February 19, 2006

Audible Althouse #37.

The new podcast is here. Snow and lightning in Madison, Dick Cheney shooting a man, oral surgery, sleep patterns and the interval between first and second sleep, old records, the Maharishi's plan for world peace, and the ongoing violence over those cartoons.

(Stream it live here.)

15 comments:

Mark Daniels said...

Once again, the podcast sounds like Alvin and the Chipmunks on uppers. Given the pace of your life these days, that may be the actual speed.

Mark

Ann Althouse said...

The problem is at your end, Mark.

Mark Daniels said...

Hmmm...It streams fine on Quicktime, but still sounds like Alvin et al on the podcast file.

Mark

The Tiger said...

A Firefox problem, perhaps? (I too got the Chipmunks version.)

Ann Althouse said...

I'm this close to swearing off podcasting. I get nothing but negative feedback about technical problem. What is the point?

Ann Althouse said...

Technical problems. It's so tedious!

Derve Swanson said...

"I'm this close to swearing off podcasting. I get nothing but negative feedback about technical problem. What is the point? "

Something tells me you're not in this for kind words...

That said, sometimes it seems the podcast is just the oral version of you reading blog posts aloud and some of the better comments for the week.

There's nothing new added, no further developing of opinions based on the conversation or later real-time events. I figured you were just trying to reach listeners who don't read the blog regularly, and want a weekly recap.

Ann Althouse said...

Mary: As for putting things by the curb, people do invariably pick up the usable things. It's very simple process here in Madison. And I don't throw out books and records, I take them to Half Price Books and sell them. And selling things on eBay isn't a matter of giving up pride, it's a matter of giving up time.

Ann Althouse said...

Mary: You don't seem to see my purpose in the podcast, but thanks for your opinion. But if people don't get it, I'm inclined to give it up. Yet it has been nominated for two big awards though, so I've been believing that people did understand it. It just bugs me that the people who choose to leave comments about it are all always people telling me abut technical problems. It's a big drag, as is your opinion. And don't ask me to explain it, because that would be a big drag too.

Derve Swanson said...

I was offering an opinion, not encouraging you to give up. I listen to the podcasts, no technical problems here, and have voted for you since it's the only podcast I listen to. Just suggesting that regular readers might want to hear more than the original posts and comments.

Good job! Keep improving on an already quality product.

Ann Althouse said...

Mary: The secondhand stores have rules about what they will take. If you give them the wrong things, you are only costing them money, burdening them, trying to deal with it. I am following their rules. I don't like producing a lot of trash, but I have been keeping things in my family's house for 20 years. So I am putting to the curb in 1 month what I could have put out over 20 years. In that view, it is not that much.

The Tiger said...

The mp3 version works just fine... it was the embedded version in the website that turned out funny.

Derve Swanson said...

Thank you for explaining that.
And keep on podcastin.

Ruth Anne Adams said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
reader_iam said...

Re: #37 (which I just around to listening to today)

This struck me as one of your best, particularly the bit about music and you and your dad, tied in with the boomer thing; and also the riff on cartoons and sensitivities, alltied up together by the serious end.

(Btw, I thought bringing in the gay march story was inspired--but perhaps that's self serving, since I thought I might be the only person in the world who thought it all relates. I mentioned the link a few days back to a person, in real life, and she looked at me as if I'd grown a third eye. Well, hell, maybe I have.)

For what it's worth, I don't get the impression that you're just "reading" your blog. I, for one, wouldn't waste the time listening to your podcast if that were so--your delivery is diverting, but still. (And yours is NOT the only one to which I listen.) In fact, the rare occasions that I have fast-forwarded--and I do mean rare--was just a couple of times you were reading an entry and it went on too long (for me, because I'd already read the entry). These stand out because they're not typical.

Why would anyone expect a blog about a blog not to involve links between or riffs upon blog post topics? It's the larger picture you weave between them and then comment upon that makes the podcast work. Other podcasts take different approaches and have different charms.

There are only a kazillion other podcasts out there. Why expect something to morph from what it is?

(I can completely understand the tiresomeness of the tech issue. It'd probably be possible to put together a pithy standard sentence or two that would address that, just so you don't have to come up with a response. In fact, I may have that sentence in a saved IM file from DH.)

Please don't swear off podcasting!!! I mean, do if it's better for you, but I'll bet most people who listen to it have a positive reaction closer to mine but just don't bother to express it. Also, people don't comment to say, "Gee! I had a technical-problem-free listening experience!. Wouldn't it be a hoot if they did?)