Those of you who have waited patiently for the two whole weeks that this site has been in existence must wait no longer: We’re created our first podcast. In today’s edition, Tom and Mike talk about a wide variety of topics spanning 40 minutes or so, including figure skating, baby training, college basketball, social media prudence, and the site itself.
Here’s our first effort:
Those of you who either read the introductory mission statement, or who have noticed that pesky and unused “Podcasts” button at the top of this page, may be wondering what’s happening with that element of the website.
Unlike the clutter that emerges from my brain on a daily basis and need only travel from my neurons to my fingertips to WordPress, a podcast is a bit more involved. There are actual wires and buttons and lights and plugs in play.
I wanted to make sure that our podcasts were of a professional quality (I’m speaking from a technical perspective, here. I certainly don’t warrant that the underlying substance will be anything other than amateurish). I think we’re at a point where that’s well within the realm of possibility.
So, be patient. I think we’ll finally have something up in that category sometime this week, or next week at the latest. If we don’t, feel free to be disappointed.
My strategy in the meantime is to list this post fraudulently under “Podcasts.”
Some friends of mine run a blog called The Culturephiles, a link to which may be found on the right sidebar of this site. The aims of that blog are not entirely dissimilar to those in play here. The primary difference being that the Culturephiles are admittedly far better-read than I am.
That’s an understatement. This is a blog that featured “30 Days of Flannery O’Connor” at the end of 2010. A fresh review of The Known World by Edward P. Jones included the gibberish-to-me line, “In some ways, this book reminded me of Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead . . .” Other recent takes have included All the Sad Young Literary Men by Keith Gessen, Freedom by Jonathan Franzen, The Sot-Weed Factor by John Barth, Zeitoun by Dave Eggers, and something called Snow by someone called Orhan Pamuk.
I had heard of none of these books. None of them. I probably still haven’t.
Just to clarify at the outset – this is not a preview for the World Slapdash Championships, although that would make for an entertaining event, were it non-fictional.
No, instead, I’ll be covering the obvious.
I’m used to writing football previews, but never “bloggy” ones.
In order to get into the spirit of things, I decided I’ll preview today’s games in slapdash, unresearched, impromptu fashion and see how I do. I’m not even going to tune in to any of the various pregame chuckle-fests. Here goes:
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I had planned on doing a comprehensive movie review for 2010’s “The Other Guys,” which I saw last night for the first time. However, this buddy cop comedy(?) starring Mark Wahlberg as Detective Terry Hoitz and Will Ferrell as Will Ferrell doesn’t really warrant that kind of detailed treatment.
I’ll only hit the highlights: The first Eva Mendes scene was funny. Michael Keaton was solid. Duane and Samuel were moderately amusing. That’s about it. The story was needlessly complex in a way that helped neither the plot nor the comedy, and the incredibly talented Steve Coogan was completely wasted here.
Fullback Tony Richardson, in response to Wes Welker’s tongue-in-cheek, foot-related comments, after the Jets’ 28-21 victory over the Patriots: “That was personal. There was no reason to bring family into it. Rex (Ryan) has a son in 10th grade!”
I want to applaud Richardson’s remarks. Leave the families out of it! How dare someone bring up Rex Ryan’s wife spontaneously at an NFL media event! Even if the intent were humorous (some scoundrels might even say “harmless”), there’s absolutely no place for that kind of self-promoting, non-football-related grandstanding at a press conference!
That Wes Welker is so unprofessional.
I recently had occasion to travel by train. Of the many benefits of rail travel, perhaps chief
among them, is the complimentary “Travel Mall” catalog included in each seat-back. Not only is this delightful periodical choc full of amazing gift ideas, but it has the following fortuitous message printed in all caps on the front cover:
“FREE COPY — TAKE IT. WE’LL REPLACE IT!”
Armed with this knowledge, I decided to take several days to peruse this book for the finest, most elegant, luxurious, and, above all else, understated gifts I could find. Please note that I do have a birthday coming up in short order. Let’s call this a wish list:
Rather than using this piece to explain what this site is, I’m going to use it to explain why this site is.
The genesis of this glorified blog dates to a years-old conversation with my best friend. I conveyed to him the frustration of having untapped creative energies. I lacked a necessary outlet. Although I was blessed enough to have a makeshift writing career, and I certainly enjoyed and continue to enjoy it, I had been working for the same publication and writing about the same subjects since I was in college.
The Axis of Ego 
Good Copt, Bad Copt
One, this is a long-overdue spasm of democracy in a region starved for it. The sham elections will be at an end. The dictators in all-but-name-only will fade into history sooner rather than later. This is good news for the United States, as democracy has a chance to survive when it’s not being imposed by us at the end of a war.
Orrrrrrrr . . .
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