Optomystic

Alaska Podshow Podcast number 45!

2006-01-19T10:38:00.000-08:00

Wowsers, ya'll,

Scott Slone of the Alaska Podshow Podcast features two more Last Frontier Band songs in his show number 45, "Celia's Alaska." This show features a fabulous bit of oral history that are to be found on Pioneer Stories of Denali, in turn available at CDBaby.com. It's the first podcast airplay of "Where I'm Bound," a song I wrote about leaving folks behind in Tennessee to move to Alaska back in the mid-seventies. This episode is REALLY worth a listen, not only because he plays my music (heheheee) but also because it's an excellent example of how audio can enhance our lives by preserving history. Listen up.

Cheers,
Scott

Podcast Radio Play!

2006-01-08T05:40:00.000-08:00

Been getting some airplay on podcasts recently, including being the first Podsafe music of the year on the Financial Aid podcast and play on the Alaska Podshow podcast. Scott Slone at the latter took "Alaska Song" as the sole audio content for the fantastic video he put together encouraging people to mind the environment of his home state, and that video is his show number 39. Check that out!!!

JeffreyT at the Good Beer Show has made it easy to hear the shows I've guested on, by adding a link to Yazoo shows on his mainpage. Visit goodbeershow.com to see that, and for your convenience here's the link here: Yazoo.

Oh, and Happy New Year!!!

CraftbrewerRadio

2005-12-27T19:48:00.000-08:00

Graham Sanders of CraftbrewerRadio in Australia emailed me awhile ago (see an earlier post) to let me know that he'd be playing "Elf" in his podcast. He did, closing his Dec. part2 show with the song after a whole bunch of rubbish-talk about how I fancied myself a budding star. Oops, Grah, not enough understanding there: T he song's from 1982 fr gosh sakes; but fun anyway, and I thank him profusely. 'Owsomever, the link above is the best link to the show!

NPR : Lucinda Williams Previews New Music in Concert

2005-12-24T05:32:00.000-08:00

Just came across this NPR page that contains an entire live concert by Lucinda Williams. Great stuff...

And here's the link to "The Elf Who's King of Country!"

Funny how that works...

2005-12-17T19:18:00.000-08:00

like you are just thinking about something you haven't thought about in years, probably, like a movie--like this happened just today, when I took my teenage daughter to Blockbuster to get a Gilmore Girls DVD for the weekend and we looked in the sale bin and I saw "As Good As It Gets" on sale for 7.99 and we had a conversation about it. Now, I haven't had a conversation about "As Good As It Gets" with anyone for years, I'm sure. Then my brother-in-law calls me tonight while I'm in the Tennessee Performing Arts dressing room chaperoning my son and his fellow "Party Boys" in the Nashville Ballet's "Nutcracker," and I thank him for the wonderful song he sent me recently via iTunes. It was "The Trapeze Swinger," by Iron & Wine (WOW) and I said I'd never heard of the band and he said well they did something for the movie soundtrack for "As Good As It Gets."

That's what I mean: a coinkidink.

Here's the funny part, though: It wasn't "As Good As It Gets" that my brother-in-law meant at all. It was "In Good Company," the Dennis Quaide movie for whose soundtrack Iron & Wine's key entity Sam Beam wrote some songs. Whacky, huh?

Anyway, the other coinkidink is that I just posted something here this a.m. thinking that this blog was going to blow away into the night with the other tumbleweeds and now I actually have something to post:

Graham Sanders, host of Craftbrewer Radio podcast, just emailed me today and said:

Scott

Just letting you know I will be playing the elf song and plugging you on the next beer program.

Have a Good Christmas and New Year.

Graham Sanders
OZ Craftbrewers

http://radio.craftbrewer.org/ -- Download December Show #2!

The "elf song" he mentions is my "The Elf Who's King of Country" and it's pretty funny, ya'll. Check out the Craftbrewer Radio link above in the next week or so to see what I mean!

Cheers,
Scott

2005-12-17T07:13:00.000-08:00

Just haven't posted for a while on this 'un and thought it might be useful to point ya'll to the Snacks4theBrain! podcast site. Go to it! to learn about the bird flu, about work on an AIDS cure from frog sweat, and if for no other reason to listen to the ravings of an educator passioniate about students having access to the best of the best when it comes to science.

Big HeeeHeeee, Ya'll

2005-11-08T13:20:00.000-08:00

Just to note that I got an email from my pal Jeffrey T. Meyer at the Good Beer Show letting me know that the Last Frontier Band's version of my song "Moose Nuggets for Christmas" was picked up and played in episode 19 of the Norwegian (heyhey, international, yeah!) "Hoo Hoo Nick" podcast. Hoo Hoo!!!

And...THEGOODBEERSHOW: Scottmerrick2!

2005-10-06T17:45:00.000-07:00

Yep. I drove up to Muncie one night. It was worth the drive. See the Good Beer Show for the October 4 "Return of Scott Merrick" show, featuring my nephew Bryce's band, Darla Farmer, jabber about my novel, and beers by Yazoo Brewery as well as Lion Brewery out of Sri Lanka.

First Soundseeing Tour--Indy Canal Jog!

2005-10-06T17:23:00.000-07:00

This past week I was up in Indianapolis at the Keystone Conference, a really productive meeting of some wonderful people who share a commitment to bringing Interactive Videoconferencing to K12 students and teachers worldwide. It was the cat's pajamas.

I jogged every morning, but the last morning I decided to take my Dell Axim out with me and try a soundseeing tour whilst moving. Aside from a lot of heavy breathing, there's some neat description and it was fun doing. The podcast soundseeing file is HERE. It's as raw as it can be, tagwise and all that other stuff, but fun. I will clean up all that tagging stuff soon. I promise. Really. Meanwhile, enjoy it! Here's a little quicktime movie I made at the end of the experience!

Update from Sunny Tennessee

2005-09-11T06:43:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to note that all proceeds from sales of the CD (see sidebar) are currently earmarked for the Red Cross fund for Katrina victims' aid. Buy at iTunes or anywhere else via download or actual CD purchase, it don't matter. We who have so much should help those who have lost nearly everything. Speaking of which, if you visit CDBaby.com and click on the link "for Charity" you'll be able to select music from the over 5,000 artists who responded this way within 24 hours of the announcement that it was an option. CDBaby's founder, Derek Silvers, is also sending his company's portion of the proceeds to the fund, though he doesn't advertise that fact.

email from a second gen fan!

2005-08-31T03:37:00.000-07:00

Hey, Ya'll.

I'll be in Indianapolis the first week of October for an educational conference (the Keystone Conference) and I'm planning to run up to Muncie again to visit JeffreyT on the goodbeershow. He just forwarded me an email from a wonderful fellow in Alaska and I wanted to share it here (for the 3 potential readers of this blog, heheheeheee). Anyway, if that doesn't make one feel old (and lucky, at the same time), go figure. I do have to say that his blog and the pics there make me miss Alaska in a bad way...

From: Sean Rhodes
Date: Aug 30, 2005 4:06 PM
Subject: Last Frontier Band
To: jeffreytmeyer@gmail.com

Jeffrey,

I have been listening to your podcast from #3 and enjoy it tons. I am a commercial fisherman in Alaska and have spent most of my life up here. I was totally surprised to here your podcast with the Last Frontier Band, I remember my parents going to see them when they played in Anchorage, great music. Can you tell me how I can get ahold of some of their music?

Your show is great and I mostly listen while out on fishing trips, it makes the beer taste oh so much better when we hit the bar in port. Rarely do we drink while out fishing but if we do it is usually "football beer". Cans are much easier to deal with than bottles while on the boat.

Keep up the good work, I'll be looking forward to the next show.

Take it easy,

Sean Rhodes
Check out my blog at

http://therhodes.blogspot.com/

LongTimeNoPost

2005-08-28T05:09:00.000-07:00

Been busy, ya'll, with the Snacks4theBrain! podcast and getting my school computer lab ready for the lovely young'uns.

I have it on good authority that I'll be visiting Muncie again the first week of October to drop in on our buddies at the goodbeershow one more time. Just a little sidestep off the educational path from the Keystone Conference in Indianapolis that week. Sort of a hop-skip-jump Tuesday night then right back on for the sessions on Wednesday. I'll probably take a growler of Yazoo Onward Stout this time. And maybe a couple bottles of the Lion Stout I recently discovered in Nashville, a very tasty brew from Nepal, of all places.

goodbeershow revision alert!

2005-07-04T14:37:00.000-07:00

Hey,

The goodbeershow recording will be made with a live appearance by moi on July 11 and available for download at thegoodbeershow website a few days later!

Optomystic's Stuff : CafePress.com

2005-06-19T07:48:00.000-07:00

Optomystic's Stuff : CafePress.com is where you can pick up all kinds of stuff to share the joy!

Gmail - Inbox

2005-06-18T04:55:00.000-07:00

Wow. Just got word Jeffrey T. at the goodbeershow will feature the LFB CD on his July 28th show! Give it a listen, ya'll!!!

Yahoo! Mail - scottmerrick.geo@yahoo.com

2005-06-14T15:00:00.000-07:00

Just listening to my very first "Diary of a Listener" at the Richard Vobes Radio Show! It runs all week, 7 days, starting wirh episode 145. Heheheheheee.

Optomystic

2005-06-12T14:30:00.000-07:00

Just finished and sent off my 7th "Diary of a Listener" for the Richard Vobes Radio Show! The last one was a soundseeing tour of the local Bass Pro Shops megastore. Heeeeeeeeheeeee.

goodbeershow

2005-06-11T07:58:00.000-07:00

goodbeershow

Just got word that Jeff at the goodbeershow may play my "Full Tilt Tomorrow" song on one of his upcoming shows. I sent him a CD from CDBaby, too, so maybe you'll hear some more of "Scott Merrick's Songs for Alaska, Featuring the Last Frontier Band"!!!

More noodling with podcasts

2005-06-10T08:22:00.000-07:00

I'm nearly finished creating 7 little 2 minute "Diary of a Listener" sound files for the fabulousfantasticmarvelouslyentertaining Richard Vobes Radio Show podcast and de man heeself tells me that he'll feature them for a full week sometime. I'll post here when he does so that you can hear 'em.

All part of the process of learning how to do this so's Opto can have heeeeez very own podcast.

HelloHelloHello

2005-06-09T10:22:00.000-07:00

I'm just basking in wonderment after hearing my dopey little promo on the SoccergirlIncorporated (rated "mature" for adult content) podcast (see show #21). Just noodling around on Adobe Audition and having fun to create a little something for her show in competition for one of her 4 PodcastPickle hats. I won one! Coolio.

Good Day Ya'll

2004-12-18T06:41:00.000-08:00

Looking out my squareport (one of the three triple windows that face out of my grumbly onto the back yard) into a beautiful but frigid winter day. My dad's rusted 5gallon gasoline can, several empty clay pots with lovely patina, the 70 foot black elm, stripped bare now of its greenery, hosting several huge squirrel nests, on to my hammock (really must bring that in for the winter) then the monkeybars and swingset I built with my bare paws that summer so long ago when my daughter was wee, past the overgrown fence, past my neighbor's siding-encased house, on past to crisp blueblue sky.

Yep, I think I'm going to start using this thing some. I really must rediscover the fun of words, start writing some for fun, and figure some things out.

Cheers,
Picture here later
me