On the News
April 18th, 2008Heather and I were asked to participate in a roundtable discussion with a local news show On the Record with Chris Vanocur. Link to our show is here.
I’d just leave it at that, but there are some issues. The technical issues are that the show runs long enough that the ad reloader on the video page will kill the program. Note to abc4.com devs: On pages with video longer than a few minutes, you might want to kill the force reloader script. It makes it super annoying when you want to watch a long show to have the page do a force reload so that a new ad below the video can be seen. Lame. Also, dayport video player techs, it would be nice to show a progress bar (see every other major video player online) so I can get back to where I was after being nuked by bad ad scripts. Usability, people. Brightcove does a much better job with its player… To be fair, the embed version shows a progress bar, but the player on the story page does not.
Personal notes:
1) I did an extremely short hand history of blogging which will likely be taken to task. I ask the reader to forgive me for not doing a better, more thorough job in 9 seconds of giving credit to those who had blogs before Blogger started in 1999. I am aware that people were doing it well before 1999. I used to read Justin Hall and Dave Winer back in the day.
2) “Best” of Utah blogs is likely shortchanging a boatload of other great sites. I’ll be wrestling Chris Vanocur in a TV time limit, no-holds barred cage match at a future date.
3) My gesturing is problematic.
4) It might be time for voice lessons.
5) This show has a wide range of topics and personalities. It’s not MTV, so cut some slack to the host if he seems newsy. That’s his job. Also, something that still is an issue is that blogging is not something that everybody knows everything about. My comments around being in the beginning are relative to that notion. And relative to your mom.
[video pulled to make life easier and quieter. Dayport, get your business together. NO autostart on embed, you goofs! Brightcove is cleaning your clock and your other areas!]
Be nice in the comments and thanks for coming. o
Tags: abc4, blogging, blurb, dooce, heather, local news, me, nerd pants
-
This entry was posted on Friday, April 18th, 2008 at 10:58 am and is filed under media, personal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed. Please read the Terms of Service before leaving a response.
April 18th, 2008 at 11:20 am
Oddly enough I found his newsy-personality quite endearing. I really liked the interview! And I took great pleasure in realizing for the first time EVER that Heather is a bit country, huh?
You guys are great.
April 18th, 2008 at 11:22 am
Wow. ABC4 has serious technical issues with video. Seriously… WTF?
Great job both of you!
On a side note…
Would you be willing to teach me about the XML that Wordpress generates? I have an idea for a project but I want to learn more about it first.
April 18th, 2008 at 11:24 am
I’m more drawn to the video directly under the roundtable video.
“Sandy police arrest teens who cooked feces in convenience store microwave”
April 18th, 2008 at 11:36 am
You guys are so cute! It was nice to see two of my favourite bloggers speaking!
April 18th, 2008 at 11:42 am
To quote a Smiths song, Jon, you Oscillate Wildly. There was one point right before the second commercial break where you were really going at it! Talking with your hands could never be problematic… how else would I have known what you meant about the Terminator screen if you hadn’t run your finger up and down a few times?
I don’t quite believe that Vanocur really bookmarked your sites but perhaps it’s his newsiness in general that adds to the subterfuge. In any case, it was great to see you guys!
April 18th, 2008 at 11:52 am
I’m watching the vid now but I just have to say, isn’t everything relevant to your mom? Yeah, thought so
April 18th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Voice lessons for whom? I think we know it’s not you. As for gestures, are you sure you’re not Italian, or as Heather must say it, EYEtalian.
April 18th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
You guys are such rock stars!
I only wish you’d brought a picture of Chuck balancing something on his head. Then again, he would have upstaged everyone and thrown the whole interview off balance, so it’s probably for the best.
(My only “note”: Heather, please sit up straight; you’re a tall, willowy goddess– wear it proudly!)
And I had to double-check to be certain, but Chris Vanocur is the fabulous Sander Vanocur’s son. VERY cool heritage.
Congrats all around on the coverage!
April 18th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
I watched part of this on Heather’s site a second ago, but haven’t seen it all yet. So far so good. Also, wow. Sarah Nielsen really did have that guy wrapped around her seductive finger.
Sarah, lowering eyelids and speaking in a low, sultry voice: You should try it.
Chris, stifling a little erection: Mmmmm. I’ve actually done a couple. (and would like to do you)
April 18th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
What people tend to forget when they see themselves are that the voice they hear themselves speaking in, doesn’t resemble what they sound like. Recently Renee Zellwegger was unhappy with the Tracy Ullman impersonation of herself; forgetting that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but more important is the realization that you have to have a personality to begin with for someone to satirize. I found the gestures made you more playful and less geek. Heather was really pretty when she smiled. Your hair would look great longer on top (yeah, not in fashion, too bad.) What was funny was the groping comment how it freaked him out, but at the same time it was funny that Heather started talking about making money out of your bedroom and that seemed to be totally ignored. Was that on purpose? The part about making money and instead of saying at your desk, or computer she said bedroom to see what would happen?
April 18th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
hi jon,
just watched the entire show…on your site. thanks for the post. i find it interesting how some people end up so different in person than their blog personalities. it may have something to do with a camera staring directly at you. we all do it, but it’s kind of like meeting one of your favorite bands in person, and realizing they are not on the pedestal where you have held them. NOT that you guys are anything but cool and nice. i enjoyed the juxtaposition of your blog faces to your real voices. thanks for keeping it so real out there.
ps. got a pair of those KOSS earbuds. not bad. they hurt after awhile but probably just need to get used to them.
April 18th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
Best moment so far:
“They were talking about the Drudge Report.”
“Huh. Interesting.”
(Awkward pause).
April 18th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Well done on not actually saying out load “Matt Drudge is a flaming douche”. We all knew that’s what was screaming behind your eyelids, but very impressive on not saying it!
April 18th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
Of course I meant “loud” instead of “load”, although “load” seems to fit very well when discussing Drudge.
April 18th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
I agree - funniest was the drudge exchange. Think he’ll link to the show?
Great interview - and Ms. Nielson is going to get quite the boost in her readership, think?
April 18th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
Wow, he was really, really dry. Kind of painfully dry, actually. But he seemed like a nice guy (except for how hard he was crushing on Sarah… that was kind of creepy).
I wouldn’t worry too much about your abbreviated history of blogging. I thought you did the best you could with the time you had.
Anyway, great interview.
April 18th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
OK, you guys ROCK. You did great Jon. Heather is right, you are a hottie. Your wife isn’t bad either. Congrats. Your fans love you!!!!
April 18th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
I loved watching this - man, you’re techy Jon, but also way down to earth .. nice!
You and Heather make an awesome team!
Oh, and Jon, in case you don’t read it a couple hundred times already in Dooce’s comments, you’re HAWT. (and of course, so is your wife!)
thanks for sharing that lovely video!
April 18th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
Nerd pants!
I have a new favorite expression.
April 18th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
Cool to see you and Heather live, as it were. I’m so glad I “knew” you and Heather before you became the media moguls you’re apparently growing into, and can bask in the reflected glory - at least to all my friends who have to listen to me talking about the Armstrongs as if I had something to do with your success. And congratulations on that success, by the way! I can’t wait to see what comes next.
And did you write some kind of product placement deal into the interview agreement? It looks like Apple should be paying either you or *On the Record* for all those beauty shots of the logo.
April 18th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
You guys rock my world.
April 18th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
This was really cool to see. You’re a very good speaker, and I completely understood what you were talking about.
I liked this more than seeing Heather on ABC before, because you all got to actually speak full sentences and didn’t have to try and fit your entire persona into 20 seconds of speech.
April 18th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
You PLAYA!
The hands are cute, very earnest.
I’m a longtime fan of the blurbdoocery, and I hope this wild ride brings all good things to the Armstrongs.
April 18th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
Love it! And the fact we get to share this wonderful state with all of you, just might make me like Utah again. I should however apologize in advance for posting just yesterday that I have a blog crush on your dear wife….Keep the entertainment and amazing photos coming.
April 18th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
hey - all of you did a great job!
April 18th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Haven’t watched it yet. My complaint is the media player starts immediately in Firefox. I don’t get to click play, I just have to start hunting through my open tabs until I find the lame ass player that is cluttering up my soundscape with something I didn’t press play on yet.
April 18th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
Do not say one more negative thing about yourself. I watched on Heather’s site first and agreed with her that you were hot. However, since I am probably 20 years older than you and would not want it to get creepy for you…..I will tell you instead……that you were very charming.”
April 18th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
Two and a half years since you quite your job and went full time? Has it really been that long? I have been reading since before you quit. It sure doesn’t seem that long.
April 18th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
re: Joel - the word that comes to my mind is iTalian.
From the nerd side, it’s always funny to hear self-described “luddites” trying to understand blogs. I didn’t realize that it took much understanding.
April 18th, 2008 at 4:11 pm
Great show guys. I didn’t mind the host myself (could have been worse. It could have been Nancy Grace) but you guys rocked. Loved the part where about groping. If I had a dime for every time I was groped by my husband, I could quit my job.
April 18th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
I was a little frighten while listening to this when I got a little turned on.
It’s all the geek talk I think.
You sound like my husband…just change up a few words and make them all about Revit and it all makes sense.
Thanks for the daily enjoyment.
April 18th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
I disagree about the gesturing and the need for voice lessons.
Perhaps there is a corollary to the “camera adds ten pounds adage” - namely, that for tall people, the camera makes the limbs look longer, and thus exaggerates the effects of normal hand gesturing.
There’s no excuse for my run-on sentences, unfortunately.
April 18th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
nobody likes how they look or sound. You sounded great and you looked good.
now, try it with the sound off… the eye contact and gesturing (shoulders flinching up on the Nielson chick) is even more pronouned. trippy….
April 18th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
i could only watch a few minutes. after reading dooce for seven or eight years (something like that) i can’t hear / see you guys without being completely freaked out at how different you sound in my head.
i’m sure you were both brilliant though.
April 18th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
Blurb, you wear the awesomest Nerd-Pants EVER!!
April 18th, 2008 at 5:49 pm
Is it possible to kill the auto-play?
April 18th, 2008 at 5:56 pm
both of you are hot
your hands are not a problem
all the best to both of you
you make my day
April 18th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
It’s not just that ABC. Most ABC stations across the country recently adopted a standard web template. The ad reload f’in up the video issue happens at all of them. Classy. Way to test, no test.
April 18th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
Jon, it may be a back-handed compliment, but your personality is much less stiff than I had imagined — voice, gesturing, etc., is all camera presence that you’ve picked up along the way. Nope, you were bright and charming and I’ve got a man crush on you. Good job.
Going for two-fers here…Thanks for supporting local. It’s easy to bag on this state/city/demographic, and sometimes I wince when you do. Heather gets a laugh without cutting so deeply, and laughs are always in short supply, so balance is sweet. I like living here, and I like visiting blurbomat. And, yes, as citizens of this silly joint we’ve got our work cut out for us.
April 18th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
You guys are great. DO NOT get voice lessons!
April 18th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
Loved seeing this.
I understand Heather wants John Laroquette (sp?) to play you in a movie presumably about your lives. I think a much better choice would be Jon Favreau - minus 50 pounds and with some hair. If he shaped up - he’d be the guy.
One of the things we do where I work is “media train” people out of their gestures. We all have them and yours are not a big deal. We are our own worst critics. You two looked/sounded great!
April 18th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
I watched the whole thing because it’s always a kick to see and hear the people you read. It was great to hear your accents!
The host’s inherent repressive personality and lack of knowledge about blogging…like man, what century is he in and are there really still people out there who haven’t discovered the Internet? (my take on him) was a tad frustrating at times. But then …blogging 101 people. There’s still space for that.
You were pleasant, polite and seemed a little amused by it all. It was great that you brought along some photos.
Did I detect a slight endearing lisp in Jon’s speech?
April 18th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
Great interview! I like the hand gestures!
April 18th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
Oh and thanks for the shoutout to Australia! I know y’all were thinking about me, the poor displaced Texan living in Australia.
And Yes I lost count after 7 hand gestures, but I think it’s endearing, and I think may do the same, though without being on Television I don’t know.
It’s great seeing y’all together on the show!
Very neat, and can’t wait to read Heather’s book!
Like 88 said, I have blog crushes on both Heather and you! Both insanely creative people that love liquor.
April 18th, 2008 at 7:56 pm
who knew jon had a blog. not me. and now i have a way to “waste” 5 more minutes every day. thanks for that
and you two are like the brangelina of the blog. wanna squeeze all 4 of your cheeks.
April 18th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
I don’t think I’ve ever commented, but I’ve been reading you both for several years now. Your voices and gestures are much different in my head!
Two best parts?
The pregnant pause after the mention of the Drudge report and the entirety of the groping part!
April 18th, 2008 at 9:34 pm
You Armstrongs rock!
April 18th, 2008 at 10:39 pm
Seriously, you guys are far too cute. The host was adorable. I loved the interview.
April 18th, 2008 at 11:20 pm
I will ditto that. You were great! It was nice to see an interview that wasn’t just sound bites.
April 19th, 2008 at 1:10 am
That was alot of fun to watch! You both did great in a slightly awkward setting!
4 million page views a month! Jiminy Joseph!!
April 19th, 2008 at 3:39 am
Charming, adorable, intelligent, modest, NOT “elitist”, informative and sooooo good to see/hear you! I think you did great on the show! Heather is very lucky to have you! I liked how comfortable you both seem with each other.
P.S. I’ve never commented on a BLOG before so if I sound dumb, please forgive my sorry old ass
April 19th, 2008 at 7:40 am
You did so well! Are you a Toastmasters alum? Because seriously, all I saw was a very well-spoken person who very diplomatically taught Utah a thing or two about blogs. You both were so polite and down to earth, too. I’ve seen interviews with too many bloggers who are just utter snobs.
April 19th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
Yay, nerd pants! It was a really great interview. The hand gestures were fine.
There’s more FLDS stuff up on Orcinus including a review of the book The Secret Lives of Saints.
http://dneiwert.blogspot.com/2008/04/secret-lives-of-saints.html
April 19th, 2008 at 4:15 pm
I thought your abbreviated history of blogging was quite succinct and made perfect sense. First it was a nerd thing. Now it is an everybody thing. THAT IS HOW EVERYTHING HAPPENS IN LIFE. ^___^
You guys did a great job.
April 19th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
You were all fantastic! And Jon, your voice and gesturing were fine! This was great to see! Thanks for sharing your lives with the world.
April 19th, 2008 at 8:45 pm
i have such a blog crush on you both.
first of all, loved the video though the host was a little…awkward? yeah, let’s go with that.
second, i always forget about Heather’s accent for some reason…it is so damn cute.
so yes, good job all around and thanks for sharing.
April 19th, 2008 at 11:25 pm
Jon,
It was nice to see you and Heather and hear your voices. Don’t be so self conscious; you guys were great. Heather, I pre-ordered the book.
Scott
April 20th, 2008 at 1:45 am
Is it me, or does the host sound like the rabbi Elaine goes to on Seinfeld?
April 20th, 2008 at 4:26 am
Another vote for a great show! You all looked more comfortable than I expected and from my perspective as a relatively new blogger - gave a great Blogger101 for those who had no idea what it is about.
It was fun to watch and also as others have said - to see the people behind the blog beyond the written word.
April 20th, 2008 at 8:10 am
Good job, Jon!! You didn’t seem nervous at all and I thought you and Heather were fantastic!
Jamie
April 20th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
No, no, the gestures were great! I too admired your restraint to the mention of the Drudge. Uh…. lol And the “nerd pants,” yes. My husband wears the nerd pants in our house too. Geek on.
April 20th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
Oh Jon, since my husband brings the geek to our house, and I really like him, I just find you endearing. As I am sure Heather did.
The hands rocked.
April 20th, 2008 at 6:40 pm
Really interesting! Learned a lot more about the history of this site which was really cool. Also like how you fit “playa” into the conversation…fantastic! And the tag “nerd pants” rocks. You are way too hard on yourself, I thought you did well.
April 20th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
Loved the hands–especially when you did the Terminator thing. That was great.
April 20th, 2008 at 9:25 pm
I’m purposefully not watching due to the fact that I’m afraid your actual voices will mess up the voice I hear in my head when I read your blog. What if your voices are weird and then I can never read your blogs again? What if they are in direct contrast with the voices in my head? What if the voice in my head and your voice get in a throw -down in my brain? I don’t know - it doesn’t seem right hearing the people who blog. I thought we were all voiceless, faceless beings? You mean were not? Damn!!
April 21st, 2008 at 8:10 am
I’ve watched it again now.
New theory about Chris and Sarah…They had a hot, sultry and completely inappropriate night of passion 3 months ago, but Chris didn’t call…fast forward…his editor tells him he’s going to be interviewing her, he freaks out mentally. Sarah’s determined to show him what he’s missing (i.e. sultry voice, bedroom eyes - whatever weirdo sex-kitten stuffs she was doing to him when the camera wasn’t on her). It works, he’s putty in her hands. He has no intention of a relationship, but he knows without a shadow of a doubt they are going to do it in his dressing room IMMEDIATELY after the show.. He can’t wait to get finished with the interview. Afraid that someone might notice his urgency, he speaks RIDICULOUSLY slow throughout the interview and even lets Jon take over a few times. He struggles to stick to his questions, despite the fact that he’s too distracted to listen to the answers. There’s no hiding the passionate impatience in their gazes. All of this drama culminates into what is most likely the most awkward situation (for Jon, Heather and us) in the history of the entire world..
I’m going to write a letter begging Conan to highlight this. I honestly don’t know how you two kept a straight face. I would have gotten a serious case of the funeral giggles.
April 21st, 2008 at 8:52 am
Jon, you and Heather did a great job, its always fun to actually watch you two after reading both your blogs for so many years.
Watching Sarah though, I thought she didn’t have much personality, went to her blog and read a few month’s worth of her writing, wasn’t much impressed. I don’t understand how she got on that show, surely there are better writers in Utah.
You guys are the best!
April 21st, 2008 at 9:27 am
Great interview guys! You both are so cute, it’s almost criminal. And well-spoken of course
I wouldn’t notice the gesturing if you wouldn’t mention it. Maybe b/c I suffer from the same affliction. I gesture through conversations on the phone.
April 21st, 2008 at 10:11 am
Watched the video yesterday. Excellent! Now I have voices to go with your faces.
For learning to speak in public, I recommend joining a Toastmasters group. You learn to relax, use your hands appropriately and to not use “um, ah, and, so, you know” as filler words.
April 21st, 2008 at 10:17 am
Loved the interview, thanks for sharing it!!! Of the 120 million bloggers out there I love your two blogs so much. Your honest writings have helped so many! Your daughter will be so proud of you both when she is old enough to appreciate what you do for a living!!!
You mentioned the on line loft reality website We Live on Line”. Have you ever thought about having a webcam? Like a “Chuck-cam” maybe”? The most hilarious part of We Live on Line had to be the Potty cam, if you watched………
I loved hearing your real voices and seeing you both “live”; great job!!!
Thank you!
April 21st, 2008 at 10:39 am
I loved getting to see you guys! I’ve been hooked on Dooce because I SO relate and laugh out loud when I read it. I didn’t realize you had a site too but I’m glad to have found it. And Heather is correct when she said you looked hot! I enjoy knowing you guys online! Nice work!
April 21st, 2008 at 11:25 am
I thought it was good.. and Heather is right.. You look hot!
April 21st, 2008 at 11:40 am
Thought you did a great job answering questions. Very easy to understand and you explained things very well. Speaking is one of your strong points.
April 21st, 2008 at 4:05 pm
This sort of meets the “be nice in the comments” qualification, because it’s a very nice print. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=10986980 Nice job! Hurray for You and F@#k Them, lol
April 21st, 2008 at 4:41 pm
Do you think the host went home and wrote of his imaginary torrid affair with Sarah in his Hello Kitty diary that night, and while locking it up with it’s little key wished that he too had a blog? Oh, and I proudly wear the “nerd pants” in my family. My husband is constantly running in to ask me to fix mundane shit on his laptop, generally after hitting something just to see what it does. I keep him around because he, like you, has gravity defying hair.
April 21st, 2008 at 8:15 pm
I thought you guys did great. My only complaint at all is about the player, as you mentioned. I wanted to hurt it.
Good show!
April 22nd, 2008 at 11:08 am
I think you did a great job with the time limit you were given each time VanWhatever asked you a question. Honestly, I thought you sort of got the short shrift regarding your blog and, more specifically, your photography.
April 23rd, 2008 at 4:53 pm
Jon, I mentioned this on Heather’s website, but I thought it would be worth it to say again here, since it’s directed at both of you.
It’s really sweet how flustered you both were, and you are awfully normal for celebrities. High entertainment.