Podcast Review: Hooting Yard - Frank Key

Hooting Yard – Frank Key
Podcast Review

"There was no hat or cap on the shriveled head I took from the sack, just a few strands of filthy, matted hair. I sat on the grass and took a pair of snippy butcher's scissors out of my pocket and gave the shriveled head a much-needed haircut."

I've been listening to a podcast called "Hooting Yard" for only a couple of weeks, but in that short time I have grown quite fond of it. Frank Key, whom I discovered through his narration of various stories on possibly the greatest ongoing podcast of all time, 'Escape Pod', writes each week's episode. Keys is a dour Brit who's voice never fails to conjure up images of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It's a fascinating listening experience since the works are so surrealist and patently strange, they often have no plot at all. The material he reads and writes is not only absolutely hilarious but often has a thin vein of malice and puck-like mischievousness running throughout it. Each episode is in some way related to a warped, fun-house mirror reflection of our own world. This place, Hooting Yard, has reoccurring characters, places, and a rich mythology. While it's sometimes difficult to even understand what he's talking about, the more I listen to it, the more I come to recognize the world. It's really cool stuff.

The full effect is akin to combining the humor of the Guide, the surrealism of Dali's paintings, and the hallucinogenic quality of some strong drug—in a free, easily downloaded format.

As a quick aside, my favorite surrealist short story is Harlan Ellison's "The Mouse Circus." Unfortunately, the only way to procure a copy is to get your hands on the amazing and expensive "Essential Ellison" omnibus.

New Reviews and Podcasting, GO!!!

I'm going to start putting up more reviews of things I like and dislike. I miss writing for Mindsplint. I've found reviewing things is a good way organize my thoughts and help me test my conclusions. Written reviews are easily critiqued and logical gaps can be pointed out because the words are not dynamic like a conversation. I'm going to try to stay away from doing formal critiques of things because they are too much work, and I spent the last two years of my life writing them and being judged by them for school. I just want the Ebert luxury of determining how good something is with my thumb and eschew literature reviews and formal declarations of intent. Bleh.

My first review is going to be about a podcast. If you're new to the podcasting thing, check out this informative link on Wikipedia.org and read my summary below. If you know about podcasting, stop reading. It will only bore and confuse you. The actual review will show up soon (probably tomorrow).

My executive summary of podcasting is as follows: Podcasting is the common vernacular for a RSS (Really Simple Syndication) web feed that points a client application to content (usually audio or video) somewhere on the internet. It does this according to a schedule defined by the content provider. For example, I record myself yodeling and put it on the 'net. The next time you boot your computer a program running on it checks to see if there is a new song. If it determines there is a new yodeling song on the 'net you have not downloaded, it downloads it for you. Not only will the song be downloaded, it will be automatically moved to whatever portable music player you have attached to your computer. The upshot of all this is all you have to do is turn on your computer and, optionally, attach a portable music device to get new content. Once you've signed-up for a podcast, it's totally hands-free.

In the case of audio podcasts, people use a podcatcher, such as iTunes or WinAmp, to subscribe to and download them. Once downloaded, podcasts can be played on a computer, moved to a portable device like an iPod, Rio, or Zen, or be burned to a CD for use on a car trip.

In the sense that there isn't a direct and immediate cost to download a podcast, this is all free. However, as open source pioneer Richard Stallman famously put it, "It's not free as in free beer. It's free as in liberated." Liberation and no cost are two very different concepts, but English uses the same word (free) to describe both. People spend time and money to produce these 'free' podcasts, so many of them rely on donations to continue to operate. I've donated to a few of the podcasts that I love because A) I love the work they are doing and want them keep producing and B) Nothing is free.

You don't need an iPod to get into podcasting. You can find podcasts that cover nearly any topic you can imagine. The podcasts are free. Hop to it already!