I’m not at all shocked or surprised. I disgust myself, frequently. Thanks for validating my experience.
A Mr Tim Savage of Stratford Jobcentre writes:
Get a job!
I wasn’t at all shocked or surprised. My doctor had been signing me off sick (not fit for work) for a while. So long, in fact, that my ex-employer, quite rightly, gave up on me ever returning to ‘my’ hot desk. In employment legalese, I was dismissed through being incapable of work. Meanwhile, Big Tim had helpfully been sending me enough money to live on every two weeks for a while, and in return I kept sending him my sick notes from my doctor. But I guess Tim’s goodwill was running out. He asked me to fill in a questionnaire about my health and asked me to visit Norman, a nurse, so that two months after losing my job because I was incapable of work due to ill health, Norman could assess my capability for work. Norman asked me lots of questions and asked me to move my arms about as if I was directing small aircraft in to land. He was ever so nice about it. It felt a bit like being interviewed by that very nice SS-Standartenführer Hans Landa chap off the telly, except no one came rushing in afterwards to brutally machine gun to death the people downstairs after we were done. Which was nice.
Anyway. As a result of Norman’s niceness and despite me failing to safely land any aircraft due to my two frozen shoulders, Tim decided that I was capable of work after all, and told me so. And although Tim recognised that I have an illness or disability, he wasn’t going to send me any more money to live on unless I appealed, actively started looking for work, or appealed. All of this made me feel rather like a terrible burden on society and that society might be just a whole lot better off without me around dragging it down. And I had been feeling really pretty suboptimal anyway. So I went back to my doctor, who signed me off sick again and gave me some anti-depressants and painkillers, and decided that of the three options given to me - appeal, look for work, or appeal - I would like to appeal. Tim wrote back straight away saying that he would send me some more money to live on as long as I send him my sick notes from my doctor. Seems fair enough.
It’s quite a difficult juggling act. On the one hand trying to get better, to get well again. On the other, remaining ill enough to be eligible for handouts. The last few months I’ve been rapidly deteriorating, hitting a new low, barely able to speak to anyone even online. Most of the time, I simply don’t feel like I have anything to say. That said, I have some good days, and I have now almost completed my assessments for psychotherapy and expect to start in a group sometime in the new year. At my last session, the therapist said it seemed like I’d been depressed all my life, but only now (well, two years ago) asked for help. Thanks for validating my experience.
I had a good day yesterday, a good morning, at least, and decided to put it to use. So I carefully crafted for you, my dear reader, a veritable Christmas cracker of a musical podcast. Perhaps a cracker that doesn’t crack and contains no party hat or plastic toy, but only a lame joke, but a cracker nonetheless. And here, containing my best charidee radio DJ voice, it is:
Just A Ride, Episode 1: Xmas Stocking Filler (29:15)
I don't care about Gordon restating his suggestions for how we could improve our 'workflow' for recording, editing and publishing, which he also aired on the show he appeared on.
I don't care. Because I've heard it all before - on 17 April, to be precise - and responded to it all on 19 April.
The full unedited recording we did with Gordon for TINAP episode 3 on 13 April was over 3 hours long. I edited it down to under an hour in less than four days, mostly cutting out Gordon rambling on interminably repeating the same old clichéd moronic monorant we'd heard twice already.
There were no markers
Gordon declined our offer to look at and contribute to our pre-show notes, which are a rough guide to what we want to talk about in some kind of order. If Gordon had accepted, he would have seen all the 'markers' he needed to know what was going on and coming up in the show.
Result is a single audio file
When we recorded the shows we did with Skype we uses Skype Call Recorder to do so, which records two tracks, one locally of me and one of everyone else on the call. The result, therefore, is two audio files.
Advice was not only unwanted, but deemed hostile. As I have tried to help them with a faster and easier workflow, it was rejected [sic]
Here's what I emailed to Gordon on 19 April in response to his email feedback of 17 April:
Gordon,
Thanks for taking the time and effort to share your thoughts and write some voluminous feedback for us.
We will certainly take some of your suggestions into consideration for future episodes, especially trying to finish the whole thing in two hours.
We did actually record a special show on Scottish football, but when I had edited it down to the relevant, funny, interesting bits, there was nothing left. Literally.
Seriously, though, I'm glad you enjoyed the experience and yes, it was never meant to be an interview, so, once again, thanks for joining us for a chat on the sofa. It seems that plenty of people enjoyed it, too, some even suggesting it was the best episode yet.
I'm sorry you feel let down by the final edit, though. I was aware of a few rough cuts, but felt that it hung together OK and actually presented you in a concise and positive way. If you can give me any precise examples of cuts you think are too brutal and spoil the conversational flow, please let me know and, while I can't undo what's done, I can learn from that for future edits.
Thanks also for explaining again how Roy produces the TechBytes podcast (I hope Roy recovers from his bout of the runs soon - but all credit to him for soldiering on and calling from the john). As I'm sure I said to you on Skype before we officially 'went on stage', we set out from the beginning to record our podcast the way we do it and edit what we consider to be the best bits into shape for the published show. I also explained to you that you would receive a preview of the edit with the opportunity to suggest changes before publishing, which you subsequently declined to listen to, saying on identica that you trusted my edits.
As it's all done now, I'm not sure what I can do to change how let down you feel. Is there anything you would like me or us to do?
I would also suggest that your email feedback might form the basis of a good blog post, which I'm sure would attract plenty of new readers, too. As Andy says, we're big boys and we can take it - both praise and constructive criticism.
Best wishes,
David
Gordon emailed back the same day to say:
there was nothing to undo
that I shouldn't edit out any 'ums' and 'ahs' (nor presumably any silences, noise, slanderous or boring bits)
he could give no specific examples of my 'brutal' editing
he did not feel misrepresented by the cuts I made
it's our show and not his place to give us advice on how we should do it
The first episode took ages in editing, so I'd hoped that by declining my part in the clearance process, that the episode would be released a bit quicker. It still took ages.
We recorded over 3 hours of audio on 13 April and released under 1 hour of edited audio on 17 April.
The problem is if you're going to take weeks to edit something, people kinda expect better as a final output. Something of this audio quality shouldn't take weeks to edit and release, specially with noticeable butchered cuts.
We recorded over 3 hours of audio on 13 April and released under 1 hour of edited audio on 17 April. And in Gordon's own words: 'I am perfectly happy with the sound quality of the show.'
When it takes weeks for a conference call to be recorded...
We recorded over 3 hours of audio on 13 April and released under 1 hour of edited audio on 17 April. Yes, other shows have taken longer to do and there have been good reasons for that of which I believe you were made aware at the time by Andy. Regardless of any of that, we will record, edit and publish our show how we want to. If you don't like it, don't listen. Oh, wait, you have stopped listening. Thank fuck for that!
It's old news. By taking so long to go from recording to release TINAP have old news treated as current affairs. Within a day or two of the event finishing it becomes yesterdays [sic] news
Despite the brilliant name "this is not a podcast" it is exactly that, a podcast
No. TINAP is not a podcast.
Another retort I got was about "we aim to have no listeners" which again is false.
Yes, Gordon. It's a joke. Although we genuinely don't care if anyone listens or not. We only hope that if they do, they enjoy it, and if they don't enjoy it, they don't listen.
TINAP is a current affairs audiocast. By choosing a real time social network as their hook, TINAP is by definition a time sensitive show.
No, it isn't.
They say they want feedback
In Gordon's own words (and there are many to choose from):
Feedback page: 'No comments. No Twitter. No pingbacks. No real-time ‘reactions’. Just post on identi.ca with the tag #tinap and we will respond or consult our lawyers as appropriate.
If you don't care what your listeners think, you don't solicit feedback.
They talk about some feedback on the show, as well as mention others in the show notes. They've also expressed gratitude for all the good will they've gotten in various forms including Identi.ca on the show. You don't do those things if you don't care what your listeners think.
Why would anyone want to put a lot of effort into an audiocast about a social network, and stories that develop within the parts of it they see, and not want to take part in any conversations about their output?
The whole anti-social act on Identica seems to suggest they don't want negative feedback, even if it's aimed at helping them. I don't treat those as serious statements, but as retorts in a heated discussion with me
Someone thought it'd be a cool idea to embrace their community by telling people who gave them feedback to randomly fuck off. The Identi.ca anti-social act in full effect. Of course this could be seen as funny, if you're aware of the joke.
Fuck off. As I have explained to you previously on Identi.ca, the telling people who give feedback to 'Fuck off' idea was yours on TINAP 3.
That was the beginning of the end for me with TINAP, the whole anti-social "we don't care" "we do our own thing" act, when their actions don't match that attitude
Next sentence: 'They are nice guys.'
I was not prepared to listen to 57 seconds of guitar feedback
LOL.
The whole anti-social act on Identi.ca wore very thin, the huge delays in releasing making the time sensitive content stale, along with the guitar feedback and snarky replies I decided I'd had enough of TINAP
Plus ça change...
Maybe they had more people like me who told them they didn't appreciate it
No. Not one.
The result was a disappointment
Next two sentences: 'My trust that David wouldn't edit out of context was well judged. There was nothing out of context, he did not try to shaft me in any way in the final edit.'
"We do our own thing"
Gordon: 'I agree, audiocasting is all about that. It allows anyone with the inclination to record a show about whatever they want, their own way. There's no reason why they shouldn't do their own thing.'
It’s Just A Ride.
Today a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed through a slow vibration, we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively, life is only a dream and we are the imaginations of ourselves. Here's Tom with the weather.
Bill Hicks
