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• This American Life 10/10/2012 1:16:22 AM
  
  jayo wrote: I'll have to listen to it again when I'm not distracted by other things, because I keep missing what are probably vital pieces of it. Either that or read the transcript if/when they make it available. Actually, that was a terribly self-centered comment directed towards the attention of one other person in this thread... I wouldn't bother going over the end of the episode in any more great detail. I'm sure you didn't miss a thing. :) Tried the latest one, WHAT DOESN'T KILL YOU, but I've been prejudiced because late last week I just listened to the Julia Sweeney episode, i.e. Commedianne Discusses Cancer Via Her Standup Act. So I'm on cancer-comedy overload right now. I need to find a funny one. A bunch of stuff IRL and on the r...

• This American Life 10/7/2012 9:45:58 PM
  
  I particularly enjoyed the last few minutes of RISK! this week. :)

• This American Life 9/25/2012 2:33:08 PM
  
  I enjoyed Back To School, because the subject is of interest to me. I don't have any kids, but the subject of education, and in particular how kids learn (and not placing blame on kids for not learning like we want them to) is something I feel drawn to. You'll probably find a few more school episodes even in those early days of TAL, as it is something that Ira Glass clearly feels passionately about. (I believe he was NPR's education reporter for a time) I don't think that's a problem with the show, though. Edited by - V-boat on 9/25/2012 2:33:32 PM

• Audiobooks 9/20/2012 5:33:33 PM
  
  Ah, that's the same Ripley? I did see the Damon movie years ago, but I can't really remember most of it. Perhaps the books are a bit better at fleshing him out? For some reason, I was just reminded of a book I read years ago called Carter Beats the Devil by Glen David Gold. I remember it being fascinating and a book that thrust me into the time period (the 1920's, in this case) more than any other I'd read. I really felt as though I was there. Perhaps that's available as an audiobook and worth a listen... I just may look it up again...

• Audiobooks 9/20/2012 3:02:38 PM
  
  Gore Gore Girl wrote: ^ Oh, be sure to report back - I would love to hear your thoughts in more detail. I felt the same way about the person reading Kiwi's character. Just finished yesterday. I was left a little underwhelmed by the ending. I felt a little like I had been led down the garden path a little bit-- it sure seemed like the book was building to some kind of supernatural thing, what with the Underworld and the World of Darkness. I was ready for the WoD amusement park to actually have some literal connections to Hell, or for the Underworld to be a real and dark place with mysteries and secrets... but nope, everything turned out pretty much okay (except, you know, for what the Birdman did), and it's just all a bit of sadness with no...

• Audiobooks 9/15/2012 1:35:18 AM
  
  Gore Gore Girl wrote: I ended up quitting on John Dies at the End. It was too loose on characterization/plot development. It started to just feel random, and I lost interest. After listening to a lot of podcasts (primarily Doug Loves Movies), I tried to get back to what I love and listen to a Dickens novel. I wanted to feel that same joy in getting into a really long book. Maybe I chose the wrong novel - Little Dorrit - but I got distracted and quit. I feared I had lost the ability to get absorbed in a good audiobook, so I decided to return to the first literary series I ever got into as a teenager: the Ripley books by Patricia Highsmith. I never did finish the series, so I just picked up where I left off many moons ago. I'm listening to ...

• This American Life 9/15/2012 1:32:01 AM
  
  Late to the game, but here I am-- Yes, GGG, I remember that story from The Moth (though I wouldn't have remembered Griffith's name... glad HeyNow was on top of it!). Hearbreaking, for sure. The most devastating Moth story I've heard, however, involves a fireman watching his children at a playground while he remembers a call he was on while at work. I won't go into details because, you know, spoilers. But also because to say what happens in the story would evoke some really disturbing imagery that has stuck with me for years after hearing this story. If you want to look it up (consider yourself warned), the storyteller is Tom Zeigler and they have called the story "The Bronx is Burning." For anyone looking for other really good ...

• This American Life 8/10/2012 12:36:36 PM
  
  Awww. Comedy hug. Comedy peapod.

• This American Life 8/10/2012 12:30:33 PM
  
  Gore Gore Girl wrote: In the same week that Tig Notaro was diagnosed with breast cancer too. I know! Did you catch the write-up of her <link> just following the diagnosis?

• This American Life 8/10/2012 11:45:16 AM
  
  jayo wrote: RIP David Rakoff Know the name but can't place him. Would someone recommend a good piece? Edited by - jayo on 8/10/2012 11:42:48 AM You'd recognize his voice immediately, I'm certain. (and recently referenced-- he played Dr. Seuss in the Metamorphsis rewrite, as well as having written it) Two pieces that stand out in particular for me are in the episodes &quot;What Remains&quot; and &quot;Testosterone.&quot;

• This American Life 8/10/2012 11:35:52 AM
  
  Very sad indeed. Thanks for bringing this to our attention.

• This American Life 8/9/2012 7:35:36 PM
  
  Gore Gore Girl wrote: ^ The thing about the guy turning into the cockroach? Ugh. I did not enjoy that at all. Very annoying. I appreciated what they were doing, but I also agree that it didn't quite satisfy me as a story on a gut level. I find Jonathan Goldstein's work to be very hit-or-miss with me, but I always appreciate his experimentation and playing with form. He often dances on the line between truth and fiction, and he does it gleefully. He's behind some of my favorite TAL stories, including one about him and Starlee Kine going out for stand-up comedy karaoke, and the fan favorite about how You and The Little Mermaid Can Go F**k Yourselves. :) He also enjoys taking previously known stories and adding his own modern sensibilities ...

• Audiobooks 8/6/2012 5:58:17 PM
  
  I'll also throw out there the suggestion that there are probably many many audiobooks available at your local library for free. Sure, they come on CD instead of already being in Mp3 format... but it's a start, and a resource for some really good listening material. :)

• Funniest misuse of a word -aka the 'granite' poll 7/21/2012 11:44:26 AM
  
  Not sure if this counts, but a co-worker and I were talking about some tiny bit of superstition and I said it was an old wives tale. I teased him by saying &quot;That means you're an old wife.&quot; He paused a minute and said... &quot;Oh my god, I always thought it was old wise tale!&quot; What I love about this is that an Old Wise Tale is the polar opposite of what an Old Wives Tale is. :)

• Audiobooks 7/11/2012 6:56:59 PM
  
  @GGG I wish I could remember exactly what happened where in which books, but I don't blame you for a little Snicket Fatigue (tm). 13 books is a long series, even if it is Tim Curry's dulcet tones whispering in your ear. ;) I was pleased with the ending of the series, though, and as always I look forward to your thoughts. I've been catching up on a lot of podcasts lately, so audiobooks haven't been my primary source of entertainment. With all of these podcasts, however, and the book of personal essays from sex-workers on my bedside table, I'm definitely feeling a lack of entertaining fiction in my life right now. Gotta get back to that somehow.... @jayo I would recommend Lemony Snicket to almost anyone. Your hesitation (and comparison) d...

• Audiobooks 7/4/2012 12:50:21 PM
  
  Gore Gore Girl wrote: Next up is Ender's Game, recommended to me by a young family member. I'm intrigued. For some reason, because I guess they read this in school, I'm scared it's going to turn out to be some kind of religious propaganda. Ooh... please share your (non-spoilerish) thoughts on Ender's Game. That's another one that people keep recommending to me, but I always feel a little dubious about jumping into it. I never quite got the &quot;religious propaganda&quot; vibe, but I feel a sense of what you're talking about. It seems to be one of those books that fans feel such a strong connection to... almost in an Ayn Rand-ish fashion, no? Speaking of that, I read The Fountainhead when I was in my late-teens. I really liked it, though I...

• Audiobooks 7/1/2012 7:12:23 PM
  
  jayo wrote: This one popped into my head. I read the book but I assume the audiobook will play. <link> by Joe Esterhaus. He wrote Basic Instinct, The Jagged Edge and Showgirls, among others. Sounds super interesting-- I'll try to get my hands on it. As much as it makes me feel like a plebeian (and I had to look up how to spell 'plebieian'!), I'm as drawn into that whole Hollywood behind-the-scenes dirty-secrets-of-the-stars stuff as anyone else. You mentioned Robert Evans so I'm guessing you know about the film <link> , the narration of which comes directly from Evans' audiobook recording. Fascinating stuff in there, and very much recommended as a documentary to watch. Back on the audiobook side of things, I heard that Frank Langella's n...

• Audiobooks 6/22/2012 1:03:45 PM
  
  Oooh, you're making me want to go back and listen to them all again-- so many details I've forgotten (as the brain is wont to do). I totally agree about the good points of both narrators. I think I like the gloominess of Lemony Snicket's voice a little more than the dastardliness of Tim Curry, but they're both fantastic. And quickly, since you brought up Sunny, I can express one pin-point of why I felt the movie was so bad. Sunny's &quot;language&quot; in the film showed up as subtitles. When she met Aunt Josephine and said &quot;Frool&quot; (or whatever Sunny says), the subtitles read &quot;Somebody's been to crazy-town!!&quot; Having heard the books now, that should tell you all you need to know about how much the movie just didn't 'get...

• This American Life 6/20/2012 11:28:09 PM
  
  jayo wrote: Because I'm &quot;caught up&quot; on TAL (i.e. all the freebies, so I have to wait ever Sunday night to get the next episode), I've been plowing through Snap Judgement. SJ's very hit and miss, but there's usually one story I enjoy (typically Glynn's) and anything else is gravy. Interesting... as I think I have already mentioned, I am almost of the opposite opinion. I really can't get into Glynn and, picking up from what you say below (above?), I really really enjoy Risk. It takes all kinds. :) One of the things I've noticed, and I'm trying to learn from, is how they often make a story out of something that's not really a story. GW's particularly good at it--he uses his vocal inflections to make it dramatic, but if you go back t...

• Audiobooks 6/20/2012 6:06:24 PM
  
  Gore Gore Girl wrote: ^ Ah, good to know re: Olaf not being in all the books. I don't really get the sinister element perhaps as much as you did. It's sinister enough, of course. :) I was trying to remember whether in the film, Olaf referred to he and Violet's &quot;wedding night.&quot; That's about as dark as it's gotten, in my opinion. I would be really pretty surprised if they included that in the movie. The only thing I remember about the film (other than the images that the book keeps prompting) is the DVD menu page. Haha. I'm glad you can't remember too much about the film. It leaves that much more of the characters for the books to repaint for you. And... maybe I'll stop saying too much else besides this: I didn't mean to imply that...