Monday, March 15, 2010

A new blog logo - and a new podcast feature?

A new week brings with it a new holiday-themed logo, this one suggested by Eric Akawie. As a reminder, this post has links to, and explanations for, all the previous logos.

Meanwhile, now that Fienberg and I have licked most of the audio issues with the podcast, and finally gotten it up on iTunes, we're going to experiment with the content a little. One of the ideas we want to try is answering listener/reader questions, so if there's something you want us to try talking about on the show, e-mail me at asepinwall@starledger.com, and please put the word "podcast" in the subject line.

32 comments:

Miken said...

Licked? Either I've never heard that expression, or you meant "Kicked"? I don't know, strikes me as odd.

As for the new logo, I only watched the Wire and McNulty, so I'll guess lead characters on dramas with drinking problems? Or 'lead' characters? Characters that were considered the leads but at times in the series had their on-screen roles reduced.

Anonymous said...

People who enjoy playing with fire???

Jen said...

The Irish!

Ryan said...

don't think i know who the woman is, but the other three are loose cannons who do their jobs extremely well.

MikeNJD said...

They're all Irish actors, I believe.

Alan Sepinwall said...

the other three are loose cannons

I must have missed some very special Father Mulcahy episodes of "M*A*S*H," I think.

Charles said...

Hooray for St Paddy's day.

Carmichael Harold said...

They're not all Irish actors, but they are all Irish characters, I believe.

Andrew said...

They're not all Irish actors, but they are all Irish characters, I believe.

Yeah, you can't get much more un-Irish than Dominic West.

Andrew said...

The characters are of Irish descent (but the actors aren't necessarily -- Dominic West is English)

Jeff K. said...

I'm with Jen, with the clarification of they're all Irish characters.

McNulty is Irish, Dominic West is British.

Fiona is Irish, Gabrielle Anwar is British/Persian

Fr. Mulcahy is Irish, William Christopher is from Illinois, not sure of his heritage

Tommy Gavin is Irish, as is the actor who plays him, Denis Leary

WORD: CANACERA

What Jesse Eisenberg's handlers feed him every morning, a can-a-cera

Alan Sepinwall said...

Licked? Either I've never heard that expression, or you meant "Kicked"?

You've never heard that expression. It's quite old.

Matt said...

Suggestion for the podcast blog entries: would it be possible to list the subjects discussed by the timestamp in the podcast?

For example:
American Idol 2:05 - 6:30
Oscars 6:30 - 13:00
etc

This way, it's pretty simple to skip over talk of subjects you aren't interested in (Idol) and jump right to what you are interested in (LOST).

Alan Sepinwall said...

Matt, we do that. The rundown is both on the NJ.com and Hitfix.com blog posts that stream it, encoded in the description on the RSS feed and in the descriptions that iTunes gets.

princessapr said...

I won't add what has already been added, but I knew the theme and all the characters/actors. This may be a first for me.

I like to forget Fiona's Irish accent from that first season.

Oskar said...

@Matt: that info is already in the podcast description (click the little "i" next to the podcast description in iTunes to see it)

Miken said...

Sorry Alan, I had never heard it before. To make matters worse, the 'L' is right next to the 'K' so it made it even more plausible. Damn me and my youngness.

And Alan, the rundown list is one of the best thing you guys do! Even as someone who listens to the whole thing, it's nice seeing how much time we get on each show. I know I appreciate it.

Alan Sepinwall said...

I like to forget Fiona's Irish accent from that first season.

Not even first season; just the pilot episode. In episode two, Michael asks Fi what happened to her accent, and she says something about wanting to blend in now that she'll be living in Miami for a while. It was really funny in how abruptly the show course-corrected from one of the silliest things in the pilot.

Anonymous said...

Dominic West was born in England, but I am pretty sure he was born into an Irish-Catholic family.

Anyway, to celebrate, I will watch the Snake Whacking episode of the Simpsons. Priceless.

Hatfield said...

But of course the scene in the opening credits where she says, "Miami" is from the pilot, so every episode I get bothered by how weirdly she says it, even though I watched the pilot and the second episode and remember that they dropped it on purpose.

I like logos I get right away. I was gonna say groundskeeper Willie, but he would be both too obvious and at the same time, too Scottish. Alas.

Alan Sepinwall said...

I like logos I get right away

Yeah, this one was not designed to be much of a mystery, what with St. Patrick's Day coming up on Wednesday.

I'll try to stump you guys again next week - and, based on your track record, I will quickly fail.

Unknown said...

I also like ones I get right away--would have loved to see Angel, though (perhaps in place of Father Mulcahy), maybe in one of those horrible wigs they tend to put on him in the flashbacks.

Ah well, I'm just happy to see the Irish represented.

Anonymous said...

Public servants.

(OK, I've never seen whatever show the woman is on. It fits three of the four though. And ties into the real theme, since the Irish have historically been over-represented in public service jobs in the US.)

soap_oprah said...

What, no Willy love?! I guess when it ain't your turn...

Tracey said...

@Miken from Dictionary.com:
Lick
...
4.Informal.
a.to hit or beat, esp. as a punishment; thrash; whip.
b.to overcome or defeat, as in a fight, game, or contest.
c.to outdo or surpass.

I'm not pompous; I'm pedantic. There's a difference. Let me explain it to you...

Jen said...

"You've never heard that expression. It's quite old."

I'm cracking up. Thanks for the laugh!

Anonymous said...

"Bushmills? That's Protestant whiskey!"

Alan Sepinwall said...

And that line alone, as much as Jimmy's love of The Pogues, is why he's in the logo, even though I feel like I lean too heavily on Wire characters to fill out logos.

Pamela Jaye said...

even though I have only listened to two of the podcasts (Men of a Certain age and..something else) I'd like to say thanks for the time stamp thingy. It's helpful. Well, except for my weird inability to tell which of you is which, which makes me have to follow the entire thing. darn. I should be able to tell the difference, but I had the same problem with Ken Levine and his partner. Perhaps it was easier when one of you sounded as if you were down a well.

7s Tim said...

I always thought McNulty had negligible Bal'more ancestry.

And I referenced the Bushmills line in a bar earlier today, so it was nice seeing it mentioned here as well.

Ada-Jean said...

I have issues telling you apart sometimes too. Maybe Alan should try an appalling fake Irish accent?

(And given I'm behind on Lost,love the time indicators)

Matt said...

Matt, we do that. The rundown is both on the NJ.com and Hitfix.com blog posts that stream it, encoded in the description on the RSS feed and in the descriptions that iTunes gets.

Not quite sure how I missed that - thanks!