A couple of things while I remember :) I am getting old you know!

I find the internal mic for the macbook is pretty good. It works well (in my opinion) for me. If your listener is just trying out podcasting, then it will be sufficient I reckon.

Terrance should podcast more.

ABC Australia podcasts are really good. ABC or AuBC to avoid confusion with the American one, are a public owned non-commercial station and therefore not governed by ratings pressure. This makes for some really interesting radio and TV and so many different podcasts. The link is http://www.abc.net.au/services/podcasting/ and I would suggest just popping in and choosing something that sounds interesting. My favourites are Grandstand (although this would have a limited audience outside of rugby playing nations!) and the Science Show, which is well worth listening to. For clarification, Radio Australia is run by AuBC and is their shortwave service mainly heard in far flung rural areas and the Pacific. They even have a pidgin service which is great to listen to!

I think the Postcard from America is a great idea. Did you ever hear Alistair Cook's Letter from America? He was a truly interesting guy. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes
/letter_from_america/default.stm
Maybe that's who you were thinking of?

I liked the way you went off with what you were thinking at the end. That's when you are at your best, in my humble opinion :)

Oh yeah, no matter what CTC is going to be a bad time for this part of the world, but if America is your prime audience then I wonder why you don't aim to go live on Saturday US time? It must be hard for a lot of people to turn up on a work day? Just one squid's opinion...

Glad to hear you back anyway :)

San

San: Good point about the internal mic - it certainly will work. Also, thanks for the clarification on ABC. I'm looking forward to checking out some of their podcasts. And yes, Alistair Cook's "Letter from America" was a big influence on me as a shortwave listener growing up.

Quick hint for the internal mic on the macbook. After recording you may want to put the Internal Mic filter on. (use the help feature in Garageband, its pretty good...look up effects I believe.) It really cuts down on unwanted background noise and hissing.

Really Helped the couple of recordings I have Experimented with! Hope that helps!

-Andy-

Great show man,
I was so psyched to see in my itunes that there was another great 52 min episode. No pressure to do it all the time (knowing that you are busy).
Laters
---Tom

Not sure why, but when I visit Tokyo I feel secure even though the likelihood of an earthquake or sarin type subway attack is probably equal to random violence or a terrorist attack in the US. I was in Tokyo earlier this month with the family and my son (same age as your #1) was walking to school by himself, down some fairly busy streets. That is unthinkable here in California, even though the odds of a child being kidnapped or hit by a car are probably lower than in the US than in Tokyo. It's a different, anxiety-free mindset in Japan that I find comforting - but of course there are other uniquely Japanese sources of stress that you don't have here.

On another note, be assured that people in the US ARE distressed about what's happened to our nation same as yourself.

BTW the reverse culture shock is definitely going to hit you hard - particularly with regard to the level of service compared to Japan.

Hey Scott.. greetings from Portugal. You mentioned me on this podcast, as I noticed today as I listened. I did indeed get a job working for a burssels based news agency that Im not supposed to mention yet.. theyve got me working on a projected related to weblogs, podcasts, etc. Its not earth shattering but it is exciting. And Im not moving to Brussels but indeed.. you'll find me there more and more for the occasional meeting.

My favorite ABC radio national podcasts are Background Briefing, which is fantastic on history and global politics. And- All in the Mind, which looks at psychology and the mind.. really excellent topics on that one. Those two are my top recommendations.

Hey Scott, Many thanks for giving Snack Fan Japan a plug! Chichan and I leave for the Chaos Computer Camp(8th-12th August, Germany) tomorrow, with our Edirol R-09, so expect a podcast soon. Details will be on my blog, www.karamoon.blogspot.com


See you soon,

Karamoon