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The Political Carnival: It's Not Just for Laffs

Listeners to our radio show know "Laffy" well. On Fridays, GottaLaff (her only public name) brought us her list of the whackiest stories of the week - in some cases, bringing us the only laughs around some pretty grim situations.

I was privileged to meet Laffy when she visited SF. We sat at the Brick (oh the Brick, how we miss those post-show cocktails! We'll come see you soon), lingered long over dinner, and in the course of getting to know each other mentioned this new idea she had. My Swiss-cheese memory may fail me here, but I think she already had the name for it she's still using: BLUNT.

Consumer Alert! Comm-Services LLC

If  you've done business with iKitchen or Homebrands, or have received an unsolicited DVD in the mail recently, check your credit card records IMMEDIATELY. And warn your friends! Here's the full story.

I get books, CDs, and DVDs in the mail with some frequency. Publicists and others who feel our work might be a good venue for their clients send them along, sometimes with advance notice, sometimes not. But the DVD that arrived Friday seemed odd from the get-go.

Hey, seen Laffy's latest?

Got a new missive from LFTLC's demented sidekick, Buttercup. Gotta Laff, co-proprietress of The Political Carnival has knocked it out of the park with her latest BLUNT video. Enjoy!

Revisiting the Saltworks, Again

Would LFTLC pay so much attention to a project in Redwood City if the show's host - moi - didn't happen to live there?

I like to think so. I live on the other side of town from the proposed development, and I avoid the 101 freeway whenever possible. Its direct impact on me is questionable. My concerns - pollution from overcrowded freeways, inappropriate use of what had been natural wetlands, possibly losing the chance to ever restore those wetlands - would move me to discuss this whether I lived here or in Iowa.

For those of you new to the topic: the multinational giant Cargill owns - and once upon a time operated - salt ponds along the Redwood City shores of the Bay. Salt production ceased there years back. Now a proposal on the table promotes a small city on the flats: developing the 1,433 acres with twelve thousand homes, along with parks, streets, stores, and parking lots.

How many times can you resurrect an ambition?

http://swannman.wordpress.com/2007/03/04/resilience-or-watch-your-step/

As many times as necessary.

(Photo credit: http://swannman.wordpress.com/2007/03/04/resilience-or-watch-your-step/ )

LFTLC started as a commercial radio show, supported by its members. Then we moved to the internet, only to discover the mechanisms for affordable, real-time online streaming with live call-ins are in beta stage at best.

So we went away again.

What do you watch on YouTube?

Hi folks! We love YouTube, and guess that you do too. Oh, it's not perfect, but it is quite a place to wander around in, both for diversion and for news. What do you use YouTube for? Post a comment and tell us.

New Studios for LFTLC

No station? No problem. We just take matters into our own hands and build a studio. As I write this we are finalizing the blueprint for our new studio/editing suite in Berkeley. It will be a modest affair, but sufficiently well-equipped to accommodate live guests and internet broadcast. Meaning we will be able to create video podcasts and ultimately live webcasts direct from our own facility. Stay-tuned for announcements on upcoming audio and video offerings.

HTML5

HTML5 is the newest version of the language platform behind the World Wide Web. It has many excellent features, but two especially  important to us: native audio and video tags. What this means is that your browser won't need a plug-in (i.e. Flash) to run a video-- it will just play. An extra bennie is quality-- we can upload hi-def audio and video with a reasonable expectation that your browser will play it, and it will look and sound great. HTML5, now supported by Chrome, Safari and a few others,  will be supported by most browsers by the end of the year. So we are planning more video offerings--much more, as we move forward.

 

Greetings!

Hi, all! I'm Allegra, I'm the new associate producer for Live from the Left Coast, and this is my first LFTLC blog entry! Wow!

I'm really excited to be working with this team; in the coming days, weeks, and months we hope to really get the ball rolling with a bunch more exciting content and a hearty infusion of new ways to interface with LFTLC.com. I've been amazed by the community surrounding this website; as a matter of fact, it's one of the things that drew me to sign on board. I love it when I see exploratory discourse and strong relationships building in an online forum or chatroom. To me, it's a sign of the breadth of the human capacity to cooperate, and that is a rare remedy for a chronic pessimism.

For the Locals: I Am In Love

And I hope I can make you fall in love, too. Look at this beautiful girl!

Cricket the Princess

I volunteer for a Peninsula cat rescue group, Humanimal Connection. I'm on call to feed the cats and kittens who are up for adoption at the local pet store. (Lemme give a shout-out here to the Redwood City Petco and San Mateo Feed and Pet, both of whom are so generous in support of Humanimal!)

This morning I went in to feed the latest batch of adoptables their breakfasts. And there, again, was Cricket.