Radio Free Burrito Archives: The RFB Mixtape, Volume One

As long as I can remember, my friends and I made mix tapes for each other. We'd grab stuff off the radio, record each other talking, tape tracks from records, and even grab stuff off the television.

A few minutes on the Internets revealed that I was not unique at all in this activity, which is as unsurprising as it is totally awesome.

I found myself in an empty house this weekend, and I became inspired by a midnight viewing of Videodrome to audio hijack some dialog from the film, drop in some of the weird audio I've scraped off the tubes in the last couple of months, and put it all together just like I did with those magnetic tapes so many years ago.

The audio levels are not as equalized as I'd like, but that's the way it was back then, too, so try to think of it as part of the charm, instead of an annoying technical failing on my part.

There aren't any show notes for this one, because we didn't bother to make show notes back in the old days. There are some titles embedded in the file, though, so you can imagine that they're scrawled on the TDK cardboard insert in blue Bic pen.

This was fun as hell to make, and I hope you like it. If you can spare a mirror, I'd be most grateful, because the file is quite large to preserve the audio quality.

• Mirror  (Thanks, herdivineshadow!)
• Mirror via MoronLife.com (Thanks, Clay!)
• Mirror on S3 (Thanks, Keith!)
• Mirror at Effluxity (Thanks, John!)

Torrents, from Brian May:

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

Low (mono, VBR bit rate range 0-24, 5.6 megs):http://athena.unearthed.org/torrents/radio_free_burritos_mix_tape_volume_one-low.mp3.torrent

Download radio_free_burritos_mix_tape_volume_one.mp3

TRT: 32:30
Filesize: 29.6 MB (Yep, it's all music, so it's huge, even encoded at 128).

(Image via Make)

Radio Free Burrito Archives: Episode Nine

Inspired by Goldfinger (the movie, not the band) and alone and a little bored in an empty house while my family is away, I decided to do a special episode of Radio Free Burrito.

This is entirely a music show, playing Exotica, Easy Listening, and Lounge Music from Comfort Stand Records, which is totally awesome and releases its artists under a Creative Commons License.

I had a giant pile of fun doing this show, and I hope you have a good time listening to it.

Show Notes:

• I tried to use chapters and images in this, because the latest version of GarageBand makes it appear easy. I don't know if I did it right.
• All the artists I played are at Comfort Stand dot Com.
• I played music from:
  • Coconut Monkeyrocket
  • Dana Countryman
  • Martinibomb
  • Skip Heller
• If you liked the music I played, and you want to hear more, Wikipedia's Lounge Music page is a great place to start.
• I also mentioned Joe Frank, who is awesome.
• Comments can be sent to podcast at wil wheaton dot net. Please use a descriptive subject line.
• Radio Free Burrito is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License.

This episode weighs in at 37 minutes, is 18.3 MB, and is in m4a format, instead of mp3 format, because I'm tired and not in the mood to remember how to convert it to an mp3 that still sounds good. I don't think it's that big a deal at the moment, because the size appears to be consistent with older episodes of the good old RFB.

Download radio_free_burrito_episode_nine.m4a

Enjoy!

Update: Our good friend and Torrent-Creating Guy Mann Dude, Brian has created two different .torrent files for Super Happy Funtimes:

High (orig):
http://athena.unearthed.org/torrents/radio_free_burrito_episode_nine.m4a.torrent

Low (mono, VBR bit rate range 0-24, 6.7 megs):
http://athena.unearthed.org/torrents/radio_free_burrito_episode_nine-low.mp3.torrent

Thanks for the .torrents, Brian, and thank you to everyone else who sent in comments or feedback. It's awesome to hear from listeners who enjoyed the show, and inspires me to do more in the mysterious future.

Radio Free Burrito Archives: Episode Five

I issued myself a challenge a few weeks ago: do one ten-minute podcast a day for a week. Then I went and got sick, and wasn't in any shape to do begin the challenge . . . until tonight.

I thought that it would be very manageable to commit ten minutes per day to do a show, but don't know if I like the format; ten minutes is hardly enough time to get started, let alone do an entire show, so I will thank in advance those of you who endure this little experiment with me over the next few days. I am nearly positive that by the end of the week, I'll be back to 37 minutes at a time.

Oh, and before I get into the show notes: does someone want to do a Radio Free Burrito logo? I am thinking something simple that is inspired by the old RKO logo (a radio tower on top of the earth) or something similar like that. I'm a big fan of simple, 1940s-looking radio design, if you know what I'm talking about.

If any of you guys with crazy Photoshop or GIMP skills want to send me something, I'd love to see it. If I pick your design, I'll give you credit by name and with a link to your website or blog, and I'll send you an autographed book. I should probably put in some legal language, like, uh, anything you send me becomes my property, and I can do whatever I want with it, even put it into a shotgun wedding with the Crushinator. You can put "Wil Wheaton's Radio Free Burrito" and use the tagline ". . . an interesting podcast" if you want.

Here are a few show notes for this very brief episode:

• The music comes from Mike Doughty's "Down on the River by the Sugar Plant," which is on Skittish and Rockity Roll. I just realized that I used a song which you can't download from his site by mistake, so I hope he doesn't sue me or kick my ass. In any case, I encourage you to buy his albums, because they totally fucking rule.
• Comments can be sent to podcast at wil wheaton dot net, questions can be sent to ask at wil wheaton dot net. Please use a descriptive subject line.
• Radio Free Burrito is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License.
• This episode is 10:16 and weighs in at 4.1 MB.

Okay, that's it for today. I hope you enjoy the abbreviated Radio Free Burrito. Thanks for listening. 

Download radio_free_burrito_episode_five.mp3

(photo via flickr user Eris23)

Update – Thank to to everyone who sent in (or linked to) logos. There are so many cool logos, I will probably use several of them this week before I settle on an "official" RFB logo. I appreciate your time and creative efforts, everyone!

Also, WWdN:iX reader and Head Torrent Monkey Brian has your high and low torrent needs covered:

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

Low (mono, VBR bit rate range 0-24, 1.8 megs):
http://athena.unearthed.org/torrents/radio_free_burrito_episode_five-low.mp3.torrent

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

<

p style=”margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; “>Thanks, Brian!

Radio Free Burrito Archives: Episode Four

Yes, it is true! At long last, the long-overdue Episode Four is here. According to certain other episode-numbered series, this should be the episode that grabs everyone's attention and establishes me as a Force to be reckoned with . . . but it will be the next episode that proves to be my best ever, one which I'll never be able to top.

I guess I should figure out a way to get a hold of Lawrence Kasdan, huh?

This episode is another audio diary one, this time centered around an audition I had this morning for a new Nickelodeon animated series. It was an awesome audition, thanks entirely to the totally cool people who I read for, who made me feel welcome, and enthusiastically worked with me to bring my version of this character to life. (I know some of you read my blog, so thank you for doing that. I had an awesome time today. You guys rock.)

The audio diary is 33 minutes long, so I didn't do Q&A in this show, but it will be back in the next show. In fact, I'll devote most of the next show to Q&A, since many of you have written in that you like that, and it's pretty damn easy for me to answer questions about myself.

Show Notes:

• The intro music is "Gone for Good" by The Shins, from their album Chutes Too Narrow. In Garden State, Natalie Portman says that The Shins will change your life, and plays New Slang to back up this bold statement. I think New Slang is a great song, but it doesn't have the emotional resonance for me that Gone for Good does. Why? Listen to the podcast to find out. For those of you scoring at home, the updated board should read Garden State: 0 Wil: 1
• The link to save Teen Titans is:http://www.titanstower.com/source/animated/saveseason6.html
• The song you heard from Nada Surf is Neither Heaven Nor Space, and it's off their nearly-perfect album Let Go.
• There's a picture from inside Nickelodeon, which I snapped with my super-stealth cameraphone, in my Buzznet blog. I meant to mention this months ago, but Buzznet has this thing where you can make posters, calendars, books, or postcards from your Buzznet images. I have a book filled with images taken up until last summer, and it's really cool.
• Comments can be sent to podcast at wil wheaton dot net, questions can be sent to ask at wil wheaton dot net. Please use a descriptive subject line.
• Radio Free Burrito is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License.

The entire show is 47 minutes long (ouch. sorry about that.) and weighs in at 18.8MB. Enjoy!

Download radio_free_burrito_episode_four.mp3

Update: WWdN:iX reader Brian has created the following .torrent low-fi mirrors:

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

Low (mono, VBR bit rate range 8-24, 8.1 megs):
http://athena.unearthed.org/torrents/radio_free_burrito_episode_four-low.mp3.torrent

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

Thanks, Brian!

<

p class=”entry-footer” style=”clear: both; margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; padding-top: 5px; font-weight: normal; font-size: 11px; color: #999999; border-top-color: #e1ecf6; “>

Radio Free Burrito Archives: Episode Three

This episode of The Burrito is the longest, yet, weighing in at 37 minutes. It was so long, in fact, that I had to break it into two parts in garage band, and use audacity to join them together. However, it's relatively small; just 15.2MB. I listened to it in headphones and through my Powerbook's speakers, and it sounds fine to me, but let me know if you think it sucks. You can also let me know if you like it, of course.

I'm not very happy with this episode, as I fell into one of my chief complaints about podcasts in general: it rapidly devolves into just some guy talking about bullshit. I mostly did the show so I could stay on the weekly schedule, and I really just wanted to share this song that I made in garageband, because I think it's kind of cool.

I'm always interested in feedback which can be sent to podcast at wil wheaton dot net. The feedback some listeners have chosen to send in has been extremely useful, whether it's praise or constructive criticism, so thank you all for that. Questions for next week's show, which will focus exclusively on family and holiday themes, can be sent to ask at wil wheaton dot net.

Anyway, If you have 37 minutes to spend listening to me blather on about bullshit, please enjoy: Download radio_free_burrito_episode_three.mp3 <– the second fixed version. The first one had huge gaps where I addicentally erased a track, while the second one had an additional track layered over the beginning that I didn't delete when I replaced the first deleted track, for fuck's sake. But this should be the "good" version now, and if you have one of the earlier versions, hermetically seal it and start planning for your retirement.

Show Notes:

• Yes, this should be called Episode Two. I am an idiot.
• Continuing the "I'm an idiot" meme, I inadvertently deleted an entire track, which took some of the bumpers with it. This results in about 20 seconds of silence around the 5 minute mark. I will repair this, and replace the current file later tonight. Sorry about that. Okay, thanks to some audacity-fu and a bit of garageband voodoo, I fixed it. Nothing to hear here. Move along.
• The intro music comes from Squirrel Nut Zippers' 1996 gold album, Hot. The song is titled "Hell."
• My tune is called "Lakeside Shadow." I made it in Garageband.
• Comments can be sent to podcast at wil wheaton dot net, questions can be sent to ask at wil wheaton dot net. Please use a descriptive subject line.
• Radio Free Burrito is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License.
• Thanks for listening, and have a great weekend!

Mirrors, provided by WWdN reader Brian M:

Low: 6.46 megs, vbr 24kb max, mono
http://badmonkies.com/rfb/radio_free_burrito_episode_three-low.mp3

High torrent:
http://athena.unearthed.org/torrents/radio_free_burrito_episode_three.mp3.torrent

<

p style=”margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; “>(Thank you, Brian!)

Radio Free Burrito Archives: Episode One

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!

<

p style=”margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; “>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!

Radio Free Burrito Archives: Episode Zero

Well, here it is! It's alive!

As I wrote earlier today, "It will either be really cool, or the stupidest fucking thing in history, and I'll proceed accordingly." My initial feeling is that it falls somewhere in the middle: it's longer than I wanted, and it's a little unfocused, but I'm willing to allow myself the freedom to make as many mistakes as it takes to either come up with something cool, or accept that I just don't have what it takes to make a podcast.

Observations on getting this thing from my brains to your ears: I thought the recording would be very hard, but it was actually super easy. I've tried in Audacity several times before, and it never wants to work, so today I just followed the instructions from Apple for creating podcasts in Garageband, and it was simple and easy. But holy shit the converting and the uploading was so hard, I felt like I had no thumbs and an IQ of 24. I'm sorry to report that this episode is only available in the stupid, proprietary, Apple AAC format, but that's the only format I could get to upload (the .aiff file was over 300MB, and TypePad just wouldn't let me upload it. That was really annoying.)

So now I need to know what you, the audience, think. What would you like more of? Less of? Is it too long? Is it too narrowly focused, or not broad enough? Most importantly: when it was over, did you feel like I earned your 30 minutes, or did you feel like you wasted your time?

Heh. The last time I felt this nervous about releasing something into the wild, it was the first version of Dancing Barefoot. This is both cool and scary.

Afterthought: I just realized that I stupidly recorded this thing in super-ultra-hyper-mega-stereo, when nifty-old-mono would have been just fine. The result is a ridiculously large file (71.8 MB) which I can only leave up for a few hours before I blow through all my bandwidth. I'll see if I can convert the file I have to mono, and if not, look for Episode .05 to hit the airwaves in the next 48 hours. Yeah, I am really a moran. iTunes won't let me convert it to mp3, and Audacity won't even open it. So this file will stay up until about 8:00 PM Pacific time, when I'll have to take it down. If someone wants to mirror the file, go nuts. Gods, I am sofa king stupid. I blame my nervousness for this ultrarookie error. When you mock, please mock me gently.

AfterthoughtAfterthought: I owe Shane Nickerson a huge debt of gratitude, because he pointed out to me my stupid mistake. I'll reveal my shame a bit later on. In the meantime, here is a .mp3 file, which is much smaller: "only" 27.3MB:

Download radio_free_burrito_episode_zero.mp3

Oh boy! Several Mirrors!

Mirror one, from WWdN:iX reader buford: radio_free_burrito_episode_zero.mp3

Mirror two, from my friend Kathleen: radio_free_burrito_episode_zero.mp3

Mirror three, from WWdN:iX reader  UglyRedHonda: Unauthorized low-bandwidth-friendly re-encoding

<

p style=”margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; “>And the coolest of them all . . . a .torrent. Man, do I feel like I've arrived now! Thanks, Brian! :)