What's Going On

It's been utterly impossible to avoid the Olympics, as you might expect. I've been in so many situations where it's just on in the background, that I must admit I have seen some events. I've grown comfortable with it and feel that I have not violated the terms of my self imposed sabbatical in that I am still not following any sports. I have not yet turned on the TV in order to see anything in particular. In fact, I've really just joined family members who were already watching. So sue me!

Even if I hadn't seen a frame of real action, the news is crawling with spoilers and every show seems to be coming to us live from Sochi. Add to that the omniscience of social media, and I easily end up pretty aware of the major story lines of these winter games. It's been nice to simply catch whatever results happen across my plane of vision and not to get too caught up in any particular tournament. In fact, from a fans perspective, I think it's a good representation of the Olympic Creed, which is all about promoting participation over simply winning and losing.

The opening ceremonies found me at an international potluck party hosted by some good friends (everyone had to claim a country to bring a dish from). There were lots of kids there, and to my surprise they were all very focused on the event. I remember the Olympics being among my earliest first hand experiences with the larger world. It was fun to start to think about my country not just as the way things are, but as a single perspective in a global community. I had assumed that the internet had lessened the value the Olympics had in fostering that kind of world view, but it seems I was mistaken. I'm hardly ever glad to be wrong, but this time I really enjoyed it.

As a kid, I think the most remarkable lesson I took away from the ancient Olympics was the idea of the Olympic Truce. I couldn't get over the idea that armies would literally take a break from war during the games to allow athletes to compete, and citizens to attend. In 1994, the idea of the Olympic Truce was revived by the IOC and in the years since it has actually had an impact in several military conflicts. This is a big idea. 

Of course, despite the power of the Olympic ideal, familiar struggles have flared up in Kiev and Venezuela during these games. News reports are grim, especially from Kiev, where the violence has been intense and fierce. It's the kind of story that has been around at least as long as the Olympics, only with more frequency. It's hard to abide the attention paid to simple games when so much is at stake for so many people. Then again, a close look at the Olympic Creed, which dates back to 1908, shows it has a lot in common with the seeds of revolution. Here it is: 

"The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well."

If competition and revolution are so closely related, maybe it's not a great idea to ignore either one.

Bold As Love

Jimi Hendrix would have loved the internet. That's the thought I had coming away from an interview that has come to my attention recently. In the later sections of this interview he talks a lot about people being able to create new things, and combining audio and visual art to create something totally immersive. The internet, and digital art would have been a real playground for him. I'm sure I would have had his site bookmarked.

For a time in my life, all I listened to was Jimi. I felt his was all the music anyone needed. He was hugely important to me as a luminary talent and a cautionary tale. Hendrix's tunes spoke to me about things I didn't understand, but with a warmth and a joy that made me feel like it was ok. Feeling ok about things I didn't understand was a very valuable skill in my childhood. It gave me a sense of security in my own perspective that has served me well over the years. I can really tie that feeling back, in my mind, to all those hours of listening to this man who played an instrument I couldn't play and died before I was born.

It's amazing to have the chance to hear him speak so casually and so intimately in this conversation with a reporter just a week before his death. There are a few extraordinary moments, like hearing one of them light up a cigarette, or stir their tea. At one point, the classic sound of an English ambulance wobbles by, a blunt omen indeed.

It's heartbreaking to hear about his plans, and how optimistic he was about different directions he could take his music. He had ambitions of blending classical music with his own straight ahead rock sound to create "a whole 'nother thing". I would have loved to hear that. He even mentions one of my very favorite compositions, Bolero, as something he had already used as the basis for a song. I wish I could get a hold of that!

There's a picture that Hendrix's last girlfriend took of him the day before he died. She used it on the cover of a book she wrote about working with him. I haven't read the book, but I have seen the picture, and like many of the other iconic images of him I have taken time to gaze at it, looking for clues, trying to travel through time and warn him. The pictures are nice, but for me, to hear someone talking, just chatting, like on this interview, is a rare privilege. You gain so much insight into their personality by hearing them process and respond to questions. You can tell what excites them. You can tell what they are embarrassed by. You get to know them, if only a little.

Every time I hear him interviewed, and even sometimes in the recordings of his songs, the one thing that stands out about Jimi is the smile on his voice. As a VO artist, I am often directed to add more of a smile to the things I am saying. It's something you can hear very easily when you listen to commercials and radio announcers. Jimi had it in spades. I remember reading a quote from him that talked about all the music he had running around in his head. That he had trouble turning it off sometimes. If that's true, I am not at all surprised that he was smiling all the time. His music always brought a smile to my face.

Here's the interview: http://www.openculture.com/2013/05/jimi_hendrixs_final_interview_on_september_11_1970_listen_to_the_complete_audio.html

Listen close.

Easy On The Ears

Last week I launched a podcast for Emerson College, where I work. It's called the Emersonian and it will feature interviews and profiles of current faculty, students and alumni. I host the show, and act as an executive producer of sorts. I'm really excited to have another podcast running as it has been years since my first show went "off the net".

The term "podcast" dates back to early 2004. It was only a year later that my friends Brian, Peter, and I created the Boston Sports Massacre. We produced weekly episodes for a few months and it was a true blast. We had local news come in to Peter's bedroom to film us taping an episode, and we reached Boston Sports fans across the country and around the world. We even did a live episode at a Red Sox game that ended with a David Ortiz walk off home run that landed not far from us.

Though the show died out rather quickly, my love for podcasts has never waned. Today I listen to a nice array of informative and fun shows during my commute and occasionally on long road trips. My current stable of subscriptions includes 14 shows that vary in length from less than 5 minutes to over an hour. I think of them in four major categories;

INFORMATIVE: These are shows that I listen to in an effort to actually become smarter. They include tips or stories about things I know very little of. I don't listen to  each episode of these shows religiously, if time is tight they are the first to go. Still, they are always enjoyable when I do listen. Examples of these shows are: Grammar Girl, and Get-It-Done Guy

COMEDY: No mystery here, these shows are just funny as hell! It helps that several of them feature old friends, but even if I didn't know the people they would still be worth a listen. I grew up listening to comedy albums and they were great, but the fact that we live in an age where gobs of fresh comedy are available for free on a weekly basis is something to really be thankful for. My comedy shows are: Judge John Hodgman, I Seem Fun (Jen Kirkman), Uhh Yeah Dude

NPR: As a podcast purist, I don't actually consider these shows Podcasts. They are simply great NPR (or CBC) programs that are available via podcast format, which allows me to listen when I want as opposed to when they are actually broadcast. I mention this because I know lots of people who have their podcasts ranked against these kinds of NPR shows, which doesn't quite seem fair to me. It's a bit like bringing a moped to a bicycle race in y opinion. Anyway, the outstanding shows I listen to via podcast are: This American Life, Radiolab, The Moth Radio Hour and Spark from the CBC

THE GOOD STUFF: These are the shows that really get me excited when they pop up in my Podcast app. These are innovative, compelling shows with extremely high production values. These shows are really a kind of entertainment that you can't really get elsewhere. If you get in to any of these shows, I highly recommend starting at the beginning and catching up to where they are now. You will not be disappointed. They include: 99% Invisible, The Memory Palace, and Decode DC

What shows do you listen to? What am I missing? 

Enjoy the game tonight folks. I'll be watching Sherlock and dreading the wait for Season 4.

Shhhh: Go Seahawks!