Dibble and the gang perform "The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow," and Jake
discovers a real ghost in the Town Hall Theatre. 55min.

DIBBLE'S HALLOWEEN SHOW (2005)
Dibble and the gang plan on spending Halloween night in the old
Mayham Mansion on Mayham Hill. 27min.


Head over to Colonial's website for all the information on how to get this awesome audio- and tons more info about them as well!

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Podcamp- it's not just for the state you live in



I was thinking that I should post this invite here, and extend it out further than the local pimping I've been doing. SO many podcasters and new media types head out to other states for PodCamp. Why not Arizona? It's beautiful in November- a perfect weekend to come out and meet some fellow podcasters!

Click the invitation for more info, and a list of speakers, or go right to the Wiki to sign up!

Science Fiction and Politics


Now see, this is a part of science fiction I can really get into! This was a really neat interview with poltical science professor Courtney Brown. He gives his thoughts about the parallels between science fiction and politics.
Really, it's not such a big jump from fact to fiction, when you think about things such as cloning, stem cell research, or the impacts of global warming.

A very interesting listen!

http://thesciphishow.com/?p=159

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Sonic Society Season Three Begins

Well, actually it began a week ago- they are all ready two episodes in! In the premiere of season 3, we heard from:

*Decoder Ring Theatre, in audio-drama form as well as in a round table recorded over the summer,
*a promo for Short Cummings Audio
*and the Gigcast with an episode of their short "Garbage Gnomes"

Episode 2 gets all lathered up, with:

*a soap-opera from Radio Soap
*a promo from Shelly's Podcast (hey I'm going to be on a panel with her at the Podcast Expo!)
*and you can never go wrong with Dr. Floyd!!

Head over and catch up, they also have a new theme song this season as well! If you've *still* never heard of Sonic Society, well, you are forgiven but you must go now and check them out.

Now.

Go.

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

2007 Parsec Award Winners

Great group of shows- great award! I heard Dragon*Con was awesome, as it usually is. :-)
So.... go and check out the winners!

Best Speculative Fiction Story Short Form: No World for Warriors

Best Speculative Fiction Novella Form: The Arwen

Best Speculative Fiction Novel Form: The Immortals

Best Audio Drama (Short Form): Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd

Best Audio Drama (Long Form): Prometheus Radio Theatre

Best Audio Production: The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd

Best Video Production: Missing Pages

Best Video: Missing Pages

Best Non-Speculative Fiction: Number One with a Bullet

Best Fan Podcast: The Signal

Best Speculative Fiction News: Skepticality

Best Anime: Geek Nights Anime

Best Gaming: Pulp Gamer - Inside Track

Best Graphic Literature Podcast: Comics Radar

Best Infotainment Cast: Pulp Gamer - Out of Character

Best Reality Podcast: Tag in the Seam

Best Tech Podcast: Command Line

Best Writing Related Podcast: I Should Be Writing

Monday, September 03, 2007

A new way to remember the 80's

Well, at least the late 80's. This podcast is definitely one of my all-time favorites to listen to, and not just because it comes from one of the Ollin Production team. Host Jamie Lawson takes you on a journey back in time, covering in a short, 6 or 7 minute show a lesser-known moment from 20 years ago that you might not have remembered. Or, a little different look at something that was all the talk at the time.

Either way, there is no way to tell you how much you are going to love this podcast-- you just need to listen for yourself. Just looking at the show page will show you exactly what the podcast is about.

Play around in the past awhile...

Fellow podcasters- Jamie is also looking to play your promo on the show! You can contact her at 20yearsago AT gmail DOT com.

Sunday, September 02, 2007

Radio Drama Revived Over The Transatlantic

September is shaping up to be a great month for listening to audio cinema on Radio Drama Revival, beginning with an interview with Crazy Dog's Roger Gregg! All last month RDR featured The Last Harbinger on the show, so the interview is a fitting end- and beginning!

The rest of September is going to be Dry Smoke and Whispers month, with a three-parter from yet another very innovative audio cinema group.

Click the post-title and get subscribed!

The Bloodbath Continues

Afterhell's amazing podcasting of their latest volume, "Bloodbath at the Giallo Hotel", has continued with all new episodes in their podcast feed.

Yay! This is definitely a must-listen for the horror fiend. (Hey- that's ME!) These sound effects kick ass, people.

Click the post-title to head to the listening link, or go here for iTunes.