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Jack Mangans Deadpan #157: Microphone Czech

Questors from Effpiem Season 1 finale contained within!

Jack Mangans Deadpan #157: Microphone Czech

Jack is in the Crazy Train lounge (thx Kurt!)

Promo – How to Grow Your Geek (http://www.howtogrowyourgeek.net/)

Amy Bowen reads her 2nd grade composition on the 2006 winter Olympics

My Dead Pan by JRMurdock

Greasy Nipples
Nomad Scry
Lo Pan
EssBee
Ed From Texas
Nomad Scry
WNDRWolf
Nomad Scry (first comment of the week)

That’s Better Too by Paul Maki

Fuck a Duck by Pixie

Questor From Effpiem by Amy Bowen (http://amybowen.wordpress.com/)

Parade of Nations:
Us National Anthem by The Energizer Bunny?
Czech National Anthem by Nomad Scry
Czech National Anthem by Jack Mangan

Animal Sounds by JRMurdock

Questors of Effpiem continued.

The Deadpanmmmm meetup is next week. (March 11(ish) to 14th(ish)) Are you coming?

Record your favourite Dead Pan memories.

Outro Babble

Send in content: 206-350-Tomi (8664) or e-mail: sphericaljackmatgmaildotcom

Closing music: “Too Good to Last”

Killing the US Anthem.

(Unczeched Show Notes.

Holy crap, I didn’t even notice that while I was putting this one together, we surpassed 1000 on the previous episode. woot.)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

909 thoughts on “Jack Mangans Deadpan #157: Microphone Czech”

  20. Morning Pan!

    My, my we had a busy February. Comments were a whopping 3,786. This is almost two and a half times the number of comments over the same period last year (2.46 to be exact).

    Way to go my yappy Panites.

  28. Telling a secret on DeadPan?

    Van, when I was a little girl, I was a huge fan of MY. In fact, he was one of only two people I wrote a fan letter to. I was so happy, I got a personal reply, and the envelope was even hand written by him. I think I still have that letter and picture somewhere.

  52. Pingback: The Questors from Effpiem, Episode 11: …And Back Again « Journey to Podiobook Authorship

  54. I’ve got the elements of one of my anthems set i just have to find time to put it all together. Prolly have to be after the mmmmmeetup, but itll get there.

  61. Congratulations, Nomad Scry! šŸ˜€ Also, thank you for the compliment on Questors! Yep, that was Arkle filling in at the last minute, for which I am very grateful.

  75. Hubby has asked me to make cookies today, instead of tomorrow. We’re out, and he needs his sugar rush I guess. I told him cookies would last longer if he stopped taking bunches with him to give to friends and co-workers. I received more eye rolling.

  76. Bunny if you get me drinky enough Ill sing Canada the Beautiful… er whatever… in French at the mmmeet up. You just gotta supply the liquor and lyrics with the correct pronunciation. Thatll make up for what Im about to do with my recorded version of O Canada.

  93. Actually I was gonna incorporate some “blame canada” in mine. WAY TO RUIN IT BUNNY!!!! šŸ˜‰

    Also didnt Molsen buy Coors, so Coors is technically Canadian now? I thought thats how it went. Which is fine, yall can have that terrible swill.

  94. Nomad Scry: Good on ya re: Dan Carlin!

    Cj: +1 the dirty martinis!

    Cj: I was recently told I can be sassy. I thought it was purely a woman’s trait.

    Nomad Scry: Dude. Most excellent. Congrats!!!!eleven!!!

  95. Bah, Japanese beer is made in the U.S. often, too. Meanwhile, Budweiser was sold to whomever quite a while ago, and therefore is no longer U.S. owned.

  105. That is an incorrect statement, Nomad.

    Eh whatevs, Bunny. Like I said, that merger just made bad beer stronger so we all lose.

  110. Lo

    I assume that the indie beers -must- be some totally other breed from the piss smelling liquid that the kids around me were drinking in high school. But so far, my only experiences have been with that piss smelling liquid, the jug beer from the backwoods when I lived in the backwoods, and the Guiness in a black’n’tan.

    And Guiness is so damn different I don’t understand how it is also beer.

    Or perhaps it is not. I don’t know.

  116. The micro brews? Oh yes, Nomad. i dont consider the big brands to be beer. Theyre flavorless swill. I love Guinness but its not my fave stout at all.

    Well when you compare Guinness to a lager its gonna come off as completely different. But in the stout family of beers it belongs just fine. Comparing Coors to Guinness is like comparing Paul Blartt to Star wars.

  136. Honestly? For Lagers I really like the Sam Adams Boston Lager. I know its not all microbrew and trendy but its tasty and 1000000000 times better than shit Coors and Bud.

  138. Rhett, Oskar is making Ten Fidy a seasonal, and won’t be canning it any longer. Their new regular brew is called The Gubner (sp?) and is, I think, a Double IPA.

    You guys need to come to Denver and Lo Pan and I will take you to Oskar Blue’s. I’ll drive.

  142. My eyes are starting to go futzy (been up since 7pm and it’s 11:30am now) but that Ten Fidy description sounded interesting. And kinda scary. Like the idea of drinking molasses.

  145. For reals, for sure. The waiter explained it all to us when we were there a few weeks ago.

    Lo, you must check out the new Oskar Blues location in Longmont (Hover & 119). It’s called Oskar Blues Liquids and Solids. The food is outstanding, and the length of the beer tap line behind the bar looked awfully appealing. They must have 30 or 35 taps.

  148. Thats means I have to go to Longmont. ;P. Hoever for THAT Im totally down with the drive.

    Long as youll be there… *googy eyes*

  153. “Come to Denver and in a weekend we all show you 50 awesome microbreweries.”

    Lo Pan, EssBee, I’m firmly of the opinion we should all go to each other’s home (state, province, town, whatever) and check out the micro brews.

  174. RE: Ten Fidy.

    I like, but it’s a terrible choice for a starter beer. Dale’s Pale or one of the Sam Adams Seasonals would be much better. Or you can really never go wrong with a good Weiss or Oktoberfest.

  176. It’s always fun when outro-babble gets babblier and babblier.

    Amy: I hope we see more fiction from you in the future. Why don’t you have a podcast yet? Or do you and I just missed it?

  177. Holy shit! I have just scheduled a multiple time zone conference call – 3 countries, 2 days, all for an interview with the Broken Sea Audio Productions Executive Team… (Central United States, England, and New Zealand)

    Granted not as good as NS news, but I am psyched!

  180. wOLf – wOOt!

    Ten Fidy: I agree, it’s not a starter beer. I like to start will a glass or two of wheat or heiffy then move on to the 10 F or a quaddriple Aae like that Boulevard 6th Glass. šŸ˜‰

  181. Nomad – Re: Budweiser
    To give you some idea of the difference between Budweiser/coors/Miller Lite type product and actual beer … most beer recipes I have ever seen call for an initial fermentation stage of 5 to 7 days, followed by a secondary fermentation of 7 to 10 days before being bottled or kegged. At that point (depending on the flavor or style) you wait minimum of 6 weeks before it is ready for consumption but for the really tasty beer … the wait can be up to 6 months!

    Budweiser? Well, from initial brewing to getting on your shelf may be less then 3 weeks.

    The major US breweries are basically selling “product”.

  184. BTW – Today’s re-modeling tip.
    After installing new flooring, check the fit of your doors beforeyou repaint them … unless you enjoy having to repaint them after you have had to trim the bottom of the door and totally fraked up the fresh paint.

    :angry:

  185. w00t on the Wolf news. And WOOT on the quickening Scry! That’s great news, man.

    Yes, unlike Budweiser, Spy Hunter is ageless.

    And btw, while I’d like to blame ditto for the 2nd Czech anthem in this episode, that wasn’t him. It was me.

  186. That was really awesome, Jack.

    “quickening” heh

    I might have just had something very good happen for me at work. I can’t decide if I should get the pointy-haired boss hairdo at the salon today, or something more EEEEEEEE-vil.

  187. Contemplating
    An Audio Engineer friend of mine (Yes he works in Radio) asked me
    Would you do a live version of Wander Radio?

    I am thinking about it.

    But who would listen to it?

  191. I laugh my ass off every time I see the dream sex seen
    A little to the left… Oh Peter yaaaahhhhh if you could go ahead and…

  193. I don’t want to jinx it, and I am terrible at good news, but I think I just got a promotion. I think I might have just gotten the job* I’ve been wanting for a long time.

    Eeek!

    *in no way a come on. or it is. whatever works.

  207. I’ve been giving Pandora a re-evaluation since yesterday, digging it. THIS needs to be available in the car – in place of FM music radio.

    I’m still not 100% what Nikki is doing when she starts to grind….

  209. I wish I could try Pandora out at work. šŸ™ Actually, I think you can get Pandora as an app for the Iphone. So if you are setup to use your MP3 player in your car you could set up the Iphone to run Pandora.

  212. Oooh, Jack and Jack and JR and LJ, hear me out. So after 2 hours of content per month, you CHARGE. Dudes, you could totally . . .

    Never mind. Even with my evil new position I’m not asshole enough to be that snarky.

    cough

  214. Rhettro, I have Pandora for my blackberry and so far I have only tested it at home with my WIFI and it worked great that way. Maybe I’ll have to try it on the way home. I think I have pretty good coverage.

  220. Oh, does Pandora stop inserting ads then, after you pay them $3? Weak.

    A number of sinister forces are at work, trying to erode the free content model, trying to bring us back to 1985. Feh.

  221. whats that in the bottom of the box. it looks like a bug. I’ll get it…
    *stomps out whatever it was at the bottom of the box*
    …There took care of that pest

  222. Rhettro, I have Verizon so it probably won’t be quite the same experience but after my family contract is up with AT&T we are killing my personal line and my wife will be getting a data plan. That might give you a better idea of how well it works with and iPhone. But this is at lease a start.

  225. Jack: If you had a browser, say, Firefox, that had an add-on, maybe similar to NoScript, then you could perhaps allow the Pandora script to run, but not the script to serve up ads. Of course, this is merely theoretical and would be a not-very-nice-thing-to-do.

  226. In addition to their onpage ads, Pandora runs ads between songs. I actually don’t mind the ads, but I think the inclusion of pay restrictions greases up the slope toward the nickeled-and-dimed end user experience.
    I don’t just mean on Pandora, I mean throughout your entire “free Web 2.0” experience. NewsCorp (Rupert Murdoch, FauxNews) own Hulu, and have already begun executive chatter about going to a pay-only model.

    Where we recently embraced the freedom of new media, the greedy corpos and sellouts have begun to sell off open source ideals.

    /end vaguely grumpy new media rant.

  232. Jack: I agree. It was announced that ads alone can’t power the webbernets, and the whole thing is going to come crashing down. Of course, this was what, ten years ago?

    One of the issues is that there’s new media, and there’s new business models. Very often new media just employs the old business models.

    I can say that I’m sad that I don’t have enough disposable income right now to properly support those I’d like to in the cyber-media.

    And, of course, “open source” had become a marketing term, devoid of its original meaning. Much like “alternative music” in the ’90s.

  234. JR: That’s impressive! That person must be on Atkins. I like in particular that the bacon is arranged as a “dream catcher”.

  237. JR: Wow!! Thank you so much! The main reason I don’t have a podcast of my own yet is that I don’t have enough fiction content ready for wide release to sustain a podcast with a regular release schedule. The other reason is that I don’t have enough regular work to be able to afford my own domain name registration and server space.

    WNDRWolf: Awesome! Go, you! (re: conference call scheduling)

    Jack: I agree, your Czech anthem was made of win. šŸ™‚

    EssBee: That’s wonderful! šŸ™‚

  245. EssBee: Congrats! Great news.

    Sorry, the nipples were to enlarged for me to take in at once while at work.

    #borrowingLejonscatchinguphashtag

  246. Spy Hunter = damned good fun

    WNDRWolf: Go on witch your bad self! Best of luck!

    That’s it. I refuse to catch up more.

  247. Oh, except Coors and Bud are on-par with elk piss.

    I like a few beers. Sam Addams was my default. I like a strong beer. Unfortunately, I can’t get Sapporo Black in Connecticut. Damned good stuff when you want a serious beer.

    Oh, and I drink beer room-temperature.

    Well, I did when I drank beer. My friend told me it makes you puffy, so I stopped. Now that I’m reading through on a Glucose-Index/Load diet, I see that one average beer has a load of 110. To lose weight, it’s recommended to stay within 60-80 for the day. I think it’s 80-100 to maintain. So one beer is more than what is recommended for the day in total.

    Explains the beer-belly.

  254. Congrats to Scry and EssBee. Glad to hear some good news around the Pan Land.

    And, nice cameo by Mennenga. I wonder if that was a bit therapeutic for him. šŸ™‚

  255. Oh yeah, this whole jobless thing puts my whole mini-mmmmmmmeetup CO plan in serious doubt.

    I actually feel worse for Darcy – she was really looking forward to the 20 year HS reuinion…

  256. Oh, poo. Sorry JB.

    Rhett, Sly B and I went to Oskar Blues for dinner, and the waitress told be it is not true they are shelving Ten Fidy. I’m not sure who’s right – she looked pretty dumb.

  257. Thanks for the info EssBee. If I can’t find any Ten Fidy I’ll see if I can find anything else that is equally decedent. šŸ™‚

    JB: Sorry about the job situation. Hope things turn for the better for you and your family.

  259. Pingback: Thursday, March 4, 2010 | BrainWyrms

  266. Wolf – w00t for your interview with Broken Sea.

    jJ – Bud vs. Beer. Your example is actually quite instructive. Thank you.

    EssBee – Your turn. w00t for the job news!

    re: Pandora charging. I am blocked here at work, but… I have an iPhone, so frog you man! Haha! Ahem. If I recall correctly, after 40 hours of streaming in a month, you have to pay $0.99 to continue listening up to 99 hours? That is an awful lot of streaming… says the guy who listens to 25-40 hours of podcast a week.

    re: Bacon & Cheese Stuffed Pizza Burger. I feel ill just looking at the pictures. I -love- pizza, but that is gross.

    5:02-5:05 – It puts the lotion on its skin.

  267. I hit send too soon.

    re: jJ’s “Stopped in tracks” video – at time stamp 5:02 – 5:05…

    What happens if one of them decides to get married? Both? They are two individuals with one body.

    #catchingupisfuntodo

  270. OK so I’m coming home from work tonight and it’s dark and creepy and I’m in my car alone – or SO I THINK… then while listening to Deadpan’s latest episode I suddenly hear this heavy breathing.

    Seriously freaked out… I keep looking behind me and turning the volume up and down on the radio because I’m certain someone is in the car with me.

    Freaked me out.

    I’m such a wuss.

  271. Bunny, my love! I’m sorry that I wasn’t responding faster. I’m buried in my work right now and only have the moments before falling asleep at night to read the board much and catch up on email. Tomorrow is my day off! I’ll be much more attentive! Although I have an article to write and a spreadsheet to finish.

    Ughs! But! Yes, I’m responding to emails! I am I am! :happy:

  272. Alone again… naturally … because everyone has better things to do at 1am.. like sleep.

    Oh to be asleep – what joy there is…

    Hey, I think I’ll do it too!

  282. Rhettro,
    Pandora on Verizon with a blackberry worked pretty good. it started slow but after it started it worked very well. I was on the lower quality stream but it worked driving across town and stopping at a store.

  283. Jack: Zamboni for your desk. that just blows my mind!!! I have been entering the ride the Zamboni contest for the Green Bay team for years and never won but now I could have one on my desk!!

  296. Announcement:

    I just want everybody to know, Cj is the bestest and should be eternally hugged. She hasn’t done especially today to warrant this announcement. She just is, and that should be enough.

    We now return you to your regularly scheduled Pannage.

  301. Hi DP!

    The job is mine, I’m just not sure what the title is. We merged our company with a Dallas company, and thus my team with a team that does the same kind of work in Dallas. I had proposed sharing leadership of this new team with the leader from the Dallas company’s team. The new VP/boss (who is in Dallas) called me yesterday to say there could be no sharing, and that he’s chosen me for the position. I might be Director, I might be Manager, but the job is definitely a promotion. He’s coming to Colorado Monday to announce it to the larger group.

    I’m still not good at good news.

    Sly B and I are headed to my folks’ now to celebrate my dad’s 60th bday (yes, young — I don’t think he was shaving very often when I was born). We’re throwing a big par-tay tomorrow, and are going in advance to help my poor mom clean and make lazagna.

    I probably won’t be around much — you guys have a grand weekend!

  304. Probably, Bunny. Though I’m not sure I COULD spend more time in TX without actually moving there. Eeek! You might have uncovered the evil plot in all of this!

    But truly, I’ll manage a team of about 8 – 6 of whom are not in Texas.

  306. Don’t stop, make it pop
    DJ blow my speakers up
    Tonite, Imma fight
    Til we see the sunlight
    Tick Tock, on the clock
    But the party don’t stop, no

    *shoots self*

  310. “merged our company with a Dallas company,”

    Hmmmm, this brings to mind “half pony/half monkey monster”.

    “there could be no sharing” – so their can be only one?

    “I might be Director, I might be Manager,”
    Can I recomend “Manrector” ?
    How about “Diranager” ?

    How ever it works out … Yea for Evil Inc. 2.0 !!!!

  323. Nomad.. its this goddamn poppy fuckin popo song by some “girl” named Kesha. “Tick Tock” or some shit. I heard it ONCE and now its lodged in brain forever. Id send a link but I wouldnt do that to you

  328. Froglegs.

    I wanted to use a clip for my ‘cast and I asked for permission and was granted it and now I can’t find the freakin’ thing. I’ve listened to 30 minute cast 4 times in a row now and I can’t find it.

    My hair is intact. For now.

  335. So, I know y’all here are into the Lost and the Dexter and whatnot, but I want to mention a new show that *I* just checked out.

    Parenthood.

    It’s similar to the movie with Steve Martin (swooooon) but it stars Lauren Graham (double swoooooon) and it’s a new TV show based on a fairly dysfunctional, but loving family.

    I really enjoyed the premiere and hope I find time to watch more.

    It’s kind of lacking in the Keanu Reeves department though.

    Hate me all you want for it, but I think the boy is hawt!

  336. J0e: LOL! Maybe we’re about to find out whether or not they did, indeed, use too many monkeys. šŸ˜€ I hope not.

    “Diranager” sounds like either a species of dinosaur or a supervillain.

    JR: *facepalm* So they are. I hadn’t realized that until you pointed it out.

  357. And while normally I would find Taco Bell to be repulsive and disgusting, I’m rarely normal and it sounded quite tasty (and easy on the pocketbook) today.. and I took liberty with it being my day off and all.

    and …

    They were out of mild sauce.

    My entire craving of Taco Bell is based on the sucking the mild sauce from the tube.

    FAIL

  368. Dr. Demento was on every Sunday night back when I was about 11 or 12 and my brother and I would listen to it every Sunday night. My mom would put it on the radio intercom that ran through the house sometimes. (yes, really)

    Then my brother and I would run into each others room and laugh at the songs and sing along.

    One of my best memories evAr! :biggrin:

    I just found my musical moment, didn’t I?

  375. Rhettro and Lo Pan, you must be referring to a song containing the lyric “rock steady” that I don’t know about. The only one I know of, and the one that is now in my head, is by Sting. Which one are you two singing?

  377. Amy I now have “Black Betty” by Ram Jam in my head… Rhett?

    Tho its 100000000 times better than the shite I had earlier.

  389. Yes … I DO have that Barns and Barns Album.

    Ah, hours spent sharing Dr.Demento, made off the air, cassettes with High School chums.

    My Favorite Weird Al Song? Which ever one is currently playing!

  391. You know, I’ve read that part of the justification for allowing these bonus payments is that, if they don’t , these people will leave AIG and drain the talent pool.

    Yet, these are the people whose bad decisions ran the company into the ground to begin with. Seems like AIG would be better off without them.

    And really, how fearful should AIG be about these people leaving? When a resume lands on your desk, and the applicant’s most recent work was “running a major corporation into the ground, requiring a 180 billion dollar taxpayer bailout and fucking up the economy” is that going to lead you to put in on the top of the stack for interviews?

    Bah….

  392. At that level, it’s a really small pool of individuals. The people who claim you can only get the REALLY qualified people out of that small pool of Corporate leadership … are actually the members of that pool themselves.

    So that is why the same rich twits keep getting selected to ruin these companies… and keep getting awarded bonuses to do so.

  397. I had a friend who got a song played on Dr. Demento. How did it go?

    Let’s see…

    I wanna chicken
    Yeah I wanna chicken
    Hey I wanna chicken
    Oooh I wanna chicken

  400. Really hard to pick a favorite Weird Al song.
    Some, (Like his ‘Ode to MacArther Park” or the more recent “I’ll sue ya”) are musical genius.
    Others, (such as “Fat(Bad)” and “Smells Like Nirvana”) are brilliance for the attention to detail that he gave to the music video.

    I’ve always thought it was a shame his genius was more widely celebrated.

  404. I see “Weird Al” seems to be the thing to bridge the left-right divide šŸ™‚

    Tis’ true it’s hard to pick just one favorite. I’ve actually got a specific playlist containing all of his Polka medleys. In more recent years, I’ve found my first exposure to a song is via one of his parodies.

  406. NS: < waves right back at ya >

    TEB: how can you be certain hubby is giving the cookies away? perhaps he’s snacking, or feeding squirrels…

    Just a general comment: Coors, sucks. So does Anheiser Busch, Budweiser, Pabst, and most of the American Style Pilsners and ales. Sam Adams is an exception to this…

    NS: Guinness is liquid bread. Also known as 40 weight. It is a “stout”, which, while technically made in a similar fashion to what many people call “beer” actually has some flavour, colour, and mixes well with Champagne…
    Oh and IPA = India Pale Ale – Stout, well, just take Guinness as an example, and Bud is a Pilsner (Piss-ner if you ask me)

    Does anyone know how to Madison?

    J0e: Yeah, and Major US breweries are selling to… wait for it… STUPID COLLEGE KIDS, and the rednecks who love them…

    Essbee: while it’s probably to late to chime in on this, Bee-Hive… That’s the most evil hairdo EVAR

    RE: super-pizza-bacon-burger thing… My blood-sugar spiked this morning… I blame that.

    TEB: Just the facts ma’am. When was the last time you saw your car? Do you remember whom it was with last? Oh, it’s being returned… Um… Never mind…

    reaper: small point… You can’t ride it if it’ll fit on your desk… Well probably anyway…

    Lo Pan: I feel your pain. Same thing happened to me with No Doubt – Hay baby hay baby hayyyyy… for 4 days… Ugh

    Cj: I have said in the past, and will say again, Keanu Reeves can act… He’s pretty good… but he gets stuck in roles that don’t work well with his soft spoken nature.

    RE: Weird Al – Yes. Cool. Seen him in concert 4 or 5 times. Worth it.

    And now I’m Caught up.

    Sorry I haven’t been around. was busy at work, then got sick friday.

    I’m better now.

    Heading off to the shower, and then to Toys ‘?’ Us for a birthday present…

  411. Re: Weird Al:

    I’ve been a huge fan of his since I was purty durned young. I even had his Peter and the Wolf album-thing. Then I bought Straight Out of Lynwood or whatever. I could play it on only one of my cd-playing units. And it was on a 1980s boom-box. I returned it, and I will never buy another Weird Al product, ever. It was bar-none the worst piece of DRM shite I’ve ever encountered. I also Tweeted him in regards to my beef with said product. It was a useless gesture, as I knew it would be. But at least I got it off my chest.

  413. Re: Happiness. Good link, Jack. It’s a nice amalgam of I am a Strange Loop, how our brains lie to us constantly, and happiness in what I interpret in a Zen manner.

    I often take issue with the use of the term happiness. I think it is often confused with the term contentment. I believe the great philosopher Dennis Leary nailed it when he said that happiness comes in short bursts. You smoke the cigarette, you eat the cookie, you have the orgasm, and that’s all you get.

    This also helps with the issue of the experiencing self’s happiness versus the remembering self’s happiness.

    I also assert that the Chan Buddhist/Zen thoughts in regards to happiness (at least my understanding of them), are spot-on. It’s the self filtering the experience. Carry your own weather, that sort of thing. Sort of.

  414. Jack: Thanks for freeing my nipple.

    Forgot to mention, I also feel the presenter’s feelings in regards to vacation is pretty two-dimensional. Just like sleep, your downtime is as important as your uptime (unless you’re a sysadmin). Even if you were to forget all about your vacation, the time off still allows you to deal with grind with a fresh mind and body. This also ignores the other aspects of memory. Muscle memory being one.

  416. Just finished listening to the latest Slice VM show. Jack, you know I love you, but you’ve really got to pipe down and let Mennenga and the others get to talk every once in a while.

    šŸ™‚

  418. I’m listening to Cybrosis. Pretty good. Not an edge of the seat thrill ride, a bit predictable (so far) and the characters are a bit 2 dimensional. On the other hand, I keep coming back every week to hear what happens next. On the plus side, the production level is pretty high which is really hard when you have multiple contributors. I often get frustrated at issues with sound level (one person’s level too low and the other too high so that you can’t set a comfortable volume to listen at). It is my biggest pet peeve with most podcasts (although I understand it is extremely hard to control). Cybrosis is pretty well produced on that level.

    What do you think?

  419. Got up to page two in Snow Crash. I had no idea it was satire. But damn, this book owns me.

    Hopefully it holds up better than Cryptonomicon.

  420. Usedhair: I agree with you completely. It’s predictable with basic characters, but overall a fun ride. The production quality is very good. There are podcasts where the intro music and bumpers just about blow my speakers off the wall, while the content is at a normal level.

    Of course, that George Hrab is in it tickles me.

  421. The Snow Crash opening sequence is one of the greats in Sci-Fi.

    I have yet to hear Cybrosis, but I’m glad to see some positives. Paul is a supergood guy.

    Null, as far as I can tell, Weird Al has been one of the strongest voices in opposition to Record Company DRM and deuchebaggery.

  423. There’s one thing that bugs me in regards to podcasted audiobooks in general. Perhaps Deadpanians here can set me to right.

    I really tire of hearing the same names high-fiving each other and doing at least a cameo in every story. It smacks of Hollywood, where being buddy-buddy with everyone, and kissing the right ass are the only things that make things happen.

  424. Jack: I was not aware of that re: Al.

    Paul seems a pleasant chap. I really should start paying attention to, and remembering, names.

  433. I had a cameo in every episode, but they were not too high-fivey, as a matter of fact they were uncredited at the time, except when Jack said who they were a few times…

  436. The podosphere can sometimes be a bit of an echo chamber. Which is why I enjoy Indiana Jim’s podcast and his perspective on things.

  439. Now I know that many podcasters actually know each other, and it seems that quite a few of you folk are clustered together (A.K.A. not in the Northeast). And I’m not speaking particularly about any one person, nor any one podcast. It is just endemic of just about every podcast book thing out there. This is just the feeling I get from it, admittedly speaking as a guy who knows nothing and puts out no podcasts. That’s why I was looking for another point of view.

  448. Cj: A very cute collection. I need to start picking up a shirt or two here and there. I also hope to morph away from the jeans-and-a-T-shirt look that I’ve had since um . . . birth.

  451. JN: I agree, adding Indiana Jim to your subscriptions was an excellent choice. šŸ™‚ Really Big Things was the serial that JohnBoze produced for and contributed to the Deadpan Podcast, back before I started mine. It was an inspiration to me – it was the proof of concept that demonstrated that the Deadpan was a good place for a serialized work of fiction. šŸ™‚

  457. Null – the Wierd Al cd that wouldn’t play, that wouldn’t have been one of those dual disc versions, would it? They were supposed to be a CD on one side and a 5.1 DVD mix on the other side. I picked up one of my NIN’s in that format, thinking I was future proofing for whenever I get a good speaker setup going and… the only thing that would read it was my DVD player and a boom box. Based solely on how quickly that tech disappeared, I doubt I was the only one who found it an utter failure.

    But that wouldn’t have been Al’s fault, except perhaps in agreeing to let the record company push what was supposed to be a forward looking technology out.

  458. Part of the incestual problem with podcasting community is that it is just an extreme niche. We might as well be talking about competitive remote control scale model airplanes. It is going to be the same 40 or 50 people whose names crop up each time.

    And then there is the whole splintered history of it. This here Deadpan… I got here late, but this started out (podcast-wise) as a part of Dragonpage? As far as I know, Mur’s Lessons from a Geek Fu Master started there too. Didn’t Sigler and Tee start podcasting their stuff in some sort of association with Mike and Evo as well?

    Take those boughs and spread them out, check the off shoots, and you end up with a dreamcatcher of interrelations to make a redneck happy.

    Then you have the folks that descended from the TechTV debacle. Leo and Acedtect and so on. They seem to have intermarried with the Adam Curry (“I invented GOD”) species of early podcasters and carried that trophy pretty far.

    Now we just need for someone like Starla (The Dreamer’s Thread) or the guy behind Dead Mech to reach out and grab the Phileas Club guy (Patrick Beja) to do a voice for them and we’ll go full circle.

    Also…

    podtaint!

    Hehehe. That’s amusing to me because I found out about the Deadpan because the missing Trucker Overdrive used to mention podtaint.

  459. I listened to most of the Indiana Jim show dealing with Hutchins. I think he’s almost completely spot-on. It is indeed very well-thought-out and presented well. Thanks for the suggestion.

  461. Nomad Scry: I think that may have been it exactly. And your conclusions are correct. With what you and Jack have said, I’ll retract my bile. I’m glad, too. I think Weird Al is pretty damned brilliant.

  462. Scattered response to scattered podcast-related nipples:

    I first started listening to the Deadpan around about the time that the Podtaint thing was really winding down, and was only referred to, not explained. I wasn’t inclined to backtrack to figure out what it was referring to. I also don’t particularly want to dredge up something that is so obviously unpleasant. I can admit to a very mild case of curiosity, but it is a part of a community that I am not a part of. I am not a podcaster. Having developed varying degrees of a relationship with Jack and the cast of Deadpanians does change things a little. Re-reading this back to myself, it seems if I could be more vague, I would be. But I hope that my overall meaning comes through via e-osmosis. Cyber-osmosis. Cymosis.

    I also didn’t mean to knock anyone’s contribution, especially to Deadpan. If it was taken that way, I apologize. Bringing up Really Big Things and Amy Bowen leads me to believe that may be the way I’m being interpreted. What would Deadpan be without the submissions? It’s that the point? I was referring more to the bumpers and things of that nature in things like, say, podiobooks. And no, I like Podiobooks (Podiobooker?), so let’s nip that in the bud, lest someone read that as a knock against Podiobooks.

    Here’s episode five of Giant Green Slime Mould Goes to School. Here’s bumper one from Famous Podcaster One, bumper two from Famous Podcaster Two. Then Famous Podcaster three reads the “Story So Far” bit. Then I’ll try to fit in as many other random podcasters as I can later on in the episode.

    Now again, perhaps this is just camaraderie. But, it does tend to come across, at least to me, as the aforementioned echo chamber/incestuous family-group.

    Nomad Scry makes an excellent point, and also points out my complete ignorance of the history (cum hierarchy) of the various podcasts. I was listening to podcasts when people were still doing them in their cars, and there were titles like Jim Talks in His Cul de Sac. But I probably only caught one or two Winging It episodes, certainly towards the end.

    I came across Deadpan on Winamp’s podcast option, believe it or not. I did a search through it for “cyberpunk”, and Deadpan was the only result.

    Years ago, I did give Adam Curry a try. I really tried to listen. I put out far more effort to listen than I should have. But I really, really, really couldn’t take his frequent inside jokes, constant patting himself on the back, and vomit-inducing volumes of name-dropping. It was relentless and way over-the-top. Perhaps it’s forever skewed my viewpoint.

  463. Ah, yes, the “Podfather”. I followed that one for a few months when I first started listening to podcasts, since it seemed mandatory. It quickly became clear to me that his show wasn’t for podcast listeners, but for other podcasters. I came away with the impression of him as the head of a new Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) scheme.

    “Create a podcast, join my network! Podcasting is the future! We’ll all be rich! World DOMINATION! Mwu ha ha ha !”

    But, I did find my way to Slice and then WI (R.I.P.) and from there found my way into Jack’s misfit band of misfits.

  464. Back from seeing the new Alice, and the most charitable thing to say it was OK.

    But a women in armour…mmmmmm! even if I would need a tin opener..

  466. Ed: MLM. Good way of putting it.

    I’ll have to add Alice into my queue, along with Shutter Island, based upon Hrab’s recommendation.

  467. Morning Pan!

    I have a car! A real, honest for goodness my car! I feel strange being able to leave when I want to again. the first thing I’m going to do? Grocery shopping. Leaving in about an hour to refill our larder. Feels strange doing that on a Sunday instead of my normal Fridays.

    Then hubby’s sneaking out later today to play music with his friends.

    Good thing I have a car, I need to do bunches of stuff next week before I leave for Deadpan Land.

    Monday: Get some US cash and go to the store to get travel size shampoo etc, for the trip
    Tuesday: Go to the chocolate store (Bernard Callebeaut)
    Wednesday: finish packing

    I can only do one or two items a day because I still have to do the day job as well.

  468. Turns out daylight savings occurs during the DPM weekend. I was looking at my flight info. It’s a three hour, nonstop, flight heading to Deadpanland but a four hour flight returning, one hour of which is virtual. Arizona plays the time game correctly and doesn’t change it’s clock, Alberta does so after next weekend we’ll no longer be on the same time zone.

    Also, it turns out hubby has a meeting later in the morning on Thursday so he’ll be able to drop me off at the airport. It will be a little early but I can just have some breakfast and listen to Deadpan while I’m waiting. Then the return flight arrives at a time he can pick me up after work. Saves on park and jet fees. Life’s good.

  469. I had never even heard of Adam Curry until this conversation. I started out listening to Slice of SciFi, then progressed to the Geologic Podcast, then started trudging through the Winigin’ It Archives (it had been long dead by the time I started listening to Podcasts). Wingin’ It turned me on to the :pan: . Now I’m clearly a podcast addict, which sucks because it’s interfering with the music addiction I had before.

    Current Podcast List (many have not put out anything in quite some time):
    APM: A Prairie Home Companion’s News from Lake Wobegon
    Astronomy Cast
    Beatnik Turtle’s Song of the Day
    Calls for Cthulhu
    Cybrosis
    Designs Critique: Products for People
    Dilber Animated Cartoons
    Escape Pod
    Geologic Podcast
    Humtech
    Jack Mangans :pan:
    John Cleese Podcast
    The Jonathan Coulton Project
    The Learning Theory Podcast
    Michael and Evo: Wingin’ It Show Archive (still trying to finish them all)
    News in Slow Spanish
    Notes in Spanish Intermediate
    Notes in Spanish Advanced
    NPR: All Songs Considered Podcast
    NPR: Live Concerts from All Songs Considered Podcast
    NPR: Science Friday Podcast
    The Onion Radio News
    Question of the Weed – From the Naked Scientists
    Radio Yesterday
    Science Friday: Video Podcast
    Sessions With Slau
    Slice of SciFi
    Slice of SciFi Video News
    Stuff You Missed in History Class
    They Might Be Giants Podcast
    Thing a Week
    Variant Frequencies
    Wingin’ It 3-D (can’t start listening to those until I finish the regular WI)

    Current backlog total = 754 podcasts

  470. When we came back from our mini-vaca, I was up to about 340 podcasts. I’m finally down to roughly 280. Of course, Tor is bundled in there, with around 40 non-podcast posts.

  471. I should clarify that my backlog is all of stuff that pre-dates July of 2009. I keep current on anything coming out now and take my time going through the archives.

  472. After reading Johnny’s post on podcasting, all I can say is that “Cum Hierarchy” totally going to be our new band name.

  473. Rhettro: EPIC.

    TEB: Cool. I have been without a car on and off a few times. I find it a strange blend, since you see how dependent we are on cars (Clusterfuck Nation gives this a good treatment), but you’re free from the worry and maintenance that goes into your car.

  474. Jack: Thank you very much! Yes, sometimes it’s hard to be a woman when everyone else in your audio fiction is a man. I’m grateful for all my voice actors.

    JN: If you do ever feel curious enough to hear Jack’s explanation of and thoughts on podtaint, two episodes of the Deadpan were titled “Podtaint, part 1” and “Podtaint, part 2.” I think they were #90 and #91. And yes, the submissions are the point around here, which is why I love it so much. šŸ™‚

    I see what you mean; it does often come off as a bit of an echo chamber.

    Also, have you listened to Spherical Tomi? If you haven’t yet, I highly recommend it. I find it amusing that the Deadpan gets tagged as “cyberpunk,” but the connection between Deadpan and the cyberpunk novel Spherical Tomi would explain it.

    Re: Ed’s impression of Adam Curry: Thanks for sharing that. Now I definitely never need to listen to Adam Curry. I don’t subscribe to the idea that we podcasters will all be rich someday, and I’m not out to get rich. Published, yes, but not rich.

    My backlog of podcasts to be listened to is somewhere around 512, most of which is accounted for by the two podcasts whose archives I’m going through, Beatnik Turtle’s Song of the Day and the 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast. Usedhair and JN, I respect your superior level of hardcore-ness.

  475. TEB: Cool. Here’s what I still have to do before the trip:

    Today: Finish writing the Season 2 premiere of “The Questors from Effpiem,” put it into Celtx, and print out scripts
    Monday: Pack
    Wednesday afternoon: Make cookies, or at least mix up the cookie dough and bake the cookies on Thursday afternoon

  479. I must confess, since I went to the dark side and got my Audible subscription (currently listening to the third Sword of Truth book), I’ve cut back a fair bit on podcast listening, especially the story and Podiobook kind.

  481. In regards to podcast thing backlogs, the best thing Apple ever did was introduce that x2 playback for podcasts on iPhone and ipod Touch.

  482. Amy Bowen: Indeed. I’m a big fan of Spherical Tomi, although I am ashamed to say I haven’t bought a copy yet. That was probably the biggest thing that urged me to check out and hopefully become a part of Deadpan.

    As background, I actually listened to it whilst between residences, shall we say, and a bit chilly.

    It’s also easily in my top three podcasted novels.

  483. Amy Bowen (continued): Oh, and thanks for the taint-update. Wait, that sounds wrong. Anyhow, I’ll give them a listen soon.

  484. Amy Bowen (one more time): I think you mentioned Celtx before. Do I miss my mark, or is that a Linux distro for screenwriters?

  485. I go to Valvoline to get my oil changed. They push getting my power-steering fluid flushed/changed. But they push everything, and I don’t trust any of them half as far as I can throw them. So now I’m looking for input. Change it, or no? I’ve never had it changed on any of my other cars, but I am pretty sure that this one has the most miles on it of any car I’ve owned.

  487. That hack.

    Null, I certainly didn’t think you were dissing JohnBoze or Amy’s work with your comment about the incestuous podcast appearances thing. I’ve been hearing people grumble about “the same people interviewing the same people” since 2007.

    Podtaint: I didn’t name names. I’d just observed some petty and shitty behavior going in podcasting, saw some fans tolerating some serious condescending disrespect and arrogance from a few podcaster, and I felt compelled to speak out against it, to tell people not to tolerate shit treatment from anyone, not Tom Cruise, not some Podiobooks author, not the cashier at the supermarket.
    Ironically, Indiana Jim took those essays and ran with them.

  493. Jack: You’re very welcome. It’s deserved.

    Cj: I can believe that. I can say that I enjoy my time amongst the Deadpopulous. More than Facebook, far more than identi.ca or Twitter. I’m inspired, entertained, and it’s a great group of people. Yous just live too damned far away.

  494. JN: You’re welcome. šŸ™‚ And, heh! With a name like Celtx, you’d think it was a Linux distro, but it isn’t. It’s just a piece of software that’s essentially a specialized word processing program for writing scripts, be they for movies, TV, stage, or audio drama. It also provides additional file-sharing and collaboration functionality. Up until now, I’ve written all of “Questors” in the basic OpenOffice.org Writer word processor. Now that we’re doing a live episode, I want everyone to have printed scripts that are actually in the standard script format, and it’s much faster and easier to get them into that format in Celtx.

    I agree, this is a fantastic group of people. :happy:

  502. For some reason all the FPM podcasts I subscribe too all download slowly in itunes…the latest KAMN show is showing 33 minutes to completion.

  507. The only music podcasts I listen to are WanderRadio, The Dark Compass Podcast, and Spider on the Web.

    I, generally speaking, don’t appreciate Spider’s taste in music.

  511. Long Pan said Stupid girls with green eyes.

    I have green eyes, but I’m not stupid.

    In case the latter needed clarification.

    Sometimes I make stupid choices, but I don’t think I’m stupid.

    I don’t think you were talking about me anyway.

  515. So, how often does Lo Pan have to sacrifice a girl with green eyes? We’ll be keeping an eye on you, Mr. Lo Pan! You can’t have our CJ!

    unless you share, anyway šŸ™‚

  517. Confession:

    I have a tendency to laugh at inappropriate times when I’m nervous.

    Did that at the Doc’s toay, he was not impressed…oooops.

  520. Nomad Scry: I’m with you on Spider. I still listen, and there’s something decent once in a while, but his tastes and mine don’t really mesh. Never heard of the Dark Compass podcast. I’ll check it out.

  526. Good morning :pan:

    I desperately need someone to rub my neck and shoulders. I’m seriously considering scheduling a head/neck massage. I cannot turn my head to the left due to this horrid knot.

    grrr!

    Applying hot pad and gonna hop in the bubble bath after I take the kids to school. Hopefully one or both will help relieve some of the tension.

  528. I was hoping that Deadpan would beat KAMN to the punch on Blade Runner, of course our review styles are different. KAMN will go over the talking points and Deadpan will live in the world for three weeks or so. LOL

  539. Knights Against Murderous Necromancers

    BTW, everyone who’s coming to town should be advised: the forecast is for sunny highs in the 70s, lows in the 40s, but it’d be wise to pack for the possibility of cooler temperatures. Last night was rainy and vapor-breath chilly.

  540. What Jack means is that it’s fricken cold here!

    I just picked up the little dude from school and it’s still raining. I like the rain, don’t mind it at all, but we natives do not fair so well in the coldness.

    I’m sure Jack can attest to the fact that I’m often very whiny when I’m cold.

  544. A Replicant-looza would be tres shiny. I’ve moved the newest incarnation up in my queue.

    Yeah, the low-temp warning made me smile. We did get into the high 50s the past few days, but this Winter seems to have stuck to the 20-degree-mark for highs. I was out and about in shorts over the weekend.

    “Winter” is supposed to be capitalized, no?

  548. Prince Humperdink: You truly love each other, and so you might have been truly happy. Not one couple in a century has that chance, no matter what the storybooks say. And so I think no man in a century will suffer as greatly as you will.

    Count Tyrone Ruegan: NOT TO 50!

  572. RRRRrrrrgh.

    – – the rrrrrgh was not for the suvudu guys. That seems like a well-written, uber-geeky battle.

    I’ve seen lots of inter-franchise battles over the years, but just about all of the others seem to involve actual combat or audience votes – with actual calculable outcome determinations.
    Duel of the Fates always put silliness as the top priority.

  579. Do you know how old I am? This is how old:

    Today, my daughter got herself into a pattern of saying the same thing to me over and over. I told her she sounded like a broken record. She looked at me like I’d spoke in Chinese. Then I tell her like her Ipod is playing on repeat, and she understood.

    And yes, you are that old, too.

  594. My throat hurts after 8 hours of talking on the phone non-stop.

    I have to wonder if Dan enjoys how much quieter I am at home these days.

    — all talked out Cj

  596. CPIMM: Dance with me… I want to be your partner can’t you seeeeee? The music is just starting… Night is falling and I am callllllling Dance with me…..

    doo doo dooo dooo

    lalalalala

  602. So whilst searching for a book on book despositry, the web site claims the electronic version of the book is out of stock…..eh?

  610. On an unrelated note, I think it’s safe to assume I won’t be doing show notes on Thursday.

    Now, where’s my breakfast

    kookie alien mind nookies. (what do you want at 6:30 in the morning?)

  612. Since nobody does my work for me while I’m away, I was hoping to get some extra done before I left for Arizona. Unfortunately, ooks like the system is down at head office. I guess I’m getting an extra day off.

    Kitties Accepting Milk Nicely

  613. *sending erotic thoughts Wolf’s way* Sorry, that’s the closest I could do.

    Klingons Artificially Melting Nylon

  614. And what is this “bring warm clothes” business? If I wanted to do that, I’d stay in Calgary

    Kiting Average Merchants Needlessly