Category: Podcasting

Missionary Talks 26: David Livingstone (part 2)

The second half of the David Livingstone biography was put on line last night. In a few days I will have both parts re-mixed and smashed together into one audio file. Keep checking the Missionary Talks website for further details. I will not be putting it into the podcast feed. You will need to go to the website and download it directly.

I actually was not overly pleased with the way this second half turned out. I am probably going to re-record the whole thing (for the third time) and see if I can fix a few audio issues with it. Boy I wished my Giant-Squid mics had arrived. I spent good money on those mics and now have trouble justifying a re-purchase. My $2.50 mics are OK for most things, but I am disappointed with the way they handled this recording.

Maybe I will buy a new mic with my PayPerPost money first, then I will work on getting me some new shoes. I also have Google ads going on here. We will see if I get enough clicks to buy a really nice mic.

Podcast falling off my radar

Yesterday I was listening to a podcast that has health and fitness tips. The hostess was talking about the affects of extra strength acetaminophen (Tylenol) on the liver. She cited an article that said studies showed that 14-20 Extra Strength Tylenol in a 24 hour period has been shown to cause severe liver damage. But, if you have been drinking alcohol severe damage could occur with as few as 4 of these pills.

Her suggested solution? “It is thought that switching to ibuprofen can eliminate that risk.” What? To eliminate the risk of liver damage, this health tips podcasts suggested that “you might be able to lessen your chances of killing yourself by destroying your liver if you will continue to drink alcohol (which is a known liver destroyer) but switch to a different drug interaction possibility.”

I have heard this type of thinking way too often. People don’t want to actually say that drinking is bad for you. They would rather not offend you by telling you that alcohol is destructive, and instead give you alternatives that don’t fix the problem.

I know that this is could be done in an effort to not offend listeners and loose subscribers to her show. In actuality though, she may not even be thinking that way. It could simply be a way for her to justify that drinking is not the problem, but the medicine is the problem. I don’t really know why she would say things like this if she is supposed to be all about health and fitness. With the exception to the health benefits touted for red wine (which you can get from purple grapes) there is nothing good or healthy about alcohol.

Anyway, I am no longer recommending Fitness Attack like I have in the past. I will unsubscribe from her feed and will be writing her an email with my thoughts.

I have one other podcast (done by a medical doctor) that has made similar comments. I have been listening to him closely on this issue as well.

It just boggles my mind that alcohol is such a sacred cow. You would think it was an endangered animal. In reality, it is an all too common monster.

I have always held to this position even though it has gotten me ridiculed on many Internet forums. But my position is strengthened at this time because I have friends whose family is going through emotional turmoil while they watch their father/grandfather slowly die due to alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver. Try telling them that it is OK to drink, just be sure to take ibuprofen instead of acetaminophen.

Contest 1st Runner Up!

 A couple of weeks ago I posted about the Let Them Hear You contest that was being put on by Dancing with Elephants. I was hoping to win an iPod Shuffle, not that I really needed another one. But I also had my eye on the Dr. Floyd Imagination Nation Rangers membership. I am a pretty faithful Dr. Floyd listener and my son has gotten into it too. Really. I wanted the Imagination Nation Rangers membership for him. Really!

Instead, I got the first runner up prize which had an item I was really looking forward to. The big coffee mug from Comedy4Cast was calling my name. I am not interested at all in the music CDs that I won. I wonder if it is appropriate to tell them I don’t want them and they can save on shipping by not sending them? Is that rude? Would I sound like an ingrate? I expect them to contact me in the next day or two to get my shipping information. I guess I will decide by then.

Congratulations to the other two winners. There was a grand prize and a 2nd runner up prize. I won with my review of the Around the World with AiG’s Ken Ham podcast. I reviewed over 30 podcasts during the contest. I feel very pleased with having done all of these reviews. These are shows I listen to anyway, I might as well review them. I saved the other half of the shows I listen to for a future contest.

Now if I can just get people to give me some feedback/review love for Missionary Talks.

Random nothingness

It has been a while since I posted just a bunch of stuff that is floating aCurlersround in my head. Probably none of it is long enough to make a full post on its own.

We put our daughter’s hair in curls. She had a scowl on her face after she saw herself in the mirror. It took quite a bit of work to get her to smile for this picture.

My wife was complaining that her hammock was lumpy the other day. I am not sure how that happens, but I have fallen victim to that ailment sometimes too.

Local elections were held here in Mexico yesterday. Apparently the PRI party swept this area. We are in a very strongly PAN area. PAN was the incumbent party and is the party of President Calderón (elected last year). I was a bit surprised to hear that PRI made a come back. None of this stuff actually makes sense to me anyway. Both main parties have their advantages and disadvantages. As a missionary, PRI is a bit better for us.

Missionary Talks is well over 8000 total downloads now.

I have my first real arena football scrimmage game against another team tomorrow. I heard that the oldest player on the other team is younger than our youngest player. I fall in the middle to lower end of our age bracket at 37. They will probably be faster than us, but maybe we can make it up by actually having brains and using them.Swinging

A few weeks ago we took our deaf church to the zoo. This other picture is me swinging. With the exception of the other missionary family, I am the old guy in the church. We are made up of a group of teens and a couple slightly older people. So when we get together for stuff like this, the kid in me comes out. He is not too far below the surface anyway.

Last week my wife and I went out for Mother’s Day (on Monday) and hit the magazine rack. There are a couple of stores which sell US magazines–at a premium. My wife picked up a couple and I picked up a Runner’s World. I have really been enjoying it. Cover price in the US is $4.50 while I had to pay over $6 for it here. Not horrible, but I still can’t afford to do it all the time. I did find Runner’s World Mexico one time. It was around $4, but I have never seen it again.

How is that for an eclectic mix of randomness?

Missionary Talks 25: David Livingstone (part 1)

The epic episode is half way done. I just posted the David Livingstone episode at Missionary Talks. I am fairly pleased with the final product.

I had a Scottish friend record the parts that were quotes by Livingstone and Moffat. I met Gordon through a mailing list. Well, that is where we officially met. I had known of him for some time, but I made personal contact through the Phedippidations mailing list.

I plan to do more of these types of episodes in the future, but not too often. They mean that I have to actually read books and learn stuff. Can’t have that going on regularly. It might hurt my reputation.