Inside Chris’s Head

As I was recording and editing the Amateur Traveler podcast this week I took the opportunity to document the process using the new ScreenFlow application on the Mac. I skipped a bit as I spend 6-8 hours creating the show and the total video here is 15 minutes long but it should be long enough to give you an idea of the work flow.

The Amateur Traveler is a weekly audio travel podcast that is heavily edited (for polish usually not for content). This particular episode was Episode 131 - Walt Disney World. I use 4 main programs to create the show: Skype, CallRecorder, Levelator and GarageBand. The choice of GarageBand will clue you in that this show is created on a Mac, specifically on a MacBook Pro. This episode was a little more work, not just because I was trying to record it and ScreenFlow was unstable (with my experience I would say that ScreenFlow is Alpha quality software, it caused my whole computer to crash a couple of times) but because I had significant audio problems with Skype including one hang up.

part 1:

part 2:

equipment:

Plantronics DSP-400 Digitally-Enhanced USB Foldable Stereo Headset
Apple MacBook Pro

software:

Skype (free)
CallRecorder ($15)
Levelator (free)
GarageBand (free with Mac or $70)

Popularity: 39% [?]

I found this speech by Barak Obama to support my impression that he is an interesting candidate. I continue to see him as someone who sounds reasonable. I wish that were not such a rare quality in a polititian. In this speech he talks somewhat about his personal faith but more about the role of faith in politics. He charts a course in between the left and the right extremes.

I am a swing voter (registered Republican) and generally find politics distasteful… ok, let’s say “slimy”. My podcast about faith (The Bible Study Podcast) is particularly labeled as free of politics. So for me to even take the time to listen to a political speech is rare, let alone one almost 40 minutes long.

In particular I share Obama’s view that the value of the separation of church and state is not just for the state. “Folks tend to forget that during our founding it wasn’t the athiests and the civil libertarians who were the most effective champions of the first ammendment”.

Do I agree with all of Obama’s politics? I doubt it. Do I think having someone who seems intelligent and reasonable in the oval office would be a nice change. I do.

Popularity: 34% [?]

I recently wrapped up a series on the topic of why bad things happen to good people on The Bible Study Podcast. The series was suggested by a listener who was having a difficult time dealing with a particularly horrific local news story. The series ended up being 8 episodes long:

• Episode 34 - Why Do bad Things Happen to Good People? (part 1)
• Episode 35 - Why Did bad Things Happen to Job? (part 2)
• Episode 36 - Well, at least you still have your… oh… nevermind
• Episode 37 - I’ll get by with a little “help” from my friends
• Episode 38 - Job gets answers… sort of
• Episode 39 - Why do good things happen to “bad” people?
• Episode 40 - Where is God? (part 1)
• Episode 41 - Where is God? (part 2)

Starting with Episode 42 The Bible Study Podcast is looking at what the church is and what it is called to be.

Popularity: 14% [?]

A nice surprise with watching the live broadcast from GeekBrief tonight was seeing Cali wear a t-shirt design that I created.

By the way if you have not heard of GeekBrief and you are a fan of gadgets, gizmos, and web wonderfulness, then you owe it to yourself to check out this brief semi-weekly video podcast. Perky Cali and her off camera husband Neal put together a very professional, entertaining, informative show that is a must watch for all gadget geeks.

Popularity: 15% [?]

I got back last Sunday from the PNME conference in Ontario, Californa. This is the biggest conference of the year for podcasters and it is a wonderful combination of smoozing, presentations, hobnobbing, and networking with other people who are also obsessed with podcasting. Tim and Emile Bourquin (The Podcast Brothers) did another wonderful job on the conference.

Some of my thoughts…
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Popularity: 15% [?]