For those of you who don't know, Jim Henson and the Muppets have a special place in my heart. I've been watching them in some form for most of my life since my parents first turned on Sesame Street for me. The colorful, animated characters have such an innocence in their character and their humor, and the effect they have on people reminds me a lot of the same way Charles Schulz was with his Peanuts. These simple characters reveal more about human nature and the meaning of life in the way they act and the jokes they tell than we are willing to admit sometimes, and it's very refreshing to me.
The Muppet Show was a television variety show hosted by some of Henson's most famous creations: Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Statler & Waldorf, and the like. It was much like the late night variety shows of its day and ours with the host having a skit or routine of some sort and then having celebrity guests come on to promote something or perform something or just get some exposure. Like other variety shows, the Muppet Show also had its own house band for keeping the audience entertained, interacting with the host, and backing up other musical performers who appear. Unlike other variety shows, each player was a send-up of some famous band, player, or personality in the business. Their collective name was: Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem.
The band was led by Dr Teeth, who was controlled by Henson and was a direct send-up of famous performer, Dr. John. It included Zoot, a mellow saxophone player; Janice, the hippie lead-guitarist and female hipster presence in the band; Sgt. Floyd Pepper, a pink-skinned bass player who was the show's king of cool (He was both a Pink Floyd and a Sgt. Pepper; hilarious!); and Animal, the id of every drummer with his out of control drum solos and rhythm patterns (He was played by Frank Oz, who also did Yoda in Star Wars; Wacky, no?).
Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem represent the amazing creativity and ingenuity of Jim Henson's creature shop and their presence in pop culture was even enough to warrant a Robot Chicken skit where there was a mock VH1 Behind the Music show was made about them.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Homestar Runner
Homestar Runner is one of the most brilliant flash animation sites to be spawned in the wild, overgrown creativity fields of the internet. It was originally a children's story idea by two very creative brothers from Atlanta, Mike and Matt Chapman, but it has grown far beyond its original scope to become its own little full-fledged universe with animated updates of some kind nearly every week.
The brilliance is truly centered on the characters. Each one is fully fleshed out and well-developed enough to host their own series on another site, but that doesn't stop the creators from using no less than a dozen of them regularly. You have your straight-man and resident idiot/athlete, Homestar Runner; your arch-rival and doer of no good, Strong Bad; your intelligent hippie and girlfriend of Homestar, Marzipan; your evil sidekick and small furry thing, the Cheat; and the list goes on and on. My personal favorite is a man in an orange shirt named Bubs who is a con-man capitalist to the core. He runs a local convenience store and is always trying to sell the locals' stuff back to them at inflated prices.
A big part of the site is a regular segment called Strong Bad Emails, where Strong Bad answers an email from the week in a humorous fashion. They almost always involve some clever animation and music to illustrate some side adventure that is spawned from the text the email. The most famous example is a music video about a dragon, Trogdor, that terrorizes a medieval town which was spawned from a request to Strong Bad to show how good of an artist he is.
I'm sure most of have run across this gem of a site at one point or another, but if you haven't ever been there, you should. These guys were good enough to turn down deals with both Cartoon Network and Comedy Central to keep complete control of their animation for their site.
The brilliance is truly centered on the characters. Each one is fully fleshed out and well-developed enough to host their own series on another site, but that doesn't stop the creators from using no less than a dozen of them regularly. You have your straight-man and resident idiot/athlete, Homestar Runner; your arch-rival and doer of no good, Strong Bad; your intelligent hippie and girlfriend of Homestar, Marzipan; your evil sidekick and small furry thing, the Cheat; and the list goes on and on. My personal favorite is a man in an orange shirt named Bubs who is a con-man capitalist to the core. He runs a local convenience store and is always trying to sell the locals' stuff back to them at inflated prices.
A big part of the site is a regular segment called Strong Bad Emails, where Strong Bad answers an email from the week in a humorous fashion. They almost always involve some clever animation and music to illustrate some side adventure that is spawned from the text the email. The most famous example is a music video about a dragon, Trogdor, that terrorizes a medieval town which was spawned from a request to Strong Bad to show how good of an artist he is.
I'm sure most of have run across this gem of a site at one point or another, but if you haven't ever been there, you should. These guys were good enough to turn down deals with both Cartoon Network and Comedy Central to keep complete control of their animation for their site.
Monday, August 13, 2007
Radical Evolution
As I sit here with my new external hard drive backing up my files, I'm going to try and bang out some thoughts about Radical Evolution.
To start off, it was a pretty good book. It was chock full of incredibly interesting information which will change the way you think about the world. I can not wait to discuss this book in class for I am sure it will spawn some excellent debates about the direction and future of what it means to be human. Technology is rapidly changing our definition of human with the advent of artificial intelligence, gene therapy, and other super technologies, and Mr. Garreau knows this and wants to tell you about it before its too late and your caught by the impending tidal wave of the technological revolution!
What Mr. Garreau does not know is how to stay on topic for more than a page or two. I was very interested in what he was writing, but he moved from one anecdote to another to another with seemingly no connection between them. It was difficult to stay interested for more than ten or fifteen pages at a time unfortunately, which was a shame considering the gravity of his message. I made it though, and I'm glad I persevered.
It actually feels good to do summer reading for a class, but it is now time to move on to something hopefully more entertaining. I've been avoiding reading Pride and Prejudice since I tried reading the first two chapters of it for class in the tenth grade. I still managed a strong B on all the tests and quizzes involving it, but I avoided reading it once I realized what it was about. Well, I'm back to it now. As a favor to Kelsey I am going to buck up and give it another go. I am reserving my impressions, thoughts, critiques, and judgments until it is completed, but I can already tell you I will be passionate one way or another about this book, and I am only ten chapters into it.
I will say one thing though, Mr. Bennett is the hero of the novel. If he does not wind up being the true hero, he will always be my hero.
To start off, it was a pretty good book. It was chock full of incredibly interesting information which will change the way you think about the world. I can not wait to discuss this book in class for I am sure it will spawn some excellent debates about the direction and future of what it means to be human. Technology is rapidly changing our definition of human with the advent of artificial intelligence, gene therapy, and other super technologies, and Mr. Garreau knows this and wants to tell you about it before its too late and your caught by the impending tidal wave of the technological revolution!
What Mr. Garreau does not know is how to stay on topic for more than a page or two. I was very interested in what he was writing, but he moved from one anecdote to another to another with seemingly no connection between them. It was difficult to stay interested for more than ten or fifteen pages at a time unfortunately, which was a shame considering the gravity of his message. I made it though, and I'm glad I persevered.
It actually feels good to do summer reading for a class, but it is now time to move on to something hopefully more entertaining. I've been avoiding reading Pride and Prejudice since I tried reading the first two chapters of it for class in the tenth grade. I still managed a strong B on all the tests and quizzes involving it, but I avoided reading it once I realized what it was about. Well, I'm back to it now. As a favor to Kelsey I am going to buck up and give it another go. I am reserving my impressions, thoughts, critiques, and judgments until it is completed, but I can already tell you I will be passionate one way or another about this book, and I am only ten chapters into it.
I will say one thing though, Mr. Bennett is the hero of the novel. If he does not wind up being the true hero, he will always be my hero.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
The Bourne Ultimatum
Summer is a great season to catch up on movies. I really enjoy going the theater with friends for the overall quality of the shared experience. Like any technophile, I love me some gorgeous, widescreen DLP projection and humongous digital surround sound systems, but I also love the joy of the shared experience; the banter, the thrills, the jokes, and being able to look over and have a shared "could you believe how amazing that was!?"
In short, The Bourne Ultimatum was the best of the series. I saw the Identity on DVD over at a friend's house, and really enjoyed it. Afterwards I went to the theaters and saw the Supremacy, and left feelig nauseous from the drunk they pulled off the street to operate the camera for the movie. The plot was as good as the first one, but all of the "pulse-pounding" action sequences were impossible to follow for the camera's out-of-focus jittering. The Ultimatum had the best plotline of the series, and they toned down the swaggering, hand-cam action enough to where the action scenes could be enjoyed without a side order of tylonal for the headache.
The conclusion was tense all the way to the thrilling end, and all loose ends were tied up much better than in other unmentionable movies *cough*Matrix*cough*. I've always liked some FBI/CIA intrigue and Jason Bourne did not disappoint.
I also finally finished Radical Evolution! W00t! With only one week to go until classes, my summer reading is finally done! I'll probably post my impressions of it next. Next on the reading list is Pride & Prejudice.
In short, The Bourne Ultimatum was the best of the series. I saw the Identity on DVD over at a friend's house, and really enjoyed it. Afterwards I went to the theaters and saw the Supremacy, and left feelig nauseous from the drunk they pulled off the street to operate the camera for the movie. The plot was as good as the first one, but all of the "pulse-pounding" action sequences were impossible to follow for the camera's out-of-focus jittering. The Ultimatum had the best plotline of the series, and they toned down the swaggering, hand-cam action enough to where the action scenes could be enjoyed without a side order of tylonal for the headache.
The conclusion was tense all the way to the thrilling end, and all loose ends were tied up much better than in other unmentionable movies *cough*Matrix*cough*. I've always liked some FBI/CIA intrigue and Jason Bourne did not disappoint.
I also finally finished Radical Evolution! W00t! With only one week to go until classes, my summer reading is finally done! I'll probably post my impressions of it next. Next on the reading list is Pride & Prejudice.
Friday, August 10, 2007
The Simpsons Movie
Last night, Brian and I went to see The Simpsons Movie. I was hoping that it would be as good as everyone has said its going to be, and I was not let down. The humor was nonstop and took many different forms. From sarcastic shots at the political process to bizarre sight-gags only possible in the cartoon medium, this movie was fully loaded with everything you could expect from the ever-witty cartoon. At an hour and a half, it was the perfect length to satisfy your humor pallet without leaving you bored before the end.
This is the movie that has endured such marketing hypes as officially declaring the state of residence of the town of Springfield (it's in Vermont, but in the vote Illinois ran a close second) and converting eleven 7-11s into fully functioning Kwik-E Marts, complete with Buzz Cola, KrustyO's, and Squishees. Clearly, this was not going to be an ordinary movie. When critics confirmed the validity of the enormous pitch given this movie with their 89% Rotten Tomatoes rating, you are looking at a movie you just can not miss if you've ever mildly enjoyed the cartoon.
Oh, and for the record, my favorite parts are always the ones that involve Homer and Bart. There is something magical about their send-up of an American father-and-son relationship that always makes me giggle, chuckle, or downright guffaw.
This is the movie that has endured such marketing hypes as officially declaring the state of residence of the town of Springfield (it's in Vermont, but in the vote Illinois ran a close second) and converting eleven 7-11s into fully functioning Kwik-E Marts, complete with Buzz Cola, KrustyO's, and Squishees. Clearly, this was not going to be an ordinary movie. When critics confirmed the validity of the enormous pitch given this movie with their 89% Rotten Tomatoes rating, you are looking at a movie you just can not miss if you've ever mildly enjoyed the cartoon.
Oh, and for the record, my favorite parts are always the ones that involve Homer and Bart. There is something magical about their send-up of an American father-and-son relationship that always makes me giggle, chuckle, or downright guffaw.
Thursday, August 9, 2007
756
So apparently, yesterday, Barry Bonds passed Hank Aaron's all-time record. Bud Selig and Hank Aaron weren't there. I guess people expected another slump like the one before number 755. I wonder how Mike Bacsik, the Nationals' pitcher who sent that poor fastball across the plate, is feeling right now. I don't think I would be feeling too badly if I was a major league pitcher, but I also would have walked Bonds on principle when he came up to the plate.
Beyond the actual breaking of the record, it makes you wonder what it really represents for the sport as a whole. The Onion, oddly enough, summed up my thoughts pretty well with its headline this morning: "Destruction Of National Pastime Given Two-Minute Standing Ovation." I don't appreciate what Barry Bonds represents to the sport of baseball. He is enhanced mechanically with his elbow pad which can perform a sort of physics magic trick to help him hit home runs, and he more than likely has been enhanced biologically with horse steroids which is evident when you track his stats and physique throughout the years.
You can call me a conservative loony and say that physical enhancements through technology is the future of humanity (Dr. Garner), but in the realm of sports, I believe technology should be highly regulated to ensure fairness and actual skill remain key factors in the competition. Beyond this, the sport becomes a three-ring circus where anyone with the money and the gumption can participate.
I honestly wish it could have been Griffey breaking the record right now. I've liked him nearly all of my life.
There is a silver lining though. A-Rod is on his way in a drug-free manner (for right now). As much as I despise rooting for the Yankees, I will gladly celebrate when Bonds is usurped by raw talent and incredible skill.
Beyond the actual breaking of the record, it makes you wonder what it really represents for the sport as a whole. The Onion, oddly enough, summed up my thoughts pretty well with its headline this morning: "Destruction Of National Pastime Given Two-Minute Standing Ovation." I don't appreciate what Barry Bonds represents to the sport of baseball. He is enhanced mechanically with his elbow pad which can perform a sort of physics magic trick to help him hit home runs, and he more than likely has been enhanced biologically with horse steroids which is evident when you track his stats and physique throughout the years.
You can call me a conservative loony and say that physical enhancements through technology is the future of humanity (Dr. Garner), but in the realm of sports, I believe technology should be highly regulated to ensure fairness and actual skill remain key factors in the competition. Beyond this, the sport becomes a three-ring circus where anyone with the money and the gumption can participate.
I honestly wish it could have been Griffey breaking the record right now. I've liked him nearly all of my life.
There is a silver lining though. A-Rod is on his way in a drug-free manner (for right now). As much as I despise rooting for the Yankees, I will gladly celebrate when Bonds is usurped by raw talent and incredible skill.
The Movies
The Movies isn't trying to convey any moral message like our previous entry, the apocalyptic Defcon. Instead it seeks to show you the dynamics of running your own movie studio, starting in circa 1925. You must construct business buildings, sets, and other supporting facilities and use them to hire your writers, directors, cast, crew, and supporting staff. Then you direct your staff to make the aforementioned movies in one of five genres: action, horror, sci-fi, romance, and comedy.
Movie quality, and how well it does in the box office and the awards ceremonies, is determined by how good the script is, how skilled the actors and directors are in the genre, how good the actors' and directors' relationships are with each other, how big a star the actors and director are, how skilled the crew is, how well repaired the set is, how much interest the audience has in the genre, and how novel the set or genre is. Quite a lot, huh? It allows you to use several different means to achieve making a good movie.
Actors and directors are interesting creatures in and of themselves. Their appeal is based on their image (fashion, looks, physique), star power, and salary. Interestingly enough, it is not based on their talent in various genres, talent just serves as a means to gain star power which is received upon making a good movie. This, I think, is pretty good commentary on the status of Hollywood today.
There's more than I can really cover in a blog post. The game has several more features which I could go into detail on, including the ability to allow you to make and upload your own movies to the internet, and the ability to customize the costumes and appearance of your actors and directors. It all reminds me a bit of the Sims, but instead of being so open-ended, it gives you a goal to work towards and many different ways to get there.
Once again, its another very tempting $20 game.
Movie quality, and how well it does in the box office and the awards ceremonies, is determined by how good the script is, how skilled the actors and directors are in the genre, how good the actors' and directors' relationships are with each other, how big a star the actors and director are, how skilled the crew is, how well repaired the set is, how much interest the audience has in the genre, and how novel the set or genre is. Quite a lot, huh? It allows you to use several different means to achieve making a good movie.
Actors and directors are interesting creatures in and of themselves. Their appeal is based on their image (fashion, looks, physique), star power, and salary. Interestingly enough, it is not based on their talent in various genres, talent just serves as a means to gain star power which is received upon making a good movie. This, I think, is pretty good commentary on the status of Hollywood today.
There's more than I can really cover in a blog post. The game has several more features which I could go into detail on, including the ability to allow you to make and upload your own movies to the internet, and the ability to customize the costumes and appearance of your actors and directors. It all reminds me a bit of the Sims, but instead of being so open-ended, it gives you a goal to work towards and many different ways to get there.
Once again, its another very tempting $20 game.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Defcon
Another one of the computer game demos I played that was among the cream of the crop was Defcon, a quirky little game where you re-enact the 1980's movie, Wargames. In the game you must take control your world superpowers strategic nuclear weapons in an escalating struggle to annihilate as much of the opposing superpowers' population as you can while defending your own precious civilians. The game progresses in a series of stages ranging from the peaceful Defcon 5, wherein you merely deploy your units and jockey for alliances, to the chaotic Defcon 1, in which LRBMs, Long-Range-Ballistic-Missiles, can finally be fired from your missile silos to attack any spot on the map.
Strategic forces at your command include the aforementioned missile silos, airbases where you from which you can launch nuke-carrying bombers or scout/patrol/intercept fighters, radar facilities for easily locating units attacking your territory, and naval fleets which in themselves contain a mixed bag of battleships (ship/air attack/defense), missile subs (Medium-Range-Ballistic-Missile Launchers), and aircraft carriers (mobile, water-born airbases which also have sub-hunting capabilities).
The elements of this game are simple and easy to learn, but the dynamics of play, even against an AI opponent, are incredible to watch unfold. I am sorely tempted to buy the full version so that I can play against up to six opponents (North America, South America, Africa, Europe, Soviet Union, Middle-East/East Asia) in a game of worldwide nuclear conflict.
This game obviously is walking a fine line in between being a strategic masterpiece and depicting a human tragedy on a level unseen in the annals of history in a manner just a little too realistically for some people. I am of the opinion that it is a gem of a game, but I understand the validity of the other side's argument. Fortunately, nothing like this has happened in the past, and hopefully nothing ever will in the future.
The icing on the cake is an advertised mode called Office mode, in which the game plays out over an extremely slow time scale. Unlike the regular 45 minutes to an hour and a half, the game takes place over the span of eight to nine hours and allows you to make key strategic decisions by only checking for a minute every fifteen to thirty minutes. The realistic time frame and long thinking times make this mode a hardcore strategist's wet dream. I only wish I could be in an environment where I could play a game properly in that mode.
Strategic forces at your command include the aforementioned missile silos, airbases where you from which you can launch nuke-carrying bombers or scout/patrol/intercept fighters, radar facilities for easily locating units attacking your territory, and naval fleets which in themselves contain a mixed bag of battleships (ship/air attack/defense), missile subs (Medium-Range-Ballistic-Missile Launchers), and aircraft carriers (mobile, water-born airbases which also have sub-hunting capabilities).
The elements of this game are simple and easy to learn, but the dynamics of play, even against an AI opponent, are incredible to watch unfold. I am sorely tempted to buy the full version so that I can play against up to six opponents (North America, South America, Africa, Europe, Soviet Union, Middle-East/East Asia) in a game of worldwide nuclear conflict.
This game obviously is walking a fine line in between being a strategic masterpiece and depicting a human tragedy on a level unseen in the annals of history in a manner just a little too realistically for some people. I am of the opinion that it is a gem of a game, but I understand the validity of the other side's argument. Fortunately, nothing like this has happened in the past, and hopefully nothing ever will in the future.
The icing on the cake is an advertised mode called Office mode, in which the game plays out over an extremely slow time scale. Unlike the regular 45 minutes to an hour and a half, the game takes place over the span of eight to nine hours and allows you to make key strategic decisions by only checking for a minute every fifteen to thirty minutes. The realistic time frame and long thinking times make this mode a hardcore strategist's wet dream. I only wish I could be in an environment where I could play a game properly in that mode.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Psychonauts
I'm sorry for the brief delay. I've become enraptured with the new video card I just installed. It is the first time I've played video games on my computer since the beginning of summer, and what fun it was!
Via the wonders of the Steam delivery service, I downloaded eight game demos to sample and play to wet my appetite for serious gaming again. I downloaded those games that people always told me were good, but that I never had time to check out. They will probably make for a series of posts.
One of the best of them, was the action/adventure/platformer Psychonauts. It is a game by legendary designer Tim Schafer whose credits include several huge hits from the golden era of adventure gaming: Grim Fandango, the Full Throttle series, and the Adventure Island series. Now I am a fan of old school adventure games because they combine two of my favorite aspects of entertainment: extremely humorous and well-written plotlines and puzzle-solving. Psychonauts isn't quite along those lines, but it is a gem in its own right. It is a 3d platformer with an incredibly creative plotline and a beautiful environment. In the game you play the role of a talented psychonaut, Raz (short for Rasputin), who is charged with diving into other people's minds and helping them sort out their mental problems. Along the way you become a more powerful psychonaut and gain access to new abilities which help you complete each level, collecting all of the various doodads and achievements along the way.
This is a gorgeous and mostly overlooked game from the past few years which I am contemplating going back to play more than just the demo. I would need a good gamepad, but the cost on Steam was only $20 to download and play without the CD.
Of course, none of this could happen without Harding being kind enough to start allowing Steam through their firewall last year. Before that, I don't know what I would've done.
Via the wonders of the Steam delivery service, I downloaded eight game demos to sample and play to wet my appetite for serious gaming again. I downloaded those games that people always told me were good, but that I never had time to check out. They will probably make for a series of posts.
One of the best of them, was the action/adventure/platformer Psychonauts. It is a game by legendary designer Tim Schafer whose credits include several huge hits from the golden era of adventure gaming: Grim Fandango, the Full Throttle series, and the Adventure Island series. Now I am a fan of old school adventure games because they combine two of my favorite aspects of entertainment: extremely humorous and well-written plotlines and puzzle-solving. Psychonauts isn't quite along those lines, but it is a gem in its own right. It is a 3d platformer with an incredibly creative plotline and a beautiful environment. In the game you play the role of a talented psychonaut, Raz (short for Rasputin), who is charged with diving into other people's minds and helping them sort out their mental problems. Along the way you become a more powerful psychonaut and gain access to new abilities which help you complete each level, collecting all of the various doodads and achievements along the way.
This is a gorgeous and mostly overlooked game from the past few years which I am contemplating going back to play more than just the demo. I would need a good gamepad, but the cost on Steam was only $20 to download and play without the CD.
Of course, none of this could happen without Harding being kind enough to start allowing Steam through their firewall last year. Before that, I don't know what I would've done.
Friday, August 3, 2007
Weekly World News News
As a follow-up to my previous post mentioning the Weekly World News, here is an update on the WWN. It seems as if the Weekly World News will have to be signing off after its colored (black-and-white actually, but you know what I mean), 28-year history. To quote one headline writer, "Weekly World News Faces Own Apocalypse!"
While most of the world thinks that is about the correct level of sentiment for the occasion, I will truly miss the WWN. I will probably have to ceremonially buy the last issue at the end of August to commemorate such a fine establishment of the printed press. It has entertained me for years in supermarket checkout isles, always providing a bright and cheery face compared to the trashy celebrity tabloids. It was a tabloid with heart, and I will miss its weekly updates on such riveting stories such as the antics of live, dead, or undead Elvis, or new sitings of religious figures in everyday objects, or the progress of Batboy in his hunt for Osama Bin Laden.
R.I.P. WWN
While most of the world thinks that is about the correct level of sentiment for the occasion, I will truly miss the WWN. I will probably have to ceremonially buy the last issue at the end of August to commemorate such a fine establishment of the printed press. It has entertained me for years in supermarket checkout isles, always providing a bright and cheery face compared to the trashy celebrity tabloids. It was a tabloid with heart, and I will miss its weekly updates on such riveting stories such as the antics of live, dead, or undead Elvis, or new sitings of religious figures in everyday objects, or the progress of Batboy in his hunt for Osama Bin Laden.
R.I.P. WWN
Thursday, August 2, 2007
This American Life
Podcasting truly is a weakness of mine. I have downloaded way more podcasts than I will ever be able to listen to, but I have a terrible time convincing myself to erase them from my hard drive. Sampling various podcasts has been a wonderful experience though, and it makes me sad for the poor, forgotten genre of the radio show. They used to be the big thing for people to listen to, but ever since the television was invented, they have slowly been dying off.
A good example of a podcast that really makes me appreciate the genre is the podcast of This American Life. This American Life is produced in Chicago and distributed as part of the NPR network. It is a weekly, hour-long program which tells the types of story that you never hear about in the mainstream news. It tells stories and gives biographies of individuals who don't seek to have their story told and usually gain little attention in life outside of their daily hustle and bustle.
I have only listened to two episodes, but already I am addicted to this podcast. The first episode was about the developmentally disabled. They told the story of a group that teaches the mentally handicapped how to be journalists and takes them on a cross-country road trip interviewing anyone they could find. They also told the story of a small child with multiple personality disorder that alternated between being the sweetest child you could find and a little devil, wanton for destruction. The way they conducted their interviews and played archival recordings for you painted very vivid pictures of these peoples' lives, and they made you think very hard about your own in the process.
The first episode really wet my appetite for another, and the second episode did not let me down. It was titled Man versus History and told another two stories about incredible individuals. One of them was about an ordinary citizen who traveled to Iraq on his own time and money and met with local leaders trying to broke a peace between Coalition and Resistance forces. He had no experience in diplomacy or policy-making, he was just a concerned citizen doing what he could to help his nation. The second story was even better than the first. It was about a CIA operative working undercover in Cold War Czechoslovakia. He becomes the interest of a woman in a bar one night and he quickly discovers that she is a Czech secret service worker for the Communist party. Their respective agencies play them against one another trying to gather useful intelligence while they are forced to confront the fact that there may be something actually happening between them besides well-scripted scenarios of their personal lives being played out on hidden infrared cameras and tape recorders. It was a very moving story and it had me hooked all the way through the end in a way that television rarely gets to me.
I don't know what it is about Cold War spy love stories. Barring James Bond, I think they are some of the coolest stories told because of their many social, emotional, and psychological facets. It makes me hope that the Cold War era spy will become as wonderfully romanticized as the quintessential pirate, ninja, robot, dinosaur, or some combination thereof.
You really should try to listen to this show at least once. It is incredibly good, and it would be well worth your time.
A good example of a podcast that really makes me appreciate the genre is the podcast of This American Life. This American Life is produced in Chicago and distributed as part of the NPR network. It is a weekly, hour-long program which tells the types of story that you never hear about in the mainstream news. It tells stories and gives biographies of individuals who don't seek to have their story told and usually gain little attention in life outside of their daily hustle and bustle.
I have only listened to two episodes, but already I am addicted to this podcast. The first episode was about the developmentally disabled. They told the story of a group that teaches the mentally handicapped how to be journalists and takes them on a cross-country road trip interviewing anyone they could find. They also told the story of a small child with multiple personality disorder that alternated between being the sweetest child you could find and a little devil, wanton for destruction. The way they conducted their interviews and played archival recordings for you painted very vivid pictures of these peoples' lives, and they made you think very hard about your own in the process.
The first episode really wet my appetite for another, and the second episode did not let me down. It was titled Man versus History and told another two stories about incredible individuals. One of them was about an ordinary citizen who traveled to Iraq on his own time and money and met with local leaders trying to broke a peace between Coalition and Resistance forces. He had no experience in diplomacy or policy-making, he was just a concerned citizen doing what he could to help his nation. The second story was even better than the first. It was about a CIA operative working undercover in Cold War Czechoslovakia. He becomes the interest of a woman in a bar one night and he quickly discovers that she is a Czech secret service worker for the Communist party. Their respective agencies play them against one another trying to gather useful intelligence while they are forced to confront the fact that there may be something actually happening between them besides well-scripted scenarios of their personal lives being played out on hidden infrared cameras and tape recorders. It was a very moving story and it had me hooked all the way through the end in a way that television rarely gets to me.
I don't know what it is about Cold War spy love stories. Barring James Bond, I think they are some of the coolest stories told because of their many social, emotional, and psychological facets. It makes me hope that the Cold War era spy will become as wonderfully romanticized as the quintessential pirate, ninja, robot, dinosaur, or some combination thereof.
You really should try to listen to this show at least once. It is incredibly good, and it would be well worth your time.
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