Images from the Shell Museum

SeashellsHenry has a terrific tag line on his web site: “Creating wonder and delight through fine art nature photography.”

I’ve posted on his work a number of times. He recently spent some time at the Shell Museum in Santibel, Florida, and brought back some amazing images.

She sells seashells on the seashore;
The shells that she sells are seashells I’m sure.
So if she sells seashells on the seashore,
I’m sure that the shells are seashore shells.

How to Stop Smoking

ashtrayI thought I had heard about all there was to hear on the subject of smoking but I learned some new things from this week’s Living Healthy Podcast (show #7, by the way). If you smoke or have a friend or family member that smokes, this episode is worth a listen. Dr. Domke told a chilling story about an acquaintence (a doctor!) who had not smoked for 12 years…smoked one cigarette at a party or bar or something…and still smokes today, years later. The addictive quality of nicotine is staggering. Of those who stop, only 10% are still smoke-free one year later. But Henry is convinced that smokers can quit. No question, this is our best show to date.

Henry and I are having a hell of a good time doing these. And they remind me of all the interviews and radio shows I produced back in the day. But podcasting is sort of the distilled essence of that “radio” experience. It peels away everything but the fun. To all my old radio buddies who saw corporate PD’s and greedy owners suck the joy and life from “radio as we knew it,” I highly recommend podcasting.

Everything you ever wanted to know about the flu

Our little podcast experiment is rolling right along. In show #6, Henry talks about the flu. Who should get flu shots? Can they make me sick? Can I still get the flu, even if I get the shot? Is there a pill I can take for the flu? Are there different kinds of flu? Henry doesn’t tackle Avian Flu in this show because he thinks we are at much higher risk from the regular flu.

The good doctor is in Florida for a couple of weeks but we have three shows in the can. Next week the topic is Smoking; the week after, How to Start an Excercise Program.

Henry is having a lot of fun with this but wonders why more people aren’t downloading and listening to the show. I explain that we’re still kind of on the front end of the podcasting thing. According to a study by research firm Ipsos Insight, about 28 percent of web users know what a podcast is, but only about 2 percent of that group has actually listened to one. But that number is growing. iTunes lists more than 15,000 free podcasts.

Okay, now were talking more about podcasting than the flu but the segue was nearly perfect, so… I might have mentioned that four of my coworkers recently got iPods. These are all long-time radio people and I’m eager to hear their (user) experiences with podcasting. To what kinds of programs will they subscribe? When and where will they listen? What ideas –if any– will these new listening experiences spark?

Living Healthy Podcast

LHP_Studios_2749

For months now, I’ve been noodling around ideas for a podcast. We have several projects underway at work and the only way to really get a feel for what’s happening “in this space,” is to get your hands dirty, as it were.

The Living Healthy Podcast features Dr. Henry Domke, a family physician here in Jefferson City. Henry is unique in that he might talk with a patient for 20-30 minutes before laying on a hand. It finally dawned on me that a weekly chat with Henry might make a pretty interesting podcast. I approached him with the idea…he loved it… and we posted the first show yesterday. All episodes »

Visions of the Prairie Garden

is a collection of photographs by Henry Domke featuring images celebrating the Prairie Garden Trust, a nature restoration project in central Missouri. I attended a reception for the exhibit today. I didn’t think I’d much care for “nature” photos but these jump right past that. Art might be as simple as showing us things we look at but never see.