The title… has nothing to do with anything.

This past season, I have been striving to act much more as a director on my own show. One of the biggest problems we’ve had over the years is keeping the show on time and on track. But now, I run a much tighter ship, transitioning from the opening/monologue/news section, into the interview, and ultimately Fragments of Silicon in a vastly more timely fashion. I think this has done some wonders on listener retention, if our weekly “live” count is any indicator. It’s still an interesting beast, though, as we seem to have traded our decent downloads for a fairly significant presence on the live broadcast.

This year also saw some pretty significant changes in the staff and format, as well. We added live music, necessitating the inclusion of a “Music Director” position, which Keith W. has filled quite admirably. We brought in guest and now co-hosts Naka Teleeli and Elemental Ogre, who have added an almost incalculable dynamic shift in how we are presented on-air. All-in-all to the better, I might add. So, we’ve had some bumps and technical snafus. My “favorite” being my “blackout” period when I had no reliable internet. That’s always fun. And of course, TalkShoe deciding it just REFUSES to quit recording some weeks. But in the end, it all works out pretty well. And in spite of guest burps and scheduling conflicts, we have not failed to make a show this year. (Season 5, episode 4? I have no idea what you are talking about.)

A lot of these changes for the better are based on reader and listener input. None of this would be possible without you, and certainly none of it would be possible if some companies out there didn’t think there was money to be made allowing “upstarts” like MSP and our ilk to broadcast for free. It’s like Public Access Radio, only from the convenience of our own homes…

That’s enough rambling for one night. Until next time…

~Mac

So, I’ve been updating and re-arranging all of the various “Moonhawk Studios” sites and getting things in order. You may have noticed there is a weekly promo by me at the bottom of the page, and it actually FEELS like a commercial. I plan to do that for every episode and do follow-up commentaries to each as well. Monday, I’ll be hitting the road again, so no telling when I’ll be “settling down”. But I hope to talk here a little more often than I have been.

I tend not to talk a lot on here, even though this is allegedly my own show. Perhaps it’s to increase the impact when I do bother to speak up, or maybe there is some darker, more sinister reason buried deep within my psyche. Over the past couple years, Adam and I have proved that we can carry a show ourselves and make it entertaining. However, what gives out show that extra something special is the variety of guests we have on with us to help us ramble and reminisce. And sometimes that is the make-or-break point of each weekly installment. Sometimes the guest is straightforward, and the interview is very formal and static. Other times, we play it by ear and see how the guests react. There is one other instance that I’d like to call attention to, and that is when we have guests who themselves are just naturally interesting people, and when you ping them on what is their passion… well, we have one of our best shows of the year.

Such is the case with this past week’s show. Darryl hughes and Monique MacNaughton of The Continentals (as well as several other noteworthy endeavors, collectively), fall into that last category. Now, I first want to say that we’ve had other guests before who immediately were entertaining and engaging on this level (Lewis “Linkara” Lovhaug, Brian Clevenger, Brion Foulke, Barry Smith, DeceasedCrab and madamluna immediately come to mind here). But with Darryl and Monique, we really hit it off quite well and it made for a very entertaining 85 minutes of show (and a couple hours of post show after that was sadly, and safely not recorded lol). I wish all of our interviews could be this freewheeling and fun and HONEST. No holds were barred here, hell, some people might even get angry. But c’est la vie. It was a good show, and well worth it. Thanks guys. You’re the kind that make doing this worth it week after week.

Also, to anyone we indirectly insulted, I’d like to issue a blanket apology for that here. If we deliberately insulted you, though, it was most likely on purpose. We know you’d never deign to be on our show anyway.

~Mac

I very much enjoy doing this show. And over the course of the past year, it’s been a sometimes bumpy, but always interesting ride. I am especially appreciative of the prospective guest who enthusiastically promotes their brief visit on our virtual couch. Be sure to tune in this week when we have J.L. Haram of Picatrix sit with us for a spell. Here’s her comic: http://www.picatrix.net/

~Mac

At last, the show has its own site. We’ll be re-posting show MP3′s as well as special commentaries, articles and art from our contributors soon enough. I based the site on ComicPress by Tyler Martin, John Bintz and Philip M. Hofer for ease of use and streamlined appearance. I hope you all like it.

Our next show will be Wednesday, January 6 and stars Lora Innes of The Dreamer. We hope you’ll join us at our usual Bat time and Bat channel.

~Mace