Podsafe Christmas Song Video - Featuring US!

Mike "Spiff" Booth works his machinima magic once again with JoCo's "Podsafe Christmas Song". We feel honored to be turned into WoW characters. It's a Christmas miracle! Enjoy!

Jawbone and ELR Powers - Activate!

Scott Johnson of Extra Life and myself are joining forces to create an improv comic strip:

The idea is simple: Create a comic storyline, completely improvised one panel to the next, and alternate panels between each artist. Still confused? Scott creates a panel one day, and Len does the next one, and so on. (Scott started with the first…and then Len with the second, and the pattern continues from there.)

No idea where this might end but we are thinking 50 total panels or something. Enjoy!

Should be fun to see where it ends up. Check it out here.

Spider Man Says Merry Christmas!

Spider Man Says Merry Christmas
Originally uploaded by jawboneradio.

Some selected photos of our Christmas are up on the Flickr site.

SEE us playing the Wii!

MARVEL at our messy living room!

AMAZE your sense with a very tiny Spider Man!

Enjoy!

Wii Want To Be Friends

Quick Update: The verdict is in -- We love the Wii! For anyone else who got one over Christmas here is our number to add us as a friend:

2715 7190 0850 3471

See you in the Mii Plaza!

Caption This: 12-26-06

Merry Christmas everyone! A day late on this, but it was Christmas yesterday. Anyway, this little pic comes to us all the way from the West Side of Cleveland, from my sister-in-law, Laura. Do your worst.

BTW, we got a game this Christmas called Bubble Brain. It's like Caption This in game form. Brilliant!

Jawbone #142a: A Very Special Christmas Present

It's not a full show, but it's something a fun for your feed. Consider it a little present in your stocking for the holiday. (BTW, that is Jon Bon Jovi singing the song - for real!) Thanks to Wayne for the heads up on this and Charley and Carol for the outtro.

Merry Christmas Everybody!

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Ho Ho Ho!

Just for the record, I am usually not this brutal on talent in the studio. But you gotta get the magic while they're there. Happy Holidays!

Give Us A Digg

Digg is now allowing you to digg podcasts, so head on over and show Jawbone some love. And if you feel so inclined, tell a friend. You'll have to register on Digg, but it's a pretty painless process. Go now!

Person of the Year

Person of the Year
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.

Yes, you. All of us. Everyone who has posted a video on YouTube or put something on the net or done a podcast. We are all collectively the TIme Person Of The Year. Yes, soon many offers will come pouring in from all sorts of directions. How will you celebrate? I plan on renting a hyrbid car, finding some Mexican midgets and going to Vegas to hit as many all-you-can eat buffetts as possible.

Incidentally, the photo of the cover comes courtesy of our good friend, Ape Lad. God bless you Ape!

Jawbone #142: Christmas With the Kids

On tonight's show, we have THE ENTIRE family up in the studio a few days before Christmas. This marks the first time that we have had the whole clan up in the studio for a show. It's very loud, chaotic and wacky, as it is less than a week away from Christmas. Join us for a regular day at the Peralta household.




Also, here is the Christmas card drawn by our son, Max:


RUNNING TIME: 22:12

Music:
Jonathan Coulton | Podsafe Christmas Song

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AoME Audiobook: Free on iTunes!

Got this little tidbit from Coulton's blog: The Areas of My Expertise Abridged Audiobook by FoB and leader of geek chic, John Hodgman, is a free download at the iTunes Store. If you haven't read the book already, go now! You fool! Download it now.

Deletion Review

For those of you who are interested, a fan has started the appeal process for our article over at old Wikipedia. That's all I have to say.

Christmas Eve: 24 Style

Got this from Mr. X tonight. For those of you who are fans of 24, this should whet your appetite for the next season. I think this is perhaps the FOX Christmas card? Anyway, enjoy!

Yogi Bear's Dad Dies

Sad news from Cartoon Land:

Joe Barbera, half of the Hanna-Barbera animation team that produced such beloved cartoon characters as Tom and Jerry, Yogi Bear and the Flintstones, died Monday, a Warner Bros. spokesman said. He was 95.

See the whole story here.

Caption This: 12-18-06

It's a week before Christmas and what better way to celebrate than with an weird and creepy Caption This photo. Thanks again to Ultimate Chad for this wonderful photo.

Worlds Tallest Man Saves Dolphins

Yet another Christmas miracle. You can't make this stuff up:

"The world's tallest man has saved two dolphins by using his long arms to reach into their stomachs and pull out dangerous plastic shards."

Via BBC.

WOW! (Wow Burning Crusade Cinematic)

I have to admit that I thought my WOW days were starting to become a thing of the past, and then...Blizzard introduces the new cinematic intro for the Burning Crusade....Oh man...check this puppy out! Bring on January 16th!

Build Your Own Action Figure

Just in time for the holidays, make an action figure for yourself.Make It Here.

Link Dump: Round Up Of Random Weird Stuff Issue 14

Too...much...stuff...in...mailbox...must...dump...
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This disgusting flash game comes from Nephew Mark. It reminds me of a pretty funny story about a fellow podcaster, but I will let them tell the story for themselves one day.

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Chad sends this in: Peanuts as Marvel Characters. Simply awesome.

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IN ZOMBIE NEWS: Thanks to everyone who sent these stories in...

ZOMBIE CHICKENS!

ZOMBIES ARRESTED!

Then...ZOMBIES SUE!

ZOMBIE FLASH GAME!

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Matt sends us ZLAD!

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Mike sends us this photo. Could it be some sort of information from another dimension? We'll let you decide.

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Japanese cats teach you a new language.

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From Paul: Gots to love the YouTube. Lesser Superheros and who can forget Taco!?

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And finally Monica sends us all these wonderful colors of lobsters:

The Blue Lobster
The Calico Lobster
The Orange Lobster
The Yellow Lobster
And finally, The Albino Lobster

And with that...the mailbox can breathe again. Sorry some of these links took so long to get up here. It's...just...too...much...to...handle...

Ok, back to talking normal again.

Sony Gets Ripped A New One For Fake Blog

All I can say is....wow. Can Sony make more missteps marketing wise this year? First, it was being blasted on the announcement of the cost of the PS3, then it was the malicious rootkit, then it was the racist billboards...now it's this steaming pile of crap. A fake blog called "All I Want For Christmas Is A PSP". A playa wants to buy a PSP for his friend, so he posts YouTube videos about it. Apparently, no one -- and we mean - NO ONE -- fell for it. From Adfreak :

Visitors to the site are letting Sony have it in the comments. Says one: “If you want a PSP badly enough you should get together with an ad agency. Then try to sell the product through a lame website while attempting to speak down to what you consider your target audience.” Even more comical: “Charlie” keeps posting his denials, in pseudo hip-hop speak. More than once he writes, “yo where all u hatas com from... juz cuz you aint feelin the flow of PSP dun mean its sum mad faek website or summ... youall be trippin.”

I have to admit. I feel kind of bad for the agency. I mean, here they have a huge client in Sony who is asking them to create some viral marketing for their lagging gaming system and they get totally trashed for it. Ah well. Live and learn, Zipatoni. If you're going to do viral marketing, focus on making it organic and as real as possible. No one is going to fall for this kind of crap.

Shane's Singing Lessons

Just in time for all your holiday caroling, singing teacher, Shane, gives us a wonderful lesson on how to sing up to 3 C's above middle C. Thanks to Dan for this wonderful find!

UPDATE: I couldn't let this song go unnoticed, either. Consider this our Christmas present to all of you! It's a Christmas miracle!

WiiSaber: Take Your Dork To The Extreme!

As geeky as this looks, I can't wait to try it out on my Mac. A Machead has developed a program that allows you to simulate a lightsaber using your Powerbook or Macbook and your Wii remote. Now the only thing left to do is figure out how to get a visible beam to shoot out. Thanks for the link, Steve!

Jawbone Non-Notable?

How about a small mention on NPR? Ever hear of that? Huh!?

...

Well,to be honest. they didn't really mention us, per se. But they did showcase my VTAW drawings for Jonathan Coulton, who is deservedly getting all the attention. Check out the interview on NPR with Coulton and -- and did I mention...the Visual Thing A Week book on sale now at Lulu.com? :)

Awesome TGIF Party at Lucasfilm

One of my Flickr contacts, Bonniegrrl has uploaded a super cool photoset of a party at Lucasfilm. Man, what I wouldn't do to get a custom-sized wookie costume, See the whole set here.

Using Social Engineering To Get a Wii

Inspired by my recent finagling, Knightwise sends is this interesting story about unique ways to procure a Wii. Read on!

Caption This: 12-11-06

Thanks to Chad for sharing this great image for this week's Caption This. Not surprisingly, this is how I've felt lately.

Jawbone #141: In Search of Bigfoot and AlphaChimp

If you are a fan of cryptoid humanoids both real and virtual, this is the show for you! On tonight's episode of Jawbone (freshly deleted from Wikipedia!) we bring you a very interesting discussion with Idaho State University professor, Jeff Meldrum, who was recently attacked by his collegues in an article that ran in the Associated Press. Thanks to Aaron from The Big Show for the lead on this story. We also discuss our deletion from Wikipedia, as Nora drops the gauntlets for a campaign to bring the editor who got us deleted on a future show. If you'd like to call and share your perspective, please do so at 206.666.2326. Enjoy the show!





RUNNING TIME: 45:08
SHOW NOTES:
Jeff Meldrums Book
Jeff's Wiki Entry
The Attack on Jeff Meldrum
Our Wikipedia Entry
The Wikipedia Debacle
AlphaChimp

Apparently, someone called our friend A.Chimp a "mama's boy" on his own Wikipedia page. Please know that neither Nora or I feel that Mr. Chimp has any feelings for his mother other than familial love. Please note that neither Nora nor I were the ones who blessed him with such a moniker. This according to our guidelines, Criteria #43: Never call an editor at Wikipedia anything that would call the love for his mother in question. Thank you - Len

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Foxtrot Ceasing Daily Strip

Sad news from the comic world.

"Bill Amend’s popular FoxTrot comic strip will go to a Sunday-only publication schedule as of Dec. 31, 2006, announced Universal Press Syndicate today. The last daily will be Saturday, Dec. 30. Reruns of dailies will be available for Web usage."

Will anything rise up to fill it's place? Thanks to Randy for the heads up.

Whiteboard Art And Paper Roll

This first video is a short version of a stopmotion video animation done entirely on a white board. There's a really cool retro Tom-Tom/Genius Of Love feel to this video. Really good stuff. Thanks to Scott for the whiteboard link.


The second video is by the same artist, this time he took a roll of paper and drew a little each day for a few hours a day. The result is this:

James Kim, CNET Editor Found Dead

I don't know if anyone has been following this story, but CNET MP3 editor James Kim and his family went missing Thanksgiving weekend. His wife and 2 young daughters were rescued on Monday night, but apparently, Mr. Kim was found today. Sad news, indeed. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family.

Story.

Insane Chick and Her Wii

This girl is having fun with Wii Boxing on many different levels, some of which we cannot say here. But I salute her nonetheless.

Our Wikipedia Entry Is In Danger!

Apparently, we are up for deletion, in accordance with Wikipedia's deletion policy: Check it.

I would love to chime in to keep it, obviously. But I don't think that's right. If it deserves to be there, then I think fans of the show should say why. If we were to say anything about the show, I would say that we are one of the first podcasters in Cleveland, OH (not that that's a huge deal), we came on board at a very precise time in podcasting history: February 2005, when a lot of other popular shows came about. We just recorded our 141st show tonight (it will be posted next week) and we're not close to podfading. I feel that we have been sort of influential in the podosphere. Now, we're not as influential as a Dawn and Drew, a Bitterest Pill or a Coverville, but I feel we have carved out a sizeable niche in family-friendly podcast and I would have to say that we have infulenced the Couplecast podcasting genre. Nora is definitely a unique voice in the world of female podcasters. At the very least, Nora should be recognized for that fact alone. I mean, come on...we're mentioned by Mur Lafferty and Rob Walch fromPodcast 411 in his book Tricks of the Podcasting Masters, for cripes sake!

Sigh...I really hate to toot our own horn, but if we deserve to be on Wikipedia, then please let the powers that be know how you feel.

Thank you for your time.

ON EDIT: Mr X from Podcast Galaxy reminded me of my contributions to the podcasting world with my artwork from Summer 2005. I had forgotten how that helped put us on the map, so to speak. Not to mention that dozens of other popular podcasts are using artwork from Jawbone Radio. At the very least, Jawbone should be rememberd for that. And the Bill Watterson mom interview...

ON EDIT PART 2: Ok, apparently the Wiki people feel that I have stoked the fire and tried to get people to "vote" on our entry by telling our readers and listerners "let the powers that be know how you feel". I understand that the wiki discussion forum is not a ballot. But how else are people going to put forth good reasons to keep an article without asking someone to participate? Hence, discussion. My opinion, if you feel strongly enough about this show to go and state your case, then fine. Hey, it beats me signing on with hundreds of fake accounts to tell them to keep it, right? And if you do decide to state your case, be friendly. An angry Jawbone fan does no one any good.

Let me state for the record that this show has had much more longevity than other similar shows that started around the same time. And my art, while not a direct contribution to podcasting as a whole, has had an influence in the podcasting community nonetheless. Perhaps that doesn't make the cut on wikipedia with their WP:WEB guidelines. If it doesn't, fine. I'll let the wiki gods do what they will.

Anyway, I'm not pushing people to vote for this.I'm not out to bully the wiki. But I am encouraging people to state valid reasons to keep the article, for the very least, to remember my artwork and show as a footnote in this podcasting movement.

ON EDIT PART 3: Wiki Editor AlphaChimp has decided to remove this podcasts reference in the Calvin and Hobbes article on Wikipedia. Can anyone say vindictive?

UPDATE: Our friend, Alphachimp has backpedaled from his original threat to excise us from the Calvin and Hobbes entry. This was his orignal statement:

"Thanks for suggesting the Watterson article, however. I'll be removing the non-notable podcast reference."

He has since said this:

"For what it's worth, maybe you should actually check the history before making personal attacks against me on your blog. I could not find and therefore did not remove the reference. "

I guess he would also have to remove us from the Bill Watterson article, and deny the talk I gave on the podcast in the spring to Lakeland Community College. The talk that Watterson's former editor and Executive VP and Editor for Universal Press Syndicate, Lee Salem stayed to hear. It's one thing to get deleted for not meeting guidelines. It's quite another to decide that any reference to a deletion is therefore bad and not relevant simply because an original article doesn't meet criteria. Revisionism, anyone?

Oh, and as far as the personal attacks on this blog. I cannot, nor do I wish to control what our blog readers say. And anyway, this blog follows its own set of guidelines.

UPDATE: Oh well. We got deleted. Thanks to everyone who tried to help and make a valid case to keep us. Apparently we didn't counterargue well enough, although I think that Rob and Mur did a good job of stating their case. Like I said, what the Chimp wants, the Chimp gets.

We're Still Not Cathy Fans...

...although she seems to be a Jawbone listener. Thanks to everyone who sent this one in. Looks like this isn't an isolated incident.

Visual Thing A Week: The Book!

Just in time for the holidays, the brand spanking new Visual Thing A Week book (authored by Yours Truly) is available from Lulu.com. This is the first time the VTAW's from Jonathan Coulton's Thing A Week project have been made available outside of the net in a handy dandy printed book format. The book includes a forward by JoCo himself. I have one on order for myself to see if the kinks are out of it, but you can purchase this starting today.

The book makes a great companion piece to the Thing A Week Box Set which should be available very very soon. In the meantme, you can pick up your own copy of the Visual Thing A Week Book here.

ON EDIT: I got my copy of the book today and it looks awesome! Get out there and order it for your loved on this Christmas!

Caption This: 12-4-06

I've been fighting with an online upload service most of today, so no time to do much of any updating. But here is this week's Caption This from DJ Hojo.

Jawbone #140: Inside the Muscian's Studio with Joco, Paul and Storm

This past week, we had the honor of meeting musicians Paul and Storm and longtime friend of Jawbone, Jonathan Coulton. This was the first time we have met sans the virtual wall of the internets between us. We saw them perform live at Wilbert's Food and Music, and then after the show, we sat down at their hotel room and talked Second Life, the wrap of the Visual Thing A Week, Homestar Runner, fried gizzards and much, much more. Also, I talk about our harrowing driving experience right after the left the interview. Listen in and enjoy the music.

RUNNING TIME: 43:03
SHOW NOTES:

Links:
Jonathan Coulton
Paul and Storm
Wilbert's
Second Life
Homestar Runner

Music:
The Future Soon
Strip Club Daddy
A Talk With George
Mr. Fancy Pants
Baby Got Back
W's Duty
Hip-Shop
Ballad of the Sneak

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Calvin and Hobbes - Adult Swimmified

Leave it to Robot Chicken to ruin another one of my favorite childhood memories. Thanks to Nic for the link.

Jawbone #139: Wii are Happy!

Tonight's show, we get interrupted twice with phone calls and we chat about the holidays, Christmas shopping online and my big "can't pass this up" purchase.

Oh, and here is a video from Wayne in the Ukraine of a Great White Shark Attack. I talk about it during the show:


RUNNING TIME: 41:13
SHOW NOTES:
Links:
Wii

Music:
Sunspot | The Happy Song

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"Avoid The Looney Zune"

I gotta admit, I feel kind of bad for Microsoft on this one. Lots o' bad reviews on their supposed iPod-killer, the Zune. Wireless support leaves a lot to be desired, it's not podcast-friendly and seems to be in sitting squarely in the back pocket of the big music companies. This article from the Chicago Sun Times says a mouthful. There's even more to read, but it's really really awful... Check em out all here.

HTT Tattoo Vidcast

Bryan and Gene from Hometown Tales have uploaded the vidcast documenting the tattooing of Bryan's arm. It's a mere two and a half minutes long, but it's two and half minutes that encapsulate the event perfectly. I'm surprised I don't sound or look as bad as I felt that day. I am finally over the cold, but Nora has hit a very busy time right now, so there may be a delay in the show. Just trying to give you all a heads up. In the meantime, Check out the vidcast!

Caption This: 11-27-06

Hope everyone had a great weekend. After a long break, we return with a wonderful Caption This submitted by DJ Hojo. Have fun!

Link Dump: Round Up Of Random Weird Stuff Issue 13 - TATTOO EDITION!

Lots of stuff happening out there that is worthy of the link dump. It'll be a little shorter, because we all need more time in the kitchen to tend the turkey. But it'll be a dump, regardless.

Ever since we did the TattooCast with Bryan and Gene from Hometown Tales, I've been getting a lot of tattoo related type links. Notably are these photos of what Alana at Body Revolutions called "Job Stoppers" or the dreaded tattoo on the face. Guy, a senior Mac artist tells us to --

Look here.

And here too.

Sheesh... And with the holiday gift giving season just a few short days away, Monica reminds us of a great gift for the little inmate in all of us. Be sure to read the reviews. High-larity.

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Dan sends us this sad news...The King of Hoboes has died.

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From Nephew Mark, these great links:

The Urban Ninja

Guitar Hero 2, but for real.

Also from Mark, he tells us to try this little trick:

Go to a website that has at least a few images on it. copy and paste this code (yes, all of it) into the address bar and press enter. enjoy

javascript:R=0; x1=.1; y1=.05; x2=.25; y2=.24; x3=1.6; y3=.24; x4=300; y4=200; x5=300; y5=200; DI= document.getElementsByTagName("img"); DIL=DI.length; function A(){for(i=0; i-DIL; i++){DIS=DI[ i ].style; DIS.position='absolute'; DIS.left=(Math.sin(R*x1+i*x2+x3)*x4+x5)+"px"; DIS.top=(Math.cos(R*y1+i*y2+y3)*y4+y5)+"px"}R++}setInterval('A()',50); void(0);

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DJ Hojo sends us Office Space Meet WoW.

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Matt tells us a little about FilmGames. (And yes, Matt...it does remind me of Dragon's Lair and Space Ace. But I hope this time it works.

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Hey, your biscuits are burning. Get in the kitchen!

David Cross Covers Bank of America Covering U2

Brilliant. David Cross, we salute you! Thanks to Neil for the heads up.

Michael Richards' Rant (Interpreted By DJ Hojo)

Well, this didn't take long. I was wondering when DJ Hojo would do a remix of the audio from this weekend's controversial racist rant by Seinfeld star, Michael Richards. And lo and behold...here it is. It flawlessly weaves all of Richards career from Seinfeld to UHF, to his outburst this past weekend as well as the double standard between black and white comedians with samples from yet another controversial skit by Dave Chappelle. PLEASE NOTE: The audio file does contain the "N word", but a black person uses it, so that means it's ok.

Listen here!

DIGG THIS STORY!

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The Return of Brian Atene

I seriously think this guy is insane. Why else would he produce a video that is even weirder than the original? I couldn't embed the movie here because it was too damn annoying, but you can subject yourself to the torture here. Thanks to Neil for the link.

Kramer Goes Insane

Wow...I knew Kramer was crazy, but not this crazy. Apparently, the former Seinfeld star went crazy onstage during a show at the Laugh Factory in LA over the weekend and started hurling racial epithets to some hecklers in the crowd.

Eep. See the video for yourself.

Caption This: 11-20-06

With the release of the Nintendo Wii over the weekend, and a new chapter in the Zelda game, what better way to celebrate than with a lame photo of a loser for Caption This? Grab your wii-motes everyone and have at it!

Jawbone #138: Murder is Afoot!

On this episode of Jawbone, we talk a little about our Murder Mystery Weekend, medicating oneself and wetting the bed, emus, caswary's, bad Christmas toys and much more. Also, another installment of Customer Service Theater. LIsten in and join the mystery!

RUNNING TIME: 42:00
SHOW NOTES:

White Oak Inn
The Murder Mystery People
Len's Costume

Music:
Jonathan Coulton | Make You Cry

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