Inspired by Nahui Olin (or at least the hotel room named for her)

I don't know if anyone will actually read this, but if you do, thanks for voting for me if you did. As it happens, I was in Edmonton at ANOTHER conference today, so I thought it would have been funny if I had made the final list, heh heh. I sincerely wish the best of luck to the finalists. (And now I know how the folks on America's Next Top Model feel! Or, because I'm in Edmonton, is it Canada's Next Top Model?)

Jeff M

~~
Middento
http://deepinyoureyes.blogspot.com
"When I look deep in your eyes, I swear I can see your soul." (James)

Hola, Jeff
I have to echo other comments. I was in the room with you and hoping to catch a glimpse of Nahui or at least her ghost.
Great voice, nicely paced, and looking forward to hearing from you in other hotel rooms!! Sharing with us other echos of your journey!
Good luck
Vern

Confusious Says rate a clip with some stars every day and you will always have a guiding star at night.

http://www.publicradioquest.com/audio/user/8769

I immediately felt a connection to the room and the woman it was named after. The rawness of your voice and story could be heard bouncing off those hard empty walls in Mexico. I really felt the space and time in your narritive.

Reid James Cohen

i'd love to hear more from you in mexico! you kept me intrigued throughout. thanks!

Jeff, what you did with poor sound quality and on-site reporting blasts through the many entries that are extremely sophisticated (technically speaking) and pristine-sounding, but empty of real content.

I could really visualize you in that room. I could feel a sense of the richness of the rest of the world pulsing outside your door, and your own energy and curiosity in exploring it with every one of your senses.

This was a very different entry, it worked in ways I hadn't expected, and you have something rare - you can do a whole lot with very little - and you do it with great style and a sense of storytelling that kept me rapt and attentive.

Wow. Great work.

-- Linda

Visit me in my House by the Sea:
http://www.publicradioquest.com/audio/user/1432
http://blog.syracuse.com/communitycritics/linda_lowen/

Starting with your title, you inspire by being inspired. Maybe you should do some reporting/commentary. Would you want to be tied to a host desk?

I loved this resonant report from Jeff Middents who finds himself in a concrete hotel room in Mexico named for a poet whose work is additionally available on a keychain. We don't know why he is in Mexico, but isn't there something enchanting about Nahui Olin? Do we not want to know more?

Yes. We do. But--look out Jeff!-- the pistachio salesman outside is trouble for sure!

I love this. Totally good, simple, on the spot reportage. From a foreign locale, no less! Good writing. I can picture you in the room, trying to picture this woman who the hotel room was named for. It's like the first entry of a good travel narrative, with the smell of anticipation of your adventures, or maybe a mystery piece where the ghost of Nahui Olin some how figures in. Ever since the Savvy Traveler went bust, I've been hungry for a good travel show. Maybe it's yours.

I also like that you were able to subtly introduce us to you and your interests and your background without having to hit us over the head with "this is who I am."

Some constructive crits: get better recording equipment. Oy. I understand why they're letting people submit entries via Skype, but it really does sound awful. That's ok tho. Also, work on your reading some... for this kind of good, conversational tone I prefer to not know when people are reading from a prepared script, and in this case I could often tell, ok, now he's reading, ok, now he's improving. (Or at least that's how it sounded.) Your last analogy was a leetle ham fisted ("maybe Mexico city isn't the only provocative thing around here" har har) but I'll let it slide just this once.

situation, I enjoyed listening to your voice and the quite personal mood you created. It made me wonder with you for a while. A lot of the entries are trying so hard to convey a story with super smart content or impressive engineering bits. But to talk about something as mundane as a hotel room and be engaging at the same time is an honorable quality.