Podcast Ground Zero

I'm here at the Podcast Academy today, and the Podcast and Portable Media Expo tomorrow and Saturday. The Academy has been great, a terrific assembly of folks, everyone is interesting to meet and talk to, killer presentations. And eye candy to boot; here's a Zune, which is garnering serious oohs and ahhs for its interface and screen, if not its DRM strategy. These pics don't do it justice.

Spirit of 76

David Maister aggregates a slew of interesting posts in Blawg Review #76.

Valley, Found

In Search of the Valley, a documentary film made by three friends, is now available on DVD through Customflix. You can learn more about the film in its blog, director Steve O'Hear's interview with Read/Write Web, and the trailer:

Muscle In The Arm

One of the great things about having a child is, of course, introducing him or her to things you loved as a child. But often even more delightful is incorporating new material into your own "childhood" to which you simply were never exposed the first time around. One thing I've marveled at since my son was only a couple of months old was the extent to which farm life continues to permeate childhood songs and stories in our culture, even as the kinds of farms envisioned, and the kind of life, become more and more rare. There are the ubiquitous Old MacDonald and See-n-say, and countless other books and ditties that acquaint youngsters with things like cows long before they ever see one in the flesh. What I can't decide is whether this as an artifact of agrarian society, or nostalgia for it, or both. Maybe 100 years from now, after our current professional pursuits have followed those of the small farmer down the roads of co-optation and disintermediation, our children's children will sing their children songs about the creatures inhabiting concrete tilt-up cube farms, and teach them all about their various quirks, noises, and smells. You think?

When I first came to this land

I was not a wealthy man.

So I got myself a farm

And I did what I could.

And I called my farm — a muscle in the arm.

But the land was sweet and good

And I did what I could.

When I first came to this land

I was not a wealthy man.

So I got myself a cow

And I did what I could.

And I called my cow — no milk now.

And I called my farm — a muscle in the arm.

But the land was sweet and good

And I did what I could.

(Add choruses:)

And I called my pig — dance a jig

And I called my horse — plough the course

And I called my duck — very good luck

And I called my tree — shade for me

And I called my wife — love of my life

And I called my son — no work done

etc.

Today's New Blawg

shlep: the self-help law express is new from David Giacalone:

SHLEP's goal is to bring the benefits of a daily weblog to the Self-Help Law movement. Developments and news about self-help will be presented (often thanks to the efforts of the good folk at SelfHelpSupport.org). In addition to creating or organizing background materials for those who want to find self-help resources, your editor will attempt to keep readers informed of self-help resources available to the public and to professional providers of those services, of studies and reports on self-help law and related issues, of relevant symposia and meetings, and of the people and groups aiding (or obstructing) the movement.

David is looking for co-editors to help get this worthy effort off the ground. This would be a great project for anyone interested in demystifying the legal system, participatory law, and/or getting their feet wet in blogging in a structured/team effort/good cause sort of way. I bet if you're a law student there would even be a way to get credit for it.