Saturday, March 6, 2010

Year-long Showers Bring May Flowers

Hellooooo faithful listeners/readers!

You may have noticed that we've been COMPLETELY GONE FROM THE INTERNET for a while (except for Marshall's fantastic music review! Go over to madpodcast.libsyn.com to read it!) Our unofficial hiatus was in no way planned (or made official, until now: We're officially on hiatus!). Seriously, school and colleges devoured our lives and we're just now getting back on our feet. We would have been back about a month ago. We had recorded an episode, and it was AWESOME, and I had it all edited and ready to send to Sarita to add in the music and fancy stuff, AND THEN MY COMPUTER CRASHED. And IT'S STILL CRASHED. So I'm kind of immobile until that gets taken care of.

However, you don't have to wait too (relatively) long! We're coming back in May! We're still working on the official schedule and details, but once it's finalized I'll post it. All you really need to know is that one way or another, we will be back. We will be even better than before; we're doing a lot of revamping - in more ways than one (yaysupersecrets (thatIcan'ttellyouaboutorelseitwon'tcometrue (this show is like its own special wishing well))). So get EXCITED (and yes, I'm rather fond of the capslock today), because it is going to be SPECTACULAR.

- Deborah

Thursday, February 11, 2010

New Music Review!

Hello faithful (and patient) listeners!

If you just can't wait for new MAD content, roll on over to the MAD Podcast website, where there's a new music review!

See you there! :)

~Marshall

Sunday, October 4, 2009

We may not have time to record, but we have time to write!

Hey all!

Yeah, we know we haven't released a new episode in a couple (or a lot of) months. But guess what:

COLLEGE IS DOMINATING OUR LIVES OH MY WORD.
*ahem*

Sooo with everyone's hectic schedules, it's more than difficult to record a show. Trust me, I've tried numerous times to schedule a session, but it's just not very feasible. While we wait for our to-do lists to die down, we'll be using this handy-dandy blog! E.g., today, I'll be writing about the X-Factor.

Yes, we're all American. However, ever since I heard about Britain's Got Talent last Spring (Whoo Diversity!), I've become a bit hooked on British talent shows.

Oooor maybe a bit obsessed. (They're so addictive! What can one do?) As I anxiously await the episode to be aired and then segments posted on YouTube, I've decided to give my predictions for the final 12.

The Boys:
-Joe McElderly. I think overall he has the best vocals of the group and a really good personality. His voice is kind of different, kind of bordering feminine. However, I think his strength makes him able to pull it off.
-Rikki Loney. Okay, he's just pretty darling. Sure he had the whole "I failed last year, but now I'm coming back!" thing going for him (which quite a few contestants had this season...), but he sang when he had just lost his voice and managed to do a fairly decent-ish job. Like Joe, his voice is really different, and I think some people will love it and some people will hate it. I personally want to see more of him.
-Ethan Borian. He was a toss-up. I'm a fan of his voice and really liked his auditioning rendition of "Use Somebody." However, the more songs he sings, the more I think he has a rather limited range. However, Lloyd seems a bit too young, and both he and Duane seem to need a bit more practice. I appreciate what Daniel does, I just don't think it could fly that easily in the pop industry. Maybe Britain's Got Talent? ;)

The Groups:
(Oh dear. I would feel sorry for Louis if he didn't bug me so much with his rudeness that overbears Simon Cowell's.)
-John and Edward. I CAN'T STAND THEM. However, Louis randomly likes them. Because he has the misconception that the public will like them and that he's fought so hard for them, I think he'll take that obnoxious pair of brats.
-Miss Frank. I don't think they're that excellent, but again, I don't think Louis, and the rest of the judging team for that matter, would have let them come back and put them in the final 24 if they weren't prepared to put them in the final 12. It will be interesting, though, to see how they do in the live shows.
-Kandy Rain. I think they have the best vocals, chemistry, and gave the best performances of all the groups. It's as simple as that.

The Overs:
(Okay, Simon has got it tough. THEY WERE ALL SO GOOD. But here's my (really-difficult-to-make) predictions.
-Daniel Pearce. Like Simon said, he gave it one million percent, and I would be really sad to see him go. His voice is a bit static, but he can still sing really well.
-Nicole Lawrence. Like Rikki, she's just darling. She's polite and cool yet has so much spark when she sings. I love her and would love to see her continue.
-Jamie Archer. Yeah, I'm just a really big fan of him. As much as I would love to see Danyl Johnson continue, he just can't seem to deliver a performance as good as his first audition, and I think instead we're getting a glimpse of his vocal flaws. Which is really a shame, because he had been my favorite.

The Girls:
-Stacey Solomon. She's got the voice and the personality. She has a really earthy, strong voice and she can pull off quite a few types of songs. She's also absolutely adorable and funny.
-Lucie Jones. I think she's good, but she could be better. I know Dannii and the rest of the public love her though, so I think she'll make it.
-I have no idea. I kind of want Nicole Jackson to go through because I really like her voice, but 1) She did get really lost during her last performance and 2) The producers haven't put her in anywhere else in the show. Keep in mind, the final 12 are preparing for the live shows now, and they've been chosen for a while. The editors and producers have to focus on them for the beginning of the season to showcase the talent and prepare the audiences to vote. Maybe Rachel Adedji will get it?

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, go watch the clips on youtube! It's really addictive, and in the good way - not like Twilight.

I might write a post after the 12 are announced, depending on how different they are from my predictions and how much I've read of my Psychology homework :) Later!

-Deborah

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Oh, hello again, delays. It hasn't been a while.

A month or so ago, we recorded an episode about the Star Trek movie. It was a great discussion with parallels and explanations of black holes. Then 3/5 of the hosts' Audacity failed, and they had to rerecord their individual audio once everything else was put together. Since I'm one of the 2/5 whose Audacity didn't fail, I don't know the status of that episode's editing. I do know, however, that Sarita, our trusty editor, is out of town, and will be for at least 2-3 weeks. While the rest of us can record episodes and even edit the segments, we don't have the program that can put the music in and string everything together, plus it's Sarita's computer that can properly get everything on iTunes. Sooo it'll be a while. Again. It doesn't help that whenever we schedule a recording, something comes up for someone and we have to postpone it. Terribly sorry for the constant delays.

-Deborah

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Book Themes

Summer is well under way--and that means more time for reading! So remember that if you're behind on the MAD Book Challenge, now is the time to catch up. Last month was a nice and easy Choose-Your-Own-Themes month, while we were all doing our final exams--but now it's time to get down to business.

With that in mind, here are the themes for the next couple weeks, starting tomorrow:

  • July 6-12: TRILOGY WEEK
    For a couple of years now, I've had this tradition of reading Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy at the beginning of July. Anyone who wants to read along with me gets bonus points--however, feel free to read any trilogy.
  • July 13-19: HARRY POTTER WEEK
    In honor of the 6th HP movie, which comes out on the 15th, I've set aside a whole week for Harry Potter! 10 bonus points if you read Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (I'll be rereading it for the squigajillionth time, in anticipation of the movie).

    ONE MILLION TRILLION SQUIGAJILLION BONUS POINTS and my eternal respect and admiration to anyone who reads the entire series in just seven days. If you do this, you deserve a medal. It's very much possible--none of the books took me more than a day to read--but absolutely ludicrous. If you manage this, please, please email in at themadpodcast@gmail.com and tell us how awesome you are.
  • July 20-26: CHRISTMAS IN JULY WEEK
    Read a Christmas novel! I know, I know--you're probably wincing. Ugh--it's all learning lessons and sappy family get-together stuff. If you're not too happy with this theme, allow me to recommend three awesome Christmas novels: Let It Snow, a collection of three stories by Marueen Johnson, John Green and Lauren Myracle, respectively (worth it if only for John Green's story, although I'll admit that this one is a bit sappy); The Stupidest Angel by Christopher Moore (not sappy in the slightest--it involves a Christmas miracle gone wrong, and a legion of holiday zombies. And it is exactly as hilarious as that sounds); and Hogfather by the always funny Terry Pratchett (in which Santa Claus mysteriously disappears and Death takes over the job). Bonus Points for reading any of those three.
  • July 27-August 2: MUSIC WEEK
    For it to be considered "about music", the plot must not make sense if music is removed. Example: Terry Pratchett's Soul Music. It can be about a musician or band, or someone whose life is changed by music, or... Doesn't matter. Bonus Points if it involves violins :)

There you have it--you're all set for the next month. I just finished Robert Louis Stevenson's Kidnapped, which was my 52nd book, making me an official MAD Book Challenge winner. When you cross the finish line, email in and tell us!

Happy reading!

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Episode 11 Information

Hey all,
Below are the links to the exact Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince trailers that we used for the commentaries in Episode 11. We only commented on trailers 1 and 4, but the 2nd and 3rd trailers that we merely discussed are listed for your convenience.

Trailer #1 (commentary & discussion)

Trailer #2 (discussion only)

Trailer #3 (discussion only)

Trailer #4 (commentary & discussion)

Also, another change of plans, our next episode will now be discussing the lasted Star Trek film, since the majority of us have seen it. After that, we'll most likely discuss The Series of Unfortunate Events and Paper Towns. However, knowing how often we change our schedule, I'm not promising anything.

-Deborah

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

And the Great Proctors said, "Let the AP exams be over." And they were. And it was good.

Today we took the AP English Language Exam.
It was fantastic.
Sure the multiple choice readings were surprisingly interesting, and I think we all feel confident in our essays, but the best part was keeping our student packs that are needed for every exam. Once you have no exams left, you keep your pack. That's right, the MADers are done with their AP exams!
We have nine days of classes before finals start, and then school is over. It is then that we will finally have time to record a new episode, Sarita will have time to edit it, and we will all have time to celebrate the return of the podcast.
We're brainstorming ways to make he show more creative and interesting, as well as getting the word out about the show, so if there's a segment or something you'd like for us to do or you have an idea, leave it in comments or email it to us.
We also created a Twitter! http://twitter.com/themadpodcast (Who says usernames can be too repetitive?) Follow us!
It's time for me to roll on out, so as always, email us (themadpodcast@gmail.com), check out the vlogs (www.youtube.com/themadpodcast), and look out for a new episode around the week of June 13th!

-Deborah