The Gastrocast

A new Collaborative Audio Book project has begun. Librivox is currently requesting readers for Joseph Conrad’s The Secret Agent. I am going to record Chapter 2. Check out Chapter One.



As I began to rehearse the chapter I found it to be mildly relevant to today’s world in a strange way. I haven’t gotten through reading the whole chapter yet because I broke off to join an eSemminar with Adobe on using Acrobat 7 Pro. What a waste of time! But more importantly what an opportunity for Podcasting or something other than Microsoft Office’s Live Meeting. Streaming Audio or something. I wanted to hear the presentation, or be able to download the thing, not have to call up on a phone and sit at my computer as well. In fact I don’t have an un-interupted hour of time where I can focus both on the computer and listen/talk on the phone–all the while watching the same 37 slides over and over.

I gave up 10 minutes in to the thing. I downloaded the slides to see what I could learn from them, but an online, actual, real time demonstration would have been better than slides.



This is probably to the same reason I never participate in the IACP’s teleconferences they hold once a month. I belong to three chapters which I could be sitting in on each month over the phone–but who has time for that. I suppose with Skype Out or something it would be productive, but I’m on the phone enough during the day I don’t need to seek out one hour specifically just to listen in.



Well, with an extra hour in my day now that I’ve closed the browser on learning I guess I should have time to finish recording this week’s Gastrocast so I can get my Chapter done.

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Wow. The conference I wanted to attend in Oxford on Food and Sustainability was just cancelled. I’m both glad I didn’t have tickets, and disappointed that more people didn’t want to attend. It looked like it was going to be an awesome event. With a deficit of $71,000 at this late a date, I guess it was the right choice. Still I wish I was in Oxford right now anyway. Hell, anyone wanting to pay may way there–I’ll give a mini-conference on Sustainability for the cost of being there. ;-}



This does, however, make me reconsider scratching together the dues for the IACP which I owe next month.  If they don’t have a large enough draw to make an international conference happen, and I haven’t been able to afford to go to all but one of the USA events–the one I went to was in Seattle and I happened to be working there that week–do I really want to continue shelling out moola for something I haven’t seen any benefits from?



I originally joined to meet other professionals and be part of the clout of such a large and prestigious organization. But to date no one seems to know or care who they are and my efforts into getting them to podcast meetings and events have been meet with silence.



Well, I have a month yet before I have to cough up. I’ll be doing some serious thinking. . . .

Popularity: 8% [?]