Sunday, May 31, 2009

the podcast post

since the adam carolla radio show went off the air, i've been somewhat of a podcast junkie.. i can't get enough, i'm always open for suggestions. i currently subscribe to 27 free podcasts. i'll tell you about my favorites.

The adam carolla podcast
update frequency: 1 time daily, m-f
length: 1 hour on average
subject: everything and anything...
language: crude at times, definitely curse words.
listener interaction: takes skype calls occasionally, reads emailed questions sometimes

this show is pretty great, i look forward to finding out who his guest was each night. but it doesn't even matter who the guest is, almost every show you learn some interesting fact from adams past. i love hearing stories from his younger days... he has many recognizable guests, and gets them all to talk candidly, and often swear.. i like swearing.

recent guests:
David Allen Grier
Pauly Shore
James Gunn (used to be married to Jenna "pam" Fischer)

Time to get Buckwild
update frequency: sporadic.. couple times a month at best
length: ~30 minutes
subject: usually reality tv, mostly VH1 shows.
language: cursing.
listener interaction: takes phone calls mostly

this is a just for fun podcast. becky buckwild talks her ghetto speak and takes calls.. she plays a song (usually 'lil wayne) to open the show, and then once again in the middle. lately she has had frank the entertainer also call in.


The B.S. Report with Bill Simmons
update frequency: every 2- 3 days
length: 45 min - 1 hour
subject: sports with a inclination towards boston sports, and pop culture
language: totally safe. ESPN edits the show when necessary. no cursing.
listener interaction: none

bill simmons has been stepping up his podcast frequency as of late. and with that comes more of what i love, more pop culture. he watches the real world, road rules challenges, and survivor. he has a running series of phone calls with college buddy JackO. those are hands down my favorite. JackO is a yankees fan, so they hash out red sox yankees issues. bill also has many hollywood friends that make appearances. sports is always the underlying current in these podcasts. Of course bill simmons used to write for the jimmy kimmel show, so he frequently has jimmy or adam on the show.

recent guests:
mark cuban - talk about the media, mark's blog, the state of the economy and more
JackO - resurgent yankees, big papi's struggles and the captain Derek Jeter
Dave Jacoby - LOST season finale rehash/survivor talk


gdgt weekly
update frequency: once a week
length: 45 min - 1 hour
subject: technology focused on gadgets
language: completely clean
listener interaction: none

this podcast is mainly about new technologies, from cell phones/pdas to gaming systems to digital cameras/video players and everything in between. one of the things i like most about this podcast, is the podcast is divided up into mini chapters with different artwork for each chapter. these guys are intelligent but not geeky..

recent topics:
Zune HD
Palm Pre
verizon and Sprints personal mobile routers


Hey, We're Back!
update frequency: once a month
length: under 10 minutes
subject: comedy-ish
language: clean
listener interaction: none

this is a short comical podcast by jonathan katz (dr. katz professional therapist). It's usually stories, sometimes taken from his live shows, and he usually has guest voices in his stories, sometimes his old dr. katz colleagues, laura silverman and jon benjamin.


I Love Movies
update frequency: sporadically, couple of times a month
length: 45 minutes
subject: comedy and movie guessing
language: off color. cursing
listener interaction: none

this is a taped show that doug benson does before Comedy Deathray Shows in L.A. he usually has 3 guests and they almost always guess movies from cast lists out of the "Leonard Maltin Movie Guide".

recent guests:
the sklar brothers, graham elwood and jon hamm
patton oswald, rob huebel and joe rogan
dana gould and natasha leggero


Loveline
update frequency: once daily, m-f
length: 10 minutes
subject: sex advice
language: explicit, but no cursing
listener interaction: mostly calls

this is the first 10 minutes of the nightly sex advice show that dr drew pinsky has been hosting for 26 years. they only give away the first 10 minutes. they offer the whole show for a monthly fee. they almost always have hollywood guests, frequently musicians. up until recently stryker was a co-host, but he was let go and now dr drew is having guest hosts. adam carolla recently stepped in for a week long guest hosting, ahh, the good old days. loveline with drew and adam is really as good as it gets, but other guests that i enjoy listening to are jeff probst, seth macfarlane, i really like listening to engineer Anderson too.

recent guests:
olivia munn (co-host of Attack of the Show)
jeff probst
daisy de la hoya
andy milonakis


The Moth Podcast
update frequency: every monday
length: 10 min - 20 min
subject: story telling
language: varies
listener interaction: none

this is a recording of unscripted story telling usually recorded in NYC.. the story tellers and story subjects are different each podcast. i like to believe they are true stories. they are very compelling and often humorous

recent guests:
dave mowers - smoking on the job gone horribly wrong
jerry Stahl - quitting heroin
ed gavagan - surviving a brutal gang attack in NYC


NPR: Fresh Air Podcast
update frequency: once daily, m-f
length: 45 min
subject: varies
language: clean
listener interaction: none

this podcast is hosted by Terry Gross. she is an excellent interviewer. her guests are from all different walks of life. this is a must listen to.

recent topics:
Dating with Dad: A reluctant son's "Assisted Loving", movie reviews, UP and Drag Me to Hell
Summer Travel Outlook, Old food, Old land and American Idol, a retrospective
When Tiger met Rocco, journeyman golfer who took on Tiger, cannes film festival


NPR: Pop Culture Podcast
update frequency: mondays
length: ~20 min
subject: the weeks pop culture pieces all in one place
language: clean
listener interaction: none

this is a repeat of just the pop culture pieces from the various NPR shows throughout the week.

recent topics:
terminator salvation
illuminati, pet villains strike again in 'Demons'
Star Trek, boldly reapproached


The Official LOST Podcast
update frequency: Once weekly, during the broadcast season.
length: 5 min with cast members, 20 min with damon & carlton
subject: LOST tv show
language: clean
listener interaction: listener email questions

Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse rehash and prehash almost every episode during the season. they also take emailed in questions. this is a great podcast as they sometimes shed much needed light on LOST episodes. what is more interesting though is the behind the scenes, filming, story line creating information that they talk about. it's kind of like listening to the director commentary from a dvd, only on episodes as they are happening.


PRI: The Sound of Young America
update frequency: every 3 days on average
length: ~30 min
subject: interviews with people in entertainment business
language: clean
listener interaction: none

this is an interview show broadcast out of the L.A. apartment of Jesse Thorn. he is 28 and lands interviews with many recognizable hollywood figures. his interviews are interesting and for the most part he asks good questions. his voice makes him sound older than he really is.

recent guests:
Nick Kroll (from Cavemen)
Rian Johnson (director of Brothers Bloom)
Trailor Park Boys


Savage Love Podcast
update frequency: once a week
length: ~ 40 min
subject: sex advice
language: crude
listener interaction: all calls

this is a podcast i learned about by listening to This American Life's rebroadcast of their LIVE event back in April. Dan Savage is a regular contributor to This American Life, and has been writing a relationship advice column for years. that column spilled over into a weekly podcast where he plays voicemails people left and answers their questions. occasionally he calls the person back to discuss their issue. The language can be pretty vulgar.. and dan doesn't put things lightly. i enjoy his frankness.


Stuff You Missed in History Class
update frequency: twice a week
length: 15-20 min
subject: history
language: clean
listener interaction: none

this is a very informational podcast. these two girls research a different topic a couple times a week. they are usually hit or miss, but i like to think that what they are saying is subconsciously soaking into my brain.

recent topics:
presidential perks
what really happened at Kent State?
How Easter Island Works
Will the World Really End in 2012?


Stuff You Should Know
update frequency: twice a week
length: ~ 20 min
subject: random things
language: clean
listener interaction: some listener mail

this podcast is not unlike stuff you missed in history class. only not so history focused. it is hosted by two guys who are much easier to listen to than the two women that host the history podcast. i think i really like this one because these are some of the questions i often wonder to myself...

recent topics:
do animals have a sixth sense?
how lobotomies work
are there dead bodies on mount everest?
how going over niagra falls works


TechStuff
update frequency: twice a week
length: ~ 25 min
subject: technology
language: clean
listener interaction: some listener mail

very similar to the other "how stuff works" podcasts i listen to, but this one is focused on technology. honestly, after listening to the other technology focused podcasts i listen to, this one is a little unnecessary.. but i've yet to unsubscribe, so there must be a subconscious reason i keep downloading it.

recent topics:
why do other countries get cool tech before the US?
are computers more eco friendly than paper?
how do CB radios work?
how mobile apps stores work
what is cloud gaming?


This American Life
update frequency: once a week
length: 1 hour
subject: first person stories
language: clean
listener interaction: none

this is a newer podcast that i finally found. Ira Glass hosts this weekly show that usually has 3 parts. three different points of view around a certain topic or theme, usually. they are very compelling and very well told.

if you actually read all the way through this post, let me know that all my work on this post didn't go to waste. ;)

Thursday, May 28, 2009

madmen



i started watching madmen tonight.. i didn't think i was going to like it... (even though john hamm is a total hottie) because the first few scenes really made me mad. the men are sexist pigs.. the women are either housewives or secretaries.. there is one line where one secretary is showing the other to her desk, and tells her not to be worried about all the "technology" (meaning the typewriter),she says, "the man that invented it made it simple enough for a woman to use". the show takes place in the 1960's in Manhattan at an Advertising agency mostly... people drink and smoke constantly, even pregnant women, even the doctor while he's giving a gynecological exam... kids ride in the cars without seatbelts or carseats, beer cans are opened with a can opener on two sides of the lid... women wear dresses in every scene.

it really makes me appreciate living in the era that we live... i can tell i'm going to be sucked into the rest of the seasons.. the good news is it's only got 2 seasons of 13 episodes each so far. maybe i can catch up before the next season starts.

Monday, May 25, 2009

memorial day weekend.



this long weekend has been much needed. i feel so much more caught up, so nice.

here are the pics i took this weekend...

we had typical bbq food.. and jr made some delicious brownies... sooo good.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

a whole week. shiiiiit.

i love long weekends. i've reduced my dvr from 83% to 6%. there should be some sort of award for that. :)

i opted for wine instead of dinner tonight. in my old age i can have one or the other.

i slimmed down pattys mohawk a little bit tonight. i couldn't imagine doing the whole thing.. it was well worth the $45 i paid the groomer.

yesterday and today i've been playing with teags.. she is so cute. they are not lying when they say she's a runner. she runs everywhere.


teags and duda.


teags hates the swing.


patty went for a little swim.


teagan loved the ice cream

i'll have some more photos after tomorrows memorial day barbecue, i'll compile and post a link to all of them then.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

holy productive batman! ;)

everyone loves lists... so here goes my accomplishments this weekend.

1. dishes (wash and put away)
2. four loads of laundry (clean and put away)
3. attended a post secret art show opening
4. took patty to get her fetching haircut
5. vacummed and washed rugs
6. pulled out upwards of 50 hedges from the perimeter of my front lawn
7. filled in about a third of the holes with dirt.
8. grass seeded
9. weedwacked
10. mowed
11. planted a few tulips
12. returned all borrowed equipment to fayeteville
13. went out to dinner

batman and i removed all the shrubs in 1 hour.. i couldn't believe how fast we did it.. i almost thought it would be a 2 weekend type job. first we started by driving the bushes out by roping them to the hitch on the car, but it turned out the roots weren't too deep, so batman just dug them up while i knocked the dirt off the roots... i'm going to be sore tomorrow.


before


after

we went to eat after all this at red robin.. and didn't really realize until the end of the meal that our waiter had an aversion to clearing off the table. we had stacked up all our dishes in the middle of hte table in an attempt to send him a message to clear them.. he didn't get it.. he must have walked by 13 times, looked at them, even shook his head, yet didn't clear them away. the best part was when he delivered the dessert we ordered and becuase there was no where to place the dish he just held it over the table and said "here you go".. we had to grab it ourselves and find a place to put it. i peed my pants a little laughing so hard in the booth about that one.


ridiculous.

i've got a badass dog.

patty got her hair did yesterday.. she's my little punk dog now...


before...


after.. isn't she cute.


there are more pics here.

Saturday, May 16, 2009

winner!

my work has an art show every year, and i won 2 awards... one for best drawing for my mother and crying baby drawing... and that drawing also won the peoples choice award... shich is like the best of show...

almost more importantly i had another drawing selected to go into a show later in the year at the Everson...

so exciting!!


mother and child - best drawing, and peoples choice winner...


biker - going to the everson...

i'm a sucky amazing race updater.

but... i kinda feel like you guys are crappy amazing race watchers cause noone even mentioned it to me, and the winner didn't even know she had won...

amanda and kris - hope - paid
cara and jamie - emily - paid
brad and victoria -dan - paid
christie and jodi - ryan - paid
lakisha and jennifer - mike
linda and steve - cathy
margie and luke - cathy
mark michael - mike
mel and mike - rebecca - paid
tammy and victor - amanda - paid - WINNER

so amanda wins again... unbelievable... she wins a grand total of $45 (plus the $5 she originally paid) woo who. go amanda.

i was really hoping margie and luke would have won.. they had it too.. :(

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

HEKds shower

here are the pics from HEKds shower. i didn't have time to title them yet. so check back again someday for titles.. or comment your own...

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=dultmwy.1dgqowou&x=1&y=-bpwc8d&localeid=en_US

Monday, May 11, 2009

oh god, gross.

ugh.. i was just watching patty carry a mini bone around completely uneaten looking for somewhere to hide it. i don't know which hiding spot she took it from.. but i noticed that she somehow has gotten her butt fur full of poop. i think i am going to be sick.

in other patty news, she woke me up this morning by barking her fool head off at 445am.. that better have been an isolated incident, otherwise she'll be sleeping in the garage from now on.

chicago..



so i am back from chicago.. it is so much nicer than i remember from when i was there in 1999.. i guess 10 years will do that. i'll start by saying the food was amazing, KH and JT took us to some gems.. the food and ambiance at nearly ever place was outstanding...

i've detailed some of these places in my pics....

i was also able to stop by foodlife for my lunch on friday. it was overwhelmingly awesome. you could get basically anything you wanted. it was laid out like little separate counters, and the menus were very easy to understand, kind of IKEA-like.. so good...

KHs apt was so cute, i loved it.. they were such good hosts.

we made pizza saturday night.. and UP and i decided we need to make pizza like this in july when he and TC come to visit. we made prob 7 different pizzas, and only had one casualty.

we saw all sorts of landmarks and neighborhoods... and most importantly, we saw many many crab apple trees, and of course, oprah walking her dancing dogs.

here are my pics...

Friday, May 08, 2009

some pics.

my hotel is pretty nice.. it's old and established... i went to dinner last night with UP, KH & J. we went to a local rib joint.. i got the veggie sloppy joe.. but had one of Js ribs, it was actually delicious. tonight we are trying our hand at the publican. and i realized that i can see the water town from my hotel, so i will surely go to the foodlife for lunch. oh, and we drove by 2nd city on our way to dinner. yay!!

here are some pics of my stay so far.


the sunsetting from the plane window was so cool...


my toilet couldn't be closer to the vanity unless it was underneath it..


this is UP. he has an ARCHAIC phone..


this is NOT where obama gave his acceptance speech. i've been told that was at grant park. where the married with children fountain is.


this is one of the cool fountains.. every so often water spit out of the video where the girls mouth is...

i'll upload comprehensive pics when i get back.

Wednesday, May 06, 2009

in the airport

i'm in the airport... i love when they have free wifi.

i am on my way to chicago.. there is a well dressed british man ordering some fries and a soda from the bartender in the bar i'm waiting in.

MB has awoken and it fine.. he will most likely go home tomorrow..

i have a two day conference and then i will be frolicking around chicago with KH, her bf and UP.. woo who. fun times.

i sold my drawing.. i hope the gift recipient likes it.. i'm sure the commissioner will say it was well received anyway.. ;)

the baggage guy let me check a bag and didn't charge me the $15.. he looked like jonathan rhys meyers.

I'm not supposed to board for another 20 minutes, but an airline worker came and got a girl from this same bar a little while ago and she thought that she wasn't boarding for another 15 minutes. he said the plane was boarded and waiting for her... i wonder if they would come and look for me...

Tuesday, May 05, 2009

thank god i am not working tonight.

*sigh* i had grandiose plans for tonight, sort mail, pack, laundry, file papers, plant tulips... but i'm afraid it's not all going to get done..

MB had his ablasion procedure today and it went well. however he is not breathing as good on his own afterwards, so they want to keep him intubated and mildly sedated until tomorrow morning..

we will know more tomorrow morning... say prayers...

i did however mow my lawn before i got this news.. and it is damn hard. my front lawn sucks, its very lumpy and most of it is at a 45 degree angle. and.. it's lined with a low row of hedges.. wtf.. that makes it near impossible to mow around. i almost fell backwards onto the sidewalk over the hedges, under the mower. my neighbors are probably laughing their asses off..

ugh. i have diarreah again now. and a paper cut.. and patty is dragging my dirty underware out of my room into the hallway.

calgon take me away.

Friday, May 01, 2009

omg.

it's been almost a week since i updated. i'm getting as bad as SH and HEKD.

speaking of HEKD, she is having a baby shower this weekend... i keep hearing how formal it's going to be. we'll see.. oh shoot, i didn't grab the address. :( HEKD, can you email it to me? i have my tomtom here at my desk.

we are supposed to go out sat night. should be a good time. :)

next week with be pretty crazy for me i think.. i feel the stress creeping in. i am super busy at work, MB has a "procedure", and i got to chicago for 4 days.

chicago should be fun.. i *think* UP is going to be in chicago the same time as me.

i'm trying not to think about all the shit i have going on or it will stress me out. i think i need to get some stronger medication.