David M. Green: Purveyor of fine humour

Category: Channel 31

  • I’M making 31 Questions Season 3… are YOU?

    Yes. Yes! YEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSS!

    We’re back in the crowdfundorium that is Indiegogo to raise some legal tender for the production of our third and most likely final season of 31 Questions – coming 2014 to your local community TV station and/or Internet.

    If this is your first visit to my website and you’ve never heard of 31 Questions, you’re a dull boy, Billy.

    This is what it’s all about:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaUYb1qKVL8

    If you like what you see and would like to help MAKE the TV game show everyone’s listening about, go to our campaign page on Indiegogo and make a contribution. Like last time, there’s also some fabulous merchandise on offer, including badges.

    Did I mention we got badges?

    I’ve never seen my semen under a microscope, but I imagine it looks something like that.

    We also have NEW MUGS! They’re like the badges, but with a larger concavity at the rear, perfect for holding liquids, if you know what I mean:

    Like last time, we’re also keeping track of our crowdfunder locations on this planet of ours (to the nearest suburb). 3 days in and we’ve already had donations from FOUR different countries! And New Zealand isn’t even one of them!

    Check out our fabulous Season 3 Crowdfunder Map as it gradually becomes infected with more and more little blue markers:


    View 31 Questions Season 3 Crowdfunders in a larger map

    As of writing this blog entry, we’ve already raised an amazing $570! The goal this time is $5,000, so we’re already more than 10% of the way there.

    Last season, we managed to raise $1,846 and that was fantastic, but it still left a large gap between that figure and the actual cost of making season 2. And this time we’re hoping to invest in a totally new set and pay some of the key crew members.

    Ahh community television. It’s a low price to pay for total creative freedom.

    Big thank you to all our contributors so far. I’ll post the full list of names at the end of the campaign after December 14, and of course every donor will get a special thanks in the show’s credits.

    And merchandise is, if not in, then on the way to being in, the mail.

    Kind regards,
    David M. Green
    Past tense of Indiegogo? Indiewentwent.

  • 31 Questions S2E06 & Sydney Funtimes

    31 Questions S2E06 aired on C31 Melbourne & Geelong on the 31st day of August. And there is it on glorious YouTube.

    I spent 4 days in Sydney last week. It was the first time in seven years I’d been somewhere that wasn’t Melbourne or Adelaide. And it was fantastic.

    I stayed in the seaside suburb of Sans Souci on the shores of Botany Bay (to my knowledge, the only bay named after a spaceship from Star Trek) with the lovely Barb Badham:

    She’s mother to my good friend and mentor Van Badham. Here’s a photo of her aged 14, which I discovered in a drawer that wasn’t locked in any serious kind of way:

    I forgot that I actually like Sydney. Last time I was there it was for New Year’s Eve 2006 when my Grandma treated the family to watch the fireworks on Sydney Harbour. An unforgettable experience. Back then, I returned to Adelaide via Melbourne. On that trip, I had a much better time in Sydney than Melbourne. To quote my 19-year-old self from my own diary:

    7 January 2007
    “I think I prefer Sydney to Melbourne. Watching this promotional video in the Rialto Tower really gave me the impression Melbourne is an arrogant city. It’s really just a bigger, more disorganised Adelaide.”

    It probably didn’t help I was travelling with my good friend John Timoney and by the time we got to Melbourne, we were well and truly sick of each other. While I’ve got my diaries out, here’s how I felt about Melbourne when I was there again 18 months later:

    12 July 2008
    “Melbourne is great. I can see myself living here more than I could last time.”

    Quite a turn around! And since then, the only news I ever hear about Sydney is to do with traffic congestion, high cost of living and racist electorates in the western suburbs. But I always have a great time when I’m there (I don’t drive and I stay away from the western suburbs).

    Highlights of this Sydney trip include meeting Mark Humphries from ABC2’s “The Roast” at Pizza Hut. We talked comedy and TV and such for 5 hours straight. Didn’t even take a photo with him. But he’s pretty good in this:

    I also caught the train to the Petersham TAFE to be interviewed by Sean Campbell for his “The Sean Campbell Show” on XRLENT Radio. Good guy. We talked about 31 Questions, TVS, RMITV, radio and Adelaide. Here’s the video of our chat:

    On Thursday, after one and a half cancellations, I finally caught up with my old radio pal Matty B at the Queen Victoria Building (or MB at the QVB). Hadn’t seen him in 3 years. Again no photo, but we did do this once:

    [display_podcast]

    And now for the strangest experience of my trip…

    On Thursday night, to coincide with the broadcast of S2E04 on TVS, I journeyed to Ultimo (a couple of streets back from the headquarters of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation), home to the infamous “Ultimo Bachelor Pad” – the self proclaimed (and probably rightly so) biggest 31 Questions fans in, if not Sydney, then the world.

    Now, they are some REAL fans…

    To illustrate:

    Dear God. We must be doing something right with 31 Questions?

    Thanks again to Mike, James, Zoe, Nathan, Mel and (via Skype from Europe) Daniel for a magnificent dinner and cake, as well as their ridiculous amount of support they continue to give to me and the rest of the 31 Questions team. Fans in other cities, you’ve got your work cut out for you if you plan on topping that.

    I’m now safely back in Melbourne. And it’s back to the hyper-reality that is my life.

    Kind regards,
    David M. Green
    PS. 31 Questions debuts on Face Television New Zealand this Thursday 9.30PM.

  • 31 Questions with John Blackman and Dicky Knee! (and Rohan from Big Brother?)

    Here’s the YouTube link to S2E05 of 31 Questions, which aired on C31 Melbourne & Geelong 8.30PM last Saturday. This is the one with special guests John Blackman and Dicky Knee (a)LIVE in the studio. Both an absolute pleasure to work with.

    It was a tight battle between this week’s contestants, Dani and Rohan (AKA the guy from Big Brother). One of them even won.

    And man, it was pretty surreal doing schtick with Dicky Knee. I used to love “Hey Hey, It’s Saturday” when I was growing up back in the 90s, before the Internet. What a vastly different media landscape we live in now.

    Speaking of which…

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CjhQNSros0

    And you can now also follow the REAL Sophie Loughran on Twitter: @SophieMLoughran

    Only 2 episodes to go!

    Kind regards,
    David M. Green
    We just realised Anthony, Sophie and I ALL have the middle initial of “M”. What are the odds?

  • 31 Questions Season 2 Episode 4

    It was 31 Questions S2E04’s premier on C31 Melbourne & Geelong last Saturday evening. And now available in fabulous web-based YouTubed form (where available).

    Special thanks again to Dan Ilic and Rex Hunt, who both made cameos in Ep 4. And the fabulous editing work from Dan Jones and Anthony McCormack.

    Coming up on tomorrow night’s show, it’s the John Blackman episode with special guest… John Blackman (SURPRISE!), as well as Dicky Knee!

    PLUS our Ep 5 contestants are recently evicted Big Brother housemate Rohan Mirchandaney (CAN YOU BELIEVE THE TIMING!?!?!) AND the wonderful Dani Leever!

    John Blackman was on Melbourne radio station 3AW with Philip Brady and Simon Owens again on Thursday night. He made some downright lovely comments about me and the show:

    [display_podcast]

    Good on Philip Brady for asking the tough questions. Parking is shocking around RMIT University, especially during the day.

    Couldn’t have done it without an incredible team.

    And in late breaking news, 31 Questions has an ALL NEW time slot for New Zealand’s Face Television. We’re now on Thursdays 9.30PM, starting September 12. Apologies to my Kiwi friend(s) for our ever-changing start date.

    Fortunately, there’s always YouTube.

    Kind regards,
    David M. Green
    Where would we be without YouTube? Though it helps IF YOU HAVE A FREAKING INTERNET CONNECTION…

  • 31 Questions Season 2 Episode 3

    S2E03 of 31 Questions premiered on C31 Melbourne & Geelong Saturday evening. See above.

    I enjoyed repeatedly slapping Anthony. And special thanks to this week’s contestants Richard and Simone. It was a tight game. Though not quite as tight as THIS WEEK’S game… Tune in on C31 Melbourne & Geelong Saturday 8.30PM (Look out for cameos from Dan Ilic and Rex Hunt!).

    In other news, to the surprise of many (including us), Season 2 began airing in Brisbane this week! It’s now on the 31 Digital schedule, Tuesdays 9PM. Those Queenslanders have obviously been preoccupied with deciding the next federal government, so no hard feelings. It’s not like they also did it last year as well.

    Na, Brisbane you’re great.

    We were due to start airing in New Zealand on Wednesday, but thanks to our good friends at Australia Post, we’re now premiering NEXT week: 9.30PM Wednesdays on Face Television from August 21. Apologies if you haven’t worked out how to use YouTube.

    But more importantly… 31 Questions BEGINS IN SYDNEY TONIGHT 9.30!

    That’s me aged 9 in Darling Harbour. I assume that water feature is still there? I remember being excited because I’d seen it in the opening (or was it the closing?) titles of Aerobics Oz-Style before Agro’s Cartoon Connection. Anyway Sydney, I’ll talk to YOU on Twitter later this evening.

    As for Adelaide… well I discovered their fabulous community television station has gone through some structural changes recently. I’m not sure exactly why. But I do know that their name, phone number and address have all changed. I also discovered this after I mailed them the first 2 episodes. In a media format they no longer accept.

    As far as I can tell, it’s no longer called “44 Adelaide”, but rather “Channel 44”. Good move, in my opinion. Why limit yourself to Adelaide? They’re looking at the big picture. And the picture is magnificent. Assuming you’re in the Adelaide metropolitan area where the picture is transmitted.

    Doesn’t look like 31 Questions will be airing in Adelaide until September or October. Though we might get a repeat of our first season before they start showing Season 2. I’ll keep you updated.

    I’ve been getting more requests for ways you can throw money at me, and to a lesser extent, the show. I can now announce there are TWO types of mugs available from the 31 Questions online store:

    Perfect for holding all types of liquids. And for the fabulous price of $20 + postage, you can support me, 31 Questions, community television AND own a mug.

    Kind regards,
    David M. Green
    Now where were we?