Tag: grand prize

Cast of the Week XVII

CotW XVI
You’ll find all the nominees for this week at https://ykyz.com/c/na?faveOf=cotwxvii

And now I’m handing things over to u/Mattasher for the winners of Cast of the Week XVII:

Shoutouts
Some shoutouts this week to the people who made our week:
Shoutout to If You Were In My Shoes for her willingness to share a well-crafted and poignant personal dilemma, with episode 5. There’s no point anymore.

Shoutout to Joanie for getting a new mic and making a contest out of it. You sound great to us!

Shoutout MondragonMMA and A Brewtiful Mind for each hitting episode 100.

Shoutout to Demi Semi Quaver Note for the awesome recitation of Walt Whitman’s city of orgies, complete with spot-on sound effects. A reminder to please make sure any poetry you post to ykyz is in the public domain, as is the case with Whitman.

Shoutout to Primal Haze for the outstanding first episode, 3 Reasons Why Microcasting Is A Great Idea. We agree with all of them! A reminder, though, to all microcasters: It’s best to fade out your intro music as you begin speaking.  

And, last but not least, Shoutout to all of you for continuing to help promote the site. We’re now ranked at about 120k on Alexa, just 20k away from our April goal.  

Honorable mentions
217. Sweden food, Swedish meatballs by ThatBeardedSwede
Our favorite Swede shares the history of meatballs and his own family recipe ingredients. IKEA may have spread this tradition around the world, but when it comes to meatballs, IMO there’s nothing better than homemade.


25. Let’s Eat and eat some more by Angelibean
Angelibean shares her newfound quarantine skill, eating all the snacks. She’s definitely not the only one stress eating, though apparently, some ykyz’ers are going in the opposite direction and stress fasting. Who knew that was a thing?


250. Tomatoes Indoors by SmartMoney
Turns out, a lot of us have food on the brain during quarantine. Our final honorable mention goes to Becky of SmartMoney with this perfect explanation of how to grow tomatoes inside.  


CotW XVII winners
And now, on to this week’s winners!

Third Prize:
226. Raised And Cake Donuts by SnippetswithSophia
In this mouth-watering episode, Sophia explains the difference between the main types of donuts we consume. Spoiler alert, if it looks like a unicorn or a Pokémon, it’s a cake donut.


Second Prize:
42. “The talk” to save a life. by Doctor Irish
The good doctor gives straightforward advice for dealing with someone who might be suicidal. Never has an episode been so unfortunately timely, as one of the many, many un-considered side effects of extreme “social distancing” has been an all too predictable spike in depression and calls to suicide hotlines.


First Prize:
236. Animal Crossing Filipino textile outfits by fashionmusings
In this episode, Gem explores the intersection of fashion and gaming and describes how the Ayala museum is using in-game outfits to show off traditional Filipino textiles. In times when traveling abroad is virtually impossible, virtual fashion may be the very best thing to go viral right now.

Cast of the Week XV

CotW XIII
You’ll find all the nominees for this week at https://ykyz.com/c/na?faveOf=cotwxv

And now, without further ado, I’m handing things over to u/Mattasher for the winners of Cast of the Week XV (The Quiñcenero):

But first, some shoutouts.

Shoutout to Kayla (Violaceous Curiosity) for trying her hand (or voice) at the cold opener. Together we are exploring this new micro podcasting space.

Shoutout to MyNameIsQuest for the intriguing teaser episode The Spot. Everyone loves a good treasure hunt or vaunt opening tale, just don’t let us down like Geraldo.

Shoutout to our own Teresa (ThatOneGirl) who took over the Astrocast By Diz microcast to give Aries their due (and do’s).

Shoutout to Joanie for the bold and brave decision to review her own face in episode 93. Rambling About my Ugly Face

And now, on to the winners! But first, some honorable mentions:

35. But How are YOU doing? by jen.again
Good old Jen checks in with all of us in this friendly, nicely scripted episode.

153. Vinegar by Brown Skin Pearls
Clare examines the idea of using vinegar as a skincare product and concludes with a gentle reminder that when it comes to applying things to our body, we might want to leave the chemistry to the chemists, a reminder that seems particularly relevant right now.

148. Own Your Choices by Voluptuous Voyager
In this easy to listen to episode, Asi the Voluptuous Voyager introduces an expression that captures the distinction between where we land, and where we stay.

And now, the winners of CotW XV

Third Prize:
193. Paul Bunyan And Pancakes by SnippetsWithSophia
Sophia goes over one of my favorite characters from childhood, the tall tales of Paul Bunyan. Everything about this legendary lumberjack was supersized, including the story, Sophia tells about frying up pancakes in an acre-sized griddle. Grab a pick and pluck along with this giant microcast episode.  

Second Prize:
108. Fast Facts: IPA’s – A Brewtiful Mind by A Brewtiful Mind
Micah opens with a teaser of an upcoming episode, then goes all fast and furious on us with facts about India Pale Ales. This 86 second episode would have to be rated with an IBU of 0, given the smooth delivery and how easily Micah makes the info go down.  

Grand Prize:
10. My job isn’t real and the gaming industry is a joke by Maleficent Gaming
Our grand prize winner this week is from Lilith, who has just the right mix of personal experience and hard data in this episode about the gaming industry in her home country of Serbia. Lilith takes us into her narrow and misunderstood professional world, and leaves us with a broader understanding of how it fits into her countries overall economy.

Cast of the Week XIV

CotW XIII
You’ll find all the nominees for this week at https://ykyz.com/c/na?faveOf=cotwxiv

And now, without any further ado, we present the winners of the 14th weekly CotW.

But first, some shoutouts:

Shoutout to Life in Ancient Egypt for passing 100 episodes this past week, and marking the occasion with a celebratory cast about celebrations in, you guessed it, Ancient Egypt.

Shoutout to both SmartMoney and DoctorIrish for passing the 200 episodes mark. So did NerdyOldGuy, and I’m not gonna lie, he had us in the first half of the episode.

Shoutout to Joanie for choosing to review her Annoying Spastic Eyelid. Spoiler alert: It gets a 0.

A second Shoutout to Joanie for doing a perfect imitation of a broadcaster in her episode 80. 🚨BREAKING NEWS🚨

Shoutout to Clare for getting that perennially hated, but somehow never quite forgotten, Vanilla Ice hit stuck in my head with her episode 145. Ice, Ice Baby.

And now, on to the winners. But first, some honorable mentions:

50. Interview with Chris Martin of Coldplay! by BeyondRhythm
This fun, nicely spliced “interview” with Coldplay’s frontman kept us entertained for the full 90 seconds.


76. What makes you happy? by Poegosi The Poet
In times of trouble, Poegosi comforts us with this ode to drinking. There seemed to be a lot of drinking talk this week among bleaters, and not just on the Brewtiful Mind microcast.


Third Prize:
182. Kottabos – An Old Drinking Game by SnippetsWithSophia
Who knew drinking games were invented by the actual greeks, and not their modern(ish) day Animal House imitators? We just might give Kottabos a try at our next soiree, all the while keeping the appropriate social distance, of course.


Second Prize:
289. Hypothetical Musicians In Quarantine by Music and Peace
Beyond being a solid episode of musing about musicians under lockdown, Addie gives us the wonderful, and quite welcome, analogy of 2020 as a restart your computer year. Remember folks, “It’s just a little reset”. We can only hope.


Grand Prize:
193. Stockpile your VODKA! “Vodka can make Hand Sanitizer” – False by Doctor Irish
The Doctor is in with this myth-busting episode about the use of distilled spirits to kill the evil spirits on your hands, otherwise, know as germs. Bottom line, unless your Vodka is actually moonshine, you may want to splash it down your throat instead of rubbing it between your palms.


Thanks again to everyone who was part of our week at ykyz, and don’t forget to follow us on twitter @YKYZHaveYouSay and like our Facebook page.

Cast of the Week XIII

CotW XIII
You’ll find all the nominees for this week at https://ykyz.com/c/na?faveOf=cotwxiii

We’ll get right into the winners of Cast of the Week XIII.

But first, some shoutouts.

Shoutout to Elvira for crossing the 100 episode barrier with her Mistress of the Microcast series.

Shoutout to Joel for clocking in with 200 episodes of his NerdyOldGuy microcast.

Shoutout to Fredrik for the lovely episode 38. March Madness – Improvisation on Swedish Folk music (Guitar) (Original music by Fredrik). We always appreciate your original compositions.

Shoutout to the many users who jumped into March Madness with swaps and guest hosting. We listen to all of these, and you can find them collected in one place at https://ykyz.com/c/na?faveOf=marchmadness

And now, on to the winners. But first, some honorable mentions.

Honorable mentions
2. Mobile Gamers And Console Wars by Maleficent Gaming
Lilith got a big response for just her second microcast episode, an invitation to weigh in on the current state of mobile vs console gaming.


146. Kabbalah Numerology by Astrocast By Diz explains how to turn your name into a number as part of the ancient Hebrew practice of Kabbalah. Also, check out the fun and opinionated 155.Storytime: Zeus by Astrocast By Diz


60. Free Speech – Not Just Another Value by Just Thinking Aloud
At a time when patience for free speech is at the lowest point, it’s been in my lifetime, and censorship seems to championed even by the media itself, Mark succinctly explains the connection between free speech and honestly confronting reality.


And now, on to the winners!

Second place
87. Rosetta Stone with Alba of the Culture Mix by Life in Ancient Egypt
Alba steps into Marwan’s sandals and picks up his staff to lead us out of Egypt and into the British Museum, current home of the Rosetta stone, for a tour-guide quality description of this famously fractured artifact.


Grand prize
168. Takeover – Voluptuous Voyager – Swedish Death Cleaning by ThatBeardedSwede
This week, one caster perfectly captured the vibe of the show she swapped with. Asi, of Voluptuous voyager fame, gave us a wonderful slice of Swedish life in her guest appearance in episode 168 of ThatbeardedSwede’s microcast. Focusing on the practice of Death Cleaning (döstädning), or getting one’s affairs in order before it’s game over in this simulated we all share, Asi nails the feeling and focus of her host’s microcast. We also highly recommend Asi’s other Swedish take over episode on The Ice Hotel.

Cast of the Week XII

CotW XII
You’ll find all the nominees for this week at https://ykyz.com/c/na?faveOf=cotwxii

Here are the winners of Cast of the Week XII.

But first, some shoutouts:

Shoutout to our newest members of the 100 club: Andrew Steiner of Steinerland and Brian Thornsburg of Ranting and Raving. Put on your monogrammed green jackets, light up a cigar, and welcome to our exclusive club.

Shoutout to Sophia for spicing up our first week of March Madness with several episodes about the strange human custom of intentionally consuming things that burn our mouths.

Shoutout to Joel for finding a way to make a cast even more micro with his Bleat March Madness – The Micromicrocast. Unfortunately, I had to listen twice to realize the feeling of micro-deja-vu was well earned.

Shoutout to Kayla aka Violaceous Curiosity for jumping hard into March Madness with some well-done swaps.


Before we get to the winners, here are the honorable mentions for this past week.

15. Pumped Up Kicks by BeyondRhythm
He gives us the background on Foster for the People’s wonderfully cheerful song about teen angst with an imaginary(?) body count. Props to Cyannade for ending this episode the best possible way, with that maddeningly catchy whistling.


38. Earn online with the right chair by Poegosi The Poet
Microcasts call for micro topics, and Poegosi gets that right in this lovely little episode about finding just the right chair to keep you comfy, but not so comfy that you drift off. For my own part, I recommend adding a recliner to your office to give yourself a dedicated napping chair.


And now, on to the winners:

Runner-up:
124. To my wife by Aspie and Proud.
Elsa penned, then pronounced and posted this perfectly lovely ode to her partner. Well done and well within the spirit of March Madness experimentation.


Grand prize:
159. Use Headphones for this exercise by Doctor Irish
The good doctor picks up the top prize with this audio experiment, complete with show notes in an informative reply. We also strongly recommend listening to episode 160. Try this -Ambient Sound- Story Time an Audio Experience. Which uses background noises to great effect.


You may have noticed that we only gave out two prizes this week, yet we promised three during this month. In a moment of mixing things up ourselves, we’ve decided to give at least one prize next week to a swap cast, and offer a bounty to both the swapper and the swappe for double-dipping fun. Stay tuned to ykyz and don’t forget to get weird this March while you still can, it’s back to gray jackets and Cisco’s hold music next month.

Cast of the Week XI

CotW XI
You’ll find all the nominees for this week at https://ykyz.com/c/na?faveOf=cotwx


Before we get to this week’s winners, we have some shoutouts to microcasters who made our week great.

Shoutout all seven microcasters who entered the 100 episode club this week. I’m talking about you Black Girl Baker, Dancing Bartender, Aspie and Proud, Astrocast by Diz, Plant Based Podcast, Voluptuous Voyager, and last but not least, xXxDisturbedOnexXx

We’re sending a second Shoutout to the Voluptuous Voyager for her episode 97. Be the bigger person? which is not only good but experiments with a delayed intro. While certainly not an approach that works all the time or for all microcasts, it worked well here and we encourage you to try out new things, especially this month (did we mention it was March Madness on ykyz?)

Shoutout as well to all of you who have offered to help out generally with promoting ykyz, we’ll be counting on your efforts to take ykyz up to 11.

Honorable mentions
Before we get to the prize winners, here are the honorable mentions for this week.
 
30. Steelman-ing by Just Thinking Aloud
Mark provides us with a concise, well thought out description of this important technique in arguing, which involves making the strongest possible case for your opponent before you begin to attack it.


145. You Should Never do this. The Stigmas in Health by Doctor Irish
In this episode, the good doctor gives us an important reminder to distinguish between the patient and the condition, and not stigmatize people by identifying them with their disease. I’d also highly recommend listening to the Doc’s episode 20. 600 Dollars on microtransactions on his Imperfect Reviews microcast, a warning tale for anyone who lets the little ones access an app store, intentionally or otherwise.


80. I Was A Communist by SteinerLand
Andrew tells us his first two words when growing up on the Kibbutz, an institution which is on the ropes in large part because people move away from them in search of Andrew’s third word.


Winners:
Just for March Madness, we’re adding a third prize level.  

Third place:
12. Paranoid Android by BeyondRhythm
This well-crafted episode by Cyannade tells the story behind one of my favorite Radiohead songs. Rich in detail, and bookended by a couple of nicely appropriate sonic touches, BeyondRythm picks up our inaugural third place with an entry that’s well worth the 90 second listen.


Runner up:
22. Disneyland is Too Expensive by The Broken Down Starship
James clearly touched a nerve with his discussion of the high cost of Disneyland. Mixing news, official explanations, and a personal take, this excellent episode expertly lays out a lament shared by all too many parents.  


Grand prize:
145. Chili Bricks – Just Add Water by SnippetsWithSophia
With her signature mix of perfectly recorded episodes, quirky history, and heaping spoonfuls of information, Sophia once again puts the spice in our bowls and takes home top prize in this week’s microcast cook-off. Who knew the freeze-dried bags of beef stroganoff campers carry today can trace their lineage back over a hundred years to bricks of dried beef, fat, salt, and chilis. Either way, it beats lembas bread.


Thanks to everyone who took part in CotW XI, talk to you soon on ykyz!

Cast of the Week VII

CotW VII
u/Mattasher writes:

Before we get to the prizes, we have a number of shoutouts this week to those who made our week:

Shoutout to jen.again for kick-starting my new favorite channel, c/ihateitwhen. Jen’s complaint about tissue boxes may be the most gloriously relatable first world problem I’ve ever heard.

Shoutout to Black Girl Baker who’s finding a great groove with her one-two punch of baking and “tea”.

Shoutout to CatGuruJoanie who has been experimenting with YouTube-style quick edits of her audio. Though not right for everyone, this technique is working well for Joanie’s cast.

Shoutout to ThatBeardedSwede for keeping casting alive on Reddit with a dedicated channel to microcasting.

Before getting to the main event, we hereby recognize a few runners up this week:

76. Thoughts on fake pockets? by fashionmusings
Gem clearly hit a chord with this discussion of fake pockets, an endless source of complaints for my own daughter.


79. Baby Steps by Life Bites Podcast
In this thoughtful meditation on moving forward, Conner reminds us that “You can go for miles, just taking baby steps”


69. Chicken McNuggets vs Vegan Nuggets by SnippetsWithSophia
Sophia’s episode about everyone’s favorite finger snack as a kid makes us wonder how much actual chicken is in McNuggets.


And now, on to the winners!
Runner up
54. What is Chinese Astrology? by Astrocast By Diz
In this timely episode, Diz explains the Chinese system of years and animals, including the nifty trick of asking someone’s zodiac animal as a sly (but not foxy, that one’s missing) way to figure out their age.


Grand Prize
86. Attachment by CatGuruJoanie
Joanie, with a hit tip to Violaceous C, brings the receipts for what many a cat owner has long suspected. Namely, their cats actually do love them, they’re just chill in how they show it. With well researched and tightly delivered episodes, we’re quickly becoming “Securely attached” to Joanie’s excellent microcast.

Cast of the Week VI

CotW VI
You’ll find all the nominees for this week at https://ykyz.com/c/na?faveOf=cotwvi

u/Mattasher writes:
Before we get to the winners of Cast of the Week VI, I’d like to send some shoutouts to folks who made our week this week:

Shoutout to Conner u/lifebitespodcast who brought in Paul Sating, our very first AmA guest. For more information about our AmA program, send us an email.

Shoutout to Joanie, who opened up a second microcast under the name CriminalCreatures, to help answer the age-old question of when should pigs be hanged for their wrongdoings.

Shoutout to Violaceous Curiosity, who took the bait from last week’s edition and seeded the definitively NSFW channel, MFK. A reminder to everyone that you can start new channels anytime you like, on the fly. Just type in the channel name at the end of the URL and go.

And now, on to the winners. But first, the runner’s up.

Ep 44 How a Gemini Takes A Compliment- Skit by Astrocast By Diz
In this fun mini-skit, Diz does her best to peg Gemini’s, and asks that other age-old question, “What grown man wears Sketchers?” I’d also recommend Diz’s other astrological one-act episodes.


EP 62 Drug Smuggling on a cruise by Dancing Bartender
In this episode, the Dancing Bartender tells the story of some Canadians who smuggled more than a little cocaine into an Aussie port of call, wherein their party comes to an abrupt halt.


EP92 IKEA by ThatbeardedSwede
When Fredrik started his microcast, I expected it would take no more than a week to get to the main event, IKEA, and soon after that I expected our favorite Swede to go off-road and leave behind his Nordic Kingdom as a topic. Instead, Fredrik found nearly a hundred fascinating episodes about life in Sweden before hitting his informative IKEA ringer and shows no signs of deviating from a topic that’s proved to be much richer than I ever expected.


And now, on to the winners:
Second Prize
Ep52 Twinings Tea – Drink Like A Royal by SnippetsWithSophia
 In this well researched, perfectly scripted episode, Sophia takes us on a historical journey into the origins of British tea and tells us how to drink like a Royal, so long as we’re willing to part with a few Pounds and put up with the pungent smell of Earl Grey blend.  


Grand Prize
Ep23 Black Tax by Asi Voluptuous Voyager
In this episode, Asi discusses the tricky dynamic when family ties are turned against children who manage to escape from poverty, and now-grown-up kids are morally blackmailed into paying a “tax” of financial gifts to those left behind.

Asi’s episode is wonderfully specific in its details, yet universally understandable in terms of the emotional dynamics it sets up, and, as I know from personal experience, this is a phenomenon that extends well beyond the black communities of South Africa.

Cast of the Week III

CotW III winners

Before we get to the winners, some general notes:
• All microcasters, paid or unpaid, are eligible, except for Prospectors (see https://ykyz.com/blog/index.php/microcaster-levels/)
• To be considered for a prize, you must have proper episode titles and have set your email and avatar. Unfortunately this week we had to exclude some wonderful nominations on that basis.
• When choosing winners, we first narrow down the field by removing casts with poor audio quality or a topic that has connection to your microcast theme.

You will find all of the nominees for this period at: https://ykyz.com/f/cotwiii

Because this was an extra long period, we’ve added more winners and runner’s up than usual. We had lots of great nominations, but a handful of them really shined.

Here’s u/mattasher with descriptions of this week’s winners. We begin with the runner’s up:

EP. 32 Skincare Emergencies by Brown Skin Pearls. This tightly crafted, interesting episode introduces us to new uses for feminine wash.


Ep. 45 Side Hustle by IAmMillennial. Jonathan perfectly captures the moment many of us find ourselves in, where trends in tech and economics have led so many of us to become gig workers of one kind or another.


EP53 VR Gaming by NerdyOldGuy. Joel drew half-a-dozen responses for his personal take on virtual reality gaming and motion sickness.


Finally, a shoutout to ykyz’s own Teresa (ThatOneGirl) for her excellent four-part series A Place called Ohio).

And now, on to the winners! Because this was a longer period, we’ve picked two second prize winners.

Second prize
EP59 The right of public access by ThatbeardedSwede. Here’s another lovely slice of life episode from or favorite Swede. This episode discusses the tradition and laws related to public access on private property, including the right to pick berries and mushrooms. We also highly recommend ThatbeardedSwedes’ other nominated episodes on Fika and The Stockholm Syndrome.


Ep13.Spicy Food by staplezz1301. This episode mixes the author’s personal relationship to spice with a view of spiciness as a metaphor for Mexico in general. As staplezz1301’s asks, “What’s life without a little bit of spice”.


Grand prize
EP06 a ruler by fashionmusings. This well researched, high effort episode focuses on a fascinating intersection of fashion, politics, and history. Who knew there used to be cops wandering around South Korea armed with scissors to give hippy scofflaws an on-the-spot trim?


Congratulations to fashionmusings and all the other winners and runners up. Keep your eye out for great episodes for next week’s contest!

Cast of the Week II

Cast of the Week (CotW) winners

All CotW entrants are nominated by you, and chosen by ykyz founder u/mattasher.

You can always find the most recent nominees at:
ykyz.com/f/castoftheweek

u/mattasher writes:

We had lots of great microcast episodes this past week! But before we get to the winners, I want to highlight a few non-microcast Bleats. The most interesting conversation starter of the week was Amandalotta’s “iPhone for littles?” which drew lots of strong opinions about kids owning expensive cellphones. Feel free to check it out for yourself.

Amandalotta also asked the vital question, Where do you find a dog with no legs? See the answer for yourself.

Special mention also goes to ThatOneGirl for her 4-bleat series on “The Demon Midwife”, a fascinating story that just missed the deadline for last week’s Cast contest.

Runner’s up for CotW:

Ep.4 Life Bites – Story Idea by Life Bites Podcast
Conner presents an interesting dilemma, Do you wake up a sleeper only to tell them that the world is about to end?

EP4 Travel Skincare by Brown Skin Pearls
Clare provides practical, specific advice about skincare and travel. Solid, informative, interesting.

Ep. 19 YouTube by IAmMillennial
IAmMillennial swears he doesn’t fall down YouTube rabbit holes, then takes us down his most recent YouTube rabbit hole, babies sneezing. Who knew that was a thing?

Second place:

EP35.Homeschool vs Public School by ILoveEveryone
ILoveEveryone presents a single strong, well researched argument related to equity and state funding of public school, vs the lack of support for home school students.

First place:

Ep29 Music and Peace by Music and Peace
Addie gives an impassioned, yet calm and thoughtful meditation on gatekeeping in music. Perfectly scripted and well recorded, Addie’s plea for opening up the musical garden to all those who want to admire it, is worth listening to at least twice.

Some final thoughts this week about the microcast. Some of you are beginning to get the hang of the format, and to dominate it. As you go about producing your episodes, keep in mind the distinction between microcast episodes and Bleats generally. General Bleats are about conversation. Microcast episodes present information and perspective. They may ask for feedback, but they aren’t just topic starters to kick off a conversation. Note in particular how The Broken Down Starship’s outstanding “Biggest Disappointment” episode introduces a topic, then does much more by going into details about the topic generally, and outlining a specific case of disappointment with well-thought-out context.