Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Glad Tidings from VHUS! (WTF are "tidings" anyway?)






Who says miracles no longer happen at Christmas?!?

I do.   

But that won't stop me from stuffing one more thing into your holiday stocking:

What occurred May 14th, 2014? 
THE WOUNDED KINGS! Uncle D.L.'s strangest Brush-With-Greatness. SONATA ARCTICA! Remodeling in Hell. MARILLION! A drinking game for metal mag readers. NORTHWINDS! What NOT to find in your toilet bowl.   AC/DC!   Bet-you-didn't-know: Michael Bolton once auditioned for_____! PLUS more Prog Rock, Metal, Comedy and Classic Rock Obscura. 
Join Us For The Holidays!!




DOWNLOAD VHUS Classic Encore! v.9
(First come, first served.)

STREAM VHUS v.9 @ Pod-O-Matic 

 








Still available for a limited time:

DOWNLOAD VHUS Rare! v.4
(First come, first served.)

STREAM VHUS v.4 @ Pod-O-Matic 

DOWNLOAD VHUS Classic Encore v.8
(First come, first served.)

STREAM VHUS v.8 @ Pod-O-Matic 


These episodes also live on our lightly-trafficed MIXCLOUD page (stream-only).








Hoping Santa brings you some neat stuff!     

And if you happen to be a "naughty little girl" on S.C.'s 500-worst List - please get in touch.  Do I have a proposition for you!




CONTACT US!
(We still check the InBox now and then)


Thanks for listening (and requesting more reruns)!
Uncle D.L.

The Very Heavy Uncle Show
2014 - 2017?





Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Fresh bandwidth + An episode I swore you'd never hear again!







Our meager bandwidth allowance has reset - God knows how long it will last.    I suppose I'm not helping matters by breaking my promise about re-issuing some of our oldest episodes from 2014....

Volumes 1-3 shall remain forever buried.    Which brings us to Volume 4:

Yes, we recycled the tunes for v.42...    Here's the 2014 original (95 minutes) featuring several long-buried commentaries.    What occurred? WITHIN TEMPTATION!  Debut of The Devil! BLIND GUARDIAN! Uncle's InBox: Truckers vs. Soccer Moms! OPETH! Is there a Very Heavy Aunt? AVATARIUM! Web-dating for ladies over 40: Prologue. TRANSATLANTIC!   R.I.P. Francesco!   UNCLE ACID AND THE DEADBEATS! Plus MORE Prog Rock, Metal, Comedy and Classic Rock Obscura...  JOIN US (yet again)!





 
DOWNLOAD VHUS Rare! v.4
(First come, first served.)

STREAM VHUS v.4 @ Pod-O-Matic 

5?  6?  7?   Coming soon.   Well, soon-ish.

And from our "Everything Old Is Flogged Again" Department:  What occurred April 30th, 2014? WOLVERINE! The Devil and J.J. Abrams! GLASS HAMMER! Granny, what a big porn collection you have! WISHBONE ASH! The pros and cons of graduate school. IQ! What's cheesier than a Papa Johns? This episode's Track 13! KINGBATHMAT! How NOT to make a low-budget zombie film! ORCHID! PLUS: More Prog Rock, Metal, Comedy and Classic Rock Obscura. JOIN US (yet again)!





DOWNLOAD VHUS Classic Encore v.8
(First come, first served.)

STREAM VHUS v.8 @ Pod-O-Matic 


 
  






At some point, these episodes will also be posted to our STREAM-ONLY MIXCLOUD page, if that's your thing.






Keep watching this space!

CONTACT US!
(We still check the InBox now and then)


Thanks for listening (and requesting more reruns)!
Uncle D.L.

The Very Heavy Uncle Show
2014 - 2017?











Tuesday, December 5, 2017

My Favorite Sci-Fi Flick? The Earth Dies Streaming!!








I'm a busy bastard this week, so I'll make this quick.

The download drought will end Wednesday, December 13th.   This will be accompanied by a fresh cycle of Classic Encore episodes, starting with VHUS v.8.

(To those of you who keep requesting Volumes 1 through 7... Sorry, never gonna happen.)

In the meantime:  STREAMING ONLY is STILL available via the POM VHUS home page and through all Pod-O-Matic mobile apps.

 
  






And lest I forget: The VHUS MIXCLOUD page is also open for streaming!







Sorry for the inconvenience.   (I'm becoming more and more convinced it was all an act of industrial sabotage.)

Progress Report: 
Work has resumed (slowly) on the VHUS DROPBOX DEPOSITORY.   

Keep watching this space!

CONTACT US!
(We still check the InBox now and then)




Thanks for listening (and requesting more reruns)!
Uncle D.L.

The Very Heavy Uncle Show
2014 - 2017









Sunday, November 26, 2017

Okay, Who Ate All The Damned Bandwidth?!?



Remember back when I casually mentioned that once VHUS retired to our little free site in the country, there might be a slight possibility that our meager bandwidth ration could be exhausted long before the month was up - leaving listeners unable to download classic episodes...?

Amazingly, that very thing has happened, largely due to a RECORD-BREAKING number of downloads over the holiday weekend.    Totally unexpected (though a tiny bit suspicious)!   

As a result, anybody visiting our Pod-O-Matic home page will be unable to download episodes* until VHUS bandwidth resets on December 13th.

Yes, it's a pisser.    (It might also be an act of sabotage by the competition, who can say?)

* UPDATED Addendum 11-30-2017: STREAMING ONLY is still available via the website and all Pod-O-Matic mobile apps.

Soooo... good thing we kept our MIXCLOUD page active.   No downloading there either, but there is MUCH streaming goodness available for all our new friends.  As well as THREE freshly-recycled episodes.


The Very Heavy MIXCLOUD Page

Looks like I'd better quit dragging my feet on that proposed VHUS DROPBOX DEPOSITORY, huh??

Hope you all had a good holiday.   I survived, but barely.


Keep watching this space!

CONTACT US!
(We still check the InBox now and then)


Thanks for listening!!
Uncle D.L.

The Very Heavy Uncle Show
2014 - 2017





















Friday, November 10, 2017

I'm Not Going Away Mad, I'm Just Going Away.


Looks like we still have the fat-bastard Pod-O-Matic site until November 22nd.... THEN it reverts to bare bones.    My mistake for not absorbing the fine print.    (If anyone cares, all the Classic Episodes are now gone, but I did re-post VHUS v.73 because someone requested it.)

Reminder: After the 22nd, VHUS will still be available via TUNE-IN, PLAYER.FM, GOOGLE PLAY STITCHER RADIO & MIXCLOUD  as well as POD-O-MATIC  (first-come-first-serve)

 






When I announced the cancellation of VHUS back in July, more than a few listeners asked the obvious question "WHY?"
 

I kept the reasons to myself, as they were mostly personal and (I assumed) of no interest to the public at large. But since enough of the faithful have expressed curiosity, I assembled a quick list.
 

I often use the expression "Don't give me an EXCUSE when I ask for a REASON." You may feel this way after glancing through the list. But if you're a podcaster, internet radio person or a human relic left over from the days of REAL BROADCAST RADIO (Towers, Transmitters, FCC Licenses, Tarleks & Carts), then you'll understand some of these better than most.

FIVE KEY REASONS UNCLE D.L. DECIDED TO SHOOT "THE VERY HEAVY UNCLE SHOW" IN THE HEAD:
 

1) The bi-weekly grind was rapidly becoming less fun and too much like real work.
 

2) I was getting BORED (VHUS wasn't a wannabe ego trip for me - I'd already worked in the aforementioned real radio for 30+ years).
 

3) Your Favorite Uncle put a LOT of time into each episode - TOO much time - and I felt I simply wasn't getting a good enough return on my investment.

4) Over time, VHUS negatively changed the way I listened to new music: I was unable to simply relax and enjoy new releases - EVERY song had to be scrutinized as "cast-worthy" - which was rather depressing.
 

5) Listenership - though high - had plateaued. Despite relentless promotion, after 3 years our listener GROWTH RATE had simply stalled out. And that's bad.
 

FIVE MORE VARIABLES THAT ACTED AS TIE-BREAKERS IN THE DECISION:
 

6) The prog rock snobs of the internet refused to acknowledge our existence yet relished in slagging us off (I won't name names). OTOH: The metal community mostly adored us.
 

7) Over the past year, listener feedback had dropped from "Loads" to "Nothing."
 

8) More than one competing podcast got caught red-handed RIPPING OFF our features & material - even the damned DEVIL!
 

9) Outside talent refused to join in the fun: Budding comics, podcasters, former broadcasting colleagues - NOBODY could be bothered. And that hurt just a little.
 

10) And to paraphrase Danny Glover: "I'm getting too old for this shit." Not to mention all the sexual harassment.
 

You asked. And I answered.



Download our final episodes of 2017 @ Pod-O-Matic!







CONTACT US!
(We still check the InBox now and then)


Thanks for listening!!
Uncle D.L.

The Very Heavy Uncle Show
2014 - 2017






















Monday, November 6, 2017

The Ultimate VHUS World Series Of Heavy Listeners!!


This is it kids, our final infusion of VHUS Classic Encores before we downgrade.    The Omega payload includes fan-favorite v.50 - in fact a "remastered-with-bonus-tracks" reboot of our long out-of-print Volume 6.    Enjoy!     (And don't waste any time if you still need a copy for your collection.   See below.)

So, what happens now?

Sometime Friday afternoon - just before our contract renews - I'll be shutting down our fat-bastard Pod-O-Matic site.  In it's place: a bare bones freebie version, which will host a maximum of four episodes, available at limited bandwidth/month for streaming or download (first come, first serve).

Which episodes?   For the moment: The Final Four (74-77) shall remain in place for a few weeks while I battle some dragons in my personal life.   Then as time allows, I'll freshen "The Memorial Site" with another cycle of repeats from the beginning... forward.   NOTE: This will NOT be a weekly event.   Maybe bi-weekly.   Perhaps monthly.    

If you're asking "Why bother?"   I'd like to think there are still a few people scattered across the planet who have yet to discover VHUS - and who may actually enjoy it despite it's limited catalog and availability.   (I never said I didn't have an ego, kids.)

This limited VHUS offering will (should) still be available via TUNE-IN, PLAYER.FM, GOOGLE PLAY and STITCHER RADIO.     

We will also be keeping our under-worked MIXCLOUD page as a backup streaming source for those rare times when our POM bandwidth is exhausted during the month (not likely, but possible).

And that's all she wrote.    We have one more blog entry of probable interest planned for later this week, but beyond that - no regular publication schedule is on the horizon.   We may pop back from time to time and say hello.   And of course you are always welcome to contact us at the e-mail link below.



Ooops!   Lest I forget, I promised the faithful an ULTIMATE WORLD SERIES OF HEAVY LISTENERS before we faded into the sunset.   

We started hoarding this data back around v.11 (June 2014), and have now assembled an all-encompassing ranking of our top 20 fan countries worldwide based on total streams and downloads.   (Technically, we should have waited one more week, but I doubt it would have affected the final results.)

Spanning nearly three years... 
THE ULTIMATE VHUS WORLD SERIES OF HEAVY LISTENERS!

1 - The United Kingdom
2 - Canada
3 - Belgium
4 - Brazil
5 - Spain
6 - France
7 - Finland
8 - Germany
9 - Mexico
10 - Sweden
 

11 - Australia
12 - Italy
13 - India
14 - The Philippines
15 - Japan
16 - Indonesia
17 - The Netherlands

18 - Czech Republic
19 - Poland
20 - Ireland


Well done, everyone!! 

Now... Your Final MegaWad of Re-issued VHUS!



From December 2015: Very Heavy Letters To Santa, plus music from SPYS, LONELY ROBOT, ARABS IN ASPIC, GRAN TORINO, NEO PROPHET, AVATARIUM, ATOMIC ROOSTER and more lava-lamp-powered prog, metal, comedy and classic rock.  JOIN US!

DOWNLOAD VHUS v.49 
(Because Luci & Audrey will cry if you don't...)





Also from December, 2015: I use the N-Word a LOT (in an 8-Track context) plus music from RIOT, HIDDEN MASTERS, LACUNA COIL, AC/DC, BIGELF, COMEDY OF ERRORS, ELOY ... plus more stepmother-approved prog, metal, comedy and classic rock. JOIN US!

DOWNLOAD VHUS v.50 
(Because it could be YEARS before you get another chance!)


Download our final episodes of 2017 @ Pod-O-Matic!







CONTACT US!
(We still check the InBox now and then)


Thanks for listening!!
Uncle D.L.

The Very Heavy Uncle Show
2014 - 2017