Radio
A New Year Of The Fix It Up Show
Spoiler Edition – The Rise of Skywalker
Hello December
Well, this year is sliding into the final curtain call. Over all, I don’t really know what to think of 2018. On one hand, I managed to get a lot of bills paid and a lot of mundane stuff done. Both radio shows have been a lot of fun to do and seem to be growing every week. Who knows, with the new attention at IHeartMedia to podcasts, we might even get nominated for some king of award or another.
2018 also had its share of delays and pain. I finally managed to get my big job projects wrapped up to a point I could take some time and get my poor feet and legs treated for plantar fasciitis. My word to the wise is take care of your feet. Pain is not normal so get it checked sooner not later.
At the convention this past weekend, I got to meet, interview, and ultimately drive David Dastmalchian to the airport. This is an actor to watch for bigger and better things. Best known as Murdock on the new MacGyver series, he was simply amazing. I have been blessed in my career as a minor convention/radio personality to work with great people. David should be on the verge of a major role breakthrough. It was a pleasure to work with him. You can check out the interview here:
https://1019kissfm.iheart.com/content/2018-11-19-gtr-beyond-the-tank-with-david-dastmalchian/?fbclid=IwAR3eEkYgmAQ0xg_0J8d1cESkwwpM9yRNn_jYZPFRQIiADzNr-b4TuU9WjkM
A quick word about the Fix-It Up show. If you have not heard it yet, click over and listen to episode or two. The show has come a long way in a short period of time and just keeps growing. Joe and I are having a great time doing the show in spite of the fact that we have to get up at dark:30 to get to the studio in time.
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/960-the-fixitup-show-29246444/?cmp=android_share&fbclid=IwAR0MlYKHsju-2Ffe-Lkeivq1QWSMGOPkVCX5_N4eJ6ha0kFurE3VKVsre7I
https://www.darkoakpress.com/allanstory.html
https://www.darkoakpress.com
https://www.spreaker.com/show/the-fix-it-up-show
http://www.geektankradio.com
http://www.cafepress.com/gtrmerchandise
Talk about time…..
I know I was told repeatedly as a young man that time sped up as you got older, I never argued that point, but, I had no idea time had an overdrive. This year has both gone way too slow on a couple of points and managed to completely fly by on all the rest of the adventures that are my daily life.
The Desk Of Endless Tasks and I are getting back on speaking terms. Hopefully, I will get back to being a full member of The Amazing Society of Done. I have a lot of projects that just need to have the “Done” stamped on them.
Artemian Update: My tank of desktop minions are doing swimmingly. We are now a couple of generations down the road and going strong. Yes, they are relaxing to watch.
Geek Tank Radio: The fan count keeps going up. Apparently, we are growing in popularity around the world. I have to tell you that is very cool to think about. I hope our madness is bring a bit of geeky joy to the world. To listen just look up Geek Tank Radio on the I Heart Media App.
The Fix-It Up Show: The callers really make the show. So far, no one has been able to stump us but I am sure someone will :-). Right now the funniest part of the show is what the audience doesn’t see or hear and that is the squirrel invasion going on outside out studio window four stories up. Every so often, we get treated to a bird vs squirrel throw down outside our window. It makes staying focused very difficult and we have enough trouble with that as it is.
https://www.darkoakpress.com/allanstory.html
https://www.darkoakpress.com
https://www.spreaker.com/show/the-fix-it-up-show
http://www.geektankradio.com
http://www.cafepress.com/gtrmerchandise
Time is fleeting ….
Time is not just flying by right now. It is leaping forward in huge gaps. I can not believe it is October already. Well, at least the heat is breaking and we can get down to some reasonable temperatures.
Geektankradio.com has been going just fine. The show continues to grow and spread across the globe. Seriously, the show is now searchable on the I Heart Radio/Media’s app. That is allowing the world to discover the madness that is the Geek Patrol. If you haven’t heard the show, click over and check it out. It has lots of geeky news and pop culture.
The Fix It Up Show is just too much fun. Joe and I keep discussing the foibles of do-it-yourself and other topics of home care. The callers are great and we literally have months of material and stories to try to cover. Joe now thinks he can stump me one of these days. So far, I get him every time. Listen to the show, come up with a question or two for me and call into the show and be live on the air with me Saturday mornings from 8 to 9 in the morning 600 WREC AM and 92.1 FM.
The Mid-South Pyrate Blades were featured by the Hooks Central Public Library and The Friends of the Library last Sunday for their Talk Like A Pirate show. We had literally hundreds of guests come through the library. Not only were we fighting this year, we also get a pirate games are with booths for the very popular games, Ring the Hooks ( get your ring on the suspended hand replacement hooks), Ring Around the Rat ( through a ringer around the standing rat mounted on a basket), Rat in a Basket (toss three rats into a swinging basket), and The Memory Game (match the pirate symbols etched on the bottom of cute little skulls). Yeah, it was a great day.
I have a new story published in the “End of the World Potluck” edited by Robert J. Krog. I enjoyed writing this one. I love dark characters.
Here’s a snippet from my, “A Choice Made”.
“I’m here, just like you asked.” Thor Everdall stood at least 30 feet away and leaned backwards against a tombstone. The two men stood still as they sized each other up. Thor had gained some weight and had a different hair style, but, fundamentally, had not changed much. John, by contrast, had the hard look of man locked away for 15 years. His face wore too much stress and pain for his age.
“I didn’t think you would actually show up.” John had pictured the moment for all his jail time. Now, with a glowing sky and the world ending, it jumped from a dark dream to a hallucinatory reality.
“We don’t need to do this. You’re out. You could try to enjoy what little life we have left.” Thor remained relaxed in spite of the topic.
“Enjoy. Enjoy life. My life ended that night. The night you ruined everything in my life.”
“Really? The night I ruined your life? You mean the night you got so drunk that playing Russian roulette seemed like a good idea. The night you and Sarah got so drunk that pointing a gun at each other in bed was a good idea. That night? Is that the night you’re talking about?” Thor kept his voice level and his gestures to a minimum. He didn’t want to completely set off John just yet. However, he knew they were going to have to hash it out for a while.
John didn’t show any signs of anger, just intensity. “Yeah, the night you left bullets in my Colt 45 revolver. The night Sarah took one of those bullets to the chest.”
https://www.darkoakpress.com/allanstory.html
https://www.darkoakpress.com
https://www.spreaker.com/show/the-fix-it-up-show
http://www.geektankradio.com
http://www.cafepress.com/gtrmerchandise
The shows keep growing …
The summer heat keeps up the intensity. It does make getting simple things done more difficult. Nothing quite like sweating buckets every time you try to do anything outside. Happily, GeekTankRadio.com and the show involve being inside an air conditioned recording studio. The show keeps rolling right along. More and more people discover our brand of silliness each week. One day we may be fabulous enough to be media guests at something major like Comic Con in Dan Diego or DragonCon in Atlanta. One can dream.
The Fix It Up Show continues to overflow its cup every week. The number of fans tuning in every Saturday morning is growing exponentially. The fun of doing a live call-in show is the fact that you have no idea what is going to happen when you put that caller on the air. Happily, the callers are learning to call in early and wait in the holding queue. Don’t wait until the last 7 minutes of the show to call in with the 7 part question. Three of four callers sitting in the queue right out of the gate makes the show move so much faster. I do like the suggestions that we up the show to two hours. Yes, I am sure we have more than enough content for two hours. Personally, I would just really love it if the show started an hour later. I am just not a great morning person. If you know me, that ain’t a news flash.
I am happy to have my computers all back up and working. The mundane world more or less went super nova over the last 6 weeks leaving very little opportunity for my quality time at The Desk of Endless Tasks. A couple of weeks ago, I was attempting to sneak in a quick hour or two when my trusty monitor of several years reached the end of its tenure on my desk. The poor thing simply gave out. No worries I think, next time I have some time I will just swap it out for my back up monitor. A few days later and the swap is made only to have the back up work fine for about 30 minutes before it made a high-pitched whine and died. I finally have a new monitor purchased and in place. It is nice to feel back to together and at one with the Desk.
Just a personal reminder to forgive minor mistakes in your life and find joy in the things you do. You just don’t know when the living time will end for you or those around you. While I have lost a few close friends and family this year, I have also lost a lot of people who impact your life from the edges. People and their families that may not deal with you directly , but their presence is felt everyday. Find a way to keep each and every day just a bit sweeter and richer.
A
http://www.darkoakpress.com/allanstory.html
http://www.darkoakpress.com
https://www.spreaker.com/show/the-fix-it-up-show
http://www.geektankradio.com
http://www.cafepress.com/gtrmerchandise
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZeqwiRmndPqhU_ifBYuvfg
Now that the rain has gone …
I have reached the age when my memories are clouding up the modern day. For instance, I do remember numerous serious thunderstorms, tornadoes, and even the occasional hurricane, however, I also remember that most of the time, rain was just that, a nice rain for a few hours. Everything got watered, the creeks and streams rose a little bit, and the plants all looked really perky. Now, it seems that most rain events are now storms absolutely dumping inches of water as fast as possible. Of course, I could be wrong, but it certainly feels like I am right.
Been getting a lot of editing and pagination done. We have numerous new projects coming up very quickly. I am excited about both our books and media works. If you haven’t checked out the new YouTube channel, dive in and enjoy. Of course the more subscribers we get, the more stuff we can do. https://youtu.be/SOUhsMPdRBA
Sadly for Geek Tank Radio, Jessie has traded up jobs and has moved over to the TV world. We will miss our defacto mum/Harley Quinn.
This coming Thursday night on Apr 19th at 7:00 pm the Writers Around Town will be at the Germantown Community Library. The topic for the night is “Writing Series And Keeping It Fresh”. I am having a blast with these seminars.
I am also happy to mention that our Pyrate Blades performance group keeps getting better. Who knows, the pirate fight club may show up at a convention near you.
http://www.darkoakpress.com
http://www.geektankradio.com
http://www.cafepress.com/gtrmerchandise
Such a lovely full moon …
After another couple of days of complete downpours, the skies finally cleared and this evening we had one the best rising full moons I have seen in years. Such a wonderful evening after so much rain.
Don’t forget MidSouthCon (www.midsouthcon.org) next weekend (March 9-11) at the Hilton off Poplar and I-240. Come out and join the madness. If you have never been to a fandom convention before, this is a great place to come out and find out what it is all about. If nothing else make to “Dark and Stormy Night” on Sunday afternoon, I promise it is worth it.
I had a wonderful time with a couple of friends from Grace Healthcare chatting about medical science and levels of care. Listen in:
http://www.darkoakpress.com/media/gtrgrace.mp3
Don’t forget the new Dark Oak Press and Media YouTube channel. We are adding content as fast we can get out there and shoot it.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZeqwiRmndPqhU_ifBYuvfg
http://www.darkoakpress.com
http://www.geektankradio.com
http://www.cafepress.com/gtrmerchandise
Hello media editing …
Somehow or another, it always seems to be pushing midnight when I finally get to start wrapping up my day. It has been another overly full week. I keep telling myself the same lie that sooner or later things will calm down. If I tell myself this enough, I might even delude myself into believing me. We all know that is not always the best idea, but one does have to dream.
Geek Tank Radio was a massive show this morning, but we managed to get through it all pretty darn well. The new show should post by Monday.
After wandering through a few YouTube videos, I bought the brine shrimp/sea monkeys some spirulina. It is a lovely blue-green algae in powered form so the little devils should enjoy it.
I got a full edit done on the next Dark Oak Press release. More wonderful mayhem in on the way from the infamous Malice in Memphis mystery writers group.
Pirate Fight Club is rolling along nicely. Had a small group this week, so we all got in a bit of a sweat working on basics.
MidSouthCon (www.midsouthcon.org) is coming up the weekend of March 9th. This is my very first convention I attended 36 years ago. I have attended 34 out of the 35 conventions so far. Not a bad track record.
And just for fun, I finally finished the format for the Question X research show. You can check out the first episode here:
http://www.darkoakpress.com
http://www.geektankradio.com
http://www.cafepress.com/gtrmerchandise
Allan Gilbreath 