Crosswalks to Nowhere

The Rolling Meadows Mustangs were defeated this afternoon by the Lake Zurich Bears, 10-7.

After holding the lead for much of the game, the Mustangs finally went down in the second half.

It was a great season, and we're glad to see the Mustangs go this far.

We were listening to WCKG, the former "Free FM" talk station at 105.9, just before 5:00 pm today and they were simulcasting WBBM-AM on their frequency.

I've always been sort of fascinated, in a geeky way, at how stations handle format changes, and this was an interesting stunt: WCKG played simulcasts of WBBM and other CBS-owned radio stations in the hours leading up to the new format's introduction.

Anyway, I wanted to hear how they would identify themselves at the top of the hour, and right at 5:00 pm there was a "whooshing" jingle and the introduction of the new "Fresh 105.9" followed by a U2 song.

Yup, 105.9 is now a "lite rock" station, perfect for listening while you're having a root canal. U2 was followed by Kelly Clarkson, and later by Gwen Stefani. Wow. Edgy.

Since WLIT 93.9 switched over to all-Christmas music last week, this is clearly an attempt by WCKG to snatch away any listeners who miss their KT Tunstall and John Mayer.

The thing is, WLIT stopped playing that music months ago. For some reason, they now define "lite rock" as the worst music of the 1970s: think KC and the Sunshine Band and Gloria Gaynor. You know, the stuff we'd rather forget about.

Will WCKG be successful with their target demographic-- Women, 25-54? I know at least one member of that demographic who's already rolled her eyes at the whole thing.

The other day, a coworker came into my office and said, "'Cheap Date,' huh?"

He had discovered our podcast purely by chance.

I realized this was a real opportunity: I was talking with someone who discovered podcasts entirely on his own, looks for shows by searching through the iTunes directory, and listens to material he likes on a schedule he sets himself. In other words, I was talking to someone who could give some real insight as to what a real listener looks for in a podcast.

Brian (his real name, he won't mind) said he looks for podcasts that fit into three general categories: spiritual enhancement, professional enhancement, and-- his term, not mine-- "mindless listening."

He told me about his favorite spiritual and motivational podcasts, and how he typically listens to them as his day begins. On the professional side, he listens to podcasts from the Yale Business School and the Project Management Institute, where he says he finds valuable tips for his career. "Mindless Listening" consists of everything from the videocast of Craig Ferguson's show to, well, Cheap Date.

What does Brian like most about podcasts? "The fact that I can play what I want, when I want." When I asked about radio, he said, "I like being able to decide for myself what I listen to. Radio makes that decision for me, and I don't like that."

He prefers podcasts that sound professionally-produced, primarily for their production values and the fact that they "get right to the content without a lot of messing around."

I explained how many people are trying to monetize their shows, so how does he feel about advertising? "I don't mind ads as long as they're generally in the same spot in every show, and they're short." How likely is he to fast-forward past ads? "Not very. I usually just start a show and let it run through."

Then I asked a critical question: what about the length of a show? In a previous life, Brian was a preacher, and he said he always followed this rule: "If you can't say what you need to say in 20 minutes, re-think what you have to say. And you have to be very good to keep your audience's attention for 30 minutes. Anything beyond that, forget it." He said he will rarely download a show that's longer than 30 minutes unless the subject is compelling.

Any complaints about some of the shows you've heard? "Some show hosts seem to think that all they need to do is turn on a microphone and talk about anything that comes to mind. Howard Stern makes a lot of money doing that, but pays a huge support staff to provide his 'ad libs.' The truth is that there are too many podcasts where the hosts think it's interesting to spend 25 minutes talking about their experience in returning a rental car at the airport."

I think Brian's most compelling statement was "I am giving you my most valued asset: my time. Respect that."

We podcast producers need to remember that there are real people out there, and it's up to us to respect their time, interests, and sensibilities. The audience is granting us the privilege of entering their homes, cars, etc., and we should treat that privilege with respect.

That's the philosophy we intend to continue following on Cheap Date. Others may cling to their "Explicit" tags thinking it makes them edgy, or their "no editing" policy which supposedly adds a sense of "reality," but our goal is to honor that respect for the audience.

And maybe people will keep listening.

I bought this small laser printer at Sam's Club a number of years ago (for almost nothing) and it was a real workhorse until it finally died in January of 2007.

I recently heard from a brand-new Mac user who has this printer and he told me Samsung no longer has the drivers for this printer online.

If you have this printer and you want the drivers for the Mac, click here and the .dmg file will download to your Mac.

Just doing my part to help.

Update: A reader just informed me that he had success using these drivers with MacOS 10.5.1 (Leopard). Great news!

Last weekend, we visited Opera in Focus at the Rolling Meadows Park District Theater.

Opera in Focus is a presentation of opera scenes and scenes from musical theater as performed by 18-inch rod puppets. While it sounds simple enough, the presentations are anything but simplistic. The sets are elaborate and the puppets are amazingly lifelike.

The photo above shows three of the puppets sitting in an opera box in front of the proscenium.

Our visit was scheduled as an item for our Discover Woodfield podcast, where you can hear our take on the experience in our latest show.

This link will take you to a very good history of Opera in Focus. The group also has YouTube and MySpace pages.

This guy is "Senor Tosci," an eerily lifelike representation of Arturo Toscanini who "conducts" the presentations.

The shows are appropriate for all ages-- we had a wonderful time and recommend that everyone visit this treasure of the Chicago suburbs!

Taken in the back yard at about 8:45 PM tonight.

Right after this was snapped, we were at Lowe's buying a snow shovel. :-)

We had another wonderful Thanksgiving, this one being our first in the new house. Oh, and as a married couple.

We had Mom and Dad L over for dinner along with the chicks, and the dinner was amazing. Our turkey was a fresh one from the fine folks at Tuscan Market.

On Friday, all the girls came to the office with me and camped out in a conference room while I got some work done. We had breakfast at White Palace and lunch at Panera, and made the obligatory stop at World Market for ornaments.

Later in the day, we went to North School Park for the annual tree lighting. You can see a five-minute video of the event on our podcast site.

I remember going to the very first village tree lighting in 1990: there were about 25 of us standing on a piece of vacant land in front of the spot where Egg Harbor and Fannie May now stand. A switch was thrown, the lights on a 10-foot evergreen went on, and we sang "White Christmas," and it started raining. It was a far cry from today's event.

On Saturday, we went to Lisa's parents' house. Rebecca drove us there, and Emma drove the tractor once we got there.

Saturday night, we went to see the lights that were set up in the TPA park in Frankfort, Indiana. Very cool!

We got home early Sunday afternoon, and started setting up Christmas decorations in the house.

The holiday season is in full swing!