Audio Chimera

After attending a Podcast Movement conference, and scoffing at the idea of creating s second podcast (who has time??), I did exactly that. A Leg Up 4 Caregivers was going to be for sudden caregivers. But then that time issue resurfaced. However, rather than totally abandon that podcast, I am resurrecting parts of it here in Season 4 (which features a shorter intro!).

Eye health is so important, and when we ignore the warning signs, we could lose our vision. When I first had problems, I panicked, but it turned out it was not vision-threatening. And then when it was, I assume it wasn't. What a mistake! The tale of discovering a retinal detachment, and surviving the surgery and an intense bout of despair.

Everyone always says, "But I really want to direct." It's always been true for me. But some of the directing positions I have applied for? These crazy stories deal with chocoholic dogs, chickens (both living and dead), and always crazy theatre people who get involved in one way or another.

Sometimes the ways people speak leave me speechless! In college I took a Voice and Diction class that taught me how to speak properly--ideal for a future podcaster! So operating from that perspective, I am astounded at some people's ways of speaking. Dialects, regionalisms, improper pronunciations...and then let's talk about not reading and just hearing things incorrectly. Like I said: speechless!

In a previous episode, I flippantly suggested that my wife would be late for her own funeral. Life has conspired to contradict me, and she passed away in October 2018. I offer this eulogy in memory of her, and am posting this episode on what would have been our 30th anniversary.

For many, "midnight movie" now means that first showing of the newly-released movie blockbuster tentpole, likely featuring some sort of superhuman creatures. But when the midnight movie idea started, the movies were hardly mainstream; in fact, they were decidedly "out there." Listen to some of my experiences--often with second-hand smoke altering my perceptions--with films shown at the witching hour. Note: Many of the sounds that I don’t record myself come from SoundJay.com. For this episode, the Ricochet Sound is by Grant Evans.

I haven't rubbed elbows with many celebrities, but here are a few of my humble stories about that--and how ridiculous that can be. Whether in a public restroom, me trying to make a witty quip and having it fall flat... And why don't we question why we give some people celebrity anyway?

Ever notice that, for kids, events are boring and time moves so slowly, while for older adults, we suddenly find we lost a decade in there? In this episode I attempt an explanation of this phenomenon, as I deal with time, tardiness, and teleology. (Actually, I have a religious joke in here, which is more theology, but I wanted to be alliterative.)

One image I have for myself is that of storyteller. I wouldn't be in Season 3 of this podcast if I didn't think so. But I'm also a theatre professor, director, and playwright, and all those roles go into shaping my stories as well as those of others. And I think some of the best theatrical stories merge life and performance.

The platonic "love story" of a young woman who I met, had a pretend romantic relationship with (the campers expected no less!), lost, refound, and lost again. It's interesting how paths cross and criss-cross in a lifetime, and how we often hope the cross again.

BIG DATA is watching us, but we don't know why. But we have our suspicions, and it's not to make better products and services for us. Can anyone truly learn anything from all the quantitative data that is being collected? Maybe we need to talk about Quality in Life, stop grazing art, and stop photographing the roses soo we can smell them.

This episode is perhaps more of an editorial that a memory about higher education. I am unsure why education is under attack, unless there is some nefarious plan afoot. For me, my education improved my life immensely, and allowed me to be successful in life beyond my original dreams.

Life allows for revelations to occur from time to time. A fever once helped me have a revelation about GIlligan's Island. I had a life-changing revelation when I discovered GarageBand; my longtime search a composer to create music for my songs suddenly became me, thanks to loops! I include three of my revelation-related spoken word pieces, "I, Prometheus," "So Relaxed," and "Echo Ever After."

My wife and I have had some very non-traditional moments in our life together, even when pursuing very traditional paths. A case in point was our wedding. For years, I have threatened to write a play about that weekend; here are some glimpses into some of the odder moments of our wedding.

I really do enjoy technology. Without it, I wouldn't be writing this paragraph on my laptop, about to upload a podcast episode to the web. And a thousand other things we all do on a daily basis. But always nagging me is the thought, what if the cloud, or worse, the grid, goes down? How will we all cope?

Commercials and advertisements have been with us for a long time, and follow us wherever we go. Sometimes they are targeted at us as individuals--and what could be more annoying? We used to accept them as a necessary evil, but is that attitude necessary anymore?

My love of progressive rock is well known; I currently listen to practically nothing else in my day-to-day. And a lot of what I occasionally hear (by accident, or passing by with loud speakers in a car on the road) I don''t care for. But I think whatever you like is fine, because that's your thing. And I hate it when someone tries to pass judgement on music they just don't like. Dude, get over yourself. Just be aware of the perils of old vinyl!

A few years back, I wrote a memoir called Immaculate Misconceptions: Tales from Catholic School. This episode contains some material from that volume, as well as a few additional stories.

We often learn how to treat others through our personal experiences; we don't want to put someone through what we had been through. This is evident in the way I approach actors when I direct. And sometimes those actors, they just confound me!

In Academia and Higher Ed, you expect to jump through a series of hoops when interviewing for a position. An interview can involve multiple days, many discussions, and several meals (and if you are lucky, the food is good at least). Some of my interviews left me checking right and left for Rod Serling to see if he was about to narrate the experience.