Subscription based podcasts

It's been long enough in listening to the  "Into The Fray" podcast by Shannon LeGro, that the advertisements in the podcast bombarded me in the first episode I got back in to.

All I can say is, "Wow". 

Within the first 5 minutes, the conversation got interrupted and there was about 90 seconds worth of random commercials. There's already been a few more advertisements in this episode and I'm only 45 minutes into the hour and 50 minute airing. 

The last episode I listened to, was long enough ago, that I've got to listen to over 200 installments. I went from listening every week to being squirreled by other people's audio; so three years later, I've got a lot to catch up on. 

Which actually means half of what is in the list, I can automatically marked as played, because they're for "subscribers only". 

There are people who pay to listen to the show with no advertisements, no interruptions, receive extra features, better information, and so forth. The Patreon fee is $3 a month for the basic level and goes up to $50 a month for true inclusivity - this is a small club; only 5 people belong, according to the Patreon page. All levels have option to "pay annually" and "save 10%". 

Conversely, via Apple, the "premium" subscription is $4.99 a month or $59.99 a year. I think the difference is between the two services, outside of the "Listen Ad-free / Get Bonus Episodes / Listen First" option, is just that - you only get bonus episodes and no ads in Apple. Patreon adds merch, the ability to enter the closed off Facebook page, Youtube videos, exclusives no one else can get. Spotify on the other hand, based on just looking at the page, doesn't have an option to support? I could be wrong.

I like the show, but I can't afford the membership fee right now. On any platform. Therefore, in the Apple Podcast player, I'm sending the locked episodes to the vault. 

This "significantly" cut down the episodes I need to listen to. Sure, I'm missing bonus content and 5-10 minutes more of the show, but some of the subscription episodes are aired with commercials, so it's not a big problem... except when a sentence is cut in half and some ad for another app chimes in. It's jarringly weird because then you forget what the person was talking about and hope you didn't miss anything else from what they were saying.

Happened to me with this episode I'm listening to; Shannon asked a question and the guest started answering. He was mid word and all of a sudden I got blasted with some advertisement. It was loud because it was just spliced in but whatever AI Apple uses. When the show came back on, it sounded like I missed something. I can't tell because I'm not a paying member. 

I guess my point is, since I've noticed this is becoming common practice with other podcasts, "buyer beware" that you might get service interruptions in your audio when you least expect it. 

It's not new because we're getting them on our television shows and video streaming services already. But now when you want to cut off the world for a little while and listen to an audio program that isn't on the radio, you're going to have to contend with timed sales pitches.

If you're into the supernatural, go check out "iNTO THE FRAY" because it's pretty interesting, if you ignore the advertisements. Shannon LeGro does a good job on this and it's worth listening to. If you don't want to hear it, you don't have to. I won't judge.

Until something happens in the universe shift, be safe and well.

Cheers;

See Also

• "iNTO THE FRAY RADIO - Encounters with the Paranormal" via Audible on Amazon
  
• "INTO THE FRAY" via Audible on Amazon - this seems like a side show, but not the actual podcast / subscribers version
• "iNTO THE FRAY RADIO - Encounters with the Paranormal" via Apple Podcasts
• "iNTO THE FRAY RADIO - Encounters with the Paranormal" via Spotify
  
• "Into The Fray Radio" official website
  
• "Into The Fray" via Patreon

People take it literally

I've got a "Free Hugs" shirt that I've worn out in public a few times. It's not a generic shirt that just says "FREE HUGS", but it's the Chucky doll with his hands outstretched. 

It actually looks like this:

Amazon link is here in case anyone wants their own.

One of the first times I wore it, outside of Halloween, my mother and I were in Rooms To Go. One of the sales people sees the shirt, points to it, and asks "seriously?". I didn't realize what was going on and I asked what he was talking about. He said that I'm "wearing a 'free hugs' shirt" and am I "giving away free hugs?". He had put me in an awkward position because what do you say to that, especially since you're trying to shop at a store he works at and may end up buying from him? So I weirdly said "yes?" and he asked if he could have a hug. I had to at that point. What choice did I have.

Yes, I could have told him to kick rocks. It's weird; it's gross; it's something you don't expect. But at least maybe we could get better help in the store if I complied? 

We didn't, as we ended up finding nothing we wanted.

Whomp whomp. 

I know I get stares when I wear it, but no one says anything to me. Or, they hadn't until we were in the furniture store, not have they since.

Speed up to this week and I'm wearing it again.

My mother and I are in Publix and I'm standing in the deli line, waiting to order a Pub Sub of The Day. 

When it got to be my turn, I did my ordering. As I stood there, another deli worker saw my shirt. She started questioning me. 

The first thing she asks if I wear the shirt to any of the colleges and their games. I said no, figuring that would be the end of it. 

Keep in mind what this shirt looks like and what the movie was about.

The employee then asked if I'm part of The Ministry, since I'm wearing a "free hugs" shirt. Again, I said no. She went on to explain "how people in The Ministry go to the colleges and college games, looking to give out hugs in the name of Jesus because the kids don't have family near them and are making friends. But a hug can do a lot of positivity for them because it's a personal connection and contact. The Ministry goes all around the country to do this and it's all in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior". 

I'm standing there trying to hold my mouth shut. Like, this woman, who doesn't even look like she should be a Christian, is asking me if I'm doing the Lord's Work at college campuses. Lady, does this shirt really make me look like I go out and hang with the 18-24 year olds? Maybe they have seen the film, but I doubt they want a hug from a random stranger. 

Hell, even when I was in college (over 20 years ago), I crossed the street immediately when I saw the Krishnas on the sidewalk. I knew better than to engage with them. I'm not going to a ball game and risk getting myself in trouble. No thank you. 

I kindly told her that it is something I don't attend to. It's a nice gesture, but I don't do it. If I had kept saying things, I think she might have wanted to try to convert me, seeing how the customer in back of me ended up becoming part of the conversation and agreed with the employee. 

Guess I'm in the wrong store, city and state if I'm getting asked about specific opportunities while trying to get lunch... 

Then again, a cousin ended up getting hit on at the Entenmann's display at another Publix once... 

Don't get me wrong; everyone is entitled to their opinion. However, there's a type of conversation that shouldn't be had in specific places. A deli employee in a grocery store shouldn't be asking about religion type situations when they don't know what the customer does outside of the store. 

Yes, I understand the context. It was as simple question for the good of humanity. Doing something nice for the community; karma points. There's a difference in how the conversation can be made, however. Once I was asked if I go to the colleges and I said no, it's the end of story. Had the employee finished her inquiry by saying "Oh, okay. I was just asking because I know there's a group who goes out because..." and then drops it, I wouldn't have an issue. There was no need to go into immense detail and ask if I was part of that group, as well as including the person behind me in the discussion. 

I know it's my hang up and I need to get over it. But sometimes it's just a weird thing to me because I'm taking as much of it out of context as they are. Maybe it's a sign I should stop leaving the house. Haha. 

I've got to seriously figure this stuff out though. How to better end a conversation without it being awkward as hell and also not get me kicked out of the business.

Until then, if you want to go hug a stranger, do it, but also, make sure you're not stinky and sweaty. It's still hot out there.

Cheers;

"It takes too much to touch"

Can't finish the sentence because my what I'm going to refer to, isn't a "her". It's a piece of tech. 

But I can add another song line with an edit:

"It's getting hot out there, so take off all your clothes" or cases, or whatever. 

Okay, I bastardized Kanye West's "Gold Digger" and Nelly's "Hot In Herre" however it's for a point. 

I was at the pool this morning and it hit 103° at 10:30 in the morning.

Which is why my phone got so hot in my bag that my phone overheated itself because the sun was beating down on my bag.

Yes, you can barely see Denis O'Hare in the background. It is one of his characters ("Liz Taylor") from the American Horror Story series (season five, "Hotel"). That's neither here nor there. Just pointing it out in case you were wondering what that ghost image was.

Okay, so in full disclosure, my phone is in an old Vera Bradley zippered neoprene tablet case. A type of carry all that is only available on sites like eBay at the moment. 

I decided to put my phone in this the other day, as we got stuck in a small rain storm while at the pool and the bag I'm using to carry all my stuff (towel, water shoes, sunglasses, mask) doesn't have a zipper on the main compartment and the front pouch is Velcro. Therefore, I don't want to inadvertently end up getting my phone wet if it rains again while we're swimming. 

Which also brings me to why my phone overheated.

I mean, the thing is in a zippered neoprene bag, in another bag, in the harsh (sun)light of day. It's essentially cooking itself to a slow death. This idea that I had to save my phone ended becoming a thermal trap without even thinking about it. 

Sometimes I'm a 20 watt bulb among a box of 100 watts and there's nothing that's going to stop me from dimly shining. 

I've now got to re-adjust what I'm going to do about this because I don't want to create a battery fire at the pool. I don't think the chlorinated water and a Lithium-ION battery mix well. Plus, I can't afford a new phone at the moment, given the fact this phone is new. I upgraded to the 17 in January, so it's only six months old (welp; old enough to upgrade, according to other people!). 

I guess, what I'm saying is.. if you're going to be out at the pool or anywhere in the sun with electronics, don't keep it in a heat conductive unit for long periods of time. My Yeti sleeve has worked amazing because I get to carry my tumbler everywhere and not drop it (and my water stays cold), but for keeping my devices dry in case of rain? No Bueno. 

If I think about it, I could put the phone in a plastic bag, like the ones you get from the grocery store, and make sure the bag is tied. Or, I change the outer bag completely, so I have zippered compartments all around. I know the main bag isn't the best as it is, since it's mainly a type of overnight bag where you are just going to a friend's house or somewhere close (not traveling far since it doesn't zip). I am definitely going to readjust this for sure.

Until I can figure it out, learn from my lesson and don't keep your tech in a hot box. Keep yourselves hydrated as well. 

Stay safe!

Cheers;

See Also (links via Amazon)

• "Hot In Herre" is from Nelly's 2002 album, "Nellyville"
• "Gold Digger" is from Kanye West's 2005 album, "Late Registration"
• "neoprene pouch with zipper" key word search
• "Harsh light of day" redirect is throwback to a "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" episode as well as a Fastball album from 2000, titled "The Harsh Light of Day. #Showusyourageandera!
• Coincidentally, the Fastball album has a song called "Vampires", which could be Buffy connection too... Even though it's not, but you never know; since I tweaked the line anyway. 😁
• "American Horror Story: Hotel" on Amazon Prime
• "neoprene sleeve for Yeti tumbler" on key word search. 
• This is the one I'm actually using (and they've held up since purchasing them in 2022. I am still on 1 of 4. Totally better version than what I was using prior - different model / brand / seller): 4 Pack 30oz Neoprene Carrier (Black,Blue,Pink,Navy)

The things we remember

My friend Cat texted me at 11:30 last night, rather mad. 

(She lives north of Boston and the family wanted to go see the fireworks, locally) 

Due to the crazy weather happening around the country, Massachusetts hasn't been immune to any of the heat and humidity. It now has some thunder problems. I know there was some questions around the festivities at the Hatch Shell and the holiday lightshow ended up being postponed a couple hours due to impeding thunder storms and high wind. 

Since Cat was doing stuff in her city, she made the comment to me that "5 minutes and 31 seconds.. that's how fucking short the fireworks show was. They suddenly stopped, we waited a while and it started to rain. Ppl left in hoards. It was an embarrassment for the 250th".

I don't know what else happened or how bad it was there, as I did text her back this morning and she hasn't responded. She must still be mad because I know she had company over and they were planning an outing. 

Locally to Fort Myers, I honestly don't know if any of our stuff happened because I went to bed early and usually the boom display wakes me up. None of that happened; I slept through whatever was (literally) popping off. No one talked about it today at the pool, so maybe things were kept (relatively) quiet.

It got me thinking of what we used to do when I was little. 

I remember going to New London (CT) and we'd pack a beach bag full of blankets, chairs, water and snacks, drive down to the waterfront, find a place to park the car on the street and then place our butts on the beach. Someone usually had a radio with them and the transmission always played the Wolfman Jack radio hour, and we would watch the light show. 

This, at least, was the early years of my youth since the Wolfman died in 1995. Now that I really think about it, I think a few years it was Casey Kasem as well; the channel usually changed to one of the shows, depending on who brought the radio and how much they wanted to share it.

As I'm writing this, I'm also thinking that we only went to the Hatch Shell a real slim handful of times. I truly only remember doing the beach thing when I was little. I don't recall what we did in my later years, but since moving to Florida, we haven't go anywhere to celebrate. 

Or at least, I haven't. 

This is definitely brings back memories (now I've got the song in my head. Great....) and I am seriously trying to think of the things we did in between the years we weren't at the July 4th thing at the beach. It's tough; I'm sure we did something. I'll probably remember it later. 

As much as I hate getting political, another "memory" I'm having lately, is based on a podcast I'm listening to (even as I create this post). 

I'm currently playing "Homegrown: OKC" by "USG Audio". 

The synopsis via Amazon is:

"Dive into a case of domestic terrorism from the past that’s really a warning about the future. Back in 1995, there was a disaster that should have prepared us for January 6th and the political violence that we’re seeing today: the Oklahoma City Bombing. Journalist Jeffrey Toobin reveals the story behind Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City Bombing, and right-wing extremism in America - how a decorated army veteran became consumed with rage, how he somehow went underground and built a bomb that damaged fifty blocks in a modern city, and how everything that led to the horror of April 19th, 1995 is still very present in America. Homegrown: OKC is a USG Audio podcast produced by Western Sound and Esmail Corp. Based on the book “Homegrown: Timothy McVeigh and the Rise of Rightwing Extremism” by Jeffrey Toobin."

Everything seemed to happen during a school vacation. Some sort of hijinks during the months preceding to summer so that trials happened when I was off for summer. 

The bombing of the Oklahoma City Federal Building was one of those things. I was on spring vacation when Timothy McVeigh nearly leveled the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. The trials went on for a while. 

I remember the news talking about this when it happened (I was in junior high school) and during my college years, I included this incident in a thesis paper I wrote for a sociology class. 

Now that I'm older, I'm listening to various podcasts, which extend to historical and political things. Therefore, I'm currently listening to USG Audio's investigative piece about the bombing. This is an in-detail story about what happened during the bombing and how it led to a future piece of history that could have been avoided if we listened better to history. 

Again, I'm trying to be neutral on this topic because it can be a touchy issue. I'm listing it only because I wanted to update my blog on what I'm currently listening to. If politics or history aren't something you want, there's no need to seek this out. If you want to learn a little more about what could have been avoided, then try hearing this. I am only two episodes on, but they're long enough that it feels like it could take a bit to get through. I'm sure that will change shortly. 

In the interim, I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend and finding some fun to do.

Cheers;

See also (aka links on Amazon)

* Wolfman Jack (I highly suggest reading his autobiography. It's a pretty rad story of his life and how he got into broadcasting)

* Casey Kasem info

* Maroon 5's song "Memories" from the 2021 album, Jordi. 

* "Homegrown: OKC" podcast

* "Homegrown: Timothy McVeigh and the Rise of Rightwing Extremism" by Jeffrey Toobin (the book the podcast stems from)

Happy July 4th | Gotta take off ad blocker to watch music videos?

Quick post in between rain storms to say "Happy 4th of July" to those celebrating "the birth of the USA". I know I have readers around the world, so there should be some clarification (which I know is silly of me). 

As my neighbors have their flags out, I went over to one of them and took a couple pictures with my iPhone 17. Edited for content with Photoshop, and I know I need to practice my color correction more). 

It's starting to get a little windy out, so like I said, we're in between storms at the moment, which is why the flag is moving the way it is.

Locally, there are fireworks scheduled tonight, however, like a lot of places in the United States, we're under a ban burn. Therefore, what's going to pop off later, will be highly watched so no fire is unintentionally started.  

Which is kind of crazy since we've been having sporadic rain bursts the last 72 hours. It hasn't been enough to keep the ground saturated since it's been so hot, but the flooding in some of the streets say otherwise. It's a part of life down here - the random deluge of water and the way it quickly floods certain areas and then stops just as fast as it started. 

Hopefully the pyrotechnics tonight won't be cancelled due to storms, but you never know. It's kind of heavily overcast right now and I know my friends up north are bummed their cities aren't doing anything. 

The news today has been showing all the celebratory stuff across the country as well. From coast to coast, news anchors are interviewing locals and reminding viewers of national monuments and treasures. As this is the 250th birthday of the country, it is a special time in people's lives. It also is coinciding with the World Cup, being played in North America, so all the soccer football fans are getting a special treat. 

There's a moth sitting outside my window that is hanging out on the screen and it's squirreling me. It's been there all day and I don't know what it wants. It can't come in; "there's nothing for you, here!". 

Go. Away. 

Speaking of going away, I had to disable my adblocker on Chrome because YouTube finally caught up with me: I was having ads not play while watching random videos. 

I got a message two days ago, saying "Ad Blocker violates YouTube's Terms of Service". 

Whomp. whomp. 

Message received... I had to turn it off, unless I risk being banned from YouTube and other Google Services. 

I never thought twice about the ads, since I've gotten used to seeing them on other devices (televisions for example). When I got this on my laptop, a quick search said this type of message has been around for a few years already and it's a catch-all for various revenue streams and other incidentals.

I'm not going to get into the politics of it, but now that I read up on it, I'm surprised it took this long to get that message, truth be told. 

I'll have to be fine with it, if I expect to keep my accounts "in good standing". The expectation (in my head) is, if I'm still going to blog here, have a Google email address, utilize Chats and upload occasional videos to share, I need to comply with the ToS thing and turn off the adblocker. I'm sure it's a scare tactic as there are comments floating around the internet pointing in various directions, but I'm not going to take the chance. I also don't want to pay for premium, but if that's your jam, I'm not going to hate you for it. It's not for me; I don't watch YouTube often enough to warrant an extra subscription service. 

So there you have it. Two days of shenanigans wrapped up in a small post. 

Or would be small post if I didn't include photos. 

Whatever the case, if you're celebrating today and tonight, I hope you're safe and stay hydrated. If you're celebrating with the States from another country, woohoo! Party across the continents! If you're staying low and chill, not doing anything, I don't blame you one bit.  I remember a couple years running, Tay and I would have an email going back and forth on this day, and it would be entitled "Are you [expletive] the fourth just like me?". Meaning, it was a regular day and we just chilled; didn't do much, didn't go out. It was business as usual and the usual business was protesting something. somewhere. Even if it was just in our heads. 

Tay, if you're reading this, "Eff the Fourth. Email me; I would like to talk to you since you've taken too long of a powder".

For now, I hope everyone remains calm, cool, hydrated and fantastic. Until something else happens and I post something new. Take care of yourselves and your friends.

Cheers;

See also (links via Amazon):

* iPhone 17

* Photoshop

* "There's nothing for you, here!" comes from Edward Tatsyrup, a character from "The League of Gentlemen", a BBC dark comedy. Watch how you order on Amazon; some are PAL discs while most are coming from third party vendors.