May 20. 2009 by admin.

This week marks the deadline for moving our feed to a different XML, and I haven’t really be at work on that - other things need to be done, too. The new feed means you will have to update your reader (iTunes or Juice). And the previous shows remain available through Archive.org. Next Anonymous Review Podcast - Bill Wilson speaking in Ft. Worth, TX in 1954. 

 Next Virtual Speaker Meeting - One of my favorite speakers, Kelvin D. 

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March 22. 2009 by admin.

I just sent the newsletter to that subscription list.  If you would like to get an email newsletter with the latest on ANONYMOUS REVIEW and VIRTUAL SPEAKER MEETING posts, write me.

The next Virtual Speaker Meeting is up - Burns B.

The next three Anonymous Review podcasts are up:

• #13 - The late Father Martin gives his Chalk Talk.
• #14 - Bill Wilson on the Three Legacies, Part 1 (of 2)
• #15 - Bill Wilson on the Three Legacies, Part 2 (of 2)

The next six podcasts are in production and will be a single presentation in six parts - “Sponsoring into Service - A week-end workshop with Tom I. and Don P.“  This is an extensive exploration of both Sponsorship and Service with valuable insights into their importance and connection to each other.”  This series will constitute almost seven hours of information divided into 6 parts.

This moves me closer to the goal of 52 shows in a year, but it looks like it may be a smaller number. Progress, not perfection.

Another project is nearing completion - the first of a projected series of disk on specific themes. The Newcomer’s Disk is a self-paced information/education presentation with printable documents, definitions, online information and over 40 selected speakers for newcomers.  The speaker MP3 files can be transferred to your computer or MP3 player, or burned as regular sound CDs to allow you listen on the go, or to give to friends. These will be individually burned for each order and will work on Windows, OSX or UNIX systems with a simple web-based interfacde — if you can click on a link on any web page, you will be able to navigate the disk.

Next month we will post the HTML portion of the presentation as a website without the sound files or downlaods - you can take a test drive through the structure and information.

For what it is worth, the PayPal donation button is working again, should anyone want to help pay the costs of the podcasts.

Posted in Sponsorship, Personalities, Service, Featured, Blogroll | Print | No Comments »

February 26. 2009 by admin.

I’ve been preoccupied with moving my dad to a new assisted living facility, and had a few of my own health problems to deal with, but here we go again.

I was able to do the first two episodes of the six-part presentation on Service and Sponsorship with Tom I. (Southern Pines, NC) and the late Don P. (Denver, CO). The sound quality is less thatn I’d like it to be, but #1 has been processed to a fairly acceptable level, and #2 had better recording.  #3 has been a nightmare and I may have to post it with less-than-desirable quality - the content is good, so it may be worth the sacrifice of technical quality.

The entire library of previous shows has been moved to Archive.org, so we have cleared room on our primary server and the podcast publication services we have been using.  You can get all of the previous shows by going to:

Anonymous Review Archive 1

Anonymous Review Archive 2

Anonymous Review Archive 3:

Virtual Speaker Meeting Archive

Virtual Speaker Meeting Archive 2

Posted in Blogroll | Print | 1 Comment »

January 17. 2009 by admin.

“If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.”

Or so I’ve been told.

I try not to have plans, but preferences and adjust according to the real world.

For the immediate future I have decided that I will include on Bill Wilson talk per month - we have quite a few available, so we can get through 2009.  I should make that an average - I have a two part Legacies talk, but you get the idea.

I will go back to individual speakers from Early AA for a bit - Ethyl M., Marty Mann, Ernie G, Rolle H, Barry L are in the warm up circle, and there are a few multi-prestentations lurking nearby. I particularly want to share the Tom I / Don P “Steps and Service” series, but the fellowship has provided quite a few events and series talks.  The list of podcasts for the next few months is shaping up.

I want to say something about XA-speakers.org, the source of most of our talks. I had not heard of them until a friend and I went up to Virginia to pick up some boxes that were in from California, and he played CDs burned from the site all the way up and all the way back - it was really great.

My friend is back out there - I hope he makes it back. I now listen to speakers the way most people listen to music. At home, while working, in the car … recovery audio as atmosphere.  XA-speakers.org is deserving of your support and could become addictive. As with other instinct, our compulsions can have a positive use, too.

Despite the number of downloads and visits to the site, we are still very slim on responses, so please feel free to send your comments to the Editor.

Posted in The Podcast, Steps, Service, Early AA, Blogroll | Print | 1 Comment »

January 15. 2009 by admin.

First, currently on Anonymous Review: The conclusion of Jay S.’s “How AA Really Started” with Oxford Group details.

Second, the new Virtual Speaker Meeting is up, featuring Clancy I. of the Pacific Group in Los Angels/Mar Vista.

When the old computer failed and had to be replaced, the new computer came with some nifty toys.  These included GarageBand and iWeb.

GarageBand makes it easier to produce the podcast wtihin a single program. Previously I had to record the announcer in one track, cut it up and insert it between elements of the show - now it all happens in the one program.  I still use Audacity to clean up recordings, but GarageBand has streamlined the operation.

iWeb is a companion program within the iLife suite and makes web publishing quick and easy with a much improved result.  The website has been updated using that program for a whole new look, fasting loading and a better listing for the programs.

Also, the older shows are going to come down … the site has been growing and we need to keep space available for new shows.  However all of the shows are now available on Archive.org - details on the website.

A big motivator was a fall off my porch which has me sitting still more than before, and more time at the computer. Nothing broke, but I am bruised up pretty well - trudge trudge trudge.

Posted in Oxford Groups, Virtual Speaker Meeting, The Podcast, Personalities, Blogroll | Print | No Comments »

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 27. 2008 by admin.

I still do not know why, but the server we are using refused two of the programs I was uploading. There is a size limit on the server, so I deleted the first six programs (now available at archive.org for free download). But if you have a problem with the Volume 2 shows, go to the web page and you can download the Volume 2 shows directly from the site.I don’t now if there will be one or two shows in December, but I will try to have a couple up - and at least one Christmas something.   

Posted in The Podcast, Blogroll | Print | No Comments »

November 12. 2008 by admin.

Oh, goodie. A new problem.

My new server for Anonymous Review is refusing to post the new files.  It says “file is corrupted or too large” and it is smaller than the previous largest file.

I tried removing some of the older files (they are available on http://archive.org, search for Anonymous Review) but it still will not take the files. They can be downloaded through the home page (http://www.anonymousreview.org) and I’ll try to solve the problem.

Oh well.

New shows going up.

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October 19. 2008 by admin.

I’m not a statisics kind of guy.  People say only one in ten, one in twenty, one in 180, drunks get sober with the 12-steps, and the only statistic I am concerned about is One.  Do *I* stay sober.

But I did look at the web statistics for the Anonymous Review.  Up to 110 hits on one day.  Up from a previous high of 23.

So, even if they aren’t giving feedback, some people are out there looking at the site, and hopefully downloading podcasts.

That feels pretty good.  I have a lot of not-pretty-good going on in my life, and it is nice to know that somewhere, someone is at least checking it out.

I really would like to hear from people.

Posted in Blogroll | Print | 3 Comments »

October 16. 2008 by admin.

I’m not changing the look, but the structure within that design is being refined.

I added links to our primary resources on the left side bar, and buttons (chicklets) to download iTunes and Juice (a really nice, free, cross platform RSS reader), with other links to Yahoo Podcasts, Google Podcasts, our hosting site (Switchpod), the Google podcast agent (FeedBurner), and our website hosting service (1and1). Clever people might find the link for a PayPal donataion (which has resulted in exactly $0 since the podcast began).

Posted in Blogroll, Uncategorized | Print | No Comments »