The Eurovision contest is over for this year. Members of the VCA know my fondest for this event, with its singing babushkas and the like. It is the epitome of pop music, distilled to its essence after being sent to Las Vegas for humility lessons. The best thing to do is go to YouTube and watch as many of the contestants as you can before you decide to swear off music completely. (Hint: Abba won in 1974. ‘Nuff said.) (All right, maybe not enough said. Watching folks like the CNN talking heads comment on Conchita Wurst is enough to make you decide to swear off talking heads completely, if you haven’t already. And her win almost restores your faith in pop music and Eurovision.) (Almost.)
Last week CP and Bietz and I tried to record a new TVFT in aid of learning how to broadcast live, and got nowhere. I had some software, MIXLR, and everything seemed to be set up correctly, but it didn’t work. Drat. Then we defaulted to Skype, but for some reason the sound was so off I couldn’t bring myself to publish it. I tried to fix it with the tools at my disposal, but it wouldn’t happen. So, I’ve been looking at Google Hangouts. That will be our next shot at it. As I think I’ve said before, the point is to get something going for NDCA. There are so many interesting conversations that can be had, and that seems like a good place to have them. I’ve looked at Hangouts and it seems pretty straightforward, but then again, so did MIXLR…
We spent the weekend away from the chez. Saw Hair! of all things Thursday night, the national tour having landed nearby. That was fun, followed by a trip up to Woodstock and environs, not because I’m having some bizarre 60s flashback, but simply because I’ve never been. There’s a great mountain to hike, and I went to the website where they told me, over and over and over again, to watch out for timber rattlesnakes, as this is apparently their major home in the northeast. When you get to the mountain, it also reminds you of the copperheads and water moccasins that are lying in wait for you. Why did it have to be snakes? We only did a small piece of the trek; my head got too tired from spinning around trying to find my imminent death to continue very far. The town itself is obviously where old hippies all go to die, although I can’t imagine why. I mean, the music festival was, A, a long time ago and, B, not actually in Woodstock. I’m one of those people very much alive at the time, and very much into music, who doesn’t pretend to have gone, or even wanted to go. The front top headliner on all the advertisements was Melanie. Melanie? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ml1696pN-yE I don’t think so. Anyhow, today's Woodstock is a lot of shops selling hippie bric-a-brac and the like, okay for walking around if you can find a decent place for lunch, but that's about it. It was enjoyable enough though, along with some other town visits in the region. An easy getaway from the usual, in other words.
Speaking of the NDCA, I’ve been planning to revitalize (or maybe just vitalize) their Twitter. I gather they’re not posting anything. They do follow a lot of debate posters, though, most of whom post anything but debate stuff. I figure that I’ll just post my own articles of interest to debaters over there to get a little traction, and retweet any good stuff from everyone else. I’ve start on this, but not 100% just yet. Getting there, though, if you’re interested. @DebateCoaches.
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