Unofficial Radio Free Burrito

RFB: Episode 13

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 12:00:00 -0700

Holy Halloween Podcast! It's a new episode of Radio Free Burrito! Show Notes: *The logo was designed by WWdN:iX reader Marc, who asked that I not link to his "in progress" website. Thanks, Marc! *I drop at least one F-bomb in this show, so you probably shouldn't listen to it around little kids, people with sensitive ears, or at work. Especially if you work in a daycare for kids with sensitive ears. (Hi, Natasha!) *I went ahead and made this an enhanced podcast. You know, for kids. Enjoy the pictures and links. *Podshow wants me to say "Some of the music provided tonight is from the PodShow Podsafe Music Network. Check it out at 'music.podshow.com'" *What's that? You want to have links to each artist's page? I can totally do that: **Halloween by the Coffinshakers, purveyors of fine Swedish Horror Country music, direct from Minnesota. **Halloween is Awesome by hypernonsense, a mysterious band from California. **the unknown halloween version by Savant Trigger , "an unknown student residing in the midwest". *That Halloween PSA really needs to be seen to be fully enjoyed. *Similarly, The Trick from Jack Chick also needs to be seen to be fully enjoyed. I edited the hell out of it (see what I did there?) to stay safely within fair use. Jack Chick strikes me as the kind of corporation that has no sense of humor, but a lot of lawyers. *Reader Jeremy pointed out that Don Hinson, the genius behind the awesome Monster Dance Party album (which provided the catchy Riboflavin-Flavored, Non-Carbonated, Polyunsaturated Blood) has a website, including a store where you can buy Monster Dance Party on CD. It's not the full album that I've had since I was a kid, but it's still wonderful. *Finally, I want to thank all the artists and labels who are participating in the podsafe music network. I hope this exposes your music to new listeners and you're all buying mansions and yachts. If you can't afford to buy them, I hope you can at least build them out of the bones of your enemies. The show weighs in at 18.5MB and is 20 minutes long.

RFB: Episode 12

Thu, 01 May 2008 23:30:00 -0700

* The logo was designed by WWdN:iX reader Marc, who asked that I not link to his "in progress" website. Thanks, Marc! * I drop at least one F-bomb in this show, so you probably shouldn't listen to it around little kids, people with sensitive ears, or at work. Especially if you work in a daycare for kids with sensitive ears. (Hi, Agnes!) * I encourage you to visit Jonathan Coulton dot Com. * You may want to examine all the songs produced for the Thing A Week series. * I know you want to give JoCo shiny gold rocks in exchange for musical and clothical items. * The video for the Flickr song, as promised. * Tom Cruise is Tom Cruise Crazy, but just be glad it's him, not you. * Jonathan Coulton Tour information! * Paul and Storm on the intarwheebs! * I didn't bother with chapters and all that for this one, because I banged it out in about 30 minutes. (No, I didn't do it outside, despite the song in the show.) In fact, it's taken me longer to put together the show notes than it did to make the show. I think that qualifies me for several government jobs. * My silly little news item came from Wikinews. * Here's the original Misty Morning blog entry at WWdN. * I got the address for the podcast about as wrong as I can get it without sending you to xkcd by instead. In addition to the Feedburner link (which is just the feed for my blog) you can check out all the posts tagged "podcast" here. * Hey, did I mention that I'm going to be in San Diego this weekend? * Radio Free Burrito is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License. * This episode weighs in at 21.7MB and is about 24 minutes long.

RFB: Episode Eleven

Mon, 24 Apr 2008 12:00:00 -0700

* I think we should just go ahead and give this podcast the [Explicit] label, if it doesn't have it already. Consider yourself warned. * The logo was designed by WWdN:iX reader Marc, who asked that I not link to his "in progress" website. Thanks, Marc! * Episode X let me get my podcasting legs back, so I felt much better with this one, even when I had to stall while trying to splat-tab into Firefox, where I saw that I hadn't pre-loaded my blog. Whoops. * I put chapters, links, and images in this one. Yay! * The full Code of Honor review isn't up yet, but you can read all of my TNG Reviews at TV Squad if you haven't already. * When I mentioned all the great blogs at Wired that people may not know about, I forgot to mention GeekDad. It's not because I don't think it's a great blog, but because I took for granted that everyone reads it already. I also mentioned Underwire, Listening Post and Threat Level. * Here's the offending Alt Text column. Here's my Tweet. Here's my facepalm. * You know you want to learn more about fabulous Palm Springs. * Brad Sucks does not suck. You can listen to the album I Don't Know What I'm Doing at Magnatune. * Mister Bungle is a shame, because he spoils lunchtime. * I really do appreciate feedback; it makes me feel like I'm not broadcasting into an empty box. * Radio Free Burrito is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License. * This show is 18 minutes long, and weighs in at 16.6 MB. * As always, let me know if you decide to mirror the show, and I'll update this post.

RFB: Episode Ten

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 12:00:00 -0700

* The logo was designed by WWdN:iX reader Marc, who asked that I not link to his "in progress" website. Thanks, Marc! * I had a good time with this one, though to be completely honest, I wasn't entirely comfortable with the sound of my own voice and I think that comes through a little bit. * I drop at least one F-bomb in this show, so you probably shouldn't listen to it around little kids, people with sensitive ears, or at work. Especially if you work in a daycare for kids with sensitive ears. (Hi, Norma!) * I didn't bother with chapters and all that for this one. It's been so long since I did one of these, I just needed to get my podcasting legs back and I didn't feel that it was worth the extra effort. * I played music from these awesome artists: * Thee Merry Widows * The Marauders * Horrorpops * Jukebox Sinners * B-Sea Surfers * Big John Bates (I incorrectly back announced his song as Super Chrome. It is, in fact, Super Chrome Deluxe, which is even better. I regret the error.) * Ronnie and His Twangin' Little Fellow * The show is 27.9MB and runs just over 30 minutes. * Radio Free Burrito is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License. * Podshow wants me to say "Some of the music provided tonight from the PodShow Podsafe Music Network. Check it out at 'music.podshow.com'" I don't think I said those exact words in that exact order in the show, because I'm stupid and I just noticed that right this second. But I know they were all in there, and I'll be sure to say the fucking words correctly next time, Mister White. * Finally, I want to thank all the artists and labels who are participating in the podsafe music network. I hope this exposes your music to new listeners and you're all buying mansions and yachts before the next full moon.

RFB: Episode Eight

Thu, 09 Mar 2006 16:35:00 -0700

Today, it's a brief political rant (you have been warned), then it's all questions and answers, no stupid meta-talk about what I'm going to do, just getting down to it and having a good time. A lot of people have asked if I can change the numbering of the episodes; I did that on this one. It's called 008.RadioFreeBurrito. I hope that works for ya. Show Notes: * This episode is long. In fact, it's way over an hour, so . . . uh . . . get comfortable, I guess. It's 25.6 MB (!) * If I didn't answer your question here, it's not a reflection on you or your question; it just means that I couldn't think of a worthwhile answer. * I feel like I hit my stride somewhere around the thirty-minute mark. I could feel a change in my body, and I felt more relaxed, more entertained, and happier. I think it comes across in the show, so I thought I'd comment on it. * Also, at the 33-minute mark, where I'm talking about "Americanizing Shelly," Garageband band ran out of space, so I had to export, open a new file, and combine the two in Audacity (yeah, I forgot to set the time and tempo to allow for maximum talky-talky. It's jarring, but you didn't miss anything good, I promise. * A picture of me posing with Pigs-n-Space can be seen at the Muppet Wiki. Oh my. Thanks, mdstudio. I think. * Comments can be sent to podcast at wil wheaton dot net, questions can be sent to ask at wil wheaton dot net. Please use a descriptive subject line. * The image I chose for this show was sent to me by WWdN:iX reader Shelly. Thanks, Shelly! * Radio Free Burrito is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License.

RFB: Episode Seven

Wed, 08 Mar 2006 18:20:00 -0700

Well, here's episode seven. I went over ten minutes, but I think that's okay. This episode focuses on two things: how the ten minute challenge is going, and how the blog in general is going. Warning: I'm feeling really unhappy right now, and I talk about that, too. Show Notes: * The logo for today was designed by WWdN:iX reader Marc, who asked that I not link to his "in progress" website. Thanks, Marc! * Radio Free Burrito is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License. * This episode is 16:00 and weighs in at 6.9 MB.

RFB: Episode Six

tue, 07 Jan 2006 14:21:00 -0700

Here is Radio Free Burrito Episode Six, as the great ten-minutes-per day experiment moves on to day two. I've already figured out that ten minutes is just not enough time for a long-winded, tangent-prone guy like myself, so I don't know if trading off manageable time for more content is really worth it. We'll find out in a few days, I guess. Thank you so much to everyone who has sent in logos! Holy crap, you are a talented bunch of people. I'm going to try on lots of different ones this week, send them all out on dates with the Crushinator, and figure out which logo will be permanent via a reality tv show in the coming weeks. If you haven't sent your logo idea in, please don't feel like you missed the boat; I'd still love to see what you guys come up with, and there's a very good chance I'll be able to use more than one logo for different things. Show Notes: * I am a moran. I know it's episode six, but I say "This is episode seven" at the beginning. Numbers, like math, are hard. I blame it on the date, the rain, and a bad spot of corned beef. * The website I talked about is ChangeThis.com. * My tune is called Heroes, and it was created in GarageBand. I may release it on its own at some point in the future. * As I mentioned near the end of the show, I'll be offering a signed, limited edition chapbook preview of a few stories from Do You Want Kids With That at the convention this weekend. If I have any left over after the show, I'll sell whatever's left through my blog. * The intro music is Atomic, by Blondie. * Comments can be sent to podcast at wil wheaton dot net, questions can be sent to ask at wil wheaton dot net. Please use a descriptive subject line. * The image I chose for this show was sent to me by WWdN:iX reader Chuck, from airbrushmypic.com. * Radio Free Burrito is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License. * This episode is 10:19 and weighs in at 4.4 MB. Anyway, here it is. Your feedback is always appreciated, and thanks for listening.

RFB: Episode Five

Mon, 06 Mar 2006 21:15:00 -0700

I issued myself a challenge a few weeks ago: do one ten-minute podcast a day for a week. Then I went and got sick, and wasn't in any shape to do begin the challenge . . . until tonight. I thought that it would be very manageable to commit ten minutes per day to do a show, but don't know if I like the format; ten minutes is hardly enough time to get started, let alone do an entire show, so I will thank in advance those of you who endure this little experiment with me over the next few days. I am nearly positive that by the end of the week, I'll be back to 37 minutes at a time. Oh, and before I get into the show notes: does someone want to do a Radio Free Burrito logo? I am thinking something simple that is inspired by the old RKO logo (a radio tower on top of the earth) or something similar like that. I'm a big fan of simple, 1940s-looking radio design, if you know what I'm talking about. If any of you guys with crazy Photoshop or GIMP skills want to send me something, I'd love to see it. If I pick your design, I'll give you credit by name and with a link to your website or blog, and I'll send you an autographed book. I should probably put in some legal language, like, uh, anything you send me becomes my property, and I can do whatever I want with it, even put it into a shotgun wedding with the Crushinator. You can put "Wil Wheaton's Radio Free Burrito" and use the tagline ". . . an interesting podcast" if you want. Here are a few show notes for this very brief episode: * The music comes from Mike Doughty's "Down on the River by the Sugar Plant," which is on Skittish and Rockity Roll. I just realized that I used a song which you can't download from his site by mistake, so I hope he doesn't sue me or kick my ass. In any case, I encourage you to buy his albums, because they totally fucking rule. * Comments can be sent to podcast at wil wheaton dot net, questions can be sent to ask at wil wheaton dot net. Please use a descriptive subject line. * Radio Free Burrito is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License. * This episode is 10:16 and weighs in at 4.1 MB. Okay, that's it for today. I hope you enjoy the abbreviated Radio Free Burrito. Thanks for listening.

RFB: Episode Four

Thu, 19 Jan 2006 13:54:00 -0700

Yes, it is true! At long last, the long-overdue Episode Four is here. According to certain other episode-numbered series, this should be the episode that grabs everyone's attention and establishes me as a Force to be reckoned with . . . but it will be the next episode that proves to be my best ever, one which I'll never be able to top.

More...

RFB: Lakeside Shadow

Mon, 19 Dec 2005 19:47:00 -0700

I'm not sure how many people are listening to Radio Free Burrito, but a bunch of you wrote in asking for a stand-alone MP3 of my ambient tune Lakeside Shadow. Look, you're totally not the boss of me, but I did sort of say that if enough people asked for it, I'd put it here on its own. I'm proud of the composition, and I'm happy to put it out there for anyone to listen to, or use in a creative way. If you like it, you'll probably like some of the artists who influenced me over the years: Woob (especially 1194, and especially the track strange air) Dedicated (especially Global Communication, also called 76 14), and Solitaire (especially Ritual Ground). Also, Instinct Records (still alive) and Silent Records (sadly, tragically, defunct since 1996) released an amazing number of genre-defining ambient discs in the 90s. And now, just to prove how hardcore I am, I'm going to throw out Pete Namlook, and the FAX Label, but their stuff is far more experimental than the rest of my list, and isn't what I'd use to introduce a new listener to Ambient music. Finally, if you can find it, Silent Records put out an incredible record called Earth to Infinity (I think in 1994) which was pulled shortly after it was released, due to some sampling issues. I think it's one of the greatest ambient recordings of all time, and don't ask me for it because I'm not going to jail for you, Chachi. Anyway, here it is. The file is 4.9MB, and is a 192kbps MP3, at 44.1kHz. It's 3:30: Download lakeside_shadow.mp3 Lakeside Shadow is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License. If you decide to do something cool with it, let me know and I may just link it up. If you want to pretend we're really in the radio business, you can send me some money and a hooker to help influence my decision. The photo in this entry, which is the photo I'd use if I'd made this into an actual record or whatever, was taken by jpmatth. I found it at flickr (using the tags winter and lake) and is used according to his Creative Commons license. Pretty cool, huh?

RFB: Episode Three

Fri, 16 Dec 2005 23:42:00 -0700

This episode of The Burrito is the longest, yet, weighing in at 37 minutes. It was so long, in fact, that I had to break it into two parts in garage band, and use audacity to join them together. However, it's relatively small; just 15.2MB. I listened to it in headphones and through my Powerbook's speakers, and it sounds fine to me, but let me know if you think it sucks. You can also let me know if you like it, of course.

I'm not very happy with this episode, as I fell into one of my chief complaints about podcasts in general: it rapidly devolves into just some guy talking about bullshit. I mostly did the show so I could stay on the weekly schedule, and I really just wanted to share this song that I made in garageband, because I think it's kind of cool.

I'm always interested in feedback which can be sent to podcast at wil wheaton dot net. The feedback some listeners have chosen to send in has been extremely useful, whether it's praise or constructive criticism, so thank you all for that. Questions for next week's show, which will focus exclusively on family and holiday themes, can be sent to ask at wil wheaton dot net.

Anyway, If you have 37 minutes to spend listening to me blather on about bullshit, please enjoy: Download radio_free_burrito_episode_three.mp3 <-- the second fixed version. The first one had huge gaps where I addicentally erased a track, while the second one had an additional track layered over the beginning that I didn't delete when I replaced the first deleted track, for fuck's sake. But this should be the "good" version now, and if you have one of the earlier versions, hermetically seal it and start planning for your retirement.

Show Notes:

Continuing the "I'm an idiot" meme, I inadvertently deleted an entire track, which took some of the bumpers with it. This results in about 20 seconds of silence around the 5 minute mark. I will repair this, and replace the current file later tonight. Sorry about that. Okay, thanks to some audacity-fu and a bit of garageband voodoo, I fixed it. Nothing to hear here. Move along.

My tune is called "Lakeside Shadow." I made it in Garageband.

Comments can be sent to podcast at wil wheaton dot net, questions can be sent to ask at wil wheaton dot net. Please use a descriptive subject line.

Radio Free Burrito is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License.

Thanks for listening, and have a great weekend!

RFB: Episode One

Tue, 06 Dec 2005 02:02:00 -0700

I can't believe I already did another podcast, but I had ideas, and they needed to come out of my brains, so here we are.

I'm going to tell you the complete truth: This isn't the greatest thing ever, but I really had fun putting this show together, and I think I'm officially hooked on doing these shows. As long as it doesn't completely take over my life, I'll do everything I can to get a new episode up every week. Around episode four or five, when I've climbed a little higher up the learning curve, I'll even see if I can get this into iTunes so subscribing is easier.

Okay. How about some show notes? That's kind of cool, isn't it?

Notes for Episode One:

Feedback and reflections on Episode Zero

Bumpers!

An audio diary, featuring an audition, some random thoughts around town, a bit of really horrible singing, and an interview about Stand By Me.

Very brief Q&A.

This week's show is much, much smaller than episode zero, weighing in at a much friendlier 13.3 MB, but still just over 30 minutes. I'm still not ready for primetime, but I feel much more comfortable than I did last week, and had a great time putting this together.

Questions can be sent to ask at wil wheaton dot net and comments can be sent to podcast at wil wheaton dot net.

Also, until I figure out a more appropriate license, RFB will be released under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License.

Okay? Get to listening!

RFB: Episode Zero

Thu, 01 Dec 2005 19:08:00 -0700

Well, here it is! It's alive!

As I wrote earlier today, "It will either be really cool, or the stupidest fucking thing in history, and I'll proceed accordingly." My initial feeling is that it falls somewhere in the middle: it's longer than I wanted, and it's a little unfocused, but I'm willing to allow myself the freedom to make as many mistakes as it takes to either come up with something cool, or accept that I just don't have what it takes to make a podcast.

Observations on getting this thing from my brains to your ears: I thought the recording would be very hard, but it was actually super easy. I've tried in Audacity several times before, and it never wants to work, so today I just followed the instructions from Apple for creating podcasts in Garageband, and it was simple and easy. But holy shit the converting and the uploading was so hard, I felt like I had no thumbs and an IQ of 24.

So now I need to know what you, the audience, think. What would you like more of? Less of? Is it too long? Is it too narrowly focused, or not broad enough? Most importantly: when it was over, did you feel like I earned your 30 minutes, or did you feel like you wasted your time?

Heh. The last time I felt this nervous about releasing something into the wild, it was the first version of Dancing Barefoot. This is both cool and scary.