29 posts tagged “letters”
Themes And Jingles
The Choicest Sounds from DGW
Yesterday, George Wood from Scotland, one of our favourite theme writers, sent me copies of the files for his jingles. It so happens that in today's episode, Episode 515, Leo remarks that when they first started, they had no jingles, and now DGW is happily filled with them. Here's a recap of all the official DGW themes and jingles, in chronological order. A belated celebration of Episode 500.
Opening Theme
Written by Mark Blasco of PodcastThemes
on a geek cruise, who also wrote themes for other podcasts on TWiT,
it opens proceedings every day and sets the whimsical tone for the
Daily Giz Wiz. It was there right from the beginning, in Episode 1, on 20 February 2006.
Also called the Gravy Jingle, with its reference to the "It makes its own gravy" slogan. Created by Paul Minshall from Vancouver, Canada, it was chosen as the Gravy Jingle among other jingle submissions. First incorporated into the end of the podcast in Episode 116, but was first aired and introduced by Leo during the show in Episode 118, on 2 August 2006. For the history of how the Gravy Slogan and Gravy Jingle came about, see this rather verbose blog entry.
Letters Jingle
Created for DGW's Mail Bag by George Wood from Scotland, aka the Jingle Singers. As the show went on, more and more emails came in, and Dick and Leo decided to read a letter in each episode. This original Letters Jingle was first aired in Episode 166 on 9 October 2006. For an audio history of how the idea of a letters jingle came about, see this other blog entry.
Festive Letters Jingle
A special version of the Letters Jingle prepared by George Wood for the Jingle Bells season, but truly a jingle for all seasons. Particularly popular with DGW fans. First aired in Episode 208 on 6 December 2006.
The idea for a Turn-The-Tables-Tuesday first started during Episode 115, and TTTT officially began in Episode 122 on 8 August 2006. The theme for TTTT arrived much later, when George Wood decided to write a theme for our special Tuesday, to sing the praises about Leo's travails in looking under his desk. It first appeard in Episode 307 on 8 May 2007.
Every so often, while Dick and Leo are recording the show, Dick's doorbell will ring and it's usually a courier deilvery of a gadget. Dick will go "to answer the door, for just one more - UPS delivery," while Leo sits there twiddling his thumbs. In Episode 337, this happened again and Leo broke into song about waiting for Dick. Paul Minshall lost little time in coming up with a superior version to Leo's, which was aired on 2 July 2007 in Episode 346.
After that, it took a long while before another opportunity came up for the jingle to be played, in Episode 417 on 9 October 2007. It also took Leo a long time to locate the jiingle on his computer.
Warehouse Friday started right from the show's first Friday, on 24 February 2006 in Episode 5. Despite its popularity, the request for a Warehouse Jingle did not appear until listener Roy McMahon suggested the idea in Episode 366.
"They're geeky and they're goofy. Together they are loopy." Our favourite theme writers George Wood and Paul Minshall could have been writing about themselves. They collaborated to produce a spooky, squeaky theme song fit for the celebrated Warehouse and our favourite day of the week, Warehouse Friday. It was completed just before Episode 400 (see this blog entry), but first aired only in Episode 415 on 5 October 2007, as Dick and Leo had pre-recorded quite a number of shows.
Again, the picture here is taken from David Knighton's virtual Dick's Gadget Warehouse on Second Life.
Karaoke on TTTT
And if you can't get enough of jingles, here's a karaoke version of the TTTT theme, which you can sing to.
Update:
No-Theme Wednesday Theme
In Episode 478, Dick and Leo decided that they would have no theme for Wednesday, and it's going to a Theme-Free Wednesday. Chicago-based Dan Lueders, who much earlier made a gravy jingle submission (which got misplaced), prepared this Wednesday Theme for DGW, sent it over to Dick in January 2008, which got misplaced again. Fortunately, it saw the light of day on 19 March 2008, when Dick and Leo found it again, and played it in Episode 528.
The album art for this theme is adapted from the original artwork by Lori Lebeau-Walsh.
To know more about the works by our theme song writers, see:
George Wood: Promedia on Vox, PodSafeAudio, and PodShow;
Paul Minshall: PaulMinshall.com, and Paul's blog on Wordpress;
Mark Blasco: Podcast Themes;
Dan Lueders: urSESSIONS and Promiseland.
Here Comes the Letters Jingle
Rehash / Retrospective
A look at how the Letters Jingle came about. Like the Gravy Slogan, the idea started off with another pre-stolen idea, "We Get Letters" from the Perry Como Show, or you can call it a historical reference.
The Opening Intro is in honour of George's Wood's Scottish heritage, not Leo's lousy Scottish accent.
For those who want the karaoke version (more like an "a cappella" version) by Dick and Leo, see Episode 251. To get the "jingle for the letters jingle", go to Episode 266.
Monster Cable "Outlets To Go"
Travel Power Strip
Link: Monster Cables
From Monster Cable, the "Outlets To Go" is a compact travel-friendly power strip (choice of 4 or 6 outlets). Built-in circuit breaker to prevent overload. 6.25” x 2.25” x 1.8”. Great for use in a hotel room or sharing at an airport.
Missing Toronto
Since the end of Call For Help, Leo has not seen Amber MacArthur, although Andy Walker and Sean Carruthers will come out to Vancouver for the filming of The Lab With Leo. Leo misses his Toronto friends.
Still In Search of the Old Letters Jingle
Another listener writes in to help Leo find the old letters jingle that Eric from Tallahassee wanted to hear again (Episode 285). He thinks it was done by a Swede and the jingle ended with a gong. Leo tries searching for Sweden, and ends up with visitsweden.com.
No, the fellow who did the old jingle was Finnish, and yes, the old jingle ended with a big finish (quoting Dick in Episode 156) !
Wild About Dogs
Dog Care Video
Wild About Dogs was a series of videos about dog care including dog food, done by Wild About Animals Productions. It contains some recipes by Serafin Boitel which are suitable for humans too! Some of these recipes have survived and found their way to the internet, such as the Turkey Cake and the Parsley Dog Biscuits.
Old Letters Jingle
Eric from Tallahassee, Florida has been listening since Episode 1 and still can't get enough of DGW. He misses the old letters jingle before Leo signed up the Jingle Singers, which cracked him up every time. Leo plays every jingle he can find, including the gravy jingle submissions by Pat/Hagen Mricek and Dugal.
The one Eric is asking for must be the Finnish submission by fellow podcaster Henrich Antonin, the MIDI jingle, aka the jingle with the big finish, which was played between Episode 151 and Episode 160.
WowWee Robosapien V2
Robot
Link: Robosapien V2
Japanese Robotics
Leo has just done an interview with a professor at CALIT2 (California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology), Dr Larry Smarr, who says Japan is way ahead of the US in robotics, and the Japanese are far more comfortable with the idea of robots. That interview appears in Episode 15 of Futures In Biotech: The SuperNet.
$100 Ads
Leo is backtracking on the $100 ads on DGW (Episode 259). He wants more.
A Cue for the Letters Jingle
Ken from Denver is sometimes taken aback by the Letters Jingle's sudden entry and thinks that it needs a cue, and suggests a jingle to introduce the Letters Jingle. "Here comes the jingle, the lovely jingle, here comes the letters jingle now."
Mad Minutes
Leo is still sorting out the Mad Minutes and is not yet happy with the sound quality. Leo thinks the problem may lie with the plusdeck2c (Episode 127). Dick suggests that Leo should have the plusdeck2c plugged in.
Listen to Episode 266
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
SeeEye2Eye
Eye Contact Enabling Device for Video Chat/Teleprompter
Link: Bodelin
Karaoke Version of Letters Jingle
Dave of Birmingham, Alabama, wants Dick and Leo to sing along to the Letters Jingle. Sadly they oblige.
DGW Anniversary Coming Up
Tomorrow is another TTTT, but also the First Anniversary of DGW.
Listen to Episode 251
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
Stanley FatMax FuBar / Black & Decker Auto-Wrench
Weapon of Mass Destruction / Automatically Adjustable Wrench
Link: Stanley Tools Black & Decker
The word fubar is a euphemistic acronym for "F...ed Up Beyond All Recognition" (or similar variants), used in the military. Stanley Tools has adopted the word as the name of this tool as it can wreck almost anything beyond recognition.
Black & Decker Auto-Wrench
With the push a button this Black & Decker Auto-Wrench will adjust the width of the opening to any size up to 1¼ inches. Uses 2 AAA batteries.
Crooks Do Not Listen to the DGW
No criminals are allowed in the DGW Audience.
Boating
Dick owns 3 boats. Leo wants to get into boating and see the world in a boat. Dick recommends a trawler.
Carl from beautiful Richmond, BC, recommends earphones from Ultimate Ears. Leo got his first pair of Ultimate Ears as a prize for Podcasting Person of the Year. He's just received the new 5Cs and he might review them. In due course, Leo will review the super.fi earphones (Episode 272).
Jingle Encore
One more thing. Carl likes the Festive Letters Jingle so much he wants to listen to it again. Leo obliges.
Listen to Episode 231
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
StarTech CPNT410IR
4-to-1 Component AV Switch
Link: StarTech
Running out of Component inputs at the back of your TV? The StarTech Converge 4-to-1 AV Switch gives you a few more. Connect the box to a component input on your TV. At the back of the box are 4 component inputs to which you can connect 4 input devices. The remote control allows you to choose which input to use.
The Best of DGW
George Wood has prepared a "best of" episode for hoilidays, but unfortunately it arrived after Leo had left. Leo promises that it will be played.
Beach Experience
Even though Dick has owned many boats, he hates the beach. Leo was once in Nassau in the Bahamas with Sumi Das for an appearance on TechTV, but all they had was 17 minutes in which to run down to the beautiful beach, dip their toes in, and run back to get on with the journey ...
Dick in London
... and that reminds Dick that he was asked to go to London to promote the Snake Light for Black and Decker, and they had lined up 31 programmes for him, leaving him no time to see London.
[Update: For a more recent version of the Snake Light, see Episode 298, the LED Snake Light.]
Not For Sale
The Daily Giz Wiz is not for sale to companies that sell digital cables with gold-plated jacks, but long-term lease enquiries are welcome.
Microsoft Bob
Steve L from New Jersey points out that the product manager of Microsoft Bob (Episode 215) was one Melinda French, now Mrs Bill Gates.
The Social
Leo looks up the Merriam Webster Dictionary and the American Heritage Dictionary for the meaning of "social" (The Zune, Episode 202) as a noun. He tries to find the British Heritage Dictionary. Really. How about something from Oxford?
No Mad Minute
No Mad Minute yet. Leo has yet to sort out the tapes.
Listen to Episode 221
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
Motorola QuickWord
Pager Message Input Keyboard
Link: VideoStation
For the final podcast of the year, Dick covers The Motorola QuickWord, which was a device that connected to a landline telephone and opened up to reveal a keyboard for inputting a text message to a pager number.
Beepwear Watch
Dick used to use the QuickWord in conjunction with his Beepwear Watch (first mentioned in Episode 20) which had its own telephone number. When Dick has to leave his hound dog in the Debartolo Manor, the dog-sitter could send Dick a message to his Beepwear Watch.
Florence, Joy, Sally, Maria, Elizabeth and Tiffany
They are the Giz Wiz Festive Letters Jingle Singers.
DGW at 1.3x
A listener Gerard had to catch up 13 DGWs in a row and he played them in Windows Media Player at 1.3 times speed.
Self-Cleaning Litter Box
Gerard also recommends the Littermaid Self-Cleaning Litter Box, but Leo remains sceptical.
A Prayer for James Kim
Dick asks everyone to say a prayer for James Kim, Tech Editor at CNET, formerly at TechTV, and his family.
Listen to Episode 220
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
Butter Wizard
Temperature-Controlled Butter Dish
Link: Butter Wizard
The Butter Wizard is an AC/battery-operated butter dish from Angus Walker from the UK, with temperature control to get your butter at your favourite consistency.
Christmas Break
Leo is going to Mexico this Christmas (according to him, his first Christmas away from home), and DGW will break for 2 weeks after this week. After the New Year, Dick will be at CES and Leo will go to MacWorld Expo.
Mad Minutes
No Mad Minutes last week because Leo found a lot of duplications. He will have to sort them out.
Catchup
Touting for Heinz sponsorship, Leo calls the break the Catchup Break, for listeners to catch up with past episodes - making virtue out of necessity.
20 episodes in a row
Coupon Code for Scott-E-Vest
Scott Jordan has given a coupon code TWiT for DGW listeners for his products, 20% off.
Listen to Episode 216
Go to TWiT
The Giz Wiz Home Page
