Friday, February 27, 2009

What I Think Makes A Good Podcast

This morning I started thinking about what I think makes a good podcast. I figured it wouldn't hurt to type it up and get some opinions, so here we go.

Personally, I don't listen to podcasts too much for gaming news. I think it's good that shows use a news story as a jumping off point for a topic, but for the most part, I think podcasts should try to be more informative and thought provoking than just straight news.

I've unsubscribed to a bunch of gaming podcasts over the years because I got tired of the same news on every show. I have a RSS reader. I can get the latest news. Put your spin on it or use it to talk about a broader topic.

If you're going to hone in on a specific game, make sure you say what you like and dislike about it, but give good examples. For instance, don't just say it sucked. Say why. It gets kind of old when people just constantly say the latest game sucks. It's ok to like a game that everyone else likes. It's also ok to like a game that everyone else hates.

My favorite shows are ones that are funny, witty, and generally have less focus. They talk topics, but they don't let the topic run the conversation. If they start off talking about Halo Wars they might take a left turn somewhere funny and end up back at Halo Wars at some point. More like a real conversation.

As far as length goes, I would say 60 to 90 minutes tops. When you start encroaching on the two hour mark and beyond, I begin to start losing interest. Partly because it's not easy to find 2+ consecutive hours to listen to something, and also because I'm trying to fit in some other shows into my day.

I listen at work most of the time, and there are a lot of interruptions. A lot of starting and stopping. A two hour show could stretch into three or four by the time I've had to stop it and start it again. I know it's fun to sit there and bullshit on the mic, but put a limit on it and when that time comes, wrap it up.

So, in short, keep it to an hour, keep it entertaining, and keep it real.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

It's Official!

We are having a boy! The sonogram at the doctor showed a little tallywhacker!

At first, the sonogram tech actually said he was probably a girl because the umbilical cord was in the way. Then, Rhea saw the horrified look on my face and laughed, which apparently moved the cord and revealed the little wang in all its glory!

I don't have the pictures scanned yet because Rhea wanted to take them to work. How selfish! I'll throw them up on Facebook tomorrow.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Newlyweds

My sister got married this past Sunday. I was the photographer, as you can see in the picture below. It was a good time. Everything went off without a hitch. They're currently driving to Las Vegas on their honeymoon.

Wedding Photography

I say everything went off without a hitch. There were a couple hiccups a long the way. First, I was juggling (not literally) 3 different digital cameras. One was mine, one was my mom's, and one was Alana's. Well, I dropped Alana's camera and the lens part got tweaked and now it won't even come on. Sucks. Before that, my camera's battery died, so I was losing soldiers left and right.

I think I got some pretty good shots, though. I haven't had time to dig through all the SD cards, but when I do I might post the best one or two.

Monday, February 23, 2009

Quad Camera App

Quad shot 6
I won this application from 148apps on Twitter. It's a pretty slick little app. I like how the settings let you set different time intervals, contrasts, and picture layouts. All in all I recommend it. Especially if you win it for free!

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Rent Houses And Adam Carolla Podcasting

I need to post more here, but damn if I haven't had much to say. I hate that, too. I'm not usually at a loss for words in real life (my wife can attest to that), but when it comes to typing it up, most of it gets lost.

Anyway, the hunt is still on for a rent house. We've got some leads. It really feels like I'm trying to track down a really rare action figure or comic book.

Calling people up and being like, "Do you have it in stock? Oh, somebody just bought it. Ok. No, please tell me more about how awesome it is. Thanks."

Or the other scenario, which goes like, "Do you have it in stock? Can you hold it till the end of March? Oh, you can't. Well, I would like to know that I'll have something before the last week in March. Thanks for nothing."

I heard yesterday that The Adam Carolla show is going off the air as of today. It really sucks, but I think it'll be good in the long run. He's planning on starting up a podcast. This really shows that radio is dying. Live 105.3 here in Dallas/Fort Worth switched from talk to sports. Some other station is syndicating Ryan Seacrest. Ugh. The world is slowly moving towards podcasting. It's growing and more people are getting into it every day.

Kind of like Twitter. Basically everything I'm into, people flock to in droves. :-)

Monday, February 16, 2009

Rental Hell

As I've said before, looking for a place to rent sucks donkey wang. We looked at a place on Saturday that wouldn't be fit for two hobos and a wedge of cheese, much less normal folk like us. I'm utterly amazed at what people think are acceptable living conditions.

Anyway, here's a funny video.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Uncanny!

First things first. Looking for a rent house is hard!

Second, Alana and I recorded the pilot episode of what will probably become our new podcast, The Uncanny Gamers.

I think it turned out really well. Really funny, but more focused than we usually are. I think it's a good representation of what we can do and hopefully will do going forward.

If you are reading this and you want to check it out, click here. I would love some honest feedback on it.

Friday, February 06, 2009

Cock Puncher!

This is awesome!


Update: Found it on YouTube.

Thursday, February 05, 2009

MOAR SONOGRAMS!

We went to the doctor again yesterday morning for a check up and another sonogram. The little butt still won't show us his wang, so we're not sure if it's a boy or girl yet. Hopefully in a few weeks when we go back we will find out.

Until then, I'm still stocking up on lots of manly baby stuff like hunting knives, hand grenades, and hardcore porn.

If you're my friend on Facebook you can see all the pictures. Otherwise, you can just be sad.

Tuesday, February 03, 2009

Gears of War 2 Screenshots

I do love any game that let's me take screenshots in game.

Secret Tweet

I heard about SecretTweet.com the other day and I have to say, it's the most fascinating application of Twitter I've seen so far. Just reading the approved tweets can be a jaw-dropping experience, but then you switch over to the unabridged ones and it's even more incredible. Some of the things people say just make you realize that people have some deep dark secrets lurking inside them. Some that couldn't see the light of day without a service like this.

I'm totally addicted.

Monday, February 02, 2009

Gears of War 2: Really?!

I've been blasting my way though the Gears of War 2 campaign since I gave up on Dead Space. Gameplay wise, it's a great game. Really scratches that need to shoot stuff until it dies. Unfortunately, all the reports of the dialog and story being really cheesy are true. There are more groan inducing lines of dialog than in a season of Smallville and One Tree Hill combined.

At one point, the guy that drives that big rig named Bettie says something like "Let's light up Bettie's titties." Really?

Spoiler alert, by the way.

So, yesterday I get to the part where the giant worm eats the King Raven helicopter I'm in. And I'm inside the damn worm. This is by far the stupidest level of a game I've ever played. It's stupid because we're supposed to believe that somehow these guys survived. Not only that, but they can actually find the heart and kill the worm.

I think it's Dom that actually states "This looks like the sternum." Really?! How the fuck do you possibly know that?!

I'm glad to be passed this part, honestly. I knew it was coming because I've listened to enough podcasts and I don't generally avoid spoilers. I also knew it was going to be bad, but I had no idea.

I did get lulz when Carmine died, tho.

After all that, Alana and Kenneth helped me finish off Horde mode. Good times...

Sunday, February 01, 2009