January 4. 2009 by admin.

And knock them down.

I just posted programs #14, 15 and 16 (Volume 2 Numbers 8, 9 and 10) with Jay S. and his excellent “How AA Really Started.”  It is just over 3 three hours long and I have chosen to podcast it as three episodes.

The 3rd Virtual Speaker Meeting is up with Sandy B, from Tampa, FL giving one of his high powered talks.

The Newsletter is getting some response and subscribers, which is always nice. You, too, could be an Anonymous Review News subscriber - for free, of course - by going to the sign-up form.

And I’m cointinuing work on the first of a series of disks.  I think I will make them available as an eBay item. There is no mass production involved, just the very low-tech guy sitting at his computer, printing out lables, applying the labels, sticking them in envelopes and sending them out.  I’m think $3, including shipping.  Not trying to be greedy, but I’m trying to getthe hosting above the “free” account I’m using now - and they want the year up front.

But so far it isn’t broken, so I don’t have to fix it.

I appreciate the letters that have started to come in - it is nice to know someone is listening.

Trudge, trudge, trudge … skip, sprint, poke, trudge, trudge, trudge.

Posted in Oxford Groups, Virtual Speaker Meeting, BB History, Early AA | Print | 1 Comment »

December 5. 2008 by admin.

Happy Holidays, whatever those holidays may be. And if you don’t do “holidays” you might get a paid day off of work, but you have a very good chance for another day of Recovery.In the coming year we hope to improve Anonymous Review - and to keep the improvements coming.

First, ANONYMOUS REVIEW PODCAST will go to weekly, with more on AA History and a new focus on aspects of Recovery covered by specific speakers or mulit-part presentations from AA events around the world.

Listening to all those speakers from AA while finding the speakers for the Anonymous Review has brought up a LOT of really great speakers.  You can download hundreds of these speakers in MP3 files from the web (my highest recommendation goes to XA-Speakers.org in Iceland, but there are other sources on the links page of the Anonymous Review). We have enjoyed listening to great AA speakers and have decided to so the work of presenting them in a format as a new, companion podcast to Anonymous Review.  It is the Anonymous Review Virtual Speaker Meeting, once a week.  You can download it for your MP3 player, or computer, or to burn to a CD, or listen to it online. Unlike the regular podcast, we will not be leaving the old editions up for later reference.  We have a free service hosting our podcast and there are limits on the space available for storage.

You can listen at the day and time of your choosing, but after that speaker is gone, you can go to the next Virtual meeting.

We will be extracting topics from the Sunday  night introduction to the Big Book that was done over the past few years at a local recovery center. It won’t be a podcast, but a website where you can pick a topic and hear what these guys from the homeless shelter and the detox center heard. The working title is Big Book 101 and it will probably go up in early spring - we are still editing the excerpts.And a small group of us are working on a series of disks for educational purposes. They won’t be a replacement for meetings or sponsors or working the steps, but may be helpful. The first disk is for newcomers with lots of information and dozens of speakers specifically addressing issues for early recovery.

It will be a CD that plays on Windows, Mac and UNIX systems with a simple web-page interface so you can proceed at your own pace, and repeat something as long as you like. It will be sold, but is produced under a Creative Commons license, so buyers are free to duplicate the disk for friends.  It will be cheap - like $5 including shipping - but can be useful. Similar “educational” disks are being planned for Stepwork and Sponsorship. There will be an online preview and a simple click-to-by button to order.  Look for that toward the beginning of Summer (sooner if we can).

2009 looks to be an interesting year - more Anonymous Review regular podcasts, the new Anonymous Review Virtual Speaker Meeting, the Big Book 101 Project and the Newcomer’s Disk, first of the series of proposed “educational” disks.  All that and maintaining our own recoveries.

But it can all be one, one day at a time. Right now we’re working on the next podcast - our holiday show.  It won’t be a speaker talking about any of the official religious, but a man from 1948 with a much stronger “Christian” approach than most modern speakers, which is very common in early AA. But his message of Recovery is worth hearing … and from 60 years ago, it seemed like a good present.

Also, there is a comedy bit at the end we hope you will enjoy.

Whatever your beliefs, have a good Today with everything you need for a sober Tomorrow.

Posted in Virtual Speaker Meeting, Big Book 101, Disks, The Podcast, BB History, Personalities, Blogroll | Print | No Comments »

November 12. 2008 by admin.

This episode we offer the full speech by Dr. Bob Smith on July 3, 1950 at the first AA International Conference in Cleveland, Ohio.I think Bob knew it was his last talk.  As a doctor he had no illusions about the cancer that tortured him, and no unrealistic expectations for the prognosis.This talk has frequently been quoted, but this is the whole Magilla.  Enjoy.

Posted in Personalities, Service, BB History, Early AA | Print | 1 Comment »