ALL THE DIFFERENCE

Last night I uploaded a new episode to the "Hacker Public Radio" server; 
this one, a second installment in a series I started a long time ago 
called, "Theater Of The Imagination" (or TOTI).  The original was 
prompted by my love for dramatic audio media, past and present, and it 
was never meant to be a series.  Well, time has past, and I've had my 
own dabblings now into the field of audio drama, so there's new stuff to 
talk about, long-and-short.  I intended to make this another one-shot, 
as all my other HPR episodes have been, but once I started into the 
script, I realized that this was similar territory as that earlier TOTI 
ep, and felt that it might be nice to explore it more fully, as I learn 
more and more about this subject myself.

The over-arching goal here is not so much to educate other people, as to 
educate myself.  The more I elucidate, the more logical and sensible it 
will likely appear to me.  And the more present it will remain in my 
mind.  You know, there are a lot of approaches I could take here: 
arrogance, due to my theatrical background; intimidation, due to my 
ignorance of the technical aspects of the artform; intimidation due to 
the presence of some truly amazing and productive talent out there; 
lethargy due to depression and/or sedentary lifestyle; etc.  
Intellectually, I believe that a combination of enthusiasm and humility 
will get me further than anything else.  Going in knowing what I know, 
and actively seeking out answers to those things I don't.

The decision to create another HPR episode was not without some 
consideration.  As longtime listeners of the show will know, there was a 
period of time last year when the it seemed to be dying.  In point of 
fact, it had been suffering terribly under these symptoms for a LONG 
time.  I'd complained about it for a full year prior to Ken Fallon's 
rise as the new guy behind the show.  There were several people that 
swore off the show entirely because of the lackydasical handling of it 
by this point, and I eventually became one of them.

Flash forward six-to-eight months, and Ken has been doing a bang-up job.  
In my opinion, he's recovered any distrust in the HPR brand among 
disgruntled hosts like myself, and surpassed what had been there even at 
its pre-Fallon height (though I can't be sure about that, since I think 
this height came before my own time there).  For months now, in fact, 
"Hacker Public Radio" has deserved my renewed interest, but, as readers 
of this phlog will know, I've been a bit busy lately.  Well, with "Blue 
Heaven" completed now, I'm in between dramatic audio productions, and I 
figured it was time to get over myself and do a new HPR ep.

Make no mistake, I think taking an extended break from that show helped 
my own situation greatly: without that level of frustration, I doubt I'd 
have ever started "Palaver", or made an effort to carve out my own 
little corner of gopherspace.  That has been nothing but good.  But now 
that I have done these things, and now that Ken has a fine handle on the 
HPR situation, I figure that it's time to get contributing again.  
Amazing how a little independence can make all the difference.

====================

In other, even cooler news, Doru Barbu, over at the "Fragile Matter" 
blog, did an awesome review of "Blue Heaven".  And I'm not just sayin' 
that because he liked it (though that doesn't hurt a bit).  Check it out 
at:

http://fragilematter.blogspot.com/2011/02/blue-heaven-quick-review.html

My great thanks to Doru, for his kind words!

====================

Monday, Feb. 21, 2011
(c) 2011 lostnbronx
CC BY SA 3.0
lostnbronxATgmailDOTcom