I think my excitement about recording and broadcasting forms of creativity has continued since.  I was always working to produce video and audio recordings for fun in high school, I had a radio show and was a news reader and the training director on my college’s station, and I’ve since dived head first into the world of podcasting (though that’s paused right now).

This summer I’ve had the pleasure of taking on a new show at that same college radio station, WECI 91.5 FM here in Richmond, thanks to the initiative of friend and co-worker Nate.  It’s one of Richmond’s great but under-utilized and under-supported public media assets, and despite being a little rough around the edges sometimes, it’s still a neat place to work in radio.

I’m currently on from 10 PM-midnight on Wednesdays, and the show is called “Mix Tape” – it’s a pretty random collection of music meant to evoke the thought processes and amalgamating that goes into creating mix tapes or CDs.  (The reality is probably that very few people listen, which makes it much easier to wax poetic on the air, knowing that big rig drivers passing through in the night are my likely primary audience.)

You can listen online if you’re not local, and while I can’t promise anything, you’re welcome to make requests and give feedback by phone or via Twitter.  Thanks to everyone who’s tuned in thus far!

All it takes is some kind of simple audio recording device, a good list of questions to get you started, and some time.  And it’s a part of the larger oral history project that is StoryCorps, so there are some neat opportunities to share what you capture with a wider audience, if you want.

If you’re in the Richmond area and want to send me some of what you record, I’ll consider putting it together into an episode of the Richmond News Review podcast.

His comments were interesting and insightful, but not necessarily ground-breaking, and when asked to comment beyond what I took to be his prepared remarks, he had some trouble even being insightful. But, I did really appreciate his perspectives on how deferential and petty many members of the media have become, and his advice to politicians and interested citizens to go against the grain more and shake things up a bit.

Though, when I asked my question of him, he wasn’t so into the shaking things up bit:

Chris: “You mentioned the lack of policy distinctions between the two major party candidates. How well or how poorly do you think you and your colleagues are covering the efforts of third party candidates, and what impact do you think that has on voters?”

Scott: “I’m glad you asked because we’re actually interviewing over the next few weeks – we’re going to be interviewing five of the independent presidential candidates. And forgive me but I’m drawing a blank on all of their names [crowd laughter], but I guarantee you I will know their names by the time I actually have to interview them. But, umm, obviously Ralph Nader and Bob Barr, but, um, it’s also the Constitution Party….I forget. Sorry. Um, we’ll be interviewing all of them, but I don’t think that’s going to be done by a lot of the other members of the news media.

There’s a finite hole. And I recognize that this has sort of a self-fulfilling effect. Um, I’m going to make up a number, but if you have an independent, a non-major party candidate for president, unless they do get some exposure, they’re likely to remain professionally non-major. And from the standpoint of news organizations, they’re saying to themselves ‘well, why are we spending twelve minutes interviewing this man or woman,’ – uh, Cynthia McKinney is another person we’re interviewing – ‘about whether or not they’re going to become president?’ – Because I guarantee you, they’re not! – ‘So, why are we taking airtime that we should be using to explore the positions about the other candidates that are much more pertinent to the campaign or, for that matter, the financial crisis, the war in Afghanistan?’

It’s a finite news hole, and those decisions are not easily made. When you have a third party candidate with the resources that someone like Ross Perot has, then you get a lot of coverage because they’re perceived to be a threat. Of course, when he didn’t get that many votes, he complained about the same thing, and he might have even been right.

But in our own small way, we’re trying to do that. Because, as I said in our editorial meeting, the non-major – and I’m sorry for that cumbersome construction – the people running for President not as Republicans or Democrats are nothing if not people who are serious about their ideas. And I think the American public deserve whatever chance our show has to give them that chance to put their ideas before our slice of the country. So, I’m glad to do that. But I guarantee you we will be criticized by people who consider it to be a misuse of our time.”

Well, okay, if you say so. In any case, it was good to see Mr. Simon in person and get a sense of him, I’m sure it will only enhance my experience of hearing him on the radio.

Last night I went to a talk in Indianapolis by Dave Isay, founder of the StoryCorps project. If you listen to NPR at all you’ve probably heard the audio segments they produce: interviews of everyday people, usually by someone they know, about their life experiences. The stories generally speak to some universal human truth, and as Mr. Isay said several times, tend to be much more authentic than the stories we’re told by television, movies, and other parts of our culture.

The talk was interesting, but not quite what I had expected – he played several segments that were featured in a book he was selling, and while they were powerful and really engaging, they probably weren’t the best use of time. I’d come to hear the context and technical details and “behind the scenes” stories of these stories, and so while Mr. Isay did provide some of that, it wasn’t in the proportions I’d anticipated.

It was an especially timely talk since Girls, Inc. here in Richmond was just awarded a major grant from the Wayne County Foundation to do some StoryCorps production about our community – more on that soon.

All in all, it was great to see these two significant players in the world of national public radio take the stage and talk about what they do and what matters to them. As someone who does my own work with audio production and who follows media issues closely, it was a real treat.

That’s probably why I can’t stop laughing at this:

For example:

• My Girl by The Temptations becomes: The One Who is My Significant Other, and Also Female
• I Believe I Can Fly by R. Kelly becomes: I Have a Sense That I Am Capable of Sub-Orbital Flight Without the Use of an Aircraft
• Oops, I Did It Again by Britney Spears becomes: I Am Struck That I Appear to Have Made the Same Error I Previously Made
• I Wish It Would Rain Down by Phil Collins becomes: It is My Earnest Hope That We Will Experience Significant Precipitation in the Near Future
• In Your Eyes by Peter Gabriel becomes: I Perceive Something Noteworthy About Your Corneas

And so on. It’s especially fun if you sing them to the original tune.

Does anyone else play this game? Or am I, as Gnarls Barkley should have called it in his hit song, Perpetually Experiencing Difficulty With My Understanding of Reality?

Doug, unfortunately, became the target of my antsy-ness. He had fallen asleep in one of the beds, and as 2 AM rolled around, I suggested to Brandon and Scott that we play a prank on the poor boy. All clocks were set to appear as 6:50 AM, the alarm clock was set for 10 minutes later (our prescribed time to start getting ready to go), the rest of us got into bed, the lights were turned off.

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP, the alarm went. The three of us laid there trying not to laugh, and Doug eventually started to wake up, hitting the alarm, moaning and bleary-eyed, probably with a strong sense that he hadn’t gotten enough sleep. “Doug,” I fake-grumbled, “time to get up. You can have the shower first.” Doug appreciated this gesture, and went through the motions of getting ready to go. His confused state of mind was exemplified when he poked his head out of the bathroom at one point and said something about seeing a deer in the shower.

Perhaps a less-mean friend would have ended it there, but we took it to the next level, setting all the clocks back to their proper 2 AM-ish time while Doug was in the bathroom, and then complaining about all of the noise he was making when he came out, dressed and ready to go. “Dude, what are you doing, it’s like 2 in the morning!”

Doug spent the rest of the night on a chair backed into a corner of the room, sleeping with one eye open, not very happy with any of us. Can’t blame him. At least he was clean?

Gah, what a lousy thing to do. Perhaps I can make it up to him somewhat by pointing you to his musical group’s website? Why? is a full-fledged, touring, news-making, album producing band whose work is released under anticon. records. Doug is the guy on keyboards and guitars. I always knew he would be a part of some sort of sweet musical venture – you can even watch them on YouTube.

Sorry if I slowed you down any, Doug.

[tags]adventures, music, audio, bad_idea, friends[/tags]

Thanks to the folks at PhilQuinnForCouncil.com for linking here so prominently on the site. Of course, as much as I like and admire Phil, please know that I have not (nor do I plan to) endorsed any local political candidates here. I do wish them all the best in fulfilling the promise of the democratic process.

If you haven’t already, you can head on over to GetWellJoe.com, a site I set up for Joe Augustin after he was assaulted earlier this week. The technical details are mundane compared to what Joe is going through, but it was a strange experience going from scratch to a full-blown weblog with hundreds of visitors and comments pouring in in a matter of an hour or two. Thanks to all the people who are holding Joe up now and keeping each other posted on his progress.

In a little bit, I’m heading out to IU East to help unveil the preview and website for the new documentary being produced here, 1:47. I’m at Summersault right now working with my team on the final prep for actually making the new site live, so you can check that out shortly. I haven’t gotten to do as much lately with video production as I would like, so it’s at least rewarding to be peripherally involved in a project where some really great production work is being done.

Have a good weekend.

Since that time, I’ve really come to appreciate the usefulness of podcasting even more, especially for balancing and complementing other sources of news and opinion, and lending a unique kind of voice to the conversations happening in our communities. To further that end, I’ve embarked on a trip down the road of hosting my own show: The Richmond News Review, a podcast providing a different perspective on local issues. As far as I can tell, there aren’t a whole lot of geographically-focused podcasts out there, so we’ll see how well that goes. It’s sure been a flurry of activity to get it going, and while I’m always cautious about the sustainability of and interest in such projects, I’m excited about the possibilities.

So, check it out, give it a listen, let me know what you think.

Gray’s voice also seems to help his music transcend a particular tone or genre – he can go from airy and mysterious to dark and pounding to raw and passionate without straining, and the music follows suit. He creates atmosphere with seemingly very little effort, and doesn’t for a minute make you picture a guy in a recording studio singing the same song for the umpteenth time – instead, at least for me, images are evoked of a stage floating through the air with a very free Gray singing on top of it.

Whether you’re looking to rock out or just find something to drift away on, Life in Slow Motion has got a lot to offer. Certainly if you’re already a David Gray fan, I think you’ll find it a great addition to his already impressive discography.