Could it be because over the past six days I've travelled nearly two thousand miles?
In addition to listening to a lot of music on the drive, I took the advice of the Onion AV Club & listened to a few of what they considered the best podcasts of 2011. It turns out they had some good recommendations.
The wife enjoyed most of all Marc Maron's WTF Podcast, despite not really knowing a lot of the folks he was talking to. I think it's really fun to listen to, because he seems to truly enjoy talking to the people he interviews. How come no one's thought about doing this on a television show?
My personal favorite - despite the wife's assertion that these guys are funnier than the Firesign Theater, which borders on blasphemy - was the Superego podcast. I laughed so much my face hurt.
I also really enjoyed the Bugle, which is very British & very much in the same spirit as shows like Black Adder.
One great thing about all these podcasts is how much fun everyone is having. People should crack each other up more. People who can make people laugh are probably the greatest people on the planet.
Should I mention the podcasts that I should have enjoyed but didn't? Or is it obvious, since I just mentioned those three but the Onion recommended more? Will I have time to continue following all of these?
Answers: No, Maybe, God I Hope So.
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Friday, March 16, 2012
Several case studies involving drivers in the deepish South
As older I get & grumpier I tend, driving seems more wearisome & drivers more douchebaggerish. Can you please point me to important scientific studies which prove that dickhead drivers who super-speed get more speeding tickets per capita than we who speed only when it's safe?
I still believe the worstest drivers in the states in which I've habited are from Kentucky, & I of course have suffered most of my life with the randomness & recklessness that characterize the average Texas driver. (One big difference: Texas drivers use their turn signals.). But there is a case to be made for the ineptitude that is the Arkansas bobbler (for in Arkansas, they do not drive but bobble), & even more of a case for the driver who, several states away from their home, fare worse on the high speed highway than the average driving school student with a head cold.
May I also mention the esteemed trucker, whose lumbering vehicle & long-haul perspective ought to give him or (less likely) her a greater patience & wisdom when it comes to navigating this nation's congested two lane highways? Why such assholery? You are taking better drugs than I can while driving; you can kill virtually anything on the road; & you are basically driving in your own home - why just suddenly pull in front of some dude coming quickly from behind you (say, twenty miles an hour faster than you) - someone who will pass you with such great speed that you won't even notice the time you might lose - why, I must ask, why?
You should be better than that, oh mighty trucker. You should be above petty & peevish.
& I still have half of Tennessee & most of the middle of Kentucky to go!
I still believe the worstest drivers in the states in which I've habited are from Kentucky, & I of course have suffered most of my life with the randomness & recklessness that characterize the average Texas driver. (One big difference: Texas drivers use their turn signals.). But there is a case to be made for the ineptitude that is the Arkansas bobbler (for in Arkansas, they do not drive but bobble), & even more of a case for the driver who, several states away from their home, fare worse on the high speed highway than the average driving school student with a head cold.
May I also mention the esteemed trucker, whose lumbering vehicle & long-haul perspective ought to give him or (less likely) her a greater patience & wisdom when it comes to navigating this nation's congested two lane highways? Why such assholery? You are taking better drugs than I can while driving; you can kill virtually anything on the road; & you are basically driving in your own home - why just suddenly pull in front of some dude coming quickly from behind you (say, twenty miles an hour faster than you) - someone who will pass you with such great speed that you won't even notice the time you might lose - why, I must ask, why?
You should be better than that, oh mighty trucker. You should be above petty & peevish.
& I still have half of Tennessee & most of the middle of Kentucky to go!
Thursday, March 15, 2012
I have so many things I could say about Dallas
It's bigger than I always remember. It has a lot more vegetarian/vegan restaurants than I remember. I ate way too many much food & was even upset that I couldn't eat too much more. Also saw old friends & ate too too much food with them.
I miss big cities & one day suppose will live in one again but hopefully probably not Dallas though. Some cities have too much life overlap & there are ghosts of me that I cannot explain myself to. Dallas is like that in one confusing way after another.
One thing discovered in Dallas: Mr. T on the television advertising things all the time. My childhood returns to mock me!
Will be back in Lexingtown in two days. Am listening to songs for Self Help Radio while I drive. If I did it this way every week, the show, who costs almost nothing to produce, could get expensive.
I miss big cities & one day suppose will live in one again but hopefully probably not Dallas though. Some cities have too much life overlap & there are ghosts of me that I cannot explain myself to. Dallas is like that in one confusing way after another.
One thing discovered in Dallas: Mr. T on the television advertising things all the time. My childhood returns to mock me!
Will be back in Lexingtown in two days. Am listening to songs for Self Help Radio while I drive. If I did it this way every week, the show, who costs almost nothing to produce, could get expensive.
Monday, March 12, 2012
What's not so groovy...
I have been listening to lots of podcasts today because I was on the road. Which means, I wasn't sitting at home all day editing this morning's shows for public consumption.
Wait a minute! The shows are edited? Well, yeah, but not the way you think. I mean, if I could edit them to make them better, I certainly would. I record them as one giant audio file, & have to break them up. I also sometimes edit out embarrassing dead air. If I occasionally go on the mic & scream out my frustration for the unfairness of the universe in the middle of songs - well, I edit that out, too.
Actually, if I really did that, I'd probably leave them in.
Anyway, I do a little cosmetic work on the shows, splitting them in half, etc, before I put them on my server. Only, I can't do that now, since the recording of the show is in Lexington & I'm in a La Quinta in Memphis. The long & short of it is, I won't be putting the shows on the site until I get home this weekend. My apologies.
But I am slowly formulating an idea for a podcast. Really! A talky one. Perhaps even with humor!
Wait a minute! The shows are edited? Well, yeah, but not the way you think. I mean, if I could edit them to make them better, I certainly would. I record them as one giant audio file, & have to break them up. I also sometimes edit out embarrassing dead air. If I occasionally go on the mic & scream out my frustration for the unfairness of the universe in the middle of songs - well, I edit that out, too.
Actually, if I really did that, I'd probably leave them in.
Anyway, I do a little cosmetic work on the shows, splitting them in half, etc, before I put them on my server. Only, I can't do that now, since the recording of the show is in Lexington & I'm in a La Quinta in Memphis. The long & short of it is, I won't be putting the shows on the site until I get home this weekend. My apologies.
But I am slowly formulating an idea for a podcast. Really! A talky one. Perhaps even with humor!
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Whither The Groovy Show?
What am I, some kind of hippie?
I once had a boss who used the word "groovy" a lot. He had long hair. He was always giving the peace sign. But he wasn't really a hippie. He called his wife "dude." She called him "dude." That was weird.
I started using the word "groovy" in conversation in the early 90s. I guess there was a sixties revival then, as people were wearing tie-dye & grunge kind of recapitulated some of the manly rock of the 60s. Like the Doors. That movie came out. I remember girls at the time swooning over Jim Morrison. Who was, of course, mainly decomposed bits in a cemetery in Paris.
I still use the word. I am somewhat aware of the dated nature, & perhaps, like my boss, wish people to make judgments about me that are quite untrue. I have longish hair, too. But I am not a hippie.
Hey! But if you're a hippie, or want to hear music that's groovy, that's all Self Help Radio is about this week. It's happening tomorrow morning at 7:30 am (until 9 am) on 88.1 fm WRFL in Lexington. You can listen online live from anywhere, & the audio link is right here.
Normally, I tell you that I'll archive the show later in the day at Self Help Radio website, but that won't be the case tomorrow, as I am leaving directly after the show to be away for spring break. I'll put it up as soon as I get back to town - which may be in a week or so.
It'd be groovy if you listened live.
I once had a boss who used the word "groovy" a lot. He had long hair. He was always giving the peace sign. But he wasn't really a hippie. He called his wife "dude." She called him "dude." That was weird.
I started using the word "groovy" in conversation in the early 90s. I guess there was a sixties revival then, as people were wearing tie-dye & grunge kind of recapitulated some of the manly rock of the 60s. Like the Doors. That movie came out. I remember girls at the time swooning over Jim Morrison. Who was, of course, mainly decomposed bits in a cemetery in Paris.
I still use the word. I am somewhat aware of the dated nature, & perhaps, like my boss, wish people to make judgments about me that are quite untrue. I have longish hair, too. But I am not a hippie.
Hey! But if you're a hippie, or want to hear music that's groovy, that's all Self Help Radio is about this week. It's happening tomorrow morning at 7:30 am (until 9 am) on 88.1 fm WRFL in Lexington. You can listen online live from anywhere, & the audio link is right here.
Normally, I tell you that I'll archive the show later in the day at Self Help Radio website, but that won't be the case tomorrow, as I am leaving directly after the show to be away for spring break. I'll put it up as soon as I get back to town - which may be in a week or so.
It'd be groovy if you listened live.