Review: Top 5 Podcasts

If you know me, you might already know of my fondness—and possibly slight obsession—with podcasts. It all started when I was younger: during long car rides my sister and I pass the time creating our own radio station, Radio KATH, station 99.9. We’d take turns singing songs and having conversations, a la Ryan Seacrest, but with less celebrities. Sometimes I’d have my own special segments in which I was the only host-—no sister to butt in with her juvenile comments. We even had our own Radio KATH theme song. I still remember our fake-radio jingles.

So it’s no wonder that I enjoy podcasts so much these days. They’re FREE portable radio programs, minus the music—but considering most radio stations play the same 40 songs over and over again, missing the music doesn’t mean much. 95% of my driving time is spent listening to podcasts from my iPod. When I’m stuck in the car alone, driving to work or commuting from home, I listen to a podcast or two and it fills the time perfectly. I get engaged in the conversation, and suddenly I realize that it’s been 30 minutes and I’m already home. Being an auditory learner, I also find listening to these podcasts as a handy way to learn something new. I can retain the content I hear easier than with reading articles or books.

I’m currently subscribed to 20 podcasts feeds through iTunes, and have sample episodes from at least 10 other shows. I have 4 days worth of podcasts on my iPod. Yet I find that I tend to return to the same few podcasts over and over. Their content varies: some are news-based, others are about the arts, and many are based in pop culture or technology. But regardless of their stories, my favorite podcasts have the same few qualities: lively hosts with great chemistry, professional sound quality, and moderately clean content. (I say moderate, because some of these podcasts definitely have some R-rated content. But when there is strong language, it’s said with a laugh or in the heat of the moment. It’s not cussing for the sake of cussing nor is there anything sexually overt. Any explicit content is said with a laugh and with passion for the content. But for the most part, I like my audio to be clean and family friendly.)

Now that you know what I look for in a podcast, let’s take a gander at my Top 5 Favorite Podcasts. The shows I look forward to listening to, that I’m always excited to download new episodes, that I might even go back and re-listen to old episodes or archives. The best of the best.

1) The TV Talk Podcast with GMMR and Ducky
First things first: this podcast is HYSTERICAL. (All caps, that’s how seriously funny this show is!) Dan and Kath provide commentary on all things TV and pop culture, with a seriously funny bent. They watch tons of TV shows, everything from So You Think You Can Dance to True Blood to The Good Wife to Raising Hope. I don’t even watch half the shows they talk about, but they discuss the shows in such a way that you don’t need to know the show to enjoy the discussion. Sometimes their conversations are intelligent, and I’ve uncovered a lot about TV editing and directing from listening to this podcast. Sometimes they’re completely unintelligible, but it’s so hysterically funny that it doesn’t matter. This is my #1 favorite podcast, no doubt about it.

Unfortunately they don’t have a regular airing schedule, so new episodes may not come out for weeks at a time. But luckily they tend to run long (2+ hours isn’t uncommon for this podcast), so when you get an episode, there’s plenty to enjoy. But be warned—they definitely can have some mature content (nothing scandalous, more like hilariously accidentally raunchy), so this isn’t something for the whole family to listen to. Unless your family is older than 16 and ready to laugh at some outrageous content. A must listen! (Average runtime: really really long.)

2) Wait, Wait… Don’t Tell Me!
Wait Wait is a downloadable version of the popular NPR news quiz show. Every week Carl Castle and Peter Segal, along with a cast of rotating guest hosts, discuss the week’s news through clever quizzes and limericks. Half the fun is learning what’s going on in the world—I’m not super up-to-date in the world’s news, so Wait Wait is an easy-to-digest form of news in fun packaging. The other half is in the commentary and the hosts. Most of the hosts are comedians, so I constantly find myself laughing aloud at their comments on the week’s news. They’re always making fun of our government, so if you lean right, this podcast may not be the best choice. Otherwise, take a gander and laugh along with Wait, Wait… Don’t Tell Me! (Average runtime: 45 minutes.)

3) Mouth Off
Mouth Off is my go-to podcast for all things a cappella. Dave Brown and Christopher Diaz get together every week to discuss a cappella news, uncover great new a cappella tracks, and review albums. The sound quality on this podcast can be uneven, especially when they get super-enthusiastic and start screaming (which happens a lot), but their hilarious yet totally serious discussions about the art of vocal singing make it worth listening through the screeching microphones. It’s a great podcast for those currently immersed in the a cappella world, but it’s also great for those who aren’t currently singing. They’ve always got tons of clips to play and intelligent insight on the art form. The other downside is that this podcast gets expensive—not that you have to pay to download, no no no. Instead, you hear a bunch of great clips and suddenly go and spend way too much money on amazing a cappella tracks. It’s an addiction, I tell you! (Average runtime: 50 minutes.)

4) Miss Molly Bell’s Creative Habit
This podcast is a new one (only five episodes as of yet), but it’s quickly becoming one of my favorites. Local Bay Area celebrity Molly Bell and her creative partner Daya Curley spend half an hour every other week discussing how to bring creativity to day-to-day life. At least, that’s what their show description says. They tend to go off on tangents (they spent two episodes discussing pretty much nothing but Zappos), but it’s always with intelligence and good intent. They’re a little bit snarky and sarcastic, which I find absolutely hilarious! And even though I’m not sure that they’re always talking about creative habits, I always finish up the podcast with something new to think about and explore.

One minor downside is that sometimes they talk a lot about their projects without giving context—for example, Molly mentions creative jobs with Netflix but doesn’t tell us what she does. This was a problem with the first few episodes, but it’s definitely getting better as they learn the art of podcasting. With this series it helps to know their projects and their work, but it isn’t necessary. Not to mention the insanely catchy theme song. I highly recommend the podcast and hope to hear many more episodes in the future! (Average runtime: 30 minutes.)

5) Mugglecast
If you’re a fan of Harry Potter, then you’ve probably visited Mugglenet.com at least once in your life. This podcast is an extension of the site, with bi-weekly (or so) episodes featuring Harry Potter news, book discussions, and occasional interviews and Harry Potter-themed games. I enjoy Harry Potter, but I don’t visit the fansites often or reread the books every year, so I find Mugglecast to be an easy way to stay updated in the Harry Potter community. The podcast has been around for years (currently on episode #238!), so they have the craft of podcasting down with perfection! The hosts vary week to week, but they’re always intelligent and clever. When I listen to Mugglecast, I feel like I’m listening to a bunch of friends talking and laughing over my generation’s biggest phenomenon. And that is exactly what Mugglecast is. (Average runtime: 1-1.5 hours.)


So what do you think of my favorite podcasts? Are you a podcast fan? What do you listen to? Are you inspired to listen to any of these now that I’ve professed my podcast geekdom? I’d love to hear what you think!


Podcast Links (iTunes):
The TV Talk Podcast with GMMR and Ducky
NPR's Wait, Wait... Don't Tell Me!
Mouth Off
Miss Molly Bell's Creative Habit
Mugglecast

Happy Birthday to Me

Today is my birthday. (Well, technically it was yesterday. It ended 50 short minutes ago.) For the longest time, I believed that birthdays were supposed to be the best day of the year. A holiday that's all about YOU. Everything's supposed to go perfectly, you get everything you want, and you fall asleep feeling older, smarter, and happier.

Clearly, over the last 22(!) years, I've learned some things. Mainly, not to have such insanely high expectations. I figured it'd be essentially a normal day, with some fun stuff thrown in (seeing Billy Elliot in San Francisco! And bringing some ice cream in for lunch :D). I hoped a few people might see me in the hall and wish me a happy birthday, but didn't expect a cake or anything like that. It's not that I had low expectations--that implies that I assumed the worst. Instead, I tried to have no expectations at all.

As a result, I ended up having a really pleasant day! Not fantastic, but not terrible either. Work was good, as normal, and I got to leave early because we ran out of things to do. I was pleasantly surprised to get oodles of Happy Birthdays on Facebook--80 people! It's a silly thing, Facebook-Happy-Birthdays, but it made me happy nonetheless. Had a surprisingly delicious dinner with the family: pad see ew from a food court Thai place! If you're going to eat a cheap, quick meal, head downstairs in the San Francisco Westfield Shopping Center. Lots of interesting, non-traditional options. Even had some yummy chocolate chip cookies from Mrs. Fields, which might be one of my favorite cookie-shops ever. And then Billy Elliot in San Francisco, which was a lot of fun. Darker than I expected--not as happy and joyful as my favorite Broadway musicals, but enjoyable all the same. And a few presents too: lots of pretty new clothes to wear! Which is good, because I've got to do some laundry soon.

But now, I give a few online presents to YOU, dear e-readers. First, a blog post that I wrote for my internship at Cal Shakes. I'm interning in their Professional Immersion Program--it's an awesome, intensive internship, far more engrossing than ones I've done before. I'm there everyday and get to experience many of the different aspects of running theatre. I'm working as an Education Management intern, so I'm focused on the educational programs in particular. But enough of that here, go read the actual blog post online:

Dancing Doors and Gossiping Trees at Two Week Summer Shakespeare Conservatory

Next, a few videos to enjoy. They're from my final performances in my musical theatre workshop class. It was the end of my 4th semester with the professor, and the seniors were instructed to create an "audition showcase." It was comprised of 4 songs, each about a minute long, perfected for upcoming auditions. I've yet to use any of these in auditions, but I imagine I will soon. The first video is the full showcase, the second is an extended version of one of the numbers.






Enjoy.

Movie Review Post

I've been watching a lot of movies lately. Now, let me quickly mention that my definition of "a lot of movies" is significantly different than the normal's person's definition. Please note: I'm the girl who's never seen Godfather. Avatar. Fight Club. Citizen Kane. The list goes on and on. So for me, having seen four movies within the span of a week is something rather noteworthy.

So last week I watched The Time Traveler's Wife, which I already mentioned in the last blog post. I loved that film--I thought it was incredibly sweet and romantic, without resorting to any of those obnoxious cliches that are so abundant in chick flicks. It had an element of artsy-ness, but it wasn't simply artsy for the sake of being artsy. Instead, it was absolutely beautiful. I thought it actually did a better job explaining the premise of a time-traveler better than the book did, possibly because it's easier to see the time-traveling than it is to read about it. But it's been years since I've read the book, and I didn't particularly care for the book when I read it. I feel like I might enjoy it better now, since I'm older and have a better appreciation for these kinds of stories.

Last night I watched Shakespeare Behind Bars, a documentary about a drama program at Kentucky's maximum-security Luther Luckett Correctional Complex. I didn't know what to expect when I popped it into my computer: I figured I'd be watching a lot of punks mess around with Shakespeare. But I was so wrong. I watched these people struggle to find the truth of Shakespeare's characters. They were performing The Tempest, a play that deals a lot with redemption and forgiveness. Appropriate for this group of actors, no?

It was fascinating to see these men struggle with the kinds of issues that "real" actors struggle with, especially since these men aren't actors--most of these men looked like normal people! The real eye-opener for me was the parts of the interviews where the prisoners discussed why they had been put into prison to begin with: truly horrible things, heinous crimes. Yet they spoke and acted like normal people. It made me realize how complex people are, how there truly is no such thing as black and white... I am still constantly amazed at how little I understand the human condition. I sometimes tend to see people as either good or bad, even though I know that isn't the case. Watching this documentary in some ways was a struggle, because I wanted to believe they were good people. Then I learned what they did, and that information changed my mind--for a bit. But at the end of the film, I still wanted to believe they were good people. So all in all, very very fascinating film.

Also, I'll add this--in the past, I've never been particularly interested in the justice system. I'm not sure why--it just never sparked my interest. But in seeing the film, I'm definitely a little more curious. Also, before watching the film I'd only been interested in theatre in education as a tool for youth, but seeing how Shakespeare effected these fully-grown men, I'm starting to rethink that thought.

Today, I saw two movies. The first was No Strings Attached, starring Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher. It was a romantic comedy, and I loved it! It was cute and funny and sweet! And unlike most romantic comedies that I've seen, it didn't seem to have an excessive number of cringe-worthy moments. That's why I usually am skeptical of romantic comedies: they're ridiculous, the main characters act foolish, and the situations are so ludicrous that it makes me roll my eyes. But this movie? Not so much. I thought it was hilarious and it just made me happy! The main characters had excellent chemistry and a fun bantering way about them, which I love in movies. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Not as thought-provoking as Shakespeare Behind Bars, but way more fun.

The second movie I saw was Life After Tomorrow, a documentary about girls who have played Annie or Orphans in Annie on Broadway or in the National Touring Casts. I thought this was going to be really interesting, but it failed to capture my attention after a while. It consisted of a bunch of interviews with various actresses. They talked about their experiences performing in the show, about growing up as an actor, about stage-moms, coming home after the show... It was all interesting information, but it was rather dry. There were some clips from the original productions, which were probably my favorite part. But other than that, it mostly consisted of a bunch of talking heads. It probably could have worked just as well as a book.

And that concludes the movies I've seen this week! Two romantic films, two documentaries. All enjoyable, but only one (maybe two) that I'll go out and purchase.

Tour Part Two: Starts Tomorrow

Tomorrow's the day! I hop on a plane with the rest of the Spider Baby cast and we fly off to Toronto. It still hasn't totally kicked in yet--I'm mostly packed but still have a few errands to run, like picking up cash and photocopying my passport. Maybe it'll kick in tomorrow, when I'm driving to the airport at 6:30am (ewwww). Or when I see the rest of the cast again. It's been forever, I forget what they look like! (That's totally a lie, I remember all of them perfectly.)

Anyway, this week has gone by surprisingly quickly. Trying to keep myself busy, avoiding too much thinking. It's a dangerous pasttime, you know? Saw two shows: In the Heights on Friday night and Daddy Long Legs last night. ITH was fantastic, as usual. Seeing Lin Manuel Miranda, who wrote the score and originated Usnavi, was the coolest experience. He's so cute and dorky and perfect for the role--obviously. The last 2 times I saw it was on Broadway, with the same people both times. So now, seeing it with a totally different group of people, was also a really fun experience. Some of the people I preferred over the Broadway cast, some I didn't. But in the end, I still love the show.

DLL was actually a little disappointing, though I still enjoyed it a lot. It was great to see people singing the songs that I have heard now, oh, maybe 20 times on repeat in my car? I'm not sure the show really worked though. Because the whole thing is written in letters, there wasn't a whole lot of interaction between the two characters. And I really missed them actually talking to each other, instead of talking through letters. My favorite scenes were when they were speaking face to face. But even though I had some issues with the direction of the piece (not that I'd know how to solve these problems--this issue comes directly from the way the book was written), I enjoyed it nonetheless.

I kind of wish I weren't leaving tomorrow. Not that I want to stay in Los Angeles, there's nothing really that exciting for me to stay for, but because I have the random desire to cook something: I really want to make this baked mac&cheese recipe that I have, and stick some peas in it for nutritional value. I had a delicious backed mac&cheese w/peas at this restaurant in Burbank a month ago, and I really want to try making it for myself. But since I'm leaving tomorrow, it's pointless-I'd be cooking for myself, I'd have a bazillion leftovers, and it'd just sit in the refrigerator for two weeks. So either I go to the restaurant and order one for myself (I'd still have leftovers, but not a bazillion), or make something else, in smaller portions. Still deciding which one I'm going to do.

The Lovely Bones review

So last night I went with my friend Sarah to see a free screening of "The Lovely Bones." I got the tickets off a Facebook "free movie screenings in LA" group. The email from Facebook said that the first 50 people to respond would get 2 free tickets. They sent it at 2:52. I read it at 2:53. So I responded and got the tickets! Hooray Facebook! Hooray freebies!

I admit, I haven't actually read the book (I think I started it once, borrowing it from the library, but I think I thought it was too depressing and never finished it), so I didn't know exactly what I was getting myself into. I knew the basic premise (and if you don't want to know the basic premise, I suggest stopping here)--that a girl dies and the story is told by the ghost--but that's all I knew. So we went in pretty much blind.

Left USC 2 hours early for the movie in Burbank. It actually was right in that shopping mall that I went to with Mom! Got there in an hour, took forever to find the parking (though it was free, which was a perk. Free parking in Los Angeles never happens!) and got in line. There was already a big line wrapped all the way around the movie theater, probably about 100 people or so. Sarah grabbed us some pizza (SOOOOO yummy! Though maybe because we were starving. But "Zpizza" has the yummiest crust ever) and we finally got in the theater. I ended up sitting to a couple of college girls from LMU. We didn't know any of the same people, unfortunately.

We heard a big spiel from various librarians in the Los Angeles area about going to the libraries and family bonding. It was not that exciting. There were also some freebies given out to those screamed the loudest. I didn't scream. One of the freebies was a T-shirt. Had I known it was a Mary Poppins (not Lovely Bones... Mary Poppins) shirt I might have actually screamed. Maybe.

No previews! That was cool.

The movie itself was very well done. It wasn't sad, per se, though it wasn't particularly uplifting either. It had a melancholy mood about it. Because it's narrated by the ghost, I always felt a bit of a separation from the surviving family members, which is a good thing. I discussed this with Sarah, and we both agree it was the best way to create the movie. (Neither of us have read the book though, so I have no idea how it compares to the original.) Had we fallen into the emotions of the family, it would have become a sad melodrama, and the ending wouldn't have had the same impact. It'd be too hard to go from the complete despair of losing a loved one to having any possible happy ending. Not to say that this movie had a happy ending, exactly. It's more about the process and the journey these people went through.

Regardless, because the story is told through the ghost, it became a bit of a commentary on this journey. I want to say there's some connection to something we talked about in Paul Backer's class last year--Brechtian theater? Or something? I don't remember. But I wasn't living the lives of the family, I was definitely an observer. Just like the ghost-girl.

It was also interesting how they dealt with heaven and the "in-between." Interesting, in that they didn't delve into it. Not knowing much about religion myself, I'm not sure what else they could have done. But what they did, I thought was smart and beautiful.

I did tear up once, though. And I usually don't cry at movies. And there were moments when the audience actually started clapping, and then moments when they talked to the screen. It made me happy. There were also some little bits of humor during the really dark scenes, which made the mood a bit lighter. I definitely appreciated that bit of lightness, as a change from the overall dark feel of the film. And when I walked out, I felt like there was a weight on my chest. It's still there, actually.

Overall? I think this movie is worth seeing. The acting was really good, especially the creeeeeeeeeeepy old man--Stanley Tucci. I get shudders just thinking about his character. Yet he's the same guy who played the assistant in The Devil Wears Prada. It's amazing what actors can do; I didn't even recognize him! I only know that because it says so on IMDB. His IMBD page is actually ridiculous, he's apparently been in everything.

Anyway, that was my night last night. Much better than studying for the 2 finals I had today (philosophy and singing for experimentals). Gotta love LA--where else can you just go and see a random free screening? I want to get out and enjoy Los Angeles more, which is why I decided to randomly get tickets for this movie. I'm glad I did though.

Now time for something a little lighter. 5 minutes until Glee begins! So... good night!