This week I’d like to direct your attention to several podcasts that should keep you and your iPod happy.

MSNBC, Fox News, CNN: when I think of these news outlets I think of good looking, well-groomed anchors regurgitated the hour’s top stories with an air of professional indifference. Global warming, bombings, coups, and injustices don’t so much as cause a raised eyebrow on these folks lest someone might mistake such a wanton display of emotion for an opinion and so invalidating what’s being reported as fact when, in fact, some of what is reported isn’t. But that’s a topic for another day.

What we need now is real news, news that gets right to the heart of a subject and is reported by someone not so good looking, someone not so clean-cut, someone like..oh, I dunno...Jarrett Bellini! Yeah, that’s the ticket.

Now that a quick Wiki-search (Is that a "QWiki-search"? Hahahaha! I still crack myself up.) has revealed to you that Jarrett is an honest-to-goodness journalists who also happens to have a sense of humor. You’ll likely agree with me and high-five the air when I tell you that he is the host of CNN’s news podcast, News of the Absurd.

Old, Tiny Feet is News of the Absurd

Absurd? Absolutely! We can’t have straight-faced and hair-sprayed anchors telling us about a village in China where the last survivors of the now outlawed practice of foot binding get together to shake their sagging groove thangs, or discuss the in-depth investigation of how viagra-enhanced oysters are created.

Jarrett Bellini is only pleasant looking and has entirely too much facial hair, but I believe him when he reports that there’s a place in New York where I can go to get an emergency Botox injection. Now that’s real news!

News of the Absurd can be found in the iTunes Store Video Podcast section.

We move now from the absurd to the surprisingly useful: Aluminum foil, that ubiquitous metal film that does everything from lining your charcoal grill to giving you a fake bling-grill, and possibly Alzheimer’s Disease, yep, it has a million and one uses. Nadia and Tali, two surnameless beauties, offer some tips, do some quick investigating, and generally poke at aluminum foil in their first episode of Try This At Home, a video podcast that’s actually a lot of fun to watch.

Nadia and Tali Host Try This At Home

There are only two episodes of Try This..., the other focusing on wine, but I think you’ll agree that the four + minute shows are a hit and more hints, tips, and myth-busting by Nadia and Tali is desired. (I wonder if they will test the foot-binding thing?)

Moving right along, which is exactly what one does whilst balanced on a skateboard, I’d like to point your waning attention to Elements Skateboard and watch as young guys with more nerve than sense negotiate the urban landscape. You’ve seen these guys flipping and jumping boards as you plod, slack-jawed, from work to home and in your heart of hearts you’ve wished you could be there with them.

Mashed testes waiting to happen in Elements Skateboard

Before you attempt to ride that handrail, you might want to check out several episodes. These guys practice a lot and most have rubber bones, yet they still wind up scarred, chipped, banged up, and talking a few octaves higher than normal.

Fun to watch though. Elements Skateboard is a video podcast at the iTunes Store.

OK, that’s it for this week, but before I leave I want to make sure you grab the freebie single from Paul McCartney, Nod Your Head. It’s a music video with a bunch of folks nodding their heads, but, dang is it a catchy tune. I predict there will be a lot of head nodding in your future.

If you think these girls are hot Nod Your Head

Man, I love free stuff!

More free stuff oat the iTunes Store (with direct links):

Vern Seward is a writer who currently lives in Orlando, FL. He’s been a Mac fan since Atari Computers folded, but has worked with computers of nearly every type for 20 years.