Happy New Year

What a long strange trip it has been. We would like to take this opportunity to say Happy New Year to all our blog readers and listeners. Here's to another great year of Jawbone!

We'll be back with more shows later this week. Take care until then.

Our Theme Song - Nora (and Len)

As the year ends and we fast approach our 100th show, we thought we'd share this song with all of you. It's our theme song by D. Verada. He wrote it for Nora's bday, but it fast became our unofficial theme song. For all you who have heard this song before, enjoy it again. And for those who have heard it at the end of our show and wondered what it was...here it is!

Join us on our road to 100!

More Notes To Netflix

The Little Rascals
Originally uploaded by jawboneradio.

I'm on a Lena Horne kick. The other night, a group of us were playing the board game Wise or Otherwise, where you complete ancient sayings and I used Lena Horne in my answer.

BTW, I struggled over what celebrity to use for this one. I settled on Lena only because I couldn't come up with anyone better.

How Much Is This Blog Worth?

Well, according to the experts, nothing:

My blog is worth $0.00.
How much is your blog worth?

Anyone know why I can't get this to work?

The Podcast Wars Are Over...Jawbone Takes Bronze

Here's some fun news: Podcast Pickle recently had a fun little non-scientific game called Podcast Wars. Podcasts were pitted against one another in an gravel pit in unnatural battle to the death for blood and money.

Well, actually, users could click to vote for their favorite podcast over the course of seven weeks. And lo and behold -- Jawbone Radio came in third place behind the Podcast Pickle Show and The Big Show! We're honored to be on the short list of favorite podcasts and we promise not to let you down in the future.

Thanks for all the votes. It energizes us for the new year. See the whole winning list here.

Shark Vs. Octopus

Researchers couldn't figure out why shark carcasses were floating at the bottom of their aquarium every morning. So they set up a hidden camera and captured this incredible video. Check it out.

A Podcast Christmas Carol - Now Playing!

Adam Curry. Leo Laporte. Len and Nora. What do they all have in common? They all appeared in the holiday production of A Podcast Christmas Carol. The hour long "podplay" was produced, written and edited by a group of podcasters and it really is amazing to hear.

Here's another little treat: The podcast will be played on both XM and Sirius Satellite Radio on Christmas Day. What a wonderful way to celebrate the holiday. Go give it a listen now.

And while we're at it, we'd like to wish all our listeners a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. Just nine more shows to 100!

Ok, No Really...THIS is Bigfoot.

The latest Bigfoot footage is in and I have to tell you, I don't know why these clips are so goddamn short! Come on! At least let the video go until the creature goes out of view.

Anyhow, check out the video here. Compelling footage to say the least. But we'll let you decide on your own.

Via BB.

An Ode to Flickr

It has been a year of ups and downs with our favorite photo sharing community,, what with that NIPSA debacle and the controversy surrounding the 700 Hoboes project. But all in all one has to admit, it's a pretty awesome resource.

Our friend Jonathan Coulton understands this and the magic of Creative Commons. He penned a wonderful song (with video) for his "Thing-A-Week" project that pays homage to Creative Commons and Flickr. With this little ditty, Mr. Coulton is fast becoming one of my absolute favorite artists on the net.

Not surprisingly, the song is called Flickr

Thanks to JH for the link!

Jawbone #89: The Best of DJ Hojo

Tonight we talk to our friend, fellow 88-89'er and sometimes producer, DJ Hojo.

RUNNING TIME: 58:34
SHOW NOTES:

Links:
DJ Hojo's claim to fame, his appearance on Daily Source Code.
Negativeland Webcast: Over the Edge



Music:
DJ Hojo | Apollo
DJ Hojo And Scott Step | Something About the Night (DJ Hojo Remix)

Don't forget to order your own 2006 Podcast Art Calendar!

RSS feed.
Download now.

Jawbone #90: I Love Your Airplane Underwear!

It's a few days before Christmas and Nora and I sit down and discuss the upcoming holiday, health problems, illustrated children diseases and not being able to drink a barium milkshake. Join us for this wild, odd and strange podcast.


BTW, we are aware we have skipped show 89. Show 89 is coming tomorrow.

RUNNING TIME: 49:51
SHOW NOTES:

Links:
A Podcast Christmas Carol
Mega Zooka
Comics Symposium

Music:
Eddie Spaghetti | Without Love
(Thanks to Brian from Coverville for the CD!)

Don't forget to order your own 2006 Podcast Art Calendar!

RSS feed.
Download now.

My First Note to Netflix.

Wim Wenders
Originally uploaded by jawboneradio.

Yet another Flickr group I am a part of. Search for it and join. It'll be fun.

Lion Mutilates 42 Midgets in Cambodian Ring-Fight

I heard about this on the Ricky Gervais Show, but I had to find it for myself. This is from BBC World News. It's not funny, but when you hear Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant talk about it, it kind of is.

UPDATE: Aw, man. Seems that the story is fake. I knew it was too good to be true. The page does have a good discussion about who would actually win in this match, midgets or lions. I put my money on the lions everytime.

A Podcast Christmas Carol

From the "Community Coming Together for Christmas" Dept: A group of podcasters have taken on a pretty enormous project -- a podcasting adaption of Charles Dickens "A Christmas Carol." Produced and written by a very talented group of podcasters from a simple thread at Podcast Pickle, this version involves Scrooge being visited by the Ghosts of Radio Past. Very Clever.

Apparently, they got some pretty big names in podcasting to make some cameo appearances, including us. :) We can't wait to hear what this sounds like when it comes out next week, just in time for the holidays.

I Love My Mac - The Original Soundtrack

For all you fellow Mac users, here's a song just for you.Sure it's goofy. But no one's writing songs about WIndows XP, I know that much.

Thanks to ASDavis for the link!

Merry Christmas from Us

I've been snail-mailing our family/business Christmas cards this year and they are getting a very good reception. People really seem to dig this cartoon for some reason. It's an illustration of us as little Fisher Price characters. The idea was Nora's and the drawing was mine.



Anywho, I thought I'd share it with everyone and wish everyone reading the blog and listening to the podcast good holiday cheer and a wonderful holiday season.

It's A Wonderful Internet

Here's a pretty neat little flash-based story based on the Night Before Christmas that is just geeky enough to be cool. Check it out.

Thanks Monica for the link!

Subscribe to Jawbone on Tivo

Man, this just blows me away. I talked about Tivo offering podcasts last month on the blog, but to see it in action is truly amazing.

Unfortunately, we aren't featured, although our friend Brian at Coverville is, that lucky dog. But you can subscribe to Jawbone using this feed.

It takes a while to plug in the URL with the Tivo remote, but dang! if that isn't the coolest thing I've seen in a while.

Whee! Katamari Tees!

Now, this is how to roll this Christmas:



Official Katamari Tees Via BB.

Rocketboom Goes Tivo!

One of our favorite videoblogs, Rocketboom, has made the move to the small screen -- er, slightly larger screen -- and is now being offered as a subscription service on Tivo.



Congratulations go out to Amanda and Andrew for scoring this major deal. When we first started this podcast, Nora and I made a prediction that Amanda would be the first internet breakout star -- that is, someone whose celebrity is born of the net and not from mainstream media. I dont' know about you, but I think this comes pretty close to a true statement.

And if you can't get enough RB, be sure to check out this Jawbone interview from last month.

Still Wondering What to Ask For?

Totally cool
Originally uploaded by jawboneradio.

Well, it finally arrived...the Pez MP3 player that we gave away on the big birthday show. This thing...is. So. Cool. I'm very jealous of the folks over at Borderline for winning this. I wish I had one of my own.

But either way, if you wanted to pick one of these up for yourself, do so now. They make a great Christmas gift and in my opinion, a little cooler than an iPod Nano.

Another One of Our Faves is Podcasting

Although I am much dismayed that there is no RSS feed to subscribe to for this show, it's great to see another one of our favorites. James Lileks has thrown his hat into the podcasting ring.

If you haven't checked out Mr. Lileks' Gallery Of Regrettable Food or his Galley or Art Frahm paintings, you should do that right this instant . Nora and I consider this to be required reading for anyone with a heartbeat and a iota of humor in their veins.

Selling Tons O' Star Wars Stuff on Ebay

Well, just in time for the holidays, I'm selling some Star Wars.



My friend and confidant, Jim, has tapped me to sell off some of his massive Star Wars collection. Over the next 2 weeks, I will be selling 31 items from his collection. Some of them are pretty cool, including some exclusive three pack figure collections.

See the stuff here.

Jawbone #88: Of Hoboes and Hodgman

On this episode of Jawbone, we speak to author and former professional literary agent, John Hodgman about his book Areas of My Expertise. We chat about werewolves, The 700 hoboes project, being an early podcasting pioneer with co-creator Jonathan Coulton, and much more.



RUNNING TIME: 49:33
SHOW NOTES:

Links:
Areas of My Expertise
Little Gray Book Lectures
They Might Be Giants Venue Songs featuring John Hodgman as the Deranged Millionaire

Music:
Johnathan Coulton | Furry Old Lobster

Don't forget to order your own 2006 Podcast Art Calendar!

RSS feed.
Download now.

Richard Pryor, Dead at 65

Sad news this weekend. One of the funniest stand-ups ever, Richard Pryor died from a heart attack yesterday.



I remember watching his routine while growing up and thinking it was the funniest thing I had ever seen. His movies should become training films for young comedians. If you haven't seen any of them, you gotta check em out now. I recommend Live On the Sunset Strip. Hilarious film.

Goodbye, funnyman.

They Might Be Giants Are Podcasting!

Check out this link. You may even recognize a familiar friend in the video: The Deranged Millionaire.



I'd still love to get TMBG on the show. Maybe, at the very least, they can get our giant foam hands back.

Podcaster Art Calendar Pulled from CafePress?

That seems to be the case. I logged into my account at Cafepress to purchase a calendar of my own to see that the calendar is not available on the storefront, and that it has been flagged for review. Looking at their TOS, it looks as if they think that the calendar is violating third party rights:

NO photos, logos, caricatures, or other artwork depicting celebrities, such as Michael Jackson or Madonna, or other third parties. Just because you take a photograph of a celebrity does not give you the right to use that photograph on merchandise, even if you digitally manipulate the photograph.

So, even though I drew these on behest of the podcasters, I can't sell them? Help me out here, Cafepress. In any event, I'm waiting to hear back from them on this issue. Hopefully they'll be back up in the shop soon.

If not, then those who ordered and recieved them have really gotten a rare item indeed.

UPDATE: Looks like it's the month of August that is in question. Darth Vader, Yoda, R2, Chewbacca, and Spock are all liscensed. Duh. So I can either take them off the calendar and reload. Yet, that leaves a very lonely month of August.

UPDATE #2: I had to severely cut the month of August and remove all the Star Wars and Star Trek images. I'm sorry to the podcasters who got cut, but I get Cafepress's point. Hopefully, it still makes for a decent calendar.

More on Gold Farming in World of Warcraft.

Here's a hard hitting article about the gold farming trade in China. Pretty twisted and disgusting if you ask me. But I guess that's what business is all about.

Thanks to Andrew for the link.

The Sasquatch Militia?

The opposition is fighting back. Now they are enlisting via the net. Nora and I knew these skunk apes were smart, but we had no idea how smart.



Thanks to Neil for the link.

Jawbone #87: Crazy People In A Parking Lot

In this show, we discuss the World of Warcrap round up, crazy people in church parking lots, King Kong and much more.



RUNNING TIME: 46:46
SHOW NOTES:

Links:
Extra Life
Hometown Tales
GREENLIGHT
King Kong
Oka Zoo Show
What happened to Mr. X and Just Julie?

Music:
Jonathan Coulton | Podsafe Christmas Song
The Party Party | Sunday Bloody Sunday

Don't forget to order your own 2006 Podcast Art Calendar!

RSS feed.
Download now.

Extra Life: Now with More Len!

Sat in last night on another roundtable discussion on the ExtraLife podcast. We talked about -- what else- World Of Warcraft -- and paying real money for virtual money.



Lots of good discussion on the show, plus we find out that fellow panelist, Andrew, has more in his virtual bank account than in his real bank account. Good times.

Check out the show here.

Attention Ricky Gervais Fans...

The hilarious Ricky Gervais (AKA David Brent from The Office) has started a podcast called...ready for this? The Ricky Gervais Show. Huzzah!



If you haven't seen the BBC version of The Office, you don't know what you're missing.

I Don't Know Why This Is So Funny...

But it is.



BTW, I'm not certain, but I think this may be another viral campaign from our friends at CP+B.

Enjoy!

No Really, This Seriously Is Bigfoot

Can this photo be the ever-elusive, mythical skunk ape we all know and love?



As Nora and I have said on the show, we're rooting for him.

Adam Curry...Where Does It End?

First, he is caught red-handed trying to literally rewrite podcasting history, now this?

If anything, I'd be willing to give him control of the exit ramp off the Shoreway to W. 25th, and maybe, maybe the Playhouse Square Starbucks. Maybe.

Jawbone #86: The Award Winning Podcast

On this episode of Jawbone, I go to the PRSA Cleveland Rocks Awards and find out what award a group of podcasts I helped produce this past summer won. We talk to a few key people from the agency Liggett Stashower as well as from Henkel, the client, Also, you get to hear the actual award being announced. Fun stuff. Come on and join us for a listen!



RUNNING TIME: 13:41
SHOW NOTES:

Links:
PRSA Cleveland Rocks
Windows on the River
Liggett Stashower
Henkel Consumer Adhesives
Avon Heritage Duck Tape Festival

Music:
The Video Game Pianist | Super Mario Brothers
Kef | Evangeline

Don't forget to order your own 2006 Podcast Art Calendar!

RSS feed.
Download now.

From the "Huh?" Dept.

Is this for real?

I thought this might have been a Podshow podcast since I saw it over at Podcast Alley. But I don't think it is. I don't know what the hell it is. Quite frankly, it's making me sick just thinking about it. My only thought is that perhaps they wanted to make this podcast look so bad that people will talk about it.

BTW, if Jawbone ever goes commercial, I'm hoping this is what our site will look like.

We Love "Lost"

Yeah, it's got a great ensemble cast. Sure, it's got a creepy X-File-ish type feel to it. Of course, it's got mysterious monsters, puzzles and island secrets. But most of all, it has Kate. And that's a good reason to like the show too.



According to Scott at EL, Lost is off for six weeks! Ah well. At least I get my Wednesday nights back. I'll have to listen to that Evangeline songto keep me comfort. (shudders)

BTW, if you haven't already checked out the unofficial LOST podcast, The Transmission, add it to your reader today. It's a show done by two fans of the show who happen to live in Hawaii, where LOST films. Good stuff!

Also, I've been meaning to link this up for quite some time, but here is a wonderful article by author Stephen King, who challenges LOST producers to end the show when the story is told, and not keep it on the air just for the money and ad revenue. I concur.

More Calvin and Hobbes

Inspired by Jawbone 81, Henrik (edited spelling! Sorry!) from the Calvin and Hobbes Jumpstation dug through his archives and sent me this link of a CBC broadcast done in 1995, right before Calvin and Hobbes was retired from the funny pages. It's a great listen and fun to hear fans talk about a comic strip with such passion.



Listen to the show here.

Paying Real Money To Level Up in World of Warcraft?

Man, I must be totally green. I read this NPR story about groups of laborers overseas who are getting paid to play World of Warcraft all day to "farm" certain items or "level up" a character. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that this kind of stuff is happening. But what can you expect when you have a willing market and groups with expendable income. Paying real cash money to level up your character in a video game? No thanks. That takes all the fun out of the game.

Thanks to Danni for the story!

EDIT: Make sure you listen to the NPR story as well. There's more great info there.