city | Croncast - Life is Show Prep

The End of Croncast

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 13:31:21 -0500

We may not be crossing the finish line first, however we are. The show has been in the media race, so to speak, and it's run the course.

We've tried for the last few months to work on the things that were central to the show.

The content was easy. It's New York. Stand outside for 5 minutes anywhere and you've got a 10 minute bit.

It was the other things that impact production that we couldn't get in check.

And after taking a look at how we aren't meeting our goal or listener expectations (you know, like new episodes), we have to call it quits on Croncast.

For the next two weeks you will be able to download anything here or on iTunes that you'd like. After that it will be up to you to enjoy or pass along.

We'd like to thank everyone that helped to make this experience possible. We will miss all of you.

Cheers, Betsy and Kris.

Tags: new york city manhattan podcast

city kid

Sun, 15 May 2011 14:35:44 -0500

Tags: kid city

broadway south new york city

Fri, 24 Dec 2010 12:32:40 -0600

Tags: city york south broadway

Wanna party, Giant?

Sat, 04 Dec 2010 22:47:44 -0600

Rambling introspection and poor writing to follow.

The headline? We'll get to that.

A little over a year ago my wife and I moved to New York City with our two children. We left a house and life in suburban Chicago, as evidenced in all these Flickr photos that serve as a reminder of our histroy.

We sold the house, packed up tight and left town in a stretch limo with six suitcases and a hermit crab in my wife's front pocket.

We arrived with no apartment to rent, jobs or money. The money was tied up in the sale of our house that was occurring in a couple days, I had interviews lined up but nothing solid and for lodging a friend named Tom hooked up a tiny studio for the four of us.

I'm going to take the liberty of speeding up this story. I'll share more of it another time.

Needless to say, things didn't work out quite like we have hoped or planned.

I didn't get the jobs that I had interviewed for. The money from the sale of our house didn't clear our bank for 3 weeks. Once it cleared we got on with things.

Which brings me to the short version of things:

New York has been many things to our family. I fell it love with every part of it and convinced my family to come with. They've stood by me as opportunities have come and gone. They've believed in me in what my own personal history will recount as one of the most challenging years of my life.

Things are on the up and I feel a little more comfortable taking the time to look at this last year as a series of challenges.

My children may never forgive me. Hopefully, later in life, they'll appreciate that mom and dad took risks in order to provide them a more interesting life. Who else gets to watch a midget hooker try to work their father at a subway stop with a sweet line like, "Wanna party, Giant?"

Nothing in suburbia packs that much excitement except a play-date at the local children's museum.

Tags: house life children money left

no seat bike new york city

Tue, 19 Oct 2010 13:18:21 -0500

Tags: city york bike seat

private street, new york city

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 13:57:03 -0500

Tags: city york street private

east side highway, new york city

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 13:55:52 -0500

Tags: city york highway side east

harley-davidson new york city | flat black

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 13:53:42 -0500

Tags: flat black city york davidson

carl schurz park bridge, new york city

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 13:52:52 -0500

Tags: york city bridge park schurz

Wild Game, Sweaty Messenger, Lucky Penny

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 20:11:22 -0500

Episode: #649
Length: 28:45
Format: mp3

To listen to this and all new Croncast episodes Get Cool!

Sweaty messenger
Worst idea to get in that elevator
The Karma follows
It was my lucky penny!
Missing buffets in this city
They're not missing . . . not needed
They would be overrun by rats and roaches
Wild game street meat

Tags: karma follows sweaty messenger wild game street meat

Season 25 Episode 24: The Croncast Shorty

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 20:07:57 -0500

Episode: #649 The Croncast Shorty
Length: 3:56
Format: mp3

To listen to this and all new Croncast episodes in full Get Cool!

Tags: karma follows sweaty messenger wild game street meat

One Man Wet T-Shirt Contest, Cellowrap, Spaniel Stacking

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 14:25:56 -0500

Episode: #642
Length: 27:33
Format: mp3

To listen to this and all new Croncast episodes Get Cool!

I won a contest
It was a one man wet t-shirt contest
Parading around Manhattan
It happened to me too, Kris
That is a sad story
Maggers' melting
They just don't know when to quit
Father's Day surprises
Waking up and knowing everything
That would be awesome
Brittany Spaniel breeding in the city
You can't just let them hump with kids watching
Seems to be a practice of hating neighbor
Oh! And if you use the Twitters, check out Ville - http://ville.ag

Tags: cellowrap wet tshirt underwater lesbian ffa one man

Season 25 Episode 17: The Croncast Shorty

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 14:19:27 -0500

Episode: #642 The Croncast Shorty
Length: 4:55
Format: mp3

To listen to this and all new Croncast episodes in full Get Cool!

Tags: cellowrap wet tshirt underwater lesbian ffa one man

Park Recruiting, 5 Years Long, Silent City

Mon, 24 May 2010 10:22:34 -0500

Episode: #631
Length: 33:18
Format: mp3

To listen to this and all new Croncast episodes Get Cool!

Short on the notes
Is a pretty good show
We're back to recording at night
Need to get out night owl talk on!
Oh! And if you use the Twitters, check out Ville - http://ville.ag

Tags: quiet new york lost nyc park recruiting pre-k

Grimey Hot, Genetically Modified, Sandbox Sweet Corn

Mon, 03 May 2010 22:58:23 -0500

Episode: #622
Length: 27:47
Format: mp3

To listen to this and all new Croncast episodes Get Cool!

Hawt in the city
Gotta keep your shirt on
Grimey in the NYC
Holding your breath outdoors
Replace all 's' with 'z'
Detasseling . . . Betsy never did it
Like a mummy in flannel
Setting you and America straight
Machine? What?
Nubile fingers of 11 year olds
I'd go back in that time machine
Growing sweet corn in my old sandbox
Taking it down with a chainsaw
What you know and don't
Wanted to win my mom a car
Address I would get stumped
The play shanty
Oh! And if you use the Twitters, check out Ville - http://ville.ag

Tags: grimey hot sweet corn detasseling chainsaw sandbox

Season 24 Episode 22: The Croncast Shorty

Mon, 03 May 2010 22:55:14 -0500

Episode: #622 The Croncast Shorty
Length: 4:58
Format: mp3

To listen to this and all new Croncast episodes in full Get Cool!

Tags: grimey hot sweet corn detasseling chainsaw sandbox

The San Antonio, Doddering Bus Surfers, UES

Wed, 14 Apr 2010 09:14:17 -0500

Episode: #614
Length: 31:21
Format: mp3

To listen to this and all new Croncast episodes Get Cool!

Those embarrassing moments
Like smelling yourself
Baby, you looked like a pigeon
The beauty of marriage
Not really, honey
Just behave normally
That's how I will pick up the next one
The Freudian slips begin
Who is the hot lady standing at my door?
Oh, that is my wife
Whew!
I can hit on her full force
Beauty to bloodhound or Bloodhound to beauty
Betsy telling the Wheel of Fortune story grows
It has a life of its own
How I won my to Upper East Side
Sounds way better than paid off my credit cards, wah wah
No affairs with shirtless men
Nothing
Making the sacrifice
The relationship that you have with the city
And scene
Here come his stand ins
Ready to make cat calls
I did not get to go to circus school
Oh! And if you use the Twitters, check out Ville - http://ville.ag

Tags: ASPCA cat doddering bus surfer upper east side san antonio

Bloodhound to Beauty, Circus School, Freudian Slip

Mon, 12 Apr 2010 12:18:18 -0500

Episode: #613
Length: 25:12
Format: mp3

To listen to this and all new Croncast episodes Get Cool!

Tags: circus school freudian slip NYC bloodhound to beauty

Season 24 Ep 13: The Shorty Croncast

Mon, 12 Apr 2010 12:04:20 -0500

Episode: #613 The Croncast Shorty
Length: 4:03
Format: mp3

To listen to this and all new Croncast episodes in full Get Cool!

Tags: smell yourself freudian slip NYC bloodhound to beauty

Contagious Pregnancy, In The Trailer, The Burden

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 08:58:25 -0600

Show: #559
Length: 29:27
Format: mp3

To listen to this and all new Croncast episodes Get Cool!

I'm starting my road trip this morning
Show the notes must wait
Hope you had a great weekend
As I recall this show is like a therapy show
I can say without doubt that the next 5 episodes are hawt
Oh! And if you use the Twitters, check out Ville - http://ville.ag

Tags: new york city living manhattan to bx hamptons

Season 23 Ep 24: A Sample of What We Do

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 08:52:13 -0600

Show: #559-Sampler
Length: 4:00
Format: mp3

To listen to this and all new Croncast episodes in full Get Cool!

I'm at the airport putting up the show
Show the notes must wait
Hope you had a great weekend
As I recall this show is like a therapy show
I can say without doubt that the next 5 episodes are hawt
Oh! And if you use the Twitters, check out Ville - http://ville.ag

Tags: new york city living manhattan to bx hamptons

Green Pants, Entering the Scene, Chicagowaukee accent

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 18:40:15 -0600

Show: #542
Length: 30:33
Format: mp3

To listen to this and all new Croncast episodes Get Cool!

I walk out on the stoop every morning to pick up the Times
I have on my robe, bunny slippers
You wish you could afford the Times
That's true
Or had a stoop of my own
Trampled by clicking heels heading out of the building
What I like about New York is you can count on people
You can trust them
However, you can't trust the New Yorkers that wear green pants
They will slam doors on you
Push you off the curb in front of a bus
The have an alliance with leprechauns
It's true
Trying to transcribe your kids homework from accented folks
We couldn't understand each other
You're accented now too, baby
You've toured the midwest
They can't understand you
Your Chicagowaukee accent
It's all about dominance in NY
Passive dominance is the flavor of the relationship
It's like entering an improv scene
Costco in the city experience
99/100 emails are for you
We did get noticed on the street
We handled it horribly
The kids were like what?
Really you know who I am?
The walking class is stuck during the NYC marathon
Only people left were us and the runners

Tags: Chicagowaukee leprechaun bunny slippers NYC marathon

Structured Data: Follow-Up to Palegroove Blog Post

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 12:02:54 -0500

In the my previous post at Palegroove, "Improving your SEO with RSS in 3 easy steps," I shared some insight about how to setup your RSS feed URL's so that they are search engine friendly. After reading the post again, well, I missed explaining why search spiders like feeds so much. The answer is structured data.

PC Magazine defines structured data as, "Data that resides in fixed fields within a record or file. Relational databases and spreadsheets are examples of structured data. Contrast with unstructured data." I'm sure a future revised version will include XML or RSS ;-).

When your content is placed into feeds it has the benefit of being described by a template - structured data. It is described by elements in the feed the same as mine, CNN.com, Apple, Microsoft or anyone else with a RSS feed. RSS is the ubiquitous, defacto standard for syndication. The simplicity of RSS as a standard to describe your content's title, description, dates, content, enclosures, etc makes it a magic API for search engines, developers and database administrators. Your website doesn't do this. It is full of unstructured data.

On your site the post titles could be in a h1-6 tag, div or a legacy table cell with a style applied to it. This makes it harder for search engines to understand your content. Sure, there are insanely engineered algorithms that are in place to create associations between the content on your site and the code that is used to display it, but RSS makes it uniform and much easier for search companies to cache, categorize, rank and re-syndicate your ideas. The primary reason is that the feed describes the data types instead ot telling a browser how to display it.

So, like I said in the last post, "Treat your feeds with the same care that you do your pages," with the caveat that maybe you need to treat them better because the next iteration of the web is being built on structured data.

Tags: RSS SEO structured data feeds seo

Kris in Boston Friday, Meetup?

Wed, 20 May 2009 15:48:28 -0500

I'm headed to Boston this Friday, May 22nd . . . who's up for drink or two between 4-5:30 pm?

I've got a noon meeting and will be free around 3. Just enough time to get around the city and find a good place for a beer or two.

Where should we meetup?

Tags: Boston East Coast No Chase Bank

Season 22 Ep 04: Closets Full, NYC, Old Art Teacher Garb

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 12:14:53 -0500

Croncast - 2009-04-27.mp3
Show: #529
Length: 34:43
Size: 31.9 mb
Format: mp3

Show us some love and leave us a review at iTunes

Back to the normal . . . sort of
The accidental finders
People searching for cul de sac goatee
People search for that?
We last left you with the heavy mood
That's not what we're about
We're about the laughs
And I brought a funny story
Evidently they didn't have
Keep on bringing it haters
This is from your psycho needy wife
Yeah, hey loser in Fremont, we will continue to block you
Two-thirds of the opportunities are in the NYC
Start-ups are on a short life cycle
Whole life transformation . . . from cul de sac to walk-up
We have lived a city lifestyle before
I just want to have the ability to get another gig without moving after this
We have a lot of listeners in the New Jersey
Figuring out the trade-offs
Closet smoking in the garage
I need to stop that
If you want to have an f'ing discourse ping me
We're 85 percent sure that this is the path
You need to stop watching SVU
Every private school kid is committing the crimes
Mommy is an art dealer
Daddy is an architect
They are never around
Caught in the hot tub
The funniest shit happened to me
When doesn't it
I go outside the comedy shrine to have a smoke
And I locked eyes with a completely naked man
He looked at me like I had infringed his naked time
Was there a reason for him to be naked in his Escalade
This is prep for NYC
I feel like I'm just trying to be normal
And then there is the naked guy!
What time of day was this?
Noon
What was he doing?
I don't know!
You can't help but look at naked people
What do Republicans do at lunch hour?
They have naked time in their car
Rub their nudey butt cheeks on the seat
This had to be a hook-up
A bad Craig's List story
You could write SVU
It had to be Craig's List
You gotta give me the details
He also had hairy shoulders
The clothing party

Tags: Escalade naked man NYC SVU Craigslist