EDIT:  I've re-done the poll due to the fact that I got a couple of ideas from the comments section that were too damn good not to include in this poll.  I apologize for the inconvenience, but please re-cast your vote if you would be so kind.  Thanks!

You know, I sat down here this afternoon and went through the entire blogroll on the right-hand side of the page over there. . .and it turns out that there just aren't enough new stories in the Vikings' blogosphere to justify doing the Vegur.  I don't know if, like so many of us, the whole Favre thing has just collectively sucked my will to discuss anything for a while or what the deal is, but for some weird reason I'm just not "feeling it" at the moment.

Don't get me wrong. . .I'm every bit as excited for the 2009 NFL season as I am for every other season that comes our way, because I have a feeling that this year could be something special for the Beloved Purple, regardless of who plays quarterback and regardless of the Williams situation.  But with the entire off-season having basically centered around one story since a couple of days after the draft finished, I'm not obsessing over it to the level that I normally do.  Come 6 September. . .heck, come the start of Training Camp in less than two weeks. . .the blood will start pumping and the excitement will be back.  I've got some stuff coming up leading up to camp as well, so stay tuned for that.

However, the big thing I wanted to jump on this afternoon is that the long-awaited(?) podcast is a bit closer to fruition.  I've now officially signed up with BlogTalkRadio, the same platform that hosts podcasts from SBNation sites such as Mile High Report and Stampede Blue.  It's going to be a LIVE show, complete with a live chat, and I'll be able to take callers and answer questions and stuff like that as well.  The live podcast is the only format I've really been involved with as far as podcasting is concerned, and I like the way it works. . .and, besides, I have no will or desire to go back and do editing and all that other kind of stuff, so the live thing works for me.  It will also, I believe, be available on iTunes, for those of you that are into the "download and listen to it on the commute" sort of thing.

And, yes, I will attempt to keep the cursing and swearing to a minimum. . .although, as anybody that's cheered for the Vikings for any length of time knows, that's often easier said than done.

I'm going to shoot for Thursday nights with this, I think, for a couple of reasons.  First off, I get every other Friday off from work, which means that every other Friday I don't have to wake up at 0400.  If a podcast is going to run from 2000 to 2100 or 2200 (that's 8 pm to 9 or 10 for you civilian types. . .shows on BTR can be up to two hours long), not having to wake up at 0400 the next morning some weeks will be nice.  Second of all, Thursday is pretty much right in the middle of the week, which seems to me to be a good point to discuss the previous game and move on to the next one.

Now, you're probably asking "how can I contribute," since the headline up at the top says that you can.  Well, after the jump, allow me to explain it to you.

The first thing you can do is vote on the poll here to establish the name of the podcast.  I'll leave the poll open for a couple of weeks, after which time I'll declare a winner.  I've got a couple of suggestions, but there's always room for a write-in vote, and if there is a write-in vote that seems to have garnered a lot of support, I'll give it serious consideration as well.  So that's the first step.

The other step is going to involve designing a logo and/or opening theme music for the podcast.  I say this because I have pretty much zero graphical or musical ability, and I'm still exploring the BTR rules for using commercial music and so forth.  So, I will be calling on you, the Daily Norseman faithful, to possibly come up with something for me on both fronts.  If I get enough submissions, I'll put up polls for both of those, too, so people can make their voices heard on the matter.

As far as the logo, I've talked to the SBNation higher-ups, and you can incorporate the site's logo into any graphic logo design you can come up with.  Now, it doesn't appear as though it can be very big. . .only about 300 pixels by 300 pixels (though I'll get clarification on that as well). . .but there you go.

As far as the music, you can feel free to let your musical sensibilities run wild.  I'm more of a progressive rock kind of a guy, but I wouldn't be against a more urban/hip-hop type of introduction if anyone were to submit one.  I know we've got some musically inclined folks out there in the audience, and some that are even in their own bands.  If you are in a band and I end up using an intro that you wrote, I'll be sure to give the band a mention at the start of the show, as well as mentioning any albums you might have available for purchase.

The podcast itself will probably start in mid-August, giving us time to get names, logos and intro music set up and let Training Camp/pre-season games get into full swing.  It will also give me some time to play around with the BlogTalkRadio interface so that, when the time comes, I have some idea of what in the blue hell I'm doing.  I've always found that to be helpful.

But there you go. . .we're officially taking the plunge and going into podcasting here at The Daily Norseman.  When the time comes, you can get updates about the show on MySpace, Twitter, Facebook, and right here at the site.  There will even be a widget where you can listen to the show right through the site here rather than having to log into BlogTalkRadio.  More details and directions will become available as the time gets closer.

That's all for today, folks.  Hopefully you folks are all as excited to hear this podcast as I am to finally be doing it.  I've been thinking about and mentioning this for a long time, and now seems to be a pretty good time to make it happen.  Enjoy what's left of your weekend, and we'll see you back here tomorrow!