Yes, I was doing “Wait Wait” again last night. Yes, I again flew in from Chicago this morning after a couple too many post-show drinks. And again, the combination of air travel and alcohol have rendered my body about as moisture-rich as your average 7,000 year-old mummy.
Is this routine getting old? Not to me. The staff of the Chicago Hyatt might have other opinions.
Hey, before I take a nap and a saline IV, guess what? “Wait Wait” is now available as a podcast! And it seems that in one short week we’ve become the third most popular podcast over at the iTunes Music Store. Both the geeky part of me and the vain part of me are immensely pleased at this. Longtime readers will note that this means that about 99% of Adam Felber is now immensely pleased.
So go, subscribe to the podcast. Or hang around here and debate what the other 1% is. [Hint: It rhymes with “Fakers’ Park.”]
Fanny Roborat
55 comments
Murray
February 10, 2006 at 8:36 pm
1Bakers Snark?
So now I have to go out and buy an Ipod. Then I have to get my kids to show me how it works.
Say Adam, are you going to be at the WWDTM in Washington?
Lakers Bark?
Doug
February 10, 2006 at 8:49 pm
2Err, Quakers’ quark?
The Friends’ favorite subatomic particle?
ginny
February 10, 2006 at 8:56 pm
3Podcast? PODCAST? Yippeeee!!!
(because sometimes we actually have to get things done Chez Gique of a Saturday morning, not loll around eating bonbons and drinking coffee in bed)
Adam Felber
February 10, 2006 at 9:11 pm
4Murray -
Not sure about washington, but I am sure about this:
You don’t need a pod for the podcast (though it helps…). Just download iTunes, subscribe to the podcast, and behold! You can now listen to WWDTM on your computer whenever you want.
How is that better than the streaming audio? Well, start playing the show, and then click on “Visualizer.” You’ll see Carl in a whole new psychedelic way.
Steve
February 10, 2006 at 9:43 pm
5Yaaaaaay!
Actually, you don’t need iTunes, either (and, if you’re on a Linux system, it’s not available).
Check out Pubcatcher:
http://pubcatcher.org/help/
There used to be a Linux version but it seems to have disappeared.
If you’re mildly clever or highly perverse and can parse XML, you can snarf the podcasts directly. That’s what I do, but I’m a geek.
Emmarie
February 10, 2006 at 10:03 pm
6WWDTM with iTunes visualizer. I never did quite think of it that way.
Jim
February 10, 2006 at 10:13 pm
7Actually Adam, I’m more curious about the ratio of vanity to geekiness than I am about the one percent of shaker’s lark.
Chris B
February 10, 2006 at 10:15 pm
8I’m strangely pleased that the podcasts officially started the week that I was on the show. Needless to say that’s a keeper
tess
February 10, 2006 at 10:24 pm
9Please be freeeeeeee!
historyenne
February 10, 2006 at 10:36 pm
10Only 1%? You can’t be annoying the Hyatt staff that much if it’s only 1%.
cooper
February 10, 2006 at 11:19 pm
11Okay, I know we’re having fun here and all, but I wonder if anyone else saw this story today. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060211/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_abramoff_2
Of course, Bush says he doesn’t know the guy. So once again we ask, “Is he stupid or is he lying?” or both?
Also in another unrelated item, now that H5N1 Bird flu has shown up in Africa, it’s just a matter of time now. Since many African countries do not have competent, functioning governments to get on top of the outbreak and the health care situation is bleak at best, we can pretty much look at Africa as being the Devil’s own petri dish when it comes to new and exotic diseases. The migratory fowl fly next to Europe in a few weeks. This could wind up being nothing or something quite significant in human history. Stay tuned.
Now back to the fun. One percent Noah’s Ark?
Maximum Bob
February 10, 2006 at 11:51 pm
12That iTunes visualizer really adds to the show. But why is Carl wearing a hat?
Julia
February 10, 2006 at 11:52 pm
13If you listen in bed with morning coffee is it Waker’s Lark?
bri
February 11, 2006 at 12:08 am
14DOH
I got it!
another David
February 11, 2006 at 12:08 am
15Maybe he has a rather high BAC after all those drinks.
Bob
February 11, 2006 at 12:18 am
16Yay for the pod cast. Unfortunately, my 2.5 and 4 year olds prefer Green Day and the Beatles to the dulcet tones of Adam, Peter, and company, and they yell loudly if I try to listen to Wait Wait. Now I can listen on the drive to work Monday morning instead.
Yay!
now if you could just put up the unedited versions as well …
Bob
David
February 11, 2006 at 1:17 pm
17Doug,
Quakers’ Quark, the Friends’ favorite subatomic particle - my Philadelphia father wants to know where to get some. He also wants to know if it can only be consumed straight up, or can one pour it over ice without tearing a hole in the space-time continuum.
ginny
February 11, 2006 at 1:33 pm
18Would you like to smoke some Dutch Cleanser along with that Faker’s Fark?
Oh, go on, you don’t have to inhale. All the cool humorists are doing it.
Doug
February 11, 2006 at 1:42 pm
19David,
These are very good, but fundamentally unanswerable, questions. The very act of observing influences the outcome. Partially because QQ is served in such very small shots.
On a related note, are you familiar with the infamous “Felber’s Cat” experiment?
A cat is locked in an opaque box with a glass of bourbon, listening to a podcast which could be either FOX or NPR, depending on decay state of a radioactive nucleus…
hedera
February 11, 2006 at 4:32 pm
20Going back to cooper’s comment about H5N1 bird flu: I saw the article about the 2 cases in Nigeria. If that disease has mutated for person-to-person transmission, instead of bird-to-person, it’s going to go through what passes for the public health system in Africa like a dose of salts, substantially aided by the high percentage of Africans who are HIV positive and therefore less able to resist other diseases…
Are we (collectively) going to try to do something about it, or do we just accept it as (a) survival of the fittest, or (b) God’s will (pick your dogma)? The question, I’m afraid, is rhetorical: as other people have pointed out, failing to decide on a course of action is a course of action in itself.
Chuggo
February 11, 2006 at 4:42 pm
21I’m just trying to wade through the February fund drive here in chilly MN just to hear WWDTM. I’m far too cheap to subscribe to something. Lurking like I do seems to fill my needs. Keep ‘em coming Adam.
David
February 11, 2006 at 4:49 pm
22ginny,
Much gratitude from a non-select subscriber for the link to the Rippin’ Redhead’s parting of the orange curtain.
Doug,
No, I didn’t know about the “Felber’s Cat” experiment, but I think I have our cat talked into attempting to replicate it (she does want to substitute Yukon Jack). Doesn’t it depend on Adam’s Fox foray being podcast, or does the opaque box time-jump, while simultaneously seizing the broadcast signal as if it were a podcast? Does George Fox’s admonition apply in any way? As you can see, I got the Dutch Cleanser lit.
R. Rococo
February 11, 2006 at 5:48 pm
23H5N1 looks pretty spooky to me - with a 50% kill rate. Thank goodness for Tamiflu; I know it’s in short supply & not everyone can get it, but with this Administration, it’s who you know, not what you know. It just so happens I met a guy about 8 months ago who works for the government, pretty high up I think. Let’s see, I know I’ve got his card somewhere… Anyway, I helped him cure a “rash” he didn’t want to explain to the little woman. He seemed awfully relieved and grateful. He said he would come through for me if I ever needed anything and I’m thinking - enough Tamiflu for all Felbernauts and immediate families. He could probably swing that. His card’s in here somewhere, I know it is…Nope… Nope.. No, that guy was the IRS audit. Nope… Oh! Good, he’s even with the Department of Homeland Security.! I forgot that! What luck!!! Look, I’ll just give him a call and get right back to you. Let’s see here… Michael D. Brown… Okay, this should be a piece of cake. I’m just glad I can help you guys!
Dang in Mpls.
February 11, 2006 at 6:25 pm
24Comic gold!
Adam, come on…Nigerian computer scams and Nigerian bird flu? It’s a joke that writes itself! Well, OK, it doesn’t write itself for me, but I know you can put it together. What’s funnier than pandemic disease and electronic fraud?
D
cooper
February 11, 2006 at 6:36 pm
25A picture’s worth a thousand words. Maybe this will help jog W’s coke-crippled memory. Maybe…
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1158908,00.html?cnn=yes
Doug
February 11, 2006 at 6:43 pm
26David,
My understanding is that, under the laws of classical physics, Adam would not be able to exist simultaneously in both the NPR and FOX states. And even in quantum physics, the only way to maintain such a superposition of two wavefunctions is to exclude any observer (counterproductive for most performers).
Naturally then, Dr. Franklin (”Adam”) Felber had to find a new interpretation of Einstein’s gravitational field equation.
Remember his early closemouthedness about the new show? Well, we now know that revealing the other show would have prematurely implied the existence of a major physics breakthrough.
Ripped from Nick Dangers' Diary
February 11, 2006 at 7:09 pm
27It was a close and muggy day. There had been 6 muggings in the lobby since dawn. I, wisely kept to my office…
“There’s more than a few dozen photos of Abramoff and Bush out there and the White House can’t possibly believe they can get them all. Why, I’ve got two right here and I’m just a 2-bit gum shoe. - Ooooh! Someone should tell the President that hot tubs, middle age, and Speedos don’t mix.”
…when there came a sudden beating at my door!
“Yeah? Come in. Oh G-men, huh? You’re not so tough! Hey! Hey! Save the rough stuff for your boyfriends, flatfoot! What? No, I don’t think I can fly. That’s a dumb question. Hey, what are you doing over there? Ha! Good luck with that window, big guy, it hasn’t been opened in twenty years. Whoa, your strong! Hey! Hey!! What are you doing? Hey! Put me down! No, on second thought, don’t let me goooooooooooooooooooooooooo…”
We’ll be right back with the Further Adventures of Nick Danger, Third Eye, after these words from Loostener’s Castor Oil Flakes - Now with real GlycerineVibrafoam!
cooper
February 11, 2006 at 7:28 pm
28What? No wormhole required? Amazing. And on Valentine’s Day, too. What a romantic!
cooper
February 11, 2006 at 7:56 pm
29Since we seemed to have formed a geek corner over here, away from the hilarity of the rest of the blog, let me point out that Steve Fosset broke the record for longest flight today, landing a little short of the intended airport due to an electrical anomaly.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/02/11/fossett.flight.ap/index.html
Pretty impressive for an old guy.
BTW Adam, good game today on WWDTM. Eight out of eight in the lightning round. The boy knows his news!
Doug
February 11, 2006 at 8:50 pm
30…a geek corner over here, away from the hilarity of the rest of the blog…
I’m hoping geekiness is topical today; I’m taking license from Adam’s reference to his immensely pleased geeky part (and, of course, from his physics conference presentation next week).
In a similar vein, let me point out that February 12 is Darwin Day.
cooper
February 11, 2006 at 8:56 pm
31Damn, Darwin Day is tomorrow and I don’t even have a card! Thanks for the heads up, Doug. Listen, a “Pentium” pocket protector would be an appropriate gift for certain someone, don’t you think?
Doug
February 11, 2006 at 9:45 pm
32Pocket protectors are always appropriate (and some might argue that they are a natural selection for Darwin Day).
With respect to Darwin Day, I’d like to thank David for his comment in the Intelligence for Dummies posting last year:
Can we put stickers in all the Bibles in Cobb County that say, “Biblical creationism is just a belief. Consider the possibility that Darwin might have been on to something.”?
I’ve been shamelessly using this (unattributedly) ever since.
cooper
February 11, 2006 at 10:47 pm
33(and some might argue that they are a natural selection for Darwin Day)
Yes, indeed, some might. The Instant Geek Package makes for a truly amazing transformation. I highly recommend it!
Harold
February 11, 2006 at 10:54 pm
34R. Rococo, I was briefly confused as to why you were saying that the Home Shopping Network looked pretty spooky to you, with a 50% kill rate. Then I realized I was reading the “5″ in “H5N1″ as an “S”. (My astigmatism made me miss the “1″.)
Did anybody else’s 70-something mothers run out and buy up lots of TheraFlu when they first heard about the Avian Flu? (’Cause, y’know, she confused TheraFlu with Tamiflu…)
David
February 11, 2006 at 11:52 pm
35Doug,
Our cat now wants a poster of Dr. Felber. Also wants to experience hauling ass through space at at .9SOL (that’s speed of light or shit outta luck, depending…)
Harold,
I think I read a report that the Home Shopping Network does have a 50% kill rate.
Cooper,
That ain’t fiction.
David
February 11, 2006 at 11:57 pm
36Doug,
I went back and read my post, hoping it would jog my memory, but I cannot remember from whence I lifted it, dammit. Hell, go with Anonymous.
Deborah
February 12, 2006 at 1:40 am
37Woohoo, I was pleased with the iPod I received for my birthday today…but now I’m…even more pleased? I love podcasts, they keep me sane during my commutes on public transit.
Steve: I have linux on my desktop computer but I have not been able to connect to an mp3 player. I’m just not geeky enough. So I bail to either my son’s or husband’s iMac for podcast loading. Someday I’ll figure out what I’m missing on the linux box, I hope.
ice weasel
February 12, 2006 at 1:58 am
38Way to go on the podcasts! I hate streaming stuff but my iTunes is always open.
cooper
February 12, 2006 at 11:49 am
39off target - In case you, as I, have noticed a rather right leaning whisper to Cokie Roberts’ news analysis at NPR, check out this http://www.nndb.com/org/930/000056762/
Note the accomplice; and then this - http://www.pww.org/article/view/1356/1/90/ - and the scales will fall from your eyes.
Murray
February 12, 2006 at 6:10 pm
40So now Dick Chaney shot someone, and they managed to keep it quiet for only 1 day. Wow, they sure are slipping.
Chaney claims it was an accident, he had it coming, and the pellets were already in him when they first started hunting.
cooper
February 12, 2006 at 6:28 pm
41Well, Murray, they had to work on the story and make sure it would hold water, run it past the lawyers and let them chew on it a while, then work over the witnesses and make sure they all were singing from the same page. By then the local papers had sniffed it out and they had to fess up. Good thing the VP is a heart attack waiting to happen and is followed everywhere he goes by EMT’s and, also, has an ambulance on call at all times. Darn good thing.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/02/12/cheney.ap/index.html
waterfowler
February 12, 2006 at 7:24 pm
42Ice,
Come on down. We’re doin’ some of our best quail huntin’.
cooper
February 12, 2006 at 7:44 pm
43fouler, I think Ice is currently iced in; big snow storm up his way. But since Cheney’s been disarmed, it probably much safer now.
By the way, two boys I went to school with who were life-long best buddies, and even miraculously survived a teenage fueled crash head-on into an oak tree together, were deer hunting several years ago and one shot and killed the other in high brush. Be careful, man.
esp
February 12, 2006 at 7:58 pm
44This showed up around 5:00 today at the NYT online edition. I had a “beverage through nose on keyboard” moment. I can’t wait to see out this spins out. Anyhoo, Cheney was VERY apologetic.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/politics/AP-Cheney-Hunting-Accident.ht ml?hp&ex=1139806800&en=a6b71355e6a4340b&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Back to the shadows….lurking
Leslie
February 12, 2006 at 8:59 pm
45While we in no way trivialize the injuries done to Mr. Wittington, and we are much relieved to see that he is in stable condition, my husband can’t help modifying the old Eric Clapton song and singing, “I shot the lawyer, but I did not shoot the deputy…” That’s my favorite, but his is the old Cher tune, “Bang bang, He shot me down. Bang bang, I hit the ground. Bang bang, an awful sound. Bang bang, Dick Cheney shot me down.” Apologies to the artists…and to Mr. Whittington…but we couldn’t help it!
Leslie
Leslie
February 12, 2006 at 9:01 pm
46Oops! Injuries done to Mr. Whittington. I should check my spelling.
Mary
February 13, 2006 at 11:02 am
47Leslie- are you actually calling Cher an *artist*?
I laughed out loud when I heard the NPR report about poor Mr. Whittington. The man needs to be a better judge of character.
Leslie
February 13, 2006 at 1:22 pm
48Well, call it “artistic license”.
David
February 13, 2006 at 9:14 pm
49Just read esp’s link. Whittington is damned lucky a pellet didn’t take out an eye, or worse puncture a carotid artery. There is nothing minor about birdshot in the face and neck at 30 yards, if it was that far, which would mean Cheney was firing pretty much straight out. So the guy went into the brush and had returned without yelling “I’m back,” and the secret service didn’t notice there was another person in Cheney’s line of fire? Story still doesn’t really make sense.
And intensive care for an inconvenience? Yeah, right. Cheney fucked up big time, and I still suspect he’s damned lucky Whittington didn’t lose an eye or start spurting a small stream of blood from his neck.
Richard
February 13, 2006 at 10:42 pm
50About time too…
…Wait a minute, does this mean my podcasts are plummeting?
Seems so.
Bum.
merry
February 14, 2006 at 2:27 am
51same here! same monotonous routine. Ohhhhhhhhh! yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaw it bored me.
Pete IVDL
February 14, 2006 at 3:42 am
52Leslie, “Bang Bang” is one of my all-time favourites (the version in “Kill Bill” is a stunner), and you made the liquid in my buccal cavity eject forcibly through my nasal passages onto my (luckily very liquid-proof) human input device. I gotta get a copy of the song so I can do some audio magic on it…
David
February 14, 2006 at 12:38 pm
53Merry,
Gotta speak up for my girl. Cher is a recording artist, extremely successful, significant to a lot of people, and a capable actor who has done some damned good movies. The question is actually a personal one: Do you like her music? Edith Piaf she’s not, but more than Ashlee Simpson she is, at least as I see them. And Gypsies, Tramps, and Thieves ain’t a bad song by any standard.
Maximum Bob
February 19, 2006 at 11:38 pm
54I always thought of Sonny and Cher as the sodium and chlorine of the music world. Taken individually they’re poisonous, but put them together and they’re pretty tasty. It’s one of those mysteries of nature.
I will admit, Cher is a pretty fair actress.
siobhan
February 25, 2006 at 12:49 am
55Max B, I’m almost embarrassed to admit how often I’ve quoted you in the past few days.