nature.com interviews Al Jean!

Wow, just noticed that Al Jean (executive producer for "The Simpsons") was interviewed on this weeks nature podcast (discussing the in jokes that pepper the series included for the amusement of the scientifically minded (or actually more usually the math-savvy) among the viewer community), there is a brief text summary here also, but the podcast contains much more (including sound-bites from the show)...quite amusing...coverage in the podcast starts at 11 minutes 47 seconds (if you fancy skipping the doom and gloom climate change segments that preceed it)... ;)

Ricky Gervais podcast - Season 2

Okay, so Episode 1 arrived, I converted the .aa file to a regular .mp3 (using the process I described here) after having a nightmare actually getting the .aa codec to work (had to uninstall the whole audible.com suite of applications in the end and re-install them from scratch, which was a bit of a pain!)...popped the mp3 onto my PSP and listened on the move...the verdict? Much the same as before actually, some notable changes though are -

• The editing has gone from professional quality to frankly appalling (if he had anything to do with it I'm frankly stunned Pilkington ever managed to get a job!)
• New bits of music in-between takes (which are a load of toilet compared to the "Guardian Unlimited" one)
• The annoying adverts for Channel 4 comedy are gone

Now, and this might just be me, but something else has changed too, and it's subtle, but the whole show now seems to have a much more "scripted" feel, it's not quite so raw and energetic as it was...and I can't quite make up my mind if I'm bothered about it...I actually kind of like the feeling that by paying for it to be made, the three of them are actually putting a bit more effort in to make a funny show...

All in all though...I'm happy... ;)

.aa to .mp3 conversion

Okay, I've gone through this so you don't have to...Ricky Gervais, in his wisdom, has decided to release his podcasts in .aa format which my Sony PSP won't play, so in order to turn them back into regular .mp3 files you need to go through the following procedure -

Convert .aa to .mp3

1) Install the nonsense that is mandatory to play .aa files (you'll go through that bit when you register at Audible.com)
2) Go here and grab the free version of "Total Audio Converter", install it, choosing all the default options
3) Grab this file
4) Grab this file (put it in the same place as the .dll you grabbed in step 3) and then run it, hit "install" and then "close" (when it's done), then you can delete both the .dll and the .exe
5) Re-boot
6) Launch "Total Audio Converter", navigate to the .aa file in the central dialogue, hit "MP3" in the "Convert to" bar at the top, then hit the "finish" button, then hit the "continue" button - you *may* see another dialogue box appear asking you for a logon and password, if so insert the logon and password you specified when you registered for Audible.com
7) Wait a few seconds then enjoy your shiny new .mp3 on your non-.aa playing audio device of choice... ;)

Update - looks like they may have done something to cripple the larger file size transfer process, if you get a hang at about 50% just download one of the other quality offerings and try again...happened a couple of times now...

Update Update - Looks like you can also use Goldwave 5.12 to do the conversion easily enough, as my Total Audio Converter trial period just ended and we have at least one Ricky Gervais podcast on the way...it's very easy, just do "File", "Open" then choose a filetype of "All" from the dropdown menu, once it has imported, just do "File", "Save As", then choose MP3 and off you go...peasy... ;)

Update update update - Audible really are being selfish, cutting all links to files, so I suggest just going with the Goldwave solution for the time being (a$$h0l3z)...

Ricky Gervais podcast...

Well, it had to happen, Ricky Gervais (having mentioned several times already that he was missing a trick) is going to charge £3.75 a month (via iTunes or Audible) for his podcast...and you know what? I think I'm actually going to pay up...it's been a real highlight of the week since it started...just a shame they didn't try asking for donations first...I'm sure out of half a million subscribers we could have mustered enough small change to keep Karl Pilkington in head polish and kangeroo genitals for quite a while... ;)

Weekend update...

...okay, so the doctor (oh btw - 3 visits to this surgery so far and I've got a different doctor each time! This one was an American lady...previous ones have been an Indian lady and and Indian gentleman) said the wrist problem is confirmed as a "Ganglion" (sounds nice, doesn't it?), it's operable with a minor surgical procedure, but I didn't want to do anything until I'd looked it up myself (starting to worry about the lot up at Earlswood surgery, seems they are a bit knife-happy ;)...Anyway, it seems the procedure that she suggested (aspiration) results in a high chance of recurrence of the fault, so I think I'm going to take the "wait and see" option for the time being, it's uncomfortable but I can put up with it...

Friday PM I headed out to meet up with Tommo (armed with Mavica) acting on a tip off that more filming was happening in the area (playing amateur paparatzi ;) but as it turned out the crew had arrived early in the day, set up all the lights, started to unload all the other gear and then just packed up again and vanished (looks like they might have got behind with the filming)...so instead we drank beer/ate Chinese food/played Xbox/etc which was cool fun regardless... ;)

The rest of the weekend was spent messing/lounging around with Flyingpops - watched "The New World" which was excellent (but about half an hour too long imho)...watched the latest episode of "Lost" which was superb (still think the producers are spending too long reading the forums though, it's like the fans are saying "Have you forgotten?" to the writers and they are rushing to keep up)! Oh, the hieroglyphics apparently roughly translate (in ancient Egyptian) to a word that means both "arrival" and "impending death"...interesting stuff, expected a little more drama though when Locke mucked up!



update - Wiki have that translation as literally "die" see here

Oh, and I've settled on "Generally Speaking" as my new Lost podcast of choice btw...very good stuff... ;)

Good weekend all things considered... ;)

Lost Podcasts...

...well, looks like Ryan and Jen have given up doing "The Transmission", which I am gutted about...so I'm on the hunt for a replacement, I've listened to a few episodes of Jay and Jack, they are a funny pair and definitely worth a listen, but they do go off topic a lot, and frankly seem to love everyone's theory (no matter how stupid they sound) Ryan and Jen really picked apart the duffers with their encyclopaedic knowledge of the show, these two just seem to "agree 100%" with everything...*frown*

Still, my search is far from over and there are lots of others on offer, if I find a goodie I'll let you know...John and Brian at lunchtime I think...

I'm also going to dip into the official podcast for the first time later on today...although it really looks like they were winding everyone up about the sign on the Battersea power station...there is definitely *something* out of the ordinary on there, but the details are invisible to the naked eye if you ask me! Still, that's the second episode in a row I've gone back to re-watch a few times to pick up the details, the producers are doing something really right... ;)

Isn't rush hour great!

Yep, great advertising...snapped in rush hour at Kings Cross...shades of "The Fast Show"...(nice)... ;)

There were problems on the Thameslink today (30 minute delays!), so I came into London Bridge with Flyingpops (listened to the latest LOST podcast on my PSP - "Psalm 23" was an AMAZING episode! Nanobots? Maybe...! ;) and caught the number 17 bus to Kings Cross, but being cold and rainy (as it is today) all the windows were fogged up, so I couldn't see properly where to get off (I don't like wiping all those germs with anything I own and no newspaper was to hand)...so I just walked downstairs when the shadows of the buildings looked about right and fluked the right stop...

Anyway, at just about that moment, the guys on the podcast (Ryan and Jen) were talking about dreams in the show, and commenting specifially on the fact that frequently things that people dream seem to have a nasty habit of actually coming to pass...for some strange reason when they said that, the lyrics to "When you wish upon a star" from Disney's "Pinocchio" sprang into my mind...you might not know this, but some thorists are drawing strong parallels between certain parts of "Lost" and "Peter Pan", so I wondered if this perhaps was another cheeky nod to Disney...(incidentally the parent company of the production firm ;)

Hehe, I love this show...not many television programmes do that kind of thing to my brain! :)