Podcasts Own My Life

Wow. I have been -- to put it in my friend Andrew's words -- " a podcasting fiend" lately. Seriously. My name is Frank and I'm a castaholic. Listening to them, recording them, I just can't get enough. It's an exciting medium that I think has amazing potential.

For two and a half years now, I've run Frank's Music Free-For-All. About three weeks ago, I teamed up with my friends Tim, Ky, and Faith to create the Obiter Dictum podcast, a TV fan commentary show. And most recently, the aforementioned Andrew and I have started Echo Alert, a podcast devoted to the upcoming Joss Whedon and Eliza Dushku series Dollhouse.

Today, I had the pleasure of sitting in on the Entertainment Overload podcast and the Geekland podcast at the gracious invitation of my Twitter friend Willie. Entertainment Overload is a podcast reviewing TV, movies, video games and other entertainment. We had a great time talking about this week's TV and movie highlights. Smallville, LOST, Scrubs, and Taken were among the many topics discussed. Check out the guys and listen.

Then, on Geekland, we talked comics. I really had a blast with this one, since comics have been a new passion for me. We covered Superman, Final Crisis, Spider-Man, Green Arrow/Black Canary, Trinity, and whole host of other titles and trade paperbacks that we all read in the past week. If you like comics, please listen to Geekland. I started listening a couple of weeks ago and I honestly think the guys have a great show here.

So that's what I've been up to lately. There should be a new ODTV and FMF out this week, and a new Echo Alert after next weekend. February 6-8 I will be at New York Comic Con with my friends Andrew, Tim, and Vin. It should be a good time. During and after the convention, I'll blog my reactions to the panels and other goings-on. We plan to attend the DC Comics panels as well as a few others, including the Dollhouse panel where show creator Joss Whedon and star Tahmoh Penikett will screen the first act of the show's first episode. So that should give us plenty to discuss on Echo Alert. See you in the podcastverse!

DiggNation and Felicia Day on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon"

So by now, you probably know that this March, Jay Leno will move to primetime, Conan O'Brien will take over The Tonight Show, and Jimmy Fallon will take over Late Night. But what you may not know is that in preparation for his return to TV, Jimmy Fallon has been keeping a video blog with 5 minute entries posted nightly at 12:35 AM ET, the time at which Late Night airs. The best way to follow the show is to subscribe via Hulu and have it added to your queue. I usually let each week's episodes pile up and then watch them all over the weekend.

This week began with a bang as Jimmy practiced his interviewing skills on celebrity guests. Monday night, he welcomed Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht of the popular web show DiggNation to Late Night for a great chat about new technology and communications. Tuesday night, Jimmy hung out with the lovely Felicia Day of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog and The Guild for a hilarious little chat about World of Warcraft and online gaming. Watch the clips below!


Alex & Kevin from DiggNation:



Felicia Day:

Announcing the Obiter Dictum Podcast!

Well folks, one podcast just isn't enough to keep me overwhelmed. A few friends and I have teamed up to form a brand new podcast that we like to call "Obiter Dictum." What is this, you ask? It's going to be a fan commentary podcast. We'll be watching our favorite TV shows and providing a running commentary along with the episodes for your entertainment. We'll cover shows like Smallville, Lost, Supernatural, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Heroes, Firefly, and much more! Our first official episode will cover Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog! I say "official" because we've already put out a miniature episode we've called #0 in which we explain the premise and introduce ourselves. I am joined by my friends Faith and Ky of the Chic Geek Podcast and Tim of the Crossroads Podcast. (Support them by checking out their shows in my Linkage section over in the right-hand column).

Download Episode 0 - "A Microcast"
Obiter Dictum Website: www.odtvpodcast.tk
Subscribe to Obiter Dictum (RSS Feed)
Obiter Dictum on iTunes

Introducing the iTie

I saw this posted on Twitter at http://twitter.com/fforward. I simply must have this tie!




http://bookofjoe.typepad.com/bookofjoe/2009/01/best-tie-of-the.html

Christmas & Birthday Loot

So as many of you know, Jan 2 is my birthday. Some people think having a birthday so close to Christmas means being overshadowed by it. Personally, I rather enjoy it. It's not as though I have a choice anyway, but I don't mind it at all. So I thought I'd give you a little list of my Christmas & Birthday presents just because I feel like it.

• 4 GB RAM for my laptop
• Smallville Season 7 DVD
• Wall-E 3 Disc Special Edition
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars 2 Disc Special Edition
• Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog DVD
• Superman Theatrical Serials DVD
  
• The Adventures of Superman Original TV Soundtrack CD
• The obligatory clothes, cash & gift cards

Not a bad pay day. I'm more than happy! I've got tons of DVDs to watch. Looking forward to seeing all of it! I've already listened to the Superman soundtrack and I love it. The music is so iconic! I could hear the sound effects from the show playing in my head as I listened. Also, the liner notes were excellent. They were written by a true fan who did his homework. They tell the story behind the music while expressing what makes the pieces so special to so many people. Great stuff!

Thanks to everyone on Twitter and Facebook for the kind birthday wishes! There were too many to respond individually. I guess I'm just too loved. ;-) But sincerely from the bottom of my heart, thanks to you all!

TV & Movie Update

So a while back I listed some TV shows and movies I planned to watch. I'm not making as much progress as I'd hoped, but here's how it's going so far:

• Terminator -- DONE
• Terminator 2 -- DONE
  
• Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles -- DONE
  
• Firefly -- IN PROGRESS
• Serenity
• Supernatural
  
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer
• Angel

I watched T1, T2, and the first several episodes of T:SCC in a single day. I finished the whole series in just a few days. It was glorious. AMAZING show! Definitely the most underrated and best-written show on television. Not my favorite (that would be Smallville), but it is the most well-written.

Then I got started on Firefly and hit a brick wall. I haven't been able to watch more than 1 or 2 episodes in a sitting. Things seem to keep getting in the way. It's an awesome show as well, and I can't figure out how it got canceled other than the fact that FOX has an itchy trigger finger. I'm halfway through it now and I plan to finish it and watch Serenity, the movie that accompanies it.

However, at the suggestions of several people, especially my friends Tim and Faith, I've added the CW's Supernatual to the list. The show is ending soon, so I'd like to get caught up before it goes off the air. Once I'm caught up, I'll continue with Buffy and eventually Angel. To be perfectly honest, I'm not really pumped for Angel, so depending how I feel about Buffy, I may or may not go through with Angel. We shall see.

My Guest Appearance on Chic Geek!

I just wanted to let everyone know that earlier this week, my friends Faith and Ky of the Chic Geek Podcast were gracious enough to invite me to join them on their thirteenth episode entitled "How to Scare the Chic Geek Girls." Also joining us was Tim of the Crossroads Podcast. It was a lot of fun and I'd like to thank the girls for asking me to take part in it. Show them your support by listening to the episode and subscribing to their podcast in iTunes!

If all goes well, you can expect to hear Tim, Faith, and Ky on my own podcast, Frank's Music-Free-For-All, in early 2009!