Hobos Landing

Last night was not so good.  I slipped off the porch last night when I was trying to put some garbage out.  It was nothing serious but you guys know how it is when you kinda ‘jam’ everything?  Well, that’s what I did to my back and most of the left side of my body.  So when I woke up this morning, I was NOT feeling good and decided to take a day off.  I assumed it would just be a day of laying around, taking some pain meds and that would be it.

But what was in store for me was a bunch of cool stuff.  Nothing earth shattering, but a few things that just brightened my day.  First, when I went to the mail box, my NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) t-shirt had arrived.  As you probably know, I am participating in both NaNoWriMo and NaPodPoMo this year and am keeping everyone informed at mynovelapproach.com.    Hopefully I’ll be able to put some pictures of it up there tomorrow.

Then I had to go to the grocery and decided I needed to test the Utterli audio feed for NaPodPoMo and it worked like a champ!  Even got some positive feedback on the test post.

After that, I got home and decided to cook up some steaks for dinner.  I over spiced them a tad, but they were still delicious.  And finally, when I was getting ready to cook, I noticed an email from my friend Mike over at ProjectSpurs.com inviting me to be a panelist in a live blog for the Spurs opener against the Phoenix Suns.  I am in there blogging now so go check it out at projectspurs.com/blog

Ever since I discovered Revision 3, I have been a fan.  I thought the content was great, and they would take some chances that I thought worked most of the time.  Of course the flagship was Diggnation, but there were tons of great shows.  And they had some of my favorite folks from TechTV before it went to crap.  Sara Lane, Martin Sargent, Kevin Rose, Alex Albrecht, Patrick Norton and Bert Monroy . I had also been somewhat of a fan of the work Jim Louderback had done in the industry and was pleased when he signed on.

Today however, is a different story, and let me be clear.  My problem is not with the fact that Revision 3 canceled some of my favorite web programming.  (Well, I am actually, but that’s not my point here.)  It’s the entertainment industry.  Programming changes.  Programs come and programs go.  But they got rid of some of most talented people in the industry.  I think THAT’S a huge mistake.  Even worse?  It appears that this was done in a somewhat heartless, no notice way.

Sara Lane was on This Week In Tech with Leo Laporte this weekend and while there was discussion of layoffs at Mahalo, which Jason Calacanis freely explained, Sara had no idea that there would be a problem at Revision 3 or that any layoffs were in the works.

This brings us to today.  According to twitter posts and blog entries from Sara, Martin Sargent and various other people who were let go at Rev 3, they cleaned out their desks this morning and were sent packing.  So think about it.  No two week notice.  No nothing.  “Your show is canceled.  Get your shit and get outta here.”  Sorry, but this just isn’t right.

So from here on out, I am pretty much done with Rev 3.  I’m not “encouraging” others to stop watching stuff on Rev 3, but this is part of what social media is all about.  When I see a product with what I feel is a serious problem, I have to voice my opinion and for me, I don’t want to help support and organization that would treat it’s employees this way.  Period.

Those who’ve visited this site for awhile probably know that every once in a while I get to cookin’ and end up with something decent.  When this happens, I try to share the reciepe with y’all and guess what…this is one of those days.  Today I made a bacon wrapped pork tenderloin roast and here’s how I did it:

Ingredients

• A pork tenderloin roast
• Approx 6 slices of bacon
• 2 tablespoons kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 tablespoon oregano
• 1 tablespoon sage
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• bread crumbs
• olive oil

Instructions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350
2. Take your roast out of the package and dry it with some paper towels
3. Take 3-4 pieces of butcher’s twine and place them under the roast so you can tie on the bacon.  If you would prefer, you and attach it with toothpicks instead, but if you use the twine, you need to lay it out now.
4. Mix the salt, pepper, oregano, sage and thyme and coat the roast with it.  If you have an especially big roast, increase each spice proportionally
5. Sprinkle bread crumbs to fully coat the roast
6. Take the bacon strips and place them horizontally along the roast and tie the twine around the whole shootin’ match in 3-4 places.  Again, you can use tooth picks to attach the bacon if you would rather.
7. Coat the whole thing with bread crumbs again then coat the whole thing with the olive oil
8. Place in a glass baking dish and put it in the oven, uncovered for an hour
9. Remove the roast from the oven, wrap it in foil and allow it to sit for 10 minutes
10. Remove the twine/toothpicks, slice and enjoy

That’s it.  It sounds more complicated than it is.  If you think of any interesting variations on this, post them in the comments.  I’d love to try them.

So what is my conundrum, you ask?  What to do with my November, of course.  Other than the obvious enjoying the cool off in the weather and getting to cook some Thanksgiving goodness, what should I do?  There are a couple of things on the horizon that pique my interest.

First there is National Podcast Post Month, a wonderful little event that was founded last year by my podcast guru, Jennifer Navarette.  What is National Podcast Post Month?  Basically, you attempt to publish a podcast every day for the month of November.  I did it last year, successfully I am proud to say and had a blast.  Many of you may know that I produce a (approximately) weekly podcast called ‘Enlighten Up’ over at enlighten-up.org.  Basically I talk about Buddhism and how classical Buddhist ideas are relevant here in the 21st Century (nice tag line, huh?).  Well, this is not a quick process, so for NaPodPoMo, I changed the format completely.  For those 30 days, I simply read a short thought from one of my Buddhist Books, sent out a little podcast love to some of the new podcasts I was listening to and that was about it.  Sounds simple, but with finding the reading, gathering info for podcast love, recording, editing and posting show notes, it was about a 2 hour a night process.  What I hadn’t thought about was how my listeners at the time would react to thirty days of being bombarded with podcasts that were a completely different format than what they were used to.  Just to clarify, much of it was not positive.  I lost a number of listeners because it was too much ME and not the information they had been tuning in for.  I decided that if I did it again, I would do a completely new show on a different feed that would not interfere with the Enlighten Up Podcast.  I also had decided I would do it on something other than Buddhism.

NaPodPoMo was actaully inspired by National Blog Post Month (NaBloPoMo) which was inspired by the long running National Novel Writers Month (NaNoWriMo).  National Blog Post Month is simply posting a blog post a day for the month of November.  I had done National Blog Post Month a couple of years back and really wished I had signed up for it last year too.  Why, you ask?  How on earth could I do a daily podcast AND blog post.  Ahhh…there is a method to this madness, young grasshopper.  When I was posting the podcast, I was meticulously posting show notes and comments on the whole NaPodPoMo process in my blog.  Hence, there was a blog post every day.  I did it, I just didn’t sign up for it!!!

Therefore, I have successfully completed NaBloPoMo and NaPodPoMo.  The one thing I haven’t tried is NaNoWriMo.  To me, National Novel Writing Month would be a big challenge.  Hold on, hold on.  Let me lay it out for you.  At 12:01 a.m.  on November 1, you begin writing a novel.  The goal is a 50,000 word novel before midnight of November 30.  Now, I have produced dozens of podcasts and I have made hundreds, maybe thousands of blog posts, but I have NEVER written a novel.  NaBloPoMo and NaPodPoMo were simply things I already did, but I just had to do them alot and fairly quickly.  NaNoWriMo is a whole different animal.  Needless to say, this program not only intrigues me, but scares the hell out of me.

So there lies the conundrum.  Do I go for the NaPodPoMo again, whose challenge would be to try to do something new and creative in a format that I know I can complete?  Or do I really go for broke and try NaNoWriMo and take on a challenge that I have never tried before and am not sure I can even get to the finish line on.

I’ve been weighing these against each other and discovered that, while they sound remarkably similar, they are really different.  With the podcast, I am producing something every day, that is distributed every day, that I get feedback on the other people doing the same thing every day.  There is a lot of natural interaction just from participation.  But with NaNoWriMo, it’s really me vs me.  Yes, there is a wordcount that’s publically visible that I update so that anyone interested can see how far along I am, and there are forums that allow some communication, but no one else is really reading your novel day by day.  There isn’t that sence of closure at the end of each day.  With NaPodPoMo, there had to be a new podcast out every day and it’s really obvious when you miss one.  With NaNoWriMo, if I skip today, no one knows or cares.  It would kinda feel like any ecouragement was artifically generated where NaPodPoMo is more natural.  You really feel part of the podcasts that others are doing and you feel they are a part of yours.  But, again with the novel, it’s just me vs me.

Now all this might sound like I am really leaning toward doing the podcast again.  Oddly though, I am tending to lean to the novel.  I think I want that challenge of something that I have never done and am not real sure I can do.

If you have experience with either of these, or you just have an opinion of what I should try, leave a comment.  Like I said, I have not firmly decided one way or the other.  I’m still not firm on it though, but I think I better get firm pretty quick because, no matter which one I pick, there is going to be a bit of planning involved that I need to get done before 12:01 on 1 November.

On a lighter and wonderfully fun note, I will be heading to the Social Media Club of San Antonio meet up at San Antonio College tonight.  It’s from 6-8, food is going to be provided, there’s door prizes and the college paper, The Ranger,  is coming with a reporter and a photographer to cover the event.  That reminds me, I better avoid the ripped jeans and t-shirt.

The founders of the Social Media Club of San Antonio, Luis Sandoval and Jennifer Navarette, were interviewed by the Ranger, the newspaper for San Antonio College about SMCSA.  Check it out here.

When I drive into work, EARLY in the morning, there is a particular gas station that normally has the lowest price for gas.  On Thursday, which was quite a volitle day on Wall Street, the price was at $2.89.  This was before the market opened.  I had a luncheon I had to attend that took me back past the station.  It was $2.83.  After the luncheon, I was driving back and the price had jumped to $2.86.  When I headed for hom, mid afternoon, the price was at $2.84.  I don’t think I have ever noticed a gas price change so many times in one day.  My only conclusion is that maybe it was following the ups and downs of the market.

I noticed on Friday that it was, again, a different price going to work than it was coming home from work, eighteen cents cheaper on the way home I am happy to say!

What a surprise!  I was driving into work this morning and gas at the local Walmart Super Center was $2.87!  I have been paying about $3.29 which I understand is fairly cheap if you look at prices nationwide, but down to $2.87?  I wasn’t sure I would see gas under $3 a gallon again.  Time to fill up on the way home.

As many of you know, I am often confused, but really, someone clue me in here.  I was on Facebook and ended up on the page of a group called ‘ARKANSAS BLUES AND HERITAGE FESTIVAL ROCKS!‘.  Now what you may or may not know is that the Arkansas Blues and Heritage Festival is held in my home town.  It used to be called ‘King Biscuit Blues Festival’ and I either worked at or attended most of the first 10.  My wall is adorned with signed and numbered prints of the posters from the first 15.  The title is true.  This festival does ROCK!

So why am I confused?  Well, on pages of Facebook groups, on the right, there is a little box that says ‘Related Groups’.  Cool.  It would make sense that I would find other Blues Festival groups there maybe?  Well, at a glance, the top ‘Related Group’ is ‘Stop Barak Obama!’.  So how does Facebook arrive at this?  Seriously, I have never had a Facebook Group so, does the admin set the ‘Related Groups’?  If so, I don’t think I have to point out how rediculous this choice would be.  Or is it some Facebook agorithym?  If so, I think there are some developers that need to go back to the drawing board.

Now, just so there is no confusion, I am a die hard supporter of Obama/Biden.  So obviously, I wouldn’t be interested in this group as I disagree with them whole heartedly, but that’s not my point of confusion.  Even if it was pro-Obama/anti-McCain groups, I still don’t see how they relate to the festival.

At any rate, reading on the ‘Related Groups’, next is ‘Burger Shack Has The Best Cokes In Town!’.  Ok…I’ll give ya this one.  Burger Shack is a restraunt in the same town that is quite popular.  It really is great.  I would say the best Fries in town, but either way.  If you go to the festival, go get a burger.  IT’s worth it.

Moving on, the next entry is ‘John McCain and Sarah Palin in 08′.  Again, either a developer needs to go back to the drawing board or an admin needs to narrow the focus.

Last night I spent a wonderful time at a joint get together of the San Antonio Social Media Club and the Austin Social Media Club.  The occasion was Chris Heuer and Kristi Wells were in town!  Who are Chris Heuer and Kristi Wells, you might ask?  They are the founders of the Social Media Club Phenomena.  It was a genuine pleasure meeting both of them.  I even cornered Chris and we talked Eastern Philosophy for a few minutes.  Poor guy.  Being trapped with me talking about Eastern Philosophy is a fate I wouldn’t wish on anyone I didn’t like, much less Chris.  But he took it like a champ and even clued me in to a couple of books I’m going to check out.

Before I get ahead of myself, you may have seen the ‘I am a member of Social Media Club – San Antonio’ badge with my ugly mug on it in the sidebar and I have been talking quite a bit about Social Media Club, but maybe I should tell you exactly what Social Media Club is.  The official definition is

“Social Media Club is being organized for the purpose of sharing best practices, establishing ethics and standards, and for promoting media literacy. This is the beginning of a global conversation about building an organization and a community where the many diverse groups of people who care about social media can come together to discover, connect, share and learn.”

For a much larger definition and history of Social Media Club, click here, but to me, what we are talking about is figuring out the best ways to use the tool of social media to accomplish our goals, be they business/financial, creative, non-profit or just plain pimpin’ your podcast.  How do you do it?  How do you do it well?  And finally how do you do it without driving the world nuts?  But back to the festivities.

Also in attendance was the founders and fearless leaders of Social Media San Antonio:  Jennifer Navarrete  (aka epodcaster on Twitter) and Luis Sandoval (aka Pandaran on Twitter).  They have really taken the Social Media thing by the horns and lit a fire under it, just like they did for Bar Camp San Antonio, which was also a huge success.

The grand gathering took place between San Antonio and Austin in the town of San Marcos.  We met at a restaurant called ‘Tres Hermanas’ and I must say the food and the service were both excellent.  I had a 3 enchilada plate with a Tequila Cream Sauce.  Everyone knows that I am a sucker for cooking with tequila and this one hit the ball out of the park.  Simply delicious!

I had the chance to speak local writer/author/PR Guru Alan Weinkrantz again.  We have run into each other at several of these events and it’s always great to see him.  He tells me that he is currently planning an article on Social Media for a November column.  I will definitely keep an eye out for it.

I spent much of the evening with John Navarrete, Jennifer’s husband.  I’ve known John for quite a while now and we both love to play music.  We have vowed to get together again and jam.  Hmmmm….Alan Weinkrantz is quite the guitar nut himself.  Maybe we should invite him along?  At any rate, I spent much of the evening with John and  Luis and Luis’s friend Juan (I hope I remembered his name right.  If not, someone please correct me) severely clowning around!  Apparently we are all quite proficient at it so why not go with our strong points, right?

As we left, we congregated outside the restaurant and we all took pictures of Chris Heuer riding a donkey statue while mumbling something about Tijuana.  I’m sure they are going to show up on the net somewhere.  Stay tuned for details.  I had a chance to talk to my friend Leslie from Springanew.com (Springanew on twitter).  Leslie is the Queen of live talk shows around here.  She does them on Talkshoe, with live call ins, chat room and everything.  I don’t think I could handle it. You should definitely check her out.

I had hoped to see Michael DeLeon(mdeleon on twitter) from ‘The Spurscast’and Chris Doelle, ‘The Hardest Working Man In Podcasting’ from The Lonestar Gridiron, Riding With The Window Down, and I am sure several other productions that I am forgetting.  Unfortunately, even though they live in San Marcos, they were both in San Antonio for the evening and couldn’t make it.  They were definitely missed though.

The one drawback to the evening, albeit minor, was GoogleMaps.  The directions to the place were COMPLETELY off.  Luckily we all managed to find it eventually, through luck, phone calls and some good old fashioned reasoning.

Every one of these Social Media Club gatherings I have gone to has been both useful and incredibly fun.  If you’re in the SA area, come join us!  We’d love to have you!  Check out the ning group of meeting details etc…

If you’re closer to Austin check out their Social Media Club site.  And if you aren’t anywhere near either place, check here to see if there is a Social Media Club near you and if not, how to start one!  And remember:

IF YOU GET IT, SHARE IT!