Category: Canada

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Here, there, and I swear I’m forgetting something

This week has been full of various projects and events. For starters, the concert at the former home of Matthew Good is still having some ripple effects. More so, the podcast Rebecca and I did to document the occassion after the fact is still going strong in terms of downloads. It was the most downloaded episode that I have released in a single day, on the day that it was published. A lot of that is in part from Good linking RZ#109 that from his website. Can’t thank him enough.

The Flickr Vandigicam meetup was a resounding success, and it appears that many of the past meetups are just as much so. There was nearly 30 people who showed up for the Portrait Throw Down III, and Rebecca even got in on the fun[miss604:post] while I recorded audio for a podcast to released next week. Lots of really fun people and just as many pieces of camera equipment. Be watching the RadioZoom website for that episode on Tuesday.

Darren Barefoot also put a call out to Vancouver bloggers to go check out his play[db:post], Bolloxed, during the Vancouver Fringe Festival. I sent him an email, and he graciously put Rebecca and I on the list. Being that we’re getting in for free, Barefoot is asking that we blog a review of the play. Of course, I offered to do some podcasting about it as well. I’ll take the mobile rig along with, capture what audio I can during the play, and even try to get Darren, the playwriter himself, on the mic.

I also want to encourage people to check out the “Fringecast” that is being put on by xpodradio.com. It’s a podcast about, you guessed it, the Vancouver Fringe Festival. Darren sent me a quick note to also inform me that he’d be appearing on there.

I’m also in the process of planning a new podcast, and that’s, once again, another hint drop. We hope to launch the project in the next few weeks, but everything is still in the planning stages. Listeners of RZ won’t be too surprised when it does land, but the scope of the podcast goes a little beyond what many podcasts are doing. Keep checking back as we get things off the ground.

Needless to say, without having any source of income coming from anything of what I just listed, I’m keeping busy.

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Starbucks is going to podcast

I kind of understand the angle they are going for, but for the love of god, why?

Regardless of whether you regard Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX)as an icon of everything good in the corporate world or a harbringer of the apocolaypse, we all have to agree that the coffee company is quite innovative. It comes as no surprise, then, that Starbucks is set to launch a podcast series.

The coffee retailer is rolling out a new “Coffee Conversations” program where the company will provide downloadbable audio on its web site. Starbucks said that the podcasts will cover coffee topics, including home-brewing, specialty coffee, and pairing coffee with foods. [bizpodcasting]

I can’t even joke to say that I’m excited for this. Yes, the idea is innovative. More businesses should consider doing ventures like this to help promote themselves and/or their product.

On the other hand, “coffee topics” by the largest, coffee corporation in the world is another thing. They’ll be able to tell you the best thing you can buy from the display case full of pastries that go along with their menu of drinks. That’s called a “target-cast”; a podcast that is intended to sell you a product.

You can’t throw a brick in downtown Vancouver without hitting a Starbucks. Now you can listen to the podcast while you do it.

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That’s the impression that I get

Living in close quarters with a fellow, Vancouver blogger, aka my wife[miss604], we tend to get the same spam. Take the Matchstick stuff for example. We both got that email and have slick, mobile phones at no charge. And then there is email from this guy, who shall remain nameless.

Hey There,

My name is —– and I’m a Vancouverite trying to get more involved in the
local blogging community.

My blog is —————- and I blog about what I’m passionate about,
Reality TV, Politics and Vancouver, an odd combination, but it seems to work
fairly well, at least so far. I update everyday and usually multiple times, so
my blog isn’t going to get stale anytime soon.

Anyways, as I’m trying to get into the Vancouver blogging scene I was
wondering if there would be anyway to get my site added onto your Blogroll? I
would, of course, be more than happy to add Audihertz to my blogroll as well.

Thanks for taking the time out to read this, let me know if you have any
questions for me. I look forward to hearing back from you.

Rebecca got the same email, with a minor change, of course.

Hey There,

My name is —– and I’m a Vancouverite trying to get more involved in the
local blogging community.

My blog is —————- and I blog about what I’m passionate about,
Reality TV, Politics and Vancouver, an odd combination, but it seems to work
fairly well, at least so far. I update everyday and usually multiple times, so
my blog isn’t going to get stale anytime soon.

Anyways, as I’m trying to get into the Vancouver blogging scene I was
wondering if there would be anyway to get my site added onto your Blogroll? I
would, of course, be more than happy to add Miss 604 to my blogroll as well.

Thanks for taking the time out to read this, let me know if you have any
questions for me. I look forward to hearing back from you.

Now, please don’t think I’m trying to be a snob here because yesterday, the same dude emailed me with this thing about free coffee from Starbucks. Certainly enough, Rebecca got the same thing in her inbox. Yes, I’m all about free stuff. However, I never responded after the first email, but it was something I was considering. I’m thinking twice now that I’ve been told that there is a way to get free coffee by clicking on some link in an email that takes me to said dude’s site.

The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines “spam”[m-w] as “unsolicited usually commercial e-mail sent to a large number of addresses.” Two people, meaning Rebecca and I, isn’t really a “large number,” but I would have to put this solicitation on the spam side of the fence. And if the guy actually read our blogs, he’d know that she gets a lot more traffic than I do, at least in terms of comments. Our writing is different from each other and is not an important topic to get into right now.

I’ve always found that blogger etiquette is to check out other people’s sites, read them, comment on posts, and create an interactive relationship in that manner. This method makes me tend to believe that this guy might be one of those poser blogs. Just a way to get you there to click on the Google Ads which litter his site. Even if you’re not, then this is the impression that you have given me.

“And for the future? You came on a little strong.“

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Recording with the Vandigicam group tonight

I was contacted last week on a podcasting request. This might be the first time that anyone has specifically requested me to do a podcast regarding a certain topic or event. Needless to say, I was excited at doing some recording during the Vandigicam Flickr group outing this evening for the Official Portrait Throw Down III.

Here’s some more info on the group:

Anyone is welcome to join the Vandigicam group and post topics and participate in discussions but we’d like submissions to the group pool to be limited to shots taken during a Vandigicam meetup.

The Vandigicam flickr group is a handy communication medium for those of us who are meeting through flickr. We post notices of upcoming meetings here, as well as notices of interesting events that are worth photographing.

We welcome ALL camera users – digital and analog! Vandigicam is not meant to replace the more general Vancouver group, it is just something extra.

If you’d like to contribute images to the pool please join us at one of our outings. We always welcome new members! [flickr: vandigicam]

Checking out the Vandigicam FAQ, anyone with any type of camera is invited to be apart of the group and attend their meetups.

My plan is to approach this in a similar manner as I did with the Metroblogging Vancouver episode[radiozoom#103] that I did about a month ago. With hope, no one will be too afraid of the microphone, and I stand a chance of learning something new.

And if you have any ideas about what I should be doing with the podcast, I am always up for ideas and suggestions. Head over to the RadioZoom site and let me know.

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This is for my pal, Brian, in New York City

Brian, this is where I live (Google Maps)

And this goes for all the rest of my friends and family. Vancouver is on the west coast of Canada. No, I don’t live in Toronto, nor is Vancouver located in same area of Toronto.

And if you come to Vancouver, please drop me a line, eh? Brian, you’re my hero and good friend(from our days back in college radio). However, if I ever find out that you come up here for a weekend and we are within 500 meters of each other again, I might have to fly out to NYC and kick you in the ass, hard.

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BarCampVancouver: The End

Session: For some reason, the wireless crapped out on me at the very end of the session Tod Maffin led regarding “Hacking the Mothership(CBC)”, and I had a complete blog post vanish on me when I hit publish and lost all bandwidth at that exact moment. Yeah, that totally sucked, but I imagine that this is just apart of the beauty that is BarCampVancouver. Let me see if I can recall a little bit from the last few sessions of the day that I attended, and in no particular order.

Drupal is a powerful platform that I am becoming more and more familiar with everyday. It can do more than just a blog, and the programming aspect is a bit more meaty than WordPress. What I have learned in the past few months about PHP and MySQL tends to make me interested in seeing what I can do with Drupal. It’d be a major jump into a learning binge, but I’d like to give it a shot.

Other interesting elements to the platform is how it can be integrated with podcasting. That is, one site can serve up multiple feeds, and it is all built in to Drupal. Modules can make you site dance circles, and installation is generally simple. Some things do take some knowledge and experience. I’ve done a bit of reading about it up till now, but the session today really gave me a better understanding.

Session: David Gratton led a session about “Music Social Networking” that was interesting to sit through. He mainly laid out what his company is doing with ProjectOpus.com. It’s a lot like how it sounds, but is learning from its errors, as well as its users, and attempting to put a new spin on how people network in the world of enjoying music. Find friend, new bands, spread the word, and report back to the artist so they know what’s going on with their music.

It’s a really great concept, and I asked about how this can be incorporated to podcasting. They have a lot of local Vancouver artists already on the network. I’ll have to explore their library and see what I can do with their service. If anything, I’ll be in touch with them for sure.

Alexandra Samuel ran a session on tagging and the various ways that one can use them to help promote their blog and network with other bloggers with similar interests. These are classic tools that all blogs seem to have built in these days, but there are many ways to expand their effectiveness. Her blog and company’s website, Social Signal, are full of great ideas about this topic.

Session: And this is where I hate my laptop or the wireless network or the evil spirits who struck down my ability to have bandwidth in WorkSpace at the very moment that I had a long list of points that Tod Maffin covered in his session. That sucked so much.

Basically, Tod opened the floor to everyone in attendance to get ideas on how this new age of media can revolutionize the CBC as it currently stands. How can blogs, podcasting, and interactive media alter or be incorporated into what the CBC does? At the same time, how do we, as the general public, feel about where we can fit in the grand scheme of things.

Damn, Tod. It makes sense as to why you have scaled back on your podcasting projects now. I talked to him briefly and discovered that he is no longer affiliated with the Foursevens Podcast Network as he was before. TodBits still exists. He just hasn’t gotten around to getting something done. Look at what he’s trying to do here with the CBC. Think he’s busy?

There were a lot of interesting ideas thrown around that my tired mind can’t really recall now(stupid wireless). One thing I do recall is the fact that everyone in the session has listened to a CBC podcast. On the flipside, none of us knew that the CBC will pay you to read or perform a piece from your blog if you were to submit it, and, of course, it was chosen for air. That’s something I’m going to keep in mind.

WorkSpace - Leaving BarCampVancouver 2006After all of that, even sitting here on the couch at home, there’s still a lot to soak in. I have a variety of contacts that I made, shook the hands of some really cool people, and dropped some business cards that we made up last week. Events like this are dangerous. It doesn’t help that I get ideas in my head, fall in love with them, and then dive in head first until, not coming up for air until I’m happy with the result.

I ran around, taking pictures with my Nokia all day. All the pictures are now in this Flickr set.

I’m beat. After our time spent with Matthew Good last night and today’s excitement, I’m ready to crash and hit the beach in the morning. It was fun.

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Last night with Matthew Good

Matthew Good: packed up and ready to leave townAs of this post, it’s still what you would consider tonight. Past midnight, that makes our night of hanging out in, as of later today, the former home Matthew Good actually happening last night. It might just be his last night in Vancouver, ever.

I wanted to sit down and hammer out some thoughts about the whole experience before I head to bed for this night. When the sun rises in the morning, I have to come down off this high and try to focus on a discussion about web-blogging-podcasting-geeky stuff at BarCamp.

So much of that techie stuff has become apart of who I am in life, but music is that one thing I find myself constantly coming back to. It kinda meshed in that tiny, empty apartment in Coal Harbor. Rebecca had the honor, and duty, of live blogging the whole event, and I have to say that for her first time out at doing such a thing, it turned out pretty freaking stellar.

I know I said that I wanted to record things tonight for the podcast, and that did not happen. I’ll be completely honest. I’m not sorry or sad about that. In fact, I didn’t even ask. I had my minidisc and crappy Berhinger mic in my bag, all ready to go. When the dogs ran up to me as we entered the front door of the apartment, I was content with letting the night unfold with the plan that was already in store.

Audio would not have done this night justice. I know there was video taken a few times, but it won’t portray the signifigance of the night. Maybe this is just my gut reaction at being invited into Matt’s secluded world. He’s about to take a huge leap into another chapter, maybe even a whole new book, in his life. Somehow, I got to be there as he said so long to this one.

Matthew Good: Benji is the one in chargeThis was the second time that I’ve seen Matt perform. My first one was shortly after I arrived in Vancouver to start my new life here with Rebecca. It was even my first rock show that I ever saw here, and those are important events in my life. It’s just a simple reality that these things stick with you. I still remember the first, real rock show that I went to(Davenport, IA at the Col Ballroom – Starfish, The Reverend Horton Heat, The Toadies, and The Butthole Surfers) like it was yesterday. The various road trips for other shows and festivals. New York, Austin, Minneapolis, and Milwaukee. Those are some of the best memories.

This isn’t about a brush with a celebrity or bragging about hanging out with someone famous. I’ve had my run-ins with a fair share of rock stars in my life. Working in public radio, I shook the hands of a lot of people that are way more smarter and successful that I could possibly dream. It feels like more than that, but not so much that I’m better than you, if that makes any sense.

That’s how I felt leaving Matt’s tonight. It’s tough for me to not call him on a first name basis because he feels like more of a friend because of that. He’s just a good guy. Outspoken, a master of his craft, intelligent, and full of a lot of great stories. I’d like to hang out with him and a bottle of whiskey for a few hours. That would be a trip.

It’s tough to really convey this experience. I’m trying to let thoughts from the top of my head just flow out, but so many tangents are getting in the way.

I can’t forget to mention the people there, and this might be where the impact of this is hitting me a little more. One guy, originally from Newfoundland, flew in from Texas to be there. It gets better. Of course, there was one gal who came from Victoria, and a variety of other lower mainlanders got the invite as well.

Then there was the chick from Edmonton that flew over, and another girl coming all the way from Maryland. There was another dude there from the U.K., but he’s studying at a local university anyway so that doesn’t totally count. Matt’s looking to travel to his neck of the woods in the not too distant future, and they discussed plans for meeting up while he’s in the neighborhood.

Out of all of this, the only guy to bring beer with the dude from Texas. Low and behold, Stella isn’t that bad. I’ll still take a pale ale over it any day. Regardless, look at how far these people went to be here. We just took a bus to get our butts over there from BarCamp and felt bad for being a little late. And to top that, the chick from Maryland walked straight off the plane and out of YVR to get there as soon as she could; there stands a chance that her baggage might still be in the terminal by the time I publish this.

Left to Right: Me, Matthew Good, Rebecca [Flickr:miss604]When we finally made our exit, we spoke to Matt one last time. And if you have been reading his blog, you know that he has been going through a rough spot in his life. Sadly enough, he just now discovered how close we lived to him and even mentioned how we could have hung out if he knew it sooner. He’s quite the Apple geek, much like myself. Somewhere within that, I’m sure we might have got along.

It will be very strange to know that he’s gone from this city, even if I haven’t been here that long. He’ll still be blogging, and I plan on keeping track of what he’s up to. He has a plan. As to when, where, and for how long, you’ll just have to wait and see.

Be sure to watch my Flickr for photos once I post them, and also be sure to check out Rebecca’s(Flickr). On top of that, keep an eye on the podcast. We’ll be sure to sit down and share some more thoughts about the whole thing.

Needless to say, thanks for inviting us, Matt. It was really great to finally meet you, play with the dogs, have Rod make us laugh, and hear you perform. Look us up if you’re ever back in town.

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Weekend craziness begins tonight

We’ve jammed a lot into this summer, and this week has been no exception. I accompanied Rebecca to another MetroBlogging Vancouver meetup this past Tuesday night, but there was no recording taking place at this one. It was just a small group and a good time had by all. And if you were there and didn’t have fun, I know that we did.

On Wednesday, Preston threw a dinner party at some Chinese place that I don’t know the name of or how to get there, really. He picked up the tab to celebrate the ending of his bankruptcy. One should note that CDs and DVDs don’t sell well on eBay anymore. He’s off to bigger and better things now.

SO much seafood. I think I dreamed about it because it was that good and seemed like they were never going to stop bringing out more courses. Literally, at one point, the host tapped me on the shoulder and said, “Good luck!”

I’ve had a variety of projects going on lately. I’ll drop a hint about a new podcast project that I’m working on, but that’s about it for now. More as those details get sorted out. I’m also the new guy in charge of membership for the Association of Music Podcasters(AMP). Learning the ropes there has been interesting. All of this has put a kink into getting a podcast out in time, not to mention more network problems with Shaw(I shake my fist at you!).

Tonight, BarCampVancouver kicks off. Rebecca and I are both going, but we’ll only be there for a little while tonight. We’ll return on Saturday morning for the presentations and discussions. I hope to get some ideas, meet some cool people, share opinions, and see what other trouble I can get myself into. I’m not completely sure what to expect, but I’m taking what I’m doing with the blog and podcast to see what’s up.

Matthew Good has invited a few, select people to come over to his apartment tonight for a completely unplugged, stripped down performance. This will be, according to him, his last night in Vancouver. He’s packing up and heading out to wander the world like Kane in Kung Fu.

Rebecca, on her string of good luck, emailed to be there. Not only did she get in, but she is live blogging the event. I’m going as a plus one and really have no clue what to expect. I feel like I’ll be witnessing a major moment in music history, and let’s hope the folks at BarCampVancouver are cool with us missing out on their cool thing to go do this other incredible opportunity.

Ideally, what I would love to do, is just have my minidisc recording in some corner of the room. I could care less about quality and the fact that it would be done in mono. It would be an incredible thing to record, if not podcast. We’ll just have to see what Matt is comfortable with.

Outside of all of this, I’m focusing on Sunday. Oh yes… Beach? I’ve got my eye on you. And maybe some sleep, too.

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The PNE is the place to get your corn dog fix

Photo Credit: Rebecca(miss604) [flickr]And you know that I got mine. It was warm, greesy, breaded, pork on a stick goodness. Sadly, it was no footlong corn dog like I was hoping and praying for. I kept my eye out for a stand, but they only carried the “regular” sized ones. They were probably jumbos, and I wasn’t complaining once I started devouring this artery clogging product. A real symbol of summertime, let me tell you.

Oh yeah, and there’s an entire fair that goes on at the Pacific National Exhibtion(PNE). We ventured out there with some of Rebecca’s family to ride some rides, see the sights, and toss money at overly priced stuff. This was my first time ever experiencing this event, and I have to say that I had a really good time, even if local folks, like The Vancouverite(which has expanded to a podcast), say otherwise .

The “fair rides” are a meshing of makes up Playland, plus some additions for the PNE festivities itself. A buzz killer to the excitement of running from ride to ride and giving your senses a good whiplash was that some of them cost some extra cash on top of the $30 stamp that was supposed to get your onto all rides. I’m tending to think that they do this on the really popular attractions or for those that require a little extra time and effort to run, but it sucks. I just wanted to ride the Hellavator. Geez.

I grew up just blocks from the county fair grounds in my home town, so there was a lot here that reminded me of home. I’ve never been to the Iowa State Fair, but I would imagine it to be incredibly similar to the PNE. Well, there’s probably a lot more “country flare” that you won’t see at the PNE, but it’s the basic idea that I’m getting at.

I saw dogs do some cool things, watched some ducks race, saw some pigs race, caught a cow getting milked, was cut off from getting my pulled pork sandwich fix by a parade with painful music being blasted into my ears, got a free Gillette Fusion, got a token fair lemonade, and got a candy apple that I just remembered is still in the fridge and will be eaten shortly.

I liked it. It’s a good time that only comes around once a year. Crowds, on the other hand, is something I still dislike. I was a little tired going into our adventure, and they got to me just a little bit, not to mention waiting in lines for rides. We actually got lucky and didn’t do a whole lot of that, but as the day progressed, I lost steam in my legs a little bit. That was mainly do to the fact that I wore flip-flops. When you get on something that flips you upside down and all around, you really have to work hard to keep those suckers on your feet.

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Minor league baseball in Vancouver

I had my first experience of catching a baseball game in Canada over the weekend. That was this past Friday, and we promptly caught a second one the next night. We got hooked up with some free, Vancouver Canadians box seats for Friday’s game, and we had such a good time that Rebecca scored us some more tickets for Saturday night’s game.

It was for the best that for our second trip out to Nat Bailey Stadium[wiki] was under the lights. Friday’s game was a 1:00 PM start time, and Rebecca is still treating a sunburn. I did ok, but one of my arms has a much worse famer tan than the other now. We’ll never head out to another day game without bringing the sunscreen with us.

I know that there is a matter of respect that must be payed when it comes to cheering for the local team, but I could not do it. You have to understand, the Boise Hawks are a branch of the Chicago Cubs farm system. Vancouverites, I apologize to you and this great city. My heart has forever been with the Cubs, and it will take a hell of a lot to get me to stop bleeding Cubbie blue.

Nat Bailey is a great, little ballpark with overpriced everything that you would come to expect with catching a professional baseball game. Beer was almost $7 for the good stuff, $6 for the suds and water. Hotdogs are four bucks a pop, but, like I said, it’s to be expected.

The seats are very hard to argue with. Hardly a bad seat in the place. Check out their website for more details on pricing, but it is very much a family friendly venue.

Just remember to tip the waitress in the event that you sit in a section with such a luxury. That thought didn’t really cross our minds until after paying the chick for our first round of Granville Island Pale Ale. After the second time, she ignored us while returning about five more times to the group of folks in the row directly behind us. Call it a lesson in etiquette, and I have a few choice names that I’d like to call that waitress.

Saturday’s game was particularly interesting. It was “Mexico Night”. I can’t recall how many times I heard the “Mexican Hat Dance” played, be it over the PA or by the classy-looking mariachi band that was wandering about the stadium before and during the game. They were also giving away a trip for two to Mexico that we didn’t win. That’s about as Mexican as it got.

We still had a lot of fun. It made me excited to see the Cubs logo on the sleeves of the Boise players. The chances of those guys getting up to Wrigley Field[wiki] are against them, but with the horrible year the Cubs have been enduring, I’m sure some of them might get scouted for a solution to the problem.

And of course, during each singing of Take Me Out to the Ball Game[wiki], I sang, “Let’s root, root, root for the Cubbies…” I then received an elbow in my side from Rebecca.

Check out the pics from the games on Flickr.