Weekly Mix 12: March 26, 2017

A couple of weeks ago I nerded out about the social bookmarking service Pinboard, which I use to help produce each episode of The Weekly Mix. I hope you’ll contirnue to indulge me becasue today I’m going to rap with you about how I create the album art that accompanies each show.

One of the things that tickles me about producing The Weekly Mix is how much work I am able to do just using my iPhone. To build the album art that I insert into each podcast and to each blog post I start with the illustraiton of the headphone wearing girl that Geneva B has so graciously let me use for the show. I also use a graphic for the number of the show that I’ve created in Adobe Illustrator (I hope to some day build this graphic on my phone as well). To gather the album art from the bands and musicians that are featured on any episode that I add to my own album art I use workflow from my Workflow app that saves the album art from whatever song I’m listening to on Apple Music to my photos folder. From there I’ll use Instagram’s Layout app to organize all the graphics just the way I want. And that’s how I build the album art for each show.

To build the videos of the album art that I share on Instagram I import the album art I just created in my Glitch Wizard app. Once I’ve glitched the hell out of it I’ll take the video I’ve created and import it into Hyperspektiv to modify further. Once that’s done I’ll take the video and import it Apple’s iMovie app and add audio clips from the show I’m currently promoting.

I hope you got a kick out of all that. I sure do have a lot of fun creating the album art for each show.

Okay, enough out of me. Go listen to today’s show. It’s pretty awesome!

  1. Ibibio Sound System “Give Me a Reason”
  2. Dele Sosimi “E Go Betta”
  3. Topaz Jones “Powerball (feat. Leven Kali)”
  4. Superorganism “Something for Your M.I.N.D.”
  5. Hamilton Original Broadway Cast Recording “Satisfied”
  6. Grover Washington, Jr. “Just the Two of Us (feat. Bill Withers)”
  7. DeVotchKa “Dearly Departed”

Illustration: GDBee ©2017

Weekly Mix 11: March 19, 2017

This week my girl friend and I started a 30-day juice fast. That’s right, 30 days of drinking vegetable and fruit juice instead of eating meals. I’ve done something like this before when I drank Soylent for a month. But this is different. It’s definitely more of a challenge. For some reason, when I was drinking Soylent for a month I barely missed food. But when I’m drinking juice all I can think about is food. Not that I’m hungry. I just want something with texture in my mouth. Crunchy things like popcorn or potato chips are always on my mind. Or barbeque. Or a wad of hot, gooey cheese. And when I go into a supermarket or a restaurant, I smell everything.

But I like challenges like this because anything that breaks you out of your routine makes you see the world and your life in a different light. For example, until I started this juice fast I didn’t realize how many little rituals I have about food. For example, on Friday nights I’ll usually eat somethingthat’s a little saltier and a little fattier than I normally eat as a reward for making it though the week. I’m sure we all do that, right? Maybe treat ourselves to an ice cream or something? I’m hyperaware about all that stuff now.

And I’ll be honest with you, I’m never excited about drinking a glass of vegetable and fruit juice. It tastes okay but I don’t crave it like I’m currently craving some rolled tacos.

And then there are the side effects: the headaches, the hunger pains, I’m tired, and my tongue is emitting a layer of white gunk. All this stuff is supposed to pass in the first few days and then I’ll start feeling energized and my cravings will change from my normal diet to a healthier, green diet. But I have to get past these first few days. On the plus side, I’ve lost almost six pounds in the first two days, so it’s not all bad.

I’m happy to chat with you about this if you’re interested. Just hit me up on Twitter. But if you want to see the documentary that inspired us to take the plunge to do this 30-day juice fast ,then I suggest going to Netflix or Amazon or whatever and watch Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. The doc follows this guy Joe Cross on his 60-day juice fast and his trip across America. I’m not being evangelical about this, because believe me, I can’t wait to eat a cheeseburger. But if you’re interested, go watch the flick.

Okay, let’s get to today’s show. I’m sure me talking about my 30-day juice fast is not the most exciting thing in the world.

You can find me online on Twitter at josephaleo or at my website at josephaleo.com While you’re there, click the links to purchase and download any of the songs you like from today’s show. It’s a simple way to show them your love and support. And if you want to support The Weekly Mix, tell a friend about the show. No need to keep The Weekly Mix to yourself, there’s plenty to go around.

You can listen to The Weekly Mix every Sunday on KAOS Radio Austin at 6PM Central and every Friday on Bondfire Radio out of Brooklyn at 11:30 AM Eastern Standard Time.

Time for me to bug out. See you next week!

  1. Walter Martin “Sing to Me”
  2. The Exquisites “Count on Me”
  3. Mateo Katsu “Nag Hammadi 1276”
  4. Pleasurekraft “Rigel (Orginal Mix)”
  5. Kid Cudi “Kitchen”
  6. Lily Allen “Smile”
  7. Keith Hudson “Depth Charge”

Illustration: GDBee ©2017