There’s something about winter that makes it so tempting to spend a day inside, curled up with a blanket, a cup of tea, and a good book. So it’s a good thing that today is National Book Lovers Day–it’s the perfect excuse! Of course, if you’re not sure what to read Current is here to help.
Head on over to Booked for the latest literary news and check out what others on Current are talking about.
Ever wondered what to do with a book instead of reading it? Here are some tips! (I think this could be really useful for outdated reference books–I’m pretty sure I have a dictionary from 1995 sitting around somewhere–or old textbooks. Unless there’s a bustling market for outdated organic chemistry textbooks I don’t know about…)
Earlier today one of our community members raised a question that immediately reminded me of a drafted post sitting in my to-do pile. So I dusted this sucker off and refreshed it with some new information for all to read.
“You guys never put my submissions up at all. It would seem as though a plan were afoot to force only designated providers – while the promise is held as Bullshit.”
This isn’t a anything new; in general people get a little confused when it comes to what gets featured on Current.com. It’s not uncommon to find out that people either don’t understand, or worse, their misunderstanding leads them to believe that there is a secret agenda conspiring against them behind-the-scenes.
Trust me, this is just not the case.
Our editorial team is relatively small on Current.com, especially in comparison with some of the more editorially driven sites out there. We see Current.com as a joint partnership between our internal team, and the community that frequents the site. While we produce content for TV, the amount of content we produce for the web is fairly small in comparison with what our community produces on a daily basis.
If you’ve checked out the Music channel on Current.com lately, you might have noticed things are looking a little different. Here are some things to take note of on the new page layout:
So what’s up with all these changes?
Current is always evolving and changing, and we’re testing out a new layout for some of our top channel pages. Music is first, but we’ll be tweaking this layout, and will eventually roll it out for all six of Current’s top channels.
Where’s the most popular stories list?
The top five stories from Music are listed on the left — just click the “popular stories” link to see the full list, beginning with number five.
Where do I find all of the new music stories?
Want to see all the music stories submitted to Current Music? No problem! You can find them by clicking on the “new stories” link underneath the top 5 popular stories list.
Are there still featured stories?
Yep! The playlist at the top of the page will still be updated with a combination of community submitted stories and videos from our Current Music special, Embedded.
Some of you may know this already, but one of the thing the community team does here at Current is to answer the questions you send in. Sometimes this is easy, but sometimes? Not so much. A lot of people are channel surfing late at night when they stumble upon Current and see an amazing piece that changes your life…but you just can’t remember what it is.
Normally, we’re pretty good at this kind of thing. Personally, I pride myself on being able to locate videos based on descriptions like “there was a guy on a stool playing harmonica” or “it was about a group of female soldiers, maybe in Iraq?” but sometimes y’all have me stumped.
That’s when it’s time to reach out to the pool of producers, talent, editors, and developers here at Current to see if we can track down your requests. It’s always interesting to see what videos people are asking about, so I wanted to share the latest batch of head-scratchers with all of you.
Al wrote:
I am looking for information on a segment aired on Current TV this morning (Friday, 9-25-9 @ about 6:25 am PST) regarding a gentleman from India who started an internet sales business @ 16, then sold it and started another internet sales business and sold it. He lives in a penthouse in San Francisco now. The name “G” was stated in the story. Raphael House and “Whatever Works” was also stated in the segment.
Alexander was looking for “the wonderful video of the French people with wigs who turn off lights at night to save energy!”
Many thanks to Ryan M., Toby, and Mer for helping find the be-wigged Neon Pirates.
Michael wanted to find the video “…about a shop or boutique in london. The shop took your old clothes and remade them into something new and hip. In the segment the interviewer had some items of his own clothing made into a jacket.”
I remember seeing a pod on current nearly a year ago about some guys that put together this machine that makes music by precisely shooting out little ball thingys at drums and different stuff.
If you’ve caught a video on Current, but can’t quite remember what it was called, shoot us an email at feedback(at)current(dot)com or leave us a comment and we’ll do our very best to track it down for you!
Don’t forget, the new season for Vanguard premieres on Current TV on October 14th 10/9c. Based on what the team has been passing around, you definitely won’t want to miss this season.
I snagged some video during the presentation, and thought you guys might like to get a look at some of this stuff. While it was really nice of Current to feed us during the presentation, it did make it a little tough to eat while watching Adam and Joanne get attacked by leeches in the Cambodian jungles.
Fair warning, these videos were shot from the front row on an iPhone, so they’re a little shaky.
Adam Yamaguchi introduces the Vanguard team
Adam Yamaguchi introduces a clip from Forest of Ecstasy, an upcoming Vanguard episode
Christof introduces a clip from Cocaine Mafia, an upcoming Vanguard episode
Mariana introduces clips from The Oxycontin Express, an upcoming Vanguard episode
A couple of interesting stories stuck with me from the presentation.
The first is this, the Vanguard team is 100% unflinchingly committed to spending copious amounts of time researching and telling the stories that no one else is touching. It’s one thing to say this, but it’s an entirely different thing to actually live it. They do.
The team opened the floor up to Q&A, and when asked how they get people to share their stories, Christof had this to say:
“That’s the biggest challenge we face. When you’re telling the stories that no one else is telling, a lot of times those stories are not being told because people don’t want them to be told. so the struggle is, how do you get people to talk to you”
Mariana insightfully compared her recent experience on the set of Dr. Phil, during which he attempts to engage guests on a deeply personal level in front of large audiences with huge cameras and lights, to Vanguard’s own approach — small teams, small number of cameras, and extremely personal and private scenarios. They go out into the field and engage people one-to-one, which is a completely different environment altogether.
Amusingly, someone asked Adam what was next in the “eating bizarre things” repertoire. Christof joked that they’d had an intervention with Adam, who then responded that he’d had to curb the trend because when you intentionally start seeking out gross things to eat, you have to up the ante with each new accomplishment. He confessed, “I’m afraid of what might be next.”
So there you go, I know the teams in the Current SF offices were pretty floored with what we saw, and I personally cannot wait to see the new season. Oh, and just in case you haven’t had a chance to see them, here’s a list of episode titles from the upcoming season:
