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Showing posts from 2005

Running in place to get to work

The baby is in her chair now in the living room. Rock and roll music, early music, is playing on the radio. I love having a radio in the house like this and definitely appreciate being able to turn on a box and let other people make the decisions for me in terms of what song comes next. I am tired and not looking forward to going in to work tonight, but it'll be fine. This is kind of a dream time where I get to play a different role while holding on to my old ones. This new radio is otherworldly, with those odd speakers and the stand, which grants the radio much more dignity than any other appliance in our house. The songs coming out of it at the moment are amazing, timeless, fast. Baby is sitting in her chair kicking her feet into the air and waving her arms while she and the Butterfly catch up on old times. The dial is tuned to 91.2, which is something you don't see in North America. The jingles for U.K. radio stations can be jarring, hearing frequencies ending in even number

Jon Stewart to CBS Evening News?

Okay, that's a gotcha headline, definitely. The idea of Stewart crossing over to a corporate sister is something that has been bandied about a lot since Dan Rather stepped down, and I have nothing new to offer on that score. But, this article in Forbes by David Andelman mentioned it as part of a slightly tongue-in-cheek list of media predictions for 2006. CBS News will move The Daily Show over from Comedy Central, and anchor Jon Stewart will replace an aging Bob Schieffer in a last, desperate effort to attract the young viewers that advertisers so lust after and increasingly fail to find on the networks' news programming. On the face of it, I don't think this is likely at all. First of all, Stewart is not news, and his demographic doesn't start watching television until later on in the evening. The network may not have a hit on its hands, but I'm sure the status quo makes money. I think it's too big a risk to move Stewart to broadcast television, because his ac

British comedy quote of the day from Nigel Planer

"People talk about alternative comedy, but how it started was simple. We were bored and knew we would never be part of the mainstream, so we thought, 'why don't we just do what we like?'" That's Nigel Planer, who played Neil the hippy on the Young Ones , BBC's ground-breaking "alternative comedy" series. Americans were exposed to this program thanks to how much cooler MTV was back in the days where they didn't exactly know what was going to make the most money. The Young Ones is a glimpse into how crappy Britain is perceived to have been in the 1980's: Bleak, despairing, and run-down. The 12 episodes, spread apart two series, follow the day to day lives of four flatmates attending university. None of them are particularly good students. Rik is a self-proclaimed People's Poets who always talks about others' first, but is always looking out for himself. Vyvyan is the metal medical student who wings up pregnant in one episode, despit

Motel 6 Podcast

The question on everyone's mind: What will become of advertising in the podcasting world? Well, the folks at Motel 6 are proud enough of their witty radio commercials to turn them into a podcast . Chain spokesman Tom Bodett gives the top six reasons why you should stay at Motel 6 this Christmas. Will this sort of thing work? What's their motivation for doing this type of thing? Do they really think they'll get an audience? I'd be interested to know what people think about this. (corrected - Georges le Mener is the CEO of Motel 6, not Tom Bodett. Bodett is an author who is currently hosting a show on BBC Radio 7 .

They Might Be Giants Podcast!

This is what podcasting was invented for - They Might Be Giants have a podcast , and it's offering exactly the kind of material that used to be on their Dial A Song. Subtle evidence that podcasting will replace using the phone to get audio information, perhaps? The first track on this album would probably not have sold too well, but that's what used to make They Might Be Giants so amazing. I've always thought their better songs to be the whimsical ones. But some of this stuff borders on comedy, as with "Turtle Songs of North America." I don't know how often they're going to offer podcasts, but when they do, it'll be like a little album each time. How they'll make money off of this, I don't know, but should that always be what motivates people to do creative work?

Podcasting in Australia

As radio changes, content producers are no doubt going to be looking at innovative ways to make money. The incremental stripping of audience to digital forms of delivery will begin to add up. In Australia, podcasting success is causing one of that country's radio networks to dramatically rethink its business model. Here's a quote from an article in the December 8 Sydney Morning Herald . ABC Radio, by far the country's leading podcaster with 300,000 downloads a week, is so enthused with the figures it has embraced the unthinkable - exploring ways of charging listeners. It has already done so in a small way with a $5.95 podcast fee for each of this year's six Boyer Lectures by the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney, Peter Jensen. Read the rest here: (subscription required)

Pete and Geoff getting a divorce!

Thanks to the Internet and podcasting, I've been able to connect to British culture in a way not quite possible before. Now I can listen to BBC Radio 4 when I'm in the U.S., catch up on various television shows (erm...), and of course, I can know what's happening in pop culture thanks to the Pete and Geoff Breakfast Show on Virgin Radio . England is part of my every day life. But sad news this week with the announcement that Pete and Geoff are splitting up. After ten years together as a radio duo, they've decided to go their separate ways. Pete Mitchell is the straight man, much older, and it sounds like he's being pushed out. Geoff is my age, and provides the wacky irreverence. The two of them together are nothing terribly special, perhaps, but to me they keep me company while I walk the dog and try to live my life. And, help me feel a tiny bit more connected to the country where my son is growing up. Divorce isn't really fun for anyone. So, I'll miss this

Newsplex presents series on Charlottesville race relations

Gray Television has been providing a news presence in the Charlottesville market for over a year now. A very young crew has learned the ropes of how the town works. With two news programs to fill, there is plenty of time to produce long-form reports. Thanks to a google news alert on Charlottesville, I came across a piece on race relations in Charlottesville that I thought was well-produced and not your typical local news piece. I get the feeling these reporters want to be a part of this community. This two-part series is worth watching. http://www.charlottesvillenewsplex.tv/news/headlines/2015237.html

NBC-Universal signs deal with peer-to-peer network

Peer to peer might go legit yet as a distribution tool for entertainment content. NBC-Universal has signed a deal with Peer Impact to offer limited downloads of its library of content. But, this one comes with a small snag. You'll only be to able to access the content for 24 hours after hitting play, after paying $3 or $4 for the privilege. Ad-Age's Jay Sherman reports ... Users willing to store files on their computers will earn perks. However, Peer Impact will retain control of the files and users will not be able to access them for additional viewings after they've watched the movie the first time. Further, users won't be able to burn those files onto other devices or onto compact discs or DVDs. I think this part will turn a lot of people off, as will the 24-hour window. Eventually, I'm convinced one of these strategies will take off, but I'm betting people won't spend moneyon something they won't actually own. If they marry the peer-to-peer concept

Sneak Peak of the New Doctor Who

I'm not hiding my love of geeky things anymore, and I'm not ashamed of what I like. So, I can report to you with extreme joy that David Tennant has had his debut as the tenth Doctor Who during the BBC's annual Children in Need special. Only about four minutes long, the clip takes place seconds after the Doctor's latest regeneration. I think you can watch it here . I'm still disappointed that Christopher Eccleston's season-long tenure as the Doctor was not shown in the United States. The Sci-Fi channel deemed it as too British, and indeed it did not hide its country of origin. Why should it? In any case, if you missed out, I'm hoping that it will eventually be shown here, as it was in the rest of the English speaking world. It's not the clunky Doctor Who of old. It's worth mentioning that the show's rebirth was shepherded by Russell T. Davies, who also created the original version of Queer as Folk. Davies knows the mythology of the series quite we

DC to shake up its universe, again

I've got stacks and stacks of comic books from the mid-80's. Yes, I'm still a 12-year-old boy. What's wrong with that? In any case, now that I'm in my thirties, I find there's a whole culture of nostalgia waiting to envelope me so that I may be parted with my money. The move to video on demand is certainly going to be fueled by a generation's need to rekindle youth. But, what about comic books? Could DC or Marvel do anything to get people like me to return to those media? Obviously, they'll have to change the narrative style slightly, which is exactly what this Minnesota Tribune article alleges. DC Comics is in the midst of a major effort to revitalize the company's fabled superheroes for the 21st century and better connect with today's readers. The undertaking, which began in 2002, has involved a critical look at DC's characters -- from Aquaman and Batman to Zatanna -- and developing story lines that sometimes have heroes engage in decidedl

The Sound of Young America

The Sound of Young America is one of the best radio programs out there. I thought I was alone in my praise of the show, but Salon just wrote a nice review of the show. The show is primarily a show about comedy, and features serious interviews with comics, writers, producers and all sorts of crazy hijinks. Recently the show featured several of Van Morrison's contractual obligation tracks. Songs like "Ring Worm" and "Here Comes Dumb George" have to be heard .

AOL to offer re-runs of television programs

From the Washington Post: America Online Inc. and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. are planning to put thousands of episodes of once-popular television shows like "Welcome Back Kotter" and "Chico and the Man" on the AOL.com Web site Television is evolving in front of our eyes. If these are given to us for free, they'll figure out a way to get advertising into them. Ads will be quick and frequent, perhaps, but it's a great cheap way for AOL to experiment with a new delivery mechanism. And, right now they're getting a lot of free press. For more info, there's this New York Times article summarizing the recent news . Those experiments are closed to the likes of me. I'm more open to try AOL's service. I'd even subscribe to AOL, for instance, if it also gave me access to certain shows that I watch on a regular basis. Three of the programs I like are on at the same time on Thursday nights. That's just absurd, unless the first viewing is tre

Television industry changing fast

So, ABC announces a deal with iTunes, so CBS and NBC decide to get in on the act. This is incredibly promising for the network, but bad news for the affiliates around the country. Comcast said beginning in January, its digital subscribers in certain markets -- but not those served by CBS affiliates -- will have download access to episodes of four CBS shows: "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," "NCIS," "Survivor" and "The Amazing Race." In some cases, the shows will be available within hours of their original airing. Meanwhile, DirecTV subscribers who use the satellite service's digital video recorder features will have access to a menu of shows from NBC and Bravo, including "Law & Order: SVU," "The Office," and "Battlestar Galactica." I don't use the local television stations that much, but I bet you I would if I could their material on demand. I get more news from 16/19/27 than 29 because their stories ar

Video on television

So, I just found out that CBS is going to be streaming episodes of its new show Threshold in an attempt to boost overall audience. A great idea, and one I applaud, except when I went to the site to check it out, I was told I didn't have permission to load the page. Will I remember to watch again in the future? Probably not. Mostly because the episodes are only available for three days or so. Not nearly long enough for me to watch them. Sci-Fi has the smarts to leave whole episodes of Battlestar Galactica up, though I wish they would change this to the Season 2 mid-point finale.

From Our Own Correspondent

As you may know, I'm a huge proponent and fan of the BBC. I won't go into that now, because all I want to do is post a link to this week's installment of From Our Own Correspondent . I listened to it this afternoon as I tried to wake up following a pair of long nights slinging drinks. The first two items on the November 5 edition caught me by surprise. I've raised my news filters these days because I've been so focused on Central Virginia and my role here. I've not been paying attention to world events. I vaguely know about the summit they just had in Argentina, but really, I've just not been paying attention. The entire world revolves around out there. "Today the swallows can nest in peace, with the BBC forced out of Tashkent for its reporting on Uzbekistan." In other words, the BBC was forced out for reporting on the May massacre in Andijan. I somewhat remember the story, but hadn't heard anything as chilling as a description of sound the BBC

News While I Work

The best and worst thing about our generation is that we seem to have to be doing two or three things at once. As I type this, I'm babysitting the daughter while she sleeps. I'm listening to mixdowns of a story I'm filing for WCVE and WVTF, while also cruising through the web looking for news, trying to keep my e-mail box down. The first item is this: NPR has announced four million podcast downloads since debuting the service just a couple of months ago. Clearly, podcasting will succeed by repurposing quality content, and by doing in such a way that enhances the experience, boosts total audience. The second item is this: WCVE Public Radio is expanding its signal into the Northern Neck and into Southside Virginia. This expands the potential reach of public radio content that I create for WCVE and WVTF Public Radio. This is WCVE's first expansion, and I applaud them for their efforts. The third item is that I gave a talk on the impact on podcasting at James Madison Unive

Dealing with a clogged pipe

Another weekend spent at the tavern, two nights in a row, and as always, it takes a day to get back to normal, or even closer to normal. The baby girl is doing well, and so is the mother. I'm getting the chance to go through my e-mail and other things. Catching up on articles. For the fourth year in a row, I totally missed the Film Festival. One of these years, perhaps. I'm also wiped because I gave a presentation at a conference at JMU on Friday, and I think it might have been okay. Since then, I've not felt like doing much of anything. I worked today on the Rivanna Trails piece, which I'm just about to post. The pieces have also been sent to the places that will hopefully air them, reminding me I had better figure out some time to invoice. I'm not too keen on the coming approach of winter. Usually I like the approach of cold, but that was before I lived in a big house and had to pay a lot of money for it. We can't put the temperature down too much this year b

Tapping the Inner Geek

So, yes, I'm a Superman nut and have been since I saw the movie in 1978 when I was 5. When I was a kid, I used to take out a book from the Campbell County public library that was a compendium of Superman comics from the 1930's to the early 1980's. My favorite era was the late 1950's and early 1960's, when the writers went crazy with all kinds of imaginary stories . There was all this crazy stuff happening with all the crazy versions of Kryptonite, and something about that fascinated me. Still does. Anyway, the first two movies are excellent, and then, well, we all know what happened. I didn't really care for the Lois and Clark show, and I didn't understand anything about the much-hyped Death of Superman. So, I didn't really pay much attention when Smallville debuted on the WB in 2001. When I was in England in January of 2004, I was fairly bored and jonesing for something American to consume. And, I watched the season 3 premiere on one of the digital st

Morning Thoughts

The little baby girl is staring up at the few things approved for her to play with. She's having a hard time sleeping. I was as well so I decided to get up at 4:00 to get some work done. Of course, the wife-to-be brought the baby girl down here so that she could get some sleep. Now the baby girl keeps waking up every five minutes or so, breaking my train of thought. I'm going to have to learn how to work in spurts, which is definitely not easy when you're writing and producing a radio story. She's so angelic, though. And so beautiful. She's staring up at the big cow hanging above her little chair. Every few minutes she opens up her eyes, and then closes them again. I think she senses I'm writing about her, or maybe the sound of the keys lulls her somehow. Every time I switch to the radio computer, she squawks. ---five minutes later--- She's back to sleep. So, I'm back to radio. ---30 minutes later--- I've progressed a bit further with the story. Help

The World at 2.0

60 Minutes tonight had a story about Charles Robert Jenkins, the army sergeant who got drunk and deserted his U.S. Army post in Korea. He spent almost forty years in North Korea, and was only allowed to leave the country last year. In the interview, Jenkins describes what it was like being a prisoner of the regime, and they even show clips of the movies Jenkins was forced to star in, usually in stereotypical roles like The Evil American . Jenkins was described by reporter Scott Pelley as a "modern day Rip Van Winkle" who had never seen a computer, didn't know what a Big Mac was. Watching the video is well worth it if you have the time. What a different world we're in in 2005, as opposed to 1965. 1965 was the year my parents came to North America, leaving England in search of a better life. I've grown up in between two cultures, England and America, and I've spent my life wanting to be somewhere else other than here. It's deep in my family history. My grea

Anticipating the Word Wars

Fellow Cville blogger L.M. Squires has given me a great tip to add to my Netflix queue. Word Wars is a look at four obsessive Scrabble nerds. I know that I'm guilty of being obsessed by the game, and have had relationships ruined by my former inability to take the game anything less than seriously. Now I'm much more relaxed about the game, but that may be because I've not lost a game in a long time. I don't play nearly as much as I used to, but would love to have a copy of the game at Court Square Tavern, where I work part-time. If anyone has an extra Scrabble board they'd like to loan to my smokey little home away from home, I will buy you two beers. Not just one. Two. C-Ville Weekly has highlighted the Franziskaner Dunkel-Weisse as a special reason to come to the Tavern. I'd have to say that I'm not a fan of it, nor any of the other expensive German beers we sell. I prefer American microbrews to the imports, though I do like our Spaten Lager. So, yes, tha

Revisiting an old friend

So, we're sitting here watching the second half of the Battlestar Galactica miniseries while we wait for our baby daughter to have her second feeding. Everyone tells you you should sleep while the baby sleeps. Yeah, we get that, we really do, but we also have to have a little down time. Anyway, the point is, I'm missing this show so very much. It's three more months until the second half of the second season begins. I think I'm the only person in Charlottesville who actually watches this show. Well, there is the wife-to-be, but she doesn't really count. Something about this show captivates me. It is the smartest show on television today, in terms of what it's trying to achieve. So many words have been written about this show's ability to twist the viewer's expectations. I'm hesitant to write about it, because I don't want to ruin a second of it for anyone who missed it the first time. But, this show gets in your head because it feels so real. Al

Announcing the Garden Variety Show

So, why this title? Why this name? Why another blog? Aren't there enough to go round as it is? Who would read this? Who will cite this? So many questions about intent, and I don't have time to truly answer them. All I know is that I am possibly the 3,445,320,043 oldest person in the world. How do we wrestle with identity in a world where it's all been done before? My answer: We simply go ahead and do the things we have to do to to make our mark in the world. We talk about the things we like, we post links to our favorite things. As I continue through my 13th year on the Internet, I'm making a career out of the whole webbiness of our computers. And so, I've decided to create this blog to provide a way for me to tell people about what I'm watching, what I'm reading, what I think about what happens. Of course, because I'm a journalist, I'll steer away from anything political. I'll steer away from the controversial, at least as it affects by business