Recent Blog Posts

• (chris) thx prx

  First things first: congratulations to the winning three. Al, Glynn, Rebecca, you´ve been just great through this whole thang. Now get out there and make some top-notch radio for us to enjoy. Can´t wait to see how your futures unfold. And of course thanks to all y´all who voted for and commented on my work in these past months. I´m really, really touched and flattered. As a puppet guy, I´ve always been the shadowy figure behind the scenes, and only entered this contest because I somehow thought that even if I won the first round, I could still remain safely behind the scenes. Having been forced to become a public internet figure (however fleetingly) I was so pleasantly surprised that it turned out to be such a lovely experience..thanks to you all. Really, you people have been just great to me (especially in light of some of the perfectly awful moments in my entries, to which you responded with firm yet loving criticism). more...

• [chris] some notes on Round 4

  Making a demo was a remarkably difficult task; much harder than I'd anticipated. There were certain not-insurmountable practical challenges -- working out of a suitcase, recording in noisy boarding houses and hotels, hastily learning how to properly edit a radio show, coaxing my a battered old laptop through it all -- but the real struggle was deciding how to present the essence of my show in five wee minutes. I've never really heard a demo for a radio show before, but I figured it's form is pretty simple; just play material from the actual show, and when necessary, do a little voice-over explanation. Actually squeezing that into five minutes, however, was no picnic. more...

• [chris] Life in BsAs

  Greetings, all. It's been a crazy couple of weeks here in Buenos Aires. I thought life would calm down a bit once the show got underway, but so many seemingly once in a lifetime opportunities have come up that I just couldn't let myself rest. I've been out at late night puppet cabarets, La Bomba de Tiempo shows (a massive percussion orchestra), and been roused from sleep numerous times by the drums and fireworks of (often) club-wielding protesters. (There are traffic-choking protests every day in the center of BsAs). Been mulling over inscrutable Borges passages with gourds of steaming mate, which is best when it tastes like a handful of earth. Off to my friend Oscar's favorite so-called "underground" dance hall for "Evil Tango", in which a 10+ piece orchestra rips Gardel and Piazzolla classics to pieces. Some swilling of Malbec at touristy (yet still delightful enough) tango shows. Had my camera stolen by crackheads (I think). Sampled, semi-accidentally, grilled brains and glands, before bussing out into the pampas (the grasslands of central Argentina) where I was set upon by bottle rocket frenzied teenagers and stray dogs (there are packs of dogs everywhere here). Still walking for miles through the city at night with my digital recorder capturing sounds and meditating on my radio show ideas, and struggling, struggling with this lightning fast Spanish. more...

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