WRRV has partnered with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention to present Rock-a-Thon weekend all this weekend (12/12-12/14). The AFSP is great organization whose mission statement says it all:

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) is the leader in the fight against suicide. We fund research, create educational programs, advocate for public policy, and support survivors of suicide loss. Led by CEO Robert Gebbia and headquartered in New York, AFSP has 67 local chapters with programs and events nationwide.

To fully achieve its mission, AFSP engages in the following Five Core Strategies:

• Fund scientific research
• Offer educational programs for professionals
• Educate the public about mood disorders and suicide prevention
• Promote policies and legislation that impact suicide and prevention
• Provide programs and resources for survivors of suicide loss and people at risk, and involve them in the work of the Foundation

HOW CAN I HELP?

It’s pretty easy: go to this page, request a song, they call you, and you make a donation. The DJ on duty plays your song. Your donation helps out with suicide prevention and treatment.

The Out of the Darkness Walks are presented year round by various chapters of the AFSP. Warwick, NY does one every September. You can find out more about those here.

Gingerbread Pine Bush

There are somethings you simply have to see to believe and “Pine Bush Gingerbread” is one of them.

My next neighbor Kirsten Drossel, owner of All Things Delicious in Pine Bush NY, has spent the last few months meticulously building the entire Hamlet of Pine Bush, NY in gingerbread house form. Each building and house has been placed right where it belongs including my own home.

The project has gone viral and attracted local media coverage including radio station WPDH who interviewed Kirsten and her husband Doug last week. You can see that interview here.

You can also check out the YouTube video below that gives you a good idea of the size and scale of the project.

You can also check out All Things Delicious’s Facebook Page. They post the times you can view the project and this week’s the schedule is:

Tuesday: 4-7:00
Wednesday: 4-7:00
Thursday: 4-7:00
Friday: 3-7:00
Saturday: 12-8:00

Donations are recommended, but not required for entry. Donations will go to the Hudson Valley Food Bank and other local non-profit organizations that assist those in need.

The display is in the commercial plaza located at 61 Main St. Plaza, Pine Bush (map directions here).

In the event you wondering what MC Mary @ The Disco is up to:

You can see her at around two minutes seventeen seconds into the video.

On a related note, I too am so fancy you ought to know.

Sign Up for DF.com Updates — it couldn’t be easier!

What’s the easiest way to know when we updated something on digitalflood.com? Head on over digitalflood.com and enter your email address on the right menu under the “SUBSCRIBE VIA EMAIL”  area. Once signed up, we’ll automatically send you an email whenever we update the site with new content, publish a new digitalflood Pirate Radio, or in general make any major changes to the site. Booyah! It couldn’t be easier.  😀

Charlies “Corky” Kelly – What a handsome fella.

It’s been five long years since digitalflood Pirate Radio (DFPR) has had a new show, but I’m happy to report that the hiatus is over. For the 2014 into 2015 season we will be recording our seventh volume, which should be comprised of at least eight episodes. We’ll see what happens from there, but I can tell you that we have been hard at work planning this season over the last few weeks.

The web site is finally all back up and running. All the content is more or less up to date (or close enough). I’ll be tweaking it as we go along, but for all intents and purposes the site is ready to go. Likewise we’ve started assembling the different pieces of technology required to record. We’ve switched from a Dell desktop computer running Windows XP to an Apple Macbook Pro running OS X. I’ll be moving over into new recording and production software as well. That of course required me to learn those new applications. That ate up even more time and delayed things. Regardless it was worth it. The new technology, applications, and methods we are using will make producing DFPR less of a process while adding noticeable improvement to production quality. In short, expect a better sounding show and faster episode turnaround.

Likewise the music for the first show has been picked. The tracks all obtained and the sample script written up. I’m happy to report we have a new addition to the show in the form of my new co-host Charles “Corky” Kelly. Corky brings years of disc jockey and MC experience to the table, as well as, a background in stand up comedy. He’s been instrumental in putting together new material, bringing new ideas to the mix, and providing content. He’s also more or less written the script. This has allowed me to focus on the more technical aspects and work more on the production side of things.

I’ve been talking with some of the past guests and cast members from previous seasons as well. I’m happy to report that it looks like many of these people are going to be involved in future episodes as we make our way through this season. This includes DJ Georgette @ The Disco, Reverend Baker, DJ SlipK, and Chrissy to name a few. I’m saving some other names though for later on because surprises are worth waiting for.

We’ll also be bringing some new people into the mix and continuing to grow the DFPR cast. I’m not going to get too far ahead of myself, but I’m pretty excited about some of things that are in the works and the new places we plan to take the show.

For all the fans who so patiently waited for this moment– I thank you as always for tuning in, dealing with my hermit tendencies, and for all the kinds words. It is appreciated.

As I always says– Let’s get into it!