I’m aware that some of my readers browse the site rather than rely on the RSS feed to find out what Messrs. Dentith and Ransome are up to. For that former group, the site being down the last few days must have been miserable, so I apologise to those three people profusely.
It was not, however, a fault on my end. My host’s network went bottom’s up and I was a casualty.
Anyway…
Normally, this being an ‘every second Sunday’ morning, I’d be entering the studios of bFM to do the “Dentith Files,” but with José gone and a new show in place lead by David Farrier, Rhys Darby (and produced by Buttons) I’m at home and not burning my fingers on the bFM coffee machine (that’s not a euphemism, by the way; José liked me to make him coffee ((And to do other things, but that’s another story for another time))).
I’m not sure what the future of ‘The Dentith Files’ will be; David has indicated he’s keen to bring me in to the new show, the “Cryptid Factor” but he, Rhys and Buttons will need, I suspect, some time to settle into their new bFM roles and work out how, if at all, to accommodate the old “Sunday Breakfast” regulars. I mean, how will people cope on a Sunday morning without a dose of James Coe’s patent-formula newsrage? Or the superbly titled “Games Burnett?”
Which, because I’m on a “break” ((And using too many quote-marks.)) leads me to ask “Has the slot run its course? Is it time to put the Dentith Files to bed?”
I’d like to think “No.” Whilst the quality of the slot was variable (sometimes, for example, José and I were more concerned about TV than we were about conspiracy theories, and sometimes we played it for laughs), it was never, I’d like to think ((It seems I’d like to think a lot of things…)), dull. Longwinded; yes. Pretentious; almost certainly. In-jokey? Perhaps overly.
But never, ever, dull.
I hope.
I have given thought to producing the “Dentith Files” as a podcast, should the slot not reappear on the Sunday schedule. I’m also vaguely interested in doing it as a vodcast, although the timing of it would be crucial. I think I could get away with fifteen minutes of “radio” but not fifteen minutes of “film,” for example. I mean, unless I have fancy graphics, exciting guests and exotic location filming (replete with car chases, explosions and beautiful companions), fifteen minutes of a vodcast will feel like a chore for the humble (and not-so-humble) viewer. Five minutes is probably optimum. Seven… even that is pushing the viewer’s patience.
Of course, podcasting and vodcasting takes time, which, strangely enough, the radio slot doesn’t. I just had to turn up with a topic prepared, answer José’s questions and then go home. There was no editing involved, no need to listen to it to make sure it sounded okay and no need to redo segments if they didn’t quite pan out. A podcast (or vodcast), not being a live recording, needs to be an altogether more polished affair, I think.
There’s also the direction it would take without José as the interlocutor. A solo effort would be… weird. Due to the often byzantine ways conspiracy theories develop, describing them really requires someone else to direct you in the explanation of them. I mean, imagine trying to explain Lyndon LaRouche’s theories? Where do you start? What part do you focus on? I don’t necessarily think that I need some kind of creative partner to make it work, but the “Dentith Files,” as a show, would need much more planning than it ever did on the radio should I go it alone.
So, I guess, it’s wait and see. I’m certainly going to do something with the “property.” Until then, I’m on a media holiday ((Although not much of one; I’ve been asked to create a portfolio of my media interactions last year in the vain hope of winning the media prize offered by the New Zealand branch of the Australasian Association of Philosophy.)). No off-kilter comments about the squid conspiracy this week, nor an references to my obsession with primes.