Transom’s Guests right now are folk from TV’s Creature Comforts:
The CBS series Creature Comforts comes from Nick Park’s Aardman Animations Ltd., who also gave us Chicken Run and Wallace & Gromit. The concept puts audio from real-life interviews into the mouths of animated animals.
For a personal glimpse into the CC process, Bob and Kathy Olkowski’s daughter Lu documented their transformation into insects, from Studio 360 “Bee-ing There” (7:36 mp3):
MediaStorm: Iraqi Kurdistan by Ed Kashi is a photo-portrait of Iraqi Kurdistan made from photo stills into a flipbook-style animation .
“Iraqi Kurdistan is an expansive look into the daily lives of the Kurdish people of northern Iraq. These images provide an alternative perspective on a changing culture, one different from the destruction and discord that dominates so much media coverage of the region. Here are policemen seated on the floor, eating lunch and laughing, old men taking care of their fields and young girls celebrating at a suburban birthday party.
There is also hardship and tribulation, to be sure; the Iraqi Kurds endured generations of brutality under Saddam Hussein. His genocidal campaigns cost close to 200,000 lives.
Another stellar StoryCorps, sisters Janaki Symon and Melissa Wilbur discuss their hate-to-love relationship. “I never particularly liked you…†(1:52):
“The Professor” (formerly of WFMU’s Audio Kitchen) now curates an online museum, The Audio Kitchen blog, where you can listen to “Found Sound, Amateur Recordings and Homestyle Noise,” read about the tapes’ content, where they were discovered or created, and how to submit and discuss similar recordings.
For instance, here’s some found Answering Machine Recordings. These days our missed calls are recorded on digital voice mail, but not long ago we recorded our missed calls on cassettes, The Audio Kitchen dispenses this outdated technology to display many interesting and somewhat amusing glimpses into peoples lives.
Marks Answering Machine (6:25 mp3):
Pussy’s Answering Machine (5:28 mp3):
There are mounds of found sound and recorded messages the Professor has documented and is sharing with everyone that cares to look and listen. He also hosts The Radio Kitchen, Adventures in Amplitude Modulation:
“The Radio Kitchen is a blog about lo-fi old fashioned terrestrial radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation (on medium wave and the shortwave bands). You’ll find that most posts actually contain audio files relevant to the subject matter discussed in each entry, while others may concern radio topics: radio reception, audio archiving, and general news related to AM and shortwave radio broadcasting.”
For Black History Month here’s Rev Dr MLK, Jr, backed with a music mix by rx, one of the best pol cut-up artists out there. “MLK (rise again)” (9:57 mp3):
rx seems also to be a Mike Gravel supporter. Here’s one of his videos, “power to the people vs give peace a chance:”
Chesty on Coke & Chimichangas, the OK Minister, and Cap’n Whackencracker, Episode Nine of Chesty Morgan’s Forbidden Love! (10:07 mp3):
Regardless of whether this guy gets to compete in the Olympics, you have to be impressed both by him and the advancements in prosthetics technology (not a bad primer on running mechanics either): New York Times, A double-amputee seeks to compete in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, “An Amputee Advantage? Comparing An Amputee And An Able-Bodied Runner.”
This was scheduled to run on last Friday’s NPR All Things Con, but got canceled last minute — we’re still not sure why. That’s no reason y’all shouldn’t hear it, tho.
So here’s something for those who think this week’s “Super” ends not in “Tuesday” but in “bowl.” A gay man crosses the line into unexplored fields, “For once in my life I wanted to watch an entire football game intently.” Mark Allen (from his “The Homosexual Brain” blog-post) with “Gays & Football” (2:05 mp3):
NPR webseries, Biking the Iditarod:
“Jill Homer, of Juneau, Alaska, is training to ride her bicycle in the Iditarod Trail Invitational — 350 miles of wintry pedaling over tough terrain. It’s the same course used by the famous sledding race.”
Her blog: Up in Alaska- Jill’s Subarctic Journal:
“Jill is an Alaska journalist who likes to bicycle in horrendous conditions and eat goldfish crackers and Pepsi for breakfast. Jill records her daily adventures in pictures and words.”
Jill encounters a Juneau native: NPR: Wolf Versus Pug.
If you’ve the overwhelming desire to have pretty celebrities tell ya who to vote for, watch this well-done politimusic video Mr Dippy (aka, Black-Eyed Pea’s will.i.am). He calls it “Yes, We Can.” I call it an obama-nation.
via the Program Doctor.
Happy Birthday to radio’s Some Assembly Required on their 9th year of ops and 200th broadcast. Since 1999 sound artist Jon Nelson (of Escape Mechanism) has hosted the series, which “features work by a variety of artists and groups who work with bits and pieces of their media environments, giving something back to the cultural landscape from which they so enthusiastically appropriate.”
The SAR blog has many interviews with mash- & cut-up, and other audio artists.
Think MTV Street Team ’08:
“MTV’s Choose or Lose and the John S and James L Knight Foundation present Street Team ’08: 51 state-based citizen journalists covering election ’08 from a youth perspective. Armed with laptops and video cameras, and charged with uncovering the untold political stories that matter most to young people in their states, they will submit weekly reports online and via mobile.”
Philanthropy News Digest “MTV Taps Citizen Journalists to Cover Youth-Centric Election Issues:”
“We hope to find out whether or not our most important political event — the election of a president —matters to young people, and whether or not if matters more when it comes to them through the lens of their issues and the screen of their cell phone,” said Eric Newton, vice president of journalism at the Knight Foundation. “We also hope to find out what important youth issues are being overlooked by traditional media as the Street Team coverage goes beyond the presidential horse race.”
Its JerryTime! True tales from the life of Jerry is an Emmy awarded webseries by Jerry and Orrin Zucker. These animated videos are fictionalized stories of real events from the life of Jerry.
His latest “B Train Blues” is a musical journey with help from sound designer David Grimes.
An audio slideshow about the Burmese political rock band, Iron Cross. Photos, text and audio by Scott Carrier (from his HV/NPR story); music by Iron Cross; slideshow sequenced by Max Darham. “Rock the Junta: Iron Cross- Burma:”
WFMU’s Blog has a post on Carl Warner’s food-photo-landscapes. “Everything you see in these images can be found in the kitchen. Photographer Carl Warner has painstakingly incorporated all kinds of food into a series of still lifes:”
“The road is paved with cumin, bread mountain off in the distance, peas hang from broccoli trees and cauliflower clouds adorn the heavens:”
Tony-b Machine is a interactive flash/programmation that incorporates audio samples to simulate a electronic keyboard, it stores, catalogs and hosts an extensive collection of user created music. 
Tony-b Machine originated November 2006 as a simple keyboard with 8 chords. Second generation Tony-b, February 2007, integrated sound samples and a user forum. The current installment resembles a laptop and enables users to archive 12 pieces under their account. Enjoy Tony-b Machine.
via lissenup.
Chesty takes it all off, throws her voice, gets all excited, and spanks bad monkeys, Episode Eight of Chesty Morgan’s Forbidden Love! (7:31 mp3):
If art/beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder then this guy can tag my building anytime. Learn more at http://www.banksy.co.uk
Wet Dog by Banksy
Ratapult by Banksy
New Bansky book: Wall and Piece.
Closer to home the City of Bozeman has finally had ENOUGH (they became very interested in graffiti after one of their own buildings was damn near wrecked by rattle can vandals)
Tomorrow night (1/28) at their regular meeting the Bozeman City Commission will respond to this:
With this:
*Consider creating and staffing a Vandalism and Graffiti Task Force consisting of one staff liaison, one representative of the Downtown Partnership, one representative of the Bozeman Police Department, one representative of the local business community, one representative of the INC, and one representative of the Bozeman School District to direct and perform public outreach and education, study possible mitigation measures and long-term solutions, and make future recommendations to the City Commission.
Benjamin Allen Best is a biker on a mission, a mission dedicated to the lost soldier Matt Maupin. Benjamin is on a journey to bicycle through every state in the continental US, spreading the word of the sacrifice people like Matt have made for our country. His ride started in Florida in 2004 and continues still. Like on any epic adventure, the traveler can get a bit weary, as evidenced in his posts…
Ben Best’s Lost Soldier blog: Regular updates by Benjamin on his travels.
Missing Soldier Matt Maupin: WLWT-TV story archive‐ Keith Matthew “Matt” Maupin (born July 13, 1983) is a United States Army PFC captured by Iraqi insurgents on April 9, 2004 while serving in the Iraq War after his convoy came under attack by rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire near Baghdad, Iraq. Read more about this ongoing ordeal.
Benjamin Allen Best and “The Lost Soldier”: Dirt Rag Blog hosts an extensive forum of sightings and meetings with Benjamin at various stages of his travels.
via Jeff Ramiriz, KERA-Dallas and Andy Bruno of Dirt Rag mag.
Some online J-school tools…
Visual Edge is a premiere multi-media workshop for photojournalists it provides a list of lessons (pdf) for media journalists:
- Sound in the story: Balancing the tools in new-media journalism
“More and more journalists are working with audio these days and learning from radio reporters. This is a fabulous guide for journalists about using sound and audio clips in their journalism. It’s a 21-page PDF with lots of good advice about story development, writing, and gathering sound. The best part of this guide is the extensive advice about interviewing. The guide was prepared by J.Carl Ganter and Eileen E. Ganter for the Poynter Institute for Media Studies. They give credit for some of the content to David Candow, a well-known broadcast trainer for CBC.”
- Microphones: Two main types
Poynter Online hosts an online resource list of informational links on anything imaginable in field media journalism.
The Canadian Journalism Project is a collection of all things journalism. There’s advice and articles on social nets, web-searching, and beat-specific tools, along with an award-winning journalism database, ethical resources and links for teaching.
The International Women’s Media Foundation’s Online Training has these “Tips & Guides: Writing Broadcast,” of which educator Mary McGuire says, “There are countless guides to writing broadcast copy online. This is one of the better ones. It’s a clear list of 10 rules with good examples as illustrations.”:
Did I write in my own voice or did I use the words of a wire service or officials?
Did I eliminate unnecessary information?
Did I leave any unanswered questions?
Translate the jargon. Make the words your own.