[the_original_ib]

Hello,

Well, the time off has been good. I know I was terribly missed (ahem), so I will be getting right back to broadcasting in the new year. I plan for 2007 to be a year of improvement for the show. In fact, I sat down the other day and figured out how the show distribution has worked over the past four years. The results are a bit embarrassing:

2003 - 29 new shows (starting from April)
2004 - 39 new shows
2005 - 29 new shows
and last and certainly least
2006 - 9 new shows!

So the goal for 2007 is to get back to 30 shows, and to make sure repeats get broadcast on the weeks I can't do new programming. A lot of the old shows are hiding somewhere on the AM server or have been deleted (unfortunately for you I have backups and can re-upload them) so the replay variety has been a bit stagnant. I do promise not to ever play "Slovenia Part 2" if I can possibly help it.

I am also thinking about expanding the show web-site at some point, although how much time I end up having for that has yet to be determined.

So here's for a better 2007. I hope to hit Switzerland for the first time, finish off most of Eastern Europe, return to Italy and France, do a series on the USA (time to pay tribute to the gracious hosts of the program!), and "fix" a couple of old shows that I screwed up the first time (Alf Emil Eik is not the same as the band Eik, which messes up both the Iceland and Norway shows from 2003). I feel confident about keeping the program going until it's five year anniversary in April 2008, and after that we'll see.

Thanks to all (six of) my listeners, and have a great New Year!

Regards,
Sean