Episodes
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Lionel and Jim discuss a myriad of subjects this week with a subtile common thread. We move from Jim's recent experience with jury duty to return to discussing the novel The Devil’s Broker by Frances Stonor Saunders. From there we revisit the Steerswoman series with Jim's experience reading book 3: The Lost Steersman. Lionel has been left behind on these books, but talks about The Cyberiad by Stanislaw Lem.
In the end we land on the documentary about Robert Hughes and the downfall of the art world called The Mona Lisa Curse discovered for Lionel by (who else) Johnathan Coulthart, you can watch it here on the Internet Archive. This is an excellent movie - immediately engrossing which you should watch forthwith. While you are there, please make a donation to The Internet Archive, which is under attack by various groups.
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Lionel and Jim talk about the book "The Devil's Broker" by Frances Stonor Saunders and about mercenaries and what happens when peace breaks out and they don't get paid. We also discuss Laurie Anderson, the dawn and death of classical synthesizer music, Dune Prophecy, briefly - more on this later, the Praugue Diaries TV series, Firefly, and books by Stanislaw Lem. A rollicking good time.
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Episodes manquant?
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Encore episode from January 2023
Jim Rosen, Catherine Pilfrey, Matthew Bellows, and Jim Infantino have been teaching meditation online for almost 3 years as part of a twice weekly session that meets Tuesdays and Thursdays called Mindful Aware. In this episode, Matt, Jim, Jim, and Catherine answer Lionel’s questions about meditating online and discuss the practice of teaching meditation from a western perspective.
References: https://funnynotfunny.bigego.com/links/f/S3~dot~02-Mindful-Aware/
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We discuss two novels in this episode, the first, The Steerswoman by Rosemary Kirstein, was suggested to us by Sarah Elkins. The second, The City & The City by China Miéville was suggested by Jim to Lionel and then by Lionel to the group. This four person book series seems to be a thing with us. We enjoyed ourselves, I hope you do too.
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Monty joins the pod and we talk about his experience playing music, going to folk conventions, his “no-case” showcase at NERFA, playing, and Monty’s songs. Montgomery Delaney is an unusual performer in the folk world. Later in the show the conversation takes a turn, as we talk about how Monty was banned from Cafe Lena one time because of his political beliefs. We discuss what it means to speak your truth when your audience doesn’t agree with you. We talk about no agreeing and yet continuing to talk. This episode gets a little hairy as we talk about the new situation facing the United States. Our opinions stray further and further as the episode goes on, and yet we remain friends at the end. I don’t know how this episode will hit you. Here it is anyway.
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David decided after graduating NYU in the late 80's that he did not want a traditional desk job. He joined the Seafarers International Union as an unlicensed deckhand. Eventually he joined the Sailors' Union of the Pacific and finally got his officer's license in 2013. He has sailed all over the world on US flagged vessels. He worked as a licensed deck officer in the Masters, Mates & Pilots union from 2103 until the COVID pandemic, as a Third Mate, on vessels stationed in South Korea and Saipan. David is an inveterate reader and collects books portraying mariners.
References: https://funnynotfunny.bigego.com/links/f/S1~dot~14-David-Partikian/
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This conversation would qualify for ASMR in terms of the pacing and tone, except that we discuss the movie Vice with Christian Bale. Jim talks about his impressions of it and Lionel talks about a number of books and movies he's been watching, including 'Mordecai,' and Isaac Asimov's 'The Gods Themselves.' We talk about our viewings of The Americans, comparing the espionage in it to the behind the scenes machinations of Dick Cheney in the Bush Whitehouse. We end up getting ready for the election, which, by the time you hear this, has already happened.
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Subject: A Night In The Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny
Guests: Julia Tenney, Sarah Elkins
This curious summary was generated by AI:
The conversation explores various themes including biking adventures, car troubles, and the legacy of Subaru. It transitions into a discussion about the book 'A Night in the Lonesome October', focusing on character dynamics, plot unfolding, and the role of animals in the story. The group delves into dream sequences and Lovecraftian references, discussing Lovecraft's influence and legacy, as well as the appeal of his mythos. The conversation concludes with reflections on writing style, literary techniques, and favorite moments from the book. In this engaging conversation, the participants delve into various themes surrounding a book that intertwines elements of Sherlock Holmes, vivisection, and Halloween traditions. They explore character motivations, favorite moments, and chilling themes, while also discussing the philosophical implications of destruction and the historical context of Thanksgiving. The dialogue flows seamlessly through these topics, providing insights into literary analysis and personal reflections on food and tradition.
References
Video
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This one has a big, red E on it. Take the kids to the bunker before hitting play. Eric Schwartz is possibly the only artist in the history of the world to get raves from Gloria Steinem and Hustler Magazine. His songs are alternately heart warming and ... something else. We sit down and talk about his work, his feelings about his craft, and what it all means. In addition to rude mentions of body parts and sexuality, this episode contains even more repulsive discussion of politics and the upcoming election, forcasting doom or salvation or neither. Enjoy.
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Lionel and Jim talk about producing this podcast for video, which you can see in a separate post. The thumbnail did not show up but it's available from youtube - unlisted as of this posting. We also discuss transitions and productivity at work and our trip down the Empire Trail in New York State. We end up discussing two films which were first timers for Lionel and repeats for Jim: Mystery Men and In Bruges.
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Lionel and I were talking about all our druthers in the literary and streaming world when I got a phone call from Chris Chandler, and I invited him on the pod to just talk about whatever was happening with him. We did discuss Hurricane Helene and our friends in the Asheville area as well as Chris' tour schedule and our upcoming visit to San Antonio to honor the late Monk Wilson.
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This week we are joined by playwright, rowing coach, meditation teacher, songwriter/singer and all around fascinating human being, Mark Basquill to predominantly discuss the play he co-wrote with Jay Sefton.
Unreconciled is the true story of an adolescent actor cast as Jesus in a school play directed by a parish priest. The story chronicles a survivor’s journey as he confronts his past, navigates a victims’ reparations program set up by the Catholic Church, and discovers the courage to use his voice. This 80-minute piece is a poignant and at times humorous exploration of family, place, and the meaning of reconciliation.
At the end we talk about the details of rowing overseas, and our love of music.
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For music makers, a producer/engineer can be a unique sort of friend. For all of us, except Lionel in this conversation, that unique friend came with the name "Ducky Carlisle" and helped us make the best music we could make, all while having the time of our lives. Bleu McAuley, Shaun Wortis, Mike Gent, and Jim tell the tales of the studio days and nights with the late great Duck Carlisle and we play some of examples of the songs he helped us bring into the world as recordings. Thanks so much to our guests for this episode.
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This week we were fortunate to have songwriter, singer, producer, creator, Jeff Tareila on the pod. Jeff has toured internationally with his band and solo, has recorded and produced "tons of records" in his words, and shared a history back in the distant past with Jim, stomping around the SoHo folk scene in New York City. He talks about the creation of his own releases as well as work he's been doing in the Virgin Islands with Dan Ackroyd, Motto, and G-Love. This was a really fun podcast to record. I hope you enjoy it.
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This one was recorded while Jim was in New York City at Rivendell (Peter Cooper Villiage) in the last homely house (his mom's apartment) with his daughters visiting his mom. We talk about Norman Cantor's In the Wake of the Plague, and touch on some other books about similar subjects before veering off to discuss Napoleonic surgeons, The Watchmen, and Lionel's idea for R.U.N.A.I.
Refrences
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This week Lionel and Jim talk about the TikTok algorithm, Roy Casagranda, AB testing at PayPal in the 2000s, Survey Groups and Polling, The Bonfire of The Vanities ny Tom Wolfe, the real date of the Fall of the Roman Empire, The Printing Press As An Agent Of Change by Elizabeth Eisenstein, and Autonomous by Analee Newitz.
References here: https://funnynotfunny.bigego.com/links/f/S5~dot~02-Bang-on-Killer-Virus/
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We start our fifth season by considering a change of genre for our podcast, either to sports or economics, but ultimately settling on not giving a crap. We move on to considering the difference and origins of both Science Fiction and Fantasy, and then ponder the origins of Vanishing Point Perspective Drawings and whether human beings are biologically the same from a few thousand years ago to present day.
References coming soon.
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In our final episode of a very long Season 4, Jim and Lionel talk about soundtracks, synthesizers, the limits of AI growth, political assassinations, and communication skills. From Ennio Morricone to Vangelis, from the Yamaha CS-80 to the Oberheim OBX, from Ed Zitron to The Paris Peace Talks, from Condoleezza Rice to the George Clemenceau shooter, we cover everything.
References coming soon.
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IMPORTANT: This was recorded July 17th, 2024. We have an enormous backlog of shows right at the time when everything is changing rapidly. So Kamala was not the candidate at the time of this recording.
Lionel and Jim talk about riding bikes along the Empire Trail, The Watchmen franchise, Gattaca, Ernest Borgnine, and more. References forthcoming at funnynotfunny.bigego.com/links/
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Jennifer Kimball, songwriter, performer, singer, horticulturalist and landscape designer joins the pod. One upon a time, she was in a legendary band called The Story with Jonatha Brooke and now she lives on an island, making music, and designing lawn free (or almost free) gardens of local flora and fauna. We also talk about her wintery songs project which is just outstanding, and growing up in NYC.
References here.
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