The hardest part of living 3,000 miles away from the rest of your family is finding something to do with yourself come Christmastime. This year I really have to thank Peter and Melanie Zschau for treating me like one of their own boys. There was food, booze, and even presents waiting for me way out in the sticks of Western Massachusetts, even though I’m just an invader in their sector.

While nothing can make up for the fact that Mom and Dad are perched on an entirely different ocean than mine, the Zschaus made it a lot easier to spend the holidays away. Thanks, guys, it means a lot to me.

I had hoped to make this announcement weeks ago, but apparently Pandora Radio lists holiday albums under a different artist name and it took me until this morning to notice this. I don’t care, it’s in there and you can listen to it now. However, I don’t think they’re going to spin up the radio drama parts, so if you want to hear the whole adventure you’ll have to buy the album.

In the mean time, though, take a listen and create your own holiday station at www.pandora.com/music/artist/matthew+ebel+holiday

I just listened to a retrospective post from the talented Slau, the guy that produced Podsafe For Peace and I’m suddenly remembering what it felt like to be excited about podcasting again. If you were around for the birth of New Media (or if you’d just like to know what it was like working with all the other big names in New Media Music), you’ve got to take a listen to this. Slau released this as the latest edition of his own podcast, Sessions with Slau.

And yes, the Podsafe For Peace song is at the end of the episode!
Download Episode

ENN November 23, 2009 (Download MP3)

• The High Orbit Holiday Special is coming soon! If you want to know when it’s officially released, watch here or join the mailing list!
• The Entourage has filled 4 out of 5 slots already. Will you be the last taker for 2009? Sign up at http://matthewebel.net
• There will be no live recording or new studio recordings for Matthew Ebel dot net members in December. Instead, they’ll receive The High Orbit Holiday Special in their download feed. That’s 3 times the music!

One of the most important things we can do to keep this planet in one piece is simply to stop wasting stuff. Check out this cartoon about printer ink by the talented Jim Borgman. They package these things to make them harder to shoplift (and at $20 for a single black ink cartridge, Epson really ought to worry about shoplifting). Do you really need all that cardboard? The brochures inside trying to sell photo paper (who the heck prints photos anymore anyway)? The plastic bag, the mile-long receipt…

As a consumer, whenever I can find a low-packaging alternative, I jump on it.

• Just say no. If I’m only buying a few things I can carry or fit in my pockets, I say no to a plastic bag (the girl at my local Walgreens honestly tried to put a single tube of Chapstick in a bag for me).
• Shop at home. I buy online, where I can get printer ink with minimal packaging at half the price, an emailed receipt, and even free shipping. Plus I’m not burning gasoline to get to the store.
• Everyone loves refills. I buy my hand soap in a 1 gallon plastic jug, not 8 ounces at a time in 16 plastic pump bottles.

And this Christmas I don’t want become part of the packaging problem. ‘Tis the season to consume, spend, and bolster that good old economy, right? I plan to make the process an efficient one from start to end.

• Buy low-trash gifts. Personally, the only thing I want this year are Lowe’s Gift Cards since I’m moving and building a studio soon. Items like clothing, cars, jewelry, food, concert/movie tickets, and books usually don’t come with much junk to throw out.
• Don’t wrap gifts in even more trash. Wrapping paper, bows, and ribbon are a colossal waste of resources that even a simple gift bag can fix. Gift bags and boxes are common, pretty, and reusable for years. Some gifts, like small jewelry, can be hidden in the mistletoe completely unwrapped (and how romantic is it to reach up in the middle of the kiss and pull out those diamond earrings?).

And one last tip: If you want a real Christmas tree this year, go to a “cut your own tree” farm. The trees that aren’t chosen this season will continue producing oxygen and reducing greenhouse gases until next year, unlike all those that were already cut for the parking lot tree vendor.

Hat tip to Daniel Johnson Jr. for emailing me that Borgman cartoon, excellent find!

[tags]Matthew Ebel, piano rock, environment, Jim Borgman, Epson, inkjet, ink, conservation, packaging, trash, Lowe’s, Walgreens, Christmas[/tags]