Political ideals aside, I feel a new kinship with Obama's staffers after reading this article from the Washington Post.
As someone who can't live without her iBook, used an eMac during my stint as an Art Buyer, and is fairly anal-retentive (and really, that's putting it nicely) about the organization and flow of her information, I know first hand how having to make the switch over to PC and still maintain productivity can be rather daunting.
I also noticed that the article mentions that the Microsoft software on said PCs is roughly six years old, and yet they're using it for security reasons. Yikes! If there's one things I remember from the dark ages before my Apple days and even before my Linux days, it's that Microsoft programs weren't exactly the most secure applications in the world. Now, I suppose that the government has some handy dandy high tech firewalls and its own secure software, but the fact that they may be using an early version of Windows XP is still slightly unnerving.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Some of us actually do have vision problems
Earlier today, this article made it's proverbial way across my metaphorical desk. I'm still processing my reaction.
If the point of the article was to expose young people who by and large are hedonistic jerks, then kudos to the journalists. Something that really bothers me is that the writer never says where these kids are that he's interviewing or gives much insight into their backgrounds. Not that it should matter persay, but these things could very telling as to why they act they way they do. Are these rich kids from te Upper East Side or LA, or are they middle class kids from the Midwest?
I also wish that the author had spent time with the "hipsters" outside of parties and nightlife activities. I don't care what sort scene you're exploring, people act very differently at a party (especially when there's alcohol around) than they would in daily life.
I'm certainly not trying to defend the subjects of the story or totally blast the article with righteous indignation since the title of this blog does have 'hispter' int it. I just feel that perhaps there's more to this story than the author is leading us to believe.
The only righteously indignant statement I will make is that the multiple mentions of fake glasses really bothered me. I found myself wondering if the author would look at me and say I was just wearing glasses to be trendy. This an accusation I've gotten before, and being pretty much blind as a bat and unable to wear contact lenses, it's quite annoying. But in the grand scheme, that's neither here nor there now is it?
If the point of the article was to expose young people who by and large are hedonistic jerks, then kudos to the journalists. Something that really bothers me is that the writer never says where these kids are that he's interviewing or gives much insight into their backgrounds. Not that it should matter persay, but these things could very telling as to why they act they way they do. Are these rich kids from te Upper East Side or LA, or are they middle class kids from the Midwest?
I also wish that the author had spent time with the "hipsters" outside of parties and nightlife activities. I don't care what sort scene you're exploring, people act very differently at a party (especially when there's alcohol around) than they would in daily life.
I'm certainly not trying to defend the subjects of the story or totally blast the article with righteous indignation since the title of this blog does have 'hispter' int it. I just feel that perhaps there's more to this story than the author is leading us to believe.
The only righteously indignant statement I will make is that the multiple mentions of fake glasses really bothered me. I found myself wondering if the author would look at me and say I was just wearing glasses to be trendy. This an accusation I've gotten before, and being pretty much blind as a bat and unable to wear contact lenses, it's quite annoying. But in the grand scheme, that's neither here nor there now is it?
Sunday, January 18, 2009
It's a Bad Movie Where There's No Climax
For my best movies of 2008, visit Exploitation Nation. This is a blog by my friend and independent filmmaker, Andy Copp. In addition to making movies, Andy's an expert in underground and grind house cinema spanning the decades so check out some of his older posts if you're looking for an education in films you may not have ever heard of. This year, he invited several friends to put together our best of 2008 in film lists for his blog, and my list happens to be the latest one posted.
Check back here for my best of 2008 in music and more later this week.
Check back here for my best of 2008 in music and more later this week.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
So This Is the New Year...
I bet you all were wondering if I had given up blogging for the new year. Well the answer to that is no, I'm just a bit behind. However, I think I have a valid excuse. In the last days of 2008 and early days of 2009 I lost my job, rang in 2009, got a new job, got sick, lost my voice, and started my new radio show.
Whew! So needless to say, I'm a bit behind on things. So in the coming days, look for my best of 2008 lists, as well as some new posts about music, radio, and all kinds of other points of interest.
Whew! So needless to say, I'm a bit behind on things. So in the coming days, look for my best of 2008 lists, as well as some new posts about music, radio, and all kinds of other points of interest.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Give a Christmas Gift to Public Radio
I would be remiss if I didn't pass along this message from This American Life's website:
Dear listeners,
Last week, the economic crisis that we’ve been reporting on hit especially close to home. A dozen colleagues from our home radio station, WBEZ Chicago, had to be laid off. It costs the radio station around $150,000 per year just for the internet bandwidth to deliver the free podcast and web stream of This American Life. That’s not staff. Not computers. Just the bandwidth. We really want the podcast to remain free, but the radio station cannot absorb these costs; that would mean more layoffs. So we’re asking for your help. We’re thrilled that last year, we were able to make up this entire bandwidth cost through thousands of small donations from listeners. So if you’re a regular podcast listener, or if you use this website a lot, please consider pitching in.
Thank you very much. In the current economy, your support means more than ever.
—TAL
As someone who's involved in public radio fund raising, let me say that a dollar or two is not too little to give. Every single cent counts. In trying economic times, we are all easily swayed by concern for our own/our families finances. However, the non-profits are getting hit just as hard as everyone else. No one is asking for you to break the bank to make donations this holiday season. Simply give what you feel you can. If everyone did that on a regular basis, the world would be in great shape.
...and that, my friends, applies to all non-profits, not just public radio.
Dear listeners,
Last week, the economic crisis that we’ve been reporting on hit especially close to home. A dozen colleagues from our home radio station, WBEZ Chicago, had to be laid off. It costs the radio station around $150,000 per year just for the internet bandwidth to deliver the free podcast and web stream of This American Life. That’s not staff. Not computers. Just the bandwidth. We really want the podcast to remain free, but the radio station cannot absorb these costs; that would mean more layoffs. So we’re asking for your help. We’re thrilled that last year, we were able to make up this entire bandwidth cost through thousands of small donations from listeners. So if you’re a regular podcast listener, or if you use this website a lot, please consider pitching in.
Thank you very much. In the current economy, your support means more than ever.
—TAL
As someone who's involved in public radio fund raising, let me say that a dollar or two is not too little to give. Every single cent counts. In trying economic times, we are all easily swayed by concern for our own/our families finances. However, the non-profits are getting hit just as hard as everyone else. No one is asking for you to break the bank to make donations this holiday season. Simply give what you feel you can. If everyone did that on a regular basis, the world would be in great shape.
...and that, my friends, applies to all non-profits, not just public radio.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
With Great Power...
Naming a radio show is much like naming a baby -- it's a big deal. Once you've chosen a name you're stuck with it because if you change the name too often, you'll just confuse and then lose listeners.
You want that perfect that sums up the spirit of your show in a few memorable words that slide off the tongue with the greatest of ease (because you'll be saying it a lot). You want a show that describes who you are and what you play as well but also reflects the overall tone of your station. You want a name that's hip and catchy, but not too hip so as to scare off more cautious listeners. You want something that it's going to be easy to make a few show promos from and doesn't have listeners or fellow DJs wondering if you just put a bunch of random words together.
You don't want something that's already a title of anything else be it song, book, etc. You don't want something that names a specific time because god forbid your time slot changes, and you have to rename the show (this is especially important for college radio hosts - as a former Programming Director a college station I've been the scheduler and the schedulee, so trust me when I say this is a very real possibility). And aobve all, you don't want something that'll end in the radio equivalent of this article.
All of this being said, I've been searching for a new name for Evening Excursions for a little over a year. Why? Well originally Evening Excursions was three shows on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings named such as they were seen as the evening counterpart to Niki's Excursions, which airs in the mornings. As time went on however, Tuesday nights became Jazz Night, and Peter turned Thursdays into The Groove. Once I came on as a cohost of Evening Excursions with Christopher, it was decided that we really should focus some enery on a new name to better reflect what we're doing on the air (and so people don't get confused between us and Excursions during pledge drives).
I'm pleased to report that barring any catastrophe, we will have a new name for the show starting January 1st. I don't want to jinx anything so I'll refrain from announcing the actual name until I get the blessing of other folks at WYSO, but stay tuned to find out what we'll be calling Wednesday nights from now on....
You want that perfect that sums up the spirit of your show in a few memorable words that slide off the tongue with the greatest of ease (because you'll be saying it a lot). You want a show that describes who you are and what you play as well but also reflects the overall tone of your station. You want a name that's hip and catchy, but not too hip so as to scare off more cautious listeners. You want something that it's going to be easy to make a few show promos from and doesn't have listeners or fellow DJs wondering if you just put a bunch of random words together.
You don't want something that's already a title of anything else be it song, book, etc. You don't want something that names a specific time because god forbid your time slot changes, and you have to rename the show (this is especially important for college radio hosts - as a former Programming Director a college station I've been the scheduler and the schedulee, so trust me when I say this is a very real possibility). And aobve all, you don't want something that'll end in the radio equivalent of this article.
All of this being said, I've been searching for a new name for Evening Excursions for a little over a year. Why? Well originally Evening Excursions was three shows on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings named such as they were seen as the evening counterpart to Niki's Excursions, which airs in the mornings. As time went on however, Tuesday nights became Jazz Night, and Peter turned Thursdays into The Groove. Once I came on as a cohost of Evening Excursions with Christopher, it was decided that we really should focus some enery on a new name to better reflect what we're doing on the air (and so people don't get confused between us and Excursions during pledge drives).
I'm pleased to report that barring any catastrophe, we will have a new name for the show starting January 1st. I don't want to jinx anything so I'll refrain from announcing the actual name until I get the blessing of other folks at WYSO, but stay tuned to find out what we'll be calling Wednesday nights from now on....
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
I Heard the News Today, Old Boy
The buzz around the office today was the following headline on CNN.com: "GM Plant's Closing Like a Death Knell in Dayton."
From the first rumbling of what the news networks have now named the economic crisis to the Democractic National Convention to Joe the Plumber, Ohio has been one of the prime examples for how bad things really are. Now granted, if you've lived your whole life in Dayton like I have, you've been hearing about the trouble at GM almost since birth. Dayton is a strange place. Musically, we were alled the next Seattle by Spin magazine in the mid 90s, which somehow explains why every Daytonian is assumed to be drinking buddies with Bob Pollard of Guided by Voices.
Dayton has also been compared a lot (and not just recently) to Flint, MI, and living here, you can see where our city could easily find itself in a situation like that of Flint - economically despressed due to major industry jobs that had sustained the community for decades pulling out. We've all known that this was going happen, hoped that it wouldn't, prayed that new companies would recognize the large workforce available to them and move into to replace the lost jobs...but of right now, we'll have to keep praying.
I work in an office, not a factory, but I can't begin to describe the sorrow I felt reading that article. Even some 10 hours later, I'm somewhere between tears and getting sick to my stomach trying to process all of this to write about. As a member of the community, there's such a feeling of helplessness. You want to stamp your feet and shout and demand that these good, hardworking people keep their jobs so that their families will flourish and in turn, the community will flourish.
I'm not going to point fingers or try to blame people in a situation that I don't fully understand. Instead, I'll echo a point that's a personal mantra: support your local community in any way that you can. Whether it's buying your food from a locally owned grocer or a local farmer, or getting a few Christmas presents from a local artisan or craft fair - every little bit helps. I found myself saying it a lot during WYSO's fall pledge drive: if everyone contributes a little and does what they can, positive things can happen. Or, as My Morning Jacket says in their song "Librarian":
Cause everything'd be grrreat...everything'd be good...if everybody gave...like everybody could
Speaking of My Morning Jacket, the reason I quoted that song is because that's what I'm playing on the air right now. I think a lot of my broadcasts better express what I'm thinking about something than I can in words. I've often mused that within a single show, I write all sorts of open letters to people through music sometimes without even realizing it. Sometimes it's the lyrics or the juxtaposition of two songs. Other times it's the sheer sound or the tempo. Most people think that the music is the art in radio, and it's certainly a big part of it. However, there's a lot to be said for the artistry that goes into putting a show together.
We'll expore that further some time in the near future.
From the first rumbling of what the news networks have now named the economic crisis to the Democractic National Convention to Joe the Plumber, Ohio has been one of the prime examples for how bad things really are. Now granted, if you've lived your whole life in Dayton like I have, you've been hearing about the trouble at GM almost since birth. Dayton is a strange place. Musically, we were alled the next Seattle by Spin magazine in the mid 90s, which somehow explains why every Daytonian is assumed to be drinking buddies with Bob Pollard of Guided by Voices.
Dayton has also been compared a lot (and not just recently) to Flint, MI, and living here, you can see where our city could easily find itself in a situation like that of Flint - economically despressed due to major industry jobs that had sustained the community for decades pulling out. We've all known that this was going happen, hoped that it wouldn't, prayed that new companies would recognize the large workforce available to them and move into to replace the lost jobs...but of right now, we'll have to keep praying.
I work in an office, not a factory, but I can't begin to describe the sorrow I felt reading that article. Even some 10 hours later, I'm somewhere between tears and getting sick to my stomach trying to process all of this to write about. As a member of the community, there's such a feeling of helplessness. You want to stamp your feet and shout and demand that these good, hardworking people keep their jobs so that their families will flourish and in turn, the community will flourish.
I'm not going to point fingers or try to blame people in a situation that I don't fully understand. Instead, I'll echo a point that's a personal mantra: support your local community in any way that you can. Whether it's buying your food from a locally owned grocer or a local farmer, or getting a few Christmas presents from a local artisan or craft fair - every little bit helps. I found myself saying it a lot during WYSO's fall pledge drive: if everyone contributes a little and does what they can, positive things can happen. Or, as My Morning Jacket says in their song "Librarian":
Cause everything'd be grrreat...everything'd be good...if everybody gave...like everybody could
Speaking of My Morning Jacket, the reason I quoted that song is because that's what I'm playing on the air right now. I think a lot of my broadcasts better express what I'm thinking about something than I can in words. I've often mused that within a single show, I write all sorts of open letters to people through music sometimes without even realizing it. Sometimes it's the lyrics or the juxtaposition of two songs. Other times it's the sheer sound or the tempo. Most people think that the music is the art in radio, and it's certainly a big part of it. However, there's a lot to be said for the artistry that goes into putting a show together.
We'll expore that further some time in the near future.
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