Monthly Archives: December 2005

anyone want to play poker?

I‘m leaving for Vegas Friday morning for the WPBT Winter Classic insanity-fest and poker tournament plus jokes, and I haven’t had time to play much poker this week to warm myself up for the trip.

So I was about to go play some sit-n-go tourneys at PokerStars, and I realized that I can make private tourneys of my own.

So I made a private tourney at starts at 5:30 Pacific time (that will be 2030 according to the lobby clock). If enough people show up, we’ll play it like a simple sit-n-go, otherwise, I’ll just find some regular SNGs to play.

I always have a good time playing at PokerStars, but I’d much rather play with people I "know," you know?

So if you have time and interest, go to the PokerStars lobby and look for WWdN: Wil’s Folly under tourneys -> private. The password is monkey, and the buy-in is $10 +1. It’s tournament number 16141481.

Once more, the details:

What: WWdN: Wil’s Folly
When: 2030 EST (1730 PST) today.
Password: monkey
Tourney number: 1614181

Just A Geek: Teh Audiobook

Hey, if you’ve enjoyed my Radio Free Burrito podcasts, I think you may like the audio version of Just A Geek:

This journey is a fascinating read, made even more intimate and
fulfilling by Wil’s narrative. This is not just an audio book, it’s a
glimpse into the psyche of the man who considers himself…
Just a Geek. NOTE: Due to graphic language, some content may be unsuitable for
younger audiences.

Yes, I realize this may feel like totally crass commecial bullshit . . . because it is. I worked very hard on the audio book, and I don’t plug it nearly enough. A few RFB listeners have commented to me that they picked up the audio book after listening to the podcast, so I thought I’d make it nice and easy for anyone who is interested in checking it out. It’s available as a set of nine CDs for $35 (normally $39), or as an instantly-downloadable MP3, also for $35 (normally $35.)

I’m very proud of the audio book. I’ve talked in the past about what a huge letdown my experience wih O’Reilly was on the print version of the book, and much of the joy I’d hoped to feel with its release has instead come from the recording of the audio version, which ended up being a performance, with asides, commentary, and reflections on the material that aren’t in the print version of the book. I guess it’s like I’m reading the book to you, and occasionally setting it down to give some meta-commentary on various passages.

So if you liked the print book, or if you like the podcasts, I’m pretty sure you’ll dig the audiobook, which, to steal a line from Al Franken, "makes a wonderful gift." 😉

Radio Free Burrito Episode One

Whitevan
I
can’t believe I already did another podcast, but I had ideas, and they needed to come out of my brains, so here we are.

I’m going to tell you the complete truth: This isn’t the greatest thing ever, but I really had fun putting this show together, and I think I’m officially hooked on doing these shows. As long as it doesn’t completely take over my life, I’ll do everything I can to get a new episode up every week. Around episode four or five, when I’ve climbed a little higher up the learning curve, I’ll even see if I can get this into iTunes so subscribing is easier.

Okay. How about some show notes? That’s kind of cool, isn’t it?

Notes for Episode One:

  • Feedback and reflections on Episode Zero
  • Bumpers!
  • An audio diary, featuring an audition, some random thoughts around town, a bit of really horrible singing, and an interview about Stand By Me.
  • Very brief Q&A.

This week’s show is much, much smaller than episode zero, weighing in at a much friendlier 13.3 MB, but still just over 30 minutes. I’m still not ready for primetime, but I feel much more comfortable than I did last week, and had a great time putting this together.

Questions can be sent to ask at wil wheaton dot net and comments can be sent to podcast at wil wheaton dot net.

Also, until I figure out a more appropriate license, RFB will be released under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License.

Okay? Get to listening!

Download radio_free_burrito_episode_one.mp3

Afterthoughts:

Several listeners have asked for a list of the music in this show:

  • Don’t Stop Believin’ by Journey
  • Jesus of Suburbia by Green Day
  • Title and Registration The New Year by Death Cab for Cutie (that’s what I get for doing this list from memory.)
  • Radio Cure by Wilco
  • Kamera by Wilco
  • Tear Stained Eye, by Son Volt

. . . and have a mirror, courtesy of WWdN:iX reader Alan.

. . . and another mirror courtesy of Craig.

. . . Brian did a ton of Burrito-Fu, and sent in a low-fi version, and .torrents for hi and lo fi:

High (orig):
http://athena.unearthed.org/torrents/radio_free_burrito_episode_one.mp3.torrent

Low (mono, VBR bit rate range 8-24, 5.7 megs):
http://athena.unearthed.org/torrents/radio_free_burrito_episode_one-low.mp3.torrent

Mirror for the Low..
http://www.badmonkies.com/rfb/radio_free_burrito_episode_one-low.mp3


Wow! Thanks, guys!

Monogram Sweater: Funny. Personal. Stories.

12_8_ms_e_viteThis Thursday night, I’m performing in a show called Monogram Sweater, at The Second City Theatre in Hollywood.

It’s a monologue show, in a very small intimate setting. I’m going to perform my short story The Trade.

Sadly, once I was home and on the kitchen floor, the reality of the
trade did not meet the grand build up it had been given by my young
imagination. That single push did not send my heros to quick safety.
Rather, it sent them forward about 6 inches and to the left, coming to
an anticlimactic rest against the front of the dishwasher. Only the
constant presence of my grimy 8 year-old fist would give them adequate
propulsion away from danger. And the foot-peg technology was quickly
replaced by the more reliable scotch-tape-and-rubber band technology.

The novelty of rolling that Land Speeder around the floor quickly wore off, and I really missed my Death Star.

Tickets are just five bucks, which you can totally score in about thirty minutes on any freeway off ramp in Southern California, provided your cardboard sign is easy to read. Details, including address and showtimes are on the spiffy clickable flyer over there, but for those of you who like to cut-n-paste:

WHAT: Monogram Sweater (Funny. Personal. Stories.)
WHERE: Second City Theatre -8156 Melrose Avenue, next to the Improv
WHEN: Thursday, December 8, 2005. 8PM.
HOW MUCH: $5

a few random rfb thoughts

The feedback on RFBep0 has been great. Everyone seems to like it, and the constructive criticism has been really helpful. Thank you, everyone, who left comments or sent in e-mail. I quite obviously still have
some growing to do, but the two major criteria (was it fun for me, and
did the audience enjoy it) seem to have been met. I think it’s worth
trying another one, and incorporating the notes.

(I was going to write down all my thoughts here . . . but I think I’ll just put them into RFBep1 🙂

I set up a new e-mail address for the show, too: questions can still go to ask at wil wheaton dot net and comments can go to podcast at wil wheaton dot net.

I figure that if I can do four of these things, and I can manage not to suck, RFB will get its own location, like radio.wilwheaton.net or something, so I can set up special podcast feeds with feedburner and have show notes and other exciting things. I’ll also figure out some sort of schedule, so the show is coming out on a regular basis.