Quiet Anniversary, And Some More.

Yes, indeed, loyal blog readers. Today marks the two year anniversary of the launch of Always Off Book. No huge celebrations, or intricate countdowns this year, like last year. Can't make a big to do each time October 7 rolls around. =) However, I wanted to acknowledge it in a few small ways. Certainly with a mention. It is good to still be kicking about my theatre thoughts after two years.

One thing I will mention is a simple entry about my current production. I received an email from my director last night. The costumes for the piece will be all black attire. Each actor will have a few particular add on pieces that they will wear depending on which character that are playing at the moment. So I will have to be on the look out for some black clothing. (I do not have much of it, believe it or not.)

Plus just a few days to be off book. I really wish there had been more time for Philip Glass to be honest. It is more work than I thought. Nothing I cannot do, but I would have been more secure in my ability to do it if I had been working on it twice as long as I have been. So, I feel less than confident I will be totally off book for that one by Thursday. But of course, as always, I will be making the effort.

So that is the current show update.

Now for something else...

This is not truly related to theatre. But because this is my blog, and word of mouth is rather important for something like this, I am letting my blog reading friends know first.

I have started another blogger account. For now, I call it "Almost Radio". The purpose of the site is to offer a sort of make shift internet radio show experience.

You see, I was on the radio in college, and have missed it ever since. Recently I have been investigating the possibilities of such do it yourself online radio stations as live365.com, and such. I learned quickly that even the simplest form of those stations would require an investment of money and equipment I am not quite prepared to make just yet. But, I still wanted to explore the idea of producing an internet "radio" show, so I explored my options.

After much research, confusing computer jargon, and frustrating experiments, I believe I have found a passable substitute. The substitute is the new page...Quasi-Radio Ty.

Basically, I record a short talk-radio show on my computer. I upload the file to a host, and then I post a player, as a post, in the blog. Those who want to hear the show just press "play".

Now, of course, it is not live, and I long to do live shows again at some point. But I saw no reason to work on a substitution plan until I can make the investment. And after all, 80% of what we hear on standard, satellite or internet radio is pre-recorded anyway, so I am not that far behind the curve.

It is still spontaneous, however. There is no editing involved. Though I could easily edit something to make it sound better, or fix a mistake, I won't. The program will be posted "as recorded", warts and all. The next best thing I can promise listeners outside of a live broadcast.

My first "webisode" is on the site now. It is a test episode, so it is only 30 minutes. I imagine future episodes will be 60 minutes. (And I hold myself strictly to those limits, even though there is no advertising and such. I set a timer and when it goes off, show is done.)

You can expect life observations, games, discussions on politics, philosophy,other blogs. I will also be taking comments, suggestions and questions from listeners. I will be reading emails during the show, if people want, and I will be steering the course of the conversation int he direction that an email takes me, if people should opt to ask questions. Basically, it truly is a talk radio show, just not a live one.

The technology seems stable, but it is an experiment, and I suppose it could vanish at any time. But for now it seems to be working, so please, check it out, and leave me on when you need some though provoking back ground noise. And do tell your friends about it. If I don't get a large listener following, a steady loyal one would be nice.

So, two years after launching this blog, I embark on another concurrent blogging adventure. Hope