What happens when bloggers and podcasters work together? With so much attention on Z Lists and Technorati, journeyPod has decided to launch its own list of noteworthy podcasts.

With thousands of great podcasts available today, many of the early Internet radio show pioneers and independent podcasts have gotten buried by larger traditional media. journeyPod has taken matters into their own hands, giving long overdue and well-deserved blogosphere attention to a number of the Internet radio shows in a variety of categories.

Since journeyPod was the first to launch a luxury travel podcast, it was only natural to release the first-ever P List of Podcasts, featuring only independent podcasts. Following this initial launch, journeyPod will release a second P List of Mainstream Podcasts to point out some of the mainstream media giants who have excelled with their larger budget podcasts.

"This is a great grassroots way for independent podcasters and bloggers to help each other out by promoting other quality shows that we all listen to and watch," proclaimed Ryan Bifulco, executive producer of journeyPod. "All the boats in the bathtub rise together." Adding, "The Internet epitomizes the concept of sharing, so this list is just one way journeyPod can help some of the original podcast pioneers that have shows in a variety of categories."

For more detailed information on the P List of Podcasts and to read and copy the entire list, visit journeyPod's P List of Podcasts.

"We've selected interesting podcasts for this list, but we also noted podcasters that have been producing since 2005 or podcasts that have over 500 episodes," revealed Carly Redgers, promotions manager for journeyPod.

Finding the perfect Irish wedding song is no easy task. You might be better suited to looking for Irish song lyrics in general rather than for a specific webpage. That's because there are only a limited number of Celtic wedding artists out there. Rather, many Celtic musicians are happy to play, but only a few specialize in the service.

My group, the Brobdingnagian Bards, doesn't play too many Celtic weddings. However, we do have one of the most-popular Celtic wedding CDs around. There, you can find a number of Irish wedding songs listed there.

But again, look for romantic love songs. The Irish tradition has a vast number of those songs. But those can be found in many directories of "Irish song lyrics".

Here are some romantic Celtic/Irish songs:

• Star of the County Down
• The Bridge
• Wild Mountain Thyme
• When She Held Me in Her Arms

I'll have to look around and find some more in the future.

So have you heard of Wizard Rock?

Wizard Rock is a fairly new musical movement that started in 2002. The songs are all based on, you guessed it, the characters in JK Rowling's Harry Potter series. It's highly focused filking about those killer books.

I got an email a few weeks back from Ashley who wanted to start a Wizard Rock Podcast called Podcast of Awesome. So of course, I sent her my recording of "Harry Potter and The Rising of the Moon" that I originally recorded for Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers, but couldn't put on the first album. (Or at least didn't think I could...)

Ashley played it on the first show. And I listened to the show while driving up to Four Winds Faire.

The show was a lot of fun. I should point out that most of the music is indeed rock, or alternative rock in style. The songs are rough and raw. Some sound like they're recorded with a computer mic. It seems like many of the musicians are fairly young. The music may not always professional sounding, like many filks, but ye know, I LOVED listening to the show.

It's fascinating hearing about this subculture that is flourishing on and off the net. The talent that's coming out of this movement is amazing. And these Wizard Rockers are just getting started too. Just imagine what they're gonna be doing ten years from now. Potter fans who are growing into the next big thing, writing songs, arranging music, and developing a passionate following.

Some cool songs from the first one from Draco and The Malfoys, DJ Luna Lovegood, Gred and Forge, and The Moaning Myrtles. But there's a lot of creative lyrics. I think I just saw that show #2 is out as well. It's a lot o'fun. So check it out.

Slainte!

Well, the reviews are pouring in for my new CD of Irish Drinking Songs: The Cat Lover's Companion. I've gotten a LOT of fantastic reviews, everything from women wanting to mother my children to fond recognition of my stylistic differences between The Bards and solo work to blissful enjoyment of traditional Irish songs. Come to think of it I don't think I gave everyone warnings when I sent out those CDs. I always consider myself more a balladeer than a comedian. I think this CD does a good job of reflecting that.

It's actually kinda interesting to see what happens when Andrew and I get together and play music. We have a style all our own. It's always fun. But how can it not be with Andrew there. He's got amazing wit and comedic timing, plus a helluva musician who puts me to shame. I'm much tamer than my old rock music days.

I've also decided I'm gonna try to put together a special release to see if I can top some charts on iTunes. But all that's another month away.

Meantime, here's the first of the reviews:

• You gotta check this out!
• Celtic CD Review
• Irish Drinking Songs: The Cat Lover's Companion
• My Review of Marc Gunn's new Irish CD
• Irish Drinking Songs Review
• Marvin's CD Review 001&002 The Cat Lover's...
• You Can Never Have too Much...
• Marc Gunn's New CD
• Yay Irish Music!
• Arikla's Ramblings
• Review of Cat Lover's Companion
• CD Review
• Dianna

Yay! I got off my arse today to work on some podcasts. Most of the day was a blur, but I finally edited, mixed, and uploaded the new shows. Now I still need to do the Brobdingnagian Bards podcast. Here they are:

• Irish & Celtic Music Podcast #34
• Renaissance Festival Podcast #73, April 7-8 and April 14-15
• Marc Gunn's Irish Songs & Lyrics Podcast
  

Slainte!

Well today, I received the final master of Irish Drinking Songs: The Cat Lover's Companion. It sounds great. Ari Koinuma did a great job mixing and mastering this CD.

So if you like Irish drinking songs, this song will be a treat... Although I should point out, this CD is for the cat lover. You'll hear kitties talking throughout. This means the CD will be available for sale next month. Keep an eye on my Celtic Music CD Store to pick up your copy of the album.

Well after dealing with far too many Inappropriate Ads on the Yahoo! Publisher Network, I've determined that Yahoo! just doesn't have the foothold to make it valuable enough service for my webpages.

I demand excellent targeting, and Yahoo! doesn't provide that. Thus, I've decided to abandon use of their Publisher Network on the majority of my webpages until such time as I sign up with Google Adsense or they improve their targeting, which I'll keep an eye open for.

I recently signed up with the Yahoo! Publisher Network. I'd been waiting for this for a long time because I have a number of great websites that offer brilliant content that I know Yahoo! advertisers would love. Why do I know that because I've been advertising with Yahoo! before they acquired the late great Overture. It's been a while.

Now I joined the Yahoo! Publisher Network. The problem is I am getting a lot of crappy ads that have NOTHING to do with the content I provide. That is annoying because you make money by people clicking on your ads. But if the ads are not relevant, people won't click on them.

So what to do? Well, I contacted the Network and ask them what gives. They gave me suggestions. One suggestion was to block certain urls. So I started loading up my site with blocked ads like LowerMyBills.com, Honda.com, and others. Well even with these blocks, it didn't help. Then I found out the secret. And it's stupid from their perspective, but necessary.

Create an ad block to YAHOO.COM.

Is that dumb or what? But the idiots who are spamming my webpages are largely based at Yahoo! They are affiliates to Yahoo. So by adding a block to Yahoo!, you will improve the accuracy of listings.

It's pretty sad to me that I have to block the very company that is giving me the opportunity to add advertising to my websites and to make a few extra bucks, but dammit, I know all about marketing. Inappropriate ads are not gonna get me clicks that will earn me money. So until this arses wake up and realize that selling out their ads to idiots like Honda. But then how much are they making. Probably a crap load.

It just saddens me. God grant me the serenity to treat my fans with respect... unlike Yahoo!

I setup a new blog at our Celtic Music CD Store. It features Celtic Music CD News from Mage Records, my record label. The blog is short, sweet and to the point. It includes the Top 20 Celtic CDs sold each month as well as a list of podcasts that feature the music of our artists.

Sunday, May 6, 2007
Whisperz at 9-11 PM
3670 Foothill Blvd
La Crescenta, CA 91214

After a weekend at CaliFur, I'm gonna do something I've never done before, perform solo at pub in California. So tell your friends, tell your family, tell the people that you hate, that I'll be there and show up with bells on... Okay, not bells that'd get annoying during the show. But at least come out and have a pint or twelve with me.