Podcast Ping's Christmas Calendar Day 18

Day 18. One more week until Christmas.



http://www.archive.org/download/PodcastPingsChristmasCalendarDay18/ppcc18.mp3

Now things get busy. I expect the stores will be really busy this weekend.

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 17

Day 17. A week from now it will be Christmas Eve. Or Christmas Eve day. Or the morning of the day of Christmas Eve. Or somewhere in the general vicinity.



http://www.archive.org/download/PodcastPingsChristmasCalendarDay17/ppcc17.mp3

It was two years ago today that I did Bonus 9-A Visit From St. Nicholas. And since it was my first Christmas it was my first Christmas show. I feel it was one of my best shows and sounded the way I wanted the show to. As such I've tried to do much the same thing in the regular shows for this year with classic poetry, although none of them feel as strong as the bonus 9 was. I suspect it's because everyone is familiar with the Christmas poem so the musical breaks aren't as disruptive.

I keep feeling as if I might miss a day, but with a little more than a week to go I doubt I will. But doing a post a day can get a little repetitive and it's easy to forget. And it does take a bit of time since I'm not only posting to the podcast blog but to Mininova as well. So far none of the sites I've used have been down so I've had no trouble in posting, although it re-enforces my decision not to do it again next year.

I usually take December off from writing, so this has changed things a bit this year. Although I'm not doing any novel writing I have had a few poems to write--and of course the postings. It's not demanding, but the main reason for not writing during December is to regenerate my ideas.

I've had an idea for a new podcast but I can't say when I'll get to it. But I'll likely talk more about it on the New Year's show--which I still haven't done any work on. I may even keep things light for the first few months of next year and not do any podcasts--except for the Blue Hot Gossip anniversary show. I skipped the first one (since I wasn't sure about continuing it at the time) so I don't really want to skip the second. Although at this point the one after that might take a little time.

And sometime I would like to do another fan commentary. The trouble is that I need a couple hours I can work uninterrupted to record it. It's been more than two years since I did the Dark Crystal commentary, which happened to come out shortly before a new version with an official commentary. But I would choose some other movie to do, preferably one that is widely available but doesn't have a commentary of it's own. Now that I've got some podcasting experience I think I could do a better job, or at least I would sound better.

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 16

Day 16. Less than ten days left until Christmas. And after today, all but one song is new.



http://www.archive.org/download/PodcastPingsChristmasCalendarDay16/ppcc16.mp3

I see from the calendar that today (December 16th) is a new moon and New Year's will be a full moon. That should make for a fun night. I still have to work on that show but I may wait until after Christmas to do it. It seems just too busy right now. I have an idea of what I'm going to do for the show and it shouldn't take too long to put together. But I sort of want to keep it a surprise.

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 15

Day 15.



This is one of the lighter shows. I initially planned a couple more comedy songs but pulled one or two to use on Blue Hot Gossip. I'll admit that I don't always write the funniest stuff, or if I do I may not properly deliver it, but I do try. Although the poem on this episode isn't mean to be funny, it just happened to go with the song.

I also try and keep all my podcasts family friendly. It's easy enough to control the poetry I use but I can get a bit tricky when it comes to the music, especially with comedy music. There's a tendency in comedy to get "blue" or rude. But that's usually just lazy writing. The good comedy appeals to psychologically mature people as well.

Fortunately, "The Elf Conscription Song" is clean. But I have chosen not to play one or two songs on Blue Hot Gossip on the basis of content. It's not that I'm prudish, it's just that I've decided to cater the show to a certain audience.

http://www.archive.org/download/PodcastPingsChristmasCalendarDay15/ppcc15.mp3
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 14

Day 14. Snow.



http://www.archive.org/download/PodcastPingsChristmasCalendarDay14/ppcc14.mp3

I started on some Christmas gifts today. I've got five to make, although two of them can wait until after Christmas. I should be able to get through one a day, provided I'm not spending all my energy shoveling snow or other things. But I don't expect a problem.

I've been running across a few Christmas songs that would work well for Blue Hot Gossip, although there's just no room for another Christmas show this year. I'll likely save them and use them next year, if I remember. I've also had some business ideas that I've got 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 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.