July 15, 2007

Answering your questions in vlog and podcast form.

So you saw the post last night where I invited you to ask some questions which I'd answer in vlog form. I thought I'd just dash that off to get the blogging started this morning, but now it's almost 11, and I'm putting up a 10 minute bit of what I recorded in vlog form. I'm making the whole audio into a podcast, which I'll link to in a few minutes. And I'll edit another part into a vlog. So watch for updates. and watch part 1.

Part 1: "A Little Spiritual and Physical Nourishment." I talk about: 1. The quote "Don't think so hard. Life is not that simple." 2. My religious background -- which includes a story of drinking Cointreau with a priest. 3. Why I teach a law school course on Religion and the Constitution. 4. How eating cake instead of cookies keeps you from lying. 5. Edible flowers.



Part 2: "Human Beings, Cats, and Judges." Includes material about human beings, cats, and judges.



Part 3: "Audible Althouse #86." This is the podcast, the audio version, unedited. Streamable here. On the theory that I'll keep this podcasting thing up, you can subscribe on iTunes:
Ann Althouse - Audible Althouse

ADDED: Here's the link to that "Imaginary Philosophy" story I talk about in the podcast.

18 comments:

Daniel S. said...

Why don't you attend the Madison blogger round-ups? We may be undergrads, but we won't bite. We'd love your company, you're like an idol.

If that question doesn't fly, then maybe: Your thoughts on the way the University of Illinois guns the US News rankings by taking extreme LSAT/GPA splitters.

mkfreeberg said...

Yeah, I didn't get it at first. But your explanation makes a lot of sense. And it's very true.

ricpic said...

I have very little patience with folks who think the point of life is figuring it out.

Meade said...

Interesting visual. Here's my screen - a window of sorts - and on it your page (another window inside a window). On your page is the YouTube window and in the background the window of your house which reveals your neighbor's house with a window through which one can see another window. By the way, while you were recording, your neighbor came outside and did something - picked up the newspaper or something - and then went back inside.

I feel like such an unwitting voyeur.

Incidentally, while I'm observing things that are really none of my business, that double-leader tree outside your window looks like a potential hazard, something about which a certified licensed arborist should maybe give you an opinion - an opinion which would probably include a number with, I'm guessing, at least two zeros behind it.

Ann Althouse said...

Meade: Yeah, I love when the person comes out. There's a part somewhere, not in the edit, where a squirrel runs around on the tree. That was a cool touch.

Ann Althouse said...

Critical: I don't really know much about the blogger round-ups, but thanks. Actually, at this point, I'm about to leave town.

Simon said...

Maybe your cats were exhibiting an early feline form of ADS. It's jumped species! ;)

(And DBQ = DustbunnyQueen)

J. Cricket said...

The theory that you will continue podcasting is undermined by fact. Week after embarrassing week of saying things like "all the cool people subscribe," it's now clear that that's not true. If you had a large and growing audience, you would podcast every day. Heck, twice a day. Instead, you are doing it less and less.

How long will A-House continue time-consuming podcasts for small audiences? My guess, not long. Six months, max. Well, unless you crank up the wine and cleavage!

rhhardin said...

If you don't have a pet, you don't have to vacuum as often

Any real guy can tell you that if you have a pet, they track dirt outside, not inside. It's a form of dusting done for you by your pet.

Apparently you haven't done the long term dust bunny negative divergence experiment, either. One day you notice a dust bunny formed, say, at the bottom of the stairs against the wall. This is where air currents typically converge horizintally and then rise. They carry dust when they converge, and leave it behind when they rise, so you get a growing dust bunny.

The experiment, and it takes years of committment, consists in finding out how big it will get.

My experience is that a dog eventually tracks it outside, or rolls a tennis ball into it, which is what limits its size.

I noticed that your office appears very clean. My own office , my Win95 desktop and (off to the left) a small camera accessory laptop. Last actually cleaned probably in the 1980s, except for tracking stuff outside, and spot cleaning for various puppy accidents, for various puppies.

The point of thinking about life isn't figuring it out, but finding the right words for it.

Paddy O said...

Thanks for answering my question, Ann! I figured your interest in the topic had some kind of history, and it seems it really does. Methodists, Presbyterians, and Episcopalians is good classic Americana. All the classes are represented.

The Cointreau story is great. I think social interactions are a huge part of our religious choices, and often bigger than our view on God. Very few people, I think, actually sort through the theology and make a choice on that. Most people ratiionalize the theology for themselves because a certain religion offers the community they need.

Plus, there's a rising trend about having churches in pubs and bars anyhow, so I think your priest from long ago was ahead in the church growth game.

Thaks again for giving us an insight into the making of Althouse. Having some Methodist firebrands in your family history does seem to fit.

Simon said...

AJD - what difference would cleavage make to a podcast, a purely aural medium?

Ruth Anne Adams said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Simon said...

At first when you said the Four Seasons, I thought you meant Vivaldi! But (it became clear) you mean this, which is great too. :)

(Personally I preferred the Four Tops, myself - the way that first verse sweeps in in Reach Out, and Bernadette is one of my favorite basslines to noodle around playing.)

XWL said...

Thanks for the answers.

Yours is an interesting solution to the paper or plastic conundrum.

Wasn't sure if you'd answer the 'quien es' questions. I was careful in the pairings, properly done 'quien es' pairings are harder than they seem. Noticed a shift in your interpretation of the word 'macho'. With the first two pairs it was about combativeness, but with the last pair you seemed to switch to a definition of 'prowess'.

Also, as far as not answering the question about the group hug story, didn't expect you to answer questions extemporaneously. Will note for the future should you do this again (and why wouldn't you? this was fun on this end, and seemed fun from your end).

Ann Althouse said...

XWL: Yeah. It was fun. You had great "macho" pairings, and the part that involved figuring out the standard -- and realizing I had to -- was cool. I hope I didn't insult Kennedy too much. My special affection for Justice Breyer should be well known around here. It's funny, I think he's close to being feminine, but I think my analysis of why he es mas macho is correct.

Simon: I always hated the Four Tops. They always seemed corny to me.

Paddy: Glad you liked it. I should write up some of the family history about the preachers in my maternal lineage.

amba said...

I remember the excerpt in the Times Magazine from Kenji Yoshino's book. In answer to the last sentence of your review (being a print junkie, I haven't even played the vlog yet), why do we feel "this is my authentic self"? Most people have many possible, and many actual, selves. What makes one in particular "authentic"? This is a sort of a Buddhist question. You can put it in the next list of questions, if you want.

And it's related to the subject of marriage.

amba said...

Do podcast segments with and without cleavage, and then see if reader/listeners can tell which is which, just from your voice.

Anonymous said...

what difference would cleavage make to a podcast, a purely aural medium?

Ah, you've forgotten the bit from that one Monty Python record:

(Woman's voice) Charles, I have something to show you.
(Sound of zipper)
(Thump)
(Thump)