Englishman in New York

Ricky Gervais has decided to start charging for his podcast. According to Journalism.co.uk:

From 28 February users can download the four episodes of The Ricky Gervais Show series two for £3.75 from Audible or from the iTunes store. Individual shows are 95p each and the whole first series is £2.75.

I was a big fan of The Office but I wasn’t impressed with the Ricky Gervais Show. Now I’m even more disappointed.

I can understand why Gervais would want to make money off of the show. But imagine if you had to pay to read Boing Boing or to watch Rocketboom. Blogging, podcasting and vlogging are new media forms that thrive when content is free. And Rocketboom and Boing Boing have managed to make a profit without charging readers or viewers. Advertising has proven to be the key.

Pay-per-download seems like a very old fashioned way of using new media. In the past couple of months I’ve seen the Ricky Gervais Show discussed all over the Web, especially on US weblogs like this one. By putting up a paywall Gervais is cutting off a swathe of listeners, many of them from the valuable US audience that he could have cashed in on further down the road.

As it is, current commentary on the pay decision ranges from this (from a polite American):

You can thank these three English blokes for spoiling what was until now a podcast-world free of capitalism…Speaking as a fan of the first twelve free episodes that just concluded, this, quite frankly, blows.

To this (from a Brit in New York):

What a wanker.

One of the great achievements trumpeted about Gervais’ show has been his entry into the Guinness Book of Records for the most downloaded podcast. (Not the greatest of feats for such an infant media form.) It’s safe to say that those download figures are about to take a steep nosedive. It will be interesting to see how many listeners he loses.

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Harry’s Place serves up more Galloway entertainment. Interviewed in the Algerian El Khabar newspaper, he had this to say about the cartoon row:

Personally, I condemn these barbaric and evil acts. Today, the objective of the Western states is to control the oil of the Muslims whatever the price. In fact, the cartoons published in Denmark did not surprise me because the Western states have been waging fierce attacks against Islam for years. These began by humiliation, insults and then occupation. Today they reached the point of ridiculing the prophet. This incident is worse than the 11 September attacks in the US and the 7/7 incidents in London. Therefore, today it is the right of Muslims to express their anger and to defend their right and faith.

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Simon’s Brain outs himself in his own comments section:

I feel now is the time I came out. I’ve been away from England for over 4 years and the truth is the place has become alien to me.

From now on I’d like to be referred to as a ‘transatlantic’. Like Jude Law only more attractive.

Us transatlantics are not entirely dissimilar to transsexuals in that we can swing either way depending on how the mood takes us. If I can’t be bothered to put a ‘u’ in the word color then I am an American. If I want to be treated with a modicum of respect in a foreign country then I am an Englishman. I think it works well and I’m sure you’ll forgive me.

I am a paid up member of the color/theater club and I often plump for one “l” instead of two in verbs. However in emails to friends and relatives in the UK, I try to refer to mobile phones instead of cell phones and neighbours instead of neighbors. I am still baffled by the fact that my slight northern English accent makes me appear simple in England and refined in America.

But with each passing day I slip further towards the dark side. ATMs have overtaken cash machines. I occasionally have to correct myself in front of British visitors. And there have been complaints that my voice rises at the end of sentences. Is my fate as a transatlantic sealed?

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Two years ago today.

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I have spent the past month doing research work in the city. It’s the longest I have spent in an office environment since my days booking hotel rooms in London six years ago. I’ve adjusted to the commute. I’ve adjusted to the lack of sunlight. And I’ve adjusted to eating lunch out every day. But I’m still struggling with the office greeting.

Not content with “hello” I’ve noticed many people prefer the “how are you?”. By the time I have answered “fine” we have already passed each other and the opportunity for me to return the question has gone. This leaves me feeling selfish and somewhat egotistical since I am spending my days telling everyone I am fine but never managing to inquire as to their wellbeing.

I have resolved for today, and next week, to pop the question first.

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Hitchens springs to Denmark’s defense (via Harry’s Place):

A small democratic country with an open society, a system of confessional pluralism, and a free press has been subjected to a fantastic, incredible, organized campaign of lies and hatred and violence, extending to one of the gravest imaginable breaches of international law and civility: the violation of diplomatic immunity. And nobody in authority can be found to state the obvious and the necessary—that we stand with the Danes against this defamation and blackmail and sabotage. Instead, all compassion and concern is apparently to be expended upon those who lit the powder trail, and who yell and scream for joy as the embassies of democracies are put to the torch in the capital cities of miserable, fly-blown dictatorships. Let’s be sure we haven’t hurt the vandals’ feelings.

[…]And there remains the question of Denmark: a small democracy, which resisted Hitler bravely and protected its Jews as well as itself. Denmark is a fellow member of NATO and a country that sends its soldiers to help in the defense and reconstruction of Iraq and Afghanistan. And what is its reward from Washington? Not a word of solidarity, but instead some creepy words of apology to those who have attacked its freedom, its trade, its citizens, and its embassies. For shame. Surely here is a case that can be taken up by those who worry that America is too casual and arrogant with its allies. I feel terrible that I have taken so long to get around to this, but I wonder if anyone might feel like joining me in gathering outside the Danish Embassy in Washington, in a quiet and composed manner, to affirm some elementary friendship.

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When my wife flew back from London the other week she arrived at the boarding gate to be told that there was no record of her on the flight.

It turned out that the wrong name had been printed on her boarding pass. That means that she walked through at least two security check-points in Heathrow airport with a different name on her boarding pass than the one in her passport. In fact, it was a man’s name. Yet no one noticed.

PS Last night we went to see The Fallen Idol (1948) at Film Forum in the West Village. It’s an adaptation of a Graham Greene short story directed by Carol Reed (who also directed The Third Man). What a great film. Much more enjoyable than the overrated Match Point which we went to see the other night. Even better was the fact that the child star of The Fallen Idol, Bobby Henrey, was in the audience. He did a quick Q&A after the screening. Apparently, after the The Fallen Idol he went on to star in one more film called The Wonder Kid before giving up acting and becoming an accountant.

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Somewhere between 96th and 116, a young man got on the train and sat a few seats down from me. The car was quiet save a few high school girls. Matter of factly, he pulled some paper and weed from his coat pocket and proceeded to roll a number of joints.

The men across the car from me nudged one another, glancing slightly from their newspapers down the aisle. Then, as the train rolled into 116th Street, they quietly stood up, walked over the the corner where the boy sat rolling his goods, ever so slightly flashed their badges and cuffed him on the spot.

Good morning!

Via Callalillie

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Lew on League: Back by unpopular demand for a second consecutive season

Wigan v Leeds: Round 2 of the Championship Season 06/07

Last week in round 1 Leeds struggled at home to beat Huddersfield whilst Wigan lost away to the French side Catalan Dragons. Both sides in this game had been tipped for top three honors and both had disappointed their supporters. Nevertheless it was considered to be a temporary aberration, the sort of thing which frequently happens in the first match of the season. So more than 17,000 expectant spectators filled the JJB stadium for this Friday night match. If it was thrills they wanted then they had them in abundance.
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