Archive for January, 2008

Atlanta Jewish Film Festival

Posted by admin in Film on January 9, 2008

AJFF logoThe Eighth Annual Atlanta Jewish Film Festival (AJFF), which runs from January 16-27, 2008, is positioned to offer a substantial variety of choices to 2008 AJFF attendees. To fully grasp the scope of this year’s AJFF, I posed a series of questions to Kenny Blank, AJFF’s Executive Director, and he was kind enough to give me some insightful answers. My thanks to Mr. Blank for his time and to Becky Biggs for facilitating the interview.

Tim O’Shea: This year marks the eighth year of the festival–how much has the festival changed since it first launched in 2000?

Kenny Blank: While the goal remains the same, to use film to build bridges of understanding between the many different cultural and religious communities in Atlanta, our festival has grown in scope and complexity. In order to meet the expectations of both our audience and our sponsors, including our presenter the Atlanta Chapter of the American Jewish Committee, we have improved the post-film discussions, bringing in more filmmakers, actors and writers; we have expanded our outreach and publicity by using the most up-to-date technology; and we have worked hard to create a high-class festival atmosphere that makes all those attending feel like they are someplace special.

Read the rest of this entry »

, , ,

No Comments

Podcaster Brian Ibbott

Posted by admin in Music, pop culture on January 7, 2008

CovervilleI first became aware of Arvada, Colorado-based pioneering podcaster Brian Ibbott when his show Coverville was mentioned by USA Today‘s Whitney Matheson in her Pop Candy blog. After several months of enjoying the show, which focuses on covers (succinctly and aptly defined by Ibbott as “a new rendition of a previously recorded song”) and features a variety of musical genres and artists, I contacted Ibbott for an interview. Ibbott also produces other podcasts, including Lyrics Undercover, Today in Music History and The Wii Show. While the majority of the interview focuses on Coverville, we also discuss his other podcasts.

Tim O’Shea: As you quickly approach your 400th episode (as of today [January 7, 2008] he’s up to podcast 408), from your perspective, in what ways has the show drastically changed and have any parts remained (other than the show’s core premise) essentially the same?

Brian Ibbott: I think the overall feel of the show has stayed consistent, but I’ve become so much more comfortable with the microphone. It’s only taken me 400 shows to get there!
Read the rest of this entry »

, ,

No Comments

Interviews of Interest

Posted by admin in pop culture on January 4, 2008

The 2008 portion of the blog’s launch remains a smidge softer than I had intended.

With any luck in the near term, however, new interviews will appear here every Monday. On Wednesday, I will opine on pop culture trends that catch my attention (or whatever else might be rolling around in my brain). Finally on Friday, I will provide links to interviews I’ve enjoyed at other websites.

First off is an interview by my former boss at Pop Thought, Alex Ness, checking in with another old friend, scholar Amy H. Sturgis. Sturgis is one of those people that always has six projects going on at once. In this interview, she talks about her upcoming biography of Tecumseh, which Greenwood Press will release in late May 2008.

I’m an old school fan of ESPN’s Sportscenter, so when Dan Patrick left the network to start a new radio show, I was sad to see him go. His new radio show, which launched in October 2007, was rough around the edges at first, particularly given that he had no one to banter with about issues. More recently, however, his producer has stepped into the role of sidekick and the banter has begun to flow again. But if you don’t have time to listen to an entire podcast or listen to a live feed (from 9 to 12 PM EST), the site has a nice archive of interviews. I would provide a direct link, but the wonderful world of Flash prevents that. Be sure to catch the December 28, 2007 interview with Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig.

Finally, after some website problems far beyond his control (dating back to December 23), Tom Spurgeon’s Comics Reporter came back online this week. Spurgeon recently conducted an amazing streak of interviews–too many to provide links, honestly. So I recommend that you start with AdHouse Books‘ Chris Pitzer and weave your way around the website from there.

 

No Comments