It has been nearly nine months since I last compiled a list of podcast recommendations, so I guess I am overdue. In the interest of full disclosure, I have probably recommended many of the following on an individual basis, but I am just obsessive-compulsive enough to feel compelled to list them here:
"The Bugle - Audio Newspaper For A Visual World"
John Oliver (a.k.a. that British dude from "The Daily Show") and Andy Zaltzman (longtime fan of cricket) live on opposite sides of the pond, but they come together each week to riff on current events. Or, in the alternative, if current events aren't interesting enough, they just make stuff up. I laugh more during this podcast than any other time in the week.
"John Cleese Podcast"
Infrequently updated, but I discovered this one a month or so ago and have been liberally sampling the selections. There is some fun video-blog stuff, and a few of the podcasts are simply speeches videotaped and uploaded. But there is some prepared comedy worth checking out.
"Kevin Pollak's Chat Show"
I'm an unapologetic fan of Pollak's and have been since the first time I heard his stand-up routine, "Star Trek V: In Search of Cash." His podcasts are Herculean in length, if not originality, and feature Pollak interviewing a wide variety of stars from comedy, movies, television, and music. These are long-form, sometimes intense interviews that will take casual viewers a little getting used to. But it is worth making the adjustment.
"Robert Llewellyn's Carpool"
Carpool is a series of interviews conducted by the guy who played Kryton on "Red Dwarf," the gimmick being the interviews take place as Llewellyn drives the interview subject to or from somewhere in a hybrid vehicle. The audio can sometimes be atrocious, but Dwarfers in particular will enjoy the conversations that take place on the mean UK streets.
"Rocketboom"
I discovered correspondent Ella Morton just last week when I happened upon her interview with Cookie Monster. It was love at first sight. Her video blogs are sharply edited and full of wit. And she was kind enough to add me as a friend on Facebook, so I feel obligated to pimp her segments on Rocketboom, an arts, culture, and commentary podcast.
"Stephen Fry's Podgrams"
I am late to the Stephen Fry party, and I'm not entirely certain the crowd is to my liking. I can't tell if he's a bitter and cantankerous old goof or a sage and acerbic comedic statesman. Sample his podcasts and let me know what you think.
"Today in the Past"
Brief snippets from another correspondent from "The Daily Show," John Hodgman. He has created a page-a-day calendar based on portions of his most recent book, "More Information Than You Require." For those who aren't familiar with Hodgman's book, it (and this podcast) is filled with an assortment of untrue facts. The November 12th entry about Wallace Shawn is a particular favorite of mine. Hodgman is also the most recent subject of the "iTunes: Meet the Author" podcast, for those who missed it.
"WTF with Marc Maron Podcast"
This semi-regular (one or two new installments per week) podcast has replaced the Smodcast as my source of pod-based frat humor. Maron begins every podcast with what he considers a rave review of his sponsor, a coffee company. He takes a sip of coffee, pauses, then screams "Pow! I just sh*t my pants!" Sets the tone for the show. It is a fun and insightful podcast featuring a lot of comedians and a lot of industry talk.
P.S.
The movie channels have been periodically posting full-length episodes of their TV shows as podcasts. I caught the season premiere of "Californication" in podcast form, as well as the series premiere of "Bored to Death." You have to watch for these, as they come and go without much fanfare. And I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that the iTunes Store moved the iTunes University to its own special segment of the Store (installments of which are no longer counted as podcasts). Carnegie Mellon has posted Randy Pausch's "Last Lecture" on iTunes U, as well as another full-length lecture of his. Thanks to iTunes U, I've enjoyed Q&A sessions with Alan Alda and David Sedaris, to name but a few. And I'm nearly halfway through a course on "Game Theory" offered by Professor Ben Polak at Yale University (tough course, but an amazing professor and the lessons learned have real-world applications). In the same vein, you should check out the "Free on iTunes" segment of the iTunes Store, which often contains full episodes of TV shows, music videos, or panel discussions (checking just now, I see they're presently offering the first two episodes of "Ally McBeal" for those who might be interested). Most of what I've listed in this paragraph is only offered "free" for a limited time, so I'd suggest routinely checking (unless you don't mind paying for what others receive for free).
Monday, November 16, 2009
Another Podcast Adventure
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
"Ah, dear, don't have a fuss. I'll have your Spam. I love it!"
Isn't it nice to have a day off? A day to honor the veterans, a day to read a book, a day to plow through boatloads of e-mailed spam? Yes, I took a little time to rummage through the e-mails dropped into my spam folder, because, sometimes, important e-mails fall through the cracks. Sure enough here are a few that I need to follow up on:
Cleotilde Svetland wrote an e-mail with the subject, "Winter Sale! Codeine, Hydrocodone, Vicodine, Xanex & Valium." What better way to prepare cold and lonely season than by stocking up on recreational painkillers? Laugh if you will, but Jonna Angelo and Loriann Pasty, whoever they are, each sent me e-mails with the same subject. Clearly, they know about previous holidays-gone-bad and are just looking out for me.
Apparently, someone calling themselves "me" wrote to me. In the subject to me, me asked me, "It's me, any information about Mike?" Since I do not, as of yet, have any information about Mike, I have not replied to me. But rest assured, me is looking into it.
From out of nowhere, jimgreen wrote to share the following: "She mixed the dough with sour cream." Not knowing what it was she was supposed to have been making, I do not know if this is a good or a bad thing. I'm not a sour cream fan, though I do like foods which begin as dough, so it could go either way.
Here's one I nearly missed. The one and only bluecatfishman wrote to inform me that "Lady Jingly answered sadly." Look, friends, depression is no laughing matter, and I have always known Lady Jingly to be upbeat and chipper, so this really affects me. Jingly, if you're out there, give me a... well... jingle?
I cannot believe that an e-mail from my colleague cocacolera found its way into my spam folder. Seeing the subject "Still the Turtle bore him well, and I hate your son," at least now I won't be caught off guard. I can offer up a timely response the next time I run into cocacolera in the street, which could be any day now.
Abbe Burton spoke for her entire generation when she sent me an e-mail with the subject, "Music Good Said." It is a little too short for a proper haiku, but as free verse poetry goes, Abbe Burton is a force to be reckoned with.
I seem to be getting a lot of international e-mails these days, mostly from places I once visited or lived. Japanese native 地貸款成數。銀行到期還單代墊, a.k.a. Bank Arriving At Period Generation, wrote to tell me the following: "信用狀額度變現。房屋全額貸款." Though I am not fluent in Japanese, I ran it through my computer's handy, dandy translation software and learned: "Confidence degree of amount reality. Room house payment in full rental." Noted, good sir. Noted.
Last but not least, a Cyrillic cousin of mine, kaval 3, wrote to tell me: "Русские домашние оргиий. Здесь есть даже девушка для которой это в первый раз. Наслаждайтесь!!" With two exclamation points, I was all-too-eager to learn kaval 3 was telling me about a "Russian domestic orgy. Here is even girl for which this the first time. Delight in!!"
So, if you'll excuse me, I have an important appointment, and if anybody knows how to fix my spam folder so I don't keep nearly losing these important e-mails, let me know.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Monday, October 12, 2009
День рождения
Last week, I attempted an online experiment wherein I tried to post nothing but upbeat, positive, happy things. I even tried to eliminate the sarcasm. And this online experiment spilled over into the real world, to such an extent that anyone showing even the faintest signs of sadness or depression was annoying to me. It reminded me of my days in retail, when you were supposed to greet each customer with a smile and a friendly turn-of-phrase. I was adopting a persona who was similar to me in many ways, but different in others. I was a Stepford Kevin.
The thing is, I can understand why one should be superficial and emotionally dishonest with total strangers who want nothing more than to buy something. However, I would hope that when I am happy, my friends would be there to join in the revelry, and when I am sad or angry, my friends would be there to try to raise me up. Because if all someone is interested in is the superficial and the dishonest, I really have no interest in having that someone in my life. Oh sure, I’ll sell them stuff, but that is hardly my idea of friendship.
I have spent a majority of my life trying to be there for other people. I have tried to be there for people who, frankly, treated me like crap. I try to continue to be there for people, regardless of circumstance. And I have no regrets about that; in fact, helping others is a big part of what makes me happy. I’m not looking for quid-pro-quo. All I’m looking for is a little bit of compassion on the bad days, and connectedness on the good days.
In a perfect world, this would not be an issue. But this year I seem to be fighting a lot of battles on multiple fronts. I’ve never felt so exhausted. I’ve never felt so put upon. I’ve never wanted to run screaming from my life more than I do at this moment. I know, this sounds extreme, and it makes me sound depressed or angry or whatever. But all I really want is a little bit more than I presently have. No need for a mansion or Cindy Crawford – I’d just like to feel slightly more secure… more at peace… more loved.
In other words, people have a tendency to wish people “Happy Birthday,” but all I’m really after is a birthday moderately better than the one I’m expecting. Genuine happiness is an ambitious goal. It is a goal I’m still working on, but it is unlikely to be reached within the next 24 hours. Small steps.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Memories of Cliff
Cliff Rowe walked up to me in journalism class one day and told me I should never be a journalist. I recoiled and asked why not. He told me, and I’m paraphrasing, that I can’t keep my @!#$ing opinions to myself. He was right, and, though I didn’t appreciate it at that moment, I ultimately came to respect his honesty.
In turn, I feel compelled to be honest about Cliff. To begin with, I could never make heads or tails of his handwriting. I’d get papers back that he’d graded, and then go through the arduous task of deciphering Cliff’s comments in the margins. Eventually, I learned that what I saw as “odd tub” was actually “good job.” It was like learning a second language.
And it should be made known to Cliff that anyone who has ever taken a class from Cliff has also attempted, at some point, to impersonate his unique vocal style. For those out of practice, the phrase that always brings it home is “seditious libel.” Those two words seem to hit all the right Cliff-inflections. Try it if you don’t believe me.
About a year after I’d graduated, I was working as an NBC Page in “beautiful downtown Burbank,” when I received an e-mail from Cliff. He told me he was taking a group of students to an SPJ conference in Southern California. I suggested he come to NBC and I would lead him on one of my studio tours. He arrived one afternoon with his students in tow. Along the way, we bumped into Jay Leno, who proceeded to poke fun at Cliff and the students (“Professional journalists? Sounds like an oxymoron to me!”). Watching a former professor of mine get heckled by a well known talk show host was one of the more surreal moments of my life.
Last year, while walking along the beaches of San Diego, I happened upon a sign that made me laugh out loud. I made a point of e-mailing a picture of it to Cliff, who proudly replied that he’d posted it in his office:
What I will remember most is the respect that he had for his own profession, and the profession we were studying. He made a lot of jokes, but he took seriously the roles that we were to play. He emphasized the importance of truth – something we could stand to see more of in this day and age. And, to my dismay, he knew that a good journalist kept his opinions to himself. He hammered into our collective skulls the value of fact checking, and he predicted early on the potential unreliability of information on the internet.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Fill-In-The-Blank Celebrity Eulogy
We gather here today to mourn the passing of INSERT NAME OF DEAD CELEBRITY HERE. None of us have ever met DEAD CELEBRITY, but we feel HIS OR HER loss deeply. We fondly recall the MOVIE/SONG/TV SHOW that made HIM OR HER famous TEN/TWENTY/THIRTY years ago. And even though the public at large has long ago lost interest in any new projects for DEAD CELEBRITY, we still feel as though the untimely passing directly affects us.
Why, you might ask, did we wait until after DEAD CELEBRITY’S death before buying any MOVIES/SONGS/TV SHOWS featuring DEAD CELEBRITY? We like to honor the dead the best way we know how: With cold, hard cash. Oh sure, we could have showered the living with love and genuine affection, but we prefer grief over the dead to celebration over the living. We prefer to prop up a corpse onto a pedestal rather than try to squeeze a living person into a safe and comfortable stereotype. Less hassle for all involved. Less chance of disappointment.
We’d like to thank all the news gathering organizations for interrupting their coverage of the people and events that actually impact our lives in order to cover the death of DEAD CELEBRITY. We don’t give a moment’s thought to what we aren’t learning as a result of uninterrupted coverage of the death of someone who probably wouldn’t have liked us if we’d ever actually met.
I, for one, am glad the lead story on tonight’s newscast and tomorrow’s front page of the morning edition will be the death of DEAD CELEBRITY instead of something else like the war, the economy, health care, or any international news. After all, DEAD CELEBRITY’S death may be sad, but those other subjects are real downers, and nobody is interested in them anyway. If anything, we should be thankful for the distraction DEAD CELEBRITY has provided us.
Forget, for a moment, what can only be described as the collective insanity of grieving over someone we did not know. When one considers the wide variety of mental illnesses we could have, irrational depression pales in comparison. That we share the same psychosis as those who cry when their favorite soap opera character is written off a series shouldn’t bother us one bit. And we should not read too much into the fact that we don’t grieve over countless non-famous people murdered on any given day, at home and abroad. If they never attained fame, they aren’t worthy of our attention, let alone our tears.
Please, good people, as you go about your days, do not make jokes about DEAD CELEBRITY which you would have made when HE OR SHE was still alive. While it does imply a double standard, it is common knowledge that the greatest sign of respect we can give someone is a double standard. We must show respect towards the dead which we would never show to the living – it makes us better people. And DEAD CELEBRITY would want us all to be better people.
When we look back at the life of DEAD CELEBRITY, let us not think about any of the negative aspects of HIS OR HER life. Let us wash them away, leaving behind only the positive part of the part of HIS OR HER life that HE OR SHE chose to make public. And let us assume that DEAD CELEBRITY’S public persona wasn’t just a media ploy or an attempt to curry a larger fan base. Let us assume that, despite human nature, when a camera or microphone was shoved into the face of DEAD CELEBRITY, that DEAD CELEBRITY was true to character, and not phony in any way. Let us assume that, in spite of logic and reason, we knew – deep down, we knew – DEAD CELEBRITY’S soul.
And now that soul is resting in peace. And we must say goodbye to DEAD CELEBRITY, and we must be quick about it because the rule of three tells us we have two more famous people waiting in the wings to croak and receive their posthumous recognition. As I scan the Good Book looking for an appropriate passage to help guide DEAD CELEBRITY into the next life, I find that the traditional Psalm 23 does not suffice. No, for this occasion, I think Exodus 20:2-7 is more appropriate. Sadly, I’ve just received the signal which says we’ve run out of time here today.
Thank you all so much for coming. I know that, to HIS OR HER family, the kindness of strangers will almost make up for the loss of DEAD CELEBRITY. Now, please exit the building quickly – but reverently.
