June 23, 2007
Calling Tokyo Calling 006
I had a good time with the TalkShoe recording of CTC#6 last night. About a dozen listened live and were able to interact through the text chat.
Unfortunately, quite a few folks had problems connecting over the phone. It's a tricky issue which the folks at TalkShoe will be made less troublesome with an upgrade to their client software due out later this week (6/25).
Thanks to San for phoning in with recommendations to visit Nikko and Kyoto. Also a big welcome to Carl of the 90 Days in Japan Podcast who phoned in from Aichi and shared some recollections about time he spent in Hokkaido.
For the time being, I won't be putting the Calling Tokyo Calling mp3s on the TC podcast feed. A few listeners have requested not to have it included. For the time being, those who are interested can visit the CTC page of the Talkshoe site and listen to or download any past installment or subscribe to the Calling Tokyo Calling RSS feed.
Posted by scott at 10:32 AM | Comments (2)
June 09, 2007
TalkShoe? Feh!
Christopher, Mafuchan and I were all there. Unfortunately, TalkShoe had some technical issues. End result: Calling Tokyo Calling #4 didn't take place. An episode has been scheduled for next Friday at the same time.
If opportunity allows, I'll schedule an impromptu show and announce it on twitter.
Posted by scott at 01:19 AM | Comments (1)
November 02, 2005
What's in a name?
Perhaps you arrived here looking for the real Tokyo Calling. Eight months ago http://tokyo-calling.com was a site dedicated to the Sony Play Station system.
Then it went blank.
Now it is devoted to Japan's most popular pop-music act. The hand towels (or are they sports briefs) pictured with this post are actual gifts featured on the other Tokyo Calling site. Sorry Teppei and Yuuki.
Word on the street is that they are looking to buy out this domain name and take over the podcast. It just goes to show how complicated this whole scene has recently become.
Anyday I'm expecting to hear a message on the answering machine saying, "The elephant's strength is exceeded only by its patience."
Posted by scott at 08:27 PM | Comments (3)
March 17, 2005
Another Podcast from Japan
Every couple of days I seem to discover another good podcast here in Japan. 3 Monkeys comes from a couple of long-term ex-pats living in Shizuoka. Their show has actually been a web radio program on Live365 for two years. It's both entertaining and informative.
As for Tokyo Calling, yours truly is knee-deep in sumo. The daily shows on SumoCast are keeping me too busy to get episode 15 produced. Something should be coming your way by early next week.
Posted by scott at 04:44 AM | Comments (0)
February 27, 2005
No More Gmails please
Absolutely amazing, six hours after sending the request for a Gmail account out with episode 13, three invitations have been sent my way. Obviously, I don't have use for any more. Many thanks to you generous folks.
As for World Wide Sushi, the address will tcaudio placed in front of "at" and gmail dot com.
I'll announce this in podcast form shortly.
Again, thank you.
Posted by scott at 03:33 PM | Comments (2)
February 14, 2005
Rewrite the History Book??
And here I'd thought that Dave Slusher or Adam Curry coined the term podcasting this past summer. It seems from this article from codeglobal that it was in play as early as February 2004. Entitled "Audible Revolution," the story is actually a good hype free read which explains what podcasting is without going into the RSS distribution or kowtowing to any of the Podsquad. Clearly, the birth and growth of the podcasting movement is not as spontaneous as we have been led to believe.
Notable are the comments from Christopher Lydon. He of all people should be a big player in the podcast game. Yet, his valuable archive of interviews remains unupdated and collecting virtual dust on one of Dave Winer's Mystery Servers. Surely there is more here than meets the eye. On Lydon's Interview site is this ominous note from Mr. Winer:
My friend Chris Lydon is breaking new ground in creating for the Web. With the help of Bob Doyle, he has taken an art that used to be practiced in a studio, with a staff of a dozen or more people, and shrunk it down to a knapsack of hardware, and turned Chris, an inspired radio journalist, into a one-man band. His medium is MP3, I think of his work as a weblog for your ears.
It would be interesting to hear Mr. Lydon's version of the "official history" we keep hearing and reading day after day.
Regardless, there is some great audio available in the archive. If interested, you ought to grab it. There's no telling when the plug will be pulled.
Posted by scott at 11:30 AM | Comments (0)
January 26, 2005
The New Ed Sullivan
Perhaps you heard P.W. Fenton's polite request on The Daily Source Code for listeners to check out his site and give him some sort of feedback. He said that his show aspired to be the Ed Sullivan Show of podcasting. Well, I checked out Digital Flotsam and unreservedly encourage you to lend Mr. Fenton your ears. P.W.'s website is visually attractive (can't go wrong with a Vargas gal or two) and easy to navigate. His podcast is highly listenable. Each podcast is comprised of a few short bits of original spoken material, classic comedy sketches, music (mainly blues), and an assortment of perfectly timed and appropriate sound effects. Recent bits are available for download on the show's webpage as is the rss subscripton info for the podcast.
People wanting to venture into the podcasting game would do well to pay some attention to Digital Flotsam. For me, everything about it works. I look forward to hearing more from P.W. and will add his podcast to the list-o-links to the right.
Posted by scott at 07:57 AM | Comments (1)
January 19, 2005
Almost back in the saddle
My apologies for taking such a long time to put a new show out. I'm finally starting to see a twinkle of light at the end of the tunnel. With luck, a new episode should be coming your way by the end of the week.
Thanks for all of the kind comments and emails. A few folks were concerned for our health and well-being. Fortunately all is well on that front. It's just that there are too few hours in the day to get all of the things done (violin plays sympathetic melody in background).
More later...
Posted by scott at 07:49 AM | Comments (2)
January 10, 2005
Catch Up Time
We just got back to Tokyo after a two week trip to Oregon, USA to stay with my parents. It was a fun and hectic time - sadly no time to listen to or produce any podcasts.
Suitcases have yet to be unpacked, and lesson plans have yet to be made for the semester that begins on Wednesday. That means that the next installment of Tokyo Calling must remain on the back burner until things settle down a bit.
Sorry for the delay. Programming will resume as soon as possible.
Posted by scott at 04:20 AM | Comments (5)
December 22, 2004
Addicted to Pod
Though the title for this post might be too cheesy to bear, it describes how I'm feeling these days. I'm looking forward to the flight to the U.S.A next week because I'll get to listen to a few hours of some great podcasts. In addition to the four or five shows that I've linked to on the right hand column I find that my listening has narrowed down a core group of cool and informative shows.
One of the problems is that there is just so much stuff being produced by all of the good people out there. I followed the recent Engadet recommendation of blogdigger as a resource for all sorts of media files. It brings in a daily smorgasboard of stuff that I'd never have heard or seen otherwise. One recent catch that I'm excited about is Croncast. I listened to the December 20th show where the host Kris Smith interviews an ESL educator in Illinois named Susan Manning. She also is a teacher educator who specialize in helping teachers learn how to incorporate technology in their teaching.
Kris is a fantastic interviewer and he did a great job of letting Dr. Manning share her enthusiasm and knowledge about a wide range of subjects. The atmosphere was more like sitting around a kitchen table enjoying good conversation with close friends than listenng to a radio interview.
For me, hearing Dr. Manning reconfirmed my belief that there is much that can be done to use technology to enhance the learning experiences of our students. Were it not for this podcasting phenomenon, I'd have never have come across these two fine folks.
Earlier today, while killing time before my evening class with the bankers, I listened to Bob Reynolds' XplanaRadio Podcast. He told an excellent story about a play he and his classmates produced in graduate school. It served as a great example as to how educators can take the initial steps to learn how to inject technology into their teaching. It was very inspirational.
Check out the iPodder.org Educational category of the directory if you want to find some exceptional shows from some experts who are bringing these ideas to life on a daily basis.
All in all, it was an exceptional day. Oh and by the way, did I mention that I had a run-in with the police in Sangenjaya in Setagaya-ku on my way to work at the magazine earlier today? That will to wait till the next Tokyo Calling episode I suppose.
Posted by scott at 12:54 AM | Comments (3)
December 20, 2004
Breaking News - Subway Gas
Breaking News Item: People became ill while riding on the Tozai subway line Sunday evening. Initial reports are sketchy, but the TV reported that one or more people were seen spraying a liquid on the train car before the other people became ill.
I'm on my way to work and will take the same subway line. I'll report back here as more information becomes available.
Posted by scott at 11:13 AM | Comments (1)
December 16, 2004
We have a winner
Jon C. correctly surmised that the song is about a seeing-eye dog named Aroma:
I'm Aroma who's always bright. I'm Aroma who's a little bit sentimental. I'm Aroma who's heathy and strong. And I'll be sure to count on you!I'm always really energetic, even in the crosswalk.
In trains and cars and planes, I can ride anything because I'm a seeing-eye dog.
With training finished today, I started a really important job.
I put on a harness and guide my father whose eyes are bad.
His was the only entry and according to my wife he nailed the translation nearly perfectly! This time around there were no contributions to be used as a prize. A number of listeners expressed entusiasm about the idea of having some sort of give away, so I think I will try come up some more contest ideas.
Jon also had some interesting questions about technology and education here in Japan. I'll highlight some of them in a future episode of Tokyo Calling.
BTW, Jon's complete translation of the song can be read in the extended portion of this entry.
My name is Aroma. I'm a little brown-eyed girl. My puppy father and mother have raised my very carefully. When I line up and go for a walk with my puppy father, Coming home from shopping, my mother gives me a wave and a smile.I love going on walks with my gentle father.
All warm and cheerful, I'm asking to go on a walk in the early afternoon.
When the walk is over, mother pats my head.
Deliciously, she tells me how beautiful I am.I'm Aroma who's always bright. I'm Aroma who's a little bit sentimental.
I'm Aroma who's heathy and strong.
And I'll be sure to count on you!My name is Aroma. I've become a little bit of a grown-up.
It's been a year since the day we were separated and I said goodbye to my puppy father and mother.
Training began today, and it was a really strict training, but
When I was able to guide well, the teacher praised me nicely.I'm Aroma who's always bright. I'm Aroma who's a little bit sentimental.
I'm Aroma who's heathy and strong.
And I'll be sure to count on you!I'm always really energetic, even in the crosswalk.
In trains and cars and planes, I can ride anything because I'm a seeing-eye dog.
With training finished today, I started a really important job.
I put on a harness and guide my father whose eyes are bad.I'm Aroma who's always bright. I'm Aroma who's a little bit sentimental.
I'm Aroma who's heathy and strong.
And I'll be sure to count on you!
And I'll be sure to count on you!
And I'll be sure to count on you!
Well done Jon!
Posted by scott at 12:06 AM
December 11, 2004
Indie Pops & etc
Quite by accident, I stumbled across a site of Independent Music from Japan called MUZIE. Lot's of fun sounding stuff can be found if you dig around a bit. I've already found a couple of cool numbers to include in episode 8 (due out Sunday morning).
Posted by scott at 02:08 AM