PODCAST EPISODE NO. 4

Part of the reason why we started The Podcast of Awesomeness was because we like to talk about people who do things. No, I’m not talking about driving to the store for a six-pack and a carton of Viceroys,though that can be a full day for most. Instead, we’re talking about people who contribute to our culture.

Artists, sculptors, inventers, authors. Those are our people.

Call us professional appreciators, to steal a phrase from John Cusack’s character in High Fidelity. In a media age where it’s cooler to be all snarky and critically, we decided it would be more fun to just like things.

Truth be told, we didn’t actually sit down and have a conversation about this, because God knows we all have things to do. But if I could speak for the rest of the gang — Sarah, Boonie, Dennis, Radano our MVP, Tom — I’m gonna put it out there that it’s nice to be nice.

So in three of our first four shows we’ve been lucky enough to have on people we like and want to celebrate. In our Episode No. 4, Todd Zolecki (pictured, right), the scribe from MLB.com who writes about the Phillies came on via the telephone to chat about a whole bunch of stuff. Better yet, we were able to figure out a way to hook up a telephone to our recording system. Being all nerdy and Internet-y and stuff, we wanted to have Todd on via Skype, but it didn’t work out. Give Todd credit for not being as dorky about that stuff as us.

But the point is Todd wrote a book. It’s called The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly and it’s all about the different parts of the Phillies’ history. We even talked about it on the show. Here, take a listen:

PODCAST EPISODE NO. 4

Meanwhile, in Episode 3 we had on Mike Sielski whose book Fading Echoes is the tale of two rival high school football players from Bucks County who went to Iraq together. Like I wrote before, it’s a real book.

Of course in Episode 2 we had on Chris Wilson, the great drummer from Ted Leo & The Pharmacists. It just so happens that Chris and the band will be on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon tonight, which means you have to tune in to watch. Better yet, the group’s latest record hits stores (of all kind) on Tuesday, so get it. It just might be the finest collection of songs released by the band yet, which is saying something. No, it doesn’t capture the energy and ferocity of their live shows, but that would be pretty much impossible. It also means you should get the record and then go see the band play when they come to a town near you.

Here's the song the band will perform tonight:

http://o.aolcdn.com/videoplayer/AOL_PlayerLoader.swf

Yes, we like our guests and you should, too.

Otherwise, Deitch didn’t make it to Episode 4 because he was on his way to Las Vegas so he could play cards. Episode 5 will not hit the streets until March 18 because of travel plans, etc. for the working scribes of the Podcast of Awesomeness.

Sorry, this one will have to do for about 10 days.

PODCAST EPISODE NO. 3

I imagine musicians get a complex when they are about togo into the studio and hear a recording of Jimi Hendrix. Jimi, as we all learned in school, was a force of nature. He was like Mother Theresa and Genghis Khan all rolled into one when he held a guitar in his hands. How can anyone measure up to that, the musicians must think. Jimi was playing hard ball and everyone else is just trying to bat it off a tee.

That’s the way it is for us sentence writers when Bob Ford and Mike Sielski walk into the room. Oh sure, it might sound like I’m blowing smoke, and you know what… I kind of am. But whether they know it or not, those guys know how to work a room and when they say things people have no other people have no choice to but to take the words to heart.

So when Bob told me, “You’re awful,” well, I just couldn’t write it off. After all, I have never known Bob to be wrong. Ever. The fact is, he is smarter than almost every person you know. The same goes for Mike, too. If he isn’t right about something, he can explain why better than anyone out there.

But Bob is a good sport. He came into our little show, drank his beverage, ate his ham sandwich and participated in a lively discussion about everything. He even taught us about physics and the international dateline. The same goes for Sielski, too. The guy is an author of a book. Better yet, Mike wrote a real book like a real author and not some nonsense about lists of perceived greatness according to some guy and his faulty memories. Who wants to read that? Moreover, who wants to chop down trees to print those pages?

Put it this way: Mike has contributed to our culture and our collective discourse. Mike has a legacy.

And with that, the gang got together for the third episode of our little dog-and-pony show with two heavyweights. Once again we talked about the Olympics and hockey as well as Allen Iverson and the idea of exclusivity and media semantics.

Bob told a story about his days from hanging around with Charles Barkley and Mike just said a bunch of smart things.

Oh yeah, Dennis Deitch was back and offered a life tip, while Dan Roche stuck around long enough to offer some well-reasoned points about the local basketball team. But guess what… Ol’ Dan bought a house last weekend, too. Real estate bubble my ass…

Meanwhile, Sarah Baicker and I just tried to keep up with all the wizened souls we brought into our lair.

Here take a listen:

PODCAST NO. 3

Also, keep sending in those comments and whatever else. Check out the page we have on Facebook, too. You’ll be glad you did.

PODCAST EPISODE NO. 2

We were all over the map in our epic Episode 2 of thePodcast of Awesomeness, which is something we’ll get into in a moment. However, it should be noted that two shows into the run and we were snubbed for the first time ever…

SNUBBED!

No, I can’t believe it either. However, for one reason or another, John Gonzalez of the Inquirer [1]could not attend the taping of the show because he had to do something for work. No, I’m not making this up even though I wish I was. Can you believe the ego on that guy? Oh sure, they mention his name before the curling broadcast on NBC, but whatever.

Curling? Seriously… the guy thinks he’s too good for us because of curling?

Sheesh!

Here’s how lame Gonzalez is—a guy schlepped all the way into our office to be on the show in the rain and messy weather and he is actually going to be a guest on Jimmy Fallon’s show on March 8 the day before his band’s latest record hits the streets. That’s right, we had Chris Wilson from Ted Leo & the Pharmacists in to talk with us and hang out and he’s a guy that toured for a bit with Pearl Jam.

Curling vs. Pearl Jam? Do we really need to answer that question?

I kid Gonz because I can. He’s really one of my favorite people I know (just ask him), so this is all written with love. Besides, he once wrote an entire column for the Inquirer about the time he wanted to punch me in the face. When it came out people asked me if I was upset by the column and I said, "No. Why would I be upset? He really wanted to punch me in the face."

Still, whatever curling boy. Have fun listening to Verne Lundquist say your name.

Anyway, Sarah Baicker and I had been talking all week leading up to this show that we might have to end the podcast because there is nowhere else for us to go but down. That’s hyperbole, of course, but there is a major difference in what happened in the debut compared to the second time around. For that we have to thank Tom Finer for stepping in to man the board and mix all the voices together so we don’t sound like we’re shouting into one microphone.

This time we had six microphones for six people, so we’re stepping up.

So listen in as we talk with Chris about his upcoming tour and the new record from Ted Leo & the Pharmacists called, The Brutalist Bricks. Better yet, pre-order it now and check out the touring schedule and make sure to check out a show when the band hits a town near you. In fact, one of the requisites of listening to this pod show is to purchase the new Ted Leo & the Pharmacists record. Just do it already, because if you made a record I’m positive Chris would want to buy it, too. Support the arts, chrissakes. The record won’t cost you as much as a beer at a ballgame and you get to keep it and play it over and over again.

So once you’ve gone to the Matador Records site and pre-ordered the record, listen to us chat about Brian Westbrook as we offer Jayson Werth beard-grooming tips, ponder Allen Iverson’s legacy, update the Olympics, lament the epic suckitude of the bands Nickleback and Creed, and re-live the time Dennis Deitch rendered Stephen Colbert speechless.

Oh yeah, and Dan Roche got up and walked out (again) and Mike Radano inexplicably showed up (again). I’m sensing a theme…

Here you go:

AWESOME EPISODE NO. 2

Also, keep sending in those comments and questions. We had planned on reading some of them on the air this time around, but it got lost in the shuffle because I had wind-shield wiper issues and showed up late. Actually, the truth is I forgot to bring it up but because I respect you guys so much I felt compelled to make up an excuse.

Nevertheless, if you keep sending in emails, we’ll read them on the air next week when author Mike Sielski will be a guest along with another person we are currently negotiating with.

Oh yes… it will be HUGE!

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[1] They still chop down trees and toss them onto people’s porches? Seriously, they still do that? I mean, this year begins with a 2 and they still chop down trees and send them to people’s homes with words on them. Amazing.

photo swiped from Brooklyn Vegan