That's what I'm probably known as by a few people. I've arrived back in London and am in the library working on my critical report for the podcasting module where my word count is rather unusually over the word limit. I'm just about to go through it however to see what paragraphs should be removed and get the whole thing handed in. I'm not sure whether Matthew's around but if so it will be nice to find out how he's been getting on over Easter. Then again I'll probably be seeing him a lot during the Smoke broadcast so it won't be important at this time.
I may spend the rest of the day going through the audio from the last year or so of what we've got up to on the station and may head up to Sainsbury's to buy the ingredients for a delicious lamb stew with penne pasta. That will ease my worries on getting the Media Technology essay done by tomorrow, bearing in mind I find it a lot easier to work on assignments first thing in the morning rather than late at night. If I keep working with this strategy then the dissertation's going to be a doddle. I say that now but in around six months I'll be in agony. But then again without agony there's no relief and it makes things more interesting.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Nervous Return
So early tomorrow morning I'm making my way back to Harrow Halls and immediately making a start on trying to get everything which needs completing completed. I aim to get the critical report for the podcasting assignment done tomorrow, the Media Technology essay by Saturday, and try and get the Media Events essay done by the end of the weekend before going to see "This Is England" at the cinema on Monday evening. And if I don't get it all done by Monday I'll go anyway, it will only make me feel more motivated especially when followed by a visit back to the Undercroft!
It will be rather odd returning without my laptop but I've got stacks of CD-Rs and DVD-Rs of all sorts of stuff which should keep me entertained in the Harrow library when I'm not working on my assignments. Hopefully it should be mended by early May although it will probably mean another visit back to Canterbury to collect it unless I can pull a few strings with the delivery.
It will be quite odd when I get back here after semester ends as Kate's going away for a few months to America to help out at a summer camp and do a bit of travelling. At least that means she's happy and I'm happy. This may be my first year in a long while that I haven't been abroad though as we haven't booked a holiday this year although after last years visit to Spain it's probably the sensible option. Then again I need to find a way of earning some bob when I get back after the helpfullness of ASDA I've had recently. Then again I'm sure Victoria Wood is more capable an employee than I'd ever be.
It will be rather odd returning without my laptop but I've got stacks of CD-Rs and DVD-Rs of all sorts of stuff which should keep me entertained in the Harrow library when I'm not working on my assignments. Hopefully it should be mended by early May although it will probably mean another visit back to Canterbury to collect it unless I can pull a few strings with the delivery.
It will be quite odd when I get back here after semester ends as Kate's going away for a few months to America to help out at a summer camp and do a bit of travelling. At least that means she's happy and I'm happy. This may be my first year in a long while that I haven't been abroad though as we haven't booked a holiday this year although after last years visit to Spain it's probably the sensible option. Then again I need to find a way of earning some bob when I get back after the helpfullness of ASDA I've had recently. Then again I'm sure Victoria Wood is more capable an employee than I'd ever be.
The Nicest Guy In Radio, "Not Arf!"
A must watch for any television or radio enthusiast; the late Alan Freeman on This Is Your Life in September 1987. An ideal time for the occasion having just turned 60, this programme features guest appearances from many legendary broadcasters particuarly in the opening such as Noel Edmonds, Tony Blackburn, Tommy Vance and Peter Young. Notice how Mike Read appears to be popular with the women in the audience. Quite a lot of Fluff's fellow colleagues from Capital Radio are also present although back then Capital was based on Euston Road where show producers Thames Television were just down the road.
In parts 2 and 3 there are surprise appearances from Jimmy Savile and Redvers Kyle,
a long established announcer on Yorkshire Television who worked with Fluff in the late 1950s on his first job in the UK at then London ITV company Rediffusion. Also in the audience is Michael Aspel who would take over Eamon Andrew's role on This Is Your Life as this was one of Eamon's final programmes before his death in November of that year.
Whilst this is a very interesting and rather emotional look at the life of the broadcaster it cannot be faltered that this man was happy for the mickey to be taken out of him not least in this clip from Harry Enfield. It would be nice to see the full sketch which has the Slobs and the Old Gits but this was the perfect climax with the king of countdowns.
In parts 2 and 3 there are surprise appearances from Jimmy Savile and Redvers Kyle,
a long established announcer on Yorkshire Television who worked with Fluff in the late 1950s on his first job in the UK at then London ITV company Rediffusion. Also in the audience is Michael Aspel who would take over Eamon Andrew's role on This Is Your Life as this was one of Eamon's final programmes before his death in November of that year.
Whilst this is a very interesting and rather emotional look at the life of the broadcaster it cannot be faltered that this man was happy for the mickey to be taken out of him not least in this clip from Harry Enfield. It would be nice to see the full sketch which has the Slobs and the Old Gits but this was the perfect climax with the king of countdowns.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
You Just Have To Look That Extra Harder...
I've been having a browse on the Traxsource website which is where I go to find soulful house tracks to play on the radio show. My wishlist is ever extensive so many cool tracks which can add a smile to my face even when in in the most miserable of moods and in a stressfull period like now it's what's needed. Then again along with my DVDs of
The ITV Chart Show I also think that it's good to have something to work towards and as soon as I've got my essays handed in next week, I'm going to divulge in quite a lot of tracks I've put onto the wishlist. I may even give some of them a spin on my show for our week of broadcasting next month which I plan to give the title "Sun, Sea and Soul".
Some of the tunes that have recently taken my fancy include "Baila Conmigo" from the Full Fronteira EP by Nova Fronteira, Nightlife remixed by Kenny Dope with the vocals of Kim English, Soulboy from Ian Preece's Disco Vibes EP and a stunning new house track from Incognito; Zaius with my favourite mix being the original. To go to clubs that play this sort of stuff in Ibiza would be a dream come true although it's difficult finding people at Uni who would take a similar liking to this material as their idea of a night out is taking a load of random photos and joking about imaginary gay love affairs.
But why bother complaining? The same people could end up having to listen to me go on about my passions and obsessions when I normally get tipsy and I couldn't care less on how they respond. As long as I go out on a night when there's something to look forward to pretty soon after then we're all happy.
The ITV Chart Show I also think that it's good to have something to work towards and as soon as I've got my essays handed in next week, I'm going to divulge in quite a lot of tracks I've put onto the wishlist. I may even give some of them a spin on my show for our week of broadcasting next month which I plan to give the title "Sun, Sea and Soul".
Some of the tunes that have recently taken my fancy include "Baila Conmigo" from the Full Fronteira EP by Nova Fronteira, Nightlife remixed by Kenny Dope with the vocals of Kim English, Soulboy from Ian Preece's Disco Vibes EP and a stunning new house track from Incognito; Zaius with my favourite mix being the original. To go to clubs that play this sort of stuff in Ibiza would be a dream come true although it's difficult finding people at Uni who would take a similar liking to this material as their idea of a night out is taking a load of random photos and joking about imaginary gay love affairs.
But why bother complaining? The same people could end up having to listen to me go on about my passions and obsessions when I normally get tipsy and I couldn't care less on how they respond. As long as I go out on a night when there's something to look forward to pretty soon after then we're all happy.
"What Am I?"
This has to be another moment of striking gold on Youtube and I mean that literally, the extended version of the Going For Gold theme!
One of the prime examples showing why today's daytime television is sub-standard, this was a gameshow putting European contestants under pressure hosted by Henry Kelly as part of BBC 1's daytime schedules in the late 80s up to the mid-90s. Along with the mushroom shaped buzzers and Henry Kelly's ongoing questions the theme tune is definitely one of the memorable highlights of the programme which was composed by none other than Hans Zimmer who went on to compose music for movies such as The Lion King. You can probably hear the resemblance to the Going For Gold theme tune in the scene where the adult Simba makes his way back to Pride Rock after grabbing the baboon's stick off him. Come on I'm sure most of you reading this have seen the film upteen times.
With all the endless property and antiques programmes hogging the daytime slots as well as contrived nonsense from the likes of Jeremy Kyle we need more shows like Going For Gold back on our screens. Then again I'd probably end up slating them if things like that were commisioned as proved with Joe Pasquale's revival of "The Price Is Right".
One of the prime examples showing why today's daytime television is sub-standard, this was a gameshow putting European contestants under pressure hosted by Henry Kelly as part of BBC 1's daytime schedules in the late 80s up to the mid-90s. Along with the mushroom shaped buzzers and Henry Kelly's ongoing questions the theme tune is definitely one of the memorable highlights of the programme which was composed by none other than Hans Zimmer who went on to compose music for movies such as The Lion King. You can probably hear the resemblance to the Going For Gold theme tune in the scene where the adult Simba makes his way back to Pride Rock after grabbing the baboon's stick off him. Come on I'm sure most of you reading this have seen the film upteen times.
With all the endless property and antiques programmes hogging the daytime slots as well as contrived nonsense from the likes of Jeremy Kyle we need more shows like Going For Gold back on our screens. Then again I'd probably end up slating them if things like that were commisioned as proved with Joe Pasquale's revival of "The Price Is Right".
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Messy May
It appears that two foam parties have indeed been organised for next semester including one on the end of year ball which takes place on the first of June. The other happens to be taking place on the 17th of May, the last but one day of our final week of broadcasting at Smoke Radio so I reckon I really will be out of it by the end. The Facebook campaign obviously worked although the note sent to us mentioned that they'd make sure they would have a wider selection of music played and not just hip hop and R'n'B. Whatever happens it won't be me spinning the records as I'm getting myself covered in the foam this time round.
I really don't know how I'm going to occupy myself without my laptop on returning to halls. I may end up buying the cheapest DVD player I can find or with the outside conditions continously improving I may even buy a paddling pool! Ideal when you've got the biggest garden outside your flat in the Harrow Halls of Residence.
I really don't know how I'm going to occupy myself without my laptop on returning to halls. I may end up buying the cheapest DVD player I can find or with the outside conditions continously improving I may even buy a paddling pool! Ideal when you've got the biggest garden outside your flat in the Harrow Halls of Residence.
And You Thought The X-Factor Was Bad...
In the early 1990s there was a series of five minute programmes involving string puppets "performing" to chart hits old and new in "Dooby Duck's Duck Truck". Dooby being one in a long line of ducks who annoyed parents alongside Orville and Edd, bears a close resemblance to Jimmy Savile but I'd forgotten about the other puppets who worked alongside him such as the chicken with the cowboy hat. Listen out for Andi Peters during the closing credits who only just realises that his microphone's switched on!
Whilst this is very nostalgic there are some rather good programmes for the younger viewers in the present day if you look hard enough. One such example is ITV's "Pocoyo" who has to be one of the cutest characters on television. Stephen Fry's narration helps to supplement this really well. A more well-known example who has pleased viewers of Points Of View is "Shaun The Sheep" who has been promoted from the CBBC Channel to a Sunday teatime slot on BBC 1. The ex Wallace and Gromit cast member is involved in some witty escapades which don't involve any dialogue but this adds to the fun. Earlier examples such as Road Runner and The Pink Panther prove that accidents speak louder than words.
However the cutest character of all time in children's television has to be The Iron Chicken from the Clangers. Who'd have thought you could be sympathetic to a concoption of disused metals?
Whilst this is very nostalgic there are some rather good programmes for the younger viewers in the present day if you look hard enough. One such example is ITV's "Pocoyo" who has to be one of the cutest characters on television. Stephen Fry's narration helps to supplement this really well. A more well-known example who has pleased viewers of Points Of View is "Shaun The Sheep" who has been promoted from the CBBC Channel to a Sunday teatime slot on BBC 1. The ex Wallace and Gromit cast member is involved in some witty escapades which don't involve any dialogue but this adds to the fun. Earlier examples such as Road Runner and The Pink Panther prove that accidents speak louder than words.
However the cutest character of all time in children's television has to be The Iron Chicken from the Clangers. Who'd have thought you could be sympathetic to a concoption of disused metals?
Monday, April 23, 2007
"Don't Phone, It's Just For Fun"
The BBC have just shown a Panorama investigation about viewers being ripped off by TV phone competitions. GMTV being the latest to drop their competitions after sacking call compiler Opera for choosing the winners hours before the lines close. This follows similar incidents on Richard and Judy's "You Say We Pay Competition" where compilers had been conning callers as long as four years. With OFCOM only investigating these issues now it probably just goes to show how strong a regulator they really are since taking over from the ITC.
The programme also looked at the incident on Blue Peter last November where a technical problem with the phones meant they chose the winner of the competition by ringing up the mobile number of a studio guest. Panorama also critcised the BBC for repeating the programme on the CBBC Channel an hour after the live transmission with the phone numbers still intact although the screenshot they showed had a disclaimer at the top of the screen explaining that the lines were in fact closed.
Not being a regular viewer, I notice they've made alterations to the programme's structure by enlisting Jeremy Vine to take a Trevor McDonald-esque role of introducing the report itself and not appearing again until the last thirty seconds of the programme. Then again the BBC probably pay him more for Radio 2 than this.
The programme also looked at the incident on Blue Peter last November where a technical problem with the phones meant they chose the winner of the competition by ringing up the mobile number of a studio guest. Panorama also critcised the BBC for repeating the programme on the CBBC Channel an hour after the live transmission with the phone numbers still intact although the screenshot they showed had a disclaimer at the top of the screen explaining that the lines were in fact closed.
Not being a regular viewer, I notice they've made alterations to the programme's structure by enlisting Jeremy Vine to take a Trevor McDonald-esque role of introducing the report itself and not appearing again until the last thirty seconds of the programme. Then again the BBC probably pay him more for Radio 2 than this.
An Even Longer Wait
Microlink gave me a ring this morning telling me that they'd only just got an engineer to look at my machine and it would take another 5-10 working days before it was sorted. This could be even longer with the May Day bank holiday approaching and may mean another visit back to Canterbury from London to pick it up. Unless, I could ask them to deliver it to Harrow Halls when they ring up to confirm it's all sorted.
Overall this means it's going to be rather tricky sorting out my essays especially the one about Live 8 as I'll either need to take notes on what to analyse when watching it again or keep going back and forth from the televisions in the library to the computer that I'm using. I very much doubt the second floor will even be used at the really early times of day that I prefer to get assignments completed.
On the plus side I'm about a third of the the way through both of my essays at the time of writing.
If they're done by this time next week I'll be bored stupid.
Overall this means it's going to be rather tricky sorting out my essays especially the one about Live 8 as I'll either need to take notes on what to analyse when watching it again or keep going back and forth from the televisions in the library to the computer that I'm using. I very much doubt the second floor will even be used at the really early times of day that I prefer to get assignments completed.
On the plus side I'm about a third of the the way through both of my essays at the time of writing.
If they're done by this time next week I'll be bored stupid.
"Justice Not Charity"
It's rather quiet here as Mum and Dad have gone on the first of two visits to Yorkshire, this one being the funeral of my Great Uncle Derek. I only really saw him at anniversaries and weddings although I can remember a few of my cousins mucking about with him at my grandparents 50th wedding anniversary around 10 years ago. The present we gave them was a Sony Trinitron television which was quite appropriate as the wedding took place on the 4th of October 1997, the same day in which the BBC introduced their new corporate identity including the BBC 1's hot air baloon.
They'll be going up there again this weekend with Kate and Oliver as Grandma is celebrating her 80th birthday. I would have gone up as well but as I don't have a laptop to keep me occupied during the longer parts of the visit and I have a return ticket to London I'll give it a miss. It may mean I don't even get to visit Yorkshire this year although I want to prioritise on getting my assignments completed as soon as possible in order to enjoy the lecture-free third semester.
Having said that I've already made a start and am about a third of the way through my case study on Live 8 for the Media Events module. I know it's not really fair to gloat but I'm really glad I recorded the concert onto VHS so that there's more for me to evaluate and analyse although it's going to be tricky finding what I think is relevant from the reading material I need to accompany my findings. I've probably mentioned this before but I know one or two people want to analyse the falling of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and all they've managed to find is a 10 second clip from the BBC News website! It just goes to show that in reality you can't always go on nostalgia trips.
This reminds me of the Contextual Studies module on my HND course where we had to get into groups to organise a seminar on a television programme of our choosing and highlight areas of iconography (objects associated with a genre) and signs within the text we had chosen. However Simon our lecturer for the module told us before handing out the assignment had specifically chosen for us to evaluate crime dramas as when he let the year before us choose of their own accord, some of them decided to base their presentations on "Dangermouse" and "The Trap Door" and rather than explain the signs within the programme they just went on nostalgic tangents which would have been more welcome on "I Love The 80s".
As this was one of the first presentations I had done I died on my arse stammering my way through a presentation on Columbo. Luckily I was given a second chance to do it on a one to one basis and had actually brought a DVD of a few of the episodes to help make it more succesfull. From then on the presentations and essays seemed to write themselves with one of the most successful being an analysis on The West Wing which I had only seen one episode of.
One thing I liked about having Simon as a lecturer was that he was able to make changes in certain places as he hated soap operas and instead of analysing that genre we looked at pop promos and comedy series such as "Little Britain" and the well observed "Look Around You". For the latter I felt really bad answering the majority of the questions about the intertextual references to "Tomorrow's World" and for a change I was actually making notes!
Apart from the rather over-indulgent film studies lectures, I miss that course, although I wouldn't have said that in the daunting first year.
They'll be going up there again this weekend with Kate and Oliver as Grandma is celebrating her 80th birthday. I would have gone up as well but as I don't have a laptop to keep me occupied during the longer parts of the visit and I have a return ticket to London I'll give it a miss. It may mean I don't even get to visit Yorkshire this year although I want to prioritise on getting my assignments completed as soon as possible in order to enjoy the lecture-free third semester.
Having said that I've already made a start and am about a third of the way through my case study on Live 8 for the Media Events module. I know it's not really fair to gloat but I'm really glad I recorded the concert onto VHS so that there's more for me to evaluate and analyse although it's going to be tricky finding what I think is relevant from the reading material I need to accompany my findings. I've probably mentioned this before but I know one or two people want to analyse the falling of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and all they've managed to find is a 10 second clip from the BBC News website! It just goes to show that in reality you can't always go on nostalgia trips.
This reminds me of the Contextual Studies module on my HND course where we had to get into groups to organise a seminar on a television programme of our choosing and highlight areas of iconography (objects associated with a genre) and signs within the text we had chosen. However Simon our lecturer for the module told us before handing out the assignment had specifically chosen for us to evaluate crime dramas as when he let the year before us choose of their own accord, some of them decided to base their presentations on "Dangermouse" and "The Trap Door" and rather than explain the signs within the programme they just went on nostalgic tangents which would have been more welcome on "I Love The 80s".
As this was one of the first presentations I had done I died on my arse stammering my way through a presentation on Columbo. Luckily I was given a second chance to do it on a one to one basis and had actually brought a DVD of a few of the episodes to help make it more succesfull. From then on the presentations and essays seemed to write themselves with one of the most successful being an analysis on The West Wing which I had only seen one episode of.
One thing I liked about having Simon as a lecturer was that he was able to make changes in certain places as he hated soap operas and instead of analysing that genre we looked at pop promos and comedy series such as "Little Britain" and the well observed "Look Around You". For the latter I felt really bad answering the majority of the questions about the intertextual references to "Tomorrow's World" and for a change I was actually making notes!
Apart from the rather over-indulgent film studies lectures, I miss that course, although I wouldn't have said that in the daunting first year.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
12 Down, 3 To Go
Just before last night's Doctor Who I caught the end of the rather desperate "People's Quiz" where one of the "experts" asking the questions happened to be William G Stewart. The man who brought Family Fortunes and The Price Is Right to UK audiences, better known for his 15 year stint on the Channel 4 daytime quiz "15 To 1" which I have no shame in admitting as one of my guilty pleasures. It's rather interesting to see how things have changed in five years as back then you had a semi circle of 15 contestants answering "intellectual" general knowledge questions and now in its place is a semi circle of 20 idiots making speculation about red boxes.
The programme was definitely one of the highlights of a day when I wasn't in college during my AVCE Media course and was rather gutted on missing the final edition broadcast in December 2003. It ended on the same day as RI:SE, a less succesfull offering from the channel although I still happen to have that on VHS and borders on embarrasing and depressing.
To be fair the show had been moved to an earlier slot along with Countdown in favour of pointless property and holiday shows which seem to be dominant at that time of day.
With the uninspired choice of Des O'Connor hosting Countdown and Deal Or No Deal getting repetitive, I now know why I end up falling asleep in the middle of the day.
The programme was definitely one of the highlights of a day when I wasn't in college during my AVCE Media course and was rather gutted on missing the final edition broadcast in December 2003. It ended on the same day as RI:SE, a less succesfull offering from the channel although I still happen to have that on VHS and borders on embarrasing and depressing.
To be fair the show had been moved to an earlier slot along with Countdown in favour of pointless property and holiday shows which seem to be dominant at that time of day.
With the uninspired choice of Des O'Connor hosting Countdown and Deal Or No Deal getting repetitive, I now know why I end up falling asleep in the middle of the day.
"Jingle Jangle"
Marathon day, and I whilst watching bits of it on television I was rather surprised to see race organiser David Bedford whose tash has got even longer and greyer. You'd think he would have shaved it off after having it ridiculed by the two runners in the 118-118 campaign.
No one from home was racing this year after Mum had a go three years earlier, although I'd definitely be up for giving it a go as I've got quite a lot of stick for the speed at which I go from my room in halls to the main campus.
Ricky one of the fellow radio students will be attempting a similar feat with the Great North Run this autumn although he actually looks like an athlete.
The Observer Music Monthly today provided some light amusement with a story in brief about Mika being rejected by Simon Cowell and how OMM suggested that he should take that as a compliment. Now there's the perfect example of a music head honcho who just won't move with the times and I don't mean Mika himself!
There was also an interview with Sir Jimmy Savile done in his penthouse flat in Leeds where he spoke about a photo of him, Zoe Ball and Jamie Theakston taken at a special edition of Top Of The Pops in October 2001 when the show moved back to TVC in London after 10 years. The photo had him in one of his trademark loud suits whilst Zoe and Jamie were wearing black clothes and he mentioned how they weren't allowed to wear colourful clothes on the TOTP set much to his annoyance.
You don't get half your fair share of control freaks in the media.
No one from home was racing this year after Mum had a go three years earlier, although I'd definitely be up for giving it a go as I've got quite a lot of stick for the speed at which I go from my room in halls to the main campus.
Ricky one of the fellow radio students will be attempting a similar feat with the Great North Run this autumn although he actually looks like an athlete.
The Observer Music Monthly today provided some light amusement with a story in brief about Mika being rejected by Simon Cowell and how OMM suggested that he should take that as a compliment. Now there's the perfect example of a music head honcho who just won't move with the times and I don't mean Mika himself!
There was also an interview with Sir Jimmy Savile done in his penthouse flat in Leeds where he spoke about a photo of him, Zoe Ball and Jamie Theakston taken at a special edition of Top Of The Pops in October 2001 when the show moved back to TVC in London after 10 years. The photo had him in one of his trademark loud suits whilst Zoe and Jamie were wearing black clothes and he mentioned how they weren't allowed to wear colourful clothes on the TOTP set much to his annoyance.
You don't get half your fair share of control freaks in the media.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Work=Migraines
I'm ever so glad I'm not working this holiday. I went into a Staples store earlier today and immediately got a bit of a headache as a result of the very warm heating which isn't exactly helpful when you've got similar conditions outside. I need to find some way of earning bob when I return here in a couple of months and I'm open to any jobs that involve outside work.
The Timelord was on top form once again in the first of a two part story set in New York in 1930. The Daleks made a welcome return alongside a new human equivalent which despite being revealed as a "surprise" at the end of the episode, graces the cover of this weeks Radio Times as Russell T Davies thought it was too good an opportunity to waste.
One of the characters featured was the rather imagnitively named showgirl Tallulah and the scene where she mimed through her song on stage reminded me of Dennis Potter's "The Singing Detective".
I was subjected (a perfect way of putting this) to watching the drama for one of theory modules on my HND Media Course and although it's a polished production, it's strung out far too much for my liking over six hour long episodes. Our lecturer got really annoyed if people weren't making notes but it was hard enough trying to find any signs of "denotation" and "connotation" within a plot that's difficult to get your head round.
We never even got to the end unsurprisingly although one group's presentation for the module did make use of that brilliant final scene where the detective and the hospital patient ended up in the same room together. Despite it's flaws it's definitely one of the DVDs I'm proud of owning.
The featured show on this week's Gameshow Marathon was the old parlour game favourite Blankety Blank. Rather oddly enough they didn't show any clips of when Lily Savage hosted the show and brought it to ITV although that maybe because ITV haven't got over their feud with Paul O'Grady since he switched to Channel 4 last year. Then again I'm sure the majority of people have fonder memories of El Tel and the late Les Dawson, the latter of which was one of the perfect hosts who didn't take things too seriously.
The celebrity panel for this edition consisted of typical C-listers such as Joe Pasquale, Vic Reeves and two women who have co-presented with the presenter of presenters (Fern Britton and Holly Willoughby). Vic Reeves was perfectly deadpan giving some rather dodgy responses but the funniest part had to be the Supermatch Game where the legend that was revealed read "Blow____".
Thankfully they didn't get Reeves to suggest an answer!
Every now and again you just have to indulge in rather naughty humour.
The Timelord was on top form once again in the first of a two part story set in New York in 1930. The Daleks made a welcome return alongside a new human equivalent which despite being revealed as a "surprise" at the end of the episode, graces the cover of this weeks Radio Times as Russell T Davies thought it was too good an opportunity to waste.
One of the characters featured was the rather imagnitively named showgirl Tallulah and the scene where she mimed through her song on stage reminded me of Dennis Potter's "The Singing Detective".
I was subjected (a perfect way of putting this) to watching the drama for one of theory modules on my HND Media Course and although it's a polished production, it's strung out far too much for my liking over six hour long episodes. Our lecturer got really annoyed if people weren't making notes but it was hard enough trying to find any signs of "denotation" and "connotation" within a plot that's difficult to get your head round.
We never even got to the end unsurprisingly although one group's presentation for the module did make use of that brilliant final scene where the detective and the hospital patient ended up in the same room together. Despite it's flaws it's definitely one of the DVDs I'm proud of owning.
The featured show on this week's Gameshow Marathon was the old parlour game favourite Blankety Blank. Rather oddly enough they didn't show any clips of when Lily Savage hosted the show and brought it to ITV although that maybe because ITV haven't got over their feud with Paul O'Grady since he switched to Channel 4 last year. Then again I'm sure the majority of people have fonder memories of El Tel and the late Les Dawson, the latter of which was one of the perfect hosts who didn't take things too seriously.
The celebrity panel for this edition consisted of typical C-listers such as Joe Pasquale, Vic Reeves and two women who have co-presented with the presenter of presenters (Fern Britton and Holly Willoughby). Vic Reeves was perfectly deadpan giving some rather dodgy responses but the funniest part had to be the Supermatch Game where the legend that was revealed read "Blow____".
Thankfully they didn't get Reeves to suggest an answer!
Every now and again you just have to indulge in rather naughty humour.
Friday, April 20, 2007
On The Search For A Laugh
I'm not in the brightest of moods. I've spent the last half hour or so watching a rather poor episode of Have I Got News For You with MOTD 2's Adrian Chiles at the helm. Adrian was the subject of many jokes from the team captains about his resemblance to Ray Mears although what probably made the show pretty poor apart from the rather weak stories covered was that Mark Steele was brought back as a guest. I saw him perform at the Gulbenkian in Canterbury about five years ago where he was mildly amusing but I've grown to find him even more annoying with his many appearances on HIGNFY and whenever Mark Lamarr has covered for Jonathan Ross on BBC Radio 2.
The Gulbenkian foyer will always remind me of the many visits we made there on the HND Media Course I was on three years ago as it was where we would all meet up before being shown round the Templeman Library at the University of Kent where the theatre was situated. It would be nice to go there again if there's anything good on as around two years ago I saw Barry Cryer and Ronnie Golden perform with their very witty songs and routines.
One of my favourite jokes was about Pavarotti looking really miserable when performing on stage; "he doesn't like you joining in does he?"
The Gulbenkian foyer will always remind me of the many visits we made there on the HND Media Course I was on three years ago as it was where we would all meet up before being shown round the Templeman Library at the University of Kent where the theatre was situated. It would be nice to go there again if there's anything good on as around two years ago I saw Barry Cryer and Ronnie Golden perform with their very witty songs and routines.
One of my favourite jokes was about Pavarotti looking really miserable when performing on stage; "he doesn't like you joining in does he?"
The Bubbles Burst
A group has emerged on Facebook trying to get enough people to petition for another Foam Party by the end of the year at Uni. I would be more than happy for another to go ahead not least since the "success" of the last one a couple of weeks ago. This is mainly because I didn't get a drop of foam on me as I was DJing that night. Well I say that, what I was actually doing was being told what to play and when by my fellow disk spinner whilst standing there looking really moody. There's rumours of the possiblity of having two parties, one playing indie and cheese and another playing R'n'B which I thought there was far too much of and demand for at the last one. Having said that it's a possible plan to avoid long queues and people not getting in to Area.
Getting it organised is also rather tricky as some of the students have exams around May and there's also "The Final Fling" which is the big event at on the last day before halls chucking out time. I didn't turn up to the one last year as a result of leaving early so I could go on that delightful visit to Spain with the rest of my family.
Overall, however it's going to be a constant party after I get my essays handed in on May the 4th. I won't bother using the pun as I know Stoobie's organised an "International Star Wars Day" for the occasion.
Getting it organised is also rather tricky as some of the students have exams around May and there's also "The Final Fling" which is the big event at on the last day before halls chucking out time. I didn't turn up to the one last year as a result of leaving early so I could go on that delightful visit to Spain with the rest of my family.
Overall, however it's going to be a constant party after I get my essays handed in on May the 4th. I won't bother using the pun as I know Stoobie's organised an "International Star Wars Day" for the occasion.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Musically Ridiculed
Popular music is an ideal subject for comedy in the present day. Especially on television as earlier today I stumbled over a VHS which had T4's Popworld 2004 awards with original hosts Simon Amstell and Miquita Oliver dishing out imaginary gongs to stars who couldn't be there to defend themselves. Included were catergories such as "The Comeback Award" where the nominees included Beverley Knight, Ian Brown, and Darren Hayes of Savage Garden. One person who should win a lifetime acheivement for that category is Lisa Stansfield as she always appears to go round in circles by disapearing for at least 3 years and returning with a new album which normally has lukewarm success.
I'm sure Mark Lamarr once made a joke about her on Never Mind The Buzzcocks by referring to her as "been around the world and I, I, I, can't find another hit..."
One of the questions on Ken Bruce's Popmaster on Radio 2 this morning involved the original version of the 1996 Dina Carroll hit "Escaping" recorded 7 years earlier by New Zealand vocalist Margaret Urlich. I'd love to hear that version in full and for Dina Carroll to make a comeback herself! On a similar note, fellow British soul performer Des'ree has landed Beyonce in deep water after Beyonce covered one of her songs for her last album without getting her permission.
I wonder if Des'ree took any issues of David Brent having one of her lyrics pinned onto his drawing board?
I'm sure Mark Lamarr once made a joke about her on Never Mind The Buzzcocks by referring to her as "been around the world and I, I, I, can't find another hit..."
One of the questions on Ken Bruce's Popmaster on Radio 2 this morning involved the original version of the 1996 Dina Carroll hit "Escaping" recorded 7 years earlier by New Zealand vocalist Margaret Urlich. I'd love to hear that version in full and for Dina Carroll to make a comeback herself! On a similar note, fellow British soul performer Des'ree has landed Beyonce in deep water after Beyonce covered one of her songs for her last album without getting her permission.
I wonder if Des'ree took any issues of David Brent having one of her lyrics pinned onto his drawing board?
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Always Expecting The Drops
I've been getting a bit more exercise than yesterday. I went along the footpath near Olly's school where I went for one of the interviews for my podcast last month. This lead onto a footpath leading up to the Wincheap area of Canterbury where I haven't been for at least 10 years. And it felt different walking there as opposed to riding on it by bicycle. I really need to buy a new bicycle as would make things more interesting and productive this summer after Uni finishes at the beginning of June.
For most of the day I've been on a continuous rollercoaster in my head, happy one minute, worried the next and I feel that Facebook is to blame. I feel as if I'm eavesdropping when I look at wall conversations that I've been notified about on my profile and other people's exploits lead to all sorts of ridiculous anxieties that shouldn't really be happening.
Luckily my birthday isn't the only one happening in May as quite a few other people are celebrating and making more of an effort than me too.
Jess is turning 21 on the 26th of May and is having a do at what will be my final visit to the Northwick Mansion only this time I'll probably leave my glasses behind. Also Skimpey Impey is having a do for her 22nd birthday on the 30th of this month starting off in halls and ending up at the Undercroft as the case normally is.
For most of the day I've been on a continuous rollercoaster in my head, happy one minute, worried the next and I feel that Facebook is to blame. I feel as if I'm eavesdropping when I look at wall conversations that I've been notified about on my profile and other people's exploits lead to all sorts of ridiculous anxieties that shouldn't really be happening.
Luckily my birthday isn't the only one happening in May as quite a few other people are celebrating and making more of an effort than me too.
Jess is turning 21 on the 26th of May and is having a do at what will be my final visit to the Northwick Mansion only this time I'll probably leave my glasses behind. Also Skimpey Impey is having a do for her 22nd birthday on the 30th of this month starting off in halls and ending up at the Undercroft as the case normally is.
Another 90s Tangent
I'd completely forgotten about this ad. Linford Christie racing against a milk float in an advertisement for milk made around 1990-1991. I always used to find the whole thing hilarious when seeing this first time round partly because it was built up and timed perfectly.
Also from the same period I've managed to find the opening titles to ITV's Sunday morning show The Disney Club which amongst other things was responsible for launching the career of Fearne Cotton. This clip however is from quite a while before then where presenters Andrea Boardman (another early crush) John Ecclestone and Gordon Inglis introduce the film "In Search Of The Castaways". I don't actually remember Gordon Inglis as a presenter on the show as he was shortly replaced by Paul Hendy ("Stash the cash!") and John Ecclestone happened to be the voice behind several puppets including one of the Wolves from What's Up Doc?, one of the leprechauns off Live And Kicking and more recently one of the Hyenas on MoM/Saturday Showdown.
One of the producers from the Disney Club around that period was Conor McAnally who went on to successfully producing SM:tv and CD:UK.
What's really irritating me as I write is that it's difficult putting a date to this as the milk ad at the beginning of the clip and the CITV ident point to 1991 although the programme is presented as a "cup alternative" hinting at that the year is even but I'm sure Paul Hendy was presenting the show by 1992. It's all nonsense really and I have one of the worst obsessions with transmission dates.
If I'd have been deprived of television and radio until I was at least then I would have more of a realistic idea of the sort of things I'd want to do if I was to get a career in radio. Then again after seeing the documentary on Big L last night on Channel 4, I wouldn't want to end up like Mike Read, in my own little bubble which in the long term is burning a lot of money. That's partly because I'm doing more or less the same thing right now at University.
Also from the same period I've managed to find the opening titles to ITV's Sunday morning show The Disney Club which amongst other things was responsible for launching the career of Fearne Cotton. This clip however is from quite a while before then where presenters Andrea Boardman (another early crush) John Ecclestone and Gordon Inglis introduce the film "In Search Of The Castaways". I don't actually remember Gordon Inglis as a presenter on the show as he was shortly replaced by Paul Hendy ("Stash the cash!") and John Ecclestone happened to be the voice behind several puppets including one of the Wolves from What's Up Doc?, one of the leprechauns off Live And Kicking and more recently one of the Hyenas on MoM/Saturday Showdown.
One of the producers from the Disney Club around that period was Conor McAnally who went on to successfully producing SM:tv and CD:UK.
What's really irritating me as I write is that it's difficult putting a date to this as the milk ad at the beginning of the clip and the CITV ident point to 1991 although the programme is presented as a "cup alternative" hinting at that the year is even but I'm sure Paul Hendy was presenting the show by 1992. It's all nonsense really and I have one of the worst obsessions with transmission dates.
If I'd have been deprived of television and radio until I was at least then I would have more of a realistic idea of the sort of things I'd want to do if I was to get a career in radio. Then again after seeing the documentary on Big L last night on Channel 4, I wouldn't want to end up like Mike Read, in my own little bubble which in the long term is burning a lot of money. That's partly because I'm doing more or less the same thing right now at University.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
"You're Only Broadcasting To Yourself"
Not that an eventful day really, the only exploration I've been on has been a journey to the newsagent to buy this week's Radio Times.
I've just come downstairs from watching the latest installment of "Get Your Act Together" with Harvey Goldsmith looking at the money burning radio station Big L in Frinton in Essex. Where do I start...?
I've now realised the direction Matthew Bannister was going when he became controller of BBC Radio 1 in removing the older disk jockeys as they were lacking on new and original ideas. This was clearly evident from the has-been disk jockeys working at Big L trying to re-endorse the station of the same name from the 1960s albeit unsuccessfully losing up to 50K a month by playing whatever music the presenters want to hear.
The DJs in question Mike Read and "Diddy" David Hamilton had actually left Radio 1 before Bannister's arrival but I wouldn't regard them as fondly remembered disk jockeys and what shocked me was when the programme revealed they all lived together in a house nearby the studios in Frinton.
Although Goldsmith is a bit loud and over-zealous, and admitedly his plan was unsuccesfull, the people running and presenting on the station are trapped in their own bubble which needs to be burst.
None of them would listen to Goldsmith and his plans to improve the station in order to get listeners and advertisers and most of the politics within them reminded me of a few issues that occur with the running of Smoke Radio, such as the part when Harvey couldn't get the online player on the website to work.
Instead they resorted to their self indulgent ideas such as Mike Read trying to revive the Radio 1 Roadshow but this time performing in a car park to around 30 people.
The part of the documentary that really made me vent my spleen was when Read, Diddy and the managers of the station were in the dining room of their house trying to think up a strapline for the station and David Hamilton came up with the highly original
"More Music, More Fun". Thank goodness I didn't have a bottle of Archer's in the room with me otherwise tomorrow I'd have to buy a new television.
Ironically the series itself should be a subject for a future episode as it hasn't managed to get as many viewers as hoped and as of next week is moving to a later slot of 11:30pm.
It's definitely made me ponder on whether I want to work in radio after leaving University although I doubt many people on my course would have their sights set on stations of
Big L's calibre.
I've just come downstairs from watching the latest installment of "Get Your Act Together" with Harvey Goldsmith looking at the money burning radio station Big L in Frinton in Essex. Where do I start...?
I've now realised the direction Matthew Bannister was going when he became controller of BBC Radio 1 in removing the older disk jockeys as they were lacking on new and original ideas. This was clearly evident from the has-been disk jockeys working at Big L trying to re-endorse the station of the same name from the 1960s albeit unsuccessfully losing up to 50K a month by playing whatever music the presenters want to hear.
The DJs in question Mike Read and "Diddy" David Hamilton had actually left Radio 1 before Bannister's arrival but I wouldn't regard them as fondly remembered disk jockeys and what shocked me was when the programme revealed they all lived together in a house nearby the studios in Frinton.
Although Goldsmith is a bit loud and over-zealous, and admitedly his plan was unsuccesfull, the people running and presenting on the station are trapped in their own bubble which needs to be burst.
None of them would listen to Goldsmith and his plans to improve the station in order to get listeners and advertisers and most of the politics within them reminded me of a few issues that occur with the running of Smoke Radio, such as the part when Harvey couldn't get the online player on the website to work.
Instead they resorted to their self indulgent ideas such as Mike Read trying to revive the Radio 1 Roadshow but this time performing in a car park to around 30 people.
The part of the documentary that really made me vent my spleen was when Read, Diddy and the managers of the station were in the dining room of their house trying to think up a strapline for the station and David Hamilton came up with the highly original
"More Music, More Fun". Thank goodness I didn't have a bottle of Archer's in the room with me otherwise tomorrow I'd have to buy a new television.
Ironically the series itself should be a subject for a future episode as it hasn't managed to get as many viewers as hoped and as of next week is moving to a later slot of 11:30pm.
It's definitely made me ponder on whether I want to work in radio after leaving University although I doubt many people on my course would have their sights set on stations of
Big L's calibre.
The Music Video Marathon
On the final week at Uni this year I'm planning to attempt to get lathered each night as there will be no assignments due in and hopefully I won't have to worry about house hunting. In addition I also plan to have my own nightly screenings in Flat 14B of the end of year specials of the Chart Show which I own, and that another episode has been added to Youtube to make that possible in the form of the 1993 Special. Transmitted orginally on New Year's Day 1994 I remember just catching the end of this after returning from town and buying a copy of Take That's "Everything Changes" album with my Christmas money.
From what I remember the Best Video of that year was Peter Gabriel with the visually impressive "Kiss That Frog" and Jamiroquai were the Best New Act which they definitely deserved from their stunning album "Emergency On Planet Earth". Few people could have predicted the superb videos they would go on to produce and had the Chart Show still been running by Xmas 1998 they would have definitley got the Best Video title for a second time with "Deeper Underground". It couldn't have been too hard to produce neither as all Jay Kay was doing was dancing about against a blue screen with no Godzilla in sight.
I didn't hear much of the album itself until I bought it about 5 or 6 years later despite it getting to number 1 in the Album Charts but when Radio 1 used to have an album chart on Sundays after the top 40 singles the only track they would play would be "Blow Your Mind". Not a bad track of course but at the time I didn't think it was as good as "Too Young To Die". That song always brings back memories of listening to it on Radio 1's Top 40 with Bruno Brookes and eating mum's delicious home made fruit buns at the same time.
I need to make an effort with baking in halls so I may ask mum for a masterclass before going back there next week.
From what I remember the Best Video of that year was Peter Gabriel with the visually impressive "Kiss That Frog" and Jamiroquai were the Best New Act which they definitely deserved from their stunning album "Emergency On Planet Earth". Few people could have predicted the superb videos they would go on to produce and had the Chart Show still been running by Xmas 1998 they would have definitley got the Best Video title for a second time with "Deeper Underground". It couldn't have been too hard to produce neither as all Jay Kay was doing was dancing about against a blue screen with no Godzilla in sight.
I didn't hear much of the album itself until I bought it about 5 or 6 years later despite it getting to number 1 in the Album Charts but when Radio 1 used to have an album chart on Sundays after the top 40 singles the only track they would play would be "Blow Your Mind". Not a bad track of course but at the time I didn't think it was as good as "Too Young To Die". That song always brings back memories of listening to it on Radio 1's Top 40 with Bruno Brookes and eating mum's delicious home made fruit buns at the same time.
I need to make an effort with baking in halls so I may ask mum for a masterclass before going back there next week.
Monday, April 16, 2007
"You're Dessshpicable"
Another worthy find, Thames Television continuity on the May Day Bank Holiday 1988. This comes out of a Donald Duck special which features a song on the mallard based around Huey Lewis' "I Want A New Drug". The song itself however is probably better known for sounding similar to "Ghostbusters" by Ray Parker Jr who Lewis issued a lawsuit towards for allegedly ripping the song off his own less successful tune.
From the same user I also managed to find Scally the dog linking the children's programmes on offer to ITV viewers from Autumn 1990 which features a few adverts for long forgotten products such as the "Rock And Roll Maze" and "Hero Quest". The clip starts off at the end of a Road Runner cartoon which has a scenario involving the coyote in an exploding phone box where the timing is built up rather longer than it should. Then again this was from the DePatie Freleng era of Warner Bros when WB had shut down their animation studios and Chuck Jones who created the Road Runner had left to direct the Tom and Jerry cartoons replacing Hanna and Barbera who in turn had moved on to making their own rather inferior characters such as Huckelberry Hound and Scooby Doo.
Whilst they have a place in my heart, the DePatie Freleng Loony Tunes cartoons aren't very fondly remembered by animation afficianados, most of them only featured either Road Runner and Wile E Coyote or Speedy Gonzales and Daffy Duck. One such example is a short called The Wild Chase which epitomises the era of which the cartoons were made perfectly, involving a race between the Road Runner and Speedy Gonzales being chased by their nemesis Wile E Coyote and Sylvester respectively. Most of the stunts and set ups were ones that had been done in the earlier Chuck Jones cartoons although the one with the grenade and the bird seed just cracks me up every time.
These animations were also notable for using a different, possibly sinister version of the Looney Tunes theme "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down" at the beginning and end of each cartoon.
That's another theme I wouldn't want to hear in the middle of the night when least expecting it.
From the same user I also managed to find Scally the dog linking the children's programmes on offer to ITV viewers from Autumn 1990 which features a few adverts for long forgotten products such as the "Rock And Roll Maze" and "Hero Quest". The clip starts off at the end of a Road Runner cartoon which has a scenario involving the coyote in an exploding phone box where the timing is built up rather longer than it should. Then again this was from the DePatie Freleng era of Warner Bros when WB had shut down their animation studios and Chuck Jones who created the Road Runner had left to direct the Tom and Jerry cartoons replacing Hanna and Barbera who in turn had moved on to making their own rather inferior characters such as Huckelberry Hound and Scooby Doo.
Whilst they have a place in my heart, the DePatie Freleng Loony Tunes cartoons aren't very fondly remembered by animation afficianados, most of them only featured either Road Runner and Wile E Coyote or Speedy Gonzales and Daffy Duck. One such example is a short called The Wild Chase which epitomises the era of which the cartoons were made perfectly, involving a race between the Road Runner and Speedy Gonzales being chased by their nemesis Wile E Coyote and Sylvester respectively. Most of the stunts and set ups were ones that had been done in the earlier Chuck Jones cartoons although the one with the grenade and the bird seed just cracks me up every time.
These animations were also notable for using a different, possibly sinister version of the Looney Tunes theme "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down" at the beginning and end of each cartoon.
That's another theme I wouldn't want to hear in the middle of the night when least expecting it.
Tounge Tied With Technology
Today hasn't been too bad although I'm a little bit diflated after getting my marks back for the first Media Technology essay albeit a month after I should have recieved it. The actual mark was more or less expected at 53% but I'm rather annoyed that the comments said I used a lack of discussion about technological determinism when I wasn't even answering the question about technological determinism.
I'm going to be spending an awful lot of time in the library on getting back next week and may need to search on Amazon for some books that include areas that cover Sky Digital in detail although what I don't understand are the poncey theories that are supposedly associated with these changes. I don't think I'll ever be able to relate to media theories without describing them as "poncey" although I wouldn't actually write it an essay of course. Then again the whole thing is driving me insane I may actually make a few ammendments and even mention that in reality that the majority of theoretical discussion is a load of bollocks. 100% bollocks if I'm being honest.
I may end up rather than discussing the whole of satellite television in general, focus on a recent development such as the "Gnome" which allows radio stations that broadcast on digital satellite to be heard anywhere in the home via wireless. It's just finding how to expand upon such a thing with 2000 words that's annoying me.
I'm going to be spending an awful lot of time in the library on getting back next week and may need to search on Amazon for some books that include areas that cover Sky Digital in detail although what I don't understand are the poncey theories that are supposedly associated with these changes. I don't think I'll ever be able to relate to media theories without describing them as "poncey" although I wouldn't actually write it an essay of course. Then again the whole thing is driving me insane I may actually make a few ammendments and even mention that in reality that the majority of theoretical discussion is a load of bollocks. 100% bollocks if I'm being honest.
I may end up rather than discussing the whole of satellite television in general, focus on a recent development such as the "Gnome" which allows radio stations that broadcast on digital satellite to be heard anywhere in the home via wireless. It's just finding how to expand upon such a thing with 2000 words that's annoying me.
Writer's Block
I've spent a fair part of the morning struggling to get up to 500 words with my Media Technology case study by writing quite a lot of nonsense as to why BSB's "squarial" dishes weren't succesfull when they were introduced in the early 90s. I'm pretty sure that a house near to ours many years ago had one of those dishes attached for longer after the merger with Sky so I'd imagine that they'd be collectors items now.
I could probably get this essay completed within a short amount of time although I may not actually complete it overall until getting back to University at the end of next week as it will be easier for me to get to the appropriate reading resources and I won't be in such a lazy mood. It was a struggle finding the appropriate quotes to back up what I'd written so as long as I pass this assignment it shouldn't be too bad. I felt the same around Christmas completing the Propoganda and Consumption essays so things will hopefully pull through in the end.
Asides that I really don't know how I'm going to occupy myself for the next two weeks let alone today. Well, one week and four days but it still feels like a long time.
I could probably get this essay completed within a short amount of time although I may not actually complete it overall until getting back to University at the end of next week as it will be easier for me to get to the appropriate reading resources and I won't be in such a lazy mood. It was a struggle finding the appropriate quotes to back up what I'd written so as long as I pass this assignment it shouldn't be too bad. I felt the same around Christmas completing the Propoganda and Consumption essays so things will hopefully pull through in the end.
Asides that I really don't know how I'm going to occupy myself for the next two weeks let alone today. Well, one week and four days but it still feels like a long time.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
The Great Outdoors, Indoors
If the warm temperatures keep up by the time I'm back at Uni then I'll need to make sure I'll have a large supply of water bombs which is mainly due to a lack of outdoor pools on the grass outside Harrow Halls. It wouldn't hurt to build at least one surely?
I've made a start planning for my Media Events case study in the only way possible really from my point of view, watching my VHS's of Live 8 and it just feels really good when you feel you have to analyse a certain incident on screen which fits in with what you're trying to find out "academically". One such moment was early on at the start of the coverage during an interview with U2 in giving the viewer the element of surprise by starting off with a close up of presenter Jo Whiley and then cutting away to reveal an establishing shot with the band sat round.
With a few exceptions I mananged to realise that there was rather a lot of rubbish that appeared on stage that day such as the Razorlight, Snow Patrol and the embarrassing Velvet Revolver, but it would pass you by as the whole build up and buzz made you forget completely. Having not watched it since the day itself, thank goodness for the fast forward button.
I've made a start planning for my Media Events case study in the only way possible really from my point of view, watching my VHS's of Live 8 and it just feels really good when you feel you have to analyse a certain incident on screen which fits in with what you're trying to find out "academically". One such moment was early on at the start of the coverage during an interview with U2 in giving the viewer the element of surprise by starting off with a close up of presenter Jo Whiley and then cutting away to reveal an establishing shot with the band sat round.
With a few exceptions I mananged to realise that there was rather a lot of rubbish that appeared on stage that day such as the Razorlight, Snow Patrol and the embarrassing Velvet Revolver, but it would pass you by as the whole build up and buzz made you forget completely. Having not watched it since the day itself, thank goodness for the fast forward button.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Gold To Gold In 60 Minutes
An evening in front of the television was in store of tonight's entertainment, well almost.
I stumbled across "Grease Is The Word" a search to find two people to play the lead roles in a new West End production of the musical which was embarrasing to say the least. They showed a montage of loads of unsuccesful people auditioning for Danny singing "Greased Lightning" line by line although unsurprisingly it stopped before the infamous fourth line because in this case we "knew that it was shit". Presenter Zoe Ball has been reduced to a Kate Thornton clone "and Sophie's not the only one leaving disapointed..". Still an excuse for me to shout cynical comments at the television screen.
Doctor Who on the other hand was so far the best episode of the series where the Doctor and Martha returned to New New York City and the biggest traffic jam imaginable with a guest appearance from Ardal O'Hanlon as Brannigan although you'd only know it was him from the voice. The Daleks look set to make an return next week and I'd agree with Russell T Davies that the remote control Dalek is the best tie-in product with the series. Definitely one for my birthday list.
The revival of Blockbusters on the Gameshow Marathon was worth the watch despite them cutting off half of the opening titles where it went through the foyer of the now demolished Central Television studios in Nottingham. Most of the questions were based on hyphenated words such as "What R comes before Reliant, Hood and Cousins?" but I was rather flattered for one of the answers beginning with the letter I to be "Incognito". Overall it was good fun as the show has the quick fire element allowing the viewer to shout out the answer to the question as quickly as possible (well for me anyway) which is missing from a lot of present day gameshows where they insist on stringing out questions or decisions for what seems like eternity.
I've heard that one of the first years wants to put me and fellow first year Pete in a battle of music knowledge for when Smoke goes back on air in May which I'd definitely be up for. They'd have to restrict me from going off on musical tangents which I'm terrible at in front of a microphone.
I stumbled across "Grease Is The Word" a search to find two people to play the lead roles in a new West End production of the musical which was embarrasing to say the least. They showed a montage of loads of unsuccesful people auditioning for Danny singing "Greased Lightning" line by line although unsurprisingly it stopped before the infamous fourth line because in this case we "knew that it was shit". Presenter Zoe Ball has been reduced to a Kate Thornton clone "and Sophie's not the only one leaving disapointed..". Still an excuse for me to shout cynical comments at the television screen.
Doctor Who on the other hand was so far the best episode of the series where the Doctor and Martha returned to New New York City and the biggest traffic jam imaginable with a guest appearance from Ardal O'Hanlon as Brannigan although you'd only know it was him from the voice. The Daleks look set to make an return next week and I'd agree with Russell T Davies that the remote control Dalek is the best tie-in product with the series. Definitely one for my birthday list.
The revival of Blockbusters on the Gameshow Marathon was worth the watch despite them cutting off half of the opening titles where it went through the foyer of the now demolished Central Television studios in Nottingham. Most of the questions were based on hyphenated words such as "What R comes before Reliant, Hood and Cousins?" but I was rather flattered for one of the answers beginning with the letter I to be "Incognito". Overall it was good fun as the show has the quick fire element allowing the viewer to shout out the answer to the question as quickly as possible (well for me anyway) which is missing from a lot of present day gameshows where they insist on stringing out questions or decisions for what seems like eternity.
I've heard that one of the first years wants to put me and fellow first year Pete in a battle of music knowledge for when Smoke goes back on air in May which I'd definitely be up for. They'd have to restrict me from going off on musical tangents which I'm terrible at in front of a microphone.
Lack Of Showers In April
It's been warmer outside than in as I found out when going for a stroll round the outside of Canterbury including up the hill where the University is. A part of the city I haven't been to for a long while since returning the books for my last assignment two years ago to the Templeman Library. I've noticed that this year they've only just introduced extended opening hours until 3am which would be something I would struggle with if I was studying over there without a laptop.
On returning I had a gander at the Volume 2 of the Old Grey Whistle Test which featured some really good performances from the mid 80s when the show was just called "Whistle Test". These included the bizarre Thomas Dolby and "Hyperactive", The Style Council in their prime with "Walls Come Tumbling Down" and the Pet Shop Boys in their early days with "Let's Make Lots Of Money" which was just Neil and Chris with two keyboards each performing in front of a video wall with the musical sequence as a computer display. Hi-tech for the time eh?
The DVD also featured an impromptu skiffle performance with the shows presenters including Andy Kershaw on guitar alongside the late John Peel and his producer John Walters who did the vocals.
I'm tempted to buy the DVD of The Tube Series 1 highlights not least as it was the show that in a way gave way to The Chart Show after being axed in 1987. Show producers Tyne Tees almost had the last laugh however as they snatched the rights from The Chart Show to use the Network Chart as used by commercial radio for their show "The Roxy" a short lived rival to Top Of The Pops hosted by "Kid Pension" and transmitted on the ITV Network only to be dropped one by one around the regions and ultimately being axed a year later.
Anyway The Tube DVD, this features performances by acts such as Heaven 17, Simple Minds and the final live TV appearance by the Jam. To be honest I'd probably just buy it for the opening titles which featured a neon sign against a cloudy background with a very synthy theme tune.
On returning I had a gander at the Volume 2 of the Old Grey Whistle Test which featured some really good performances from the mid 80s when the show was just called "Whistle Test". These included the bizarre Thomas Dolby and "Hyperactive", The Style Council in their prime with "Walls Come Tumbling Down" and the Pet Shop Boys in their early days with "Let's Make Lots Of Money" which was just Neil and Chris with two keyboards each performing in front of a video wall with the musical sequence as a computer display. Hi-tech for the time eh?
The DVD also featured an impromptu skiffle performance with the shows presenters including Andy Kershaw on guitar alongside the late John Peel and his producer John Walters who did the vocals.
I'm tempted to buy the DVD of The Tube Series 1 highlights not least as it was the show that in a way gave way to The Chart Show after being axed in 1987. Show producers Tyne Tees almost had the last laugh however as they snatched the rights from The Chart Show to use the Network Chart as used by commercial radio for their show "The Roxy" a short lived rival to Top Of The Pops hosted by "Kid Pension" and transmitted on the ITV Network only to be dropped one by one around the regions and ultimately being axed a year later.
Anyway The Tube DVD, this features performances by acts such as Heaven 17, Simple Minds and the final live TV appearance by the Jam. To be honest I'd probably just buy it for the opening titles which featured a neon sign against a cloudy background with a very synthy theme tune.
The Archers Accelerator
So it's been over a week since coming home and you could say it's sped by. Which isn't a bad thing at all, I've just about got my critical report for the podcast sorted although the word count may be a bit too high but not to worry. I'll focus now on getting the Technology case study out of the way and the same for Media Events both of which I hope to be at least halfway through before getting back to London.
Whilst I've had a few moans on this blog about random banter, I seem to find this series of video blogs by StephenH rather entertaining although it's mainly becuase of the Scottish accent and that some of the things mentioned make sense. In the latest offering it explains that there maybe a logic into getting a sore throat by not drinking enough in a place where you should drink reguarly.
However I reckon booze only works properly if you haven't drank any for at least a fortnight as I had a bottle of Archers last night when Granny had arrived to stay over and I felt a bit shaky and more enthusiastic to talk than I normally am at mealtimes. There's still a few bottles left so I'll try to savour them as much as I can before returning in two weeks. But at least it shows you can have decent conversations without resorting to filth as I'm not bothered about random nonsense such as if someone at Uni owns a vibrator or not.
I don't normally post yobbish incidents on this blog but this is an exception from Eleri a year 2 journalism student and barmaid on campus. If I was blind I would assume that
the monkeys in this video would have blown up the fence rather than ram into it.
Whilst I've had a few moans on this blog about random banter, I seem to find this series of video blogs by StephenH rather entertaining although it's mainly becuase of the Scottish accent and that some of the things mentioned make sense. In the latest offering it explains that there maybe a logic into getting a sore throat by not drinking enough in a place where you should drink reguarly.
However I reckon booze only works properly if you haven't drank any for at least a fortnight as I had a bottle of Archers last night when Granny had arrived to stay over and I felt a bit shaky and more enthusiastic to talk than I normally am at mealtimes. There's still a few bottles left so I'll try to savour them as much as I can before returning in two weeks. But at least it shows you can have decent conversations without resorting to filth as I'm not bothered about random nonsense such as if someone at Uni owns a vibrator or not.
I don't normally post yobbish incidents on this blog but this is an exception from Eleri a year 2 journalism student and barmaid on campus. If I was blind I would assume that
the monkeys in this video would have blown up the fence rather than ram into it.
Friday, April 13, 2007
The DVD That All Music Lovers Should Own
One of the things I've been meaning to do since getting back to Canterbury is having a gander at my dad's DVDs of "The Old Grey Whistle Test" one of the more fondly remembered music shows of yesteryear.
I've just finished watching volume 1 and there are some very good performances on there ranging from "Frankenstein" by The Edgar Winter Group, a medley from European rockers Focus, The Teardrop Explodes and early Elton John. Not to mention a few questionable choices that seem to go on for longer than they should along the lines of "Freebird" by Lynryd Skynyrd and an early performance by Meatloaf.
There are also a few interesting anecdotes from past presenters introducing each performance such as Bob Harris, Annie Nightingale and original presenter Richard Williams. One that I found interesting was Andy Kershaw reminiscing on when Bob Harris left the programme and the BBC to join Radio 210 in Reading. Bob handed in his notice mentioning that the programme was broadening it's musical range by moving away from American soft rock and leaning more towards punk which would be taken care of by the likes of Annie Nightingale.
It was also interesting to the final moments of the programme taken from a New Year Farewell Special at the beginning of 1988 presented by Bob Harris speaking in hope that there would be more programmes in future that would support new talent in the same way that they had done. What some may view as grim period for music on television as earlier in 1987 the Tube was axed from Channel 4 not long after presenter Jools Holland got caught swearing during a live trail for the show. Funnily enough he ended up presiding over the closest show to a Whistle Test revival which is still running today although I only really get round to seeing it when it's the New Year Hootenanny.
I've still yet to watch Volume 2 of Whistle Test so expect a few more anecdotes in a future blog post.
I've just finished watching volume 1 and there are some very good performances on there ranging from "Frankenstein" by The Edgar Winter Group, a medley from European rockers Focus, The Teardrop Explodes and early Elton John. Not to mention a few questionable choices that seem to go on for longer than they should along the lines of "Freebird" by Lynryd Skynyrd and an early performance by Meatloaf.
There are also a few interesting anecdotes from past presenters introducing each performance such as Bob Harris, Annie Nightingale and original presenter Richard Williams. One that I found interesting was Andy Kershaw reminiscing on when Bob Harris left the programme and the BBC to join Radio 210 in Reading. Bob handed in his notice mentioning that the programme was broadening it's musical range by moving away from American soft rock and leaning more towards punk which would be taken care of by the likes of Annie Nightingale.
It was also interesting to the final moments of the programme taken from a New Year Farewell Special at the beginning of 1988 presented by Bob Harris speaking in hope that there would be more programmes in future that would support new talent in the same way that they had done. What some may view as grim period for music on television as earlier in 1987 the Tube was axed from Channel 4 not long after presenter Jools Holland got caught swearing during a live trail for the show. Funnily enough he ended up presiding over the closest show to a Whistle Test revival which is still running today although I only really get round to seeing it when it's the New Year Hootenanny.
I've still yet to watch Volume 2 of Whistle Test so expect a few more anecdotes in a future blog post.
One To One Entertainment
I've spent part of the morning watching could possibly be a dissertation resource, the radio episode of BBC 2's "Story Of Light Entertainment" broadcast last summer. This programme looked at succesful radio programmes and personalities who transferred to television starting off with comedy including Hancock's Half Hour and Little Britain, and personalities such as Noel Edmonds and Chris Evans. Most of the contributors such as Dale Winton and Jeremy Beadle at the end of the programme said that radio was the better medium in terms of communication and fun and most importantly getting into the listeners heads.
Whilst it was an interesting documentary I was rather confused to a continuity error appropriatley enough, when the programme looked at the axing of Noel Edmond's "Late Late Breakfast" show after a man got killed in a stunt. To illustrate this it showed BBC 1's announcement of the programme being axed but instead of using the COW globe which was used around the time they used globe from 1978!
1986
1978
Then again memory does play tricks with normal viewers so I doubt they would have been too bothered especially with the globe's recent revival through the second series of "Life On Mars". They're planning to do a follow up set in the 1980s so I hope they bring back the COW (computer orignated world) globe for the occasion!
I was also interested to find out that another contributor Steve Punt is in fact a radio historian, so if David Hendy ever decides to retire as a lecuturer at Uni then I'm sure Punt would be the perfect replacement! I really should look at the BBC's ticket web page more often as I'd love to see The Now Show being recorded.
It may be the middle of April but I'm still feeling the need to wear a sweatshirt. To be fair that's partly because I'm using a computer in cellar that doesn't have any Central heating although it's Mum and Dad who will have to cope sleeping there this weekend as our grandmother's coming over from Woodbridge. I wouldn't mind visiting the place again although I haven't had a proper visit for at least five years when we went on her late husbands boat on the nearby river.
Whilst it was an interesting documentary I was rather confused to a continuity error appropriatley enough, when the programme looked at the axing of Noel Edmond's "Late Late Breakfast" show after a man got killed in a stunt. To illustrate this it showed BBC 1's announcement of the programme being axed but instead of using the COW globe which was used around the time they used globe from 1978!
1986
1978
Then again memory does play tricks with normal viewers so I doubt they would have been too bothered especially with the globe's recent revival through the second series of "Life On Mars". They're planning to do a follow up set in the 1980s so I hope they bring back the COW (computer orignated world) globe for the occasion!
I was also interested to find out that another contributor Steve Punt is in fact a radio historian, so if David Hendy ever decides to retire as a lecuturer at Uni then I'm sure Punt would be the perfect replacement! I really should look at the BBC's ticket web page more often as I'd love to see The Now Show being recorded.
It may be the middle of April but I'm still feeling the need to wear a sweatshirt. To be fair that's partly because I'm using a computer in cellar that doesn't have any Central heating although it's Mum and Dad who will have to cope sleeping there this weekend as our grandmother's coming over from Woodbridge. I wouldn't mind visiting the place again although I haven't had a proper visit for at least five years when we went on her late husbands boat on the nearby river.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Still Rather Dull
I'm going to struggle terribly in the next two weeks before returning back over to London. In trying to work out my financial situation for the semester I ended up thinking I was going to pay twice as much rent but that was a result of my maths being apalling.
I think I've worked out a short term solution however, and that is to buy as many instant chicken and pasta ready meals from Morrisons which only cost a pound each.
Then again it's actually cheaper to buy basic mince and tomato puree than it is to buy Dolmio stir in sauces so it does cost extra for less hassle.
I've discovered yet another offering from the BAMS TV students, this time from Tobi Maass and his promotional short for MTV starring another of our radio students, Ross Powell.
I really wish I kept hold of some of the stuff that we did last year on the Basic Television Module in which we had to shoot a tour of the Street with Josie as the host and I had to act out an argument with Ross T as part of a multi camera exercise.
On looking at the BBC archive listings I also found out that one of our lecturers Robert Benfield was a producer/director on the 1980s BBC children's series Duncan Dares, which was Peter Duncan's answer to "Go With Noakes" after leaving Blue Peter. And a it should be pointed out that "Duncan Dares" was indeed a children's programme despite rumours of Peter Duncan acting in a porn film earlier in his career. It shows that there's a logic to him beforehand presenting a long established programme with such an appropriate name!
I think I've worked out a short term solution however, and that is to buy as many instant chicken and pasta ready meals from Morrisons which only cost a pound each.
Then again it's actually cheaper to buy basic mince and tomato puree than it is to buy Dolmio stir in sauces so it does cost extra for less hassle.
I've discovered yet another offering from the BAMS TV students, this time from Tobi Maass and his promotional short for MTV starring another of our radio students, Ross Powell.
I really wish I kept hold of some of the stuff that we did last year on the Basic Television Module in which we had to shoot a tour of the Street with Josie as the host and I had to act out an argument with Ross T as part of a multi camera exercise.
On looking at the BBC archive listings I also found out that one of our lecturers Robert Benfield was a producer/director on the 1980s BBC children's series Duncan Dares, which was Peter Duncan's answer to "Go With Noakes" after leaving Blue Peter. And a it should be pointed out that "Duncan Dares" was indeed a children's programme despite rumours of Peter Duncan acting in a porn film earlier in his career. It shows that there's a logic to him beforehand presenting a long established programme with such an appropriate name!
Dissertation Diversion
Light relief from a posting made by third year student Natasha. A list of excuses for not doing a dissertation:
Slowly Progressing
Once again I was up pretty early this morning to crack on with my critical report for the podcasting module. I'm now up to over 3000 words with just the listening analysis to add but I may end up having to remove some of the nonsense that I've written in order to stay within the word limit. This has made me feel slightly better after yesterday although I enjoyed a bit of escapism re-reading Peter Kay's autobiography in bed last night where I probably woke up the rest of the house laughing, when the comedian spoke about when he and his mates used to muck about at the Bolton swimming pool. Turning the shower taps to cold on unsuspecting swimmers was one such activity.
Moving onto a slightly different podcast, the one I produced for the 24 hour Smoke broadcast last month which has made me feel a bit more hopeful about next month. Especially with some of the new people we've managed to get in the last year such as Ben and Jason and the delightful Scottish tones of Steven McIntosh who can be heard quite a lot in this selection. We're trying to tempt him back from Edinburgh for our week of broadcasting in May although he does have a blog on Myspace which unlike this one is a very entertaining read.
I may take the next few days off before starting my analysis of Live 8 for my Media Events essay although I'm still stumped on where to go with my essay on Media Technology. How on Earth can you anlyse the development of present day digital television in 2000 words? If someone like David Gauntlett was teaching this module then I would certainly be more motivated.
Moving onto a slightly different podcast, the one I produced for the 24 hour Smoke broadcast last month which has made me feel a bit more hopeful about next month. Especially with some of the new people we've managed to get in the last year such as Ben and Jason and the delightful Scottish tones of Steven McIntosh who can be heard quite a lot in this selection. We're trying to tempt him back from Edinburgh for our week of broadcasting in May although he does have a blog on Myspace which unlike this one is a very entertaining read.
I may take the next few days off before starting my analysis of Live 8 for my Media Events essay although I'm still stumped on where to go with my essay on Media Technology. How on Earth can you anlyse the development of present day digital television in 2000 words? If someone like David Gauntlett was teaching this module then I would certainly be more motivated.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
"Whatever Floats Your Boat"
I'm still finding it incredibly difficult to be happy. I have a dreadful habit of letting awkward incidents and awkward people get to me, particuarly those who feel the need to knock my glasses over and touch me in inapropriate places on a crowded dancefloor in the Uni bar. Then again I end up having the last laugh in the long term. I'm tempted to look on Ebay to see if there are any stun guns available for if any further confrontations arose but I doubt I'd be too successfull.
When it comes to ideas in radio a lot of them aren't too original but I can almost understand where the first years seem to be going. Mainly becaus I was trying out a few things that I thought would be funny around the same time, such as the innuendo laden prize descriptions for the toys I gave away on the soul show last year. When I've spoken to people about what they plan to do for when we get back they have hinted about playing unfunny "mash-ups" with 50 Cent blended in with Postman Pat or prank phone calls done using sound clips of Arnold Schwarznegger. You can tell that Scott Mills is a big influence despite being for me a rather bland and unfunny performer on radio.
However I can't step in anyone's way as a lot of people involved with Smoke share the same sort of obsession with Scott Mills and his features as
I have with the ITV Chart Show. Even I find myself repeating catchphrases such as "Good Mornin' " or "off of" to a terrible extent because it's embedded into their vocabulary. If I had the money I would have a t-shirt custom made with a light up display which would flash ">PLAY>" or ">>F FWD>>" but that would be wishful thinking.
This however added a bit of light relief, a reunion of Lee and Herring done a couple of months ago with the duo bringing back old routines such as "the moon on a stick" and a brilliant send up of an ad campaign from what could be their present day equivalent.
When it comes to ideas in radio a lot of them aren't too original but I can almost understand where the first years seem to be going. Mainly becaus I was trying out a few things that I thought would be funny around the same time, such as the innuendo laden prize descriptions for the toys I gave away on the soul show last year. When I've spoken to people about what they plan to do for when we get back they have hinted about playing unfunny "mash-ups" with 50 Cent blended in with Postman Pat or prank phone calls done using sound clips of Arnold Schwarznegger. You can tell that Scott Mills is a big influence despite being for me a rather bland and unfunny performer on radio.
However I can't step in anyone's way as a lot of people involved with Smoke share the same sort of obsession with Scott Mills and his features as
I have with the ITV Chart Show. Even I find myself repeating catchphrases such as "Good Mornin' " or "off of" to a terrible extent because it's embedded into their vocabulary. If I had the money I would have a t-shirt custom made with a light up display which would flash ">PLAY>" or ">>F FWD>>" but that would be wishful thinking.
This however added a bit of light relief, a reunion of Lee and Herring done a couple of months ago with the duo bringing back old routines such as "the moon on a stick" and a brilliant send up of an ad campaign from what could be their present day equivalent.
Possible Recouperation
Well the laptop's been packed and is now off to Microlink to be repaired although I need to get in touch with the LEA to see if they can re-arrange the warranty for it before I finish University.
The operator I spoke to on the phone said that it would take between 5-10 working days for the computer to be repaired so hopefully it should be sorted by the time I'm meant to be returning to London.
In the meantime I'm going to try my best to make the workload on returning as light as possible but with a lack of motivation and confidence, I'm finding it hard to do so. I'll try and continue with the Internet Radio critical report as soon as I can with an aim of getting it done by Friday which will then be followed by viewing my VHS's of Live 8 to help me with my Media Events case study. If there's one thing that needs improving it's my academic skills for the theory assignments as I have no pre-planned strategies and can barely understand the poncey theories behind the texts that I'm analysing. No wonder people have cynical views on Media courses.
I still have no idea on what to plan my dissertation on although a few first years have ideas already so I may half-inch some of those if worst comes to worst. That may not be until September but I have very little to occupy me between finishing this year and going onto the next.
The operator I spoke to on the phone said that it would take between 5-10 working days for the computer to be repaired so hopefully it should be sorted by the time I'm meant to be returning to London.
In the meantime I'm going to try my best to make the workload on returning as light as possible but with a lack of motivation and confidence, I'm finding it hard to do so. I'll try and continue with the Internet Radio critical report as soon as I can with an aim of getting it done by Friday which will then be followed by viewing my VHS's of Live 8 to help me with my Media Events case study. If there's one thing that needs improving it's my academic skills for the theory assignments as I have no pre-planned strategies and can barely understand the poncey theories behind the texts that I'm analysing. No wonder people have cynical views on Media courses.
I still have no idea on what to plan my dissertation on although a few first years have ideas already so I may half-inch some of those if worst comes to worst. That may not be until September but I have very little to occupy me between finishing this year and going onto the next.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
The Canterbury Time Trap
Sleeping for at least two hours in the middle of the afternoon is once again becoming a daily ritual since returning home. That just goes to show how twisted things are but I'm hopeful they'll return to normal before too long. On the lighter side of things I brought the latest Radio Times where there's the possiblilty on Saturday of Doctor Who being postponed until next week if the Manchester United Vs Watford FA Cup semi final goes into extra time. This is in order to make sure that the live "Any Dream Will Do" talent show search goes ahead as planned although the less said of that the better.
On the plus side it looks as if the Gameshow Marathon on ITV1 has been promoted an hour later meaning Millionaire gets shown earlier which should be no competition for the Timelord considering that dead horse is still being flogged. If someone's going to win the jackpot it will be reported in the papers anyway so it completely defeats the purpose of the show. Still wouldn't mind going on it myself though. However this week's gameshow featured in the Marathon used to be hosted by a Pinner resident as Blockbusters makes a comeback. Bob Holness was the David Dickenson of his day loved by many students although judging by his health I'm not sure he'll want to return as the host!
On the subject of reminsicing I managed to find a few episodes on Youtube of "The Rock 'N' Roll Years". This was a programme shown by BBC 1 in the 80s and 90s which looked back at the decades through the music of the era acompanying various images from the BBC archives. The ones I've found on Youtube are from between 1981 and 1984 although I haven't managed to have a look at them just yet as I'm using a computer with a yellow monitor and the video is rather jerky when viewed on it.
It would be really good if they could do the same thing for the 90s which would certainly be preferrable to Z-list celebrities and comedians waxing lyrical about why they loved yo-yos and space hoppers.
On the plus side it looks as if the Gameshow Marathon on ITV1 has been promoted an hour later meaning Millionaire gets shown earlier which should be no competition for the Timelord considering that dead horse is still being flogged. If someone's going to win the jackpot it will be reported in the papers anyway so it completely defeats the purpose of the show. Still wouldn't mind going on it myself though. However this week's gameshow featured in the Marathon used to be hosted by a Pinner resident as Blockbusters makes a comeback. Bob Holness was the David Dickenson of his day loved by many students although judging by his health I'm not sure he'll want to return as the host!
On the subject of reminsicing I managed to find a few episodes on Youtube of "The Rock 'N' Roll Years". This was a programme shown by BBC 1 in the 80s and 90s which looked back at the decades through the music of the era acompanying various images from the BBC archives. The ones I've found on Youtube are from between 1981 and 1984 although I haven't managed to have a look at them just yet as I'm using a computer with a yellow monitor and the video is rather jerky when viewed on it.
It would be really good if they could do the same thing for the 90s which would certainly be preferrable to Z-list celebrities and comedians waxing lyrical about why they loved yo-yos and space hoppers.
"If I'm Not Wanted Just Say So"
My laptop problems are getting worse this morning. I was on the phone to a Microlink engineer trying to solve the problem and I found out that my CD drive wasn't working meaning I couldn't use the boot CD which they thought solve the problem. Not even my external DVD drive could make things better as the laptop wouldn't accept it as a boot drive so it needs to be sent back again to be repaired which may end up costing up to £200.
To make things worse I tried ringing up ASDA to speak to their people manager regarding seasonal work and went through the same ordeal as last time, I got cut off the second I said hello to her. Looks like my days there are numbered. All this has discouraged me from writing my critical report for the Web Radio assignment which could easily be completed in no time, it's just that I'm either too lazy or too depressed to get on with it.
The way this blog seems to be going is like the Magic Roundabout theme, an analogy which I've used in the past to describe the Media Technology module from last semester. But then again most people with Asperger's Syndrome are used to some sort of regular routine or in my case what is becoming an annual routine with sending the laptop back to be repaired.
I've come up with three guidelines that I should stick to in the third year:
1: Don't spend money on anything that could or should be a Christmas present.
2: Set up a weekly allowance to stick to.
3: If people's ridiculous conversations in a public place get to me, just leave. It's no good getting depressed and letting it ruin my time here.
To make things worse I tried ringing up ASDA to speak to their people manager regarding seasonal work and went through the same ordeal as last time, I got cut off the second I said hello to her. Looks like my days there are numbered. All this has discouraged me from writing my critical report for the Web Radio assignment which could easily be completed in no time, it's just that I'm either too lazy or too depressed to get on with it.
The way this blog seems to be going is like the Magic Roundabout theme, an analogy which I've used in the past to describe the Media Technology module from last semester. But then again most people with Asperger's Syndrome are used to some sort of regular routine or in my case what is becoming an annual routine with sending the laptop back to be repaired.
I've come up with three guidelines that I should stick to in the third year:
1: Don't spend money on anything that could or should be a Christmas present.
2: Set up a weekly allowance to stick to.
3: If people's ridiculous conversations in a public place get to me, just leave. It's no good getting depressed and letting it ruin my time here.
Monday, April 09, 2007
Nocturnal In Canterbury
I failed my attempt to watch The Sound Of Music in it's entireity as I ended up falling asleep for three hours after Maria and the children had ran over hills singing "Do Re Mi".
By the time I woke up I managed to see the end of Toy Story 2 which has a cameo from none other than Andi Peters playing a baggage handler, or Baggage Handler No. 2 to be more specific.
I'm hoping to get the laptop problems sorted tomorrow morning and to get my critical report for the Internet and Podcasting module done by Friday at latest. It's not even that hard a task to complete and I'm pretty certain that I may end up going above the word count analysing both the Tarot website and the NAS podcasts. Let's just say that I won't take any responsiblity running the website for our final project in the third year.
I'm a bit down tonight as I'm missing out on the concert in tribute to Paul "Tubbs" Williams in Camden tonight where Central Line, Leee John from Imagination, Junior Giscombe and Incognito are performing. Earlier tonight I got a text from Stephen saying that the old TV-AM/MTV building nearby is covered in scaffolding. Those egg cups didn't look a very happy state on my last visit to Camden so they may end up being removed around the time of my next visit.
I'm hoping to go to the Marcos Valle gig that's happening on the 7th of May although that happens to be on a Monday night and the first Monday night of May for that matter meaning I could miss out on our Smoke night at the Undercroft.
I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to move it a week later although that's mainly because it fits in well with the start of our final week of broadcasting and the night before my 22nd birthday!
By the time I woke up I managed to see the end of Toy Story 2 which has a cameo from none other than Andi Peters playing a baggage handler, or Baggage Handler No. 2 to be more specific.
I'm hoping to get the laptop problems sorted tomorrow morning and to get my critical report for the Internet and Podcasting module done by Friday at latest. It's not even that hard a task to complete and I'm pretty certain that I may end up going above the word count analysing both the Tarot website and the NAS podcasts. Let's just say that I won't take any responsiblity running the website for our final project in the third year.
I'm a bit down tonight as I'm missing out on the concert in tribute to Paul "Tubbs" Williams in Camden tonight where Central Line, Leee John from Imagination, Junior Giscombe and Incognito are performing. Earlier tonight I got a text from Stephen saying that the old TV-AM/MTV building nearby is covered in scaffolding. Those egg cups didn't look a very happy state on my last visit to Camden so they may end up being removed around the time of my next visit.
I'm hoping to go to the Marcos Valle gig that's happening on the 7th of May although that happens to be on a Monday night and the first Monday night of May for that matter meaning I could miss out on our Smoke night at the Undercroft.
I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to move it a week later although that's mainly because it fits in well with the start of our final week of broadcasting and the night before my 22nd birthday!
Inside The Cage
The TV students on the BAMS course at the Uni have come up with the goods again, this time a documentary following Ross Goodlass spending a day as a zookeeper at the Paradise Wildlife Park in Hertfordshire. It contains a variety of voices including our very own Steve "Neil Buchanan" Jones as the narrator and Ricky Marshall making a short cameo as a rather cheesy sounding disk jockey for no apparent reason.
It all goes to show that we're all one big family and there are no divides between the two mediums on this course.
I'm still waiting to see Lucie etc's "Back To The 80s" live studio programme where they got Ross T to be the host for their live multi-camera studio project done around the same time us radio lot were trying to do something similar with our Retro Room show. That will certainly be my favourite module that we've had on the radio course this year.
On a similar note I've had a listen to some of the podcasts done by the rest of the radio students including this rather cute set of parenting podcasts from Jo , a behind the scenes look at Student Radio from Ross T and a guide to climbing in London from Ricky.
The last two are particuarly inspiring, with the former talking about how someone with Asperger's Syndrome gained confidence after helping out with student radio which makes me feel rather less bitter about the downsides to University and just to get on with the positive parts. Especially with the summer broadcast coming next month.
And I'm very tempted to see if there are any climbing walls around Canterbury apart from the ruins of the old castle.
I very much doubt I'd want to become a parent however, although I may see if I can buy a copy of "Toddler Taming" by Dr Christopher Green which has some of the funniest illustrations I've seen courtesy of Roger Roberts.
That's my idea of comedy apart from Victor Lewis Smith's impression/slaughtering of Esther Rantzen.
It all goes to show that we're all one big family and there are no divides between the two mediums on this course.
I'm still waiting to see Lucie etc's "Back To The 80s" live studio programme where they got Ross T to be the host for their live multi-camera studio project done around the same time us radio lot were trying to do something similar with our Retro Room show. That will certainly be my favourite module that we've had on the radio course this year.
On a similar note I've had a listen to some of the podcasts done by the rest of the radio students including this rather cute set of parenting podcasts from Jo , a behind the scenes look at Student Radio from Ross T and a guide to climbing in London from Ricky.
The last two are particuarly inspiring, with the former talking about how someone with Asperger's Syndrome gained confidence after helping out with student radio which makes me feel rather less bitter about the downsides to University and just to get on with the positive parts. Especially with the summer broadcast coming next month.
And I'm very tempted to see if there are any climbing walls around Canterbury apart from the ruins of the old castle.
I very much doubt I'd want to become a parent however, although I may see if I can buy a copy of "Toddler Taming" by Dr Christopher Green which has some of the funniest illustrations I've seen courtesy of Roger Roberts.
That's my idea of comedy apart from Victor Lewis Smith's impression/slaughtering of Esther Rantzen.
Sunday, April 08, 2007
An Early Heatwave
Well that's partly because the heating in my room has been permanently switched on despite the already warm weather that's been present since getting back here on Friday.
Most of us including our visitors from Stowmarket went on a walk in a little village near Ashford today, where most of it involved climing up hills but it was definitely worth it as you got a good view of the town from the top. We then stopped off at a little pub where my uncle had a game of pool with my dad and I drank down an ice cold lemonade which didn't actually have ice inside it. I'm sure this prompted either Mum or Dad to finally put those bottles of Archer's in the fridge after languishing in the cupboards for months on end whilst I've been at Uni.
Nothing else has really happened today, I've just come down from watching Aled Jones learn to play the drums on BBC 1's "Play It Again" where on of his challenges was to play with a Led Zeppelin tribute band in Camden. For me it became rather embarrassing on hearing their interepretation of "Immigrant Song" with the lead singer sounding really off key. However to make things even worse the big finale involved Aled rather selfishly choosing to perform with Chris De Burgh of all people, and on a song where the drums didn't start until halfway into the song!
Tomorrow looks set to be rather more uneventful although I'm going to make an attempt to watch the Sound Of Music from end to end which surprisingly enough I've never managed to acheive despite the majority of my family being big fans of the musical. I may speak to Steve in my radio class about blagging some box tickets for the London play!
Most of us including our visitors from Stowmarket went on a walk in a little village near Ashford today, where most of it involved climing up hills but it was definitely worth it as you got a good view of the town from the top. We then stopped off at a little pub where my uncle had a game of pool with my dad and I drank down an ice cold lemonade which didn't actually have ice inside it. I'm sure this prompted either Mum or Dad to finally put those bottles of Archer's in the fridge after languishing in the cupboards for months on end whilst I've been at Uni.
Nothing else has really happened today, I've just come down from watching Aled Jones learn to play the drums on BBC 1's "Play It Again" where on of his challenges was to play with a Led Zeppelin tribute band in Camden. For me it became rather embarrassing on hearing their interepretation of "Immigrant Song" with the lead singer sounding really off key. However to make things even worse the big finale involved Aled rather selfishly choosing to perform with Chris De Burgh of all people, and on a song where the drums didn't start until halfway into the song!
Tomorrow looks set to be rather more uneventful although I'm going to make an attempt to watch the Sound Of Music from end to end which surprisingly enough I've never managed to acheive despite the majority of my family being big fans of the musical. I may speak to Steve in my radio class about blagging some box tickets for the London play!
Saturday, April 07, 2007
Spring Fuelled Saturdays
I was impressed by tonight's episode of Doctor Who set at the end of the 16th century with a William Shakespeare character making an appearance unveiling the play that was "never finished". Martha is becoming a brilliant companion, more independent and slightly more intelligent than Rose and reminiscent of the "Lynda with a Y" character who appeared in the Big Brother themed episoded in series 1 (or 27 so as not to offend any Whovians that may be reading this). I've got more used to David Tenant this series despite being only two episodes in but I hardly managed to see much of the last series as I was too busy cavorting in Central London of most of my Saturdays in London followed by a few dodgy trips back on the N18.
More of the same this year? Yeah why not.
Immediately after the episode I switched over to the new series of the Gameshow Marathon on ITV1 where the first show featured was The Price Is Right with presenter Vernon Kay using every opportunity to impersonate Bruce Forsyth. It was also good to see a Yorkshire Television ident before the beginning of part two which is interesting as they didn't start producing the show until 1995 but the original producers Central have made at least two of the gameshows featured in the series so I'm sure we'll see their moon ident a few times. The celebrity contestants chosen to "come on down" were rather sub-standard but I was impressed to see Jamelia as one of the contestants picked.
Some of the ones left in their seats were cult figures such as Wincey Willis, Kriss Akabusi, and Keith from the Office alongside some more questionable choices such as the Hamiltons, Rowetta from the Happy Mondays, ex TOTP producer Chris Cowey, Steve Penk, and even Henry Kelly.
I wonder if StephenH or Lizzie from Uni have ever bumped into the Irish charmer as he now does a show on BBC Radio Berkshire nowadays.
Whilst TPIR in the UK is best remembered for Leslie Crowther, Brucie and too a lesser extent Joe Pasquale hosting it, there was a period in the late 80s when Sky brought the rights for the show and got long serving Central News presenter Bob Warman to take the reigns.
This clip here involves the suave host presiding over the infamous "Cliffhanger" game and you have to love the very dated sound denoting the contestant's wrong guess. Also note the blatant product or store placement with Comet which I doubt you could get away with nowadays.
Judging by the amount of money I've spent this semester at Uni everything to me is an open shop window.
More of the same this year? Yeah why not.
Immediately after the episode I switched over to the new series of the Gameshow Marathon on ITV1 where the first show featured was The Price Is Right with presenter Vernon Kay using every opportunity to impersonate Bruce Forsyth. It was also good to see a Yorkshire Television ident before the beginning of part two which is interesting as they didn't start producing the show until 1995 but the original producers Central have made at least two of the gameshows featured in the series so I'm sure we'll see their moon ident a few times. The celebrity contestants chosen to "come on down" were rather sub-standard but I was impressed to see Jamelia as one of the contestants picked.
Some of the ones left in their seats were cult figures such as Wincey Willis, Kriss Akabusi, and Keith from the Office alongside some more questionable choices such as the Hamiltons, Rowetta from the Happy Mondays, ex TOTP producer Chris Cowey, Steve Penk, and even Henry Kelly.
I wonder if StephenH or Lizzie from Uni have ever bumped into the Irish charmer as he now does a show on BBC Radio Berkshire nowadays.
Whilst TPIR in the UK is best remembered for Leslie Crowther, Brucie and too a lesser extent Joe Pasquale hosting it, there was a period in the late 80s when Sky brought the rights for the show and got long serving Central News presenter Bob Warman to take the reigns.
This clip here involves the suave host presiding over the infamous "Cliffhanger" game and you have to love the very dated sound denoting the contestant's wrong guess. Also note the blatant product or store placement with Comet which I doubt you could get away with nowadays.
Judging by the amount of money I've spent this semester at Uni everything to me is an open shop window.
Impossible To Put Down
I made a start on backing up all the material from my laptop I want to keep onto DVD-R which managed to work succesfully so I don't have to worry about losing anything precious (to me anyway) if it has to be taken away to be repaired.
On this coming Tuesday after the Easter weekend I'll be making two phone calls, one to Microlink to see if they can get one of their people to have a look at the problem and another one to ASDA to see if they actually recived my slip regarding seasonal work.
To make things even more complicated I got a text from Jess who'd found my glasses in her house about a month after I lost them at the hat party. I suppose a solution would be to have the lenses removed and have them turned into sunglasses but in future I may try and avoid wearing my glasses to any house parties or large dos of a similar sort outside the Harrow campus.
For the rest of today I've been going through a few things in my room and have stumbled across a book containing analysis on the film "Fargo" which I watched quite a few times whilst at college and did a case study towards the end of my HND course two years ago. Unlike most of the books I've got out from the library for my essays this holiday, it's a very interesting read and something that's difficult to put down considering that I'm not a big film person.
However the end of this month sees the release of Shane Meadow's new film "This Is England" the follow up to the cult success "Dead Man's Shoes" which is about a young boy getting involved with a gang of skinheads set in the early 80s. In addition to this the South Bank Show will featuring Meadows in a special programme which I'm also looking forward to, focusing on one of the finest directors in British film. It will be interesting to find out what is included in the soundtrack of the new film judging by the time it's set in so we could be in for a few 2tone and new wave tracks. Knowing Meadow's eclectic selections from his past films the end result should be superb.
On this coming Tuesday after the Easter weekend I'll be making two phone calls, one to Microlink to see if they can get one of their people to have a look at the problem and another one to ASDA to see if they actually recived my slip regarding seasonal work.
To make things even more complicated I got a text from Jess who'd found my glasses in her house about a month after I lost them at the hat party. I suppose a solution would be to have the lenses removed and have them turned into sunglasses but in future I may try and avoid wearing my glasses to any house parties or large dos of a similar sort outside the Harrow campus.
For the rest of today I've been going through a few things in my room and have stumbled across a book containing analysis on the film "Fargo" which I watched quite a few times whilst at college and did a case study towards the end of my HND course two years ago. Unlike most of the books I've got out from the library for my essays this holiday, it's a very interesting read and something that's difficult to put down considering that I'm not a big film person.
However the end of this month sees the release of Shane Meadow's new film "This Is England" the follow up to the cult success "Dead Man's Shoes" which is about a young boy getting involved with a gang of skinheads set in the early 80s. In addition to this the South Bank Show will featuring Meadows in a special programme which I'm also looking forward to, focusing on one of the finest directors in British film. It will be interesting to find out what is included in the soundtrack of the new film judging by the time it's set in so we could be in for a few 2tone and new wave tracks. Knowing Meadow's eclectic selections from his past films the end result should be superb.
Friday, April 06, 2007
Jumping Out Of The Wireless
Having not got any sleep yesterday I ended up nodding off mid afternoon and waking up around 8pm. I'm still feeling rather tired now and if it was physically possible I'd sleep my way through the Easter holiday until returning to Uni in three weeks.
We've got some visitors arrving tomorrow however as mum's sister Alison and her family are coming over for the Easter weekend which I'm looking forward to, I probably won't be eating any chocolate eggs but as long as I've got some jelly filled delights I'll be happy.
On arriving back I managed to find a few DVDs sent to me and one of them was from a jingle colllector from Herts who sent me a behind the scenes look at JAM Creative Productions in Dallas, Texas. Radio always makes more sense to me visually so to see the amount of effort that goes into making jingles was a treat as you can see just how many musicians it takes to make a 20 second top of the hour ID. In this case it was for established news talk station WABC in New York City who have been using JAM jingles for over 30 years as both a music and news talk station with some of the cuts ending up resung for stations around the world including BBC Radio 1.
Of course not everything is done all together as they start off with a rhythm section consisting of a drummer, keyboard player, and a guitar and bass player to lay down the basic track before having sessions with horns, strings, additional percussion and of course the vocals.
They may not be the best looking people playing the instruments but if they can produce a top notch sound then they are doing something right and this is something that is missing in the jingles produced on radio in the UK currently. Well, with the exception of Chris Moyles who spends a large amount of his money getting a string session in Abbey Road to help him with his jingles.
There's definitley a lot to learn and many stories surrounding the big jingle companies in the UK and America which tended to be looked at in a dismissive manner when we looked at audio imaging during the Music Radio module last semester. Steve England's jingle seminar at the North West Radio Night last year reflected this and it's a shame that stations nowadays want bland spoken IDs with whooshes and beats that are hardly memorable. This would be a key factor as to why a lot of radio in the UK is bland and uninspiring. I still get more of a buzz now listening to Bruno Brookes counting down the UK Top 40 from 15 years ago as opposed to JK and Joel who do the same job now. Being able to present at a fast pace is something that many people are opposed to in radio and life overall, which is something I've learnt whilst doing the course but can't seem to agree with.
We've got some visitors arrving tomorrow however as mum's sister Alison and her family are coming over for the Easter weekend which I'm looking forward to, I probably won't be eating any chocolate eggs but as long as I've got some jelly filled delights I'll be happy.
On arriving back I managed to find a few DVDs sent to me and one of them was from a jingle colllector from Herts who sent me a behind the scenes look at JAM Creative Productions in Dallas, Texas. Radio always makes more sense to me visually so to see the amount of effort that goes into making jingles was a treat as you can see just how many musicians it takes to make a 20 second top of the hour ID. In this case it was for established news talk station WABC in New York City who have been using JAM jingles for over 30 years as both a music and news talk station with some of the cuts ending up resung for stations around the world including BBC Radio 1.
Of course not everything is done all together as they start off with a rhythm section consisting of a drummer, keyboard player, and a guitar and bass player to lay down the basic track before having sessions with horns, strings, additional percussion and of course the vocals.
They may not be the best looking people playing the instruments but if they can produce a top notch sound then they are doing something right and this is something that is missing in the jingles produced on radio in the UK currently. Well, with the exception of Chris Moyles who spends a large amount of his money getting a string session in Abbey Road to help him with his jingles.
There's definitley a lot to learn and many stories surrounding the big jingle companies in the UK and America which tended to be looked at in a dismissive manner when we looked at audio imaging during the Music Radio module last semester. Steve England's jingle seminar at the North West Radio Night last year reflected this and it's a shame that stations nowadays want bland spoken IDs with whooshes and beats that are hardly memorable. This would be a key factor as to why a lot of radio in the UK is bland and uninspiring. I still get more of a buzz now listening to Bruno Brookes counting down the UK Top 40 from 15 years ago as opposed to JK and Joel who do the same job now. Being able to present at a fast pace is something that many people are opposed to in radio and life overall, which is something I've learnt whilst doing the course but can't seem to agree with.
The Long Good Friday
Dame Misfortune has made a rather unwelcome visit to me this Easter holiday and oh my, there's a lot to get through.
At the end of my last post I said that I'd managed to grab hold of a copy of "Media Events" by Dyan and Katz to take out of the library to help me with my essay this holiday. This was before I actually went downstairs to check it out and the computer said that it was already on loan. Bastard.
Undaunted I met up with Phil at around 10:30pm later on to spin the discs at the Area 51 End of Term Foam Party. Whilst it was an opportunity to DJ at the nightclub on the Harrow Campus I felt a bit down at times becuase Phil seeemed to be having more control over what tunes got played and Decio decided to come on stage and start swearing his head off into the mic at the large crowd; "MAKE SOME FUCKING NOISE!". On the plus side (depending on your point of view) they crowds were so big they had to use the one in one out policy so I was lucky to get in the place at all, and I managed to get £20 from Chris the Bar Manager for doing him a favour.
I planned to leave London pretty early that morning so I didn't get much sleep at all, but this was partly because the fire alarms went off for the upteenth time. I left Northwick Park at around 5:30 am arriving at Victoria station 45 minutes later only to find that their were engineering works going on between Gillingham and Rochester. This meant I had to wait an hour to get a train home which ended up being a journey from Victoria to Stroud, getting a bus replacement service to Gillingham and getting a train back to Canterbury.
Dad was the only one there when I got back and pretty soon after getting up we got to work trying to sort my Windows problem on my laptop which is still prevailing. We're still trying many anti-virus applications to no success so I hope there's light at the end of the tunnel. And to make things even more tangled I'd heard nothing from ASDA regarding work this holiday so I rang them up and asked to be put through to the people manager only to be cut off just 1 second after I asked why I hadn't heard back from them since sending my slip regarding Easter work.
All this between hearing that bloody annoying arrangement of a Mozart piece that I have to endure when being put on hold which sounds like it was done on a Casio.
I'm confident however that there's light at the end of the tunnel even if I have to try very hard to find it.
At the end of my last post I said that I'd managed to grab hold of a copy of "Media Events" by Dyan and Katz to take out of the library to help me with my essay this holiday. This was before I actually went downstairs to check it out and the computer said that it was already on loan. Bastard.
Undaunted I met up with Phil at around 10:30pm later on to spin the discs at the Area 51 End of Term Foam Party. Whilst it was an opportunity to DJ at the nightclub on the Harrow Campus I felt a bit down at times becuase Phil seeemed to be having more control over what tunes got played and Decio decided to come on stage and start swearing his head off into the mic at the large crowd; "MAKE SOME FUCKING NOISE!". On the plus side (depending on your point of view) they crowds were so big they had to use the one in one out policy so I was lucky to get in the place at all, and I managed to get £20 from Chris the Bar Manager for doing him a favour.
I planned to leave London pretty early that morning so I didn't get much sleep at all, but this was partly because the fire alarms went off for the upteenth time. I left Northwick Park at around 5:30 am arriving at Victoria station 45 minutes later only to find that their were engineering works going on between Gillingham and Rochester. This meant I had to wait an hour to get a train home which ended up being a journey from Victoria to Stroud, getting a bus replacement service to Gillingham and getting a train back to Canterbury.
Dad was the only one there when I got back and pretty soon after getting up we got to work trying to sort my Windows problem on my laptop which is still prevailing. We're still trying many anti-virus applications to no success so I hope there's light at the end of the tunnel. And to make things even more tangled I'd heard nothing from ASDA regarding work this holiday so I rang them up and asked to be put through to the people manager only to be cut off just 1 second after I asked why I hadn't heard back from them since sending my slip regarding Easter work.
All this between hearing that bloody annoying arrangement of a Mozart piece that I have to endure when being put on hold which sounds like it was done on a Casio.
I'm confident however that there's light at the end of the tunnel even if I have to try very hard to find it.
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Officially Sprung (Not A Typo!)
It's very lively on the Harrow campus with lots of people outside on the grass in the lovely weather and quite a lot of policemen and women walking about because the Islamic Society are holding a do. After leaving radio mid afternoon I went to try and get some shut eye ahead of tonight but ended up waking two hours later so I decided to go and enjoy the warm conditions. I was soon prompted by Ross G about a few of the radio lot having a few drinks at the Undercroft so I headed over there where there were loads of people and lecturers from various courses having a few end of semester drinks. Even Patrick Stoddart from journalism was there involved with the drinking.
I was lucky enough to have a drink brought for me by one of the MAJI students who I didn't recognise but he obviously knew me and after that I went over to see the BAMS 2 lot from my year with Matthew who chatted about the goings on in York at the SRA conference. Apparently two of the SRA head honchos organised a party in the middle of the night in the accomodation provided by York University and were banging on the doors of the Westminster lot as they knew Pete had brought some speakers with him. Thankfully they managed to get some photographic evidence of the dirty kitchen in case anything serious prevails!
I also found out a bit more about our week of broadcasting in May which currently has the working title of "SOS" standing for "Smoke's Out 4 Summer" which hopefully will become official! Defitnitely a good starting point for a marketing campaign. One of the programmes will be a special edition of the sports show done in Italy where Steve and the team will be following the sports clubs on their special tour and they are very confident about it being a competitor for this year's Student Radio Awards. Fellow presenter Ali who was pulling the pints at the Undies came out and started gloating about finally getting hold of a Marrantz recorder which Matthew wasn't too pleased about having given Steve a large amount of mini discs!
At the moment I'm in the library where I'm planning to print out the track listings of the CDs I've burnt for tonight's set at Area and have managed to get hold of the final copy of Media Events for my essay! I'm hoping I can get my laptop sorted as soon as possible at home so I can make a start on the essay and get the whole thing out of the way. It shouldn't be too gruelling as at least it means I get to watch the BBC's coverage of Live 8 which I'm glad I chose as a case study because a lot of other people are finding it hard getting hold of video footage for their chosen events such as the falling of the Berlin Wall!
I'm aiming to get back to Canterbury as soon as possible tomorrow morning so before I leave the library I'd best check on the train times. There's no better time of year overall.
I was lucky enough to have a drink brought for me by one of the MAJI students who I didn't recognise but he obviously knew me and after that I went over to see the BAMS 2 lot from my year with Matthew who chatted about the goings on in York at the SRA conference. Apparently two of the SRA head honchos organised a party in the middle of the night in the accomodation provided by York University and were banging on the doors of the Westminster lot as they knew Pete had brought some speakers with him. Thankfully they managed to get some photographic evidence of the dirty kitchen in case anything serious prevails!
I also found out a bit more about our week of broadcasting in May which currently has the working title of "SOS" standing for "Smoke's Out 4 Summer" which hopefully will become official! Defitnitely a good starting point for a marketing campaign. One of the programmes will be a special edition of the sports show done in Italy where Steve and the team will be following the sports clubs on their special tour and they are very confident about it being a competitor for this year's Student Radio Awards. Fellow presenter Ali who was pulling the pints at the Undies came out and started gloating about finally getting hold of a Marrantz recorder which Matthew wasn't too pleased about having given Steve a large amount of mini discs!
At the moment I'm in the library where I'm planning to print out the track listings of the CDs I've burnt for tonight's set at Area and have managed to get hold of the final copy of Media Events for my essay! I'm hoping I can get my laptop sorted as soon as possible at home so I can make a start on the essay and get the whole thing out of the way. It shouldn't be too gruelling as at least it means I get to watch the BBC's coverage of Live 8 which I'm glad I chose as a case study because a lot of other people are finding it hard getting hold of video footage for their chosen events such as the falling of the Berlin Wall!
I'm aiming to get back to Canterbury as soon as possible tomorrow morning so before I leave the library I'd best check on the train times. There's no better time of year overall.
No More Web Tangles!
Surprisingly there weren't that many people up in RP1 until around 11am this morning and it's only now that people are coming in to upload their websites. As expected I was first in the queue and have now got my page and audio files all uploaded and working with no major problems.
That and all the other sites can be found at WestminsterRadio.net where more sites are still being added as I'm writing this.
As far as practical radio goes I'm more or less done for the second year apart from the essays and critical report. But like most of the other modules I've done I'm happy with the end result and it shows that you have to go through some rough patches to get good results.
As for tonight I need to get everything sorted to take back with me before heading up to Area to DJ with Phil between 11 and 2am at the Foam Party which I'm really looking forward to even if it means I have to avoid getting covered myself.
On another matter I love it on Youtube when people put little compilations of various short bits found on old VHS's including this offering from 1995. Amongst the titbits here include what I believe is America's Top 10 broadcast throughout the 90s on ITV Nighttime where the voiceover doesn't sound that supportive of the lastest release from Michael Bolton. Funnily enough Chris Chilvers from the first year went to see the man himself at the Royal Albert Hall on the sole reason that he was brought up on the vocalist from an early age after his Auntie used to play it constantly.
There's also a short extract from the YTV children's series "The Riddlers" a serial drama which quite a few people here at Uni remember much to my surprise. The music happened to be composed by Neil Innes who also wrote the legendary theme to "The Raggy Dolls" also produced by Yorkshire Television, as well as performing in the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band.
I'd probably be the equivalent to Sad Sack any day.
That and all the other sites can be found at WestminsterRadio.net where more sites are still being added as I'm writing this.
As far as practical radio goes I'm more or less done for the second year apart from the essays and critical report. But like most of the other modules I've done I'm happy with the end result and it shows that you have to go through some rough patches to get good results.
As for tonight I need to get everything sorted to take back with me before heading up to Area to DJ with Phil between 11 and 2am at the Foam Party which I'm really looking forward to even if it means I have to avoid getting covered myself.
On another matter I love it on Youtube when people put little compilations of various short bits found on old VHS's including this offering from 1995. Amongst the titbits here include what I believe is America's Top 10 broadcast throughout the 90s on ITV Nighttime where the voiceover doesn't sound that supportive of the lastest release from Michael Bolton. Funnily enough Chris Chilvers from the first year went to see the man himself at the Royal Albert Hall on the sole reason that he was brought up on the vocalist from an early age after his Auntie used to play it constantly.
There's also a short extract from the YTV children's series "The Riddlers" a serial drama which quite a few people here at Uni remember much to my surprise. The music happened to be composed by Neil Innes who also wrote the legendary theme to "The Raggy Dolls" also produced by Yorkshire Television, as well as performing in the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band.
I'd probably be the equivalent to Sad Sack any day.
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Foam Opportunity
As expected RP1 has been full of people completing or still working on their webpages and podcasts with tomorrow's deadline fast approaching. With no members of staff present it was up to James to give people a hand with all their problems with Front Page and Photoshop. It got rather busy around mid-evening as the Smoke International team arrived to present their final show for the station. Luckily we managed to get access to Studio 6 to do the show meaning that they could go out in the best way possible which included a nicely put together "chronology" of the show's highlights. It can be downloaded here and I even get a mention halfway through!
Fabian had even brought some wine to celebrate which the team enjoyed whilst I took over afterwards with my slow jam soul special to round off the semester.
It was different than normal playing a more downtempo set of tracks on the show but it went down well with most of the people in RP1 working on their podcasts with Carl from the Gospel Show being very appreciative when I played "People Get Ready" by the Impressions at the end of the show. Hopefully I'll be back to do another two hour special for our live week of broadcasting in May.
I may be staying an extra night here as I've been asked to help DJ at the Foam Party at Area 51 tomorrow night with Phil, because Chris has had to go back home because of his illness. At least it will bring in some extra money and to help out at an important Uni event is definitely something.
Fabian had even brought some wine to celebrate which the team enjoyed whilst I took over afterwards with my slow jam soul special to round off the semester.
It was different than normal playing a more downtempo set of tracks on the show but it went down well with most of the people in RP1 working on their podcasts with Carl from the Gospel Show being very appreciative when I played "People Get Ready" by the Impressions at the end of the show. Hopefully I'll be back to do another two hour special for our live week of broadcasting in May.
I may be staying an extra night here as I've been asked to help DJ at the Foam Party at Area 51 tomorrow night with Phil, because Chris has had to go back home because of his illness. At least it will bring in some extra money and to help out at an important Uni event is definitely something.
Still Number One
Still no success sorting out my laptop as the installed copy of AVG on my external hard drive is refusing to load on the computer itself. That hasn't stopped me from sorting out the playlist for tonights slow jam show which I'm thoroughly looking forward to as it will be the last one for quite a while until the week of broadcasting in May.
As planned I spent last night watching the Top Of The Pops Christmas special from 1997 although judging by the amount of effort put into decorating the studio set you wouldn't notice anything seasonal about it. The traits of the Chris Cowey era of TOTP were evident including a ridiculous gimmick which would have bands performing live in the studio in front of a video wall showing them miming the song against a plain background, facing the camera looking bored. I never realised that this lasted as long as 1997 and this was the era when they dropped all the comedy guest presenters who would bring an irreverent style to the show.
It was rather odd during "Tubthumping" by Chumbawamba when they silenced out the first syllable of the line "pissing the night away" when sung solo but left it in when it was sung along with the main chorus at the end! There was also a few embarrassing live performances from Ultra Nate and Gala who both sounded off key trying to mix their moves with live singing. In the same genre was a special megamix from German producer Sash! comprising of "Encore Un Fois", "Ecuador" which had a guy in jungle uniform similar to the guy from Aqua in the "Doctor Jones" video and "Stay" which wasn't as well remembered; "I had a dream last night".
There was also Texas making their comback with "Say What You Want" and Natalie Imbruglia's "Torn" which for me has to one of the most overplayed songs of that year and reminds me of many taxi journeys from Canterbury to Faversham when I was at secondary school. I could tolerate that however, a lot more than "Never Ever" by the All Saints which I had to fast forward. I've never heard such a depressing pop song.
The number one of the year was Elton John's double A-side for Princess Diana although thankfully they showed a specially filmed live performance of "Something About The Way You Look Tonight" rather than the infamous "Candle In The Wind". And of course the Christmas number 1 was "Too Much" by the Spice Girls when there were all 5 of them and it's not too bad a song. Very slinky stuff.
I reckon I'm going to spend most of tonight after the show sorting out what I want to take back to Canterbury with me tomorrow morning, the most important items being the library books I've borrowed, the VHS's of Live 8 which I really will need for my Media Events essay and my ear pieces which I always forget and end up having to buy a new pair when I get back to Canterbury.
Oh and I need to bring back Mum's digital camera which she lent me for my podcast assignment. It's going to be busy.
As planned I spent last night watching the Top Of The Pops Christmas special from 1997 although judging by the amount of effort put into decorating the studio set you wouldn't notice anything seasonal about it. The traits of the Chris Cowey era of TOTP were evident including a ridiculous gimmick which would have bands performing live in the studio in front of a video wall showing them miming the song against a plain background, facing the camera looking bored. I never realised that this lasted as long as 1997 and this was the era when they dropped all the comedy guest presenters who would bring an irreverent style to the show.
It was rather odd during "Tubthumping" by Chumbawamba when they silenced out the first syllable of the line "pissing the night away" when sung solo but left it in when it was sung along with the main chorus at the end! There was also a few embarrassing live performances from Ultra Nate and Gala who both sounded off key trying to mix their moves with live singing. In the same genre was a special megamix from German producer Sash! comprising of "Encore Un Fois", "Ecuador" which had a guy in jungle uniform similar to the guy from Aqua in the "Doctor Jones" video and "Stay" which wasn't as well remembered; "I had a dream last night".
There was also Texas making their comback with "Say What You Want" and Natalie Imbruglia's "Torn" which for me has to one of the most overplayed songs of that year and reminds me of many taxi journeys from Canterbury to Faversham when I was at secondary school. I could tolerate that however, a lot more than "Never Ever" by the All Saints which I had to fast forward. I've never heard such a depressing pop song.
The number one of the year was Elton John's double A-side for Princess Diana although thankfully they showed a specially filmed live performance of "Something About The Way You Look Tonight" rather than the infamous "Candle In The Wind". And of course the Christmas number 1 was "Too Much" by the Spice Girls when there were all 5 of them and it's not too bad a song. Very slinky stuff.
I reckon I'm going to spend most of tonight after the show sorting out what I want to take back to Canterbury with me tomorrow morning, the most important items being the library books I've borrowed, the VHS's of Live 8 which I really will need for my Media Events essay and my ear pieces which I always forget and end up having to buy a new pair when I get back to Canterbury.
Oh and I need to bring back Mum's digital camera which she lent me for my podcast assignment. It's going to be busy.
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Below Zero
The radio editing room has been freezing once again to the point I've had to go back to the flat and get a sweatshirt. Aside that it's not been too eventful, I've just made minor changes to the website and the room has been rammed with people from my year editing their podcasts. Some still have interviews to get done tomorrow but from what I've heard I think we're going to have an interesting set of podcasts at the end of the module.
I had a bit of an accident knocking one of the radiators over in RP1 as it was hanging from a couple of loose screws on the wall and I leant on it a bit too close. Luckily I switched it off before hanging it back up, so no damage was done but it's still been pretty chilly.
Tommorrow's going to be insane as a lot of people will be here getting their web pages and podcasts completed and the Smoke International team will be here to do their final show. I'll need to do my very best to make sure Studio 6 is available especially as all of the team members will be here for the send off. If we had the budget I'd even pay for Ashlee to be flown over as she made a great contribution and added fun to the programme whilst she was here and to University life overall!
With no success with putting the anti-virus tool on my laptop I will spend tonight enduring a delicious lamb stew with pasta and watching the Krypton Factor from Ftn last Sunday and the TOTP 1997 Christmas special transmitted on BBC Four a few weeks ago! Around this time the show didn't even have a theme tune as Chris Cowey had taken over as the producer and "wanted the music to speak for itself". However a few months into 1998 they'd brought back the Led Zeppelin "Whole Lotta Love" theme remixed, and this for me was when the show started it's long way downhill, trying to be trendy despite being broadcast at least five days after the chart was revealed.
This certainly came to mind when CD:UK started on ITV in the same year and it made me realise how live studio based music shows should be produced with TOTP trying badly to follow them in subsequent years. However both shows have now disapeared from our screens although in the case of Top Of The Pops much later than they should have done.
Expect the next blog post to contain a detailed analysis on some of the bands performing on that editon!
I had a bit of an accident knocking one of the radiators over in RP1 as it was hanging from a couple of loose screws on the wall and I leant on it a bit too close. Luckily I switched it off before hanging it back up, so no damage was done but it's still been pretty chilly.
Tommorrow's going to be insane as a lot of people will be here getting their web pages and podcasts completed and the Smoke International team will be here to do their final show. I'll need to do my very best to make sure Studio 6 is available especially as all of the team members will be here for the send off. If we had the budget I'd even pay for Ashlee to be flown over as she made a great contribution and added fun to the programme whilst she was here and to University life overall!
With no success with putting the anti-virus tool on my laptop I will spend tonight enduring a delicious lamb stew with pasta and watching the Krypton Factor from Ftn last Sunday and the TOTP 1997 Christmas special transmitted on BBC Four a few weeks ago! Around this time the show didn't even have a theme tune as Chris Cowey had taken over as the producer and "wanted the music to speak for itself". However a few months into 1998 they'd brought back the Led Zeppelin "Whole Lotta Love" theme remixed, and this for me was when the show started it's long way downhill, trying to be trendy despite being broadcast at least five days after the chart was revealed.
This certainly came to mind when CD:UK started on ITV in the same year and it made me realise how live studio based music shows should be produced with TOTP trying badly to follow them in subsequent years. However both shows have now disapeared from our screens although in the case of Top Of The Pops much later than they should have done.
Expect the next blog post to contain a detailed analysis on some of the bands performing on that editon!
The Longest Set
The toe is feeling better than it did yesterday, in fact the lump had almost disapeared by last night but I'm still trying to keep it clean to prevent any further pain. The Smoke night at the Undercroft was probably the first one where there weren't that many station staff around but this didn't mean that the bar wasn't rammed. I ended up doing my two hour set for an extra 10 minutes when Joe who meant to follow me needed a drink and a smoke after he arrived their but luckily I had the perfect track to cover; the extended version of "Time" by Light Of The World funnily enough.
I didn't have much to drink last night apart from a couple of VKs and an apple shot but this didn't matter as because Chris not feeling too well didn't want to do his whole two hour slot until closing time, I was asked to take control of the CD decks for the final hour playing the usual spiel of cheese.
This was really great fun actually DJing but with the dancefloor rammed where I the usual selection of tracks such as MC Hammer, "Living On A Prayer" and a few of my own choices that went down well such as "Sweet Child Of Mine" by Guns 'N' Roses, Back To Life by "Soul II Soul" and Jive Bunny's "Swing The Mood" which I was really impressed with the response. All of them rather conincidentally came out in 1989 funnily enough.
I was going to finish off with "Killing In The Name Of" by Rage Against the Machine but after bar manager Chris said "make the last one a good one" I decided to go with "Are You Ready For Love" by Elton John who's just turning 60 years old.
I got a few people asking me for requests, most of which I managed to satisfy although I tried to avoid playing too much R'n'B as we'd had quite a lot of it earlier in the night!
However overall it was great fun and on the final Monday night of the semester as well.
Today's probably going to be rather quieter just making changes to my website which is just about ready for submition.
Then again having a laptop that's forgot it's got a soundcard and internet means I will probably spending longer in Uni than usual.
I didn't have much to drink last night apart from a couple of VKs and an apple shot but this didn't matter as because Chris not feeling too well didn't want to do his whole two hour slot until closing time, I was asked to take control of the CD decks for the final hour playing the usual spiel of cheese.
This was really great fun actually DJing but with the dancefloor rammed where I the usual selection of tracks such as MC Hammer, "Living On A Prayer" and a few of my own choices that went down well such as "Sweet Child Of Mine" by Guns 'N' Roses, Back To Life by "Soul II Soul" and Jive Bunny's "Swing The Mood" which I was really impressed with the response. All of them rather conincidentally came out in 1989 funnily enough.
I was going to finish off with "Killing In The Name Of" by Rage Against the Machine but after bar manager Chris said "make the last one a good one" I decided to go with "Are You Ready For Love" by Elton John who's just turning 60 years old.
I got a few people asking me for requests, most of which I managed to satisfy although I tried to avoid playing too much R'n'B as we'd had quite a lot of it earlier in the night!
However overall it was great fun and on the final Monday night of the semester as well.
Today's probably going to be rather quieter just making changes to my website which is just about ready for submition.
Then again having a laptop that's forgot it's got a soundcard and internet means I will probably spending longer in Uni than usual.
Monday, April 02, 2007
Untangling My Web Page
I gave in this morning and attended the final Media Technology lecture and seminar which wasn't too bad, we were looking at the mobility of media products and how consumers are being told when they should upgrade to products such as HD-TV.
The rest of the day I've been up in RP1 making changes to my website which I've just updated and uploaded here. The room is pretty rammed at the moment and looks set to be this way until Thursday as deadlines get tighter. However I've got everything sorted and all the music lined up for my two hour set at the Undercroft which I expect will get a good turnout after I've finished.
My toe is getting better although the TCP has made it sting in an irritating way and I've been advised Dad to undergo a virus scan using AVG on my laptop. Overall though it would be nice to find a virus scanner that would just do it's job properly and remove virus rather than let them prevail. I'll give this scan a go when I get a bit of spare time in the next couple of days but I'll need to find Microlink and give them a ring just to make sure that I'm doing what I'm doing correctly.
As soon as this is sorted I will ask Tim in radio for that copy of Norton Anti Virus which could have saved me a lot of bob earlier this semester.
The rest of the day I've been up in RP1 making changes to my website which I've just updated and uploaded here. The room is pretty rammed at the moment and looks set to be this way until Thursday as deadlines get tighter. However I've got everything sorted and all the music lined up for my two hour set at the Undercroft which I expect will get a good turnout after I've finished.
My toe is getting better although the TCP has made it sting in an irritating way and I've been advised Dad to undergo a virus scan using AVG on my laptop. Overall though it would be nice to find a virus scanner that would just do it's job properly and remove virus rather than let them prevail. I'll give this scan a go when I get a bit of spare time in the next couple of days but I'll need to find Microlink and give them a ring just to make sure that I'm doing what I'm doing correctly.
As soon as this is sorted I will ask Tim in radio for that copy of Norton Anti Virus which could have saved me a lot of bob earlier this semester.
It All Ends In Tears...
Things are going from bad to worse, I've hardly been able to get any sleep due to my toe infection which means that as soon as Sainsbury's opens I'm straight down there to buy some TCP.
However my laptop is playing games with me now as Windows has reset itself to not recognising my soundcard or internet connection which is really helpful. This happened after I restarted the computer after a virus scan which it's obviously done a very good job of, and the display settings have reset to using a Windows 95 style display with no start menu at the bottom of the screen.
The solution to this debacle would be to re-install Windows, but the CD I have is back home in Canterbury and I may need to check with Microlink before taking any action. One thing I'll definitely prioritise is backing my material on the main hard drives onto DVD-R although I have to wait until I get back to Canterbury for that as well because my external DVD drive is there too. Luckily Windows doesn't any problems recognising USB applications at this time.
I'd best make it the priority to get the website done ASAP but there's the show to do on Wednesday so I can't exactly head back to Canterbury at lightning speed. And I will do all I can to get a refund from this so called anti virus software.
However my laptop is playing games with me now as Windows has reset itself to not recognising my soundcard or internet connection which is really helpful. This happened after I restarted the computer after a virus scan which it's obviously done a very good job of, and the display settings have reset to using a Windows 95 style display with no start menu at the bottom of the screen.
The solution to this debacle would be to re-install Windows, but the CD I have is back home in Canterbury and I may need to check with Microlink before taking any action. One thing I'll definitely prioritise is backing my material on the main hard drives onto DVD-R although I have to wait until I get back to Canterbury for that as well because my external DVD drive is there too. Luckily Windows doesn't any problems recognising USB applications at this time.
I'd best make it the priority to get the website done ASAP but there's the show to do on Wednesday so I can't exactly head back to Canterbury at lightning speed. And I will do all I can to get a refund from this so called anti virus software.
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Still Swollen
My foot is barely getting better at all, in fact it's even more painful. I may make a return visit into Harrow tomorrow morning to buy some TCP after Mum reccomended buying it and I may also buy some cotton wool as well.
I'm wondering if it's even worth going into Media Technology tomorrow morning as there have barely been any people attending the lectures and I know roughly what I want to do my essay on.
I'd say that as far as optional modules go, this was a disapointing mistake as it's one of the most monotonous modules I've done on any course I've taken.
All is not at loss however as the website and podcast assignment is near to being completed so I reckon I'll spend the afternoon working on the banner to put at the front of the page and adding a few pictures in. Provided I don't get distracted by the many people occupying RP1.
I'm wondering if it's even worth going into Media Technology tomorrow morning as there have barely been any people attending the lectures and I know roughly what I want to do my essay on.
I'd say that as far as optional modules go, this was a disapointing mistake as it's one of the most monotonous modules I've done on any course I've taken.
All is not at loss however as the website and podcast assignment is near to being completed so I reckon I'll spend the afternoon working on the banner to put at the front of the page and adding a few pictures in. Provided I don't get distracted by the many people occupying RP1.
Unable To Walk
Alright, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration but I've had an irritating infected toe for most of this week that really got me yesterday when I kept waking up throughout the night.
At my wits end I went into Superdrug in Harrow and brought an Athlete's Foot spray which hopefully will reduce any further pain which will prevent me from doing my usual fare at the Undercroft tomorrow night. It doesn't half sting though.
Another day in radio was the case for today where quite a lot of people were present completing their websites. Kelly, and Phil Landers from the first year were tempted to ring Chris who's organising the Smoke Undercroft night tomorrow asking if they could do a DJ set but Chris refused thinking they were taking the mickey! However I'm not sure if he'll turn up either as he's been suffering from tonsilitis the poor man. On the plus side I've been asked to do a two hour set from 8 tomorrow night so I'll need to buy some CD-Rs after the dreaded Media Technology lecture tomorrow morning. As far as I'm concerned I just want to propose my essay title and then piss off as that's been one of the most disapointing modules I've chosen this year.
Carl arrived to do his final Gospel show for the semester which really "uplifted" those in RP1 with some really cool gospel tracks for the lovely weather outside. I've been asked to give him a hand with a presentation on contemporary gospel music by showing him the ropes on Cool Edit Pro tomorrow so it looks set to be a very busy day.
As I write this post it's just gorgeous with people in the green grass outside halls playing football and relaxing. It's especially during these warm months that it feels so good to live in halls.
Following the 1988 special from a couple of days ago, I discovered a few screen grabs of the first edition of The Chart Show from January 1989 posted by James on Digital Spy which he's kindly let me post on this blog.
Notice the slight change of design for the mock VCR display in the same show! You can't beat the LCD font.
And the programme was notable for their number one being different to the official number on many occasions and the first show happened to be no exception.
Then again in all fairness the official number one was Kylie and Jason's "Especially for You"
One of the tracks from the Crackers International EP, "Stop" was covered by Aussie ABBA tribute band "Bjorn Again" in 1992 along with "A Little Respect" as a response to Erasure's ABBA-esque EP which officially topped the charts earlier in the year. I still prefer their version of "Take A Chance" to the original any day.
At my wits end I went into Superdrug in Harrow and brought an Athlete's Foot spray which hopefully will reduce any further pain which will prevent me from doing my usual fare at the Undercroft tomorrow night. It doesn't half sting though.
Another day in radio was the case for today where quite a lot of people were present completing their websites. Kelly, and Phil Landers from the first year were tempted to ring Chris who's organising the Smoke Undercroft night tomorrow asking if they could do a DJ set but Chris refused thinking they were taking the mickey! However I'm not sure if he'll turn up either as he's been suffering from tonsilitis the poor man. On the plus side I've been asked to do a two hour set from 8 tomorrow night so I'll need to buy some CD-Rs after the dreaded Media Technology lecture tomorrow morning. As far as I'm concerned I just want to propose my essay title and then piss off as that's been one of the most disapointing modules I've chosen this year.
Carl arrived to do his final Gospel show for the semester which really "uplifted" those in RP1 with some really cool gospel tracks for the lovely weather outside. I've been asked to give him a hand with a presentation on contemporary gospel music by showing him the ropes on Cool Edit Pro tomorrow so it looks set to be a very busy day.
As I write this post it's just gorgeous with people in the green grass outside halls playing football and relaxing. It's especially during these warm months that it feels so good to live in halls.
Following the 1988 special from a couple of days ago, I discovered a few screen grabs of the first edition of The Chart Show from January 1989 posted by James on Digital Spy which he's kindly let me post on this blog.
Notice the slight change of design for the mock VCR display in the same show! You can't beat the LCD font.
And the programme was notable for their number one being different to the official number on many occasions and the first show happened to be no exception.
Then again in all fairness the official number one was Kylie and Jason's "Especially for You"
One of the tracks from the Crackers International EP, "Stop" was covered by Aussie ABBA tribute band "Bjorn Again" in 1992 along with "A Little Respect" as a response to Erasure's ABBA-esque EP which officially topped the charts earlier in the year. I still prefer their version of "Take A Chance" to the original any day.
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