Podcast Ping's Christmas Calendar Day 13

Day 13 marks the half-way point. Less than two weeks until Christmas!



http://www.archive.org/download/PodcastPingsChristmasCalendarDay13/ppcc13.mp3

I expect to be quite busy getting ready for Christmas this week. Then again, it tends to feel as if every week is busy.

Podcast Ping is licensed under Creative Commons, Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0.

My online toy shop can be found at http://patrickjmcnamara.webs.com.

Podcast Ping's Christmas Calendar Day 12

Day 12's entry is a little unusual. I was trying to parody the famous scene from Charlie Brown's Christmas where Linus explains the meaning of Christmas, but more in the way a modern child would explain it.



http://www.archive.org/download/PodcastPingsChristmasCalendarDay12/ppcc12.mp3

I'm getting this up a little early today, although I usually try to wait until at least 6pm before posting next day's podcast. This is the one for Saturday, Dec. 12.

I finally finished up recording and assembling the last show today, so now it's just a matter of posting them. Although I've still got to get started on the New Year's show, but I've got weeks before that. For the previous two years that I've done them, the New Year's shows have been about an hour long. I don't know if that will be the case this year. I'm not going to worry about writing poetry for it since I'm doing something different, but I've still got some writing to do.

Podcast Ping is licensed under Creative Commons, Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0.

My online toy shop can be found at http://patrickjmcnamara.webs.com.

Podcast Ping's Christmas Calendar Day 11

Day 11 deals with Christmas lights.



http://www.archive.org/download/PodcastPingsChristmasCalendarDay11/ppcc11.mp3

It just happens that both the poem and music are ones I've used before. But as far as I can tell it's the only time it happens. For the songs I've used before I try to have new poems and for the few poems I've used before I try to have new songs. I've replaced a number of the older songs I was going to use with new ones, so I think I only have about seven old songs out of the twenty-five.

"Festival of Lights" is a song fairly different than most Christmas songs. In areas that don't get snow, light shows have replaced snow displays. Of course lights are still popular in places where they do get snow, but non-snow areas can get more elaborate since it's easier to use the front lawn. And with LED lights now becoming the standard, one doesn't have to be an electrical engineer to set up an impressive display.

And of course it just doesn't seem like Christmas without watching this display at least once: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmgf60CI_ks

Podcast Ping is licensed under Creative Commons, Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0.

My online toy shop can be found at http://patrickjmcnamara.webs.com.

Podcast Ping's Christmas Calendar Day 10

Day 10. "The Bells!"



http://www.archive.org/download/PodcastPingsChristmasCalendarDay10/ppcc10.mp3

Didn't get the work done on the podcast today as I expected. I spent a good part of it clearing slush. But I should be able to finish it by the end of the week. I've got too much else to work on.

Podcast Ping is licensed under Creative Commons, Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0.

My online toy shop can be found at http://patrickjmcnamara.webs.com.

Podcast Ping's Christmas Calendar Day 9

Day 9.



http://www.archive.org/download/PodcastPingsChristmasCalendar9/ppcc09.mp3

I've got just one show left to finish up. Once I write the poem it won't take long to record and edit it together. It's just a matter of writing it and hopefully I'll do that tomorrow.

I noticed the audio quality on my recordings isn't all that great, but there wasn't really time to re-record them, nor do I really feel up to it. Most of it comes from recording at too low a level then having to amplify the recording, along with the noise. I don't have a great mic, but I think something is off in the settings. I seemed to get clearer recordings the first time I used it. Maybe I'm just not talking loud enough. I did get into a habit of shouting with the old mics just to get anything decent.

I'll play around with the mic and settings to try and get the best results. It could simply be that I've been using Windows 7 (the 7100RC that will start acting up in a few months) instead of the XP the computer came with. But that won't be until next year.

Once this podcast is put together I've got to work on a New Year's show. But I might not get into that until the end of the month. I've thought of a few things I'd like to have in it and that probably means more writing.

Podcast Ping is licensed under Creative Commons, Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0.

My online toy shop can be found at http://patrickjmcnamara.webs.com.

Podcast Ping's Christmas Calendar Day 8

Day 8 deals with the yummy part of Christmas.



http://www.archive.org/download/PodcastPingsChristmasCalendarDay8/ppcc08.mp3

I managed to get a fair bit done the past couple days. I've still got one more poem to write, a bit of recording and four more episodes to edit together. But I've now about two weeks to finish it before I use up what I've finished. I should be able to finish the rest tomorrow or Wednesday at the latest.

I don't expect to get much if anything out during January. I've got some ideas, including one for a new podcast, but I'll have to see how things go. I will get an anniversary episode out for Blue Hot Gossip which should be some time in January. I may also do another 13 Days of Halloween next year, although those would be as Blue Hot Gossip episodes. And it also depends upon the amount of material available. I will at least do a Halloween episode of Blue Hot Gossip if I don't do the 13 Days.

The problem right now is that I've got a lot of ideas and only so much time. So if I decide to work on one thing something else has to get put aside. As a result I often have to choose either the easier stuff or at least the more popular stuff. And right now Podcast Ping isn't as popular as Blue Hot Gossip.

Podcast Ping is licensed under Creative Commons, Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0.

My online toy shop can be found at http://patrickjmcnamara.webs.com.

Podcast Ping's Christmas Calendar Day 7

Day 7.



http://www.archive.org/download/PodcastPingsChristmasCalendarDay7/ppcc07.mp3

The first week ends. I think I'm going to be spending most of this week dealing with presents.

This is also when many shows go in to repeats or are pre-empted for specials. Although I usually don't find TV getting very dry until January, mostly because of the specials. And I'm always falling behind in my viewing, so it helps to have the time to catch up.

I've noticed a growing trend lately with many animated specials. There are more and more special related to animated movies, particularly CG movies. "Shrek the Halls" was probably the first, and now there's a "Madagascar" special. There was also a "Monsters Vs Aliens" Halloween special. I expect this trend to continue. In the old days we mostly were treated to Rankin Bass specials and Dr. Suess cartoons. And of course the Charlie Brown specials. And we really didn't care if we had seen them before.

Podcast Ping is licensed under Creative Commons, Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0.

My online toy shop can be found at http://patrickjmcnamara.webs.com.