Category: Listening

Binging the magic

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The stream giveth, and the stream taketh away. I recently discovered the TV show Nashville, which had its first run from 2012 to 2018, just in time to also discover that it was leaving Netflix after Monday, Sept. 14.

I finished Season 4 on Sunday night, and I had run out of time to binge Seasons 5 and 6 in their entirety, so I looked at the IMDb ratings and found the top-rated episodes from the final two seasons. I’m a little embarrassed to admit that most of my Monday was devoted to catching eight or nine 42-minute stories including, of course, the series finale.

I am clearly a sucker for stories about writing songs and trying to make a life making music. They built a pile of endearing and not-so-endearing characters and tossed them in a room together. Even though I’ve now seen the best of those last two seasons, I expect I’ll revisit those seasons and all of Nashville when the stream decides to give it back, someday.

Watching all that songwriting magic gave me the itch to pick up my own guitars and see what comes out. But first I need to turn off the television and get some sleep.

We must keep on singing

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A generation of baby-boomer entertainers has been leaving their earthly vessels in recent years — Dolly Parton, Jaye P. Morgan and Tim Curry all left the other day.

We must brace ourselves as so many other giants like Dolly age — we all know who I mean — and when they go, it will be another series of body blows to our collective psyche. My generation produced some great songwriters and unforgettable songs — no brag, just fact.

Willie, Bob, Paul and Ringo, Mick and Keith, Joni, Judy, Paul and Art, Carole, James — and others I’ve forgotten at this moment — Their recordings are their legacy, and we will always have the recordings, Lord willing, to remember them and carry on.

We live in a wonderful world that feels a little heavier today, because Dolly lifted us all up and she isn’t there anymore. I guess it’s up to us to keep that light shining.

Listen to this

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The on-again, off-again experiment is on again. Since Aug. 1, you have the option to listen to me providing a dramatic reading of this daily visit. Audio is the fastest-growing segment of the book market, so it behooves me to encourage you to start listening to me.

It’s not like I’m new to this. The first two decades or so of my career was in audio, specifically radio newscasting, and I’m told I have a pleasant enough voice, so why not? 

And the sound of my words can give you a fuller understanding of what I’m trying to say. How many times has someone misunderstood a text you sent because they couldn’t hear your tone of voice?

For a long time I called myself a “wordsmith and podcaster,” but it’s been a while since I assembled an actual podcast. It was fun to put together a show, but as a one-man operation it’s also tough to maintain a regular schedule. This, on the other hand, is a five-to-ten minute add-on to the daily blog. As a bonus, as a literal read-through, it’s an extra chance to proofread my work before it goes out into the great beyond.

In the past I’ve tried this for a little while and then lost interest when not many people took advantage of the opportunity to hear me reading these words. And maybe the same thing will happen this time around, but I think I’ll stick with it this time. For the most part I’m just doing a straight reading, no extra frills or production values, so what you see on the page will be what you hear — although maybe I’ll add some bells and whistles if I get bored. 

So for an extra five minutes or so of effort, I can offer something to people who’d rather listen to someone reading to them. Win-win, as they say.

Go ahead, press the “play” button and give it a try. At the very least you’ll find out what I sound like, or if you listened to much radio in northeast Wisconsin 30 or so years ago, maybe you’ll even say, “Oh yeah, that guy.”