The Bluejacket Creative
252 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 3 years ago - ★★★★★ - 9 ratingsThe Bluejacket Creative is a podcast for the new creative. We celebrate the creative spirit and want to inspire, encourage, and stand with you. Whether you're a new young creative just starting out, or you've answered the creative calling later in life, this is a show for you.
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Episodes
February 12th, 2021
February 12, 2021 13:00 - 8 minutes - 7.43 MBSo What Does It Look Like? Wrapping up the week here, and I want to share something with you that I’ve started doing this week that I think has positively affected my outlook, no matter how kooky it sounds. I have this little barrel chair in my studio. It was given to me by my grandmother years ago. I remember spinning around and around on it in her house until they had to put a wooden block on the track to get me to stop. I’ve recovered it, and today it’s my reading/thinking/sulking chair...
February 11th, 2021
February 11, 2021 13:00 - 11 minutes - 10.4 MBYesterday I told you that as creators, I think that social media is becoming our worst enemy due to the weaponization of the platforms for engagement and the appropriation of content by aggregators and other entities for their use and engagement. As such, I suggested that there might be a way to reassert control over your creative assets, and that’s what I want to talk about today. You see, I think we’ve got to get back to housing our assets in our own spaces, places that we control. Our ow...
February 10th, 2021
February 10, 2021 13:00 - 12 minutes - 11.8 MBOn Instagram Aggregators So, today on the show I'm going to go over some ground that I've seen trod upon many times already, but I'm not really sure side I fall on. The question is whether or not instagram is good for photographers. To be sure, I follow a lot of photographers on instagram, but there's something else I have found myself following lately, and here's where I have the issue. I'll call them photo aggregators. My beloved state of Maine, for example. I follow DownEast Magazine, wh...
February 9th. 2021
February 09, 2021 13:00 - 15 minutes - 14 MBOne Small Moment Today I want to talk to some specific friends who I won't name, but I'm fairly sure that this will apply to way more of just them. First things first, I'm not going to insult your intelligence by giving you a bunch of platitudes. In my experience, they're nothing but empty calories. Filler and no substance, they're designed to make the person giving them feel better, not the person who needs help. In some cases, people who need help end up feeling worse. I'm one of those p...
February 8th, 2021
February 08, 2021 13:00 - 14 minutes - 13.1 MBIt might just be the time of year, but I find myself getting discouraged easily. It’s compounded by the fact that we’re coming up on a year since my job sent me home and everything that’s happened since then. The simple fact of the matter is I’m not where I want to be at almost any category of life you care to name. I’m currently making about half of what I was pre-May 2020, I’m struggling with staying in a creative mindset, I’m not necessarily hopeful that I will be able to realize a key ho...
An Hour A Day
February 05, 2021 05:00 - 5 minutes - 5.15 MBHey, you sick twisted freaks, It's Roley, how ya doin', welcome to the show. I've been doing something the past couple of weeks that has been really productive, and I'd like to share it with you today. So let me ask you a question: Is there an hour a day that you've been pretty much screwing off instead of doing your creative work? What if you instead locked in for that hour and dedicated it to "the plan," or whatever you want to call it? How much do you think you could get done in an h...
Experimenting With Street Photography
February 03, 2021 05:00 - 8 minutes - 7.73 MBHappy Lensday, kids! It's Roley, how ya doin', welcome to the show. Today, I want to talk a little about street photography and the hit and miss nature. If you're keeping an eye on my Buy Me A Coffee page, you know I've been heading down to the Virginia Beach Oceanfront about once a month to take pictures of life on the beach because I want to capture the side of a beach town that you don't get to see. Having done that for a couple of months now, I can see a few things I need to improve. ...
Moving Forward
February 01, 2021 05:00 - 7 minutes - 6.82 MBWelcome to February, shipmates1. I hope you had an excellent January. I think I did. I managed to put out 12 or 13 episodes of this podcast in January, and I managed to get my first supporter at Buy Me A Coffee. Over the course of the month, I received some great validation that I have helped people move forward with what they want to do. One particular podcaster that I helped a while ago called me his Obi-Wan and mentioned that he wouldn't be podcasting were it not for some mentorship al...
As We Close January, I Hope You've Done Some Things
January 29, 2021 05:00 - 6 minutes - 5.59 MBAs we close out the month of January, Here's what I hope you've managed to do, and trust me when I tell you this is just as much for me as it is for you. I hope you've made a list of the things you'd like to get accomplished this year, although I hope you've made two lists—one list with COVID, one without. I hope you've made a budget. I want to recommend a website and app called YNAB -- You Need A Budget. It actually helps make sense of the one thing that causes us the most stress in o...
The Moment Camera Sling Bag
January 27, 2021 05:00 - 7 minutes - 6.9 MBIf you know me pretty well, you know I have a crapload of bags. I have briefcases, leather bags, canvas bags. I love bags. But finding a camera bag that works for me has been a real struggle, and I know why that is: I pack bags like I'm Felix the Cat. If I even think I need it, it goes in the bag. The simple fact of the matter is I don't need to take every piece of gear I own with me, but I do need a bag big enough for a few things, and I need a bag small enough to sling over my shoulde...
Your Flavor Of Crazy
January 25, 2021 05:00 - 5 minutes - 4.85 MBI had a bizarre dream once that I'd like to share with you. I had gotten off a plane in Kathmandu, Nepal. I was heading for the Himalayas in search of a wise man, an ascetic who had shunned all life's luxuries and niceties. I found him adorned in nothing but a loincloth meditating by a lake at the foot of the mountains. I waited patiently for him to awaken, and as he fixed his gaze on me, I solemnly intoned the words I wanted him to hear. "Phil Collins..." I said. He silently nodded ...
No Segues 3: Hell Is A Galleria
January 23, 2021 05:00 - 2 hours - 118 MBKris and Matt Reconvene the No Segue Machine and talk DC Riot, Matt's versions of Heaven Hell Purgatory and Limbo, Sci-Fi series, The Waffle House, and more. Matt's drink for January is the Manhattan Railroad, and it will railroad you. Oh yes. Yes, it will.
About Your Isms
January 22, 2021 05:00 - 4 minutes - 3.85 MBAs the kids say these days, I don't know who needs to hear this, but fuck all the isms and fuck all the ologies. Unless you're a complete sack of jello, of course. If you are a sack of jello, please at me because I need to know how you got offended by this. There is exactly one ISM you need. Here's how it works. Say your last name. I'll wait. Now add ISM to the end of it. There it is. Now you've named it, what the fuck do you do with it? Well, the straight answer to that is...
You Don't Have To Go Pro
January 20, 2021 05:00 - 4 minutes - 4.01 MBHey, I don't know who needs to hear this but just because you have a camera and like photography, you don't ever have to go pro no matter how many times your friends tell you. Look, your reasons are your own. I certainly have mine, and chiefly among them is that I love photography and don't ever want to put myself in a position where I hate it. One of the reasons I like talking about several different platforms that I'm interested in is that I don't spend all of my time on just one. I ...
When They Put You In The Box
January 18, 2021 05:00 - 4 minutes - 4.25 MBThis may or may not be a really long one today, kids. It's a pretty straightforward point if I don't end up confusing you with my half-baked, meaningless babble. I have a friend that had a character he invented--I think it was for a short story if I recall correctly--who had a saying. Who we are now is not who we're going to be at the end. I was reminded of this recently when I re-watched "The Time of The Doctor," which is Matt Smith's last episode of Doctor Who. He says, “...We all c...
Why It's Not Normal
January 15, 2021 05:00 - 7 minutes - 6.94 MBThis business of creativity that we're engaged in has its challenges, that's for sure. And Last year was definitely a challenge for all of us. Now we're in 2021, and for sure, the coronavirus hasn't gone away yet. In fact, if the past is prologue, then by the time you hear this podcast, we might be in the middle of a spike from people being stupid on Christmas and New Years'. At my day job, I've been told that we'll be at home until the end of March, so that will make it a full year that...
Training Your Eye
January 13, 2021 05:00 - 5 minutes - 4.7 MBI have something I want you to marinate on for a second. Take this and weigh it. Every time you take a picture, you have the opportunity to share with people how you see things in a way no one else can. But to do this, you need to start seeing things the way a photographer does. You need to train your eye to see things to shoot. The advent of digital cameras and smartphones is absolutely wonderful, and it allows everyone to take thousands of pictures of anything and everything. Still...
Bold Steps
January 11, 2021 05:00 - 6 minutes - 5.67 MBThis week, I'm thinking about the concept of boldness. Taking chances. I don't know about you, but I've not exactly been keen to step up and do something out of the ordinary, and I've been wondering why. Is it because of the past year? Is it because I've set expectations of what I should or shouldn't do? Am I assuming you have expectations of what I do? Am I just scared? Maybe a little of all three if I'm honest with myself. That said, back on episode 372 of this fine bit of poddl...
Cinema VeriTardy Ep 1: The Room
January 09, 2021 05:00 - 1 hour - 98.1 MBSomething new for your earholes. Cinema VeriTardy, where I watch all the movies I've never watched and provide a real-time commentary track. In the first episode, I watch The Room (2003) Starring The Golden Gate Bridge. It should star the Golden Gate Bridge as many G.D. times they show it. This movie might have lost money, but whoever they bought the stock footage from made out pretty well. It also stars a football in what has to be the best acting job in this movie. This movie i...
We're Fish On The Hook
January 08, 2021 05:00 - 8 minutes - 7.75 MBAs you're listening to this, we're about 2 weeks from what will hopefully be an uneventful inauguration here in the US. Joe Biden will become President of the United States, and Donald Trump will hopefully go away. I doubt it, but I'm hopeful. As we end this terrible chapter in American History, I look around, and it's just mind-boggling. The amount of damage done, the number of things we have to fix now. Hundreds of thousands dead. Millions out of work, So many slipping into poverty...
Happy Lensdays, Pooh?
January 06, 2021 05:00 - 8 minutes - 8.06 MBHappy Lensday, kids! That's right. I said Lensday. Photography is what we're going to talk about on Wednesdays! This could be a tip, an opinion, a review if I have something to review, but it's gonna be a talk about photography. Today though, we're going to talk about how Photography and I got together in the first place. Now, I need to make it clear that I'm not a pro. I've been paid for my photography by some very nice people that have asked me to do a couple of things for them, ...
Accounting for 2020
January 04, 2021 05:00 - 5 minutes - 4.96 MBHappy Monday, friends, it's Roley, how ya doin', welcome to the show. Welcome to the First Monday of 2021. I felt like we all needed to hear that. We're now 2021. If you hear this, that means you made it. Maybe we all need an award for making it through 2020, yeah? The Bluejacket Creative Award for Chronological Perseverance. It's all yours, kids. (Note to self, actually make an award for this, maybe?) Of course, there's quite a ways to go before we can look at the nightmare that...
See Job One
November 19, 2020 05:00 - 10 minutes - 9.75 MBI have long said that the day I turned 40 was the best day of my life, because my give a crap broke. And it's true that my give a crap broke that day, and a lot of stuff that I had been just maniacal and neurotic and worried about just literally disappeared overnight. It was like this huge weight came off me, and I felt amazing, and it absolutely had nothing to do with the tequila. Incidentally, I discovered I really like a good aged tequila that day as well, but NOT REALLY THE POINT. ...
It's Not A Competition
November 05, 2020 05:00 - 5 minutes - 5.47 MBI think we've built up a little bit of a relationship here, ya think? Not to the point where I think you can trust me, but enough to know that I'm going to tell you what you need to hear, not necessarily what you want to hear. I think we've gotten to know each other at least that well. So, I want to tell you something that some of you need to hear. This is not a competition. It has never been. It never will be. This creative pursuit that we share is not a contest. It's not a zero...
What's With Today, Today?
November 03, 2020 05:00 - 6 minutes - 6.35 MBA series of decisions led to this, the strangest of all days. But, you know what? In a way, I'm kind of grateful for it.
No Segues 002: The Labargening
October 17, 2020 04:00 - 1 hour - 65.7 MBMatt Labarge returns for our monthly visit, and we discuss Fights in Parliament, Fall Foliage Destinations in Virginia, Dark Comedies, and Self-Help. ATT: No Poddlement next week. Two reasons: I'm attending Adobe MAX next week, and I've strained my voice somehow and I need to rest my voice. All my closest friends' prayers have finally been answered, I have to be quiet for a week or so. See you Tuesday after next. LINKS The Caning of Charles Sumner Fistfights in parliament. ...
Verbing Your Noun
October 15, 2020 04:00 - 6 minutes - 6.05 MBLast Saturday, I had the second in my series of talks with Matt Labarge. He's going to be a recurring guest on this podcast for a few reasons, not the least of which is he's a fun guy to talk with. During our conversation, I mentioned a character from my old podcast named Oliver Townes. Oliver came about because of the explosion of self-help and productivity books that has happened in recent years. For my part, I read all the books in this genre that I could for almost two years to resea...
Roley's Audio Workflow
October 13, 2020 04:00 - 7 minutes - 6.44 MBBefore we get started, I want to make it absolutely clear that when you're starting out, your audience is going to forgive your audio quality is not exactly up to par if your message is on point. That said, as you start to get serious about podcasting, you're going to want to work on your craft. In this case, it means getting into some post-production to mitigate any of the backgrounders noise, removing filler words, and improving the sound of your voice. I'm going to go through the ste...
Danny Valentini - Webcomics and Sneakerphones
October 10, 2020 04:00 - 1 hour - 81 MBDanny Valentini, better known on the web as RazorFox, is an award-winning artist and the creative mind behind "The Draconia Chronicles," a long-running webcomic following the lives of soldiers and civilians on both sides of a war between anthropomorphic Tigers and Dragons. He dabbles in voice acting in his spare time, and he loves hitting the highways for a good road trip a couple of times a year! LINKS Henry Del Toro Memorial Videos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6wec3tYeXI&t=101s ...
The Mad Scientist's Curse
October 08, 2020 04:00 - 6 minutes - 6.38 MBSo, I want to share with you how my brain gets ahead of me sometimes because I think I caught myself before it was too late. That said, I would love to know what you think. Here goes. When it comes to podcasting, when it comes to most of my plans for world domination to be honest with you, I'm a mad scientist who sees a little bit of success and then starts adding bits and pieces to his monster until it's unrecognizable, or it's not sustainable. You've seen this podcast go through a lo...
Finding Your Voice
October 06, 2020 04:00 - 8 minutes - 8.15 MBIn the last episode of the poddlement, my interview with Anna Tozzi - Barbay, she mentioned that her son had decided he wanted to be a filmmaker like she is. I found that fascinating, and I said that I have always wondered what it would be like to see the world from the POV of an autistic person. As the father of autistic children, I can see what it's like to BE an autistic person, but when you stop to realize that they see and perceive the world very differently than we do...and that's w...
Anna Tozzi-Barbay - Characters, Filmmaking, and Murder
October 03, 2020 04:00 - 2 hours - 117 MBBorn and raised in the shadow of D/FW Airport in Texas, Anna has been living in Virginia with her husband and two kids (and a plethora of pets) for the past ten years. Although she holds a master's degree in criminal justice, Anna found her true calling on stage when she began performing improv and sketch comedy in 2011. A Meisner-trained actress, Anna has been following her dream of becoming a filmmaker for the past few years. She's currently a member of Maverick Murder Mystery, where she's...
A Show From Somewhere Else
October 01, 2020 04:00 - 24 minutes - 22.3 MBTry as I might, I couldn't get the words to come out of my brain and through my fingertips onto the page. In this episode, the words come from somewhere else. Like many of you, I sat down to watch the Presidential Debate on Tuesday. Now, I don't know about you, but the first debate I remember was memorable because the two candidates on stage said literally nothing for half an hour. It was the first debate between Ford and Carter on September 23, 1976. The sound had gone out, and the tw...
The Bluejacket Creative
September 29, 2020 04:00 - 8 minutes - 7.77 MBPart of this series of conversations I've been releasing in my podcast, as well as the regular weekday episodes have been about how we're doing right now during this time. A career in the creative field right now is tenuous it seems, freelancing even more so. Another reason for this series is meant to be for those of us who are really starting out or don't have an idea of what to do, or people like me who have come to it later in life. We're beginners. We need direction. We need encourag...
John Roberts - When The Show Can't Go On
September 26, 2020 04:00 - 1 hour - 90.1 MBIn this episode, I talk to John Roberts about live theater, toxic social media, politics, and how we're handling all of that, because of the coronavirus. LINKS: The Shure Super 55 Audio Proscenium - Twitter Audio Proscenium - YouTube
A Dude Named Mo
September 24, 2020 04:00 - 6 minutes - 6.25 MBToday, I want to talk about freelancing. Not any particular line of work but the subject in general. Freelancing has enjoyed something of an uptrend lately; Lots of people were doing it before of course, but I suspect there are a lot more people doing it right now, partly out of necessity. For some, it may be how food gets on the table. I've been fortunate to get a few gigs here and there, and things are working out. Did I wish I had a steady gig? Yeah. Do I wish I had, oh, I d...
Sweating The Technique
September 22, 2020 04:00 - 7 minutes - 6.5 MBA question that is weighing on my mind lately is how much structure helps or hurts a creative. I was talking with a friend who by all accounts has mad organizational skills, and she runs a filmmaking business. There's a lot of structure in her day that is taken up doing the administrative work that you need to do in order to run a business the right way, and she's very good at that. However, she tells me that she spends so much time doing the admin work and the proposal writing for grant...
Matt Labarge - Just Here For The Gin And The Corn Chips
September 19, 2020 04:00 - 1 hour - 76.6 MBIn the first of what I hope will be a recurring conversation, our resident philosopher Matt Labarge stops in for a wide-ranging discussion of topics including stoicism, social media, and alcohol. Matt Labarge is a man lost in his own mind trying to navigate the world. He does not recommend following in his footsteps, but if you do cross paths, he enjoys sharing stories, and a drink if you're up for it.
We Should Be Asking Ourselves Something Right Now
September 17, 2020 04:00 - 6 minutes - 5.55 MBI want to start this by suggesting each of us ask ourselves a question: Am I OK? I know that might sound simple and you might think that's ridiculous, but I'm dead serious. I want you to ask yourself if you're OK, and I want you to be honest with yourself about the answer. The reason I'm talking about this is pretty straightforward, I have had to ask myself this same question and my answer "I'm not sure". I'm not OK, but I'm not in Dire Straits or anything like that. I can ...
Creative Is Our Job Now
September 15, 2020 04:00 - 8 minutes - 7.35 MBOver this summer I've been trying to build up some content on the site and let people I know I'm open for business. I say I've been trying. I'm sure you well know that you can have good intentions to get things done and you get a good start, but then you poke your head out of your creative cubby hole and notice that there's housework that needs to be done, and there's errands to run, and then someone needs you to do something else, and so on. So you do all of that and get back to the cub...
Nicole Bedford - Between Creativity and Practicality
September 12, 2020 04:00 - 1 hour - 59.4 MBNicole Bedford is a documentarian and media artist who uses video to explore textures of humanity in ways that inspire hope, justice, and introspection. Her work often follows ordinary people and touches on themes of identity, power, and interconnectedness. Nicole’s ultimate goal with any project is to foster compassion and community building by reconnecting viewers with their inner selves and with each other. When not creating, Nicole spends her time exploring nature, discussing complex top...
For The Nervous Self Promoter
September 10, 2020 04:00 - 6 minutes - 6.22 MBYou've decided to take the leap and step out on your own in this new iteration of the New Normal. Fantastic. You're creating, you're posting, and you're wondering why nobody's coming to see it. You built it, but they're not coming. Why? Well, let's start with a hard truth. The only place "If you build it, they will come" works is in that movie. I don't know how that got translated from a movie about a baseball field into creative work or entrepreneurialism, but it's the worst fantas...
What To Do With This New New Normal
September 08, 2020 04:00 - 5 minutes - 4.67 MBI remember first hearing the phrase "The New Normal," mentioned by Tom Brokaw on 9/11. The attack was only hours old, and we already realized that our lives would be different. Since then, I've heard it used several times for many various reasons, but none ever really took on real life-changing meaning to me until March of 2020. That's when I went home to work until I lost my job in May 2020 because of the pandemic. It's still a bit difficult for me to say that the coronavirus took my j...
Amy Mahon: Trauma And Creativity
August 18, 2020 13:00 - 1 hour - 65.5 MBUp front I want to give you a content warning, there is discussion of sexual assault during this episode, so if you feel that might not be something you or your kids might want to listen to, please skip this episode. Amy Mahon is a writer, photographer and theater artist living in Fort Lauderdale Florida. A former resident of Virginia, she moved back after graduating with a master of fine arts degree in film with an emphasis on screen writing. During quarantine she focuses her time on plant...
Coronavirus, The Exposure Triangle, and Podcast Marketing
August 11, 2020 13:00 - 35 minutes - 32.1 MBIn this episode, I'm going to tell you where I've been, what's been happening, how it affects this podcast, and where we go from here. Also, some Photography 101, and why podcasting is a marketing no-brainer. TIME MARKERS: 1:06 I've been trying to get a podcast done for months, and it's a bit harder than it used to be. 2:01 I talk about the job I've done for the past 4-5 years, how Coronavirus just ate it, and what I'm trying to do in the meantime. The job search isn't exactly goi...
Loony Conversations Part 1
April 07, 2020 01:01 - 44 minutes - 40.8 MBFor the first time in many years, Loonradio joins Roley for a conversation about Apple, Jobs, Mental Health, and Next Steps. Follow Roley on Twitter @krisroley Follow Roley on Instagram @krisroley
Upgrade The Cups
March 02, 2020 03:47 - 31 minutes - 28.4 MBRoy Hastings of the Pungo Auxiliary Police is worried about the 'Ronavirus. Twitch is a Berner. We go Looking For Love in Several Wrong Places, and Margaret's back. Finally, Death, Taxes, Florida. Follow Roley on Twitter, Insta, and TikTok @krisroley and hit krisroley.com for other new stuff.
Getting Ridiculously Simple
January 08, 2020 11:00 - 11 minutes - 10.8 MBOver the past year, I’ve been working on trying to figure out my wiring. Specifically the part of my brain that can recall song lyrics immediately but forget anything I’m supposed to be doing, and how best to remind myself to do those things. --- Follow Roley on Twitter, Instagram, and Medium. There might be new YouTube stuff coming. Remember, we warned you. The Patreon is Live, and free for the month of January so you can see what we're doing. Take a look around, and thanks for your con...
Ode To An Anachronism
January 06, 2020 11:00 - 18 minutes - 17.2 MBIn this episode, Roley talks about how he came to be fascinated with radio, a little of that history, and then we settle on the main topic: Back the the deep dark Seventies and Eighties, there were people who were paid--sometimes stupid amounts of money--to piss people off every weekday. As the times change, most of those people found themselves needing to pivot, or found themselves not on the radio anymore. They were the Shock Jocks, and one of the greatest died last week. LINKS: Boss Rad...
What The Trump Base Needs
January 03, 2020 05:00 - 23 minutes - 21.2 MBhttp://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/12/andrew-sullivan-what-we-know-about-trump-going-into-2020.html Andrew Sullivan: 'The two core lessons of the past few years are therefore: (1) Trumpism has a real base of support in the country with needs that must be addressed, and (2) Donald Trump is incapable of doing it and is such an unstable, malignant, destructive narcissist that he threatens our entire system of government. The reason this impeachment feels so awful is that it requires removing ...