Thursday, April 23, 2009

Winds of change

Before starting the Bar & Grill podcast in September last year, I thought about what I wanted it to be.  My first thought proved to be far too costly, which is why I went with what you’ve come to hear.  Basically, I wanted it to lean toward the technical (whether gadgets, electronics, games or movies), as therein lies many of my interests.  However I also wanted it to be open enough that we could cover any topic we wanted (as you’d hear in various conversations at an actual bar and grill).

In theory, that works.  In actuality, I don’t believe it does not.

A podcast should be clearly defined.  When you put those buds in your ears, you should know what you’re getting… within reason, of course.  Some spontaneity is to be expected, especially after I’ve had a couple drinks.  But too much isn’t good either.

Case in point, the last podcast I recorded with Sean was all over the map.  You’ve not heard it because I have honestly not been able to find the damn recording.  Ever since my cat killed my iMac, I’ve been struggling to find the time to get my new computers and server configured and all files from my old iMac drive backed up.  This is still a work in progress.  I just have been finding it difficult to allocate large chunks of time to go through everything and reconfigure (a Mac and a Windows PC and a Windows Home Server).

I’m getting off track however.  It’s probably good that I can’t find that podcast because in retrospect, I think it was terrible.  I decided to go on a political rant at the end, and though it was an issue that I felt very strongly about, it didn’t belong on the podcast.

I could be wrong here.  Perhaps people genuinely enjoy podcasts that are all over the map.

But I don’t… and I want my work to be reflective of that.  It may not seem like it at times, but I work very hard at trying to put out the very best I can (whether with a site design, podcast, writing, whatever).  And the Bar & Grill podcast was not my best.

So a format change is in order.

I’ve done more research into my initial concepts of what I would like the Bar & Grill to be, and have come in contact with some people who’ve given me suggestions.  I decided that I didn’t want the Bar & Grill to suddenly change format though… and I’m not ready to trash everything we’ve accomplished with it so far.  I may start it from scratch at some point, but for now, it’s going to be put on hold.

I purchased a new domain to reflect the new podcast (I can just see Ryan grinning, as he already knows my plans… the advantages of being my web host).

I’d wanted the Bar & Grill to be a lot more music oriented at the beginning, however the licensing would have broken my bank account.  That being said, I’ve decided to start an indie music podcast (with a twist) that will not cost me anything for licensing.  I’ve already been in touch with some indie musicians who love the idea of getting their work on the interweb airwaves.

The project is far from ready, however it has started.

I look at the Bar & Grill podcast as my first foray into podcasting.  I learned a lot from it… which has helped me immensely with the WoW Dawgs podcast which is still going strong.  I feel that this new music oriented podcast will also go very well.

As for the B&G podcast… well, like I said… for the time being, it is on hold.  I may record an occasional podcast and upload it for y’all.  I may trash everything and start something new with it (as I’ve one other thing I had wanted to do with it, but I don’t want to leak that one out yet).

The site will of course remain open (even though I barely ever post), as I like to play around with it.

It’s my personal sandbox.  Every once in a while, I’ll spend months building sand castles, being very careful with the details of each brick, each pillar, each maiden in distress in a window up high about to be eaten by a band of ninjas scaling the walls.

Oh come on, I can’t be the only one who does that.

My point though, is that those castles come crashing down every once in a while to be rebuilt differently… and I came to accept a long time ago, that different is not bad.

Saturday, March 07, 2009

Podcast 23 : My cat killed my iMac

There’s a chance I may still be able to recover and edit Podcast 22, so I’m going to skip to 23 for this one.

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Friday, February 27, 2009

My cat killed my iMac

As the title states, my cat has officially killed my iMac.  I was fairly optimistic when the iMac came back from the service depot and they told me it was only the video card.  It cost a small fortune to replace such an old card, but hey, who was I to complain… I had my baby back.

That being said, the failure of the iMac originally had kinda spooked me so I quick set to backing things off of the drive (digital photos not stored elsewhere, email, etc).  I got a lot of stuff off of the system, though certainly not everything.

Then it happened again… and I fully blame Andy.

I was editing podcast #22.  It had been recorded with Sean and Elaine a long time ago, however as it was stored (unedited) on the iMac, I hadn’t been able to do anything about it while the computer was in the shop. 

Now, this podcast requires a lot of editing.  A lot.  And I have to listen through it all to editing stuff out.  This is time consuming, and it’s not like I just want to sit and listen for over an hour to shit that I’ve said, so I thought I’d pop into World of Warcraft (in windowed mode) while listening… popping in and out to edit as required.

I was chatting with Andy and telling him I had my baby back and that I was editing the podcast and all of a sudden, it froze.

Great.

I had to hard boot it, and start it back up again.  Everything seemed alright, but a nagging voice in my mind said; “Back everything up that’s left.  Like, now.”

But who listens to that voice anyway.  It’s not the only one I’ve got rattling in that brain-cage of mine and certainly not the loudest.

I started the podcast back up again to edit and back into WoW.  I whisper Andy; “my new iMac, now with 75% less crashing.”

He replied; “Famous last words” and I shit you not, it froze then and there and has not started back since.

Damn you Andy.... damnnnn yyyyoooooouuuu!

Basically at this point I know that there is something that is frying the video cards.  It could be heat, however that is unlikely as the systems were not overly hot.  It could be the power supply or it could be the logic board (apparently Apple doesn’t call ‘em motherboards like the rest of creation).  This iMac is 3-4 years old and has only frozen 1-2 on me.  It’s been a very, very good system.  However to replace any of these components would be insanely expensive, especially considering the age of the system.  Hell, the logic board would run me over $700.  And that’s prior to installation.

Yeah, way to bend your loyal clients over, Apple.  Really, I like it.

So, all that being said, if that iMac was a horse, I’d shoot it.  It’s dead and gone.

I still have to rip it apart and yank the hard drive out and see what I can recover from it.  Luckily, I recently purchased a small MacBook and have been trying to set it up with everything from the iMac.  I still need to import all of my email in order to get to the license keys for a lot of the software I use for the podcasts.  That being said, I am seriously going to try to record a couple of them this weekend.

Also, I’ve purchased a bunch of components and will be building myself a nice new Windows rig.  The last order that I’m expecting will allow me to put it all together and it will be a sight to behold. 

I’ve put in a lot of overtime at the office to pick up a new MacBook Pro 17”, however it was delayed just long enough to make me re-evaluate what I could get instead (namely a small MacBook for light stuff and for using around the house, and a powerful Windows rig for editing, video conversion, gaming, etc).  It’s an i7 core with a very nice 1GB video card and 6GB of RAM.  I’m looking forward to putting it all together.

So once again, the podcast hasn’t gone away… nor have I.  Just need to get my shits in order and then I’ll be recording again.

Wednesday, February 04, 2009

Awfully quiet, don’tcha think

For those who aren’t not following me on Twitter, you wouldn’t know this but my iMac crapped out on me last week.  I had recorded the new Bar & Grill podcast with Sean and Elaine (from way back) and we actually had a blast doing so.  It will be a good podcast when I can finally edit the damn thing and post it.

But the iMac’s in the shop and the video card replacement that “should” resolve the issue is on back-order.

So yeah… good times.

The Bar & Grill and WoWDawgs podcasts will return as soon as the iMac does… unless I buy that MacBook Pro earlier than I’d expected.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Podcast 21 : Ridonculous

So I am still sick as a dawg, which is obvious in this podcast, but I still wanted to record one this week.

Oh, and look… Sean.

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Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Podcast 20 : New Year’s Eve Dump

Doth your ears deceive you?  A Buddha’s Bar and Grill podcast?!?

Why yes.

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Show notes after the break.

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Happy Holidays

Yes, I know I’m late… however I’ve been quite busy spending all of my time with the family over the holidays.

We had a great Christmas, and are looking forward to the new year.

So happy holidays, freaks.  Hope y’all are enjoying yourselves.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Podcast 19 : The Kleenex Episode

You’ll have to check the out-takes to get the title of this episode.

We recorded a little earlier than normal and it actually was kinda nice… although I was all over the map.

Consistency be damned, I say.

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Thursday, December 11, 2008

SackSanta

Just in time for the holidays, grab your Sackboy Santa outfit today on PSN.

Beard and mustache will be available next week.

All free.

Ho-ho-ho!

Street Fighter costumes also available today, but prepare to be gouged. $5.99 for the four. Kiss my sack.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Podcast 18 : Mama’s Boy

Sorry that the podcast is a day late folks, but last night was absolutely insane and there was no way in hell I could get it edited in time.

As it is, I’ve spent the better part of an hour and a half editing tonight and have only just uploaded it… or has it been two hours. 

Anyway… great podcast this week.  Sean and I cover marriage (while he threatens to divorce his wife), iPhone apps, my ukulele rant, top 10 torrent games of ‘08 and more.

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