DriveTime

Welcome Boston Globe Magazine readers

2008-11-29T22:03:00.004-05:00

A warm welcome to anyone visiting DriveTime after reading Michael Prager's piece in Sunday's Boston Globe Magazine (a DriveTime Puzzle Bonus for you: Row 2, Column 5 in this week's Sudoku is a '7'!)

For those of you new to all things DriveTime and looking to jump in with both feet on the pedal, might I suggest starting with the very first episode? Or the latest?

If you like to get all your FAQs in a row, you can get the official skinny from Dr. B.

Music in your heart? You could rock out with Apple Betty or tap your foot to the humorous musical stylings of Jim's Big Ego.

If game shows are your thing, you could start with DriveTime's own "Beard or No Beard".

Or you could start with the legendary Kim Watkins/Beyond Tomorrow episode.

Just don't start with the Comic Book Guy's Worst Episode Ever. Trust me, don't!

As always, I welcome all comments/suggestions/guest inquiries/etc.

Episode Four.One

2008-10-28T23:25:00.005-04:00

Ravi unveils a new tag line for DriveTime's impending swan song and flys solo what with his beloved co-host on official DriveTime Maternity Leave, leading to a new segment this week: The DriveTime Maternity Leave Moment. Stalwart guest Christopher Monks joins Ravi to talk about his new book The Ultimate Game Guide to Your Life and his Order My Book Extravaganza.

And since he is the guest this week, Ravi prods him for some Election Day tips.

(QuickTime, 08:50, 55 Mb)

Episode Three.Eight

2008-10-22T21:10:00.006-04:00

The long,long wait is over as Ravi and Sonia launch Studio-V from their new digs in the 'burbs for the first time, days before the arrival of "Baby X."

Lisa McElaney, President of Vida Health Communications helps allay their jitters with some straight talk about parenting, swaddling, and brea$t feeding.

And Ravi ponders an entrepreneurial mammarian enterprise.

(QuickTime, 08:21, 51 Mb)

Episode Three.Seven

2008-04-18T22:23:00.003-04:00

In a temporal paradox that would make Doctor Who proud, Ravi and Sonia reach across the temporal divide to meet up with an earlier version of Ravi. This Past Ravi informs Future Ravi and Future Sonia about his future solo show at the Artist's Foundation gallery in Boston, "Jain, Trains and Automobiles".

Plus, after months of speculation (and recommendations) Studio-A is finally sent off to the highway in the sky.

(QuickTime, 08:38, 52 Mb)

Episode Three.Six

2008-03-25T00:06:00.004-04:00

Ravi and Sonia crack open the Official DriveTime Glovebox to field suggestions for the big DriveTime Finale. Mike Miliard, author of The Boston Phoenix's Sox blog, joins Ravi and Sonia in previewing the upcoming Red Sox season.

Ravi pulls out some Oprah under-the-seat-magic to summon DriveTime Japanese Correspondents Momo and Jake with a report beamed back from Tokyo. And Sonia sneaks in some SnackTime.

(QuickTime, 09:31, 58 Mb)

Episode Three.Five

2008-03-12T17:08:00.003-04:00

After a lengthy hiatus that had nothing to do with the writer's strike, Ravi and Sonia fire up Studio-V again and drop a DriveTime BombShell HatTrick. Plus, details on Ravi and Sonia's recent anniversary jaunt to NYC which featured some dynamic air-guitaring and some glowering intimidation by Ian McShane.

(QuickTime, 08:33, 52 Mb)

Production/Hibernation Update

2008-02-04T19:10:00.001-05:00

The DriveTime Production Elves are rousing themselves after a deep winter slumber. Big thanks and shout outs to American based viewers that saw the now legendary "Beyond Tomorrow" segment as it re-aired today. It's our own Halley's Comet!

Like our Patriot comrades, DriveTime will be moving forward with new 2008 episodes coming soon.

DriveTime Extra: Jim's Big Ego

2007-11-21T08:33:00.000-05:00

An extra slice of DriveTime for the holiday: the full unedited performance of "Love Everybody" by two-thirds of the band, Jim's Big Ego.

Happy Thanksgiving!

(QuickTime, 03:13, 664 Mb)

Episode Three.Four

2007-11-20T08:59:00.000-05:00

Just in time for hours of madcap holiday travel -- it's a DriveTime Thanksgiving Music Special! Ravi and Sonia reactivate the Front and BackSeat DriveTime Musical Studio for two-thirds of the band Jim's Big Ego, Jim and Dan. And a special Thanksgiving song triggers an anti-early-Christmas-music-rant from Ravi.

Jim's Big Ego Live in Studio V Set List:

Mix Tape
Turkey Turkey
Love Everybody (outro excerpt)

(QuickTime, 09:56, 48 Mb)

Episode Three.Three

2007-11-04T21:50:00.000-05:00

Ravi and Sonia welcome Holden Lewis from Bankrate.com's Mortgage Matters blog to talk about Baby Jessica, the housing market and a potential "Perfect Storm" a'brewin.

(QuickTime, 09:16, 44 Mb)

Episode Three.Two

2007-10-21T20:17:00.000-04:00

Ravi and Sonia enjoy a bit of "Indian Summer" and pop open the International DriveTime GloveBox which yields an interesting proposal. The Official DriveTime Clock is then turned back to spookier times, when Ravi, Sonia and a bike-mounted, "JamieCam" equipped Jamie O'Brien were lost in their local cemetery.

(QuickTime, 08:46, 42MB)

Episode Three.One

2007-09-02T22:49:00.000-04:00

Season Three of DriveTime officially kicks off with a plaintive letter from the DriveTime GloveBox which prompts Ravi to recover a Lost episode of DriveTime from the digital cutting room floor. In this never-before-seen session from June, a helmet-camera clad Jamie O'Brien joined Ravi and Sonia on the eve of his cross country bicycle journey which he chronicles on tnt2007.com.

(QuickTime, 08:27, 40 MB)

Summer Break Has Ended

2007-09-02T22:47:00.001-04:00

DriveTime ends its summer break in a matter of moments. Thanks to all who have stopped by and shared their comments -- I'll try to be more timely with my feedback! Apologies if you've contacted me about a guest appearance and I haven't replied... a "kick-in-the-ass" reminder email works wonders!

Namaste India!

2007-06-27T09:51:00.000-04:00

The "BeyondTomorrow/DriveTime/KimWatkinspalooza" global tour continues! Greetings to new visitors from India!

Hola South America!

2007-06-13T15:54:00.000-04:00

Due to a flurry of recent comments from Guatemala, Colombia, Brazil and other South American countries, I take it that the infamous Kim Watkins visit to Studio-A was recently broadcast on stations in South America.

So "hola!" to all the new DriveTime friends and viewers.

Episode Two.Twenty

2007-06-13T07:58:00.000-04:00

Ravi turns over the guest introductions to Sonia who taps into her heritage to introduce Savvas Spyridopoulos, the producer and organizer of the upcoming Soundscape 2007 -- "a synergistic interaction of sight, sound, and crowd motion." In addition to providing a visual guide to the experience, Spyridopoulus issues a near legal disclaimer. And it's a crowded house as he insists on bringing his own guest for morale support.

Plus, a dip into the DriveTime GloveBox for the first ever follow-up letter.

And Ravi deftly slips in some Pig Latin.

(QuickTime, 09:30, 46 MB)

Episode Two.Nineteen

2007-05-28T23:52:00.000-04:00

The heat is on as Ravi and Sonia close out May with a Memorial Day themed dip into the DriveTime GloveBox which leads Sonia to ponder "Times" after DriveTime. And Ravi laces up his running shoes for a JogTime experience with Joseph Quintanilla and Lisa Miracle to talk about the upcoming Vision 5K road race and its Blindfold Challenge.

Special thanks to Fish McGill for his biking expertise.

(QuickTime, 07:10, 35 MB)

Production Update

2007-05-13T08:57:00.000-04:00

We are off to a short sunny vacation (and not commuting on that vacation!) Call it a late spring break or an early summer getaway.... actually let's say late spring break.

We'll resume with new episodes when we return to "the grind."

Episode Two.Eighteen

2007-04-29T23:08:00.000-04:00

Ravi and Sonia ponder possible "game-changing" events on DriveTime for May Sweeps before welcoming photographer Abe Morell, who is the subject of the film Shadow of the House, directed by Allie Humenuk. Abe describes how the film came to be and gives Ravi a quick Camera Obscura 101.

And if that weren't enough -- a DriveTime Remote Segment to preview the World Premiere of the film.

(QuickTime, 09:43, 46 MB)

Episode Two.Seventeen

2007-04-23T08:36:00.000-04:00

It's multi-studio madness as Ravi and Sonia kick-off the Boston Cyberarts Festival with founder and director George Fifield. George previews this year's festival, armed with a clip from the Visual Music Marathon. After successfully shuttling their guest from Studio-V to Studio-A, Ravi and Sonia discuss a potential adolescent page-turner caper, "The Case of the Missing Fitness Water."

(QuickTime, 08:56, 36.5 MB)

Episode Two.Sixteen

2007-04-16T15:50:00.000-04:00

It's a Patriots Day Holiday Special as Ravi and Sonia unveil the DriveTime Running Cam, employed to accommodate the first-ever out-of-car guest: marathon runner, David Allman. As he tunes up for the Boston Marathon, David shares how people can follow his progress on the official Boston Athletic Association web site. Plus, the DriveTime GloveBox is cracked open to reveal a letter from... Ravi Jain?!

(QuickTime, 08:50, 36 MB)

DriveTime is a Webby Nominee

2007-04-10T09:41:00.000-04:00

DriveTime has been nominated in the 11th annual Webby Awards, in the Online Film/Video: Music/Variety category (now that's a mouthful.) A tip o' the DriveTime Hat to Steve and Derek at the Webbys who helped facilitate a scholarship for the entry fee (thus accommodating the "empty set" DriveTime Budget!)

You can check out all the nominees and vote for your favorites in each category.

Update:
I've posted a higher quality version of the three-minute highlight reel that voters can watch on raviblog (the version on the Webbys site seemed a little choppy to me).

Episode Two.Fifteen

2007-04-08T23:01:00.000-04:00

It's T.G.I.G.F. for Ravi and Sonia as they prepare for Greek Easter... and Lamb Lip Soup? Ravi also officially unveils his new weekly sartorial enterprise before welcoming DriveTime Cultural Critic Peter Bebergal back to Studio-V for some politically themed DriveTime Cultural Minutes:

The Death of Captain America
Rome
Person Pitch by Panda Bear
The Ministry of Special Cases by Nathan Englander

(QuickTime, 09:23, 39 MB)

Episode Two.Fourteen

2007-04-02T07:32:00.000-04:00

Ravi and Sonia return after a Heroes-like hiatus for an Opening Day Edition of DriveTime. Boston Phoenix writer Mike Miliard climbs into Studio-V to talk about his Red Sox blog and the star pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka. As "Dice-K" always has a translator near at hand, Ravi provides Mike with his own Japanese translator: Momo Shinzawa. Together the foursome stumble upon THE catchphrase of the year, which Ravi quickly trademarks in the best interests of DriveTime.

And if that wasn't enough, Ravi dips into the trunk to fetch a bonus guest in an impromptu edition of "What's in the Trunk?"

(QuickTime, 09:28, 38 MB)

Production Update

2007-03-12T07:09:00.000-04:00

The early onset of Daylight Savings Time throws everything in the DriveTime Production Lot into a tizzy and the end result is a DriveTime Production Update (and no new episode).