Episode 8: "New Year"

Yay for making it to 1996! Admittedly, I've been a little distracted by catching up with my new favorite show, Mad Men, and other new fall line up tv episodes, but I have found a time for this bit of  TAL listening.

You would think starting the show off with coverage of the new Beatles interviews that had just come out on cd when the show came out, but the way Ira talked about, quoting the number of the "limited edition" cd that they had purchased (something like 52,000 or something ridiculous) makes it seem kind of silly to make such a hubub about the band. Add to that the comments from the band themselves through the snippets that Ira played and, well, they kind of seem like a big deal for nothing.  You can hear the fab four indirectly saying "stop asking us about dumb stuff that's everyday- we aren't anything that special", which is a somewhat lens to see them through. Now we're getting somewhere in what I'm searching for to reflect on via this blog- something seen through another lens for once.

The stories of high school student Claudia are the best part of the entire episode, though. She takes a look into the Mexican area of Chicago, which gives looks into many different folks lives and reflects on the previous year. Ira also gets to ask the hard questions to Claudia herself at the end of the show, which proves to be an interesting listen, too. After learning more about her hometown area and her life, I would be very interested in what exactly the then 18 year old is doing now.

The other of the stories is about being the first to integrate into new situations, particular for an African Americans woman and her integration to a new, white neighborhood. Ira made the comment he had been working on the story for a year and while it was an alright listen, it was one that you had to have your head in the game and try to hang on every word of to make it all work out (I have a tendency to be on other websites or painting while spending all this time listening to TAL, so if a story doesn't completely suck me in, I have a predisposition to get lost).

Overall, this episode is one I can vouch for, just be leery that the middle story is one you have to pay a lot of attention to.

Episode 7: "Quitting"

This one's the last episode of  '95 and was just kind of bleh. One thing I did dig, though, was the fact they interviewed an editor of "Quitter Quarterly", a zine of all things. Major points to "TAL" for the zine loving they have sent out all throughout the show's run thus far (Dishwasher Pete's one of my faves to hear stories by).

Once again, this episode didn't bowl me over and I'm excited to get moving into 1996. This time period is somewhat foreign to me, considering that I was only 9 years old at the time and will probably be learning a lot about the issues of the year through the show....now we're talking....

Episode 6: "Christmas"

Quick notes on this episode, as to get on to listening to what's next:

• David Sedaris and the Pinetree Gang story was pretty good; love the fact it included his sister and a hilarious southern drawl coming out of him. This accent makes the episode for  me. Have to say, though, it doesn't seem quite like something typical to the TAL format. This kinda threw me off, but atleast if anyone was to do so, it would be Mr. Sedaris and crew.
• Second half of the episode is where the crew starts to hit their stride for this week. The juvenile court story and forward has the "TAL" touch we've all grown to love...the rest just didn't feel quite right, more like "Your Radio Playhouse"

And with that, we get to the last episode of Season One. Have to say I'm excited to get one season down, no matter how short it may be. And as I keep saying, don't mean to just sound like there's lots of hating going on here- this was just the beginning for the show (love ya, mean it, Ira!).