Jack Mangan’s Deadpan #112: Podcasting’s Rich Sigfrit (part 2)

The dramatic conclusion!

329 thoughts on “Jack Mangan’s Deadpan #112: Podcasting’s Rich Sigfrit (part 2)

  1. 9 – I’ve seen that clip. Doesn’t mater how you explain it (They refusing to acknowledge him or Bush refusing to shake their hands) … it is just uncomfortably sad.
    John Stewart summed it up as “There you see THE most unpopular kid in school.”

    Another chapter of the Bush “Legacy”.

  2. Good morning, Pan.

    Yesterday was my first 10,000-word day ever! I didn’t know I could pull one of those off, until I did. Current total: 35,346 words. Thinking of going for another 10K today (or as close as I can get), and the remaining 5K tomorrow afternoon. This is simultaneously a heck of a lot of fun, and something I hope I never have to do again.

    Things I want to write after I finish my 50,000 words:
    – Full-length blog post about the experience
    – Weekly update email for family and friends
    – Deadpan segments: Earbuds and my annual NaNo excerpt

  3. Okay from the New Scientist, see how you score on the sociosexual orientation test:

    With how many different partners have you had sex (sexual intercourse) in the past year?

    How many different partners do you foresee yourself having sex with in the next 5 years? (please give a specific and realistic estimate, up to a maximum of 30)

    With how many partners have you had sex on one and only once occasion?

    How often do you fantasise about having sex with someone other than your current dating partner? (rating scale from 1(never) to 8 (at least once a day)

    Sex without love is ok? (rating scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 9 (strongly agree))

    I can imagine myself being comfortable and enjoying “casual” sex with different partners. (same scale as previous question)

    I would have to be closely attached to someone (both emotionally and psychologically) before I could fee comfortable about having sex with him or her. (rating scale from 1(I strongly agree) to 9 (I strongly disagree))

    Score will range from 4 to 65+, high scorers have an unrestricted outlook and tend to be more promiscuous than low scorers.

  4. Morning, Deadpan!

    Back home, and finally can get to the episodes! They’re downloading now.

    Snow is on the ground here. Looks like it’ll turn out to be a good day to stay home.

  5. We went to our annual Christmas concert last night: Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Hard rock + Christmas & Classical music = totally awesome. I’m sure some people here would enjoy them.

  6. Morning Pan. The touch doesn’t have a mic so cant’ play the ocarina.

    Now to do some work, then off to see the latest Bond movie.

  7. Re: Hero’s

    By the end of last season Hero’s had become very “tepid” for me.
    So much so, that I have all of this season’s episodes on my TiVo still unwatched (tangent – upgraded my TiVo to the biggest hard drive I could get in it was one of the best decisions EVEH) .
    I am now thinking about deleting them all as I haven’t really seen any comments about this season that would compel me not to.

  8. My computer refuses to turn on. Reading comments on my iTouch. Buying new laptop tomorrow.

    Listened to 112 with Danthol (hubby) on the trip home.

    Spatula City

  9. Back in AZ. wOOt! There was a blizzard in Denver during our connecting flight. Had to get the plane de-iced. Happy to be back in jean shorts. 🙂

  10. 30 days.

    Approximately 40 hours of writing. (Maybe more, I didn’t do a very good job of keeping track.)

    Approximately 23 of those hours in the last four days,

    50,053 total words! I’ve done it again!

    Now to take a long dinner and socialization break.

  11. This was a fun bit of spam in the comments filter:

    Hi. I repeatedly be familiar with this forum. This is the oldest together undisputed to ask a ridiculous.
    How multitudinous in this forum are references Nautical port behind, disingenuous users?
    Can I depute all the communication that there is?

  12. On the train platform, there is this nobbly strip of antislip material. When it’s frosty, it makes loud crunching noises when walked on. Almost as good as popping bubblewrap.

  13. Now I know DIGG has sunk to a new low – two of the stories on the homepage are about football games. Now, I enjoy a good game as much as the next guy, but is it really DIGG material? I do sometimes wonder why I bother to check it anymore.

  14. Amy – Congrats, good job, way to go!

    I have to write one parenting article a week and I’m not a writer. Writing is my least favorite part of my job. I’m more of a reader and much more of a talker. So, you have my utmost respect!

    On another note – I don’t think I can bring myself to buy a new laptop as much as I need one. Sending mine in for repair again and hoping for the best.
    I may change my mind in an hour or so.

  15. Congrats are definitely in order for you, Amy. That is an accomplishment. Feel free to share, if you feel so inclined – like you did in the past.

    Cj, where does your parenting article appear?

    J0e, NanuWriMo is different – that’s where you have to write 50K words sitting on your head.

  16. Morning Pan.

    Nice right now, but expecting rain turning into 2 – 4 cm. of snow by tonight. roads tomorrow should be fun.

  17. I actually have an acquaintance living in the southern regions of the planet who hasn’t seen snow. His idea of snow are the romantic Currier and Ives type pictures. I keep telling him to come up in the winter, he’ll change his ideas very quickly.

    I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Snow and cold are four letter words not to be said in polite company.

  18. Thank you, everybody! Don’t worry, I will be sharing an excerpt from my novel, like I always do – I just haven’t decided which scene I want to share yet.

    Nomad Scry: I timed myself because it’s one of the things you can keep track of using the NaNo Report Card, which someone starts a thread for on the NaNo forums every year.

  19. QOS was a good Daniel Craig Bond movie. However, I’m not a big fan of the new style of camera work that is so frenetic.

    I tend to think of the new Bond movies as different from the earlier ones. While the DC Casino Royale was closer to the book, there were too many inconsistencies from the movies before it. In the original Casino Royale movie, there was a description that works well for me if I apply it to the new movies. It was stated that the name James Bond is a moniker, or pseudonym passed down from agent to agent, much like the 007 status. That way many different people can be James Bond. If you look at it that way, the new James Bond movies are quite good.

    I think I’m away from the norm in that, while I don’t deny Daniel Craig is good looking, I don’t find him James Bond good looking. DC is more rugged, whereas JB is more suave, like Sean Connery.

  20. I have to agree, Van. I’ve actually found this the case in the last few movies. While they are greasy, they are not “evil”. I guess I still want the more comic book type of villain with the white Persian, underground lair and all.

  21. It’s funny, but I kind of prefer the campy Roger Moore 007 flicks. I did like Casino Royale, butI miss the Lotus Espirit submarines.

  22. Possible Spoiler:

    And what kind of idiot builds a long rectangular building with explosive power generation running under the entire thing? Couldn’t they just have the power generators on one end?

  23. Morning Pan,

    Well a 4-day weekend was not enough to cure us of the neverending series of colds we’ve been getting in the household. I think I’m getting better, but it always comes around to the end of the day and there I am, coughing and wondering why it isn’t better yet…

  24. *Weighing in James Bond*
    I want to see the new one though I have yet to do so.

    I will say that I don’t like the direction they have taken with the last Bond film.
    Bond films are their own genre.
    They aren’t meant to be deep, intricate and brooding. If you want that in your action film you go to see a something from the “Bourne Identity” franchise.
    You go to Bond films to see a mindless action flick that has dangerously hot babes, gadgets and lots of things blowing up.

    Don’t get me wrong I like the “Bourne” films a lot. It’s just not what a Bond film should be.
    Analogy alert/
    I LOVE the great taste of steak … just not in my cotton candy!
    /Analogy alert

    IMHO – if you are going to slap the “James Bond” lable on a movie then it ought to stay true to the genre.

  25. I agree, J0e. As I said, you have to take the newer movies apart from the previous ones. As a different series.

    I miss Q (no matter who was playing him)

  26. While I certainly enjoyed the older Bond films, I think the formula (and let’s face it, it was the exact same formula from film to film) had run its course. The later films had become self parodies.

    I really like the way the franchise has largely been rebooted with Daniel Craig as Bond. While I’ve never read the books, I understand that Craig’s potrayal of Bond is more in line with the characterization in the novels.

  27. I read Casino Royale, but not the others. The DC version was closer to the book than the Peter Sellers version (obviously). And it’s true Bond was always considered man’s man. I understand, in the books Pussy Galore (from Gold Finger) was originally a lesbian that was “converted” by Bond’s manliness. Which is not as well portrayed in the movies.

    Don’t misunderstand me. I do like the newer Bond movies. And, no question, Danial Craig is easy on the eyes. It’s just different.

  28. I have yet to see QoS, but I’d consider it. On Netflix, if not in the theater. If this was another Pierce Brosnan Austin-Powers-esque film, I wouldn’t even consider it.
    I think all of the Bonds have been kind of pretty, even the young Sean Connery. TEB may swoon over Craig as a good-looking guy, but he’s definitely not pretty.

  29. You know watching The Ipcress File reminded me of the Matt Helm series of movies (the bad guy in the Ipcress file also appears in one of the MH films), a US piss take of James Bond.

    I remember really enjoying them as a kid..probably unwatchable now.

  30. My recent playlist is an exercise in musical diversity:

    Sleepless Nights – Elvis Costello
    Roots Bloody Roots – Sepultura
    Don’t Sweat the Technique – Eric B & Rakim
    Happy Alone – earlimart
    Folsom Prison Blues – Johnny Cash
    Paganini – Caprice 24 – John Williams

  31. New Game (credit to Gwen Gades of Dragonmoon Press)

    Rules:
    *Grab the book or mag closest to you. Now.
    *Go to page 56.
    *Find the 5th sentence.
    *Write that sentence as your status.
    *Copy these instructions as a comment to your status.
    *Don’t go looking for your favourite book, or the coolest one you have — just grab the closest one.

    Mine was: ” We would immediately have a problem.”

  32. *Insert Headsmack Here*

    “Large indistinct blotchy blue shapes towered over him.”

    That would be page 56, line 5 of “Really Big Things,” by some guy named Maki.

  33. “The illustration program had hundreds of inputs, ranging from age, sex, and hazardous avocations (including sky-diving) to the timing of loans that an insured intended on taking for expected events (e.g., college tuition).”

    Exciting work book!

  34. I think JB specifically violated the “Don’t go looking for your favourite book, or the coolest one you have — just grab the closest one.” clause. 😉

  35. “Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize for his contribution to quantum theory.”

    -5th sentence on p56 of ‘A Brief History of Time’ by Stephen W Hawking

    Why that book is in the computer room is a mystery lost in the mists of time!

  36. Do any of you know if it’s possible to select which audiobooks in my iTunes library synch on a certain iPod? I have tons of books in my library, and the illegal mother-in-law has a nano and wants a few of the books. Can I put them on there for her without deleting the ones she doesn’t want from my library before synching?

  37. EssBee, Can you just make a playlist of the books you want to sync onto her Nano and then only sync the playlist? iTunes should ask you if you want to remove items from your library before it removes them, but it should not do it without your instruction and consent.

    TEB – And my book meme would be –

    “The logic behind the nineteenth-century rule about not splitting infinitives rests on comparing English to Latin because in Latin there are no two-word infinitives.”

    It’s no wonder my brain always hurts.

  38. “And we spent so long arguing that we couldn’t sit down for our pizza, so we ended up getting a takeaway and eating it out of the box on the way to the cinema.”

    That’s from “Slam”, by Nick Hornby, which actually was the closest available book.

  39. I wonder if these books/magazines closest to us say a lot about us. I had a toss-up between a few different things when I posted the above quote:

    I had The Advocate, TV Guide, the AA Big Book, and the Cornell West Reader. Yep, that’s a pretty good summary.

  40. Since I work for Grammar Girl, it’s only be logical that the book closest to me whenever I’m at my computer is “Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing.” I know there is a Family Fun magazine around here somewhere, but there will be no fun had here today until all of my spreadsheets are full of statistics. NO FUN I SAY! (Let’s pretend that I’m capable of not having fun) … 😉

  41. Ok, I don’t feel as bad. I just sent in a report to my boss in Ontario, and she was actually in to say thanks. It’s 7:30 here, but 9:30 there, so she’s working even later than me (at the moment).

  42. “Sez the Ty-D-Bol is irritating his buttocks”

    Classics of Western Literature: Bloom County 1986-1989

    Should be required reading in school.

  43. Well, they seemed to have shut me out of the system for some sort of update – timing is impeccable (who updates a system during month end anyways?). So I’m calling it a night.

    Until tomorrow, Pan

  44. I’m still plugging away. My MIL says my eyes are puffy.

    I actually think spreadsheets are fun. It’s a sickness, but as I alluded to earlier. I pretty much have fun no matter what I’m doing. I live in a happy little bubble.

    Either that or the little numbers are making me delirious.

  45. I have three spreadsheets that I’ve been filling full of numbers lately. One for words written during NaNoWriMo, one for AmeriCorps service hours, and one to keep track of all the money I have (and don’t have). I think spreadsheets can be fun, too.

    I’ll do the book meme when I’m not up way too late. Night, Pan.

  46. Morning Pan, another thin layer of snow and freezing temperatures.

    99% of the books I own are not in the same room as the computer I use.

  47. I see the board is hopping today.

    Off for about half. Must take my car in for servicing, then will brave the cold and walk home.

  48. Well, the snow has started to fall. Not much yet, just enough to make everything slippery for the walk home. We’ll see what it’s like when I walk back to get my car.

    …Must also remember to wear a scarf on the walk back. I froze my little nose.

  49. Anannounced Deadpan Bar details:

    The crotchety old “Jack” from the “tap not working” Deadpan Bar bit was meant to be Jack Hosley. And he was meant to be a ghost.

  50. JB: Did you have a paper copy of RBT, or did you use the version on your computer? 😀

    If we’re using digital books, I’ve got this:

    I rolled my eyes as I looked away from the magazine and back to my wide-eyed friend. “Yeah, Mick. Why don’t we just call it supernatural?”

    Page 56, lines 5 and 6 of the PDF version of “The Case of the Pitcher’s Pendant: A Billibub Baddings Mystery.”

    Here’s page 56, line 5 of the closest paper book:

    SQUEEZE —————->

    The book is our Community Emergency Response Team participant manual. That’s the fifth line of text under the page header. It’s part of the instructions for using a fire extinguisher.

  51. Unannounced Deadpan Bar Details:

    The small man in the last episode playing the odd stringed istrument was to be Vanamonde. And he had a tail.

  52. Amy,

    I wrote the majority of RBT longhand on legal pads. There are four of them. I’m working (excruciatingly slowly) on revamps where I’m typing and revising/expanding at the same time, but that was from the longhand version…

  53. JB: Oh, I see. I wrote most of (the not-yet-released) Questors episode 3 longhand on the backs of scratch paper, but then typed it. All my recording sessions for Questors are done with a resized WordPad window taking up the bottom half of my screen, with Audacity behind it.

  54. I tend to record with hard copy in hand. This is partially due to the fan noise from my iMac. I try to record a good six feet away from the computer. I still think the fan noise is horrid when I listen back to stuff, but I’ve been assured by others that my recordings are relatively noise-free.

  55. Alright, we’ll try this again from work:

    “ASTM Specification A254, Specification for Brazed Steel Tubing, recognizes two classifications, each consisting of the two types shown in Fig. A2.1.”

    Page A56, Line 5 of “Piping Handbook, Sixth Edition”

    Compelling stuff, no doubt….well, maybe a little doubt.

  56. JB: I agree. Your voice recordings are cleaner and quieter than mine. Mine have an electronic whine behind them, that I think is the fault of the gaming microphone headset I use. It’s all I can afford for now, though.

  57. Well, it’s that it is getting colder, and the nearest microwave to this new place I am working is a cold windy walk across the parking lot. But here, there is a Culligan dispenser with a water heater built in, so “Just add water” becomes a big selling point.

  58. “It is reasonably possible that the total amount of unrecognized tax benefits will change in 2008, ranging from a decrease of $40 million to an increase of $60 million.” – McDonald’s Corporation 2007 Annual Report.

  59. Okay, leaving the dupe room to find something I didn’t write at the front desk.

    “Slant back design keeps literature in place.” (from the Spring/Summer ULINE catalog)

  60. So there was a Facebook group for people who attended the same grade school as me. Unfortunately, paging through (along with a whole lot of people of entirely different age ranges) it was almost entirely people who were perfectly dreadful to me at that time. Lovely.

  61. Facebook has been interesting. I had 17 people in my graduation high school class, and two of them have found me on Facebook already. Not exactly the best point in my life, nor why I joined Facebook!

  62. “Compare this with the recommended insulation values on page 13”

    From Natural Resources Canada ecoEnergy – Keeping the Heat In.

  63. *If* I join FB, it will really just be to play chess vs. my former Shockwave chess pal. (those games were the inspiration for “Sixteen Pieces at a Time”, btw). For now, I’m still resisting.

  64. Other options in social networking –

    SavingFacebook.com – very popular in Japan.

    Faceoffbook.com – mostly Canadians and people from the Canadian/U.S. border states.

    Facechangebook.com – Already “connected”? This may be the place for you.

    Facialbook.com – be careful not to accidentally type “facialbook.cum”

  65. The thing I’ve found most addictive about facebook are the stupid little rpg’s they have. I find I’ve been spending way too much time doing those (There’s 4, Skies of Blood, City of Blood, Elven Blood and Blood Lust).

  66. Facebook as a whole has been pretty positive, meeting back up with people I have not seen or corresponded with in some cases in an appallingly long time. Luckily enough for me, the seven years of K-6 education become a shrinking percentage of my life every year, and since then things have been generally better…

  67. A work one:

    “When given the opportunity to elaborate, Amy demonstrates that she knows what the pictured object is.”

    Overcoming Dyslexia: A New and Complete Science-Based Program for Reading Problems and Any Level – Sally Shaywitz, MD

  68. Had a productive day. Got enough work done that I won’t have to work late (yeah!). Also jumped the gun and sent Amy my Secret Santa info.

  69. Yeah, what is the Secret Santa deadline? Nothing has changed so Amy should have all pertinent info.

    I suppose I just need to officially say “I’m in.”

  70. That’s all I did, JB, since my info was the same, also.

    The only thing I would suggest, Amy, is maybe a slightly earlier deadline. Last year I found, at the 15th, it was a little tight.

  71. I use to get slaughter by the AI player in the early’s 80’s computer version.

    Unless I cheated:

    Are you sure zzxqw is a real word?

    Hell yeah.

  72. OK Fine. I don’t think anyone else has my name and it isn’t like it isn’t already all over the web anyway. I dare you to find anyone with the same name as me.

    Cherylyn Feierabend

  73. I’m not much for Scrabble either, Van. I haven’t played on Facebook. Three and four letter words (clean ones) are usually what fills my board when I play with anybody else.

  74. Useless facebook tip:

    The amount of information you reveal on your profile should be inversely proportional to how boring your life actually is.

    Cough

  75. Well basically it was a joke about people like me on facebook who don’t reveal much in their profile.

    Wasn’t trying to imply you were boring TEB.

  76. I’d be pretty much useless as a chess opponent. Last time I played I did a pretty good job of confusing my opponent for a good ten moves or so, until they realized I actually was not planning ahead much more than a move or two and my “strategy” was more or less random happenstance.

    Scrabble, however, my family (aside from my dad) typically wants to play with me only if I spot them some handicap points at the outset, so I’d be up for some friendly competitive play…

    Oh, and CJ, if you were not aware, I am more commonly known in the broader world as Paul Maki, the “JohnBoze” handle I find myself using much less frequently.

  77. I have located many of you and will initiate Scrabble games once I have my new laptop. Right now I’m still using a beastly old backup computer that doesn’t like any type of movement on the screen beyond my typing which appears to be at 1200bps while I’m typing well beyond 9600bps.

  78. Why do you think you’re on the wrong continent Van. It means a little more postage, but I don’t see a problem if nobody else does.

  79. You haven’t missed the Secret Santa announcement… I haven’t made it yet, officially… So here it is.

    YOUR ATTENTION, PLEASE!

    The Third Annual Deadpan Secret Santa Gift Exchange is here!

    How to Sign Up:
    Send an email to me, Amy Bowen, at bowen1138 AT yahoo DOT com. Your email should say that you want to be in the Secret Santa gift exchange, and should include your shipping address for your present.
    You must sign up no later than THIS FRIDAY, December 5! (Jack, please feel free to mention this onpod.)

    Assignments will be made on Friday night or Saturday morning. Please send your gift no later than December 12 (13th if you have to). Gifts must be $10 or less.

  80. The month of December is going to be pretty insane for me on the free time side of things, so I’m going to have to bow out of the Deadpan Secret Santa project for this year. Cheers to all of this year’s participants. 🙂

  81. My list of friends on Facebook does include people I knew in elementary school and high school, as well as podcasting and some other friends, but the vast majority are friends from college. That’s because I first joined Facebook right after I started college. (“Back in my day, ONLY college students could join Facebook! Now get off my lawn, you kids!” 😉 😀 )

    TEB and I are party-mates in one of the RPGs she mentioned (Elven Blood), but I’m new to RP-ing, so I haven’t done much with it yet.

    EssBee: What brings you to Orange County, CA? Business trip? I grew up in San Bernardino County, two counties away, so I know the place a little bit.

    Van: My university’s library has an entire site devoted to electronic musical history of that kind. The intro page is here: http://tinyurl.com/5nudfh

  82. Amy: Yeah, business trip. Evil, Inc. lavishes the sales force with grand meetings at resorts twice a year, and I always have to go present info from my very non-lavish unit to them. This time we’re at the Laguna Cliffs Marriott in Dana Point (on Dana Point?). I’ve been there several times in the past – it’s a fancy beach property and a cute little surf village just outside of Laguna.

  83. Cj: Have you listened to “Brave Men Run” yet? I think you and Matthew Wayne Selznick have a lot in common, and you would really appreciate his work.

    EssBee: I know where that is. I’ve been to Laguna many times.

  84. “I’m a loner, Dottie; a rebel.”

    Amy, I haven’t, but I will check it out on your recommendation when I get my new functioning computer. The one I’m on can barely load iTunes. I’m not about to attempt a sync with this brick.

  85. It’s hard to believe that 5 years ago, at some time close to this very minute… I had been in labor for 19 hours already and had finally succumbed to the epidural (I was trying my best to go drug free.) My daughter was born 16 hours later. How was that 5 entire years ago?

  86. Morning Pan,

    I actually prefer beach walks in winter..the cold keeps most people away and the bad weather makes the sea look interesting.

  87. I’ve been pretty consistent at keeping my Facebook setup just for family. The interesting side effect of this is that I am now connecting with second cousins and cousins once removed. I had never ever heard of these people before.

    Very weird, but neat.

  88. Van and Nomad, it sounds like you both are writing person ads.

    I like long lonely walks on frozen beaches where other people don’t bother me. I also like romantic dinners and live music.

  89. Gotta wonder about the flavor of that noodle bowl. . . .

    So I heard from Marlo Dianne. She’s still “feeling awful”, but her spirits seemed good (if that can be judged by one e-mail). 🙁 Here’s hoping the situation improves soon for her.

  90. I don’t eat it. I guess “yummy” is the incorrect word to describe how clean and fresh my house smells after I make laundry soap.

    It smells good, but I’m not going to eat it. (That’s what she said)

Leave a Reply to Vanamonde Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *