Sunday, December 24, 2006

My Three Shrinks Podcast 3: Wii Three Bobo Dolls


[2] . . . [3] . . . [4] . . . [All]

We were a week longer than we wanted to be to get this one out. We recorded this one on 12/18/06 at Dinah's studio (her kitchen), while she served us homemade cookies and hot chocolate with Kahlua.

I did a lot of homework about microphones and recording sound quality. The gold standard would be for us each to have our own mic, while simultaneously recording on three different channels. That way the volumes can be individually adjusted so we don't have such a difference in voice quality.

That would be going overboard. So I did find a USB mic that had good reviews for podcasting. It took some hunting, but I found it for $100 at a Guitar Center. Dinah thinks that *I* have gone overboard. Regardless, let us know how it sounds. On my to-do list is to put up a PayPal donation button on the podcast site, to cover bandwidth and microphone costs. (It won't go to Kahlua, I promise.)

Here are the show notes for this week's podcast. We hope you have a safe and happy holiday.


December 24, 2006: Wii Three Bobo Dolls

Topics include:

  • Roy's new USB microphone: the Snowball, made by Blue. Recommended.
  • Listener comments.
  • New York's Timothy's Law: since we recorded this, Governor Pataki signed the bill into law, which provides for parity insurance coverage for mental illnesses. We also discuss a newspaper editorial which links this issue to post-incarceration treatment of sexual predators. I believe the original requirement to include addictions was removed due to cost concerns raised by insurance companies. That makes no sense.
  • Clinkshrink provided a spontaneous discourse on the history of using hospitals to house and treat sexually violent offenders.
  • Reports of Nintendo Wii-related injuries, property damage, and aggression were discussed.
  • This led to some discussion about Bandura's classic 1960's studies on the effect of witnessed violence on actual violence, including his piece on children and Bobo dolls.
  • Which led to Dinah's Theory on video games and violence in youngsters.
  • And we wrapped it up with the website for posting Wii-related misbehavior at wiihaveaproblem.com.

This podcast is available on iTunes. You can also listen to or download the .mp3 or the MPEG-4 file from mythreeshrinks.com.

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19 comments:

ClinkShrink said...

We do the MP3 format for the poor blighted cardiologists who haven't switched to Macs yet...

All podcasts recorded on a Mac using GarageBand. Co-blogger Roy is actually more of an Apple techie than I am even.

ClinkShrink said...

Here's the substance abuse commitment law we mentioned:

Commitment for evaluation

Anonymous said...

I can't wait to listen to the new podcast to see how the mic sounds. I'm looking for something nice and simple for myself (for music, not talk). But if you do want something that gives you each a channel, you can do it with a mixer and 3 mics for that same $100. Behringer mixers are the way to go. Very cheap and great for the money. Then just get 3 cheap mics. If you don't want to worry about driving to a Guitar Center, just buy it online at Musician's Friend (GC's online store). I'll let you know what I think of the mic as soon as I can listen to the podcast.

Steve & Barb said...

Hedberg- whatever works, though I tell you... every time I am at work (like now) using a PC, I thank God for the day my son convinced me to try a Mac. It's like a Timex... or Eveready bunny... keeps goin' & goin'.

Jennifer- Thank's for the tip. I know the mixer and 3-$20 mics might work, but then I would feel too obsessive... mixing the channel levels just so, etc. To paraphrase Bones McCoy: "I'm a doctor, Jim, not a studio engineer."

I'll wait to hear your impression of the mic (I had to use the high gain setting, so there's a bit of a rushing sound for a split second, right after a loud sound... I'll have to play around with this some more).

ClinkShrink said...

I think if we could get Dinah parked a little closer to the mic we'd be fine. She's hard to hear at times. Would three mics and a USB hub work or would you still need a mixer? I'm stupid about this.

Anonymous said...

Definitely a different sound from your other podcasts. There is too much gain. I'm hearing this very high-pitched noise whenever you guys talk for a majority of the podcast. I didn't hear it on your other podcasts. I just listened to all 3 to see if I heard it during the first two. (That doesn't make me crazy, does it? haha!) Where you added a sentence around the 4 minute mark, it sounded cleaner (probably because it was just you talking and not trying to pick up 3 people). Three separate mics would definitely be better. Right now I think your 1st podcast sounds better using whatever mic you did. And each of you needs to distance yourself from the single mic based on the level of your voice to even levels out as best as possible. It was very hard to listen to this one because that high pitch sound hurt my ears. My vote is definitely separate mics! Take the Blue mic back and do the 3 mic setup.

Roy...just give in and join the millions of audiophile perfectionists who spend too much time making changes so small that no one can notice. BTW....size doesn't matter, it's he with the most toys who rocks! haha!

Clink...Dinah is sometimes hard to hear because she can't always get a word in. Now that I just listened to all 3 podcasts (I can't believe I just did that!), Dinah kept getting cut off by you in one of them (I can’t remember which). You and Roy seem to dominate. On a positive note, you and Roy are hilarious! And on a side note...it was driving me nuts the whole time thinking of whose voice you sounded like. It finally hit me...I think you sound a bit like Dr. Lilith Sternin-Crane (from Cheers), only funny and with personality. Now I can't get Bebe Neuwirth's picture out of my head each time I hear you talk. Aargh!

Whether you know it or not, these are very entertaining and funny. I hope you three keep doing them.

Steve & Barb said...

Great feedback, Jennifer. Thanks. I can tell you really listened, as you picked up on my size matters comment. I'm impressed (concerned?) that you listened to all three.

I'm not ready to give up on the Snowball yet. I used a software patch from Blue that increases the gain... this after reading all the online reviews stating that some people had a gain problem which was solved by the patch. I didn't even really try it without this, so I will experiment with it. I could also filter out sound above a certain frequency using the EQ.

Sigh. The mixer is sounding more desireable.

OMG! You are right! Clink does sound like Lilith (a bit). I don't know who I sound like, but Dinah's voice reminds me of Ellen Muth from Dead Like Me. A bit.

Sarebear said...

I still haven't listened to the second one yet, but I just finished this one!

Woohoo, you quoted me! Yippee!

Just send Dinah some Metamucil, that'll make her a regular person, alright!!

I think the ologist warning about kids in front of the TV doing wii-wii, alright, c'mon, of COURSE they're not doing their homework or something else if they're doing this. I don't think anyone thinks staying indoors playing video games, whether active physically or not, is the "ideal" thing to do alot of. Then again, at least this thing gets 'em off their butts! I don't think people and kids and teens should be pressured so much to feel guilty about having some recreation time.

Doing anything to excess is a problem, and one would probably want to be aware of time spent doing any one thing, like wii-video games or whatnot, but c'mon, some person who feels electronic entertainment is always inherently bad, invariably comes out with some warning or other.

Moderation, and personally I'd be against any blood n' guts ones (cause how much more personal does it make it when you are physically throwing the punches and kicks??? if that genre even exists on the wii . . .), but just relax and have fun, without excess. Oh, and get your homework done, dudes.

Hee hee!

Off my soap box. Er, christmas wrappings waiting to go out to the overflowing dumpster, box.

Oh, and Clink DOES sound like a nice, friendly, much more well-rounded Lilith.

Roy sounds suspiciously like my iatrist. Except nicer. Roy just SOUNDS like a shrink, to me, but that may be because of my iatrist who just closed his private practice. Talk about all-or-nothing thinking, he did SO much of that to me, and even FORCED me to make an either/or choice, a couple of times.

Anyway. Loved the podcast, although I would like more Dinah!!

You all sound like shrinks, but I don't know what that's s'posed to mean. You figure it out (hee hee!). But now, "shrink", is more regular people to me, so maybe Dinah doesn't need the extra fiber after all . . .

Sare

Sarebear said...

Clink, I mean well-rounded in a mental sense, not trying to say your phat or something.

Ok, maybe you're phat, I'd have no idea, really, but not making a weight comment!

Wanna weigh in on that?

hee hee.

Steve & Barb said...

Alright, Sara, that's enough holiday cheer for you!

Sarebear said...

Yeah, good thing I don't drink alcohol, lol!!

Sarebear said...

Better start cutting the egg nog with milk, then. Lol!

That's using the 'ole noggin . . . (suspecting you won't reply since you don't want to egg me on . . . . tee hee!)

SEAMONKEY said...

The freewheeling format is funny, but a symmetrical structure might sound more satisfying. Here are my suggestions:

Less lopsided: more input from Dinah; more consistent and well-sourced research; evenly spaced breaks.

Tighter talk: keep the feel of casual conversation but do away with long detours; avoid referencing the podcast itself (such as who suggested bumper music etc.); a clearer progression in your subject matter (begin the Wii topic by telling us how it was brought to your attention by the child psychologist etc.)

Themes: rather than presenting a grab-bag of subject matter in random proportion, try to have a thread which runs through the whole podcast. We humans really like to grok the whole Gestalt, and the least you can do as shrinks is provide one. :)

More cookies: we like cookies.

Steve & Barb said...

The cookies are no problem.
The rest? Good tips... but we'll probably need to dope the cookies with Sudafed (or Ritalin) to keep us that organized. We'll keep these in mind.

#4 will be out on Sunday, Dec 31. We recorded it the same day as #3, and it is even more disorganized (yet still strangely satisfying) than the others.

I've suggested we record these via Skype so we don't have to deal with the scheduling issues of all three of us being in the same place at the same time, but so far I've been voted down.

ClinkShrink said...

Sigh...

I suppose none of you will believe this but in real life I actually am the quiet one. OK, Dinah gets to talk more next time.

Clink AKA Lilith

...going to go eat worms now...

Dinah said...

For the record, No One has EVER suggested I should talk more! I love it!

Sarebear said...

uh oh . . . . have we awakened a Frankensteinian monster?

Hee hee hee . . .

ClinkShrink said...

It's hysterical---we've got a Freaky Friday thing happening on the podcast. Dinah the quiet one, me that chatty Cathy (with apologies to all Cathys out there).

DrivingMissMolly said...

I would like to suggest another site, http://www.wiidamage.com for entertainment regarding Wii destructive potential.

I am glad that someone mentioned Dinah not talking very much in the podcasts. I agree, or maybe it is that she is not as assertive as someone who works in the setting Clink works in would have to be?

Anyway, Clink, I admire your encyclopedic knowledge of all clink related and very much enjoyed listening to you, as well as reading your post on prisons (I think they are interesting too).

Take care. I would suggest putting up that Paypal donation link soon since some of us will be doing our taxes ASAP!

Lily