Stuff I Learned Yesterday

As you'll recall, Golden Spiral Media had three shows nominated for awards this year. Arrow Squad, The Blacklist Exposed, and of course this show, Stuff I Learned Yesterday. Now I wont keep you in suspense, we didn't take home any hardware at this year's presentation. It would have been nice for GSM to win in at least one of the three categories but, as the old saying goes, them's the breaks. Read More... The post 270- Thank You appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

Today we look back at the first episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday to an episode titled, The Contagious Smile of the Garbage Whistler. I want to tell you a lesson I learned, or relearned as this case may be, while I was recently in Las Vegas for New Media Expo 2014. I've gone to New Media Expo the last three years, the first year I attended it was still called Blogworld. I've always found it to be a great use of my time. It's a time that I get to meet and share ideas with other people like me; other podcasters, online content creators, and those who aspire to share their message with the world. Read More... The post 269- Still Whistling appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

Today is the Friday Forum!! In today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I share a contribution from George. You can participate in Friday Forum by visiting our Feedback Page or calling our voice feedback line at 304-837-2278. Read More... The post 268- Friday Forum appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

Today. Today is a very special day. Not because it's Wednesday, or Thursday or whatever day you're listening. And not because it's April, or May or June the whatever. Today is a special day because it's the only day you are in complete control of. You are its master, its overseer. Today is a special day because it has endless possibilities. So what are you going to do today? Read More... The post 267- Today Is The Day appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

Last Friday I closed the cover on my sixth book this year. I’m really glad that I’ve made such a focused effort to read more this year. My goal was to read 10 books this year, and I’m well on my way to reaching that goal. The book I finished is called How to Hug a Porcupine: Negotiating the Prickly Points of the Tween Years by Julie A. Ross. I found the book to be very insightful and it helped me understand my tween daughter more that I did before. I grew up in a house with 2 other brothers so I’ve never had any experience with young girls. Read More... The post 266- Be of Good Courage appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

Today is the Friday Forum!! In today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I share contributions from Geoff and Bonita. You can participate in Friday Forum by visiting our Feedback Page or calling our voice feedback line at 304-837-2278. Read More... The post 265- Friday Forum appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

We use the word hate way to often. "I hate Mondays," "I hate my job," "I hate Brussels sprouts," "I hate that song" Even young kids overuse it, "I hate my teacher," "I hate homework," and when they don't get their way "I hate you". But is this term appropriate for all of these circumstances? Isn't hate too strong a word? I mean, wars have broken out over hate. Hitler hated Jews, North Korea hated South Korea, Catholics and Protestants hated each other in Northern Ireland, and today ISIS hate the USA. Read More... The post 264- Haters Gonna Hate, Hate, Hate appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

Isn’t criticism great? Don’t you love it when someone criticizes you? My personal favorite is when I get criticized by someone who has no idea what they’re talking about. Okay, I’m not fooling anyone. Criticism stinks and we all know it. When I made the decision to start podcasting, I never once thought about any criticism that might come in. It never even entered my mind. It didn’t take too long for some stinging comments to start coming in. Here are a few of them: Read More... The post 263- Confronted by Criticism appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

Today is the Friday Forum!! In today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I share contributions from Zachary and Faith. You can participate in Friday Forum by visiting our Feedback Page or calling our voice feedback line at 304-837-2278. Read More... The post 262- Friday Forum appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

This past weekend my son and I went to an outdoors show in Ottawa, Canada's Capital. There were exhibitors, displays and presentations about camping, canoeing and kayaking, mountain climbing, white water rafting and so much more. Ryan and I got to meet Kevin Callan, aka The Happy Camper who is known the world over for his outdoor experiences. One highlight of the show was a huge central pool where various canoe and kayak demonstrations were held throughout the day. Ryan is a member of his university's kayak club, so he was more interested in these presentations than I was. During one of the demos I found myself at the back of the crowd standing next to a man that had a huge bushy Grizzly Adams type beard, a threadbare military style jacket, old jeans and boots and a worn out ball cap on his head. For all intense and purpose he looked like he could be a homeless person there seeking shelter from the cold. Now, I know looks can be deceiving, and since I also knew how much tickets to the event cost, I figured h

Inspiration is powerful, isn’t it? Inspiration is like a mighty river that brings life to the world around us. Mark was inspired to podcast because of me. I was inspired to podcast because of Cliff Ravenscraft. Cliff was inspired to podcast because of Leo Laporte. Inspiration that started with Leo trickled to others...MANY others. I can’t even begin to count the number of people who have been inspired by Cliff. His influence is tremendous. Read More... The post 260- Seize the Day appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

Today is the Friday Forum!! In today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I share a contribution from Bonita. You can participate in Friday Forum by visiting our Feedback Page or calling our voice feedback line at 304-837-2278. Read More... The post 259- Friday Forum appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

Early evening found the four of us getting ready to watch a movie. Hunger Games Mocking Jay part 1 in case you're interested. While sitting in our living room, waiting for everyone to join me I decided to take out my iPhone to check what NHL hockey games were going on that night. I saw my Toronto Maple Leafs would be playing the Calgary Flames and I thought they may even have a chance against them. I read a couple of articles pertaining to the upcoming game, then checked Twitter and Facebook. At one point I glanced up wondering when we were going to start the movie only to see my wife and both my kids also sitting in the living room. All three were looking at their phones. I had been so focused on my iPhone that I hadn't even realized any of them had joined me. I made a decision then and there, that for the entire weekend I would be unplugging my cellphone. I went into the settings panel and turned off both data and wifi, blocking my iPhone from the world, in effect turning it into a... well, just a normal pl

By now I think most of you know the story of how this podcast came to be, but just in case you don’t, or you need a refresher, this is for you. I cut my teeth on podcasting by doing podcasts on TV, film, and technology with the primary focus being on TV. Obviously that’s still the major thing we do here at Golden Spiral Media. However, after talking about those things for over 5 years, I had a desire to do something else. It wasn’t a desire to stop talking about that other stuff, it was a desire to talk about a wider variety of things. Read More... The post 257- Stuff I’ve Learned appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

Today is the Friday Forum!! In today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I share a contribution from Barb. You can participate in Friday Forum by visiting our Feedback Page or calling our voice feedback line at 304-837-2278. Read More... The post 256- Friday Forum appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

We have a metal gazebo on our deck. In the spring, summer and fall, it shelters us from the sun while we sit on our outdoor furniture. In the winter months, when our furniture is put away, we hang a bird feeder from a ceiling hook in it's centre. The feeder is mostly protected from the elements and having it so close to the house allows us to watch our feathered friends from the warm comfort of our kitchen and living room. We watch sparrows, chickadees, finches, nuthatches as well as the odd woodpecker as they feed on the black oil sunflower seeds we put out. Some mornings there could be as many as 30 or 40 birds coming and going from the feeder at any one time. Last week, while watching with my wife, she wondered if the birds ever got tired of eating the same thing over and over. She decided to look up online what other things we could feed them and as luck would have it, we had many of the suggested menu items in our pantry. My wife filled a bowl with tasty bird treats and trudged through our snow filled d

Last year I really struggled with the idea of separating out my podcast production services into a separate company from Golden Spiral Media. I sought out several of my friends for advice, and even got advice from a marketing executive from one of the biggest media companies in my city. The results were pretty much split 50/50 as to those who thought I should break them apart and those who thought I should keep them together. Both sides also made good points to support their perspective. I thought about it a lot and as you are probably aware, I decided to break them apart. Last September I formed Pro Podcast Solutions to serve as the company that handles all of my podcast consulting and production, and kept Golden Spiral Media as my podcast network. Read More... The post 254- Working On, Not Working In appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

Today is the Friday Forum!! In today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I share contributions from Bonita and Geoff. You can participate in Friday Forum by visiting our Feedback Page or calling our voice feedback line at 304-837-2278. Read More... The post 253- Friday Forum appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

My daughter arrived home from school on Friday and instead of saying hi like she always does, she went straight to her room and closed the door. Never a good sign. Of course being a concerned parent I went to check on her only to find her crying on her bed because "all her friends hated her". This is what I was able to get out of her. A couple of weeks ago Joelle's best friend was invited to a party by a couple of girls that, for some reason, don't like Joelle. She doesn't know why they don't like her but needless to say she wasn't invited. Joelle's best friend asked her if she minded if she went to the party and Joelle told her she didn't. I remember this. At dinner one night Kim and I asked her if she had any plans with her friend that evening and she told us about the party. Joelle wasn't upset that she wasn't invited, nor was she upset that her friend went. She told us she was surprised that her friend even asked her. Joelle thinks it's ok if her friend hangs out with other people just like she would expe

Are you up for another episode involving snow? I know many of you have had enough of the white stuff to last a lifetime, but I guess we can all be grateful we didn’t live in Silver Creek, Colorado back in 1921. As I look out my window today I see a few inches of snow. I haven’t watched the news to see how much is out there, but I’d guess it’s about 2 inches. It’s nice to have a window in my studio. It’s something I never got during my corporate days. Okay, well technically I did have a window, but the only thing I could see was the tops of shelving out in our warehouse. Read More... The post 251- A Life is Like a Garden appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.