Podcast Ping

Podcast Ping's 13 Days of Halloween-Day 13

2009-10-30T15:49:00.007-04:00

The finale show of the series brings you something special, "Monster Beach Surf Party." I've been sitting on this for a while, although I have redone it a couple times to get it right. I created it early on after coming up with the idea for the series. And (for the time being) you'll only hear it here. I used a podsafe piece called "Phantom Surf Party by Get Three Coffins Ready" as the background music. I plan to play that piece in it's entirety on the New Years show along with the full version of the title music.

http://www.archive.org/download/PodcastPings13DaysOfHalloween-day13/13Days-Day13.mp3

Working on this series has given me a lot of ideas about how to approach the Christmas calendar. I don't know if I'll do it again next year; it depends on how things go and whether I can come up with enough original podsafe Halloween music. As it is I'm going to be reusing some music for Christmas that I used before, although at least half of it is new music (or at least music I haven't used before). And if I do it next year, it's most likely going to be a Blue Hot Gossip show, which would work considering I used a character from that show to host this one.

The amount of work for this series has given me some idea of how much work Christmas will be. One practice I got into was posting the night before and I'll probably continue with that. It happened that I had a few appointments these past two weeks so having to post in the mornings would make things more complicated.

And given international time zones, it makes it easier for those in other countries to get the material within reasonable time. For instance, there's up to a fifteen hour time difference between where I am (EST) and Australia. So 8am here is 1am the next day there. That means they could be getting the Halloween show on November 1st. This way they get the show at least by the afternoon. And of course it takes some time for the show to trickle down through podcatchers and such, so those subscribed through iTunes may not see it right away.

The next podcast for Podcast Ping will be the first Christmas calendar episode on December 1st. I would like to fit a Blue Hot Gossip episode in before then if I can, but I'll have to see how things go.

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 13 Days of Halloween-Day 12

2009-10-29T18:35:00.005-04:00

A relatively quiet show before the big night.

http://www.archive.org/download/PodcastPings13DaysOfHalloween-day12/13Days-Day12.mp3

I've got something special for tomorrow's show which you won't hear anywhere else. Then again, most of this show isn't heard anywhere else. But this is special.

My Legosi impression probably is the most severe in this episode. The intent for the accent was to get something between Dracula and Mr. Roarke. But I don't do Ricardo Montalbam well.

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 13 Days of Halloween-Day 11

2009-10-28T18:47:00.002-04:00

The theme for today is fear.

http://www.archive.org/download/PodcastPings13DaysOfHalloween-day11/13Days-Day11.mp3

Just two more postings left, with something special for the last day.

Since Geocities is now dead, I've been going back and fixing many older posts so that the graphics point to the ones I have on webs.com. I'm not sure how far back I'll go; earlier posts don't tend to get a lot of downloads. But I have fixed as far back as the middle of March of last year, just about where Beowulf ends. The primary fixes are for the "play episodes" button and for the iTunes and Zune subscription buttons. The last two aren't as important (since someone subscribing is likely to do so from a newer post) but since I was fixing the "play" button I thought I should fix those as well.

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 13 Days of Halloween-Day 10

2009-10-27T18:53:00.007-04:00

Day 10 deals with creeps.

http://www.archive.org/download/PodcastPings13DaysOfHalloween-day10/13Days-Day10.mp3

Back into the new songs. I didn't realize when I put it together that I would have three re-used songs in a row. And only three more postings until Halloween.

Geocities is now finished, but I didn't realize that I was still using the play button graphic I had there, so I've got to go back and fix them. Since I have to do them one at a time, I'll fix the newest posts first. I seem to have lost the old button, but it gives me a good excuse to make up a new one.

I don't know if I'll get any more work on the Christmas shows done this week, but I'll have the month of November to work on it. Based on the amount of work this show has been, I was considering just doing it weekly or bi-weekly, but it wouldn't be a proper Christmas calendar without a daily post. I would like to squeeze in another Blue Hot Gossip show before Christmas, although that depends upon how things go.

I'm thinking over the design I'm going to use on the pumpkin this year. While a lot of people who put any effort into the pumpkin use templates, I like to come up with an original design. I've tried doing it a day before, but the pumpkin tends to dry out a lot overnight and can loose or change design details.

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 13 Days of Halloween-Day 9

2009-10-26T20:06:00.004-04:00

Not the most exciting episode, but a good song nonetheless. I do have something special coming up for the final Halloween episode.

http://www.archive.org/download/PodcastPings13DaysOfHalloween-day9/13Days-Day9.mp3

Almost forgot about today, although I could still have posted it in the morning.

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 13 Days of Halloween-Day 8

2009-10-25T18:59:00.005-04:00

This is the show for Monday, Oct. 26th. When I refer to "4 days left" I'm counting Tuesday to Friday, although technically Saturday should be included since Halloween is in the evening.

I believe I have used "Live" before, although it's such a good Halloween song it's hard to not use it again. I've listened to it many times myself. And chances are, most who have heard it haven't listened to it since last year.

http://www.archive.org/download/PodcastPings13DaysOfHalloween-day8/13Days-Day8.mp3

Technically, this is episode 64, although I've dropped the episode numbers since I'm doing more specials than regular episodes. I would like to squeeze in a New Year's episode this year but it depends upon how soon I get the Christmas shows finished.

As with the Halloween episodes, I'm re-using a lot of Christmas songs. I've found it easy enough to come up with enough music for 25 shows but many of them aren't that good. So I decided just to use one good song for each episode rather than filling it up with lame music or using all new music with filler songs.

Although the shows are far from finished so I could still try to get two songs into each episode. But I've still got about 18 poems to write so it will be a while before I decide that. (And it's really hard to think Christmas just before Halloween.) Based upon the work required for the Halloween shows, I probably won't do a Christmas calendar next year but I could do the 13 Days of Halloween again--provided I can find enough good podsafe Halloween music.

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 13 Days of Halloween-Day 7

2009-10-24T20:33:00.004-04:00

This show about headless ghosts marks the half way point.

http://www.archive.org/download/PodcastPings13DaysOfHalloween-day7/13Days-Day7.mp3

Although this show uses a song I've used in past Halloween episodes, it's just too good a Halloween song to leave out. And I figured there's going to be those who haven't listened to the past Halloween episodes. (Just search through the Halloween labelled shows to find the past Halloween episodes.)

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 13 Days of Halloween-Day 6

2009-10-23T18:41:00.004-04:00

Today's show deals with vampires.

http://www.archive.org/download/PodcastPings13DaysOfHalloween-day6/13Days-Day6.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 13 Days of Halloween-Day 5

2009-10-22T19:14:00.004-04:00

It's party time!

http://www.archive.org/download/PodcastPings13DaysOfHalloween-day5/13Days-Day5.mp3

I'm glad I did these up ahead of time, although it still takes a little time to upload and post. But it gives me a good idea of what I'll need to do for Christmas. As with these specials, I'll probably post the night before since it makes it easier and it gives me more time should I forget to post. The slow part now is writing the poems but the recording and editing should go fairly quickly, provided I don't have a cold.

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 13 Days of Halloween-Day 4

2009-10-21T19:32:00.005-04:00

This episode deals with giant monsters.

http://www.archive.org/download/PodcastPings13DaysOfHalloween-day4/13Days-Day4.mp3

I've been selecting the music for the Christmas episodes today. Some of the music I've used before but I like it enough to use it again. I felt it better to use good music that I've played before rather than newer songs that aren't as good. The big job now is writing the poems; I'm about a quarter of the way there.

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 13 Days of Halloween-Day 3

2009-10-20T19:23:00.005-04:00

Today's show deals with ghosts.

http://www.archive.org/download/PodcastPings13DaysOfHalloween-day3/13Days-Day3.mp3

The downloads so far have been a little slow, but it's still early. I suspect it should pick up more next week as more people get excited about Halloween.

I've been considering some changes for Podcast Ping next year but nothing is finalized yet. I consider the feed a literary channel, just as I consider Blue Hot Gossip a comedy channel. It's easier than creating new feeds. I was considering doing a classic epic poem, much like Beowulf (only a little more modern) but that would depend upon how much interest it got. I also would like to do one of my novels, but likely not The Unstoppable Ride since I'm having a hard time finishing it. It would be one I've already finished. But that won't be until next year. For this year there's just the Halloween and Christmas episodes, with hopefully a New Year's episode.

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 13 Days of Halloween-Day 2

2009-10-19T19:18:00.004-04:00

Here's the second of Podcast Ping's 13 Days of Halloween. I had to re-record this episode a few times to get the voice right, although most of the episodes were re-recorded to improve the voice.

http://www.archive.org/download/PodcastPings13DaysOfHalloween-day2/13Days-Day2.mp3

I've decided to try and get these up the night before since it gives me more time should something go wrong like a server being down. And it allows listeners to get the episodes early enough, especially when the final day is Oct. 31st.

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 13 Days of Halloween-Day 1

2009-10-18T20:25:00.006-04:00

This is the first of the 13 Days of Halloween. The Count Cordova character comes from The Blue Hot Gossip Comedy Show, although I think I've only used him on one episode. It's a voice that I've had to work on and that I still don't have quite right; I was trying to avoid slipping into a hard Lugosi's Dracula impersonation.

http://www.archive.org/download/PodcastPings13DaysOfHalloween-day1/13Days-Day1.mp3

I thought I'd get this up a little early. I'm in the EST timezone so I'm basically counting the days by that. I will try to get them up by noon provided all the servers are working okay. I may post the night before since it's a little easier than trying to do it in the morning. The episodes are finished so it's just a matter of posting them.

I've still a fair number of poems to write for Christmas, although it's hard to write Christmas stuff before Halloween. But I'll have a month plus whatever time before the episodes get posted so it shouldn't be a problem. I am reusing a few that I've written before but the majority will be new poems. The format still isn't finalized; I might have two songs per episode but I will have at least one. And while I would like to have a host like the Halloween episodes it might be too much work. I'll have to see how it goes.

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 56 - Jabberwocky and Filk

2009-09-20T08:10:00.005-04:00

I had a few songs I wanted to get out so I squeezed this one in before the 13 Days of Halloween. Initially it was just going to focus on filk music, although Jabberwocky seemed appropriate, especially for the last song. And I don't know where the voice came from, it just seemed to come naturally as I read the poem; probably encouraged by the phonetics of the poem.

http://www.archive.org/download/PodcastPing56-Jabberwocky/pp56.mp3

This time around I used songs I gathered from various sources rather than just Mevio. I'll probably use more variety of sources in later podcasts, although that's not likely until next year. I've already got Halloween chosen and there's no shortage of Christmas music on Mevio. I still like Mevio because of the quality of the material. While there is a lot of material on other sites, it's not always podsafe and it's not always of professional quality. Some of it sounds like it was recorded by a cell phone at a convert.

Next episode should be the first of the 13 Days of Halloween on October 19th. I've just a few short scripts to finish and then all the recording and editing, which I'll probably try to get done this week. I've still to write any poetry for Christmas or to select any music, although I don't think I'll be needing scripts.

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 55 - The Ghost of an Anniversary

2009-08-16T17:24:00.004-04:00

While I'm a little slow this year, I had to get one out for the anniversary.

http://www.archive.org/download/PodcastPing55/pp55.mp3

This year it's been harder to do a weekly podcast for a number of reasons. Mainly I don't have the backlog of poetry I had when I started, even though I've been doing classic poems this year. I also don't have as much time to work on it as I use to. Some of that is because of The Blue Hot Gossip podcast, which takes at least a full day's work (normally spread out over a period of time) to produce. And The Blue Hot Gossip has seen much better download numbers. After two years it's still rare for an episode of Podcast Ping to get more than a thousand downloads.

And if people aren't downloading the podcast, then it hardly seems worth doing. It would be better to do another type of podcast. Although I do like doing it, so I doubt I would stop, but I have to balance the amount of time I work on it with the amount of time and effort it's worth. I'm also been trying to get a company started which takes not just time but attention. And there's always the writing to work on which takes more time than I've been allowing and directly competes with time for writing poetry.

Even though I've only done a handful of episodes so far this year, I am planning on doing something special for Halloween and likely Christmas. I have been thinking of doing a Christmas calendar for a while and recently decided to do a test run by doing the 13 Days of Halloween. Starting on October 19th and running until the 31st, I'll try to post one short podcast a day. If it goes well then I'll do the same for Christmas, starting on December 1st. Provided I do those episodes, that will raise the episode count to over forty episodes for the year.

I've also come across an epic poem I would like to try doing, but I won't get to that until at least next year. And as all long time listeners know, these plans are constantly changing and what I plan isn't always what I produce. But I am working on the Halloween episodes so expect the first one of those, and likely the next Podcast Ping episode, on October 19th.

(I keep forgetting to mention this.)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 54 - Tyger, Tyger by William Blake

2009-05-21T17:10:00.005-04:00

This time I decided to do a reading of Tyger, Tyger by William Blake. It's a little shorter than normal since I only used two songs, however both happen to deal with animals. I could have fit in three but the music would have overtaken the poetry.

I also decided not to do an intro for the poem. I couldn't think of much to say and I didn't want to just throw one in for the sake of having one.

http://www.archive.org/download/PodcastPing54-TygerTygerByWilliamBlake/pp54.mp3

I've had an idea for another podcast, although I will have to spend some time writing something up first. I've been experimenting with speech synthesized recordings of my blog postings and I might have a theme for another podcast. But I'll have to see how it goes. I don't want to drop Blue Hot Gossip since it's good for any comedy I come up with, and I'm not going to drop Podcast Ping.

Although I don't have a lot of free time right now for working on podcasts. I have tried to justify it by adding a little bit of advertising for my toystore into the podcast, but if the podcast isn't getting enough downloads that does little good. While I've been resistant to the idea, I might wind up adding a donation button.

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

Podcast Ping 53 - Fern Hill by Dylan Thomas

2009-05-03T23:15:00.004-04:00

A reading of Dylan Thomas' Fern Hill. I felt the last poem was a little short so that the music dominated most of the podcast. I wanted something a little longer this time to balance it out a little better.

http://www.archive.org/download/PodcastPing53/pp53.mp3

You'll also notice I've changed the intro a little to accomidate some promotion for my new toy shop. It can be found at http://patrickjmcnamara.webs.com. I'm just starting it up so I've only a small selection at the moment, but I have many ideas for new designs.

With the summer coming I'm starting to think about shows for December. I know it sounds early, but I would like to try a Chrismas calendar this year. That means I've got to come up with 25 Christmas songs and I'll likely have to write quite a few poems even if I choose to re-use some poems. The current plan is to have 25 shows, each with one poem and one song.

Podcast Ping 52 - Daffodils by William Wordsworth

2009-03-30T17:40:00.005-04:00

Similar to the last episode, this podcast has a reading of Daffodils by William Wordsworth.

http://www.archive.org/download/PodcastPing52/pp52.mp3

Eventually I will get back to using my own poetry but for the time being, at least for this year, I'm going to stick to using poetry by famous poets. I'm focusing more right now on The Blue Hot Gossip Comedy Show.

Podcast Ping 51 - Kubla Kahn

2009-02-28T16:21:00.007-05:00

This episode is a reading of Kubla Kahn (Xanadu) by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

http://www.archive.org/download/PodcastPing51/pp51.mp3

I didn't want to go too long without getting an episode out, even though it's only been a couple months. I don't know how many I'll do this year, although the ones I do will probably be more like this one. I do have an audiobook/podiobook planned for the feed but for reasons I'll reveal later I'm waiting to start that.

Aside from the audiobook, which I'd like to get out weekly, I'll probably be only doing one "regular" episode a month for Podcast Ping. I've developed a new approach for The Blue Hot Gossip Comedy Show (http://bluehotgossip.blogspot.com) and I want to put more effort into that, possibly even getting out one episode a week. I tend to see better download numbers for it than I do for Podcast Ping, despite producing a lot fewer episodes. But it may take a few months before I get going on that. So I will be busy doing a lot, but there is only so much I can do and I have to put the effort into those things which provide the best return.

Podcast Ping 50 - Favorites

2008-12-26T10:08:00.005-05:00

Here's an special hour long episode of Podcast Ping made up of some favorite songs and poems from the entire series. I had to trim down my selection a lot to keep it from being too long but there's still about fifteen poems and songs included. As it is, I was going to make it only a top ten but found that too limiting.

http://www.archive.org/download/PodcastPing50/pp50.mp3

In putting this together I tried to use more of the older material than the newer material, although the rebuilds may make it seem newer. I also avoided instrumentals and I didn't include more than one song by the same artist. I was also going to make sure I didn't use more than one from the same podcast, but that would have added too much work. With over two-hundred songs and poems selecting fifteen still meant leaving out many good songs and poems.

Of course if the bonus episodes are included this is really more like episode sixty-one, (at least fifty-one with the music and poetry format) and if the Beowulf readings are added the number goes beyond a hundred. So the number is really arbitrary. But this is the official fiftieth episode.

I'm inclinded to call this the end of season one, simply becuase I don't expect to ever be doing anything with this material again, aside from publishing the poems. Next "season" I'm going to work with new material. I'm also considering using material from other poets, particularly famous poets, rather than my own. I've done a lot of poetry for the podcast and I could use the break. I'm also debating doing something special for next December. And I still might do a podiobook, but it will be from one I've already finished writing.

I may also take a few months off from podcasting, but I'll have to see how things work out.

Podcast Ping Bonus 11 - A Message From Santa

2008-12-18T19:26:00.004-05:00

Here's a new Christmas bonus episode, A Message From Santa.

http://www.archive.org/download/PodcastPingBonus11-AMessageFromSanta/ppb11.mp3

I could have called this one episode 50, but I have planned 50 to be a favorites episode which I'll post sometime before New Year's. That episode is made up of about fifteen poems and songs gathered from past episodes. I'm also making it a "season finale," since I will probably be taking a few months break from the podcast. But more about that in the next post.

A Pickle For Christmas

2008-12-08T16:45:00.005-05:00

This is last year's Podcast Pickle Christmas skit, "A Pickle for Christmas". There doesn't appear to be one coming out for this year; last year was hard enough to get done. As such I found myself acting as producer, as well as writer. A shortage of voices and a technical problem with one reader forced me to contribute more than I would have preferred, which is why I read more of the poem than anyone else.

http://www.archive.org/download/APickleForChristmas/A_Pickle_For_Christmas_Stereo.mp3

I tried posting this a few times last year but for someo reason it wouldn't work properly. I'm going to try again, although this one should work.

Podcast Ping Bonus 9 Rebuild

2008-11-28T14:07:00.004-05:00

This is a rebuild of last year's Christmas bonus episode, a reading of "A Visit from St. Nicholas by Clement Moore." For some reason the old one came out in mono so this is a stereo version of it.

http://www.archive.org/download/PodcastPingBonus9Rebuild/ppb9-REBUILD.mp3

I'm not sure if I'll do a Christmas bonus this year or not. I do have Podcast Ping 50finished which I'll release in December. I was going to wait on this one but since we're into the Christmas season I didn't see any point in waiting.

I seem to be at a terrible standstill with THE UNSTOPPABLE RIDE. I'm still trying to rewrite the second chapter for recording, but I find myself drawn in other directions. I tend to take December off from writing since I find myself creatively worn out and it offers some time to regain my energy. I am also finding myself drawn towards children's stories right now. Some of it came from listening to the poems I selected for Podcast Ping 50 and realizing how well suited many are for children. Of course it might also be the time of year.

I have tried some children's stories in the past and it might be time to get back to it. I've got a great one going right now that's worth focusing on. And I really would like to rework some already finished full-length novels to boost their length into a more saleable size. Currently they're about 80K so I need about another 10K or 20K.

So I can't say how long it will take to get back to THE UNSTOPPABLE RIDE. I don't want to leave it a half-finished podiobook so until I'm ready to fully commit it might be best to hold off. I thought it might help motivate me to work on to release it as a podiobook but it's just not working out that way. But it will get finished.

Of course I've still got a lot of material to get out. I have been considering a change of structure for Podcast Ping, but that wouldn't happen until next year. And I find myself spending a little more time on my blog lately so I might be giving that more attention.

As for episode 50, I'll either get that out around the start of December (maybe even Sunday) or the end. I was originally going to make it like the end of the year episode last year but I may not wait that long. After that I might just take a few months break from podcasting but I'll decide that in January.

Podcast Ping 23 Rebuild

2008-11-09T09:00:00.004-05:00

This is a rebuild of episode 23-Comrades. It was originally intended for Rememberance Day of last year, which is why I waited until now to release it, and includes a reading of "In Flander's Fields."

http://www.archive.org/download/PodcastPing23Rebuild/pp23-Rebuild.mp3

This will be the last music and poetry episode until December, but should get at least one chapter of THE UNSTOPPABLE RIDE out this month.

Podcast Ping 49

2008-11-06T22:54:00.005-05:00

This episode contains music and poetry about the coming of winter.

http://www.archive.org/download/PodcastPing49/pp49.mp3

I'll release the rebuild of 23 in a couple days. I've also finished episode 50 and a rebuild of Bonus 9, but I want to release those in December. I'm also considering doing a Christmas episode for this year, even though I'll have the rebuild of last year's Bonus 9 and a posting of "A Pickle for Christmas" which I had trouble posting properly last year.