James McLeod — fantasy author and narrator

Flashback: The Lemon Lime Vodcast

James McLeod and Michelle Miazga smile cheekily at each other in a photo promoting the Lemon Lime Vodcast.

Buried deep within the hidden corners of my YouTube channel, a series of deactivated videos sits like an unused bassline, patiently thrumming away as if waiting for a moment to join the song.

It was early 2005 when, armed with a trusty Sony HDR-FX1 (which had no HDR functionality…) and a whimsical sense of optimism, I ventured out into Vancouver's bar and pub scene to film a video-podcast which covered new music, movies, and video games. I didn't expect much from it, but there were very few other 'video weblogs' going around at that time and Apple's new iTunes podcast service was looking distinctly quiet, so I gave it a shot.

I dubbed the project, 'The Lemon Lime Vodcast' and thought the name quite punny and clever, and although a recent article about the bygone 'vodcast' fad boldly proclaims the origin of the word 'short for “Video-On-Demand-cast”', I actually intended for the word 'vodcast' to do triple duty, combining 'vodka' with 'video' and 'podcast'.

As for the 'LLV' (as it came to be known) itself, it would go on to enjoy two-and-a-half seasons in that many years, and gain some good traction in the early YouTube world, rising to number 32 in the Podfeed.net 'video weblog rankings', just underneath some now retro-classics like 'Tiki Bar TV' (coincidentally also filmed in Vancouver), Diggnation, and Rocketboom.

For the series title sting, 'Siren on the 101' by Silverstrand, I got permission from the band itself and to this day, a little badge sits next to each episode on YouTube: "Copyright-protected content found. The owner allows the content to be used on YouTube."

Michelle Miazga and James McLeod pose in a number of super-cool promo photos for the LLV.

Filming the show was a blast. It featured various funky bars around Vancouver, in which I hosted the LLV alongside the wonderful (and ever cheerful) Michelle Miazga, with Zach Shore as our cameraman. I was thrilled to work alongside them both and owe them a lot of thanks, as well as friends, bands, bar-owners and the viewers for making the project the success it was. Two-and-a-bit-years after it went live, I was truly sorry to see it come to an end, but other projects (and a full-time job) were taking up my attention.

The LLV videos had been inactive for a long time and when nostalgia beckons, I sometimes take gander at the thumbnails and remnisce about the early days of content creation. Very rarely, I'll get an email from an old viewer who comments on how much fun the show was, or asks if it's ever coming back (the latest of which prompted this post).

On set around Vancouver, the LLV took viewers to parks, bars, and funky spaces.

It's odd because here I am 20 years later, still technically doing the same thing and still loving it. Sure, the LLV is gone, and Pixorama is different, but the skills I learned on projects like that have been invaluable in my content-creator journey, and I'm still very lucky to be able to bring a smile to viewers' faces.

And what about bringing the LLV back? Well, I know it would be a different story, today. Content creation ain't what it used to be. Still, it goes to show that you never know what kind of impact a little idea might have, and that if you never try, you never will.

Jim :)