Lo an Behold: Academy Debate

What? TVFT is back? Without Palmer, Cruz or Bietz?

Well, yes and no. Trying to corral them was impossible, but Ari Parker had nothing better to do. And since what we're talking about, Academy Debate, which will be introduced at his tournament at Byram Hills, who better to discuss it with?

Listen to Episode 61. It's safe, now that the Mayans were proven wrong.

The 2012-13 LD Resolutions, Part 3

It's too late to affect the voting (as if we would have when it was early), but did that stop us? No! We are unstoppable!!!

Sorry about that.

In Episode 60, our sad little group dissects the last four possible resolutions, and then talk a bit about Sept-Oct. There's some interesting stuff about old v. new LD that might make you think a bit.

The 2012-13 LD Resolutions, Part 2

In episode 59, the original drab four are back to discuss the next three in the series, including intervening, mandatory voting and civil services. Does Cruz end up conceding that civil services really does suck?

By the way, I went through hell to ftp this week's episode, not that anyone cares. I say this to Cyberduck: Bah!

Seceding from the US

I expressed initial disdain for the idea as historically settled, but my fellow TVFTers demurred. For them, and for those who agree, or who wonder what's up in the USA for those who like, say, baseball but not Congress (and, let's face it, that's just about everybody), here's a post from i09 on 10 Movements to Secede from the United States.

Jeesh

I just realized that comments needed to be moderated. Forgot all about that. It goes back to some issue back at the dawn of debate time.

Fixed.

LD Resolutions 2012-13, Part One, The Early Years

In Episode 58, Menick, Cruz and Palmer have at 3 of the resolutions, and fill up an entire show in so doing. To wit, there's the Ethiopians, in which Menick is shamed into raising his rating of the rez slightly (see Coachean Life if you haven't read the original responses), affirmative action and SCOTUS elections. (Although, how would one vote for SCOTUSers? What would be Scalia's campaign slogan? Or Thomas's? I shudder at the thought.) As always, the parts where the panelists discuss their peers and tear them apart and call them names have been deleted from the recording.

We'll try to get Bietz back in for the next session. He was bemoaning his lack of equipment at VBI, despite his eagerness to chime in. All he had brought with him was a toothbrush, a twenty dollar gold piece and a pair of nylons.

CatNats 2012 - Same as CatNats2011

Same as CatNats1923, for that matter. Menick, Cruz and Palmer discuss this on Episode 57. We also talk about some tabbing issues, and the progress of HAL 9001, CP's new tabbing software.

TOC - It's Getting Better

That seems to be the consensus from Episode 56. Menick, Cruz and Palmer, two of whom were there and one of whom was skeptical (and, also, one of which was going east at a rate of 234 mph while another was going west at a rate of 180; if they are both on the same track, wouldn't it be better if they weren't facing each other). Settle yourself in for the (eventually) legendary "Wave Your Fairy Wand" episode!

They're back. Better than ever. Which isn't saying much.

In Episode 55, Cruz and Menick seem to have overcome the worst of their technical problems as they talk about local leagues. This is the MHL link, for those who wish to follow along in their missals as the prayers are read.

Update

In answer to the steady (well, one) demand for information, the next TVFT depends on Cruz fixing his home internet connection. He claims he'll do it next week, during his school break. We'll see.

So, the week after NDCA?

And, btw, to the person who suggested we were misnumbering the episodes, it was the "The Train has Left the Station" episode that was recorded but never released that accounts for the difference. I forgot that it wasn't put out when I numbered the most recent one. Someday it will be a collector's item, much like an original edition Barbie still in the wrapper. In fact, I think of all the TVFT episodes as Barbies.

But that's just me.

Sort of crappy duo episode

After a lot of trying and failing, Cruz and Menick came through, sort of, with Episode 54. Lots of snapping in the background. Was Cruz clipping his nails for half an hour straight?

We'll continue to experiment...

How Many Topics is Enough?

What we wanted to talk about last week, in the episode with Ryan and PJ that got lost in the ozone, was how many topics we should have in LD. In Episode 52, which hasn't gotten lost in the ozone, Cruz and Menick discuss this between themselves, seeing that Bietz and CP were recovering from Valentine's Day and couldn't get their vocal cords to work.

NDCA: They're back and they're mad

Well, they're back, anyhow, if you define they as Menick, Cruz and Palmer (although Palmer's feed sounds like he's got somebody standing behind him tap dancing). Don't know what happened to the Bietzer. Anyhow, there's been a lot of discussion over on the NDCA listserver about the purpose of the organization, and the nature of their tournament. NDCA has always been a bit of an odd forensic fish, trying to find its place in the great sea of...something or other. Anyhow, check out Episode 51.

Starting with Jan-Feb...

There's been a lot of discussion of the Jan-Feb topic, and Menick, Bietz and Cruz throw their oars in the water in Episode 50.

Meanwhile, we're looking for people who want to guest on the program, especially if you think we're full of what we will euphemistically refer to as hot air. That's one of the things we talk about on this program, the need to communicate opposing views in a civilized fashion. We're pretty civilized, I think. Anyhow, all you need is a Skype account and you're ready to go! Email one of us.