Bob Redpath voted Best Of 2008 by The Cynic

You might not know this, but Bob is a published author. Yes, yes, it's true - he is a man of many talents. He was published for the first time in September 2008 by The Cynic Online Magazine. Right after he sent in his first ever submission (Beginners luck says Brenna - who hasn't been published.) Bob just received word from The Cynic that his essay has been picked for The Best Of 2008. You're dying to read it right? Well - here's a bit:

Reinventing the Wheel for Fun and PROFIT!

My work in television post production for the past twenty years has been seasonal to say the least, and, lately I’d consider it more off-season than on. When there are no new TV shows airing, there’s no work. In show biz we like to say we’re on hiatus. It’s got that voluntary time off, summering in the South of France sound to it. It feels important -- self important, but we take our importance where we can get it. When the state of California sends me a check every two weeks, they remind me its called unemployment, and for the record, yes, I sought work this week.

Read the whole essay here...

Reality Check

Everyday some new realization hits us regarding this journey. Yesterday I turned down the opportunity for work on a popular series that would have started in the Summer and gone into the Fall (and then with any luck kept going for another season or two.) In this business you DO NOT turn down work -- unless of course you're leaving to travel for a year... which, obviously, we are.

Realization: Holy crap, I have no idea where we'll be this time next year. Obviously this wasn't a surprise to me. The uncertainty of this whole venture is something we talk about a lot in this house. Hell, uncertainty is in the name of the website! But, turning down work (especially in this economy) MAKES IT REAL!

Adventures in Nanking (San Francisco)

The text message came about halfway to San Francisco -- somewhere around the smelly cow place on the 5 freeway. It read, "House of Nanking. It's in the financial district. 919 Kearny St. Between Columbus and Jackson."

The day before, our friend Gerry had told about his favorite Chinese food restaurant in San Francisco, and was following up to make sure

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Look What Santa Brought!

Santa brought passport holders in our stockings! That Santa, he's got good taste. Mine is shiny - because I'm a Magpie and Santa knows, you know. The kids have decided that this means Santa approves the trip. 

Thanks Santa

Aren't We All A Little Bit "Iron Man?"

WARNING: Super-hero movies should not be viewed while under the influence of the boredom from unemployment.

This isn't something that I would have considered writing were it not for my friend, Wendy, who encouraged me to post this blog. It's about the process of sound editing, or in this case, music editing. On the surface it can be a boring andrepetitivejob, but when you scratch just a little below that surface, the tediousness really shines through. And yet... I must enjoy something about doing it.

This summer after seeing the movie Iron Man, I attained a clarity that'snormallyreserved for vision quests or near death experiences. In this case it was probably the combination of action movie adrenaline,unemploymentboredom and movie-snack sugar. I felt as if I was channeling Tony Stark (for the less geeky of you, that would be the character played by Robert Downey Jr. in the movie.) I knew what I had to do. I would convert the garage into a lab and fashion myself one of those fancy iron suits so that I could fly around and

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