Sunday, January 27, 2013

A RebelForce Radio Weekend

As you may remember, dear readers, a couple of posts ago I told you about the best Star Wars podcast on the web, RebelForce Radio. Much to my delight, that post came to the attention of Jason and Jimmy Mac and they actually posted a link on their Facebook page, which in turn generated more page views than this poor little blog has ever seen before. Considering what a fanboy I am when it comes to those guys, just the fact they bothered to read what I wrote was beyond thrilling. But as the Ginsu knife guy used to say, wait, there's more!

On my way home from seeing "Zero Dark Thirty" yesterday, (by the way, go see it, it is an awesome movie!) I was listening to the just released second episode of RebelForce Radio, and during a section of the podcast where they talked about the start-up of the podcast and thanking people who got the word out, they actually mentioned this very blog, to which Jimmy Mac said, "Alright, that's gotta be my favorite name so far." I almost went off the road. My poor daughter thought I was insane as I started yelling, unable to believe that I got a shout-out. But wait, there's more.

Five minutes later, having just calmed down, the guys announced the winners of an autographed picture from Clone Wars actor, James Arnold Taylor, who does the voice of Obi-Wan and Plo Koon. To enter, one just had to write a review of the podcast on iTunes, which I had happily done. For the second time that day, I couldn't believe what I was hearing as Jimmy Mac read my screen name and review. Again with the yelling, much to my daughter's chagrin since she couldn't figure out why her father had just gone insane. I rarely, if ever, win anything, so I just could not believe the day I was having. As soon as I got home, I sent Jason and Jimmy an e-mail telling them that I was the one called. As I write this, I am waiting for a reply e-mail where they will tell me what I need to do to verify that I wrote the review and I will have won.

As for RebelForce Radio itself, having listened to both regular episodes and both episodes of The Clone Wars Declassified, the quality of the podcast is everything I had come to expect from the Forcecast, but better. Jason and Jimmy had said one of the reasons they set out on their own was to have the freedom to do things the way they wanted to. That sense of freedom shines through and you can feel the joy they bring to doing RebelForce Radio. It truly is the best Star Wars podcast on the web. If you are a Star Wars fan, you need to be listening.

As for me, being a Star Wars fan who has always sort of sat on the sidelines of fandom, actually being noticed by a top level program like RebelForce Radio has been very gratifying. I certainly appreciate all the people who took time to read what I had written. The experience has encouraged me to be a little more active on social media sites like Twitter. Hopefully meeting new people who love the same things I do will lead to more positive experiences. My sincere thanks to Jason and Jimmy Mac for giving me a weekend long remembered.

5 comments:

JediShua said...

Congratulations! And feel free to get away from those sidelines. The RFR community is made up of a bunch of great people. We love to have fun!
--JediShua

Chris said...

Thanks for the great comment JediShua! I certainly recognize your name from listening to Jason and Jimmy all these years. I am going to get off the sideline and am actually pretty excited (and a little nervous) about doing it!

welshslider said...

The exact same thing happened to me a few months back. I was driving home, listening to RebelForce Radio (it could have been Forcecast then) then all of a sudden they start playing my voicemail. Arrrgghh! Mt voice coming out of the speakers. I did swerve the car.

Love the blog by the way.

Rob
The Bearded Trio

Chris said...

One of the great things about RebelForce Radio is how Jason and Jimmy make us all feel like part of a community. So it is pretty exciting when you hear your name (or a voicemail!) on the podcast. I'm not sure how I stayed on the road that day!

Thank you for the compliment on the blog. I take it as high praise coming from you. The Bearded Trio has rapidly become one of my favorite sites, so I am incredibly flattered that someone I look up to has actually read something I wrote!

Mike MacDonald said...

Amazing when that happens, eh? Jason and Pete (a long time ago!) read both my birthday shout out to my son and then read my Star Wars Tale on the same show. I was at work at the time (assembly line) and the guy next to me couldn't understand why I was grinning ear to ear for so long!
That show was my "first step into a larger world" and YEARS later, like you, I have a Star Wars blog.
Looking forward to reading yours and MTFBWY. @Miketarkin