New Years Determinations

Everyone seems to make them, the dreaded "New Years Resolutions." Even those that determine not to make them, have thus made one. The definitions vary on what the whole concept is, and I guess we all make the mistake of only making them at the very beginning of the year. So do we all just either finish or abandon them, then just skate by the last few months? There's even plenty of talk about how they are not even good for you to do in the first place... that whole "setting yourself up for failure" thing. But just about every blog, news source and site have their own resolutions for you to read.

I'm jumping on board this year, and I'll see how I do throughout the year and revisit it in December. I'll group them into two categories: Personal and Professional. Under the "Pro" I'll lump in my full-time job as well as my blogging/podcasting side of life, so as not to make it too complicated.

Personal

• Be a better Father, Husband, Son and Friend
• Become Healthy
  
• Go (more) Green
• Confront a "demon" and move past it
  
• Learn more about who my natural Father was
• Reach out to more family on a more regular basis
• Spend less
  
• Teach my children about our world as a friend, not a parent
• Enjoy the moment
  

Professional

• Organize more, be overwhelmed less
• Pursue more technical training
• Help my friends with their projects
• Take EaglesFanCast to next level
  
• Expand HoldTheGluten into more
  
• Centralize my online presences
  
• Launch a new online project
• Blog more
  

Podcasting 2008

The year is gone, just like that. No, this won't be any kind of retrospective on my part, just touching on a few things in the podcasting realm. EaglesFanCast had a great year-over-year improvement and there were a lot of positives on it. We had our first (and hopefully not the last) sponsor for the blog. I'm sure it was an experiment on their end, as they weren't interested in sponsoring the podcast, where 95% of our focus is right now. It is definitely good, and pays for some of the costs incurred by this little hobby of ours. We also have a lot more interaction by the fans, which is great... more emails have been coming in, and it's all been positive about our show, even though the Eagles themselves haven't been a positive thing all season. But through some amazing turns of events, they made the playoffs, and will be playing in Minnesota this Sunday in the Wildcard game. Awesome!
That is one of the toughest parts of this niche that we're in. We're hyper-focused on one targeted audience... the Philadelphia Eagles. It's not just sports, or football, but a specific team, and we're not sports talk radio (those that spout constant stats and analysis), nor team lapdogs... and then on top of it, our listeners have to sit through a full show, which is usually 45 minutes on average. I've definitely seen more interest when the team is doing better, and a dropoff when the team is struggling. Probably the best aspect of it is that our listeners are writing in from all over the world... wayyy outside the core Philadelphia area. My guess is that the "locals" have the inundation of several radio and TV stations to satiate their Eagles fix. Partly in thanks to Eagles punter, Sav Rocca (who hails from Australia), we have a number of Aussies that are fans of the show, plus we've heard from England and closer markets such as New York, California (San Fran, L.A. and others), Texas, Hawaii, Maryland and more. I have to say it's very cool that so many are interested in hearing what us three goofballs have to say about our favorite team. We'll keep doing it, that's for sure... 47 and counting!

On the other half of the podcasting realm, Maureen's show, Hold The Gluten, is improving it's numbers month after month. We published her first episode at the end of June, and for the subsequent six months has hit a new record for total downloads. The chart is a nice one to see, that's for sure. We started that off as a weekly show, and realized it was too much, so we changed it to bi-weekly. Maureen definitely gets it. I've introduced her to the blogging world, and all the ways of getting the word out there and interacting with her listeners and readers (Twitter and Facebook for two). I say "readers" because she dedicates as much to the blog as she does to the podcast, probably even more. Her blog has become a place where she posts all kinds of tasty gluten free foods and recipes. Every single recipe she tests out at home (then takes about a dozen photos so she can find the right one for the blog post). All of the recipes stem from her mistakes and successes, and almost every one has some kind of story to go along with it.
The podcast has almost become a supplement to the blog, but she recognizes that it's almost a different audience, and treats them both accordingly. She's really made it her own, writes amazingly, is doing a lot of networking, and most importantly, is helping others in the process. All of that, and she's raising two wonderful children.
There are definitely more things in store for Hold The Gluten (and Maureen as well, but more on that later) for 2009. Hopefully we'll be able to expand it out more and utilize more tools to make it a better experience and destination for the site's visitors and listeners to the show. There have been 15 shows in the can so far, and she has ideas for plenty more! Personally, though, I do need some kind of automated "ummmmm" and "you know" audio remover to make my editing much shorter. LOL

So we definitely have plans for an even better 2009 for both shows... it's just a matter of how are we going to find the time to do it all?

Ricky

Enough said.

It's Time

I'm sitting here watching Game 5 of the World Series. My Philadelphia Phillies are currently leading the series 3 games to the Tampa Bay Rays' 1 game. If the Phillies win tonight, it will be only their second World Series Championship since their inception in 1883. Yes, this team, the Philadelphia Phillies, has been in one town, with one name for 125 years (a professional sports record, by the way)... with only one championship. As a matter of fact, Philadelphia, my professional sports city of choice (I grew up in Central New Jersey, in the Philly TV market), last won a championship in 1983 when the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Lakers. That is 25 years, and 100 seasons (Sixers, Flyers, Eagles and Phillies) without a championship.
Our teams have been to championships since... the most recent for each are the Eagles in 2004 (which I was at), the Sixers in 2001 (which I was at), the Flyers in 1997, and the Phillies in 1993.

But the Phillies are there now. They are winning in Game 5 right now, they have a real shot at stopping this streak right now. One game will mean so much to so many people.

It's about the Phillies right now, and being a Phillies fan. Everyone that knows me knows that I'm an enormous Philadelphia Eagles fan. I have season tickets, I also produce and co host the podcast, EaglesFanCast, with two very good friends. Yesterday I was at the Eagles game, and they beat the Atlanta Falcons in Philadelphia. It was a fun game, especially for the struggling Eagles team. But one thing that made being there even better was looking around the stadium and seeing so many red Phillies hats, shirts and jerseys. The fans of the Eagles and Phillies enjoyed the day to no end... and later that night the Phillies won Game 4 of the Series.

The Phillies won their first and only World Series in 1980... 28 years ago. They were in the Series last in 1993... 15 years ago. (I know, they were also in the Series in 1983, but I lump the time frame in with the 1980 time.)

I'm watching this appearance with completely different eyes than I did in the previous years mentioned. In 1980, I watched the Series with the eyes of an eleven year old, at home with my parents, and can remember it like it was yesterday. I remember Steve Carlton's pitching, Mike Schmidt's hit that knocked in two runs in the third, Pete Rose and that bobble-catch near the dugout, and Tug McGraw throwing that final pitch and throwing up his arms in victory. I remember the players meeting Tug in front of the mound and Schmitty leaping atop the celebrating group. One of the coolest parts of a young boy's life was watching that TV that night. Watching and feeling what it meant to be a Phillies fan, and a winner.

Then in 1993, I watched the final game of the World Series in a local bar among friends this time as a 24 year old single guy, with a job and unknown future. The team was a blast to watch, with Curt Schilling, John Kruk, Lenny Dykstra, Dutch Daulton and of course, Mitch Williams. Ahh, Wild Thing, can't forget you.

Tonight, I watch the game as a 39 year old married father of two. My six year old daughter wanted to stay up and watch the game tonight. With another day of first grade tomorrow, being the responsible Dad, I had to say "No". It wasn't easy. I want her to see the thrill of a championship win. She's too young, though, and quite honestly doesn't really understand... yet. As for me, I realize that 28 years is a long time, and a lifetime to quite a number of my twitter friends. I remember that 1980 Series vividly, but those not much younger than me only know about the 1980 Phillies from articles and news video clips. Their Champion Phillies may be, ahem, WILL be, Cole Hamels, Ryan Howard, Pat Burrell, Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Shane Victorino, and many more. Mine will be as well, but, to me, they will not be as great as Schmidt, Rose, Carlton, McGraw, Bowa, Maddox, Luzinski and Boone. My first Phillies World Series championship was something extremely special. I hope that the 2008 Phillies become something extremely special to many more. These fans deserve it. This city and region deserve it. No matter how bad things have been over the years for each of the teams (and they have been REALLY bad at times), the fans have remained loyal and passionate. They want it for themselves, for the players, for the city and for each other. It's long overdue, and this team has what it takes to make it happen.

Three different stages of my life. Three different sets of eyes. It feels good. It feels like 1980 again. Go Phillies! We're ready for a parade!

New Media Expo 2008

So I've now been podcasting for a year, and very much still consider myself a noob. I listened to podcasts for probably two years before finally pulling the trigger and getting this one started. One of the things that kept me off the stage for so long was the audio side of things. Other than singing in a few "productions" in grammar school, I have no experience with any musical type things. Audibly, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a mandolin and a clarinet, I think. So I had to teach myself a bunch of audio-technical stuff, in addition to the tech behind podcasting itself, before starting. Oddly enough, it seems to work.
So in this last year, I've learned a lot more, some of it marketing (again not in my personal history), some of it technical (ok, I pick that up quick because it's my nature) and most of it patience (and anyone that knows me understands I am very much so). I've tried to get involved in the online community (blogs, social sites, forums and more), to spread the word about the podcast, but most importantly, to learn much more from those immersed in it. Last September I attended the unconference, PodCamp Philly, but I could only go for one day. I was amazed at the friendliness and energy level of the few people that I was able to speak with. I made a few connections and learned more about what I needed for the future of my show.
Soon after, I heard that the New Media Expo would be moving to Las Vegas for it's 2008 iteration. One of the reasons stated was that Vegas would give the conference more credibility, rather than Ontario, California, where it was held previously. The online buzz and early interest seemed pretty high, and back in October or November I decided I wanted to go to this year's Expo. A few months ago, the date was announced, and registration opened. I then had to weigh the costs ($300 for early registration) of attending the sessions to just having access to the show floor (free). Despite wanting to see a number of session speakers, I decided that this year I would hold back and only go to the (free) exhibit floor, as I heard that other podcasters were doing the same. A majority of sessions seemed to be geared toward the "Corporate" side of podcasting, plus the whole idea of the "hallway meetings" that were being touted appealed to me quite a bit.
My wife, Maureen, and I had never been to Vegas, so we were making a small vacation out of it as well. Plus back in June we started her podcast, so she was now more interested in attending the Expo with me. I'll talk about our vacation part of it in a later post.

Well, the New Media Expo 2008 started off with a bang. We both woke and went to the opening keynote, presented by Gary Vaynerchuk of Wine Library TV. Talk about high energy! Gary presented a keynote unlike any I've seen before... he was honest, blunt and confident. That combination I'm sure put off some people in attendance, but, for me, resulted in one of the best I've seen (in person or recorded). I have to honestly say that he nailed it, and I feel that I learned 80% more about podcasting and what I do, than I did before. It was worth the trip just for that.

So when it was over, we went into the exhibit hall, to see who was there, run into people I wanted to run into, pick up some schwag and mostly, learn. The initial plan was to walk the whole floor and make some mental notes as to who we wanted to go back and talk to in more depth a little later. We were done walking the floor (even with stopping quickly at a few booths) in about ten minutes. At this point, we both wondered how we were going to fill up two and a half days. Now I've been to a few conventions before, and the floors took the better part of a day to walk and talk. Needless to say, I was surprised, and I'm sure Maureen was considering just hitting the pool at this point.
Well, we went back in, and walked around the hall as two unknown podcasters. We did get to talk to a bunch of exhibitors, and we were able to see Leo Laporte doing his live show, TWiT Live, which was very cool, as I've been watching him since the early TechTV days. Each day I stopped by and was able to watch him talk with plenty of folks, all streaming live on the Net via Stickam.

At the Expo, I was able to see Kent Nichols of one of my favorites, Ask A Ninja, plus Veronica Belmont, C. C. Chapman, Brad P, Trucker Tom, iJustine, Geoff Smith, Michael Geoghegan, Seth Harwood, and Felicia Day. From being plugged in and being a podcast / internet listener that I am, it was definitely cool to see these folks in person.
On the show floor I was able to have some very good chats with Todd Cochrane, Paul Colligan and THE Drew Olanoff. Drew took the time between a few interviews and asked what my show was about, and actually took the time to answer a few of my questions honestly and with thought. Before he had to rush off to do an interview at an adjacent booth (which I think I was keeping him from), he invited me to an event in Philly the end of this month, and offered to sit down and talk again at a later time. To me, that was great stuff... he is the epitome of what this is all about; about the community, about helping.
Another very good thing that happened on Thursday evening was meeting up with and talking with Gary Puckett, who was at his fourth NME. Gary was more than happy to share some of his experiences and anecdotes from some of the podcasters/interviewers in his network. We just ran into him at the Hilton restaurant, Hacienda Margarita, and we talked for a couple hours.

So the meetups were very minimal, for me at least, despite trying to via twitter a few times. Two different times we were at another part of the strip hanging out when I saw a tweet about a meet up, and when we were over in that area, those we went to find had moved on to somewhere else. It was tough, too, because I don't watch many video podcasts, so recognizing people was kind of limited to what I know from their twitter avatars. lol

That brings me to the negative aspect of the show, and it directly has to do with whether you attended the paid sessions or not. I have to believe that if I went to the sessions, I'd have more opportunity to interact with people. Walking the show floor was very tough because it was so small. You can only talk to the exhibitors you want to so many times, and walk around the four aisles so many times before you start looking like a stalker, and the LVCC Security is summoned. I think it was just too separated and spread out. It's tough to jump into a conversation with someone who is literally in the middle of talking with someone else. The opposite is also in effect here, because the exhibit floor was rather small, people could literally be in and out of there within an hour. If you didn't happen to be in there when someone you wanted to run into was there, you were out of luck. I know I missed several people that I really wanted to see, such as Scott Johnson, Jason Van Orden and Norbert Davis to name a few.

The last thing that I was surprised that wasn't there were the parties! Granted this has nothing to do with the organizers, at all. I remember hearing about a number of parties and big get-togethers last year, and was psyched for it this year. There was only the Coverville 500 Concert. Granted I read in twitter that evening that it was awesome, but we missed most of it. Long story short, our helicopter trip to the Grand Canyon was moved from that morning to the evening. The jaunt was breathtaking... but at the expense of missing most of the concert and only getting to see Richard Cheese perform. He was funny and definitely entertaining, but I heard so many good things about the other artists.

So even though I made a few contacts there, and had some great conversations, the 2008 New Media Expo just didn't live up to the hype, whether it was publicized or my own hype. Again, I learned a lot, mainly because of Gary Vaynerchuk, Drew Olanoff and Todd Cochrane, but I expected more in the way of "experience" if that makes sense. I don't regret going, and if anyone asks, I'll happily give my suggestions for improvement. I really feel I missed out on much more simply by not paying for, and attending, the Sessions.

At this point, though, I'm really looking forward to going to PodCamp Philly in a few weeks. I can only go on Saturday and have to skip Sunday because of the first Eagles game. But the local aspect, and the smaller, more intimate locale, will surely lend to the community atmosphere that something like this needs.
Will I go to New Media Expo 2009? I'd really like to, but we'll see, both financially and logistically, if it will happen. I still commend the Bourquin brothers for pulling something like this together, as I am sure the headaches can outweigh the positives for them.

Father's Day

I simply have to share how my Father's Day was on Sunday.
Life, for everyone, has it's ups and downs, and no one that I know of is immune to that kind of thing in their lives. Everyone deals with their own, and obviously there's lots of levels of intensity to that. This past year has had plenty of that roller coaster ride... some highs and definitely some lows. But we live to take care of each other, and give our children as wonderful, safe and loving life that we can.
Well Sunday was Father's Day, and I normally sleep in on Saturdays (Maureen sleeps in on Sundays), but we switched this weekend at her request. So somewhere around 8:30, I heard the typical sounds of the rabid housebound kids, my 6-year old girl and 3-year old boy. Then as I headed towards a shower, I smelled the unmistakable, wondrous, heavenly scents of... bacon.

awww yeah

So I eventually head downstairs, and am greeted with screams from my kids the likes of which most dogs would go, "Damn, that's high."
Maureen and the kids come out of the office, and close the doors, which is suspicious in it's own right, and shuffle me into the kitchen. "Breakfast is almost done" I'm told, and my daughter is already giving me self-made cards. My son mumbles something sounding like "pee pee" and runs into the living room. So my daughter then proceeds to read her card to me, and it's actually a poem that SHE wrote! My six year old wrote me a poem, does this happen?? I was amazed. So after she beams when I'm telling her how much I love it, she pulls out a picture that she drew for me.
Now she's a little artist, actress and all around director. Not in any order, and they are not exclusive, mind you. She's even taking art classes every Saturday, and we go through more crayons, markers, glitter, paper, glue and pencils than most old-school Disney Imagineers. Well in her hand is one of her best works yet, and I can't tell you how it made me smile and laugh. It was a crayon picture of her, holding the guitar from Guitar Hero 3 (complete with the exact order of colored keys on the neck), big smile (including missing tooth), red shoes with yellow stars on them, and the coup de grace, her one hand is giving the typical rock and roll devil horns. Epic!
My son runs up and roars at me, then sprints off to the other room to either kick a basketball or torment our blind dog.

Next Maureen and my daughter give me a gift bag, which contains not one, but two shirts from one of my favorite podcasts, Extra Life Radio by Scott Johnson. I've become a big fan of the show, and geek out with it each week. I'm very happy with the shirts, let me tell you, plus all four of us are going to the Phillies game this coming Saturday... Maureen's not one for keeping secrets, and told me about the Phillies game a couple months ago when she originally bought the tickets. :) It's going to be a blast, as it'll be the kids' first game.
So then I'm ushered towards the office, and they tell me to sit down in front of the computer monitor, and anyone that knows me knows I'm already smiling. Maureen turns on the monitor, and on it is a drawing, and I recognize the artwork as Scott Johnson's (yes, same one as above... he does web comics, too!) Then I saw the name at the top was "GlutHound", which is my normal gaming handle! Long story as to how it was created, but it goes back a number of years, and I won't need to go into it here.
Basically what I'm looking at on the screen is my own superhero that Maureen commissioned Scott Johnson to do! How absolutely geeky cool is that? It's not just an computer graphic either, it's a print that will be coming in a couple days that I can hang in the office! Well, GlutHound's costume is midnight green (the Eagles' colors, thankyouverymuch), wears a cape, and he has a Guitar Hero guitar slung over his back, an iPod hanging at his waist, earphones and a podcasting microphone, and holding a football... and did I mention he's a super hero? How absolutely awesome is that?

Yeah, I geeked out about it big time... then my son came in, demanded chocolate milk repeatedly, and we ventured into the kitchen.
We had breakfast, a really good breakfast casserole, which Maureen details out nicely in her blog here. The rest of the day we had fun, hung out, I finished up (finally) the PC game Call of Duty 4, which I haven't played in a few months, then we went out to dinner. Dinner was at a place called The Pop Shop in Collingswood, NJ. The place was a blast... 1960's era flavored sodas, breakfast food anytime, unbelievable shakes and sundaes, and super kid friendly.

I tell you, it was my best Father's Day yet... next to that first year back in 2002 when I held my four month old daughter in my arms and realized that day was forever changed for me.

Disney Magic

Flew home Saturday from a Magical week in Disney World in Florida. Ahead of time, I was really stressing about the flights, with a 5-year old daughter and 2-year old son in tow. Especially since US Airways split us up... when we purchased the tickets, all four of us were together, and it was a necessity, mainly to keep our son occupied, and thus behaving. He's not a bad kid at all, but it's just the fact of him sitting in one seat somewhere around three hours made my head hurt.
Well I'll leave the flights and that horrible airline for another post, I'll just talk about the good stuff of the vacation here.

We flew down Saturday morning, and were staying at the Disney Resort itself (Boardwalk). They have it down pat, I have to say. The flight arrived, we then checked in for the Magical Express (a bus service that takes you directly to your resort), boarded the bus, and arrived at the resort about 30 minutes later. Along the way, the very funny driver amused us with his ramblings, plus pointed out two alligators! Cool stuff for a lifelong Jersey guy. We met my parents right away, who had driven down days earlier... Dad hates flying. Our luggage arrived from the airport, when our room was ready... nice.
Our son was an angel, and is usually obsessed with trucks and planes anyway. At one point, he actually exclaimed, "I'm flying Daddy!" Talk about a moment that will stay with me forever... that was definitively one huge one. He watched his DVD and munched on some pretzels, and our daughter played on her Leapster, drew pictures, and looked out the window.

We hit all four parks: Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom and MGM. Our daughter was all about the characters this time around, and we stood in line (usually with other New Jersey folks) a bunch of times to see too many characters to list here. Our daughter's the more leery one in terms of rides, but our son is the adventure-seeker, but still just a tad too short for the roller coasters. She definitely went on more things than she did the last time we were down, and we let her dictate where to go next, for the most part. Maureen and I traded off with my parents to watch the kids when we all wanted to go on the other rides like Haunted Mansion or Pirates of the Caribbean... it worked out really well.
We only split up once, and that was when Dad and I walked over to Epcot Tuesday morning to ride the Segways, while Mom, Maureen, and kids went over to a Princess Breakfast in Germany in Epcot. My daughter had her princess dress on, and I heard my son had a thing for Jasmine. As for the Segways, I have GOT to get me one of them! This was the second time riding it, and this was an updated model. It's amazing how natural it is... me want.

We hit the Magic Kingdom three of our days there, and caught the Main Street Light Parade (or whatever it's called) and the fireworks twice. Didn't plan on seeing them at all, but the first night we gave it a shot after a later dinner, and the kids absolutely loved them both. My daughter was on my shoulders for the fireworks, and it was her first time seeing them... she was actually shivering at times. The second time we watched them, she yelled out, "THAT'S AWESOME!!!" repeatedly. Our third time in the Magic Kingdom was our last full day in Disney, and we planned on getting out of there around 4:00... well after the mandatory shopping, photo ops, snack runs, etc. it was definitely later. I was standing in line, I think for my daughter to see Jiminy Cricket, and Dad was standing off to the side with my son, who was saying something I couldn't hear. I went over, and he was saying, "Fireworks?" I had to break it to him, "No fireworks today buddy... all done," kissed him and went back in line. I looked back over, and he was looking at me with a boo-boo face and Dad was laughing... he was trying to play me, and at two years old!
But seriously, how awesome is that? Something like the fireworks made an impression on someone so small. Our daughter cried leaving on the bus because she didn't want to leave, and she would miss Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop (who were staying longer, now that they're both retired)... and has cried at home once since, because she wants to go back. What an impression, and what great memories we've been able to give them already... it's worth every penny, and I was able to see both of our kids grow in that week.

RV for the Tailgate

We have an RV for the tailgate this week! What was gearing up to already be a great tailgate fun, with breakfast sammy's, steak, shrimp, jambalaya, burgers, dogs, beer, RB&vodka, Mo's 7-layer dip and snacks galore, is now going to be even more fun. A friend of ours, who's going down, is bringing along a full-size RV for the tailgate experience. Oh boy.

This should be an experience.
Even the weather's cooperating: supposed to be 75 and mostly sunny Sunday. Most likely the girls will still be cold and huddle inside the RV, though.
I know we're not the first to bring an RV to a tailgate, but this is my first time... out of the probably ten-plus years of actual tailgating. Can't wait for Sunday! And oh yeah, the Eagles play the Bears later on in the day. SCHWEEEEEET!

About Time Things are Changing

I've written briefly about the music industry from a consumer standpoint a couple times on here, mainly about the RIAA's idiocracy here and here. There's been a lot going on, including some setbacks where one Minnesota woman lost her case and now owes $220,000 "in damages" for sharing 24 songs online. By the way, a Sony executive in that case also decided to redefine theft and piracy, and calls backing up our purchased CD's or copying our CD's to our iPods, Rios, Zunes, etc., piracy. Interesting... I really thought I owned that CD I overpaid for. Apparently not in Sony's eyes. Well, I guess I won't be buying any more of Sony artists' music (Sony, Columbia, Epic, Arista and more). I'm sure what's next is we will be called pirates (arrrr!!) for copying our purchased digital music to our media players as well.

Personally I don't want to take that chance of potentially being singled out for piracy, do you know what I mean? Sorry AC/DC, Alice In Chains, Korn, Foo Fighters, Audioslave, Aerosmith, Good Charlotte, Bob Dylan, Soul Asylum and Joe Satriani... you've all rocked. I'll really miss Pearl Jam and Live. Maire Brennan, your voice is amazing. No more Tenacious D, System of a Down or Cake on my purchase list. James Taylor, take it easy. Who I'll miss the most is Bruce, and of course the E Street Band.
I'll listen to you all, illegally in Sony's cataract-covered eyes, through my purchased music (but I don't OWN it!! Right?!)... but I won't take the chance on breaking laws. It'll be safer to just NOT buy anything more from you.

Hey, what's that out there... Nine Inch Nails is now label-free? So is Oasis, Madonna and Jamiroquai? Hmm, they're recognized artists. Others are letting people decide how much to pay for a new album? Still others have given away their latest? What the hell is going on? Wait a damn minute, one of the online music distributors is now finally standing up to the music industry? Something is wrong... no wait, I take that back. Something has been wrong, and maybe is finally starting to be corrected.

Well I hope to see more of this correction, and see more sites support the artists like the Podshow Music Network, PodSafe Audio and The Beat Suite.

You hear that record industry? It's the sound of change, the sound of frustration being released... and it's the sound of you catching up, instead of leading.

Six Years

Six years ago, life was much different for the world. Terrorism, for the most part in America, was a thing of foreign matters. It hit home in a most dramatic, and horrific, way six years ago today.
Once again, today on the anniversary, there will be many articles written by the media outlets regarding September 11, 2001. They'll obviously do a better job than I can, and I won't try.
Six years ago was a completely different time for us, and it feels like a different lifetime. We lived in a different part of New Jersey, in a different house. We were pregnant with our first child. We both worked completely different jobs than we do now.

On that day, life changed. But how cliche has that phrase become?

The following day, as no planes flew overhead (which we saw a lot of, considering we were right between Philadelphia and Newark airports), life was scary. No longer did we just have the normal fears of having a child, but we questioned raising a child in a new world. If terrorists could hit there, then where else? Was it wise to hope? A war was inevitable at that point.

Life moved on for us. The planes began to fly again. I had a birthday, then we celebrated our "last Christmas as just husband and wife." Maureen had a birthday, then we had our very precious daughter on a lightly-snowing magical day. Life was better. Maureen resigned her job to raise our daughter, I found a much better job, possibly my dream job. We learned that the world was a good place to raise kids, and we had our second child, a boy. We moved into a bigger house, leaving the area that I spent over 36 years of my life, and relocating an hour from central Jersey to south Jersey. We brought our kids to Disney World. I was able to go to see the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl (although with a loss.) I quit my "dream job" after the president of the company essentially became paranoid and delusional, and started my own consulting company. Our daughter just started Kindergarten last week, and I started a podcast last month.
There were also some negative times in this time as well. Shortly after 9/11, anthrax came to town, literally. The huge post office in our town, Hamilton Township, was shut down when it was discovered that it became contaminated by the anthrax letters, as Hamilton served as a regional sorting hub. We have also endured two wars, both of which are ongoing, and with rumors swirling of a third to start soon. Maureen developed celiac disease. And this year we lost a beloved member of our family, who is very much missed by us all.

Six years.

Amazing how a life can change so much in what seems to be such a short amount of time.

It was wise to hope, and I won't ever stop again.