In the pod

I bet I'm not the only person who has subscribed to The New Yorker magazine for the wonderful cartoons it publishes. Did you know that some of the artists whose work appears in that publication live locally? I always enjoyed seeing some of the magazine's cartoons mentioning Rhinebeck that were hung on the walls at Schemmy's, the casual restaurant/ice cream parlor/apparent New Yorker artists' hangout. (Schemmy's is closed now and the space houses Village Pizza.) I knew when we were first creating Hudson Valley Connoisseur magazine that I wanted to have our own cartoon. We were lucky to find Jennifer Axinn-Weiss, who creates the clever Gourmet Giggles you'll find only in HVC.

So I was excited to discover recently that The New Yorker is offering free downloadable animated versions of their cartoons as video podcasts. (I found them at iTunes.) Between my work and homelife, I have a very busy daily schedule and I am beginning to appreciate the value of podcasts. As a professional Word Nerd ;-), I get a kick out of Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips and I always find something of value in Garrison Keillor's The Writer's Almanac. For those times when I have some otherwise mindless chores (folding laundry) I adore NPR's Selected Shorts ("a celebration of the short story" read by noted actors). Now I finally can catch up with some of my favorite writers -- on my time!

Have any other really interesting podcasts to share? And does anyone know what became of the cartoons that used to hang in Schemmy's in Rhinebeck?