Juan Canary Melon

My wife and I love spaghetti squash. A couple weeks ago, we were at Meijer, and we saw these giant spaghetti squashes. We didn't really pay attention. We just grabbed one, threw it in the cart, and brought it home. Last night we were planning to eat it.

I got it out of the pantry, cut into it, and was surprised to see that it wasn't a spaghetti squash at all. It was, instead, a sweet, juicy doppelganger of the spaghetti squash, the Juan Canary melon.

The Juan Canary melon is a sweet, aromatic melon much in the vein of a honeydew. We were disappointed that we couldn't eat spaghetti squash for dinner, but we have about a week's worth of Juan Canary for breakfast.

You should have seen us hovering over this thing, poking and prodding at it like the apes in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey.

You live and you learn. Now I'm obsessed with the Juan Canary melon. It's my new favorite melon.

See if you can tell the difference. Which is the Juan Canary Melon?

Horseshoe Tasteoff #2, the Buildup

We are in the process of organizing our second horseshoe tasting event. We are still trying to figure out which horseshoes we want to taste next.

We're actually working on making the tasting more "scientific." We're doing this two ways. First, we're creating voting ballots for the judges, whereupon all votes can be tallied at the end and scored. Instead of just talking about it and coming to a consensus. Second, we're broadening our party of tasters as well to get more palates involved. Right now, it looks like we'll have at least 6 tasters. I can't wait to see how this tasting goes.

We're trying to work it out so Nick from Insight can shoot the event, and we can air it either as a Youtube short, or edit it into the next Horseshoe segment of our show. Either way, it should be interesting.

We'll keep you posted as things develop.

Questions for Us

Okay, so Nick at Insight just e-mailed and said that he has set up a special account that he will monitor, specifically for questions from viewers. If you want to submit questions for us to ask each other on the air, please use this new e-mail address. If you want the questions to be asked of Micah, send them with the subject "Questions for Micah." If you want the questions to be asked of John, send them with the subject "Questions for John."

The e-mail address is Just2GuysQuestions@gmail.com.

Sorry for any confusion. We're still learning. And we're just two guys.

Re-run tonight (sexy vest show)

If you enjoyed the clip below, check us out tonight on Channel 4 at 8:30 pm. It’s the Horseshoe episode. It’s better than the first episode so tune in. It should be called Part 1 since we are doing a Part 2.

Thank you for not voting for us as the #1 blog in Springfield. I actually did vote for us. I’ll tell you why. I don’t want us to be completely unknown, I just want our blog to be one of the least favorites in Springfield. John’s right, we can’t handle that kind of pressure. Now if there were a category on best telebloggers or best blogevision, I would certainly want to be ranked as the best 2nd or 3rd.

Has anyone seen any of the Muni shows this summer? I know “Aida” is playing right now. Since we are partly about local art on our blogevision show, I thought we should probably at least mention it. I will not be seeing any shows. I respect people who participate in and attend but I myself am not a big musical fan. I like plays. I used to act in fact. But there is something about a musical that gives me a headache. The kind of headache that makes me want to take a Craftsmen 19 Volt Drill to my head. I just don’t get it. And they’ve always got that big annoying grin when they're singing. I once saw “Phantom of the Opera” and I actually wanted the damn chandelier to drop on my head. Sorry, I’m going on a bit too much about that especially since I am trying to promote a musical. So, go see “Aida”, I hear it’s very good.

John informs me that he has received 5 questions to ask me. The boat is tilting. I haven't received any questions for John. John is a good answerer. I'll put it up again as a reminder. We are looking for questions to ask each other on the show. E-mail us at Just2GuysQuestions@gmail.com

If you want me to ask John a question type "Question for John" in the subject line. If you want John to ask me a question, "Question for Micah". Keep them coming. John says they are awesome so far.

If you need a reason to stop eating frozen dinners . . .

. . . this is it. A woman discoverd the body of a mouse in her frozen dinner.

I haven't had a frozen dinner in years, but if I still ate them, this would make me stop cold turkey (pun intended). The main question I have is, "Haven't Hot Pockets been filled with mouse corpses for years?"

The Grocery Store Question

I'm still waiting on approval from YouTube for a director's account. Until that comes through I can't upload full episodes of the show. Until then, you'll just have to deal with clips. Like this sweet gem from episode 2's Q & A segment.



Or click here.

Please Vote for a Local Blog, Just Don't Vote for Us

As mentioned in the post below, the ballot for Illinois Times' "Best of 2006" has just been released. That means you Illinois Times readers get the chance to vote for all your favorite things in the Springfield Metropolitan Area.

This has caused quite a stir in the blogging community here in Lincoln Land, with bloggers attempting to rake votes for themselves. Dave at the Eleventh Hour is actually threatening fellow bloggers with tire slashings and garage burnings if he doesn't turn out on top.

Well, I have spoken with Micah, and we would just like to say, "Please don't vote for us!" Vote for one of the other entertaining and informative blogs in the area, please. We won't even be voting for ourselves.

Just think of the disaster that would ensue. If Just Two Guys were labelled Springfield's Best Blog, that would likely raise our profile in the city and put all sorts of unneeded pressure on us to be smart and witty and entertaining. We just don't need that sort of pressure. After all, we're just two guys. We like to drive around town in our used cars and shop for discounts. We like to avoid being noticed in public. We like buying used suits at Goodwill. Giving us fame would just go straight to our heads and turn us into monsters. Leave the fame to the folks who are strong enough to take it in stride.

Plus, we both really like our tires.


p.s. I have to give props to Unspelled. He was the first blogger to break the news of the IT balloting.

Vote Lauren

This year's Illinois Times' "Best of" ballot has just been released. After reading Dave's post at Eleventh Hour, I must admit I'm thinking of investing in a state-of-the-art security system for my home. I'll definitely keep my guard up, that's for sure.

I would just like to give a nod to one local bartender, who I think deserves to be recognized. Lauren at the Dublin Pub. I think she's a great bartender, and a sweet person. If you go to Dublin, Lauren usually works nights, and as Nick at Insight described her, "she's the one with an attitude."

She's a great person, and a great bartender. She's also a great friend (read sister-in-law). But that doesn't mean she doesn't deserve a vote for Best Bartender, right?

You can vote for Lauren or any of the other categories by clicking here.

Beard Envy?

Dave posted yesterday on the longstanding feud the US has had with Cuba's Fidel Castro, and it got me thinking. Why does it seem that we're always going after the guys with beards?

Then I started looking at pictures. Uncle Sam's beard is weak. It's a pretty pathetic tuft of hair that sort of shoots off of his chin. That's not a beard at all. Honestly, I'd be embarrassed, too, if that's all I could grow (which it is by the way).

Then you start looking at all these enemies we have . . . Fidel Castro, Osama Bin Laden, Abu Musab al Zarqawi. A common theme, anyone? That's right, they all have sweet beards. I mean, just look at these things. And, we didn't really put the hammer down on Saddam until he grew out his sweet beard.

Uncle Sam doesn't like it one bit. He knows he'd lose a beard-off to any one of these guys. And he's not about to let that happen, so he lashes out. That's why he's always pointing and flexing his guns. He's insecure about his beard.

Look out ZZ Top.

Another idea...

New idea! John and I always come up with half-witted ideas that usually never see the light of day. And then there are ideas that nobody seems to care about. I’m looking at you Mr. Springfield Community Movie Project. We were thinking about the problem of having so many shows coming up soon. The problem is that we have to come up with about 50 or so question for two weeks worth of shows. It may not sound difficult but your brain can really dry up with no ideas after writing a few questions. So, here is our new idea: VIEWERS SUBMIT QUESTIONS!

We could either put them into one show or sprinkle them throughout all of our upcoming shows. We’ll come up with that when we see if there is any interest. If you have not had the opportunity to see the show, here are a few samples to give you an idea.

Q: If you were stranded at sea with a group of people and things began to get desperate, would you eat or be eaten?

Q: If you had a choice, what protagonist or antagonist from a 1980’s cartoon would you most like to be?

Q: Let’s say you find yourself alone on the Titanic. It hits the iceberg, and all you can find to save yourself is a trunk of women’s clothes. Would you put them on and jump in a lifeboat or go down with the ship like the men of the times?

Those are just a few questions that we used but if gives you an idea of the type of questions. The way we want to do it is if you want to ask John a question(s), type in the subject line “Question for John”. And the same if you want John to ask a question of me, “Question for Micah”. We don’t ask real serious questions because that would get too personal. We are a little guarded about that but we love the scenario questions. Just e-mail those questions to: justtwoguys@hotmail.com

This could actually be very fun and cool. And we will of course credit you on the show.

LMA Show of the Week -- Aquarium Rescue Unit

Aquarium Rescue Unit Live at Fox Theatre 01-20-2006

I wanted to hear something different this morning. So, as usual, I went browsing LMA. After a few misses, I discovered Aquarium Rescue Unit, an experimental jazz rock group from Atlanta. These guys are great musicians and fun to listen to. I haven't enjoyed finding new music this much in a long time. I would highly recommend this show if you like spirited improvisational rock with a bluesy, southern twist.

Look at that Pizza

I'm sure people are getting tired of the pizza posts, but I just have to put this up. I can't get over the size of this pizza. This is the kind of pizza that you could knock over on your way to the bathroom and come back to find one of the kids trapped under it. Ever since the original post on The Pizza Machine, I've been meaning to get some pictures up of the big day.

This is the story of a legendary 40" pizza and the two strapping young lads who tried to take it down.





They failed.

A Quick Lesson on Chiggers

My kin had a terrible run in with a gang of chiggers this weekend. Long story short, my sister-in-law got into a mess o' chiggers while she was outside in our yard. By the end of the weekend, she had 43 chigger bumps on her legs. We thought she kept getting bitten outdoors. Turned out, the bed had been infiltrated. She apparently carried them in after doing some yardwork on Saturday morning, and they infiltrated her bed. Every morning she woke up with more chigger bites. It took me, Sherlock Holmes that I am, and the rest of us all weekend to finally come to the conclusion that the chiggers were in the bed.

And, just so you know, the fingernail polish trick does NOT work.

Here's the wiki on chiggers.

Bumper Sticker Self-Identity

I was just out running an errand, and I saw a bumper sticker on a car that said, "Been there, done that." I found it incredibly annoying. As though any event I'm experiencing in my own life has already experienced by this person. Is she then making a claim that she's experienced every possible experience? If so, what's left to live for? But I digress.

This was the only bumper sticker on the car, a Taurus or some other innocuous middle-of-the-road car, and it got me thinking. What is it about certain cliches or sayings that are so attractive to people that they would wish to identify themselves only by the saying alone? I mean, as in the example of the woman in this middle-of-the-road car, the only thing I know about her is that she's "been there and done that." I just want to know why she decided that was the saying for her. Why not cute little Calvin urinating on a Chevy symbol? Why not a "Keep honking, I'm reloading." or a Jesus fish?

P.S. She looked pretty boring. Not at all like I would imagine the "experiencer of all experiences" to look.

Upcoming Shows

The upcoming tapings on the 22nd and 29th are shaping up like this:

• an interview with Howard Tate
• a history segment (we're currently narrowing down the subject matter)
• a review of wines that are less than $10.
• another horseshoe tasteoff (and more zany horseshoe history)
• tons of Q & A
• wacky costumery

So, I Lied

I will post this quickie from Wikipedia's article on the city of Springfield.

Springfield is also known to many as the "Chilli capital of the World." The unique double 'l' spelling is commonly used in many area parlors throughout the city and county. This peculiar spelling of "chilli" in Springfield originated with the founder of the Den Chilli Parlor in 1909. His sign in the parlor was misspelled. Other folks believe the spelling matches the first four letters in Illinois. A resolution proclaiming Springfield "the Chilli Capital of the Civilized World" was adopted by the Illinois legislature in 1993. This proclamation is a nod to the city's long chilli history.

Day Off

You won't see anything new on the blog from me today. I've taken the day off of work and the blog. I'll have some new posts ready to go tomorrow.

Later,

John

Look at these Sweet Shirts

I've updated much of the merchandise on the CafePress shop. Now, most of the shirts say, "Telebloggers with a Blogevision Show!" on the back.

Just so everyone knows. We're not trying to make any money on these items. We've set the CafePress price at no markup for ourselves, which means you only pay for what it costs to print plus the markup CafePress takes. We don't want to make any money off of y'all, but it would be pretty cool to see folks sporting our Just Two Guys logo all around town.

Dreams of a Rarebit Fiend

If you've seen episode 2, you may recall me making reference to a newspaper comic published at the turn of the 20th Century called Dreams of a Rarebit Fiend. This is of importance to you horseshoe enthusiasts who enjoy a good old-fashioned rarebit sauce. Apparently welsh rarebit has been known (or was known in earlier days) to give people night terrors. In 1904, comic strip writer Winsor McCay took the idea and ran with it in his comic strip, which was intended to be a warning to avoid overindulgence.

Here is Something I've Been Thinking About Lately

A bunch of thoughts coming your way in 3 . . .2 . . . 1

So far we've taped three shows. The first show was taped on, of course, our first night of tapings ever. For me it was my first attempt at being in front of a camera ever. The only other time was in Chicago when some newswoman caught me and wanted to ask me about floating checks. I basically just froze up and mumbled. She eventually, flustered, turned to my wife and asked her. My wife, of course, answered eloquently, and I went back to flinging poo, like the primate I am.

So, when we finished taping show 1, I felt pretty good. I'd made it through, and I hadn't really frozen up entirely. We both did pretty well, and we were excited about the show.

Then we made episodes 2 and 3, and I can honestly say we were in a completely different zone for these tapings. With a wee bit of experience under our belts, we felt right at home in the studio. We were a lot less nervous, and a lot more prepared to simply let rip in front of the cameras (not in the gassy way). And we did, and I think people who have seen episodes 2 and 3 have mostly been happy with them.

Looking back at episode 1 now, that show stands out to me as a pilot. Compared to 2 and 3, it's weak and rough. Still great for our first attempt, but we've gotten a lot better already and we will continue to get better. I know it.

The reason for all of this: show #1 is on today. If you watch it and it's the only one you've seen, give us a chance. It's the pilot. Nobody loves the pilot of any show. So, please, take it for what it is.

Also on my mind is the fact that episodes 2 and 3 were pretty funny. I do think that Micah and I are naturally funny. We like to have fun banter and to light up conversation with witty asides. But we never really intended for this show to be a "humor" show. We decided early on that if the show was going to be funny, it would have to be funny in a natural way. "You can't force the funny," I always say (well, I started saying it this morning when I spoke with Micah).

Now that we've had some feedback from friends, family, and actual viewers who don't share our last names, we are feeling a lot of pressure to be funny. I think the show will always be funny, but when we attempt it too much, it's going to wear thin and look to forced. So, for the upcoming episodes we're trying to write material that gives us a lot to talk about. If the funny is there, great, but I'm more concerned with the content we're presenting.

Wow, that was long.

NewsFlash: Confirmed Interview

Howard Tate, publisher of The Sangamon Star, has accepted our invitation to an interview during our August 22 taping. We're very excited to have such a talented, interesting, and genuinely funny guy on our show. Howard's star is rising in the community, quite literally, and I can't wait to pick his brain.

Should be an interesting show.

What do you get if you switch the "s" and the "p" in blogspot?

Here's a weird thing I discovered by random chance (which is really the best way to discover things, isn't it?).

If you are trying to reach this page, and you mistype the web address by switching the "s" and "p" in blogspot, you will arrive at a site called A Mega-Site of Bible Studies and Information, most of which seems to indicate that Armageddon is near and that we should all repent. Good times!

just-two-guys.blogpsot.com

Job Pros/Cons

Okay, so I would just like to start this post by stating that I have the world's greatest job--test writer. If I were able to create the perfect job for me, it would be the job I have right now. And I must say it scares me to death that someday this job will no longer be around. For now, however, I'm trying to enjoy it as much as possible.

All that said, I still feel my job has definite pros and cons. So here's a list:

1. I work from home.
Pro: It's a great environment for me. I'm a self-starter (whatever that means), and I work hard. I'm not one to sit around in pajamas and watch Judge Judy all day. I actually get more work done now than when I worked in the office.
Con: I work from home. Socialization in the workplace is one of my favorite things in the world. There's something about the interesting mish-mash of people you work with. It's cool to learn about your coworkers and hang out with them. I miss that.

2. I write every day.
Pro: I love to write, and I've always wanted to make a career in writing. I am living my dream, and that's a great feeling. I love to get up for work every day.
Con: Because I write so much at work, I often don't feel motivated to do my own creative writing projects. I have a nonfiction memoir that I've been working on for quite some time, and it's the best thing (IMO) that I've ever written. Unfortunately, I don't spend enough time on it.

3. I get to browse the web for long periods of time looking for topics to write about.
Pro: The internet is one of my favorite "places" in the world. The fact that you can, within seconds have information on almost any topic of your choosing is exhilarating.
Con: I end up doing so much web browsing for work that, again, I don't do much "pleasure" browsing, which is something I always enjoy.

4. Crazy deadlines.
Pro: I love working to a deadline. The run up to a deadline is exhilarating, and when you finish a job and pass it off to the customer, it feels great. Especially if you've delivered a product you feel especially happy with.
Con: Sometimes the stress of a deadline gets a little overwhelming. This summer, for example, we had a couple of overlapping deadlines, and it made things tough. I don't sleep well. I don't care so much about eating. I just get awfully caught up in it all, and working from home doesn't help. It's always here. It's not like I can "leave it behind at the office."


What do you love/hate about your job? I'd love to hear what you like or dislike about your job.

Just Two Guys on CafePress

Just when you thought we couldn't get any more annoying, we went and got ourselves a CafePress Shop to offer you a plethora of merchandise with the Just Two Guys logo. Just imagine yourself at the state fair this summer sporting a Just Two Guys sleeveless T-shirt!

Here's the link.

Wine < $10

Last night, John and I had what I could loosely define as a production meeting. We were deciding on show ideas. We are hoping to have guest Howard Tate on from the Sangamon Star, Horseshoe Part 2, an undecided history show and a wine show. The catch is to find a good wine under $10. I believe that there are plenty of great wines priced below that and it is great information for people who are money challenged. And most people I know are challenged. I don’t mind having a semi-pricey wine for a special occasion but if you are like my wife and I, you want to have a glass a few nights a week. That would get expensive. I know John and his wife do the same.

I like a lot of the Illinois wines and they are usually pretty affordable. I used to think only good wines came from Italy, France, Madeira (Oh Yeah!) or California but I was wrong. Wine can be produced in most parts of the country and can be very good. I prefer a red wine with semi-sweet flavor, textured yet easy on the gullet. I don’t know what I’m talking about.

Why do I drink wine? Everyone does it for different reasons. I do it for relaxation. One glass calms me down. Not for inebriation though. Wine probably shouldn’t be used for that reason. Some do it for that reason. Some do it for a little help to get to sleep. And then there are those who do it for health. We’ll talk about all of this on the show.

When Bloggers Break Real News

Several area bloggers (including Just Two Guys) are featured in Dave Bakke's column today at the State-Journal Register. I like Dave Bakke's column. I think he usually offers a pretty straightforward (which is often refreshing) approach to life. Today, as usual, I think Dave is asking some good questions.

But it's interesting for me to catch a glimpse at how professional journalists view the blogging community. Do they really think of the blogging community as a threat? It seems to me that most local bloggers are doing this strictly as a part-time venture and don't have much time to go out seeking news. On the other hand, reporters and journalists are devoting all of their workweek to finding and reporting news. The chances of a part-time blogger scooping a full-time journalist is going to be rare. Not impossible, but rare. Now, if a full-time blogger comes along, then the chances go up a great deal, but most of us blogging locally are not full-time or interested in the big scoop. If I "report" anything on this blog, it will more than likely be about a goofy thing that happened to me on a trip I made to Target over the weekend. I may throw out an occasional newslink, furnished with my opinions on the matter, but I don't see myself as someone who would be in a position to break news that people would be interested in. I'm never going to be in a position to know what Rod Blagojevich does late at night when no one else is paying attention.

And like I said in the column, that's just not what we do.

What do you do when your significant other is out of town?

Disclaimer: Okay, so this may sound lame to some people, but I don't care. I have to talk about this.

When my wife is out of town, I'm a mess. I mean, I'm not a curled-up-in-the-fetal-position-weeping-my-eyes-out mess, but I feel very off-kilter. The thing is, my wife is my best friend. It's absolutely true. We've known each other since we were in 7th grade, and we generally have a strong friendship that sits down there at the foundation of our marriage.

So, when my wife is out of town, so is my best friend. (I'm glad I prefaced that because out of context that sounds pretty bad.) At any rate, when she's gone, things suck around here. For one, she has this incredible ability to calm me. Without her presence, I'm like a cocaine-addicted hurricane with a cleaning fetish. I set a list of chores for myself to do around the house, and then I buzz around the house doing everything I can, but not in order. I might sweep for awhile, then work on the lights that need replaced, then mop the bathroom, then back to the sweeping, then to more mopping, then finish the lights. It's just chaos. When she's here, we usually eat, work out, do our house/hobby stuff, and then unwind. Without her to say, "John, okay, reel it in, young grasshopper," I'm a workaholic.

So, I pose the question to those of you who come here and look at things, "What do you do when your significant other is out of town? How is life different for you when he/she is away? Is it life as usual, or is it a complete change?"

D'Arcy's Was the Clear Winner

Here's a clip from the horseshoe segment from Episode 2. This is the "meat" of our review. (Har! Har!)

Here's a link to the video.

And here's the video, for those of you who might like to watch it right here:

Who Would You Suckerpunch?

I think it's fitting that our 100th post is the premier of our very first YouTube clip. This is a clip from episode 2 (The Horseshoe Episode). This is taken from the Q & A segment. I know the quality is not wonderful, but it's not bad for my first attempt. I'm still trying to figure out the software.

Here's the link to the video.

And here's the video:

YouTube, Here We Come!

Okay, so I'm just minutes away from posting our first excerpted clip to YouTube. I have the DVDs of episodes 1-3 in hand, and I am in the process of ripping them into .mov formats in order to upload them. Furthermore, I'm awaiting approval of a 'Director's Account' in YouTube, which would allow me to get around the 100 MB/10 minute upload limit. The approval will take anywhere between 24-48 hours. As soon as I get approval, the entire episodes will be uploaded. For now, however, I will be excerpting sweet clips from the episodes and uploading them. Think of them as teasers.

Show prep

Today is a good day to teleblog. Well, not really any more than any other day, I just wanted to use the word for the first time. My mind is slowly being consumed by production ideas for the next five or six shows. We will tape one or two shows at the fair (depending on how much tape we end up using) and four scheduled studio shows. For those who don’t know about the process, it’s fun but actually does take a little work. First, we need to figure out our topic of the show. We usually have 20 minutes to fill. If we have a guest, it’s easy. Anything else takes some more advance planning with research and brainstorming. Those are fun production meetings.

Once we have that in place, we have to do wardrobe. Yes, that is a big deal for us. We don’t wear what we wear for the sake of weirdness. We want to look just a bit different so people may pause whilst channel surfing. Half-price day at the Salvation Army is my favorite day.
And finally, John and I both individually write out our questions. I don’t know what John does to prepare but it is actually a very challenging process. I know for myself, second-guessing is a big part of the process. I will write out a question and constantly go back and forth on whether it is a good question. The importance of each question changes constantly. And not all questions make it on the air. The one thing you cannot do as taping time comes closer is to think about what kind of questions the other is going to ask. You have to completely remove those thoughts and just expect the unexpected.

LMA Show of the Week -- Hot Buttered Rum String Band

Hot Buttered Rum is playing here in Springfield on Wednesday, July 19 at 9:00 PM at HeadWest Sub Shop. In advance of their performance, I'm posting a link to one of my favorite HBRSB performances. I'm actually listening to it right now.

Hot Buttered Rum String Band Live at Evergreen Lodge on 2006-05-06

The Hot Buttered Rum String Band is a bluegrass/newgrass jam band from California. They have a nice clean bluegrass sound, and they do a lot of fun, uptempo songs. This recording, for example, begins with a bluegrass version of Elton John's Rocket Man.

These guys have been on my radar for about a year. After deciding to take up the mandolin last year, I found myself with very little mandolin music to listen to as inspiration. I've never been a big traditional bluegrass fan, but I found myself very interested in bands like Yonder Mountain and Railroad Earth. So, I headed to LMA and one day found HBRSB. I was drawn in by their name (I'm a huge hot buttered rum fan, no Christmas is complete without some hot buttered rum), but I was hooked by their musicianship.

Even if you're not into bluegrass, you might want to give these fellas a listen. There are a lot of talented young musicians changing the face of bluegrass. They at least deserve a listen. If you like what you hear, come out and support them.

Special Thanks

I would just like to publicly say thanks to Thirty for her review of episode 3. It's an incredible review. I never expected to hear this sort of response from anyone who isn't related to us (thanks Grandmas). It's stuff like this that keeps us moving forward. This sort of response makes us want to keep developing the show and making it as good as it can be.

Getting Noticed for the First Time

Often when we talk, Micah will say to me, "So have people started mobbing you when you go out in public?" It's been a joke of ours since day one that, thanks to the show, we will be mobbed when we go out in public. You know, that some day our personal lives will become so public that we will break down, crying to our viewers to please understand that we're just people, too, and that we need a private life.

Well, we both know that's not going to happen. We're two members (three depending on your source) shy of the Beatles and a lot less charming and handsome. I'm never going to have throngs of people surrounding my Oldsmobile Achieva as I arrive to get groceries at Jewel. It's just not going to happen. And I'm totally cool with that.

But, we are going to get noticed from time to time. And while we're talking about groceries at Jewel, I may as well tell you that yesterday was my first time getting noticed by an actual person who watched the show. Here's how the thing went down.

I was at Jewel, and I saw this woman (about my age) looking at me as if to be asking herself if she knew me. So I started wondering if I knew this woman, but I drew only blanks. So a little later in the store, I'm looking for a bag of overpriced shrimp (inside joke to wife), and this woman stops and says, "Um, excuse me, do you have a show on Public Access?"

I was all, "Uh, well, um, yeah. Just Two Guys." A real ambassador for public television, me.

"I saw your show. I was flipping around and I saw this cartoon, and I thought 'I've never seen a cartoon on Public Access before. So I stayed to see what it was. It was the cartoon that caught my attention but your old-school jackets that kept it."

We talked for a minute more and went our separate ways. On some level I sort of knew that as hard as we're pushing the show, both online and on the air, that at some point someone I don't know would notice me. It was just incredibly surreal when it happened, and I don't think I was ready for it.

Teleblogging

Micah and I were talking this morning, and we decided that what we do should be called teleblogging. We don't really feel like we are bloggers with a tv show or people with a tv show who blog, but rather two guys who use blogging and television as means to the same end. We are melding the two formats together (especially when we get the YouTube embeds working).

Therefore, I dub us TELEBLOGGERS.

UPDATE: We decided last night (Sunday) that when we're blogging, we're "teleblogging," but when we're on television, we're on "blogevision."

Therefore, I dub us TELEBLOGGERS who have a BLOGEVISION show.

Some Bad News and Some Good News

Okay, so here's the bad news. The way Access 4 schedules its tapings for shows works like this. You can have two tapings (4 shows) scheduled at one time. Every time you tape, you can schedule another date to tape. The problem is, the tape dates fill up quickly. As a result, after our first taping, the first spot we could schedule was August 22. At our second taping, we were able to schedule another taping for August 29th. We are scheduled to take some cameras out and do a Just Two Guys at the State Fair show but that's still mid-August. So the bad news is: you won't get to see a "new" episode of Just Two Guys until late August/early September.

The good news is: you have some time to catch up on the first 3 episodes if you've missed them. Or maybe you've seen them, and you want to invite relatives from outside the viewing area to spend an evening at your home watching Just Two Guys. Also, it's good news because it gives us a lot of time to work up the details for our next 5, count 'em, 5 shows. We already have some good ideas, and I think these shows are just going to continue to get better.

In conclusion, we have a bit of a dry spell here, but in late August and September Just Two Guys will be a juggernaut of television dominance.

The Access 4 Schedule

Thirtywhat (is it appropriate to call you simply Thirty in the vein of Fitty Cent simply going by Fitty, just wondering) has been given permission by the gang at Access 4 to post the full Access 4 schedule of programming for download in Excel format. I'm going to link to her post here and put a permanent link to her post in the right hand column of this page.

Look for Just Two Guys in the Friday lineup!

Springfield Pizza Options

I hope you all enjoy the show today. I still haven’t seen it but I hear it’s good. I love the horseshoe ranking that John did earlier in the week. Why is there not a horseshoe contest in Springfield already? Sometimes I wonder about this place. It can be so small for being so big. And don’t kid yourselves. I’m not originally from Springfield (not entirely true) but this is a big place. Any place that has suburbs is big. I was talking to the wife earlier and we are really hungry for Uno’s pizza. There was Pizzeria Uno and Pizzeria Due. It’s a great deep dish pizza that has been franchised throughout the country for the past 30 years. There is one in Peoria now. There are other greats in Chicago that I have tasted but can’t remember their names. But you can’t get a pizza like that in Springfield to my knowledge. Champaign has Papa Del’s. That’s a great pizza that our Just Two Guys graphic artist John Moss got my wife and I turned on to. Maybe we don’t have any Chicago-style pizza because Springfield likes to reject Chicago area things. That is mainly due to politics. But, we now have all of these Chicago-style restaurants popping up with hot dogs, Italian beef sandwiches and gyros. Where’s the pizza? Does anyone know of a good Chicago-style deep dish in Springfield? And I don’t mean the Pizza Hut or Papa Murphy type. Something local and good.

Photo copyright Steven C. Zinski, 2005

Updates

For anyone who cares, I've taken down the Bravenet poll. It was causing pop-ups on the site. I hate popups. I should've known the Bravenet poll would cause popups, but I got too excited and didn't think about it. Sorry to anyone who has been annoyed with popups.

Also, we want to recognize Springfield restaurants who have websites. I love to look at restaurant websites, especially when I'm getting ready to eat somewhere I've never eaten before. So, we have started posting links to Springfield Restaurants on the right sidebar. It is an incomplete list, so if you have any suggestions, send them our way, and we'll update the list.

Special Day

I love my wife very much, and today is her birthday. Happy Birthday, Aubrey.

Flash Cartooning

Since today's episode features a local, talented Flash artist, I thought I would post a link to Newgrounds where you can get your fill of cool Flash cartoons and games. Be warned, a person can easily lose 3 or 4 hours of his/her life browsing this site.

In my opinion, Newgrounds is one of the coolest sites on the web. It's sort of a MySpace for Flash cartoonists and programmers. It's definitely worth checking out.

Here's the Newgrounds wikipedia page.

Episode 3 Airs Today!!!

The much-anticipated 3rd episode of Just Two Guys airs today at 11:30 AM and 8:30 PM on Insight's Access 4. Don't forget to a: tune in, or b: set some sort of recording device so you can watch the show at your leisure.

Today's show features more playful Q & A betwixt me and Micah, and a great interview with Josh Halford, local cartoonist and creator of Nutsy and Klutsy. The interview was a first for us, and I think it went really well. Look for some special selections from previous Nutsy and Klutsy episodes embedded into our interview.

A Camera Moment

After reading Thirtywhat's post today on Self-Imposed Purgatory, (which I loved) I thought I'd post a "wish I had a camera" moment that I had yesterday.

As I was driving east on Monroe, I spotted a white conversion van with a picture of Che Guevara painted on the spare tire. There's something very absurd and unsettling about the clashing images of the suburban American full-size conversion van combined with the world's most well-known internationalist guerrilla fighter.

You know you've made it as a Marxist freedom fighter when Americans are painting your image on their vans.

I Eat Cannibals

I thought this fit in nicely with the material we've done so far in the show. Plus it's just totally bizarre.

A Shooting Star in Sangamon County

Last night I spoke with Howard Tate, editor and publisher of The Sangamon Star. He told me about a new plan he has to take the Star from its current circulation of +/-10K, to a circulation of +/-50K by adding it as an insert into one of the daily issues of The State Journal-Register each week.

This would be a great deal for The Sangamon Star, and for people who are interested in its silly shenanigans. Howard details the whole change on the website, but basically this shift to an insert one day a week amounts to about twice the amount of content over the course of a year than the Star's current publishing schedule of once a month. That's huge. For a small publication to make the leap from 10K to 50K is phenomenal. We wish Howard and the Star luck on this potential move.

You may be asking, "Well, how can I do my part?" There's a pretty simple answer to that question. Send Howard an e-mail at editor@sangamonstar.com and let him know that you would be interested in seeing the Star as a weekly insert in the SJ-R. It's going to take an impressive showing to get SJ-R interested in this deal, so if you would like to see it happen, please take the time to e-mail.

Syd Barrett

I've been meaning to post all day today on Syd Barrett's death, but I've been super busy. I'm including my my favorite Syd Barrett story below. I think it really captures how truly confused Syd became and how strained his relationship was with the other members of Pink Floyd.

From the Wikipedia page on Syd Barrett

The Wish You Were Here sessions

Syd Barrett had one noted reunion with Pink Floyd, in 1975 during the recording sessions for Wish You Were Here. Barrett attended the Abbey Road session unannounced and watched the band record Shine On You Crazy Diamond — coincidentally, a song about him. At that time, Syd had gained a lot of weight and had shaved off all of his hair, including his eyebrows, and his ex-bandmates did not at first recognise him (one of the photographs in Nick Mason's book Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd appears to have been taken that day; it is captioned simply: Syd Barrett, 5th June 1975). Eventually, they realised who he was and Roger Waters was so distressed that he was reduced to tears. Members of the band also reported on their featured VH1 episode of Behind The Music that Barrett held a toothbrush and attempted to brush his teeth by holding the brush still and jumping up and down. A reference to this reunion appears in the film Pink Floyd The Wall (1982), where the character 'Pink,' played by Bob Geldof, shaves off his eyebrows after succumbing to the pressures of life and fame.

In an interview for VH1, Rick Wright spoke about the session, saying: "One thing that really stands out in my mind, that I'll never forget; I was going in to the the Shine On sessions. I went in the studio and I saw this guy sitting at the back of the studio, he was only as far away as you are from me. And I didn't recognise him. I said, 'Who's that guy behind you?' 'That's Syd.' And I just cracked up, I couldn't believe it... he had shaven all his hair off... I mean, his eyebrows, everything... he was jumping up and down brushing his teeth, it was awful. And, uh, I was in, I mean Roger was in tears, I think I was; we were both in tears. It was very shocking... seven years of no contact and then to walk in while we're actually doing that particular track. I don't know – coincidence, karma, fate, who knows? But it was very, very, very powerful." In another interview, Nick Mason has said: "When I think about it, I can still see his eyes, but... it was everything else that was different." In yet another interview, Roger Waters has said: "I had no idea who he was for a very long time."

Horseshoe Tasteoff #1--Results

D'Arcy's Pint:



The thing about the D'Arcy's shoe is that it is really better than the sum of its parts (except for the white cheese sauce, which is just incredibly delicious). This was clearly the best of the first three horseshoes we pitted in our head-to-head horseshoe tasteoff. It's the current "buzz" horseshoe around Springfield, and it certainly lives up to its reputation. It is the clear winner of the first tasteoff.

The Sauce:
The first thing I always notice on a horseshoe is the sauce. No matter what you love about a horseshoe, the first thing you taste is the sauce, which manages to ooze and puddle its way into every bite. The D'Arcy's white sauce is a definite crowd pleaser. It's tangy and rich, and it complements the fries and burger quite nicely. The only complaint I have with the sauce (and this is a common complaint with cheese sauces) is that you'd better eat it quickly or the cheese sauce becomes waxy and hard. The shoe we ate on the show had been sitting for almost an hour, and it was almost completely inedible. As you can see if you saw the show, we had a heck of a time eating it.

The Burger:
The burger on the D'Arcy's shoe was the biggest of the three burgers we sampled. It was clearly bigger than the Thirsty's burger, but it was embarrassingly bigger than the Dublin burger. We all commented on the size difference between the D'Arcy's burger and the Dublin burger. It was striking. The thing I like about the D'Arcy's burger is that, flavorwise, it blends very nicely with the other flavors of the horseshoe. It doesn't really stand on its own. It just provides a rich, meaty undercurrent that complement the fries and cheese very nicely. It's not greasy, and it's not dry (although it was cooked a little more than I would prefer).

The Fries:
I've never been a huge crinkle-cut fry fan, but D'Arcy's pulls the crinkle cuts off by making them blend well with everything else. As mentioned previously, the components of the D'Arcy's shoe all work well together, and each ingredient enhances the other two ingredients. These fries are especially good when they're fresh. I love a fry with some crispness to it.

Thirsty's Playground:



The Thirsty's horseshoe was the surprise of the night. As we compared the D'Arcy's horseshoe directly against the Dublin shoe, we realized that the two horseshoes seem very similar until compared directly. As we had them right there together in front of us, there was a clear difference. Somewhere in that vast difference, the Thirsty's shoe slipped right in. This horseshoe was great, and I'd recommend it to anyone.

The Sauce:
The sauce was tasty, and I really like the richness, but it was nowhere near the D'Arcy's sauce. Here's one nice bonus to the sauce. When you carry the horseshoe out at Thirsty's, they give you the sauce on the side. You can go home, warm up the sauce and add it to your horseshoe. I really appreciated Thirsty's attempt to avoid sending you home with a waxy crapfest. The cheese was very tasty, and although it was "fresher" than D'Arcy's sauce, it just didn't hold up as well to the flavor of the famous D'Arcy's sauce.

The Burger:
Thirsty's burger is delicious. It was the only restaurant that asked us how we wanted our burger cooked, which showed me that they're customizing their horseshoe a bit more than just mass-cranking burgers and covering them with fries and cheese. Also, the Thirsty's burger is marinated, so it's nice and juicy. It has a delicious flavor, but it doesn't tend to meld as well with the other flavors in the shoe. It's a burger that would stand quite well on it's own, but it's too bossy to play well with fries and cheese sauce.

The Fries:
If we were voting simply on fries, Thirsty's would've taken the prize for me. They were homemade potato slices, and they were well seasoned. As I mentioned earlier, I'm not a huge crinkle cut fan, so I was pleased to see these fries. They were well-seasoned, and fresh. Very tasty fries.


Dublin Pub:



The Dublin Pub was a disappointment to me. After D'Arcy's got so popular that it takes an act of God to get seated, I started using Dublin for my horseshoe fix. You can always get in in a timely manner, and their carryout is pretty quick, too. I've always been more than happy with the Dublin, and I felt it was very close to the D'Arcy's shoe. When we compared them head-to-head, though, I could really see why Dublin is considered the other D'Arcy's.

The Sauce:
The Dublin sauce is great. It's almost dead-on the same as the D'Arcy's sauce. There's really little else to say than that. And if you're the kind of person who only cares about sauce, you'll see little difference in the two shoes.

The Burger:
The Dublin burger was not very appetizing. It was small, and it had little flavor. I was actually amazed at how small it was when comparing it to the other two shoes. Not that size is all that matters, but a little more burger wouldn't have hurt us. But really the size taken with the taste (or lack of) bumped the Dublin shoe down for us.

The Fries:
The fries were not that unsimilar to the fries at D'Arcy's, but they just weren't quite as good. This was pretty surprising to all of us, because they looked pretty similar, but they lacked flavor and crispness. They were a bit soggy.

Show #1 Questions

I thought I would post the questions that John and I asked each other during the first show. We honestly did not know if this segment would survive and the questions from the first show were considerably less interesting as the two following shows. I will post those questions later. This is not word for word but more a paraphrased version.

Micah: Do you think you were born at the right time and place?
John: No, I think I should have been born at some point during the 19th century. Something close to Walt Whitman’s time. But, in central Illinois.

John: Would you rather embarrass yourself out of illness or drunkenness in front of your boss?
Micah: Drunkenness. If you’re going to embarrass yourself, do it right.

Micah: Do you think people see you as you see yourself?
John: No, I think there is a big difference. (Watch the show for more depth)

John: Would you rather be stranded in the Mojave Desert or at the North Pole?
Micah: The desert. (Good question. I really don’t know how I explained this. It wasn’t a very good answer.)

Micah: Would you rather see a movie with a tragic conclusion or a romantic wrap-up?
John: A tragic conclusion. I just think they are more realistic.

John: Who would you say is your favorite historical figure?
Micah: James Madison. (A very long answer followed that made ME want to change the channel)
John: Who is your favorite historical figure known to commit acts of cannibalism?
Micah: (Shocked) I don’t know who ate someone else in history?!

So, that was a very short version of what was asked. If you think you have better answers to any of these questions, feel free to add them to the comments.

This Just In

Last week, Micah and I e-mailed the ladies who publish The Writers Block to see if they'd be interested in appearing on the show. We got a response yesterday that, yes, they would be very interested in appearing on the show. We couldn't be happier to have them on the show. We're going to sit down with them sometime soon and work out the details.

In case you haven't heard of The Writers Block, you should check it out here. Basically, The Writers Block is a literary and graphic arts publication that is being built from the ground up. Its primary mission is to "spread and highlight creativity in the Springfield area." And to help writers and visual artists in Springfield and surrounding areas . . . gain exposure for their work."

You can pick up copies of The Writers Block at The Studio on 6th, The Sunrise Cafe, Lost Bridge Cafe, Recycled Records, El Presidente Burrito, Andiamo, and Trout Lily Cafe.

The Weekend

Hey everybody. I hope y'all had a good weekend. Did anyone catch the show on Friday night? I was particularly happy with the way the final edit turned out. I know Nick was sort of upset at how the audio turned out, but it's no big deal. It's all part of the game we're playing. I thought it was a pretty minor thing, and the rest of the show rocked. I hope someone watched.

It was a nice weekend to be out. I hope people made it to Taste of Downtown. I went with my wife and some friends for lunch. We got there shortly after 12, and the crowd was decent. It was actually a little more crowded than I expected at that early hour. The spread looked delicious. It was hard to whittle down my choices. There were so many things I wanted to try. Everyone I was with really seemed to enjoy the food. We only stayed about an hour. The live music hadn't started by the time we left, and the crowd was growing ever larger. It promised to be a pretty nice day, so I hope people enjoyed it. I would've liked to stay longer, but we had a bunch of work to do around the house this weekend. That kept us cooped up for most of the weekend. We moved into our house back in September, and the floors were horrid on the first floor. We had them refinished last week, and they're 500X better. We couldn't be happier.

Saturday we started moving stuff back into the house and getting our lives in motion again. All in all a good weekend. I hope everyone had a good weekend.

John aka Guy Number 2

Horseshoe Poll

UPDATE: For anyone who cares, I've taken down the Bravenet poll. It was causing pop-ups on the site. I hate popups. I should've known the Bravenet poll would cause popups, but I got too excited and didn't think about it. Sorry to anyone who has been annoyed with popups.



We're going to start hosting polls from time to time here on the blog, and this is our first "trial and error" attempt to have one. Since this week's show features our first horseshoe review, we thought it would be cool to do a horseshoe-themed poll.

So let us know who makes your favorite horseshoe. Take a second to answer the poll over there in the right hand column. If your favorite horseshoe joint isn't listed, feel free to answer "Other." We couldn't put every horseshoe establishment due to poll limitations. If you answer "Other," however, feel free to leave us a comment and let us know what "other" horseshoe joint you prefer.
Later on.

John

Episode #2

You've got to get up pretty early to watch the first showing of Episode #2. It aired at 3:30 am this morning so I hope all of you insomniacs, 3rd shift people and creepy people enjoyed it. Thankfully you can catch us again at 11:30 am and 8:30 pm. I realize John already posted a reminder but I'm up this early and so I decided I had to post something. We also may have some very exciting news for all you who live out of the Springfield area or do not have Insight in Springfield. John will attempt to put the shows on YouTube and post them here on the blog. We have to wait for the first three shows to go to DVD and then he can work his magic. That is huge! I really hope he can get that work. I have faith in John.

Notice our wardrobe tonight. I realize there are pictures on this blog already but I hope it goes well with horseshoe storytelling. I think it does. I think I ate alot more on the show than John did. I will admit that a horseshoe tends to go bad after an hour so it was kind of tough. Also, John's vest may or may not have been vomitted on by the previous owner so that probably challenged his appetite. Well, enjoy the show.

The Pizza Machine

Vinegar Hills Mall has a new restaurant called The Pizza Machine. This place is wicked awesome for two reasons:
1. It has a pizza crane. That's right, I said a pizza crane, people. A pizza crane that can lift and hoist pizzas accross the chasm of despair in the heart of that building.
2. It dares people to consume its 40-inch pizza. Just so you know, my kitchen table is only about 38 inches in diameter, and it's plenty big.

So, my cousin, Eric, and a friend of his, Ryan, both considered manbeasts of the we-can-eat-a-ton-of-food world, sat down on Wednesday to attempt the 40-incher. Here's the deal: if any two people can eat the whole pizza you get a $500 cash prize and the pizza's on the house. Eric and Ryan were convinced they could be the first dynamic duo to actually eat the entire thing. Sadly, they were only able to eat about 1 quarter of it. They decided pretty early on that eating the entire thing might be considered suicide. The crust was too thick and dense to be able to pack much of it away. So they gave up before they made themselves sick and called it a day. Hey, I guess a true sport knows when to say, "Enough is enough."

Afterward, they split the remaining pizza and each took 1/2 home. Eric came by the house on his way home to let me see the monster. I'm not kidding you, the pizza he was lugging home weighed at least 10 pounds. So 1/2 of 3/4 of a pizza weighs 10 pounds. A full 3/4 weighs 20 pounds. Therefore, the full pizza weighs roughly 25 pounds. Now you know why they need a crane!

I tasted the pizza, and it was quite good. I would certainly go there to eat a pizza and watch some fools try to devour a 25 pound pizza. The Pizza Machine is located in the Vinegar Hills Mall on Cook.

Horseshoe Tasteoff, an Overview

Here's our plan.

For the first tasteoff, we chose two Springfield horseshoe powerhouses, D'Arcy's Pint and Dublin Pub, and the new horseshoe on the block, Thirsty's Playground, to kick things off. We put those three in a head-to-head tasteoff to determine a winner. Now we will carry that winner forward in a tasteoff with two other shoes. Each tasteoff will consist of three horseshoes (2 challengers and the reigning champ). The reason we chose the number three is that attempting to eat more than that will ruin our wastelines, and we're on a budget.

There are plenty of horseshoes around, so we should be able to do this for awhile.

Episode #2 Airs Today

The second episode of Just Two Guys will air today at 11:30 AM and 8:30 PM. On tonight's show we do a much longer Q & A segment since we had so much fun with that in the first episode. Then, in our second segment of the show, we talk about our horseshoe tasteoff and we give the first half of our "full" history of the horseshoe. This is the history of the horseshoe that local history mongers and tourism marketing people don't want you to know!

"You have to see it to believe it," is all I'm going to say about that.

Slacker co-host

If you haven't guessed already, I am the slacker co-host of Just Two Guys. I don't blog much which is something I do regret. The show should be called Just One and a Half Guys. Anyway, I wanted to say a few words about the last two shows that we taped. I agree with John in that they are so much better than the first show. We are still finding ourselves within the show but me made great progress. I was not too nervous before the first show, or at least compared to the second and third show. I think I set my own expectations too high and therefore I was nervous. On the flip-side, John was as cool as marble in February. There is so much excited energy that goes into the show that I was exhausted for a day after the taping. I think I worried John that I was down on the show but I was just nervous about getting better, we did, and I was just coming down from that high of taping an hour of television. I want to get right back into the studio and tape a couple more but we are kind of on a forced hiatus because of studio time restrictions. This gives us time to come up with some great new ideas and topics for the next 5 or 6 shows that we have planned. AnywayI think we have one of the best shows on channel 4. (insert punchline)

I'm excited to get this thing on the internet as well. That will let people know if they really want to tune in or not. The Springfield Community Film Project has been getting some interest lately but we're still trying to find that elusive script. We are going to some extra measures to get one and hopefully we can announce something on Episode 4. We'll see what we can do. Well, I hope you all can enjoy Friday's show. Don't miss the very beginning. It's a bit creepy.

The YouTube Question

We got a comment this morning from a reader and fellow blogger, who asked if we are planning to feature the show on YouTube. The answer is yes. I'm a big fan of YouTube, and I see that as a necessary step to really making the show accessible to anyone. Why wouldn't I be a fan of a site with a slogan like "Broadcast Yourself." That's exactly what we're trying to do!

As I posted in response to Randy's comment, we already have three shows taped. As soon as all three shows are fully edited, I will get a DVD copy of them. At that time, I will begin work on uploading segments of the show. I'm not sure how much of the shows we'll be able to upload, but it will at least be a "best of" selection. I will then provide links on this site to each of the video segments on YouTube, and I will embed them directly in to the site so people can watch right here.

The Sangamon Star

For those of you who don't know already, the Sangamon Star is a great local publication . What Illinois Times lacks in humor, the Sangamon Star lacks in news. I know that many in the local blogscene have already made mention of the Star, and I don't mean to beat a dead horse, but I would like to point people to it, who don't know of it already.

Issue 7 (July) has just hit stands this weekend, so check it out if you see one of the little black racks around the county. Also, be sure to visit the website, where you can link to all of the issues of the Sangamon Star, in case you've missed any.

I was reading Dave's For Better or Worse post at The Eleventh Hour today, and I think that one of the Betters is definitely the growing "art" scene in the area. I think Springfield is seeing a lot of local musical talent coming along, and there are a lot of young people in the area doing neat artistic things, i.e. The Writer's Block. I think the local blogscene is also part of this "art" movement, as it gives local people a chance to be seen and heard in ways never before imagined. We're turning to each other for entertainment. I think the Sangamon Star is another wonderful part of this scene.

Here's the link.

Still Getting the Hang of Things

Sorry if there was any confusion about last night's show. If you caught it, what you were seeing was episode 1. We taped shows 2 and 3 on Thursday night, but it usually takes them until early to midweek the following week to get all the editing done. And we have some sweet new stuff being edited into shows 2 and 3, so it's worth the wait I assure you.

Not to crap on our episode 1, which I still contend was a decent first outing for (just) two guys who have never been on television before, but episodes 2 and 3 are so much better. The more I think about it the more reason I have to believe that people who see the next two episodes will actually like them. Now, ordinarily I'm the kind of cat who thinks everything he does is horrible and gives an awkward "Aw, shucks," to any compliments slung my way. But in this case, I really feel strongly that we put forth a solid effort. A very solid effort.

Also, after the first three episodes have been fully edited, we will obtain them from Access 4 on DVD. Then, I will upload bits of them to YouTube and embed them right here on the blog. So, for those of you in the blogosphere who want to check us out, you will soon be able to.

Later,

John