Evil Genius Chronicles Podcast for February 1 2019 – Carving out Joy

In this episode, I play a new song from John Howie Jr; I discuss the new podcast that Aimee Mann does with Ted Leo; I talk about specifically choosing joy when it is an option; I talk about why I love the Church of the Subgenius, comic books; my experience with Penn Jillette’s movie Director’s Cut.

Here is the direct MP3 download for the Evil Genius Chronicles podcast, July 2015

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You can subscribe to this podcast feed via RSS. To sponsor the show, contact BackBeat Media. Don’t forget, you can fly your EGC flag by buying the stuff package. This show as a whole is Creative Commons licensed Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Unported. Bandwidth for this episode is provided by Cachefly.

Evil Genius Chronicles Podcast for October 1 2016 – Dream Content

In this episode, I play a song from the best Toadies album; I discuss an appearance on Todd Cochrane’s Podcast Legends show; I discuss content creation pressures in my day job and my personal projects; I will do standup in San Diego; the feedback Mad at Dad gets is gratifying; I struggle with coffee and keeping my weight down.

Here is the direct MP3 download for the Evil Genius Chronicles podcast, October 1 2016

Links mentioned in this episode:

You can subscribe to this podcast feed via RSS. To sponsor the show, contact BackBeat Media. Don’t forget, you can fly your EGC flag by buying the stuff package. This show as a whole is Creative Commons licensed Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported. Bandwidth for this episode is provided by Cachefly.

Evil Genius Chronicles Podcast for July 4 2016 – Breaking with Libertarians

In this episode, I play a song from the Indigo Girls; I talk about Roderick on the Line and the claim that “computers haven’t increased efficiency one iota since 1965”; from there I lead off into a discussion of why libertarianism as an ideal once really compelled me and now I break with it completely.

Here is the direct MP3 download for the Evil Genius Chronicles podcast, July 4 2016

Links mentioned in this episode:

You can subscribe to this podcast feed via RSS. To sponsor the show, contact BackBeat Media. Don’t forget, you can fly your EGC flag by buying the stuff package. This show as a whole is Creative Commons licensed Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported. Bandwidth for this episode is provided by Cachefly.

Eat to Live

Weight graph

I started a serious push to get my weight under control in spring of 2014. I focused then on mostly avoiding processed sweets and eating mostly high protein, low carb foods for two meals of the day. I would have eggs for breakfast and sausage for lunch then a fairly normal dinner with the family. This worked for a while, and I got from around 225 pounds to 195 pounds in about six months.

After that, I had a very hard time maintaining that, even though I was exercising the whole time. The first three months of weight loss were without any additional exercise, but the last 15 included multiple trips to the gym on most weeks. I spent that year in a band of 203 poounds, plus or minus 7. I wasn’t gaining too much, but I wasn’t losing any.

In early spring as a listener of Penn’s Sunday School and a backer of Director’s Cut I started noticing and hearing about Penn Jillette’s weight loss. Although he is working with a guy named Ray Cronise as his weight loss guru, he mentioned on the show that the core of his eating regimen is from a book by Joel Fuhrman called Eat to Live. I figured, “what the hell do I have to lose but weight?” I bought the book, read to the key parts. Like all similar books, there is only one or two chapters that really matter and the rest is filler to make it salable at book length. Once I read the best start, I hopped on the plan with very little planning or foresight.

From the beginning, I lost weight. The sleight of hand of any regimen that restricts salty food is that coming from a standard American diet, you will lose water weight almost immediately. I have lost 18 pounds in 19 days, but 7 of that happened the first two days. It is a neat trick, because from the very beginning it helps with the motivation to watch weight disappearing quickly.

Here is the real high level summary of what I am doing. I highly recommend the book for anyone interested in this. I predict a high level of success for anyone following this plan.

For the first six weeks:

Unlimited: cooked and raw leafy greens; fresh fruits; cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, etc), beans

Desirable but limited to a serving a day: Avocado; raw and unsalted seeds and nuts; flax seed

Allowable but limited to a serving a day: Grains and grain products

Prohibited: Sugary foods; prepared foods; meat; dairy; salty foods; canned fruits; white breads; oils

After six weeks and for the rest of your life:

Follow the recommendations above but you have 200 calories a day you can splurge on any prohibited items. Whether that is meat, cheese or a cupcake you can have them and every day as long as 90% of your food intake follows the recommendations. Unlike having a cheat day, you can cheat every day but you have very clear boundaries.

At this point, I’m 2.5 weeks in. I will probably not go the entirety of the recommended 6 week initial period because my birthday is in there. For the day itself, I will allow myself one full day of eating whatever I want that day. After that, is is back on the plan but with the 200 calorie allowance.

As of last weekend, I fell under the lowest weights I had achieved in the previous 18 months of watching what I ate and exercising. It took right at two weeks for this to occur. I really haven’t considered what I am shooting for on the low end of this. I had 185 as my long term goal initially, and now I am 8 pounds from that with a long time left on this initial chunk. I hesitate to dream too big and bum myself out, but 180 seems quite possible. Is 175 too much (little) to ask?

One of the fun things I am doing is walking backwards in time. I have weight stamps associated with periods in my life. I spent much of the last decade around 240. After I quit drinking sodas, I almost immediately went to 225 and stayed there. In Chicago in the mid 2000s I was 240 and dropped to 225 when I started biking to the train station every day. In Atlanta, I was struggling to get under 220. In Portland, I was trying to lose from 209. In grad school in Louisiana, I was 190 at the low point. Prior to that, during my fitness kick in college I was more like a muscular and fit 165. As I lose weight, I get myself back to these timestamps. If I drop under 190, that will be a 20 year low. If I get into the 160s it will be a 25 year low.

These are still the early days of this plan, and I have given back this lost weight before. I will report back in periodically with my progress or lack thereof. For now, I am optimistic and not at all hungry. Have you ever tried to eat a pound of kale and romaine lettuce a day? It’s a lot of food, so not getting enough is never a problem. I hope to see lower blood pressure, which was getting problematic and maybe a host of other side benefits.

Wish me luck and less of myself.

Evil Genius Chronicles Podcast for July 3 2015 – Win Like a Champion

In this episode, I play a song by Valley Lodge; I talk about gay marriage and how I think the victory should be celebrated; I talk about my recent weight loss and how I am achieving it; I discuss my enjoyment of MMove Bluetooth earbuds and call it a show.

Here is the direct MP3 download for the Evil Genius Chronicles podcast, July 3 2015

Links mentioned in this episode:

You can subscribe to this podcast feed via RSS. To sponsor the show, contact BackBeat Media. Don’t forget, you can fly your EGC flag by buying the stuff package. This show as a whole is Creative Commons licensed Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported. Bandwidth for this episode is provided by Cachefly.

Google Maps Fun

slammer

On the October 26th episode of Penn’s Sunday School, the boys were discussing self-driving cars and then Penn’s route to work at the Rio. The couple of streets mentioned give a hint as to which part of town he lives in. It then took me about 90 seconds with Google Maps to locate his house armed with that much information and what little I know about his house and nearby environment.

No, I won’t give you the address. This is part of the fun. I don’t plan to do anything with the information, it was just an exercise. I have thought the same about Marc Maron when he talks about his neighborhood but I never got around to dinking with it for him. It’s amazing how little information it takes to bootstrap this kind of search nowadays. Be warned, citizens.

Evil Genius Chronicles Podcast for September 9, 2014 – Exclusions

In this episode, I talk about interest groups that feel the need to exclude others in order to maintain themselves; I talk about “mansplaining” and why I think focus on it alienates potential allies; I discuss my personal strategy on dealing with flame wars; I use Penn Jillette as a model on how to deal with friends with beliefs contrary to your own and then I toodle.

Here is the direct MP3 download for the Evil Genius Chronicles podcast, September 9, 2014

Links mentioned in this episode:

You can subscribe to this podcast feed via RSS. To sponsor the show, contact BackBeat Media. Don’t forget, you can fly your EGC flag by buying the stuff package. This show as a whole is Creative Commons licensed Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported. Bandwidth for this episode is provided by Cachefly.

The End of Penn Radio

Around XMas, I got really behind on my podcast listening and only recently have I been catching up. One of the shows I was farthest behind on was the Penn Jillette radio show. I think at the high point, I had 20 shows in my queue. Just recently I was down to only a few programs but no new ones were coming down. They’ve changed their RSS feeds a few times so I went to check it to see if that was the case. To my shock, I saw that the last show was labeled “The End” in the RSS feed. I heard it tonight and sure enough, that was the end of the show. That’s one fewer broadcast show in my feed. We’ll see if that 4 hours a week missing from my queue means I stay more caught up on things.

EGC Clambake For May 22, 2006

Here is the Bittorrent link and direct MP3 download for the EGC clambake for May 22, 2006.

I play a song by Headlights; I play a clip from the Penn Jillette show and talk about how I’d rather hear someone express their human, fallible opinion than pretend they have all the answers; I play a clip from Jack Black’s Nacho Libre videoblog; I play a song from Uma Floresta; I talk about seeing Over the Hedge and the joy of the movie going experience; I play a piece from the Onion.

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To sponsor the show, contact BackBeat Media. Don’t forget, you can fly your EGC flag by buying the stuff package. This show as a whole is Creative Commons licensed Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5.

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PlayPlay

EGC Clambake For April 13, 2006

Here is the Bittorrent link and direct MP3 download for the EGC clambake for April 13, 2006.

Hurry up offense, I get right to it by playing a Jonathan Coulton song; I discuss Videoblogging Week 2006 and my Converge South video; I talk about seeing David Sedaris in Charleson; I profess my love for the Penn Jillette radio show; I talk about the Chris Bliss and Jason Garfield thing and point out that being a bigger technical feat don’t automatically make it more fun; I play a song by Danny Schmidt; I read a quote by Emma Bull; I talk about doing it for love and making money; I play a clip of myself getting interviewed by Ted Riecken; I do a little mike test to demonstrate cardiod vs. omnidirectional; I play a song by Diana Obscura and Damon Young; adios.

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This episode is sponsored in part by AmigoFish. To sponsor the show, contact BackBeat Media. Don’t forget, you can fly your EGC flag by buying the stuff package. This show as a whole is Creative Commons licensed Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5.

Links mentioned in this episode:

PlayPlay

Penn Jillette Radio

Although my listening to terrestrial radio has dropped to something that rounds to nil, I do listen to a number of timeshifted and/or area-shifted radio programs. The newest one I have added is the syndicated Penn Jillette talk show on FreeFM. I’m subscribed to this RSS feed which originates from DC. I really enjoy Penn but from the promos they run during the commercial breaks I can tell there is nothing else on that station that I’d remotely be interested in. It sounds like Penn and then a bunch of knucklehead shock jock Stern wannabes on this format.

It’s very interesting to listen to how he handles the callers. On a recent show, he was talking about abortion and a woman called in with her arguments about where life begins. Penn did not agree with her position, but as they talked he didn’t ridicule her points but actually refined her arguments with her. He pointed out ways that she could clarify it to make it more persuasive to him. By the time they were done, she could restate her position in one sentence – “I believe the smallest right of the already born outweighs the largest right of the unborn.” Again, that is not necessarily his belief but he got her into the most well articulated and readily understood form of hers. It was kind of amazing to listen to. Lots of talk shows claim to be about discussion and discourse, but this might be the first time I’ve really heard that in action.