In the spirit of “a watched kettle never boils” and “ignore it and it will do better“, disciples of Neil Gorman’s Your Podcast is Not a Fucking Toaster movement have been dealing with new possibilities as described in some recent marketing speak from toaster maker, Hamilton Beach.

A recall announcement released by the company on March 7, 2008, reads “The toaster may remain energized after popping up and could possibly ignite any flammable materials left on top of the unit, posing a fire hazard”. Though the release was not explicit, many consumers have recognized that it is in fact the toast that is flammable.

For podcasters, this discovery has led to a better understanding of Neil Gorman’s message about the production of audio and video content. It’s not just about the energy expended to produce your program; your content remains energized once in the wild. Fortunately, your podcast is not flammable — in the traditional sense.

This announcement has greater implications for podcasters.

When asked about the announcement, Just One More Book!! producer and host, Andrea Ross said “Just thinking about my podcast while working in the kitchen has been known to ignite any flammable materials”.

Photo: burnt toast by Kalpita

If you’ve been in audio for a while, chances are you have a lot of stories about lost audio. I have a few. Perhaps one of the most painful, certainly the most current, is the phantom recording I did last evening from the back seat of a taxi I was sharing with Bill Deys, Neil Gorman and Bob Goyetche.

The brilliance of the recording was that it captured a fight that took place between CC Chapman and our Russian cab driver as we were preparing to leave. CC’s directions were a bit confusing and the cabbie was a very direct communicator. The argument that ensued between them was both hilarious and stressful. It was tough to fight the laughter knowing that I had my trusty Zoom H2 recorder capturing the exchange - for Bill (who was in the front seat) more than me.

I plugged my H2 in to my laptop a few minutes ago and smiled knowing that all of the recordings I made yesterday were waiting for me. All, as it turns out, except for the exchange in the cab.

Like my Edirol R1, the Zoom H2 requires you to double-clutch the record button to begin the recording. The first press gets you into record-ready state and the second press starts the recording.

Trust me, the record-ready-recording of the fight between CC and the cabbie was a classic recording that never happened.

Epilogue: During last year’s PodCamp Boston, I shared a cab back to my hotel with Julien Smith. After a while of driving around aimlessly, Julien, in a sarcastic way that only Julien can deliver, leaned forward and said to our very aggressive and impatient cabbie, “Dude! You do know where you’re going, right?”

Off to PodCamp Boston 2, day 1.