Smoking and other disturbing thoughts.

Rich Pav Podcast Episodes, Soliloquy

OK, here’s what I’ve learned so far from this exercise.

  • Before hitting the record button, I need to blow my nose so I don’t punctuate every sentence with a sniffle.
  • When the record light goes on, my brain passes gas. Just call me Rich Pavlov, why don’cha.
  • My inner chickenshit weasel wishes I had said “five” instead of “fifty.”

I think the highlight of this show was the Adam Curry MomentTM when I wasted about 500 man minutes of our collective time by rummaging though my pockets for my subway pass.

I talked about quitting smoking by associating the thought of lighting up with other really disturbing acts you could just as easily do. It’s probably mild compared to other podcasts, but I hope I don’t traumatize anyone unnecessarily.

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Rich Pav

Richard has been living in Japan since 1990 with his wife and two teenage sons, Tony and Andy.

18 thoughts to “Smoking and other disturbing thoughts.”

  1. I think there’s a certain draw to the unstructured Podcast. To be honest, I find pauses, sniffles, and pocket rummaging to avoid the redundancy that “professional” Podcasts take on rather quickly; HFJ just feels more “real,” if that sentiment makes sense. So please, continue your shitting.

    1. Honestly, I think this morning’s recording really, really sucked. If I wasn’t forcing myself to put out, I would have deleted it and fed myself a line of bullshit about redoing it on the way home tonight.

      I don’t understand the appeal of amateur (i.e. bad) podcasters, but I really do appreciate the handful of people who are unique and talented, but never would have had an outlet for their creativity had podcasting not been invented. I realize they’re not born that way, which is why I’m putting myself through this torture. It’s good torture.

  2. re: forgetting everything you thought about on the train as soon as you hit record – note that stuff down on a scrap of paper! Pull it out of your pocket when you forget what you wanted to talk about….

  3. Excellent!!

    I could have done without the negative images – but it’s good to hear that the strategy helped you to give up the cancer sticks.

    The gem of this episode was the final bit about thanking people who annoy you because they are teaching you patience. You described one of my biggest pet peeves on the trains. I look forward to trying the techinique the next time I encounter it. Thanks!

    BTW, are you going to break from the 50 in a row for the high holidays?

    1. I made a very public promise of 50 podcasts, one a day for 50 days. I gotta do it, or the trolls inside my head will riot.

      I’m hoping that I’ll soon figure out why my PC is playing video so sluggishly so I can shit out some video podcasts over vacation.

        1. I’m not dropping any frames when capturing. The problem is playback. It’s so slow when editing that I have to find where to cut by listening to the soundtrack. I’ll explain the details in the next cast.

    1. I realize you’re kidding, but seriously, I feel better forgiving the guy than I would if I could have killed him. It takes a whole lot more inner strength to want to forgive someone.

  5. I agree with Anthony’s comment about unstructured podcasts and will go one step further in saying that structured does not equal professional. More often than not, these so-called “professional” podcasts come off sounding forced and ultimately bore me. A good unstructured podcast makes you feel more comfortable with the host and help to give him / her a certain humanity that you can identify with.

    That said, keep up the good work. Whether you like it or not, you’re getting good at this podcasting thing. If anything your past podcasting experience has helped to keep the podcasts from being boring, even if you don’t think so.

    1. There are amateur podcasters out there who have charisma and personality, and put out shows that are well-produced, entertaining, thought-provoking and downright addictive. For me, being real isn’t enough. It has to be matched with talent.

      What the professionals most lack are authenticity and personality. Podcast listeners want personal, two-way communication with someone charismatic and “famous.” I guess that’s the biggest difference between the appeal of being the fan of a podcaster and a traditional media celebrity. You can think Matt Damon is a swell guy, but you’ll never, ever have a real one-on-one conversation with him. Try to be his friend and you might be served with a restraining order.

      What I find most interesting about this medium is that it takes fame, which since the beginning of history has been an extremely coveted, expensive and scarce commodity, and makes it available to anyone with a microphone and a PC.

  7. I like your ideas on quitting smoking, albeit a little graphic. If thats what it takes then I guess you gotta do what you gotta do. I’ve been ‘trying’ to quit for some time, maybe I’ll give this a try, cant hurt eh? Thanks for an awesome podcast btw, keep up the great work.

    1. The more graphic and disturbing the idea you can come up with then associate with smoking, the better. The thing is, normally you can keep those thoughts to yourself, which is why it was so uncomfortable for me to share them with the world. Another situation I imagine is seeing a policeman and trying to take his gun away from him and shoot him with it. Run that scenario through your mind, then think about how smoking can ruin your life just as easily.

      Really, what smoking does to your body should be just as disturbing to think about as cutting off your own member. It has just as dire of an affect on other parts of your body. The only differences are that you’re not willfully damaging those parts, and the results aren’t immediate. Let’s face it, your lungs, heart, throat, liver, prostate, colon, etc. are even more important than your dick.

      Suffering or dying from ailments caused by smoking are just as hard on the people who care for you as beating them to a pulp. Which is why when I think about smoking, I also think about beating one of my children to death. By associating the two together, I have completely lost the urge to smoke.

  8. Yay Bush-hating! I can pretty much guarantee that we have the same political opinions (although mine are probably a lot more violent, as I have to live in Bush’s dictatorship). So! You hate podcasting, but you like self-improvement and developement, it seems. Understandable, and respectable. Good news is that you have a good number of people who think you’re a cool guy and like hearing you ramble and talk out of your ass. I look forward to barrage of Rich Pav – The non-sequitor sessions.

  9. i quit smoking a couple years ago…. i still have dreams about smoking…. in the dreams i’ll have smoked half a pack… then remember that i’d quit smoking…

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