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
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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.