As usual, I put the slideshow together for them.  I have had a few requests to make the slideshow available for others to watch, so here it is.

If you like this work, or any of the other graphics work you see on this page, email Matt and let him know.  You can reach him at his “new” graphics company email

matt@spreadhdgfx.com

(nb:  we have two versions here.  The first is an h.264 mpeg codec version, and the other is a flash video.  I would really appreciate feedback from you on which ones played for you (or both, or neither…)

Matthew really enjoys Pandora Radio, and the serendipitous event it brings of finding new music.  Dad loves the way Shazam helps him “Name That Tune” and even purchase it. And Matthew enjoys finding radio stations from around the country using AOL Radio.

Key to our choices?  They are all FREE.*

Have a listen.  Another “From the Kitchen Table” production

*Free on the iPhone.  If you get these apps through other cellphone models you may have to pay a monthly fee.

Matthew chooses the Facebook app as one everyone high school and college student should have, but then he pulls another out of his hat–the Weather Channel app!  It’s not only useful to plan your day, but also… well, listen to how he uses it in school!

Dad chose the AccuFuel app.  It is quite useful to track fuel consumption rates  by car.  Record how many gallons of gas you purchase, and how many miles you have driven and let it do the rest.

As it turned out, CV beat Wilson in this critical “at  home” match, and it was a foreshadowing of the State Championship match which, as we all know, was won by CV over Wilson.

Whether this commericial had anything to do with it or not, there was a very large crowd at the match, and so much energy in the natatorium you could FEEL it.

Enjoy!

Thus, commercial 2 was born. I wanted to show the energy both on offense, and the skills required on defense, as the goalies, as the last best hope, stop the shots on goal.

And I wanted to get the students, and faculty, excited enough to attend the matches.  (Hey, it’s what advertising is supposed to do, rigiht?)

Enjoy–“Beast of the East”

To show my support, I developed a series of commercials that were shown in the morning over the HS closed circuit TV, CVTV (cute, eh?)

I am most pleased with the fact that one of the first comments I heard was from a football player who, when seeing the video in school said “Hey, we don’t have a commercial!”  I have since learned that the football team and at least one other sport have started doing commercials.  Perhaps I have helped raise the bar just a tad bit.

I have decided to share these videos with the readership, here.  Let me know what you think of them!

This first commercial never “aired.”  Matt decided that it didn’t make sense.  I can understand that.  I was going for the start of a marketing “campaign” but since those didn’t seem to go over very well with the Microsoft/Seinfeld ads either, perhaps I over-reached.  You be the judge!

Father…

Listen in, and please–leave us comments!

Anyway, we had a great time, watched the game with a fun group of fans, and got to eat not only dogs and burgers, but lots of little cups of Creamery Ice Cream.

Matthew and Steve share their thoughts as Penn State finally puts another one in the W column, defeating Iowa 27 to 7. Sit back and enjoy the sounds of the game.

Also, we chastise Penn State’s policy for requiring babies to have tickets for the game. Yes–“they” required an 8 month old baby boy to have a purchased ticket to attend the game and sit on Dad’s chest. Anyone have ANY defense for this policy? I mean, other than wanting to generate as much revenue as possible?

Finally we talk about photography, and Michigan’s loss to Appalachian State!

The new intro music is Decoy, by Red Blanket
Red Blanket
“Decoy” (mp3)
from “A Southern Manitoban Murder of Crows”
(C12 Records)

Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at eMusic
Stream from Rhapsody
Buy at Rhapsody
Buy at Napster
Buy at GroupieTunes
More On This Album

We discuss setting up a “Trivia Show” even, using Talkshoe.

Matthew mentions another great site, SpreadShirt, that let’s you put a graphic image up with them, and they will produce clothing “on demand.”

Matthew offers to make “desktop” image mashups for any Penn State fans. (Two are included here.)

Enjoy listening, and if you have any comments email us (dad -at- fathersonchats.com or matt -at- fathersonchats.com) or call us and leave us a voicemail, at 206-600-5518.

In this episode:

• Matt’s First Look Breakdown of the First Six PSU Games

• Ravens Training Camp thoughts
• Barry Bonds 755
• New GoPSUSports.com layout
• New Natatorium for Penn State?

Penn State Game by Game Breakdown:

Game 1-FIU- This should be an easy fight, I mean game, for Penn State. Penn State’s talent alone should win this game… don’t over look this game, but don’t expect a loss. You can never overlook a game. Never the less, the 2^nd team should be in by half time, or at the very least the 3^rd quarter.

Game 2-Notre Dame- Just run the ball. Notre Dame’s #2 defensive tackle is out for eating Charlie’s donuts, so Notre Dame’s defensive line is one of the worst in the nation. This will give the Oline and Austin Scott some confidence heading into the Michigan game. This game should be over by half time, with 2^nd string in by the 3^rd quarter. Lets NOT run up the score, just to show Notre Dame what class is (like Charlie Weis going for it on 4^th down late in the game)

Game 3-Buffalo- Other than Notre Dame, Penn State’s playing the worst OOC schedule ever. Buffalo, FIU and Temple are some of the worst teams in the D-1A football. Not much to say about this game. Keep doing what you’ve been doing.

Game 4-Michigan- This is when strategy becomes key. The winner of this game will become the winner of the Big 10 conference and be a National Title contender. First off, Penn State needs to either get the 8 game loss streak to Michigan out of their head, or use it as motivation. Secondly, the defensive line, that is young (but VERY talented), needs to step up. They might be made of mostly sophomores, but they are the difference makers. With Larry Johnson as the position coach for them, they should be prepared. Never the less, the key is to stop Mike Hart. All we really need is for them to eat up space and allow the linebackers to do the rest. Also, the secondary needs to watch for Mario Manningham on the play-action. The Michigan defense is weak and with Morelli having confidence and the most talented WR Corp in the nation, we need to keep this team guessing on what we’re going to do. This is the year for the playbook to really open up. This is the game for Morelli to come out and show the NFL Scouts and the Nation what he really can do.

Game 5-Illinois- Don’t sleep on Illinois this year. They’ll have more wins than last year by this point in the season (Illinois was 2-10 last year). This is at Illinois and Juice Williams is dangerous playmaker along with (Arrelious) Benn at WR. Ron Zook is bringing in the talent, but they are not there YET. In fact, they may never been there, as Ron Zook is one of the worst, if not THE WORST game day coaches out there. Never the less, he is bringing in the talent to bring Illinois to the top of the Big Ten. Keep a weary eye on them, but don’t expect an upset just yet.

Game 6-Iowa- Kirk Ferentz is a great coach and Iowa is a good team. With that being said, Drew Tate is gone meaning a new starting quarterback. The game being at Beaver Stadium and the only thing worse that could happen is for it to be a night game with a white-out (but it’s not a night game). This is going to be a good game, but the you can’t bring a new Quarterback into Beaver Stadium and expect to win against Penn State when they are out of their slump.

Quick Note:  We are having some problems with the iTunes feed, so find the feed directly at:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/FatherAndSonChats

or; <a href=”http://www.podcastalley.com/”> My Podcast Alley feed!</a> {pca-0f0ec23c3f0360177973574965004691}

Matt and Steve head to Hershey to sit together and watch the Big 33 football game together for some father-son bonding, as they scout and give their thoughts on football players that will be at Penn State this fall, along with just a summary of the game.
There were three players that are heading to Penn State, Drew Astrino, Derek Moye, and Nathan Stupar

Derek Moye was very impressive in my opinion. He had a knack of getting open during the game. I think if the Pennsylvania QB kept his eyes downfield while scrambling, Moye would have had more stats. Moye is tall and his speed was impressive. He played very well in that game IMO.

Nathan Stupar did not do much during the game from what I saw (of course, i was not in the best seat in the house at the game). Why he did so little though comes with reason. Every time I looked he was being double teamed by Ohio. He couldn’t shed the double team, but he was still pushing them back. He looked good.

Drew Astrino impressed me the most. He seemed to have been all over the field on defense and really kept his head on a swivel, as he was tested quite a few times laterally. It seemed as though he stayed stride for stride with his match ups and just knocked the balls down. I was not expecting so much from him.

Meanwhile, Pitt commits, Henry Hynoski and Chris Jacobson, did not do much to catch my attention, other than when Jacobson started to get into a fight that was thankfully broken up soon after. Penn State’s recruits outshined Pittsburgh by far.
We went on to talk about the upcoming Penn State season, as I mentioned the players that excite me to watch the most. There were many players that could fall in that category, but I finally narrowed it down to two.

Offense-Anthony Morelli: not just because he has a year under his belt or even just because of the Tennessee game, though that definitely helps. My real reason to be excited about Morelli is not about him. It’s about those around him that he can use this year. You might be asking, “What’s the difference between 06 and 07 for his supporting cast?” The emergence of taller players, that are also playmakers, will help us score in the endzone, instead of just a field goal. They players I’m talking about are players like Andrew Quarless and Chris Bell. Those two are going to be stars and they’re going to fix our problem of getting into the redzone. Any Penn State fan would know that we get to the redzone then stall out. All of our WRs other than Golden were below 6 foot, making fade passes be tough to execute in the endzone.

Others that I thought of here: Andrew Quarless, Chris Bell, Offensive line, Austin Scott, Derrick Williams

Defense-AJ Wallace: This was tough, as there is so much going on with the defense. I could have picked any 57 young, but talented, D linemen that we have. AJ Wallace though is the one that I want to see the most. He played in big games, like Justin King as a freshman. He’s got speed, not to mention he can bring kickoffs to the endzone. Never the less, Wallace is that added dimensions that keeps defenses from wanting to throw the ball at all. You cant throw it go King’s side, (and Scirrotto if he’s able to play), and it’s not like our SS, Davis isn’t experienced in covering a player, as the CB experience probably helped him. So who do you throw it to? The quarterback would have to throw to Wallace’s side, the youngest player in the secondary. I expect to see some INTs from him this year.

Others that I thought of here: Navarro Bowman Tony Davis, Aaron Maybin,), Jared Odrick, Maurice Evans, Phillip Taylor
NFL News:
“It’s Division 1 football! It’s the Big 12”- Dan Hawkins
Where was that speech from Oakland Raider’s head coach Lane Kiffin? I was thoroughly disappointed in him. He just rolled over when the player union complained about, “mini-camp being too hard.” I did not see the reaction I was expecting with the press conference that followed.

Chat with Matt at Fightonstate.com and head to Forum. (feel free to join Total Access Premium to read the insider articles and visit the insider boards)

The good news:
• Darrell Scott, one of the top 3 running backs in the nation, has been state near the top of his list. He likes the opportunity he has to start and get playing time, as Penn State’s running back depth chart is thin
• The great news of the day. A.J. Alexander has decided to commit to a school next week. It’s down to Florida State and Penn State. Since he is only announcing it through Scout.com, and released info to Cory James, a Penn State recruiting Guru, one can expect for this Altoona native to be wearing blue and white

Top 10 reasons why Penn State will make it to the national championship:
1. Chris Bell and Andrew Quarless being developing red zone threats for Morelli
2. Notre Dame, Ohio State, Wisconsin, and Iowa are home games
3. Leadership developing by Derrick Williams and other players
4. Morelli showed improvement in the Outback Bowl
5. Austin Scott rushed for over 110 yards and 2 touchdowns in the Orange Bowl
6. Larry Johnson is the defensive line coach, one of the best there is
7. Justin King, AJ Wallace, Tony Davis, and Anthony Scirrotto could make up one of the best defensive backfields in the big ten.
8. Linebackers will be one of the top in the nation
9. Matt Hahn is a multipurpose fullback capable of running or catching the ball out of the backfield.
10. The team, the fans, the university believe.

I have made a bet on ohiostate.scout.com that if Andrew Sweat (linebacker, Trinity High school, Washington, PA) commits to Ohio State, I will wear a Ted Ginn icon till the Ohio State-Penn State game this coming fall; plus a week for each user that bets against me. If Andrew Sweat commits to Penn State, then they all have to wear an icon of Calvin Lowry returning an interception from Troy Smith in the 2005 game.

Perhaps it’s been up for a while, but I just now noticed that Scout has apparently released its initial rankings for the Hot100: http://scout.scout.com/a.z?s=73&p=9&c=4&pid=88&yr=2008
Of note:
4) Terrell Pryor (QB) 5) Darrell Scott (RB)
6) Will Hill (S)
8) Jon Major (OLB)
37) Deion Walker (WR)
39) Vinston Painter (T)
42) Sam McGuffie (RB)
52) Andrew Sweat (MLB)
68) Kenny Tate (WR)
72) A.J. Alexander (WR/RB/Athlete)

Quick Hits:
• More than 2 losses this season is an udder disappointment
• Derrick Williams, Chris Bell, Jordan Norwood, and Andrew Quarless to break out this year
• Joe Paterno does not retire… kidding me this guy never will, and I like it like that
• Anthony Morelli will no longer be viewed as “dumb” by the nation
• Larry Johnson will be the Chiefs MVP on offense, while Tamba Hali will be there MVP on defense(if not him, then Ty Law)

• talk about the BCS Lineups, and who we each think REALLY should be ranked number 2
• Discuss the various candidates for awards, who gets recognition, and who deserves recognition
• Want to know why Matt prefers the Outback Bowl to the Capital One Bowl?
• Matthew’s head is now shaved. Cue Ball. Listen to find out why

We again use Derek K. Miller’s music, this time a longer variant, “Shorter Snouted Aardvark” as well as “Cairo, Part 1″ by Channel. As always, you can find this music, and more podsafe music, at music.podshow.com.

Leave a comment, and let us know what you think, and what you would like to hear us talk about.

Finally, off to the far right you will see you can register on this site. Go ahead. It’s free, and lets everyone know who else finds these ramblings mildly entertaining.

Music at the beginning of the podcast was by Derek Miller from Penmachine.com titled “Snub-Nosed Aardvark.” Closing music provided by podsafemusic.com, titled “airo, Pt I” by Channel.

• talk about Notre Dame<
• The Youngstown game
• Is the swagger back? Matt’s says it WILL be after the OSU game
• The PSU-OSU matchup
• Matt gets ready for Homecoming (donate money to his fund!)
• The new Creamery needs a redesign
• The fans were there for the team
• Pictures from the Cell Phone

Please, let us know what you think!

We sit down on Labor Day to talk about Matt’s first week at school, Penn State’s win over Akron, and looking ahead to Notre Dame. Listen all the way to the end for music by Gaelic Storm (http://www.gaelicstorm.com) and a few words about the Penn State Creamery.
Music provided by Derek Miller from penmachine podcast: free MP3 instrumental songs at podcast.penmachine.com. Titled “Less than Red”

This podcast was recorded following the High School game. Beavercreek burst onto the scoreboard with a touchdown run back from the opening kick-off, and then it turned into a slug-fest for four long quarters. Carroll surprisingly attempted, and achieved, many fourth down conversions.

Of course, the best part of the podcast was listening to Matthew’s defense of supporting Carroll.

NOTE: You can now subscribe to this podcast directly in iTunes. Go to iTunes Music Store, and search for “The Father Son Chats.” It should offer up our little podcast. Go ahead, subscribe.

It’s FREE!

In this episode Matt talks about the most over-rated school in Colege football, and shares with us his view of the benefits of returning starters. He also provides insight into the Penn State Offense, and provides a fresh look at the Carroll HS vs Beavercreek HS Match-up.

Music provided by Derek Miller from penmachine podcast: free MP3 instrumental songs at podcast.penmachine.com. Titled “Less than Red”

Today, Dad decides to change the topic on Matthew. He was all prepared to talk about the biggest college rivalries, and NCAA 07 among other football topics. I, the Dad, chose to get him to talk about himself instead.

A proud father, I am! Matthew did quite well, taking first place in all three of his individual events, and he was only seeded first in one of them. Winning all three put him in the position for something else, special. But you will have to listen to the podcast to get to that part.

For more information about the swim team and league, check out their sites. The Southern Ohio Swim League is at http://www.soslohio.org/. The swim team we support, and on which Matt swims, is Idle Hour Swim Team, found at http://idlehourswimteam.com/

Matt is concerned that only my picture is up here. I will keep my eye open for a pic of him. The more embarrassing the better, right?

Enjoy listening!

I would recommend you go to the rss feed icon on the bottom (Next to the Site Meter icon), and either click on it, or drag it to your iTunes to set up an automatic feed. Who knows, we may actually post another podcast!

WE ARE…