ISSUE #61 - January, 2006

Well I hope that everyone has been enjoying and getting used to the new look for the website and the new navigation system. It's different, but in time to come should make for a good change. Much of the reason I decided to make the change was to grow along with the internet. We've been online now for about 6 years, which is a long time when you consider how fast technology moves. I won't argue that we're looking to make this site on the cutting edge or anything like that, but the old 'hack' look of basic HTML tables was becoming an eyesore to me. I have a bachelors degree in graphic design, it's about time I started putting it to good use.

The only thing I was nervous about losing was the accessibility of the old design. Yeah it was basic and sorta ugly, but it was easy to navigate and load - even for modem users. I prided myself on that because it wasn't until last year that I went high-speed. This site was meant to be viewed by everyone, and keeping it basic made that possible. There was a strong consideration to incorporate Flash with the new design, but I found a way to work around that using old HTML tricks that work almost as well. So far nobody has complained to me about the new site being harder to load, so hopefully I was right that most people are now on high-speed connections and/or the new look is worth the extra loading time.

Also I wanted to thank everyone for the kind words about the new look. I kept it fairly secret for the two months I was working on the re-design so I was a bit nervous! And I hope that the upgraded sound quality of Radio ShowBiz hasn't dropped off too many modem users. It bothers me that only high-speed users can access the station now - and it's a crying shame too because the sound quality is so much better than before. Not quite CD quality but if you listen long enough you won't even notice. The playlists are being updated more often and there's so much more variety now, and there will be even more as the year goes on. Right now you can hear classic Rock-afire songs, vintage Pizza Time Theatre tracks, modern Chuck E. Cheese audio, an assortment of commericals, independant music from the voice actors behind the characters, and the newest edition of Billy Bob's NewsBlast. Plus Brian (ChuckECheese72) has made some killer station and contest bumpers! That's the edge that takes us from being just some guy playing online music to an actual radio station.

Also on the horizon is CheeseVention 3. Yes it's early, and probably a good 6 months away at this point, but the planning is getting more solid now - before it was mostly just random brainstorming by the CV Staff. We're again shooting for a summer date which hasn't been arranged yet. Most likely July or August though so if you think you might be able to come, it's not too early to let your workplace/family know about it. Plus it's looking like this year we'll be moving the event out of MA so other fans can make the trip. The event will take on a different form than usual which could offer some interesting results, none of which I see as being that bad. The whole point of CV is to get fans together in person to talk about what we love - so as long as we can do that, we can't go wrong!

Since January is just about over, I'm going to end it here and try to get the Feburary issue posted in a few weeks at the latest. I'll be back then with a full Bulletin including the PTP Comics - I haven't forgotten them, it's just hard to put them together.

Also we're not doing too bad with keeping on the updates schedule I've set forth for 2006. The updating of the Showtape Review will continue into Febuary but I hope to have much of the Photo Gallery updated next month as well. Also keep listening to Radio ShowBiz as the updates will happen as often as possible - next month will feature a slew of love songs in time for Valentines Day.