So What's the Plan Here?

Screen shot of just a portion
of my podcast listening.

Now that I've completed a few posts, it's probably important to layout my plan for this blog. If you've looked at the first five posts you'll see the content is quite eclectic. The common denominator is me. That's it. The reason these five media moments are strung together in the order they are is the order in which I experienced them.

I am a media sponge. I listen to tons of podcasts and subscribe to so many I can never keep up. I follow many TV series and time-shift almost all of my viewing via the streaming services Hulu Plus and HBO Go. Netflix is my go to for older series, films, and now original series like House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, and Derek.

My intention for this space is the curation of my thoughts, impressions, and found connections regarding the media I manage to make/take the time to process. My goal starting out is to post about at least one piece of media experienced during my day at least five times a week. With the word morning in the title, I'm also hoping to post by mid morning most days. Thanks for your time! And I hope you'll stop by again soon.

Screen shot of my most
used streaming apps. 

Time Shifting The Lumineers "Live" from London

Lead vocalist Wesley Schultz leads the audience in crowdsources rendition
of "Ain't Nobody's Problem But My Own" (cdn.novafm.com.au)

Saturday's Lego session with my son was accompanied by a "live" performance by the Lumineers, a dusty, roots revival group more at home in the margins of a Steinbeck novel, than a shiny London "theatre." The group found their way to London's impressive Roundhouse Art Center as a part of Apple's 30-days-of-concerts event, iTunes Festival. While not all the festivals shows are available on demand, I was able to time-shift the Lumineers at a time convenient to me and my family. By fest's end at least two concerts will have streamed live from London each day in September. The productions carry Apple's signature polish with stunning cinematography, lighting, and sound.

Drummer, Fraites, joins Schultz up front. (cdn.novafm.com.au)

The Lumineers did their part in keeping things visually interesting by mixing up the stage groupings, with duets highlighting different members of the band. Wesley Schultz welcomed his "brother" Jeremiah Fraites to the stage front for a duet and the next song replaced the drummer with the band's sole female voice, Neyla Pekarek who we learn later is celebrating a birthday shared with the day's performance. 

(cdn.novafm.com.au)

The most intersting moment? A more intimate set in an attempt to recreate the feel of the group's pre-breakout club and house shows had the band mates each on his/her own white cube right in the middle of the audience. In an intriguing bit of irony for an event put on by one of the world's biggest mobile device retailers, Schutlz took the opportunity of some set-up-necessary downtime prior to the first song in this new arrangement to admonish, "We'd encourage you put away your cell phones and be here right now and enjoy this moment." Individual holdouts unwilling to cut their once in a lifetime bootlegs short by pocketing their phones were then fingered, literally pointed out, and told, "I'm talking to you too." While full compliance remained unattained, the message was received and the rest of the show featured much less visual distraction. 

On the music end, The Lumineers kept it loose with some beautiful arrangements of both hits and deeper cuts, a couple of fun audience inclusive numbers including their breakthrough "Hey, Ho, and my personal favorite moment, a uniquely haunting cover of Bob Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues." A burgeoning Dylan fan in his own right, The Lumineers' take was peppy enough to get my 5-year-old away from his Legos to perform a little jig on the living room rug. 

Cajoled back on stage for a three-song encore. Schultz continued his, I'm guessing, non-Apple approved stage patter stating, "We were lucky to sell a lot of albums this year and happy that people still bought albums and listen to the whole thing or streamed them or whatever instead of buying just one song." Interesting opinion with iTunes radios release later this week following Pandora's one-song-at-a-time model instead of the whole-album-listening Spotify model. 

Derek is Not What I Expected, and Thank You for That, Mr. Gervais

Promo for Netlix full-season launch of Derek (netflix.com)

I sat down to the pilot episode of Derek knowing just two things about the show: it starred Ricky Gervais, and he was playing a character with some sort of mental challenge. I was scared. Scared to watch Ricky mock the disabled for laughs. David Brent was social awkward and most definitely not very smart, but the viewer felt like her could have done and known better and therefore it was safe to laugh at him. I was afraid Derek might be the helpless victim of Gervais' comedy leaving the jokes humorless. 

Those fears are quickly put to rest as a beautifully acted character came to life. Derek is no buffoon. He is brimming with humanity, pure of heart. Is he different? Yes. Do funny things happen to him? Yes. Are we laughing at his differentness? Absolutely not. We are on his team and it is more often other's inability to handle his difference who are made the objects of ridicule. To erase any positional ambiguity concerning whose side we are on, those who would look to Derek for laughs at his expense, in this case symbolized by a woman at Derek's favorite pub, are delivered a perfunctory head butt by the show's heroine, comedian Kerry Godliman's Hannah.

Comedian Kerry Godliman's quietly endearing Hannah (channel14.com) 

I initially found the music perhaps a bit too didactic in its direction of our emotional states, a tinkling piano routinely pulling us back to poignancy when we teeter too close to brink of absurdity and insensitivity. By the end of the second episode, I began to welcome this musical sign post, as reminder of the import of the shows storytelling. These characters represent real people in the world, a world where budgets are often given more consideration than the people affected by those numbers. Two episodes in, this is a serious show with humorous moments, not a show designed the other way around.

Gervais' performance is truly stunning. He had me in tears more than once an episode and it was his nuanced performance, not the musical score than got me there. This deeply embodied character is another piece of evidence in the case that some of our best comedians can really kill it in dramatic roles. Think Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting, Tom Hanks in Philedelpia, Adam Sandler in Punch Drunk Love and Reign on Me, Jim Carrey in The Truman Show. The converse, a dramatic genius really nailing a turn at comedy, seems much more rare.

Still from a heart-wrenchingly sweet Derek confessional
(thefunniestvideos.com) 

Finally then, we must deal with the elephant in the room. What exactly is Derek's condition? I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. Is he really an employee, or a resident Hannah and the others humor with an honorary employee status. A possible diagnosis, autism, is mentioned at the end of episode two, but when Derek is asked about being tested, he responds, "Would it change who I am? No. Then just let it be then." With Gervais in seeming total command of the potential pitfalls around his depiction of Derek, I suggest we take Derek's advice.

Champagne, Plastic, and a Truly Digital iPhone Experience

Three shades of metal (theverge.com)

Tuesday's big media event for an admitted Apple fanboy like me was obviously the keynote presentation of the iCompany's newest iPhones. Apple's decision to limit the live stream to just a few key cities around the globe stretched this just-over-an-hour event into a two-day experience with a launch day coverage choice of watching Scott Stein, Josh Lowensohn, and Tim Stevens' CNet live blog unfurl while tapping into the audio feed of Molly Wood, Brian Tong, and Donald Bell's color commentary.

The audio feed was a good counterweight to my natural, or some may say Apple marketing department produced, tendency to go full drone, drop-jawed, and drooling over Apple's newest shiny bauble. While they are tech geeks by lifestyle and profession, they know smoke and mirrors marketing rhetoric when they hear it and aren't afraid to call it out. At the same time, they are not so jaded as to not admit being impressed when they see something they truly like. Besides they're just a fun group hang with for an hour. 

Day two's media came in the form of Apple's podcast of the keynote through the company's own podcast app. This was available shortly after the event, but I didn't have time to get to it until late last night. The beauty of streaming media on a phone while flat on my back in bed. 

Apple's keynotes are always well produced with clean visuals and straight-forward presentation of the newest software and hardware, and this round was no exception. While those unfamiliar with an Apple product launch are often distracted by the sheer volume of superlatives - best, finest, most, greatest - bandied about by the various Apple execs, many Apple event aficionados expect it and have come to find it almost endearing, like listening proud parents boasting about their truly accomplished children. 

i0S 7's home screen and logo (on3solutions.com)

The much expected champagne gold model was added to the metal line up with a slight shift in the black model from never-really-a-true-black-anyway to what Apple is calling "space grey," a weird choice when listed next to the more simple, unmodified "silver" and "gold."

iOS 7, while quite impressive, brought nothing new to the table since its tease at WWDC in June. It will be available for download on the 18th though, and can make 4, 4S, and 5 owners feel as if they have new phones as we wait for next September's launch of the iPhone 6. 

The completely announcement-spoiled 5C was also unveiled in vibrantly colored plastic. These are sure to be a hit with secondary and college students. 

In a cunning, but surprising move Apple announced that five of its apps, the productivity minded Keynote, Pages, and Numbers and the more creatively inclined iPhoto and iMovie, will now all be free with the purchase of new iOS hardware. 

CEO Tim Cook announces free apps (theverge.com)

This is a great marketing move. The mobile equivalent of the big box store's loss leader. Getting these apps in the hands of millions of iOS users on their phones, pods, and pads will ease the entry into the iWork and iLife ecosystems. This is a big hurdle often keeping PC users from making the leap to Macs and Mac users from leaving Microsoft Office behind. Giving these apps away will sell more Macs and Mac software. 

Probably the biggest news of the day was the confirmation of the much rumored fingerprint scanner security feature. It is an impressive bit of technology and much more reminiscent of the innovative leaps Apple used to bring us more often. 

Anatomy of a fingerprint scanner (macworld.com)

While the security angle of the fingerprint scanner garnered the most attention, I found the functional possibilities most intriguing. The scanner was reported to be able to learn the fingerprints of multiple users. This may open up the possibility of bringing a user profile function to shared iOS devises such as a family iPad which lives on the living room coffee table. My five-year-old's messy little finger may open a much more restricted iPad with educational games, a content-filtered Netflix, and the inability to make purchases, while my fingerprint opens up the whole iPad. 

Whatever one thinks of Apple, there were some new concepts thrown at us  this week and I'm sure we'll see these new devises in use soon. 

The US Open and the Thinking Man's Sports Analysis

Rafael Nadal celebrates a hard fought point (npr.org)

Yesterday afternoon saw modern sports' most awkwardly placed championship broadcast. Five o'clock on a Monday afternoon is not a time slot designed to draw audience numbers. It seems to be designed more for the benefit of players. Novak Djokovic and winner Rafael Nadal used that rest to save up for a powerhouse final decided in four sets in just under three hours. The broadcast was well produced with expert and intelligent commentary lead by John McEnroe. While those in attendance were a bit rowdy, McEnroe et al did not let an unfortunate distraction for the competitors become a displeasing distraction for the broadcast audience. They made the right choice, comment and move on.

The viewing event was enhanced by a weekly listening pleasure of mine, Slate's Hang Up and Listen, a sports podcast that brings the same intelligence and depth of discussion to athletics as Slate's Political Gabfest brings to politics and Slate's Culture Gabfest brings to media and pop culture. 

 Podcast Cover Art (slate.com)

Stefan Fatsis, Josh Levin, and Mike Pesca are a refreshing listen as they move beyond cliche and superstition and bring rational thought at statistical analysis to sports. Their coverage of Monday afternoon's Open final is no exception. If you want sports talking points outside the world of baseball and football, the podcast prides itself at looking beyond American dominated athletics. 

"Boardwalk" is back!

Last night brought us the much anticipated fourth season return of Boardwalk Empire. After Richard's Terminator style decimation of Gillian's Rosetti-controlled pleasure house ended the last season, I was excited to see the aftermath unfold. Two things stood out to me: the rise of the black characters to more prominent story lines and the addition of some interesting new characters.

Michael K. Williams' Chalky and Eric LaRay Harvey's Purnsley (huffingtonpost.com)

A significant portion of last night's premiere was spent in Chalky's new venue on the boardwalk, Onyx. A black jewel has been given prominent boardwalk real estate and it seems the shows talented black actors will finally get the screen real estate they deserve. 

Last night's additions to the cast, Ron Livingston and Brian Geraghtey, are noteworthy as well. While Livingston's newly single, house hunter remained an intriguing mystery man at the episode's end (Although some forthcoming dark revelation may be safely assumed.) Geraghtey's naïve agent façade is dismantled to reveal a cunning killer whose motive and next move are left for us to discuss around the water cooler. 

Ron Livingston and Brian Geraghty (blog.zap2it.com)

As season premieres go, I was pleased. If the goal is to get viewers of previous seasons who may be checking in to see if they are going to settle in for another season, I say mission accomplished. I'm already itching for the next episode.