14 thoughts to “A podcast with the new mics”

  1. Amazing mics, the sound quality is superb. I have to say I love hearing the bits of podcasts when you actually speak or are spoken to in Japanese. Probably because I’m a beginning Japanese major and my listening comprehension is better than my speaking ability; so I can at least feel better when I understand a conversation even though I know I couldn’t hold one myself yet.

    1. OK, I’ll try to do more conversations from now on, and you can be my guinea pig. I’ll do some episodes of my son and me talking. Let me know if they’re useful.

      1. Thank you! I love actually being able to get practice with the language in a real situation rather than in the classroom where it’s all structured like a math equation. I’ll be spending a month or so in Japan this summer and hopefully that’ll satisfy my need for speaking practice a little as well.

        1. You know what, it might be interesting for us to do a podcast together. I can tell you all kinds of ways to learn Japanese that are far more interesting than from a textbook.

          It’s sad to hear that’s how they teach Japanese–the same way English is taught in school here, as if it were a dead language like Latin. Teaching it that was is easy for the teacher, but a complete waste of time for the students. It’s like giving a lesson in mechanics to teach someone how to drive a car.

  2. Hi Rich, now thats the podcasts I like, no gloss just honest and gritty. I think you would find the UK extactly the same as the US now 🙁
    I never felt safer as I did when in Japan, I just wish I could get my wife on a plane over there she would love it. Its hard to tell people in the UK that, they seem to just blanket me or think im going overboard.

    Oh and you are a bad man for bricking your sons psp! I have a japanese ps3 import and I can tell you its a scary experience updating the firmware each time!!

    How does your wife feel about you podcasting?

    1. We never talk about it, really. Whenever I make a video with the kids I show it to her, but that’s about it. She told me she has looked at this blog, but I don’t know how often she reads it. In general, she’s not all that interested in the Internet. She’s five years older than me, so it’s just a little past her time. She’s more of a TV person. I almost never watch TV.

  3. Welcome back Rich,

    Sounds great with the new microphones (even with a bit of wind).

    Vanilla shot – just what the doctor ordered.

    The idea of you doing a Japanese lesson with a listener such as Alex would make an excellent podcast.

    Looking forward to the next one.

  4. Good to hear a new podcast.

    I wonder what it was about NYC that made you feel so unsafe. Maybe it’s because I’ve lived in the NY/Philly metro area all my life and I’ve been going to NYC regularly for that long, but I never feel unsafe in any part of midtown manhattan.

    Is it the grittiness of NYC that does that? I honestly never think about it because it just is. Yet, I never feel unsafe in other cities I have traveled to either.

    Maybe you needed someone with you who knew the city to keep you from looking like the wide eyed tourists you were. I know when I take people there, I have a sense of direction and of where I am and where I’m going, so there’s no doubt. But even when I have just wandered around the city I’ve never felt lost – it’s hard to get lost in a city that is for the most part a grid – and especially in midtown – has numbered streets and avenues. That’s not to say that I would go to Harlem, but from the northernpart of central Park down to the WTC, it’s actually always seemed to be to be quite safe.

    BTW- what were the kids’ impressions of NYC?

    As for the cell phone/electronics thing – yes, Best Buy and Circuit City sell a lot of cheap stuff, but remember those guys are catering to the Lowest Common Denominator. Most people don’t know a thing about electronics here, so they prey and on the know-nothings. The techies here don’t typically shop there unless we know what we are going to buy, know our prices, and get in and get out (if they have what we want). In big cities specialty electronic shops exist – IN NYC 47 street photo, J&R Music World, etc… Plus plenty of opportunity to order over the internet.

    I think American cell phones are almost caught up. I just got a RAZR which came out 18 months ago, and it has Nav capabilities, MP3, takes a MircoSD card, etc… Plus it doesn’t feel like most of the cheap plastic cell phones I have had in the past. But I don’t know what else the Japanese cell phones do – can you maybe elaborate on that too?

    I liked listening, and it seems like there is so much more you can say on specific subjects. Do tell!

    –*Rob

  5. I’m glad you have new mics.. I love listening to your podcasts when you’re talking and when you’re not. The sounds of Japan are different from the sounds I’m used to here in California. I’ve been to Japan twice and I completely understand that feeling of not having to look over your shoulder, even after midnight leaving a bar. >__>;; I look forward to many more podcasts~ Thank you~!

  6. Great sound quality. I listened while outside walking, and I couldn’t distinguish the cars in the states from the cars in Japan!

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