Column: Weekly Web Watch

I hate iPods.

Like most people, I hate them,because I don’t have one. I can admit that.

I don’t want an iPod for the music playing capabilty, though, since I already own a CD player. I want to be able to listen to the Seanachai while I eat lunch.

What is the Seanachai, you ask? Taking its name from an old Gaelic word for “storyteller,” the Seanachai is a weekly bit of audio theatre, acting out bits of stand-alone fiction or parts of larger series.

This art form is part of a larger online phenomena that I’ve really gotten into recently: podcasting. Podcasting allows anyone with a computer, a microphone and an idea to create a radio show.

Some choose to promote unheard music. Some talk about the pressing issue of the day. Patrick Mclean of the Seanachai, however, chooses to tell stories.

These stories are great. Mcleanis not only an extremely talented writer, but a radio producer as well. His clips are crisp, well-dubbed and always fun.

The highlight of the collection in my mind is the “How to Suceed in Evil” series. This ongoing series tells about Edwin, a man who, like so many of us, realized that every villain in the history of the world was a moron and that he could do better. But then he goes and does it. Greatness follows.

The Seanachai episodes are usually five to 10 minutes long and can be found at www.goodwordsrightorder.com.

Steve Shinney is the features editor at the Utah Statesman. comments can be sent to steveshinney@cc.usu.edu