Evil Genius Chronicles Podcast for December 15 2019 – Single Density Floppy Disks

In this episode, I play an Xmas song by Michael Butler; I only like a few pop Xmas songs; as I change my line of work slightly, I think about how developer relations people romanticize the wrong things; I love automation but not social media automated sentiment; cleaning out old electronics sent me on a nostalgia trip to my BBS and GEnie days;the Jason Scott BBS documentary is fantastic; whatever is around when you are 13 years old is special.

Here is the direct MP3 download for the Evil Genius Chronicles podcast, December 15 2019

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 4.0 Unported. Bandwidth for this episode is provided by Cachefly.

Evil Genius Chronicles Podcast for Dec 16 2017 – Fighting the Resistance

In this episode, I play not just an Xmas song but The Greatest Xmas Song Ever Written! I talk about struggling with resistance and depression; some people just hate you; work/life balance; the things you do are the things you value; the Mad at Dad podcast is all about me making Butler laugh; Patreon outrage, if it makes you cancel a pledge do what you got do, friend; I’m doing a webcomic project.

Here is the direct MP3 download for the Evil Genius Chronicles podcast, December 16 2017

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 December 28 2016 – Unsatisfied

In this show, we start off with the Flexapleasers Xmas song; moving from the Fitbit to the Garmin Vivosmart HR+ has issues; 2016 was a weird year but is just the beginning; being a skeptic can make you a buzzkill; resolutions are a horrible way to create new habits; I still struggle with my weight every single day of my life; Evil Genius Chronicles listeners are welcome to join the Mad at Dad death pool; the death pool actually helps the grieving process; I am dissatisfied with myself and my output in all aspects of life; media consumption is a zero sum game; children need room to like their own stuff; kids have amazing media literacy.

Here is the direct MP3 download for the Evil Genius Chronicles podcast, December 28 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 February 18 2016 – Sculpting My Personality

In this episode, I play a song from Cheap Trick; I talk about my recent business trip and whether I am an extrovert and making myself be the person I want to be over the course of decades; I tell a fugazi tale of losing my Kindle and getting another.

Here is the direct MP3 download for the Evil Genius Chronicles podcast, February 18 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.

First Episode of Mad at Dad is in the Can

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Just for this first episode, both Butler and I are adding it to our regular show feeds. If you are an Evil Genius Chronicles listener or a Rock and Roll Geek listener and you want to hear more, you’ll need to go to the Mad at Dad website and subscribe. RSS links are up now, iTunes will be coming soon whenever they do whatever black magic voodoo it is that they do over there.

Other than me screwing up the original Blab and making us get a new link 3 minutes before the show, it went OK. There was a little weirdness that you always have from a new thing on a new system but it was fun. We plan on doing it again next week. If you want to get notified when we go live, you can go to Blab.IM and subscribe to our channel or whatever it is. It seems to work pretty well.

The audio player is below, it is included in the regular feed, and the video is embedded. What more do you want from me?

New Podcasts

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This week I defy the weather and local flooding to start not one but two new podcasts!

First, I will record tonight, Monday October 5th at 10:15 PM EDT with Michael Butler of the Rock and Roll Geek Show. It is called Mad at Dad, and it is the two of us talking about our lives, David Bowie and other matters of import. It will stream live via Blab.IM and you can come join us.

The second is called Milkfed Crime Blotter. It is a show devoted to comic book writers Matt Fraction and Kelly Sue DeConnick (their company is Milkfed Criminal Masterminds, hence the weird name of the podcast.) I will have different co-hosts from show to show but for my first will be joined by Christiana Ellis. I am lucky for this, as she is a rock solid podcasting partner and I can worry about everything else without having to worry about my co-host. That show will also be streamed live, this one via Google Hangouts, and will record Thursday October 8th at 10 PM EDT.

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Fun stuff, no? This makes two of the three potential projects I mentioned during the Dog Days of Podcasting actually coming to fruition. Just wait on that third, there is time.

Evil Genius Chronicles Podcast for October 4 2015 – Vague Notions Become Real

In this episode, I play a song from The Invalids; I talk about Merlin Mann on Reconcilable Differences and his odd belief that he is under pressure to be a sports fan; I point out my appearance on Rob Greenlee’s section of International Podcast Day on Blab.IM; I talk about my new podcast projects Mad at Dad and Milk Fed Crime Blotter; I mention a great term that Sean Cullen coined; I finish by talking about my experience at a Bernie Sanders rally.

This week’s large factual misstatement comes when I refer to the podcast to which Ken Kennedy was recommending me was the Incomparable. In fact, although John Siracusa is a regular guest on that podcast, it was Hypercritical that Ken thought I should listen to.

Here is the direct MP3 download for the Evil Genius Chronicles podcast, October 4 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.

Evil Genius Chronicles Podcast for September 1 2015 – DDOP 29

In this episode, I answer the question of why Michael Butler calls me his “podcast mentor?”

Here is the direct MP3 download for the Evil Genius Chronicles podcast, September 1, 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.

Darkness – Barbarians

Yesterday I listened to Michael Butler do a track by track of the new Darkness album Last of Our Kind. I liked it, I like the Darkness in general. This album is something special though. It is somewhere between a theme album and a rock opera. What do you suppose the theme would be? Well, no. It is about medieval life and warfare. The opening song “Barbarians” is about the Danish invasion of East Anglia in 869. I like the video too, which is goofy, violent, and full of visual jokes that play off the themes and lyrics.

This album isn’t what immediately springs to mind when you think about a soundtrack to Song of Ice and Fire or Nicola Griffith’s Hild books but you know, it might work. If you go to the Darkness website you can listen to it via streaming. Check it out.

Rock and Roll Geek Scoring System

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By and large, I really like Michael Butler’s Rock and Roll Geek album scoring system. He gives each song a 0, 1/2 or 1 and then adds it up and it almost always comes up with something sensible. However…

I am listening to this episode where he is scoring both the new Scorpions album “Return to Forever” and Black Star Riders album “Killer Instinct”. I haven’t gotten to the end yet but in the middle he has the Scorpions ahead by 1/2 point. To my ears, they are nowhere close. The Black Star Riders is a way better album. I cannot see ever actually listening to this Scorpions for anything other than ironic cheeziness. It’s too bad to be enjoyable and not bad enough to be fun. Butler is giving it good scores on a song by song basis but it is mostly sucking the life out of me. Conversely, when he switches over to a Black Star Riders song I pick back up and reengage. I would put this album on for enjoyment.

It’s worth a listen to see what you think but I wouldn’t score them anywhere close.

Podcasting History Note

Dear Len Peralta and Brian Ibbot, re your discussion on Geek A Week about long-running podcats:

You were correct about Dawn and Drew’s show being older than Coverville, however you missed a few. Both my podcast and Michael Butler’s Rock and Roll Geek Show are still going and older than Coverville. There may be others, but these are the ones I know of.

Evil Genius Chronicles Podcast for August 9, 2014 – “DDOP Day 10: Grab Bag”

This episode, I talk about a grab bag of topics; my new goofy side project; old ladies in the gym; misremembering beer; the early days of podcasting.

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

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.

Links mentioned in this episode:

The Greatest Xmas Song Ever Written

Before we get too far from the holiday season, let me put in a pointer for my single favorite modern Xmas song. The title of this post is not my editorial postion, it’s actually the title: “The Greatest Xmas Song Ever Written” by American Heartbreak. This is the sadly defunct band of my good friend Michael Butler of the Rock and Roll Geek Show. On Facebook a few weeks ago I saw a thread about how bad most post World War Two holiday songs are, and that prompted me to spread the love for this song. It’s a super catchy, basically anti-Christmas song that is a perfect antidote to the treacle of most. “No stores are open/ No one shops for me/ I wish Christmas never came/ Every year’s the same/ It looks like/ It looks like/ I’ll be by myself for Christmas.” When the syrup of most songs gets on your nerves, try this shot of tabasco. I apply some every year and I love it.

If you want, the player below will let you hear it, or you can download it directly. It should also show up in the podcast feed because, hey, it’s the time of year for giving. Again, you are welcome.