Holly Jolly Job Search

Well... My boy is a little bit blue these days about his job search in the coming months, what with all of the economic BS and post-2001 ridiculous clamping down on visas for foreigners...

(in my opinion, this guy is EXACTLY the type of person we want to be attracting to this country right now... The fact that getting a work visa can be so difficult even for someone who is so supremely qualified is just mind-boggling to me. Maybe its always been this way and I just didn't know it, but one way or another, seems to me that we've got our priorities ass-backward in this country.)

Anyway... Before I get to far out on a tangential rant, I actually know a whole bunch of folks who are out on the job market now, or will be shortly. So, I wanted to post a few helpful sample job interviews. Ya know, just to review the basics... The kind of questions that one might be asked... Appropriate responses... Whatev...

I'll cross my fingers and hope that this clip might just give one or two of you out there a leg-up in the stiff-times ahead. Its not perfect, cuz its a guy interviewing for a the job of voice-over for cartoons, but you never know what tomorrow may bring... We've all got to be flexible in these times!

Don't hesitate to pull out a pad of paper and take notes or anything!

:oP



Jonathan Goldstein
Length: 7:18
Original Show: WireTap - Come On, Get Happy
http://www.cbc.ca/wiretap/

Pagan Poetry

So, given all of the holiday parties that have been rolling around recently, and a brief stint of my own into the realm of (bad) poetry. I was reminded of this little clip of a Christmas story that perhaps we can all relate to a bit more these days than those of Tiny Tim and Ralphie.





Length: 11:50
Original Show: #305 Holiday Special
www.thisamericanlife.org

Let's Get Mortified!

Well... I am pretty much tapped out from writing a thesis, doing experiments, and trying to prepare for Christmas and my trip to Michigan these days, but want to keep up a blog with fun and interesting things. So, you might not be hearing much from me personally, but I'll try to sporadically update this with media that I have found to be particularly cute or intriguing.

One show that I stumbled across a while back was this show "Mortified". If anyone reading this has EVER kept a diary when you were younger, then stowed that diary away, only to stumble across it tucked amongst other objects from your childhood/adolescence, you will know how incredibly painful it can be to read these things. All too often, the pages of these things are just choked with angst, drama, and feel so unlike your current self that you want to curl up in a ball and hide. It seems impossible to reconcile these two different people into one space!

Enter Mortified. This show takes those journals, diaries, and all that bad poetry and pushes it out where it never belonged. On stage, in front of a live audience, where the original writer reads aloud their deepest childhood psychodramas, to laughter and ridicule. The show works because the material is so frank and one can usually identify with it instantly. We've all had these thoughts and embarrassing moments, its just that we are now adults and know better than to go around telling everyone about them!

This movie is an example. A bit young, and put to amusing visuals, but you get the idea!

More Couture Christmas Culture (CCC)

Apparently, Sedaris is not alone in his experience of an environment designed to pair a touching moment for a young child with a commercial enterprise.

Elna Baker shares her common experience of spoiled kids, grumpy parents, and miserable store employees dragged into role-play during the holiday season.





Length: 16:28
Original Show: #347 Matchmakers
www.thisamericanlife.org

SantaLand Diaries Part 2

This is the second part of David's Story started in the last post, if I've still got your attention...




Length: 10:27
Original Show: #47 Christmas and Commerce - Part 2
www.thisamericanlife.org

Back - Like Lazarus

Well, thanks largely to the generosity of a certain Timothy, I am fortunately with a functional laptop again and my files are recovered and happily backed up! My sanity thanks you!

Well, its that time of the year again; temperatures are falling... cheeks are rosy... hot chocolate and cider are back in vogue... my boyfriend is gushing over his acquired discount ribbons and wrapping paper... So, I figure it is time for a little bit more Holiday Storytelling!

This time our story comes from the intersection of Commerce, Culture, and Christmas and may be familiar to some of you who share a common love of all things David Sedaris. This story is arguably the work that catapulted David's career and has made him a popular comic writer and (nearly) household name. SantaLand Diaries chronicles David's brief stint as a commercial elf, working at Macy's.




Length: 20:25
Original Show: #47 Christmas and Commerce PART 1
www.thisamericanlife.org

Argggggh!

My computer has crashed, maybe permanently...

:o(

I won't be posting for a bit...

Prop 8

Well, I was saving up for my most ornery, cantankerous day so that I could write an appropriately scathing review of my thoughts on Prop 8 and its backers (i.e. the Mormons), but Usman pointed me towards this video and it seems to say it all!

And oh my Jebus, look at the cast!!!

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

The Total Perspective Vortex

So... Unfortunately, not all can be fun and games... Tonight, if you have the time, I ask you to consider something a little deeper and darker...

What sort of actions do we perform thinking that the will live on in history? Both as individuals and as a community? State? Country? What parts of our lives and our actions to we delude ourselves into thinking will continue forward, outliving ourselves?

Or perhaps the better question in these times: What actions do we NOT perform, imagining that history will vindicate our positions? What sort of mentality do we tolerate in our midst, imagining that future generations will look back, declaring our ways to be "folly" and learning a vital lesson from our mistakes and capable of moving forward towards a Utopian future?

This soundbite is a both very interesting and quite scary also. What begins as a sort of playful romp through the history of language and ancient epic battles edges towards a more and more personal level. Before you know it, it is offering you a peek towards a truth that one's ego must flinch away from. A discomfiting glimpse into the void of past and future.




Length: 12:07
Original Show: #235 The Balloon Goes Up
www.thisamericanlife.org

A Little Spice

Okay. I can't deny it, I LOOOOOVE me some This American Life. But I wouldn't want you, dear reader, to imagine that I am in a terrible rut and only ever listen to just one show.

So, this day, I want to introduce you to something a little bit different. Another damn good show that is in it's infancy is Radio Lab from the public radio station WNYC.

The show combines science (one of my true loves) with humor to take a populist approach to some really interesting questions.

The episode that I am going to highlight is Musical Language. I'm just going to post the "teaser" and a little bit of the episode to give you a taste. The full episode can be found here. I dare you to listen to the first 5 minutes without getting hooked!



Interested yet?

Length - 17:12 (but the first 5:30 is pretty fun alone!! I swear!)
http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab/

Fate and Stereotypes

This is the face of the dog that Usman would like to get next, if there is ever to be a dog that will follow Zook. Adorable isn't it?

We've been bandying about names that we'd like to name our imaginary future dog and Usman is adamant that it should be named "Momo". Which I thought was perfectly fine and everything, mostly because I associate that name with a book written by my favorite childhood author, Michael Ende.

Then we were toying around with last names, because... of course... you know... a dog can't have just one name in this day and age... right?...

I playfully threw out the name Moochkins on a lark, and the name actually stuck. Usman is all excited about our future-dog-to-be, Momo Moochkins. And I am too, I love dogs and puppies, and feel bad that I have to leave Zook alone all the time... But then again, I have to admit that every once in a while I do stop and think that its all a little much. I have visions of me walking Zook the Cairn Terrier and Momo Moochkins the Lhasa apso around Baltimore or my future Boston neighborhood. Cuz you know, I'm not exactly the most butch specimen of the male species and all...

Anyway, I was thinking of this and had a flashback to this story, which is hilarious and told by Dan Savage, who is a wonderful gay icon and also has some great sex advice, should you be looking for some...

Check it out. And if you see me in the streets, try not to point and laugh, okay?

Please?




Length: 14:29
Original Show: #328 What I Learned From Television
www.thisamericanlife.org

Its that Time of the Year Folks!

So... Its officially December... Black Friday has passed and Cyber Monday has rolled around. If you are lucky enough to be reading this and haven't been entirely trampled in a mad dash of gluttonous materialism, it just may be that you are ready to stop and reflect... To take a second to pause, breathe, and contemplate the true meaning of Christmas.

No... I don't mean family, nor friends. Not a kindly spirit of generosity nor good-will towards fellow men.

I mean the birth of our Lord, Baby Jesus.

Jonathan Goldstein reports:




Length: 8:31
Original Show: #305 This American Life Holiday Special
www.thisamericanlife.org