Over the weekend, Neal updated our version of WordPress for the AudioShocker blog, and everything went to hell. Neal got it fixed within a few hours. The only thing we lost was 1 gig worth of podcasts that we’ve recorded since October of 2007 (well, more like “deleted from our webspace” than “lost”).
It took me from Saturday to Monday to get the old podcasts back up, but I was glad. Why? Along with making some minor file naming changes, I was able to remaster two of our favorite comic book creator interviews in the process:
- Our 2-plus-hour talk with Ross Campbell, creator of Wet Moon and Water Baby, has been remastered. Ross is finishing up Wet Moon 4 as we speak, and we should have him back on our show very soon.
- I also remastered our chat with Brandon Thomas, creator of Miranda Mercury and writer of Ambidextrous. This episode was originally a bit rough in terms of levels, but that’s all been fixed.
But I’m not just writing this post about tech issues and old episodes. I’m also here to let you know about two new regular contributors who have joined the AudioShocker:
- First up is Shannon, our new books expert, who has already written two fantastic posts for the blog.
- Next up is Conrad, who is currently podcasting with me about the AFI’s 100 Years… 100 Movies list. The next episode of this series will be up on Friday, July 18, 2008.
Finally, I’m going to be rolling out a new feature on the AudioShocker starting this Sunday, July 20, 2008. It’s basically going to be the “AudioShocker Song of the Week.” Everything we post will be originally music by artists like Nik Furious, the Unlicensed Attorneys at Law (UAL), Dirty Weekend, Nutsack Supernova, and more. This Sunday will debut a new Nik Furious beat for the upcoming UAL album.
So, after a hiccup where I lost the entire blog, we are now running Wordpress 2.5.1. I also updated K2 and that seems to have caused some ongoing problems as well. Old podcasts should be available again sometime tomorrow. Basically, I lost deleted them… I am never updating wordpress ever again. Not exactly how I wanted to spend my entire Saturday…
But not without something special by way of Neal, of course (last I checked, there should be an AIMcast coming your way in place of the podcast). I know all 10 to 20 (HA!) of our regular listeners will be devastated to know that the AudioShocker needs to take a week off.
But listen, this weekend I:
- finished packing my entire apartment
- moved from 9:30am to 3:30pm on Saturday
- made it to the airport by 4:50pm for a 5:35pm flight that got pushed back three hours
- made it to Philly and crashed
- woke up on Sunday and moved an entertainment center
- picked up a dog that is now officially a Pittsburgh resident in my apartment
- made it back to the airport for another delayed flight
- got to my new apartment by 11:45pm
- crashed late but still made it to work today
- replied to Tom Brevoort on my Cup O Joe blog post
- just now finished reviewing five new Marvel comic books coming out this Wednesday
With that said, you’ve got to pick up Iron Man: Legacy of Doom #3. It’s nuts. Liquid tentacles, Iron Man armor with ponytails, and a wiseass Merlin wearing a traditional Bavarian getup. We’re talking mind@#$% Iron Man. It’s awesome.
For those of you that frequent the AudioShocker website, you’ll notice a subtle but definite difference. I gave the site a quick update via some Search Engine Optimization. To be specific, I gave the title tags an SEO update.
Thanks to the WordPress SEO Title Tag plugin, I was able to fit some quality keywords into our titles. It doesn’t affect anything on the user end other than bookmarking, however it should have a big Google benefit for us in the long term.
Now I’m no official SEO expert, but I know enough to get the job done right. If you have a WordPress blog, I highly recommend the SEO Title Tag plugin. And if you have a website at all, I highly recommend that you learn why title tags are important.
I will be taking a brief transatlantic starting tomorrow to the UK for about a week. I apologize in advance. Video reviews and “Girls I’d Like to Stick it to” will return upon my repatriation. In the mean time, check out our blogroll, read our bios, and peep the archives.
And remember, you can always reach me, Nick, or Justique anytime by emailing us @ audioshocker.com
Hey, I tuned up our MySpace page last night. Let’s be friends. Check out the AudioShocker Podcast MySpace profile and send us an invite. We have a few snips of the show up - a greatest hits if you will. Let us know if you agree (and send any suggestions for future clips our way).
P.S. We have an AudioShocker Facebook group too.
For those of you who follow our podcast regularly, you know that our new episodes come out every Tuesday. Well this upcoming Tuesday is Christmas and we have a special holiday gift - a nearly two-and-a-half hour interview with comic book creator Ross Campbell, writer / artist of Wet Moon, The Abandoned, and much more. We talk about past projects, current projects, future projects, and the world of superhero storytelling. Don’t miss it!
The Holidays are fast approaching, and that means that The AudioShocker may be updated a little less regularly during the next couple of weeks. Nick, Justique, and I will do our best to keep you bathed in media - but please excuse us if we miss a TV Wrapup of the week or the podcast posts a day late. Thanks for reading and keep on shocking!
