I struggle a lot with the big picture. I’m often so mired in day-to-day stuff that it takes significant effort to step back and look at where I’ve come from, where I am and where I’m going.

When it comes to the show, it’s no different. Scott and I spend a lot of time zoomed in on the specifics of what we’re doing — booking guests, recording and editing audio, coming up with content for the website — that we often forget to pause, step back, and take a look at where we’ve arrived. They have cliches that describe this — about forests and trees, and smelly roses. But we’re much too high-brow to invoke such phrases.

Still, I’d like to pause, if you’ll indulge me, and take a look and where we’ve arrived. If I get too self-flagellating, please feel free to take me down a peg in the comments.

You see, the Unknown Studio — the flagship of what we do, the podcast — is coming up on its first birthday. Not to put too fine a point on it, but this is an exceedingly big deal to us. And hopefully to our listeners as well. Here’s a bit of a year in review for you Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 8% [?]

I know, I know… You’ve been waiting in front of your computer, unshowered and angry, since yesterday hoping to see the latest edition of FML Friday. Except, check this out: unlike all other bloggers out there, I have a job. I have deadlines. I needed to, you know, do stuff that sort of trumped this whole thing.

But I’m really sorry I didn’t get this to you sooner. I hope I didn’t ruin your weekend.

Now let’s get this bizarre show on the road! Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 9% [?]

So Adam and some of our friends have been convincing me to join Empire Avenue and have my popularity gauged by the trading of “stock” based on my value.

As shattering as this will likely prove to be to my precious ego, I’ve decided to give it a shot.

Those of you in the know will understand what comes next:

EAVB_UKIKOFZXJK

So if you happen along Empire Avenue in the near future, be sure to buy some stock in your favourite local dudes.

Also look for The Unknown Studio to start trading it’s value on that site in the near future.

Popularity: 7% [?]

As some of you discovered last weekend, I have a new job. For the past four years, I’ve been building towards a career move. I made a great leap forward when I got a new job at the beginning of 2009. It was my first agency job, and it was great. I was permitted to test out new apps for clients and I was able to build a good knowledge base for social media marketing, advertising and community relations. This was recognized by Calder Bateman, and after weeks of discussions, meetings and interviews in March, I earned myself a job offer… which I accepted.

And while the work I’ve started on is tremendously compelling, I wanted to brag a bit about my office. Mostly because, since I’ve been out of school, I’ve never had my own office. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 13% [?]

Once upon a time, when I was the Editor-in-Chief at the Gateway, the then-business manager Don Iveson (yes, I just name-dropped him. I looked after his dog last week, so he owes me) and I would joke about what would happen to the newspaper if one (or both) of us was killed. Though we knew the organization would get on just fine without one (of both) of us, we also retained a tremendous amount of knowledge about how the business ran… One of those tidbits of knowledge included server passwords and critical banking information that would need to be accessed in the unlikely event that one (or both) of us was hit by, say, a Mack Truck.

So we printed off these important documents and sealed them in envelopes that were not to be opened unless one (or both) of us fell victim to a large, errant semi-truck.

Lately, my mode of thinking on the Unknown Studio has been similar. What if something occurred to either Scott or myself that made it so that recording from our various locations became untenable. What then? Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 12% [?]

Some of you may have noticed that Adam is a man who loves the more… colourful parts of the English language. Truth be told, the man is a walking vulgarity engine, with a wonky self-censoring circuit. Don’t misunderstand, it’s not that he’s incapable of restraint, he just doesn’t bother with it. Because it’s easier to let me restrain him. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 11% [?]