Unquiet Desperation » Podcasting

Desperation’s End

Chris Miller — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 02:26:15 +0000

It’s time to retire Unquiet Desperation. I want to spend some time exploring my writing in a new way, something that reflects where I am now, instead of where I’ve been. It’s been a good run, and I want to thank everyone who had read or listened over the years: your thoughtful comments and support have meant the world to me.

I will be starting up a new project over at http://ctmiller.net early this winter. Please head over and subscribe if you’d like to know more when the time comes.

I bring you my final podcast episode, a discussion with my good friend J.C. Hutchins. It’s about a lot of things, but mostly, it’s about change.

Thanks, everyone.

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New Podcast Episodes Released

Chris Miller — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 12:53:33 +0000

There are new episodes of both The Secret Lair and From Python Import Podcast available for your consumption.

In Episode 0036 of The Secret Lair, we discuss Iron Man 2, Sherlock Holmes, Doctor Who, and a few other assorted bits and pieces.
In Episode 004 of From Python Import Podcast we learn why Dave hates Decorators, and discuss whether the Standard Library is the place where code goes to die. Additionally, Mike Pirnat joins us for a revelation about the Zen of Python.

Note: Apologies for the sound quality on both of these shows. My studio equipment is packed for the move, so we had to us my Zoom H4.

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CMDLN Nerd Merit Badge Arrives

Chris Miller — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 02:37:06 +0000

The special Nerd Merit Badge which Thomas ‘cmdln’ Gideon issued for supporting his podcast just arrived. I will be sewing it on to my laptop bag in the next week.

Behold the wonder.

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From Python Import Podcast Ep. 004 Coming Soon

Chris Miller — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 14:41:45 +0000

To those of you listening to From Python Inport Podcast, we recorded ep 004 yesterday and it should be dropping this weekend. Sorry for the delay…my purchase of a house and all that goes with it (packing, etc) has made it difficult to get all of us in one room to record. However, the next episode is made of 24-karat WIN and we think you’ll enjoy it.

Possible titles include Dave Hates Decorators or The Standard Library: Graveyard of Code.

Look for it to drop this weekend.

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Escape Pod: Thargus and Brian

Chris Miller — Thu, 20 May 2010 13:18:57 +0000

The story I read for Escape Pod, Thargus and Brian by Stephen Gaskell, is now up for your listening pleasure. Be warned…there are f-bombs.

Out of respect for the British people, I did not attempt an accent.

Thargus thought the time right. He set the lights to full strength and flailed and gnashed and roared as he’d been practising. He felt rather silly, but the performance seemed to be working. The human, one hand steadying its spin, looked on intensely. It moved the white stick up to its mouth, breathed in, and then stabbed the stick out against the sac wall. “Don’t be afraid,” Thargus said, meaning the opposite. He’d seen the trick on old films stored in the moss-brain when humans always said one thing and meant another like “We’re safer if we split up.” The human exhaled a long stream of smoke. “I’m not,” it said. That didn’t sound right. Thargus considered his response while staring at the human. It sure was ugly. A patchwork of dirty synthetics over the majority of its body, and on top of its pudgy, pink head, strand upon strand of greasy hair. Ugh! Thargus felt sick. “Be afraid, then,” he said. “Why, are you going to eat me?” Thargus didn’t feel comfortable telling an outright lie, but that didn’t mean he needed to be too honest. “I might.”

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Open Call for Volunteers to Appear on Unquiet Desperation

Chris Miller — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 16:30:33 +0000

I’m resurrecting my Unquiet Desperation podcast. The podcast will be similar to what it was before, interviews and discussions on various topics, however, I’m going to try to steer clear of the standard geek tropes (books, movies, comics, games, etc).

To that end, I’m looking for volunteers to be interviewed about various topics over the next year for the show. My plan is to pick ten to fifteen topics and then select people from this pool to discuss the topics with. The subject matter will be far reaching. Some examples of shows I’ve thought of thus far:

Art in a Recession
How Did You Meet your Significant Other?
The Topography of Local Myths
Software Developers are the new Auto Workers
What did you want to be when you grew up? Knowing yourself now, how do you think that would have worked out?

The interviews would take place on Skype, and would be recorded for use in the show.

If you are interested, please fill out this form. By signing up, you’re simply giving me permission to contact you about doing an interview. There is no obligation at all.

Thanks!

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Food for Thought

Chris Miller — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 02:48:36 +0000

Me: I wonder about geeks covering weightier topics, not just the same old books, movies, comics, and games. Mature topics, beyond the toys and entertainment. What does a mature geek podcast sound like?

Kris: If you don’t mind me tooting your horn, I think it was Unquiet Desperation, when you were still doing it.

Hmmmm.

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New Podcasts and a Modest Pythonic Proposal

Chris Miller — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 11:53:42 +0000

First, From Python Import Podcast is finally live! In the first episode, we meet our hosts and learn a bit of what they learned at PyCon 2010. Please head over to the website and subscribe!

Second, the latest Secret Lair podcast has been posted. In it, we review BBS: The Documentary and Project Truth from Evil Overlord Games.

Finally, I’ve attached the presentation for a lightning talk I planned to give at PyCon this past year, but I was unable to get to it. You see…Python is a remarkably stable, useful language. However, I feel that to really compete with the big boys, we need to inject a little uncertainty and doubt in the language. Additionally, I believe that the community is crying out for a new way to approach the dictionary object, especially in light of the new testing methods available to us.

To that end, I humbly submit the Thesaurus Object for addition to the standard Python datatypes. I believe the presentation below will speak for itself, however, anyone who wants to find source code and examples can find them here.

I look forward to your comments and questions.

The Thesarus Object

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From Python Import Podcast

Chris Miller — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 18:06:04 +0000

I’m happy to announce that David Stanek, Mike Crute, and myself will be recording the first in a new podcast series this evening. The podcast, titled From Python Import Podcast, will offer up commentary on working with the Python language, have interviews with luminaries in the community, encourage critical thinking about trends in Python development at large, and will, hopefully, make you laugh a bit. We’re an opinionated crew, and we welcome feedback, flamebait, and anything else you want to throw at us.

The site is in the process of being built, but you can find it at http://frompythonimportpodcast.com. Our first episode will be released on 4/1/2010.

And no…this is not an April Fool’s prank. Thanks for asking.

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From the Vault: Interview with Jonathan Coulton

Chris Miller — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 15:05:02 +0000

This interview with Jonathan Coulton was recorded in the spring of 2006, and I have to admit, I had a great time with it. Jonathan was more than willing answer anything that I threw at him; you’ll find things in this interview you won’t find anywhere else.

Enjoy!

(Thanks to J.C. for the kick in the ass to get this re-released to the public.)

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TSL Presents: The Return of The NanoMonkeys

Chris Miller — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:00:11 +0000

Way back when the Internet was young, in 2006, Chris Miller, Kris Johnson, Mur Lafferty, and P.G. Holyfield put together a podcast consisting of writing tips and tricks for the valiant souls participating in National Novel Writing Month. They repeated the series in 2007, when they got other authors, like Sam Chupp, Phil Rossi, J.C. Hutchins and Seth Harwood to wax poetic on the craft of writing a novel in thirty days.

Then, the NanoMonkeys went silent, the domain was taken over by one of the less savory outfits on the web, and the podcast passed into legend, never to be heard again…

…until now.

Starting on 10-31-2009, The Secret Lair will present encore episodes from those original shows, releasing one a day for the month of November. Subscribe to the main feed, and you too can join the madness.

For more information and to subscribe, visit The Secret Lair.

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Podiobooks Hiatus, Shadowdance Ending

Chris Miller — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 11:57:41 +0000

It has been a week of difficult decisions. From it, I have two things to disclose.

First…I’m taking a hiatus from development on Podiobooks.com.

The reason is simple: I lack the time to do the PB 2.0 project justice. It kills me to admit that. When we started PB five years ago, I had two small kids, a simple 40 hour a week job, and my wife was not working. Now, I have a 12, 9, and 4 year old with all the commitments that follow from that, plus my wife is working full time, playing in two bands, teaching violin and fiddle, and I am working full time and filling in as Mr. Mom. It has become impossible to find the time to truly lead the project. Those things, combined with some recent health developments, have put the whammy on many of my personal projects. The PB2 project will go on (we are looking for new leads right now), and Evo and the PB2 team will continue driving it. It will grow and flourish, and I cannot wait to see where it goes next.

Second…Michelle and I will be recording the final Shadowdance podcast tonight. The reasons there are similar: my personal schedule and Michelle’s schedule no longer match up quite as well. She’s writing books, appearing on television and traveling, and I have my family and my career to look after. Also, my opinions on the subject matter of the show have changed, and I feel disingenuous continuing to give advice on a subject that I do not fully embrace. More on this in a future post.

For the record, The Secret Lair is still going strong: Kris and I will continue with our fun until the men in white coats come after us to take us away.¹ In fact, we just released Episode 29, chock full of goodness from the likes of Dr. John Cmar, Natalie Metzger, Jay Lynn, and our special guest, Mick Bradley.

So, that’s the news. How’s your day?

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If they can get past the giant squid and the rabid zombie poodles.

The Secret Lair #0028 Released Into the Wild

Chris Miller — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 10:00:09 +0000

Warning!

Episode #0028 of The Secret Lair has broken free and is wreaking havoc across the world. It boasts the following weaponry:

Staff Reports

Chief Medical Officer’s Progress Report. In which the Bad Doctor speculates that the Minister of Crackpot Schemes and Unfortunate Synergies ought not be involved in our plan to demoisturize the moon.

Discussion

We are joined by our lovely wives to discuss The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.

There is chili. And there are Fritos. And SPOILERS.
Everyone talks about time travel as metaphor, but what if it’s actually a simile?
Chris discusses the difference between men and women. He says it’s all about the potential versus the kinetic. Or something.
We explain why Prisoner of Azkaban is the best book-to-film translation of Harry Potter to date.
Chris issues a challenge to Neil Gaiman (American Gods, Anansi Boys).
Kris was right about the “R”. The movie version of Clare Abshire is portrayed by Rachel McAdams.

Do yourself a favor and catch it now, before it kills somebody!

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The Secret Lair #0026: Lamb by Christopher Moore

Chris Miller — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 12:42:51 +0000

Truth be told, we probably could have returned to The Secret Library sooner, but I’ve been avoiding it. Why? Two words: late fees. See, a couple of months ago I checked out a copy of Getting Things Done by David Allen and promptly set fire to it. No book will mock my character flaws in such a manner, do you understand? I will not be mocked!

As it turns out, our android librarian is equipped with neither a sense of irony nor any compulsion toward forgiveness. Nor the slightest inclination to waive a replacement fee, for that matter. However, the whole unpleasant mess has been resolved and we are now prepared to discuss Lamb, The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal, by Christopher Moore.

Also in this episode:

Chief Medical Officer’s Progress Report #2: The Bad Doctor returns to blame yet another new strain of yet another virus on our meddling—we prefer “fiddling”, really—with equine-primate hybridization. As a side note, bonobos (pygmy chimpanzees) really are very cute; it should have worked, dammit!
From the Ministry of Crackpot Schemes and Unfortunate Synergies: Jay is in Hong Kong attempting to procure a wolf-child, but important details seem to have been lost in translation somewhere.

Lair Keeping

Our theme music is “Skullcrusher Mountain” by Jonathan Coulton.
Our Secretary of Artistic Propaganda is Natalie Metzger.
Our Minister of Crackpot Schemes and Unfortunate Synergies is Jay “The Kingfish” Lynn.
Our Chief Medical Officer is Dr. John Cmar.
Our Airborne Legions are led by Commandante David Moore.
Our Minister of Suspicious Substitutions and Unreasonable Facimiles often operates under the pseudonym The Cynical Optimist.
Our Minister of Secrets and Subterfuge is classified.

Listen and learn more at The Secret Lair!

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The Secret Lair Comic 0018: Get Off My Lawn

Chris Miller — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 14:00:27 +0000

Natalie Metzger, our Secretary of Artistic Propaganda, has released the latest Secret Lair Webcomic. This one gives me the warm fuzzies on several levels.

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Mick

Chris Miller — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 14:17:56 +0000

I miss podcasting with Mick Bradley. I miss the discussions that Mick, Kris, Julia and I would have on The Round Table.

That is all.

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Ep. 25 of The Secret Lair: I Need a (Super) Hero

Chris Miller — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 15:13:03 +0000

In a planning meeting for our demisemicentepisode one of the minions suggested that we ”pull out all the stops”, at which point Dr. Pindar, our Director of Etymological Accuracy and General Nitpicking, pointed out that The Secret Lair does not have a pipe organ installed. This, quite naturally, led to several hours of rational discourse on whether, given the lack of pipe organs, we ought to leave some of the stops in or simply not bother with the stops at all. The discussion concluded, as is often the case, with a face-stabbing. Further planning meetings were deemed unnecessary.

Our special guest is Jay “The Kingfish” Lynn from the Metamediocrity audio comic book. Speaking of special and mediocre, our special sauce is Thousand Island Dressing blended with mayonnaise. Jay joins us at the International House of Johnson for a discussion about superheroes and approximately three inches of latex.

Additionally, there is a report from our Chief Medical Officer, the distinguished Dr. John Cmar.

Learn more, listen, subscribe, or join the discussion on the Secret Lair website.

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UD Podcast, Ep. 21: Back from L.A and Origins 2009

Chris Miller — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 22:50:05 +0000

In this episode of of the podcast, I talk a little bit about coming back from Los Angeles, the state of my various projects, and go into some details about the fiun had at Origins 2009 this year. Also, a bonus rant/ramble about why people like me are the Game Vendors’ Worst Nightmare:

Links for this show:

Names dropped: Kris Johnson, Jim Van Verth, Mur Lafferty, Ken Newquist, David Moore, Erin Moore, Natalie Metzger, Andy Steigle, John Cmar, Laura Burns

Download the show here.

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New Book Vidcast: Bibliotech

Chris Miller — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 15:19:13 +0000

Mark Jeffrey, author The Pocket and the Pendant and The Two Travelers, is hosting an excellent new vidcast Bibliotech:

About Bibliotech: The Evolution of Digital Publishing: Authors are podcasting MP3 novels. Publishers are inserting real-time ads into ebooks. And readers are discovering and communicating directly with authors on Twitter, Goodreads and other sites. Host Mark Jeffrey (@markjeffrey) interviews authors, technologists and publishing professionals about how digital media is changing their world.

Check out the first episode below, and visit bibliotechshow.com for future episodes.

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The Secret Lair #0021 released

Chris Miller — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 13:32:05 +0000

: Image by Codeshaman via Flickr

Whether we’re discussing the film adaptation of the comic book mini-series, Watchmen, or the series finale of Ronald Moore’s Battlestar Galactica, never has the phrase “Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair” been more appropriate for more reasons. That’s right, it’s time for Episode 0021 of The Secret Lair, so let’s get down to business.

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