Perusing Problems pertaining to the Petaling Street Podcast - Phew!

• Content: E and I spent far too much time trying to pick out stories. As a result, by the time it came to time to record, our energy levels were low. The enthusiasm was lacking, my humour wasn't on a 'high'. Instead, I should have just short-listed a bunch of them, and then we just work down the list until we ran out of time.
• Recording levels: We not rich people. We no have studio. So, what we do is to take turns at on the minidisc microphone. The first week, we just left it there on the table, and our voices were faint. This time around, E just held it up and we got much closer to the mike. However, it wasn't evenly shared (because my big fat head kept bobbing around) and what we got was a very loud Errolyn, and a loud/soft Dzof.
• Transfer problems: For some reason, everytime I tried to record the MD to the soundcard using a line in, it was shaky, poppy, skipping. Real bad. I had to transfer it three or four times. And the computer kept rebooting when the disc reached a certain point. Don't ask me. I only do IT consultancy for a living.
• Mixing down to... what?: It's still an arcane art for me. How to maximise volume levels while keeping noise to a minimum. This week, I tried separating left and right audio channels, so you heard me from the left, and E from the right. I'm still not sure if it's a good idea or not.
• Fiddly RSS feed: The bloomin' RSS feed doesn't update immediately, and even when it finally does, it doesn't always get the enclosure correct. This means that iTunes subscribers don't see the latest episode. This is the result of trying to use free services at every step of the way, when there is a break in the chain, it breaks the whole system. *sigh*.

Shows currently on Astro worth watching

• Wonderfalls Star World, Mondays, 10pm Jaye Tyler is unambitious, unassuming and utterly cynical of everything around her. So, she finds it difficult to accept things when inanimate animals begin talking to her: A wax lion, a cow creamer, a teddy bear - anything with an animal design is fair game. Despite her natural skepticism, these totems set Jaye off on bizarre adventures of surprise and serendipity. Very funny, very well written, yet cancelled unexpectedly after half a season. Doesn't matter. At least it'll be easy to watch every episode.


• Lost AXN, Thursdays, 9pm A plane crashes on a not-very-deserted island, and the survivors must learn to cope with the land, the local inhabitants - and each other. I think that this show is the best new series to appear on US televisions last season (and, yes, I'm taking Desperate Housewives into consideration here). It's taut, tense and not afraid to present entire storylines in Korean. Some may find it slow, I say that patient viewers will discover that each episode builds up to an explosive climax.



• House Star World, Tuesdays, 10pm Greg House is a doctor who heals with unusual talent, and yet manages to find time to cut his patients to size with laser-like sarcasm. Like a dramatic Becker who solves medical mysteries. Now add to it some of the funniest dialogue you'll find on dramatic TV, as well as acting so good that by the end you'll willingly hand them a scalpel and a signed consent form. Despite the huge plot holes that most first-year medical students (if not kindergarten graduates) would poke through, it is engrossing, engaging and, yes, entertaining.


• World's Most Dramatic Animal Attacks On Midgets During Police Chases AXN, Wenesd- All right, you got me there. Just kidding. Sheesh.

Labels: tv

Project Petaling Street Review - Podcast Episode 1

So, how come you never update your blog any more?

• Writing. Specifically, I should be telling - nay, forcing - you to watch Impian Illyana. I wrote this week's episode - it says so on the credit, it must be true, regardless of how much the producer and actors changed the dialogue. This week is Week 3, I also wrote weeks 9 and 13 (should be airing 12-16 Sep and 10-14 Oct) and hand a hand in weeks 8 (5-9 Sep) and 11 (26-30 Sep). Got that? It's on NTV7, Mondays to Fridays, 5 minutes per episode, starts at 8.55. The recaps on the weekends are heavily summarised and edited down and have bits missing, so I don't recommend waiting for those.


• More writing. I'm now ramping up to write many, many episodes for a new TV series in August. It will air on Malaysian TV, star many beautiful people and feature the most insightful, amazing writing ever to be seen. If all goes to plan, that is.


• Teaching. I am now a Business Objects Certified Professional and a Crystal Reports Certified Professional for version XI. If you have no idea what that means, it probably doesn't matter. If you do, I'd like to point out that as far as I know, I'm the only certified trainer for BOE XI and CR XI in Malaysia. Like they say, I'm Da Man.


• Consulting. Yeah, it pays the bills. No, the product I've been working on isn't publicly online yet.