I wouldn’t be geek worth my salt if I didn’t already know that 100′s of websites steal list my content for their own sad, paltry gain.  Additionally, there’s not much I can do about it, because that’s how the internet works. Still, I have a moral, if not legal obligation- to officially provide copyright and licensing information regarding my original, mostly audio (but sometimes photos, and video) works.  And here goes.  Ahem…

All original, non-derivative* works by Sherwin Rocks (aka, SherwinRocks.com, Sherwinville, Irieman.com, Bushfinger Music Project, et al) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.  Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at irieman.com/blog/cc.

Creative Commons Logo, used w permission from drewflaherty.tumblr.com

B-T-Dubs: Works including previously copyrighted, unlicensed material  are provided for demonstration purposes only, with no basis for compensation and/or licensing, and are free to individual consumers for personal entertainment purposes only.

For more information Creative Commons and how it works, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/

I was one of the lucky ones randomly chosen to attend the first TWiT barbecue on Sunday Nov. 13 (note: No one spells barbecue this way, but Leo insisted!)

As usual I got there about 30 minutes late, because I never drive that far and forget there’s this thing called traffic…   The weather was much better than anyone expected (including Ford, but that’s a different story).  The catered lunch was excellent, and there were about 60 people in attendance.

After lunch guests meandered back into the studio to watch This Week in Tech (I guess they can say, “recorded in front a live, studio audience”).   In attendance were my favorite hosts from TWiT shows and TechTV- Brian Brushwood, Tom Merritt, Patrick Norton, and a special, unscheduled appearance by everyone’s favorite crank, John C. Dvorak.

The show itself- not one of the best, but I still love seeing it live, just to soak up the subtlies of a video production that you miss on a 20″ computer screen.

The best part of the day, in my personal opinion, was watching a live “technical walk through” of the newest TWiT show, “Game On”, with Veronica Belmont and Brian Brushwood as hosts.  Each one has a unique character, attention demanding personality, and totally comfortable in front of the camera- together? Comedy magic!  Both Veronica, Brian, and occasional TWiT crew toughed it out on stage during light setups, changes, mic issues, and kept the in studio guests entertained through over an hour of setup and technical difficulties.

Just when things looked about dialed in, something would call for a change and the process would start from scratch.  By the time the show actually started,  the studio audience dwindled from 30 to about 7 of us left.

But I didn’t care.  As a production nerd I loved being privy to the process.   I learned at least a 1/2-dozen tips about putting together and running a show, that I wished I’d known 20 years ago.  I learned the Veronica is allergic to adhesives, and that Brian’s two children have two different sets of food allergies.  No, this has nothing to do with the show- and that’s the point.

If you don’t live in LA or New York, you may never get to see a TV show or movie being made.  In this case you only see the finished product, and as such only see actors, hosts, even producers and directors, at their polished best.  Some like it that way.  Me, I like to see how the sausage is made.