Three years after accidentally referring to Gordon Brown becoming Prime Minister on Question Time it appears Harriet Harman has now ended up as the deputy leader of the Labour Party.
It's interesting to see how these sort of things devlelop over a period of time in actually becoming reality but for me it's humour overall that allows me to have a better understanding of what's happening.
I'm now at the final week of the first semester in listening back to the audio from the last year and more specifically our attempt at a magazine show "The Weekend Treatment".
I'm finding it difficult not to laugh at certain parts such as The Health Hazard inserts, and Josie at times sounding very similar to Roland Rat! At the time though it was pretty stressfull with not everyone being on the same wavelength which is a vital element of making great radio.
I actually preferred the other groups effort which was a what's on entertainment programme to be broadcast on BBC London 94.9 although most members of that group were all in the same boat.
Around this time most of the other shows on Smoke were in full Xmas flow with
Smoke International being a prime example. You can see some of the antics they got up to here and here where for the second year running they fully decorated the studio with the appropriate trimmings!
However whilst most of us got caught up in the "end of term atmosphere" Fabian did start to get a bit intimidated with the mucking about during the show itself leaving him feeling rather unsure about whether to continue with the show in the second semester, especially with the dissertation being a priority.
They did eventually make a return about a month into the second semester although they made quite a lot of changes including the removal of features such as "The World Quiz" which tended to take up at least half of the show.
From Fabian's point of view it also meant new jingles so out went the really nice slick sounding ones with Hetal's voice and in came rather rushed idents such as this.
On the positive side it was good they had people like Lucy, an Australian journalism student on hand who can be seen with Fabian in the second clip above.
Her pleasantness and positive attitude helped to keep the show going and become the longest running to date on Smoke Radio.
The Shuffle boys who followed immediately after the International team on air took a slightly deadpan approach for their final show of the semester by playing a selection of songs related to all the themes they had covered throughout the year such as Ego, Animals and Intros.
One of which they decided to end the show on and one of the best ways to end a radio show in my opinion, a hardcore band called Converge with "Heartache".
Like Napalm Death but with more amplitude.
My final show of the year was another two hour show for the second week running looking at the "Positive Picks of 2006". Which reminds me what on earth am I going to use for the name of my final show of 2007? I guess I may take the predictable route once again.
My aural journey now appears to be nearing the turn of the year and the rather uneasy period known as Refreshers Week. Expect a rant about that and my oversized tounge in a later post.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
"You What?, You What?"
1Xtra's basement this weekend saw a very special guest choosing the music in the form of Tony Blackburn. Along with presenter Ronnie Herel they took a look back through the decades of the broadcaster and the musical highlights from various periods. Some of the tracks in the first hour were rather obvious such as "Respect" by Aretha and "He's The Greatest Dancer" by Sister Sledge but towards the end there were some crackers including "Tell Me Why" by Bobby Womack, The Fatback Band's "I Found Lovin" and one that I haven't heard until now which almost had the hairs on my legs standing up; Jennifer Hudson with "And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going".
The show overall reinforced why I love the music and radio overall, and Tony mentioned that whilst there were other top soul DJs like Robbie Vincent, they had an "underground approach" and Tony aimed and succeeded in bringing soul music to a bigger audience with his accessible presenting style, if at times a bit too in love with himself but I'm sure that's part of the act!
Listening to some of the choices made me realise that I haven't even played them on my own show so I reckon it's saved a bit of time next year as far as playlists go.
The show overall reinforced why I love the music and radio overall, and Tony mentioned that whilst there were other top soul DJs like Robbie Vincent, they had an "underground approach" and Tony aimed and succeeded in bringing soul music to a bigger audience with his accessible presenting style, if at times a bit too in love with himself but I'm sure that's part of the act!
Listening to some of the choices made me realise that I haven't even played them on my own show so I reckon it's saved a bit of time next year as far as playlists go.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Brent Crossed
It may be nearing the end of June but I'm still in December and my time helping out with the goings on at BXFM. Most of my shows were done with a girl called Heena who worked at Levis in Brent Cross and on listening back to the shows I find myself thinking "FFS why don't you let Heena speak?!". By our final show however I reckon it became a bit more relaxed and I'll definitely say that the atmosphere was very lively throughout.
I've found Heena and a few other station members on Facebook including Phil who did the show before mine on the station with a lovely New Zealander called Kimberley.
If I get a bit of spare time over Xmas with the assignments handed in I'd love to lend a hand again this year.
I seemed to be the only one from those at Westminster who enjoyed helping out at the station last year although that's probably because I was lucky enough to be given a full presenting role rather than just reading the news or traffic updates.
Actually I wouldn't mind having a go a doing a bulletin or two on Smoke during Freshers
in September so I may get onto Stevie about that nearer the time.
I've found Heena and a few other station members on Facebook including Phil who did the show before mine on the station with a lovely New Zealander called Kimberley.
If I get a bit of spare time over Xmas with the assignments handed in I'd love to lend a hand again this year.
I seemed to be the only one from those at Westminster who enjoyed helping out at the station last year although that's probably because I was lucky enough to be given a full presenting role rather than just reading the news or traffic updates.
Actually I wouldn't mind having a go a doing a bulletin or two on Smoke during Freshers
in September so I may get onto Stevie about that nearer the time.
The Not So Great Outdoors
I spent the latter part of the afternoon having a gander at Glastonbury, nothing too special as expected. Despite an overdose of Paulo Nutini towards the end there were one or two stand out moments such as Lily Allen giving her take on "Heart Of Glass" and teaming up with Terry Hall for rendition of the Specials classic "Gangsters". Also on offer was a nice little offering from jazz saxophonist Soweto Kinch and a pregnant Lauren Laverne holding it all together.
To be honest though, most of the rock/indie based acts didn't sound too different on stage as they do on the records which is one of the main reasons why I'd be lesser enthusiastic to go to a festival of this sort. However I may make an exception in 2008 if Michael and Emily decide to stage the event for a second consecutive year as it would be a perfect way to finish my time at University.
Doctor Who was on top form tonight where we managed to find out that the main character doesn't even recognise his own theme tune. Dad even thought that the headquarters in the sky near the end of the episode looked very similar to that of Captain Scarlet.
Now there's another example of a series revival that failed due to poor scheduling. In this case a CGI remake of Captain Scarlet that was hyped to an extent and they ended up inserting it within the ITV Saturday morning show MOM. I'm sure they even rang up a Chinese takeway which went by the name of "Mr Ron".
To be honest though, most of the rock/indie based acts didn't sound too different on stage as they do on the records which is one of the main reasons why I'd be lesser enthusiastic to go to a festival of this sort. However I may make an exception in 2008 if Michael and Emily decide to stage the event for a second consecutive year as it would be a perfect way to finish my time at University.
Doctor Who was on top form tonight where we managed to find out that the main character doesn't even recognise his own theme tune. Dad even thought that the headquarters in the sky near the end of the episode looked very similar to that of Captain Scarlet.
Now there's another example of a series revival that failed due to poor scheduling. In this case a CGI remake of Captain Scarlet that was hyped to an extent and they ended up inserting it within the ITV Saturday morning show MOM. I'm sure they even rang up a Chinese takeway which went by the name of "Mr Ron".
"Twisting My Melons"
It's been a rather downbeat week in one way or other. With the death of Bernard Manning and the Vault dropping the classic countdowns from their schedules I should be feeling deflated but I'm still rather content with things for some bizarre reason.
This may be partly because one of the guests on Mark Lamarr covering for Jonathan Ross on Radio 2 this morning was none other than Shaun Ryder. A man who has been compared many times to Bernard Manning although today he made quite an effort to make sure that any four letter words didn't slip out of his mouth. They played a couple of tracks from the band's latest album "Unkle Dysfunktional" which weren't too bad to be honest although I was even more impressed by a soulful cover of "With A Little Help From My Friends" by Betty Lavette which Mark played and him and Jo Brand were arguing about Russell Brand covering "When I'm Sixty Four" on the recent remake of the Sgt Pepper's Album.
On a similar note I've been asked by Dad about going to "Lounge On The Farm" a festival taking place not too far from here where bands such as Alabama 3, The Bees and The Super Furry Animals will be performing. Definitely a thought as long as it doesn't break the bank to a large extent.
This may be partly because one of the guests on Mark Lamarr covering for Jonathan Ross on Radio 2 this morning was none other than Shaun Ryder. A man who has been compared many times to Bernard Manning although today he made quite an effort to make sure that any four letter words didn't slip out of his mouth. They played a couple of tracks from the band's latest album "Unkle Dysfunktional" which weren't too bad to be honest although I was even more impressed by a soulful cover of "With A Little Help From My Friends" by Betty Lavette which Mark played and him and Jo Brand were arguing about Russell Brand covering "When I'm Sixty Four" on the recent remake of the Sgt Pepper's Album.
On a similar note I've been asked by Dad about going to "Lounge On The Farm" a festival taking place not too far from here where bands such as Alabama 3, The Bees and The Super Furry Animals will be performing. Definitely a thought as long as it doesn't break the bank to a large extent.
Friday, June 22, 2007
Avoiding The Mudbaths
So Glastonbury has kicked off with a rather big line up although if I'm being perfectly honest, there aren't any acts that would make me think "wow they're performing".
However I was interested to see one of our own Westminster success stories Uncle Buck on the billing who have a slot tonight at the East Dance Stage.
They're a duo made up of two commercial music students Seb and Alex, who have just completed their final year and used to live with the famous Joey Haddow.
Their presence on campus this year has been pretty quiet however although I'm not surprised considering the lack of support that the UWSU gave them. You'd think that after the success of the Fono end of termer in April last year that they would give the boys a night for Freshers but no, they apparently "forgot".
But anyway that's behind them now and the duo seem to be travelling all over the world with their blending of dance and indie-rock.
I'm really hoping that the Undercroft and Area get their act together this year as last year's promotions and events (with the exception of a few radio related record breakers) were disastrous. But at the end of the day I'm more or less happy with the surroundings and at least Monday nights are covered.
However I was interested to see one of our own Westminster success stories Uncle Buck on the billing who have a slot tonight at the East Dance Stage.
They're a duo made up of two commercial music students Seb and Alex, who have just completed their final year and used to live with the famous Joey Haddow.
Their presence on campus this year has been pretty quiet however although I'm not surprised considering the lack of support that the UWSU gave them. You'd think that after the success of the Fono end of termer in April last year that they would give the boys a night for Freshers but no, they apparently "forgot".
But anyway that's behind them now and the duo seem to be travelling all over the world with their blending of dance and indie-rock.
I'm really hoping that the Undercroft and Area get their act together this year as last year's promotions and events (with the exception of a few radio related record breakers) were disastrous. But at the end of the day I'm more or less happy with the surroundings and at least Monday nights are covered.
Virtual Throwback
I've just had a pop over to the Digital Spy forums and it appears the rumours have been confirmed. A message from Matt at the Vault has said that the channel will no longer be showing the classic countdowns of yesteryear on the channel which makes me feel a bit happier about not sloshing a large amount of cash on a Sky Digibox.
It's not all doom and gloom as James2001 has uploaded another vintage episode onto Youtube which will end up in my archive, this time from January 1996. The opening titles from this period have to be my favourite from the 91-96 era, set in a city made up of musical instruments and I particuarly like the self playing piano towards the end!
And the logo finally smashes to pieces as well in the traditional style!
Around this time we'd only just brought a VCR for our house although I never started recording episodes of the show until April when Live and Kicking came to an end for the summer. Quite lucky as well as there were only about two or three episodes shown before the big relaunch for the show's 10th anniversary. I'm rather gutted that I was careless enough to tape over all those episodes but you live and learn. Although as an aside it's hard to believe they were still using the Amiga point and click display as late as 1996.
This reminds me of when my elder cousins used to own an Atari ST which had some addictive games such as "Fantasy World Dizzy" where you played the role of an egg who had to collect coins in order to rescue his girlfirend Daisy. There was also James Pond which I've probably got on either my SNES or Mega Drive emulator which involved an underwater detective who could get harmed by just touching a starfish.
And those who say playing video games doesn't stimulate the mind, think on. I managed to grasp the rules of tennis by playing Pete Sampras Tennis on the Mega Drive.
I doubt it will convert me to watching the goings on at Mumbledon which begin on Monday.
It's not all doom and gloom as James2001 has uploaded another vintage episode onto Youtube which will end up in my archive, this time from January 1996. The opening titles from this period have to be my favourite from the 91-96 era, set in a city made up of musical instruments and I particuarly like the self playing piano towards the end!
And the logo finally smashes to pieces as well in the traditional style!
Around this time we'd only just brought a VCR for our house although I never started recording episodes of the show until April when Live and Kicking came to an end for the summer. Quite lucky as well as there were only about two or three episodes shown before the big relaunch for the show's 10th anniversary. I'm rather gutted that I was careless enough to tape over all those episodes but you live and learn. Although as an aside it's hard to believe they were still using the Amiga point and click display as late as 1996.
This reminds me of when my elder cousins used to own an Atari ST which had some addictive games such as "Fantasy World Dizzy" where you played the role of an egg who had to collect coins in order to rescue his girlfirend Daisy. There was also James Pond which I've probably got on either my SNES or Mega Drive emulator which involved an underwater detective who could get harmed by just touching a starfish.
And those who say playing video games doesn't stimulate the mind, think on. I managed to grasp the rules of tennis by playing Pete Sampras Tennis on the Mega Drive.
I doubt it will convert me to watching the goings on at Mumbledon which begin on Monday.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
A Chilled Tangent
Another of the finest arrivals to our station came in December when the Dry Ice girls made their debut. I've just had a listen back to their first show and in this weather with the sun setting it's just perfect accompaniment. Some of the tracks used in the first show included "Think Twice" by Ralph Myers, a lesser known tune from Groove Armada called "Little By Little" and the 4hero classic "Les Fleur".
This was definitely one of the shows that progressed throughout the year with Emma and Phoebe gaining more confidence and providing something which definitley stood out on the station.
For the first few months they were also joined by "token northener" Jenny who had a voice very similar to that of Liz Kershaw.
However she headed back home to Doncaster halfway through the year and it more or less became a dual presented show which ideally should be the maximum amount of voices on a radio show focusing on a particular genre of music.
The girls had a habit of taking photos of their studio antics while the records were playing and took a rather unpleasant looking one of me off guard. Thankfully it hasn't been uploaded for everyone else to see. I'm hoping to hear more from them come Autumn which is always my least favourite time of year for any reason.
This was definitely one of the shows that progressed throughout the year with Emma and Phoebe gaining more confidence and providing something which definitley stood out on the station.
For the first few months they were also joined by "token northener" Jenny who had a voice very similar to that of Liz Kershaw.
However she headed back home to Doncaster halfway through the year and it more or less became a dual presented show which ideally should be the maximum amount of voices on a radio show focusing on a particular genre of music.
The girls had a habit of taking photos of their studio antics while the records were playing and took a rather unpleasant looking one of me off guard. Thankfully it hasn't been uploaded for everyone else to see. I'm hoping to hear more from them come Autumn which is always my least favourite time of year for any reason.
Polite Table Manners
I managed to find an article from yesterdays Independent by comedian Alexei Sayle and his take on the recent death of Bernard Manning. It suggested that one of the faliures of comedians of Bernard's league was that they weren't cultured enough and how those of Alexei's generation had interests in literature, art galleries and so on.
Just over 10 years ago BBC 2 had a night of programmes celebrating the 30th anniversary of Star Trek and it featured a sketch in which Sayle appeared with the real Lt Worf from TNG and told him that he looked like he "dipped his head in a bucket of shit".
That resulted in me being unable to stop laughing for about half an hour as I wasn't used to hearing that word on television and was at an age when any swearword was funny.
On a similar note I managed to find an interview with Bernard Manning from Mark Lamarr's 2000 series "Lamarr's Attacks" focusing mainly on the subject of rudeness. I seem to remember them almost having to re-record the interview because of Bernard's colourful mouth.
Just over 10 years ago BBC 2 had a night of programmes celebrating the 30th anniversary of Star Trek and it featured a sketch in which Sayle appeared with the real Lt Worf from TNG and told him that he looked like he "dipped his head in a bucket of shit".
That resulted in me being unable to stop laughing for about half an hour as I wasn't used to hearing that word on television and was at an age when any swearword was funny.
On a similar note I managed to find an interview with Bernard Manning from Mark Lamarr's 2000 series "Lamarr's Attacks" focusing mainly on the subject of rudeness. I seem to remember them almost having to re-record the interview because of Bernard's colourful mouth.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Enjoyed And More Than Tolerated
To be honest it could have done without the mildly amusing inserts from Alan Yentob but tonight's selection of highlights from Simon Amstell's tenure on Buzzcocks really was one of the funniest things I've seen on television this year. Just Simon's face is enough to raise a smile which to be honest was the only amusing part of the interview with the ex BBC 1 controller.
They definitely dug out the most memorable highlights including Amy Winehouse spitting, John Barrowman "outgaying" Amstell, Bill Oddie showing off his knowledge on female performers and Donny Tourette lighting up in the studio which produced one of my favourite reactions from the host;
"A cigarette! That you can legally buy in shops! I would carry on but I'm shocked and appalled!"
I would have prefered it if they didn't cut the clip of Amy Winehouse wanting the Next Lines round to continue after the time had ran out which resulted in this exchange between Amstell and team captain Bill Bailey:
SA: "They told you don't you ever come around here..."
BB: "Because you're a registered sex offender"
Overall however, this proved funnier than a middle aged man from Swindon wishing death threats on Chris Moyles, Phil Collins and so on.
They definitely dug out the most memorable highlights including Amy Winehouse spitting, John Barrowman "outgaying" Amstell, Bill Oddie showing off his knowledge on female performers and Donny Tourette lighting up in the studio which produced one of my favourite reactions from the host;
"A cigarette! That you can legally buy in shops! I would carry on but I'm shocked and appalled!"
I would have prefered it if they didn't cut the clip of Amy Winehouse wanting the Next Lines round to continue after the time had ran out which resulted in this exchange between Amstell and team captain Bill Bailey:
SA: "They told you don't you ever come around here..."
BB: "Because you're a registered sex offender"
Overall however, this proved funnier than a middle aged man from Swindon wishing death threats on Chris Moyles, Phil Collins and so on.
Seasonal In June
With all these dubbed episodes of classic children's series being posted endlessly on Youtube, I thought it would be apropriate to shed light on an original episode of Postman Pat which has been used by several individuals in making their own rather crude versions.
I can remember this one specifically for the song towards the end about the delights of the "vaaalley" showcasing Ken Barrie's versatility as a performer shown in the original series with him providing all the voices.
Nowadays he's a sessions vocalist and was once used to resing a few Sinatra sounding PAMS jingles for the Saga Radio network which were used until they re-branded to Smooth Radio a few months ago.
In my aural journey I'm now approaching December where things got more than a little seasonal. In particular, Martin on the Pits was even playing his wide collection of Xmas tunes as early as late November and even got the opportunity to take spend a whole afternoon on Smoke Radio playing his festive choices when there were several spaces left in the schedule with deadlines approaching.
These included almost anything from a trip hop cover of Lou Rawls' "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" to a ska version of "Silent Night".
All this from someone who was born on the day itself giving any excuse to play that song by St Etienne.
I can remember being very occupied throughout the month balancing both the Magazine module and broadcasting to the shoppers at Brent Cross whilst still finding time to continue my usual shows on Smoke at the same time and attend a few Xmas dos.
With the advanced radio feature apparently due in pretty early in the final week of the semester I'm going to make sure that this year is a similar story.
I can remember this one specifically for the song towards the end about the delights of the "vaaalley" showcasing Ken Barrie's versatility as a performer shown in the original series with him providing all the voices.
Nowadays he's a sessions vocalist and was once used to resing a few Sinatra sounding PAMS jingles for the Saga Radio network which were used until they re-branded to Smooth Radio a few months ago.
In my aural journey I'm now approaching December where things got more than a little seasonal. In particular, Martin on the Pits was even playing his wide collection of Xmas tunes as early as late November and even got the opportunity to take spend a whole afternoon on Smoke Radio playing his festive choices when there were several spaces left in the schedule with deadlines approaching.
These included almost anything from a trip hop cover of Lou Rawls' "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" to a ska version of "Silent Night".
All this from someone who was born on the day itself giving any excuse to play that song by St Etienne.
I can remember being very occupied throughout the month balancing both the Magazine module and broadcasting to the shoppers at Brent Cross whilst still finding time to continue my usual shows on Smoke at the same time and attend a few Xmas dos.
With the advanced radio feature apparently due in pretty early in the final week of the semester I'm going to make sure that this year is a similar story.
"Not A Problem I Can't Fix"
Listening back to all these shows are actually very enlightening from a music point of view. Whilst being entertaining at the same time especially with scallywags such as
Seb and Jon who introduced a much hyped/short lived feature to their show with the imaginitively titled "10 Minute Mix".
The basic premise was that each week either Seb or Jon would put together a mix of tunes from a particular genre and one week Jon managed to put together a really nice selection of reggae tunes including dub covers of "Ring My Bell" by Anita Ward and "Song 2" by Blur.
I may need to e-mail him to see if he knows the about artists behind them.
Seb's one was a mixture of hip-hop and soul which sounded pretty slick until the CD starting skipping and mistracking live on air resulting in plenty of taunts from Jon!
Luckily all the hard work paid off at the awards last month when the duo won a bronze mic for "Best Specialist Production".
Another rather amusing show was Ina's 80s Team which she used to present with the lovely Cat who left the radio course halfway through the autumn semester.
This resulted in several guests making an appearance on the show including
Ina's Australian husband Simon, where they struggled to keep a straight face when talking about "My Little Ponies"! Simon also ended up being the competition winner for our Retro Room show later on in the year where he admited that he didn't know a lot about the silent movie actor "Charlie Chapman".
Seb and Jon who introduced a much hyped/short lived feature to their show with the imaginitively titled "10 Minute Mix".
The basic premise was that each week either Seb or Jon would put together a mix of tunes from a particular genre and one week Jon managed to put together a really nice selection of reggae tunes including dub covers of "Ring My Bell" by Anita Ward and "Song 2" by Blur.
I may need to e-mail him to see if he knows the about artists behind them.
Seb's one was a mixture of hip-hop and soul which sounded pretty slick until the CD starting skipping and mistracking live on air resulting in plenty of taunts from Jon!
Luckily all the hard work paid off at the awards last month when the duo won a bronze mic for "Best Specialist Production".
Another rather amusing show was Ina's 80s Team which she used to present with the lovely Cat who left the radio course halfway through the autumn semester.
This resulted in several guests making an appearance on the show including
Ina's Australian husband Simon, where they struggled to keep a straight face when talking about "My Little Ponies"! Simon also ended up being the competition winner for our Retro Room show later on in the year where he admited that he didn't know a lot about the silent movie actor "Charlie Chapman".
Calm After The Storm
After the rather treacherous conditions last night, today's looking really nice and I've just returned from Canterbury buying a few extra wares.
Earlier this morning I had a chat to "Nana Charlie" who's moved in to Ross T and Josie's nice little flat opposite Nando's in Harrow town centre.
If Ross or Josie are reading this, now that Nana's here you'll never have to do the cooking again!
It sounds like Charlotte's really settled in with a large bed and I may pop over to see her and a few others if I decide to head over to London later on in the Summer.
She's not the only one moving into the house as the two Emmas from the first year, Emma from Leeds and Emma from Stockport will also be moving in around September.
The previous occupants James, Gemma and Lucie however will be moving into their own house with a garden along with Ross Powell and Sara from Manchester. I'm really looking forward to seeing what's in store there.
As for tonight I'm looking forward to a programme on BBC 2 interviewing Simon Amstell and how he has given Buzzcocks a kick up the backside since taking over full time as presenter.
The series could probably form another part of my dissertation next year as it could question on whether popular music has become a form of comedy on television.
I'd definitley say it's the only TV show on the BBC that gives exposure to mainstream music nowadays.
Earlier this morning I had a chat to "Nana Charlie" who's moved in to Ross T and Josie's nice little flat opposite Nando's in Harrow town centre.
If Ross or Josie are reading this, now that Nana's here you'll never have to do the cooking again!
It sounds like Charlotte's really settled in with a large bed and I may pop over to see her and a few others if I decide to head over to London later on in the Summer.
She's not the only one moving into the house as the two Emmas from the first year, Emma from Leeds and Emma from Stockport will also be moving in around September.
The previous occupants James, Gemma and Lucie however will be moving into their own house with a garden along with Ross Powell and Sara from Manchester. I'm really looking forward to seeing what's in store there.
As for tonight I'm looking forward to a programme on BBC 2 interviewing Simon Amstell and how he has given Buzzcocks a kick up the backside since taking over full time as presenter.
The series could probably form another part of my dissertation next year as it could question on whether popular music has become a form of comedy on television.
I'd definitley say it's the only TV show on the BBC that gives exposure to mainstream music nowadays.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Action Stations!
Here's a perfectly good example of how to ruin a classic children's theme tune.
The opening of the "modern day revival" of Fireman Sam which has more or less given the tune the Bob The Builder treatment.
Thankfully I've found a series of spoofs going by the name of "Arson Sam" involving the Welsh firefighters in reverse starting the fires rather than fighting them with a very witty take on the theme tune with rather crass lyrics.
The fire brigade were probably the first on children's television to actually extinguish fires as the creators of Trumpton found it too difficult to design fires for Pugh, Pugh etc.
It's wet but warm in Canterbury as I type having just returned from getting this week's Radio Times. One thing that caught my eye was Craig Charles's Funk and Soul show on
6 Music where this week Koop will be coming in from Sweden to do a live session. It will be interesting how this turns out as they tend to rely on full orchestral sounds for their music so that will definitely be worth a listen.
And of course it's the Glastonbury weekend so I may have a gander at that as well even if the Wurzels have called off their set after being unhappy with the stage they've been put on.
I've never been a big person for going to music festivals on this scale as I'd never agree with others on who I'd want to see and the whole thing for me would end up being a solitary situation as in most scenarios of a similar nature. It may be an idea to go to a Solar all-dayer in my final year at Uni when things get a bit less stressfull.
The opening of the "modern day revival" of Fireman Sam which has more or less given the tune the Bob The Builder treatment.
Thankfully I've found a series of spoofs going by the name of "Arson Sam" involving the Welsh firefighters in reverse starting the fires rather than fighting them with a very witty take on the theme tune with rather crass lyrics.
The fire brigade were probably the first on children's television to actually extinguish fires as the creators of Trumpton found it too difficult to design fires for Pugh, Pugh etc.
It's wet but warm in Canterbury as I type having just returned from getting this week's Radio Times. One thing that caught my eye was Craig Charles's Funk and Soul show on
6 Music where this week Koop will be coming in from Sweden to do a live session. It will be interesting how this turns out as they tend to rely on full orchestral sounds for their music so that will definitely be worth a listen.
And of course it's the Glastonbury weekend so I may have a gander at that as well even if the Wurzels have called off their set after being unhappy with the stage they've been put on.
I've never been a big person for going to music festivals on this scale as I'd never agree with others on who I'd want to see and the whole thing for me would end up being a solitary situation as in most scenarios of a similar nature. It may be an idea to go to a Solar all-dayer in my final year at Uni when things get a bit less stressfull.
Mispronounced Mishaps
One of my major bugbears is how certain indivduals pronounce Westminster as "Westminister". It's easy to point out the sort of people that do it more often than others but I'll try to avoid ranting about it. If I was a radio lecturer however I would mark people down if for making that gramatical error.
However I've managed to come across a show which I'd forgotten about until now,
an American exchange student called Katy who presented a programme devoted to American Indie music and also had a really nice voice. I'm also pretty certain that she was one of the contestants on Freshers Blind Date right at the begininning of the year.
She can be heard in this short little extract from the show talking about a performer who I've developed an interest for in the last couple of years; Tom Waits.
I'm rather undecided about what I'm going to prepare for when I look after the cooking tomorrow. I'm ever so glad that my family aren't vegetarian otherwise I would be screwed. Actually having said that, when I was in Venice a couple of years ago we went into what could be their equivalent of a greasy spoon self service restaurant, but the food there was a hell of a lot better than what you'd get on these shores. I went for a rather basic but delicious taglietelle and mushroom dish with the right blend of oil and herbs. It maybe the only time I've really enjoyed a proper meal that doesn't contain any meat so I may give that a go sometime.
However I've managed to come across a show which I'd forgotten about until now,
an American exchange student called Katy who presented a programme devoted to American Indie music and also had a really nice voice. I'm also pretty certain that she was one of the contestants on Freshers Blind Date right at the begininning of the year.
She can be heard in this short little extract from the show talking about a performer who I've developed an interest for in the last couple of years; Tom Waits.
I'm rather undecided about what I'm going to prepare for when I look after the cooking tomorrow. I'm ever so glad that my family aren't vegetarian otherwise I would be screwed. Actually having said that, when I was in Venice a couple of years ago we went into what could be their equivalent of a greasy spoon self service restaurant, but the food there was a hell of a lot better than what you'd get on these shores. I went for a rather basic but delicious taglietelle and mushroom dish with the right blend of oil and herbs. It maybe the only time I've really enjoyed a proper meal that doesn't contain any meat so I may give that a go sometime.
Unsteady Segueways (And Paragraphs!)
I'm still trawling through the month of November and I'm only just starting to remember the quirks that most of the station members used to have on air. Phil Harris's being how he always read out the text number as "83252" which never really made sense and was one of those tiny little things that did my head in for no apparent reason.
Apart from those who felt the need to play jingles in the middle of songs which for me is unacceptable. That and playing 2-3 jingles back to back in a row.
And this is coming from someone who's more obsessed about the subject than anyone else but you have to know how and when to use them at the right times.
Even stations such as Solar and Starpoint have presenters who do the same which to an extent has put me off listening to them as much as I used to about two years ago.
Moving back to what should be higher in the paragraph, Paul and Ross on the Live Variety Show around this time made a habit of finishing their show with the theme from He-Man after discovering it on HotKeys when Tudor started using it for his show. Probably one of my favourite double acts on the station although most of it is because of Paul and his humour and passion for the music itself whilst just being himself at the same time. I'll have to upload one of their links sometime to help back up a few points.
Around this time towards the end of the month a few further changes came in after one Tuesday night when Ricky asked Josie and Ross T to have a chat about the Punk show which I thought was rather long overdue. Basically it was because Ricky wanted to seperate specialist shows from daytime shows and wanted the specialist shows to be more music focused whereas the Punk Show was essentially the "brummie" and the "newsie" wittering on and Ricky wasn't too keen on that for what he had in mind.
From the following week onwards Josie started presenting the show on her own and personally I thought it was an improvement as she now had overall control of the desk and managed to add more of her personality whilst balancing it well with the music. I even managed to finally get her to play the ska cover of A-Ha's "Take On Me"!
The tricky and debatable question is what should be the priority in student radio? Having fun, or sounding professional? In this case it was a Punk Show with a co-presenter who admitted on air many times that he knew nothing about the genre.
Then again I'm probably eating my own words as whenever I've had someone co-presenting with me on the Soul Show they don't pretend to know about the music but at the same time it sounds as if they're enjoying themselves and are open in wanting to know more about the unfamiliar and sometimes unpronounceable artists. It's just a case of getting the balance right.
Once again, if this blog post was "Just A Minute", someone would have buzzed for "deviation".
From my point of view I wasn't too sure about introducing an on air brand for evening and specialist shows on the station "Smoke Specialist".
Although it was a good way to brand the evening shows it did make things sound rather disjointed with sudden changes, and little cross promotion within the daytime shows apart from my own show and Tudor Rock.
In short the transition on air wasn't seamless enough.
Thankfully by S(4)S we ironed out this problem through the use of "Still To Come" promos which went out every hour after the news and I really hope that these continue during Freshers Week.
Then again it probably proves a point that if you liase and socialise with the rest of the team at the station, then you're more likely to get you programme promoted throughout the schedule and that goes for any radio station.
On the plus side the specialist branding will definitely be included in our entry for the catergory in the SRAs and Hannah who recorded the voicers had the perfect delivery for my rather dreadful lines; "For all musical tastes (FX), Smoke keeps it delicious".
The long break we had in between the second and third semester was really useful and it was good to have a rest from presenting and the station overall as when we came back we were fresh full of new ideas.
There was recently a comment in the Guardian suggesting that British soaps especially Eastenders should take a similar move in the same way as those in the US and Australia by having a 6 week break once a year to achieve similar results.
In an ideal world eh?
Apart from those who felt the need to play jingles in the middle of songs which for me is unacceptable. That and playing 2-3 jingles back to back in a row.
And this is coming from someone who's more obsessed about the subject than anyone else but you have to know how and when to use them at the right times.
Even stations such as Solar and Starpoint have presenters who do the same which to an extent has put me off listening to them as much as I used to about two years ago.
Moving back to what should be higher in the paragraph, Paul and Ross on the Live Variety Show around this time made a habit of finishing their show with the theme from He-Man after discovering it on HotKeys when Tudor started using it for his show. Probably one of my favourite double acts on the station although most of it is because of Paul and his humour and passion for the music itself whilst just being himself at the same time. I'll have to upload one of their links sometime to help back up a few points.
Around this time towards the end of the month a few further changes came in after one Tuesday night when Ricky asked Josie and Ross T to have a chat about the Punk show which I thought was rather long overdue. Basically it was because Ricky wanted to seperate specialist shows from daytime shows and wanted the specialist shows to be more music focused whereas the Punk Show was essentially the "brummie" and the "newsie" wittering on and Ricky wasn't too keen on that for what he had in mind.
From the following week onwards Josie started presenting the show on her own and personally I thought it was an improvement as she now had overall control of the desk and managed to add more of her personality whilst balancing it well with the music. I even managed to finally get her to play the ska cover of A-Ha's "Take On Me"!
The tricky and debatable question is what should be the priority in student radio? Having fun, or sounding professional? In this case it was a Punk Show with a co-presenter who admitted on air many times that he knew nothing about the genre.
Then again I'm probably eating my own words as whenever I've had someone co-presenting with me on the Soul Show they don't pretend to know about the music but at the same time it sounds as if they're enjoying themselves and are open in wanting to know more about the unfamiliar and sometimes unpronounceable artists. It's just a case of getting the balance right.
Once again, if this blog post was "Just A Minute", someone would have buzzed for "deviation".
From my point of view I wasn't too sure about introducing an on air brand for evening and specialist shows on the station "Smoke Specialist".
Although it was a good way to brand the evening shows it did make things sound rather disjointed with sudden changes, and little cross promotion within the daytime shows apart from my own show and Tudor Rock.
In short the transition on air wasn't seamless enough.
Thankfully by S(4)S we ironed out this problem through the use of "Still To Come" promos which went out every hour after the news and I really hope that these continue during Freshers Week.
Then again it probably proves a point that if you liase and socialise with the rest of the team at the station, then you're more likely to get you programme promoted throughout the schedule and that goes for any radio station.
On the plus side the specialist branding will definitely be included in our entry for the catergory in the SRAs and Hannah who recorded the voicers had the perfect delivery for my rather dreadful lines; "For all musical tastes (FX), Smoke keeps it delicious".
The long break we had in between the second and third semester was really useful and it was good to have a rest from presenting and the station overall as when we came back we were fresh full of new ideas.
There was recently a comment in the Guardian suggesting that British soaps especially Eastenders should take a similar move in the same way as those in the US and Australia by having a 6 week break once a year to achieve similar results.
In an ideal world eh?
Monday, June 18, 2007
"They Can't Stop Us Laughing"
The passing of the one of if not the funniest man in the world has made me feel rather downhearted about the fact that I'll never be able to see him perform his act live in the flesh.
Then again I'll probably have heard most of the jokes before but I reckon I will have had a few drinks as well.
I managed to discover this rather short piece of audio from many years ago when I used to muck about with cuts from the Invicta FM 1990 jingle package and put what I thought were amusing soundbites within them. This particular one features Manchester's funnyman, not for those of a nervous dispostition.
Long time friend Frank Carson was interviewed from Lancaster on the ITV News where he struggled to respond to Mark Austin's questions about Bernard's jokes about minorities, and explaining how he always tried to defend himself by saying that people shouldn't take his jokes seriously. It's a rather tricky subject to draw the line upon although if anyone saw the comedians toe curling visit to Bombay a few years ago, his reaction to the place more or less ties up a few lose ends.
Quite a difficult documentary to watch without cringing.
Then again I'll probably have heard most of the jokes before but I reckon I will have had a few drinks as well.
I managed to discover this rather short piece of audio from many years ago when I used to muck about with cuts from the Invicta FM 1990 jingle package and put what I thought were amusing soundbites within them. This particular one features Manchester's funnyman, not for those of a nervous dispostition.
Long time friend Frank Carson was interviewed from Lancaster on the ITV News where he struggled to respond to Mark Austin's questions about Bernard's jokes about minorities, and explaining how he always tried to defend himself by saying that people shouldn't take his jokes seriously. It's a rather tricky subject to draw the line upon although if anyone saw the comedians toe curling visit to Bombay a few years ago, his reaction to the place more or less ties up a few lose ends.
Quite a difficult documentary to watch without cringing.
The Day The Laughter Died
I've only just found out via the BBC News website about the death of comedian Bernard Manning just two months before turning 77.
I could see it coming eventually as he hadn't been in good health for quite some time as he had angina and was a diabetic.
The phrase "stand-up comedian" was rather irrelevant in his later stages of life as can be seen here in this video footage recorded at his Embassy Club only a few weeks ago. Despite this, the above shows that he could still deliver the jokes spot on and I've never known of anyone else with the sort of comic timing that has been able to have me in stitches.
With political correctness gone bonkers in the last 20 years, Bernard's humour ended up being taboo although I can honestly say that this was probably the only comedian I have developed an obsessive interest towards and has made me laugh more times than anyone else.
RIP Bernard
I could see it coming eventually as he hadn't been in good health for quite some time as he had angina and was a diabetic.
The phrase "stand-up comedian" was rather irrelevant in his later stages of life as can be seen here in this video footage recorded at his Embassy Club only a few weeks ago. Despite this, the above shows that he could still deliver the jokes spot on and I've never known of anyone else with the sort of comic timing that has been able to have me in stitches.
With political correctness gone bonkers in the last 20 years, Bernard's humour ended up being taboo although I can honestly say that this was probably the only comedian I have developed an obsessive interest towards and has made me laugh more times than anyone else.
RIP Bernard
A Late Discovery
This is a much awaited finding, the entire series of Road Runner cartoons on Youtube!
Like many things however I'll probably be saving them for a later date when I'm in dire need of cheering up.
I'll finally be able to find out which short involved the wheely helmet worn by Wile E Coyote which was intended to be used on to go down a very thin cable, but as soon as he let himself go the wire snapped and I guess you know what happens from then.
Just the "TWANG!" noise of the wire snapping when least expected resulted in one of those moments where you have to pause the video/DVD in order to recover from the hilarity.
Of course if any animation experts are reading this and want to leave a comment telling me which one it was then you're more than welcome.
I'm more than brave enough to admit that at times I love the sound of my own voice or to be more specific my own laugh as it's very rare I end up in that sort of position.
I used to make sure I had a tape recorder running whenever I watched anything with the bird and coyote just so I could get my laugh recorded although to be honest, many people have thought it sounds more like an evil cackle. If I can find any tapes lurking about then I'll try and upload a few extracts although there's tons of stuff I need to transfer including the final editions of the Sunday Night Carwash on Essex FM
from 7 years ago.
I often get really annoyed if I hear people giggling about their own private jokes in social situations but when it's a case of cackles or naughty sounding belly laughs, I normally end up seeing the funny side.
Throughout my time at university I've realised that this sort of thing is more likely to happen when you've got Tudor in the same room as yourself and a few others.
I guess the big decision is how long do I preserve these for before watching? I'm being ever so tough on myself with my passions.
Like many things however I'll probably be saving them for a later date when I'm in dire need of cheering up.
I'll finally be able to find out which short involved the wheely helmet worn by Wile E Coyote which was intended to be used on to go down a very thin cable, but as soon as he let himself go the wire snapped and I guess you know what happens from then.
Just the "TWANG!" noise of the wire snapping when least expected resulted in one of those moments where you have to pause the video/DVD in order to recover from the hilarity.
Of course if any animation experts are reading this and want to leave a comment telling me which one it was then you're more than welcome.
I'm more than brave enough to admit that at times I love the sound of my own voice or to be more specific my own laugh as it's very rare I end up in that sort of position.
I used to make sure I had a tape recorder running whenever I watched anything with the bird and coyote just so I could get my laugh recorded although to be honest, many people have thought it sounds more like an evil cackle. If I can find any tapes lurking about then I'll try and upload a few extracts although there's tons of stuff I need to transfer including the final editions of the Sunday Night Carwash on Essex FM
from 7 years ago.
I often get really annoyed if I hear people giggling about their own private jokes in social situations but when it's a case of cackles or naughty sounding belly laughs, I normally end up seeing the funny side.
Throughout my time at university I've realised that this sort of thing is more likely to happen when you've got Tudor in the same room as yourself and a few others.
I guess the big decision is how long do I preserve these for before watching? I'm being ever so tough on myself with my passions.
Comforting Aural Pleasure
I've just had a listen to something slightly beyond normal teritory, that being the online stream of BBC Oxford which is a fine example of how local radio should sound.
It's got some good broadcasters on it's on air team such as Danny Cox who has to be one of the most passionate and dynamic voices in radio in the last 20 or so years.
His show this morning included an item on an overweight female vocalist putting together a vocal group consisting of only size 18 girls.
You can see how radio can be used to it's advantage!
Also on board is Sybil Ruscoe, best known for being one of the members of Simon Mayo's Breakfast Crew on Radio 1 in the late 80s alongside newsreader now head of Newsbeat Rod McKenzie.
I can remember about three years ago when she had an overnight weekend slot on
Radio 2 which I tended to wake up to during the middle of many nights, and she used to have a competion called "Ruscoe's Race" if I remember correctly.
I'm not sure if it's a good or bad thing that broadcasters of this sort haven't been given heavy exposure on national radio. As long as they keep their feet on the ground then I'm happy.
It's got some good broadcasters on it's on air team such as Danny Cox who has to be one of the most passionate and dynamic voices in radio in the last 20 or so years.
His show this morning included an item on an overweight female vocalist putting together a vocal group consisting of only size 18 girls.
You can see how radio can be used to it's advantage!
Also on board is Sybil Ruscoe, best known for being one of the members of Simon Mayo's Breakfast Crew on Radio 1 in the late 80s alongside newsreader now head of Newsbeat Rod McKenzie.
I can remember about three years ago when she had an overnight weekend slot on
Radio 2 which I tended to wake up to during the middle of many nights, and she used to have a competion called "Ruscoe's Race" if I remember correctly.
I'm not sure if it's a good or bad thing that broadcasters of this sort haven't been given heavy exposure on national radio. As long as they keep their feet on the ground then I'm happy.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Career Floportunities
I've spent the last hour on the websites DooYoo and Ciao looking at reviews of careers from others who have worked/still work at ASDA. Most of them were mixed explaining about the advantages you had were that the social element of working there as the positive part, but the disadvantages were the rather rude or otherwise monotonous customers. I very rarely had the opportunity (ooh that's a rather ironic word) of working there on a day to day basis but I barely had the confidence to establish long term ties with any of my colleagues. To be honest all the really nice colleagues had dispeared when I was there last summer and on my last day I reckon I left not on the best of terms.
I've also had a look at perspectives from other places of employment such as Woolworths and McDonalds and three words would probably sum up the latter: no fucking way.
I guess the next couple of months will mean that I'll need to be careful with whatever bob I've got left and not make any ridculous purchases. Looks like Ebay and 4od will be off limits until September!
Thankfully whilst I refused point blank to be responsible for cooking (or should that be heating up) the vile pile in the ASDA customer restaurant, I've been given a chance to do the cooking once every week whilst I'm still here in Canterbury.
What many ASDA employees I worked with may be to music, I am to cooking as my efforts after about a month may start to get repetitive as there's only so many different sorts of meat you can use in a stew, bolognaise and so on.
However with anything creative I end up doing the old latin phrase stays in mind;
"Tempus Consumit Res Creare" meaning "It Takes Time To Make Things" as inscribed at the entrance of jingle company JAM Creative Productions in Dallas.
I've also had a look at perspectives from other places of employment such as Woolworths and McDonalds and three words would probably sum up the latter: no fucking way.
I guess the next couple of months will mean that I'll need to be careful with whatever bob I've got left and not make any ridculous purchases. Looks like Ebay and 4od will be off limits until September!
Thankfully whilst I refused point blank to be responsible for cooking (or should that be heating up) the vile pile in the ASDA customer restaurant, I've been given a chance to do the cooking once every week whilst I'm still here in Canterbury.
What many ASDA employees I worked with may be to music, I am to cooking as my efforts after about a month may start to get repetitive as there's only so many different sorts of meat you can use in a stew, bolognaise and so on.
However with anything creative I end up doing the old latin phrase stays in mind;
"Tempus Consumit Res Creare" meaning "It Takes Time To Make Things" as inscribed at the entrance of jingle company JAM Creative Productions in Dallas.
"Have You Heard The Good News?..." (No I haven't gone insane)
My younger brother went to this meeting yesterday with a mate of his about how Christian culture is represented in shows such as The Simpsons, Lost and Doctor Who. Whilst discussing this at lunchtime we came to the conclusion that despite an interest, Olly hadn't been fully converted.
This kind of relates to my evergoing aural journey and one of the lighter points fittingly enough was Carl's gospel show which used to go out on Sunday afternoons,
on an almost regular basis. The music was superb with the show that I've just listened back to including "Give Him Praise" by female trio Virtue, 'Lift Him Up' by Yolanda Adams and Donny McClurkin, and "Changed" by Marvin Sapp which is just superb and "uplifting" to say the least!.
The show really fitted in brilliantly with the time slot especially when the weather was bright outside.
If it was particuarly busy in the radio rooms at the same time then the presence was very much welcome with plenty of smiling faces although I can remember chatting on one Sunday to Ross Powell who was rather confused as to how gospel music could extend to hip hop.
That was one of the major elements of the show, proving that contemporary Gospel was more than choirs singing in harmony although I do have a soft spot for that area as well!
With the third year approaching I'm not sure how busy Carl will be to be able to continue next year but I'd love to see what presenting the soul show would be like in a Sunday afternoon slot .
I'm worried however that this would prevent me from presenting it in special events as weekend shows have tended to be overlooked in these cases. Best to stick to tried and tested regimes as long as it's not on a day rammed full of lectures!
Around this time with my BXFM gig just around the corner I decided to have a go at presenting with Selector to "play it straight" for an hour before his show. Despite a few forced links I reckon I got the hang of it before Christmas and this lead to more opportunties to present elsewhere on the station apart from the soul show.
Unfortunately the Sunday slot didn't last after Christmas as James took the advantage to extend his Crossway show to two hours playing Christian music with a soft rock bias.
I can also remember him wanting to make the show go daily during
either Refreshers Week or S(4)S but thankfully Ricky decided not to go ahead with that idea.
I haven't seen James that much since the end of the second semester although "Producer Dave" from the show was one of those present at the bonfire on the last night in halls and even brought his guitar out for a few songs! As well as regular chanting of "let's go fucking mental, la laa laa la uhh!"
James on the other hand seems to be living the high life in LA according to Facebook and is doing really well for himself at a podcasting company. I don't think I've known anyone more passionate about podcasting as proven on his website PodPod.
That's made me realise that I've never actually owned an iPod which in this lovely weather would come in handy.
This kind of relates to my evergoing aural journey and one of the lighter points fittingly enough was Carl's gospel show which used to go out on Sunday afternoons,
on an almost regular basis. The music was superb with the show that I've just listened back to including "Give Him Praise" by female trio Virtue, 'Lift Him Up' by Yolanda Adams and Donny McClurkin, and "Changed" by Marvin Sapp which is just superb and "uplifting" to say the least!.
The show really fitted in brilliantly with the time slot especially when the weather was bright outside.
If it was particuarly busy in the radio rooms at the same time then the presence was very much welcome with plenty of smiling faces although I can remember chatting on one Sunday to Ross Powell who was rather confused as to how gospel music could extend to hip hop.
That was one of the major elements of the show, proving that contemporary Gospel was more than choirs singing in harmony although I do have a soft spot for that area as well!
With the third year approaching I'm not sure how busy Carl will be to be able to continue next year but I'd love to see what presenting the soul show would be like in a Sunday afternoon slot .
I'm worried however that this would prevent me from presenting it in special events as weekend shows have tended to be overlooked in these cases. Best to stick to tried and tested regimes as long as it's not on a day rammed full of lectures!
Around this time with my BXFM gig just around the corner I decided to have a go at presenting with Selector to "play it straight" for an hour before his show. Despite a few forced links I reckon I got the hang of it before Christmas and this lead to more opportunties to present elsewhere on the station apart from the soul show.
Unfortunately the Sunday slot didn't last after Christmas as James took the advantage to extend his Crossway show to two hours playing Christian music with a soft rock bias.
I can also remember him wanting to make the show go daily during
either Refreshers Week or S(4)S but thankfully Ricky decided not to go ahead with that idea.
I haven't seen James that much since the end of the second semester although "Producer Dave" from the show was one of those present at the bonfire on the last night in halls and even brought his guitar out for a few songs! As well as regular chanting of "let's go fucking mental, la laa laa la uhh!"
James on the other hand seems to be living the high life in LA according to Facebook and is doing really well for himself at a podcasting company. I don't think I've known anyone more passionate about podcasting as proven on his website PodPod.
That's made me realise that I've never actually owned an iPod which in this lovely weather would come in handy.
Missed Opportunities
I've now reached November in my aural journey and oh my, there were quite a few embarrassing moments during this rather unsteady period.
If I can give any advice to those who will be second year radio students, it's best not to present a show on day where you've had loads of lectures beforehand. Especially as practical lectures take place on a Thursday and Friday when the overall Uni atmosphere becomes nonexistant.
An example of this was after hearing a rather last minute put together show which involved Ricky, Steve, Seb and Jon called "First Play Friday" where the intention was that each week, one of them would have a go at presenting the show which gave debut spins to the new records which had arrived. There was also a rather embarrassing competition called "Westminster University Challenge" which no one could pronounce correctly! This was to coincide with the film "Starter For 10" where a future assistant head of programming for the station ended up winning tickets to the film's premiere.
However with the News and Magazine module starting the following week, exhaustion took over from enthusiasm and the show more or less vanished. I was feeling rather deflated around this time as on the day of the SRA awards the nominees were invited to a meal at the GCap building in Leicester Square. Unfortunatley for me and the others in my year, it was the same day as the module started meaning we had to miss out and this was one of the many things that put me on a downer for the remainder of the semester. Luckily I made a couple of subsequent visits to the building later on in the year.
Whilst I still managed to keep the soul show going I was losing passion in getting production stuff done as I thought it was pointless making promos for shows that never went out reguarly. I also didn't see any point in getting podcasts done each week despite being hassled by Ricky, due to the lack of positive atmosphere around the station and lack of community between shows.
This leads on to each Friday when we did two practise news bulletins each week in preparation for the assessed news programme which I thought was the best way of getting it to sound as good as we could.
Especially when you hear the first one we did where everything felt rather unsteady. The only slick sounding person is Ross Powell on sport and I reckon he definitely deserves some sort of on air role come the third year. However the feedback we got back from Charles Carroll was very useful and we made a few changes including altering the jingles so you could actually hear what was being said in them!
With the third year approaching I'll try not to spend too much time up there as last year as there were many nights I spent up there where I got really depressed. And here's a more genuine reason why I wanted to quit the head of production role, the dry recording of the promo for Smokin' Records where Seb and Jon made the process take slightly longer than normal.
Just to paint a more detailed picture this was done on a Thursday after lectures and I was pretty tired and just wanted to crash out and wasn't in the mood for any nonsense.
Luckily I managed to reach an end result as can be heard here.
I need to realise that I've got another semester with this lot but we're all one big family at the end of the day!
I'd love to write a book about my memoirs of University and Smoke Radio after finishing my degree, to give an even more frank and honest account of what really went on!
If I can give any advice to those who will be second year radio students, it's best not to present a show on day where you've had loads of lectures beforehand. Especially as practical lectures take place on a Thursday and Friday when the overall Uni atmosphere becomes nonexistant.
An example of this was after hearing a rather last minute put together show which involved Ricky, Steve, Seb and Jon called "First Play Friday" where the intention was that each week, one of them would have a go at presenting the show which gave debut spins to the new records which had arrived. There was also a rather embarrassing competition called "Westminster University Challenge" which no one could pronounce correctly! This was to coincide with the film "Starter For 10" where a future assistant head of programming for the station ended up winning tickets to the film's premiere.
However with the News and Magazine module starting the following week, exhaustion took over from enthusiasm and the show more or less vanished. I was feeling rather deflated around this time as on the day of the SRA awards the nominees were invited to a meal at the GCap building in Leicester Square. Unfortunatley for me and the others in my year, it was the same day as the module started meaning we had to miss out and this was one of the many things that put me on a downer for the remainder of the semester. Luckily I made a couple of subsequent visits to the building later on in the year.
Whilst I still managed to keep the soul show going I was losing passion in getting production stuff done as I thought it was pointless making promos for shows that never went out reguarly. I also didn't see any point in getting podcasts done each week despite being hassled by Ricky, due to the lack of positive atmosphere around the station and lack of community between shows.
This leads on to each Friday when we did two practise news bulletins each week in preparation for the assessed news programme which I thought was the best way of getting it to sound as good as we could.
Especially when you hear the first one we did where everything felt rather unsteady. The only slick sounding person is Ross Powell on sport and I reckon he definitely deserves some sort of on air role come the third year. However the feedback we got back from Charles Carroll was very useful and we made a few changes including altering the jingles so you could actually hear what was being said in them!
With the third year approaching I'll try not to spend too much time up there as last year as there were many nights I spent up there where I got really depressed. And here's a more genuine reason why I wanted to quit the head of production role, the dry recording of the promo for Smokin' Records where Seb and Jon made the process take slightly longer than normal.
Just to paint a more detailed picture this was done on a Thursday after lectures and I was pretty tired and just wanted to crash out and wasn't in the mood for any nonsense.
Luckily I managed to reach an end result as can be heard here.
I need to realise that I've got another semester with this lot but we're all one big family at the end of the day!
I'd love to write a book about my memoirs of University and Smoke Radio after finishing my degree, to give an even more frank and honest account of what really went on!
Saturday, June 16, 2007
A Far Cry From Ooookaaay!
I've just finished enduring the Tiswas reunion on ITV1 and I'm just relieved that there isn't such a programme on our screens in the present day.
It did have it's fair share of amusing moments such as Trevor McDonald surprising Lenny Henry, and Britain's then strongest man trying to lift up both Big Daddy and Bernard Manning, resulting in the comedian splitting his trousers.
However, as mentioned before there is such thing as having too much of a good time and from what I've seen the show went a bit too anarchic to the point where children ended up in tears and rather vulgar material involving anti foreigner gags and boxing kangaroos was considered entertaining.
Even Dick And Dom who were in the audience, never went as far as putting children in emotional distress on camera although I reckon they made sure that their "bungalowheads" they got to appear on their show were the sort of children who were more than happy to be humiliated on live television. And it worked pretty well until the final series where celebrities got involved resulting in many pregnant pauses and bemused looks from the younger ones as a result of not getting the jokes aimed at the "older audience".
I could never write a book of rules to suit me as there would be loads of exceptions and sub-categories. Then again I've always been rather twisted.
It did have it's fair share of amusing moments such as Trevor McDonald surprising Lenny Henry, and Britain's then strongest man trying to lift up both Big Daddy and Bernard Manning, resulting in the comedian splitting his trousers.
However, as mentioned before there is such thing as having too much of a good time and from what I've seen the show went a bit too anarchic to the point where children ended up in tears and rather vulgar material involving anti foreigner gags and boxing kangaroos was considered entertaining.
Even Dick And Dom who were in the audience, never went as far as putting children in emotional distress on camera although I reckon they made sure that their "bungalowheads" they got to appear on their show were the sort of children who were more than happy to be humiliated on live television. And it worked pretty well until the final series where celebrities got involved resulting in many pregnant pauses and bemused looks from the younger ones as a result of not getting the jokes aimed at the "older audience".
I could never write a book of rules to suit me as there would be loads of exceptions and sub-categories. Then again I've always been rather twisted.
"Time May Change Me"
I'm in a good blogging mood as I'm coming across all sorts of material on my laptop that I have to write about. Nothing sleazy of course!
No, I've been having a listen back to a few of the features we produced for said module on the radio course last year which are all eclectic but very entertaining. One of my favourites being "M.E. and Me" by Ross T focusing on Kim and how she deals with the condition.
It's edited brilliantly with some well chosen music such as "The You And Me Song" by the Wannadies, and Belle and Sebastian. It's pretty light hearted and balanced really well with the funniest bit being when myself and a few others surprised Kim for her birthday and when she walked in the restuarant being surprised to see us, uttering "what are you doing here?!".
Overall it's a really good feature until towards the end when we hear Ross and a few of the others "singing" along to David Bowie's "Changes" on a car journey.
Although I wouldn't really want to do this as a long term job in radio (and the way this course is organised really seems to want you to go in that direction as opposed to live presenting) it really brings out the individuality of each student and can enlighten me on so many different subjects. It's going to be a tough job to decide who wins the Graham S. Brand prize next year.
The downside to the project is that I need to think of something even more original for my third year feature towards the end of the year. If I'm being honest I'm more nervous about that assignment than my dissertation.
However I'll put this to one side until November where then I can start worrying.
No, I've been having a listen back to a few of the features we produced for said module on the radio course last year which are all eclectic but very entertaining. One of my favourites being "M.E. and Me" by Ross T focusing on Kim and how she deals with the condition.
It's edited brilliantly with some well chosen music such as "The You And Me Song" by the Wannadies, and Belle and Sebastian. It's pretty light hearted and balanced really well with the funniest bit being when myself and a few others surprised Kim for her birthday and when she walked in the restuarant being surprised to see us, uttering "what are you doing here?!".
Overall it's a really good feature until towards the end when we hear Ross and a few of the others "singing" along to David Bowie's "Changes" on a car journey.
Although I wouldn't really want to do this as a long term job in radio (and the way this course is organised really seems to want you to go in that direction as opposed to live presenting) it really brings out the individuality of each student and can enlighten me on so many different subjects. It's going to be a tough job to decide who wins the Graham S. Brand prize next year.
The downside to the project is that I need to think of something even more original for my third year feature towards the end of the year. If I'm being honest I'm more nervous about that assignment than my dissertation.
However I'll put this to one side until November where then I can start worrying.
The Last Ride On The Pencil Drawn Rollercoaster
I could see it coming eventually, the Vault it seems have finally pulled the plug on the vintage episodes of The Chart Show from their digital channel as of this morning.
I'm a tiny bit gutted although they barely made any effort to promote the programmes on the sister channels owned by the company such as B4, Pop and Flaunt which was a pity.
However I've still got stacks of episodes I haven't seen yet on DVD-R including loads from the fairground era which I'm keeping safe until the nights I get more than a bit tipsy at Uni, especially for when the third year is nearing an end.
I'm hoping that James will send me the remaining episodes as well which included one or two sponsorless episodes from early 1997 and one originally shown four weeks before the show's untimely demise in August 1998.
Nothing's been officially confirmed as a few people are waiting for an e-mail reply from one of the Vault's programmers although as it mentions on the Digital Spy thread, it kept a small but dedicated audience entertained.
To be honest I'm glad I'm deprived of Sky Digital because as mentioned before, I believe you have to work towards something as good as this and I would be feeling pretty depressed if I watched all these episodes on a weekly basis and switched on this morning to see sod all.
Overall there is such a thing as having too much of a good time.
I'm a tiny bit gutted although they barely made any effort to promote the programmes on the sister channels owned by the company such as B4, Pop and Flaunt which was a pity.
However I've still got stacks of episodes I haven't seen yet on DVD-R including loads from the fairground era which I'm keeping safe until the nights I get more than a bit tipsy at Uni, especially for when the third year is nearing an end.
I'm hoping that James will send me the remaining episodes as well which included one or two sponsorless episodes from early 1997 and one originally shown four weeks before the show's untimely demise in August 1998.
Nothing's been officially confirmed as a few people are waiting for an e-mail reply from one of the Vault's programmers although as it mentions on the Digital Spy thread, it kept a small but dedicated audience entertained.
To be honest I'm glad I'm deprived of Sky Digital because as mentioned before, I believe you have to work towards something as good as this and I would be feeling pretty depressed if I watched all these episodes on a weekly basis and switched on this morning to see sod all.
Overall there is such a thing as having too much of a good time.
Out Come The Claws
Jonathan Ross's show or the first five minutes anyway, were part of my agenda for this morning until I found out that one of the guests this week was Elaine Paige. That and the other nonentities lined up were enough for me to put my Bug back to sleep which leads on to why Elaine Paige has managed to keep her dreadful Sunday afternoon show on the station for so long.
Around the time it was introduced to the schedule, there was another programme hosted by Lulu looking at songwriting/songwriters which was ideal listening on a Sunday. After about a year however, the long awaited return of Dale Winton's Pick Of The Pops saw it disapear from the schedules but they still kept Elaine's show on.
With the exception of that and Steve Wright's Sunday Love Songs (recorded on Friday mornings apparently), the Sunday schedule throughout the day isn't too bad with Johnnie Walker's show doing pretty well since it's introduction last year.
Nothing however can match the excitement of waiting for the Top 40 to start on Radio 1 back in the days when they used to share FM transmission time with Radio 2. Hearing the pips just before 5pm added to the buzz which is missing heavilly from radio in the present day.
Around the time it was introduced to the schedule, there was another programme hosted by Lulu looking at songwriting/songwriters which was ideal listening on a Sunday. After about a year however, the long awaited return of Dale Winton's Pick Of The Pops saw it disapear from the schedules but they still kept Elaine's show on.
With the exception of that and Steve Wright's Sunday Love Songs (recorded on Friday mornings apparently), the Sunday schedule throughout the day isn't too bad with Johnnie Walker's show doing pretty well since it's introduction last year.
Nothing however can match the excitement of waiting for the Top 40 to start on Radio 1 back in the days when they used to share FM transmission time with Radio 2. Hearing the pips just before 5pm added to the buzz which is missing heavilly from radio in the present day.
Friday, June 15, 2007
The Honest Opinion Poll
It's been rather mixed throughout the day although at the moment it's pretty clear with my room being rather chilled as a result of leaving the windows open for most of today. Mum and Dad have gone over to play card games at one of our neighbour's houses leaving me to make sure that tonight's Big Brother eviction is recorded.
Whilst I didn't feel the temptation to see who got thrown out, I did watch the first in the new series of 8 Out Of 10 Cats making a welcome return to the screen. This series saw the arrival of new team captain Jason Manford but the show's more or less the same and not even a weak set of guests including Johnny Vegas and Prick Reeves could ruin proceedings.
Tonight's show included gags about Paris Hilton's return to jail and George Bush losing his watch which 85% of the audience would rather sell on Ebay than return it to the president.
Definitely one of the more entertaining shows on offer during the warmer months.
Whilst I'm pretty content with things I only found out this morning that my credit card payment was deducted from my bank account last week so I'm just a little bit more skint than I thought. I'd best sort out a budget plan for the third year in case I don't get a job for the summer which is becoming more and more likely. The way I see it, I'll probably be more succesfull if I return to Canterbury permanatley after my degree as it will be a long term position I'll be looking for. However I'm going to keep going with my belief that passion pays off and am not going to let anything or anyone get me down whilst I'm still here.
Whilst I didn't feel the temptation to see who got thrown out, I did watch the first in the new series of 8 Out Of 10 Cats making a welcome return to the screen. This series saw the arrival of new team captain Jason Manford but the show's more or less the same and not even a weak set of guests including Johnny Vegas and Prick Reeves could ruin proceedings.
Tonight's show included gags about Paris Hilton's return to jail and George Bush losing his watch which 85% of the audience would rather sell on Ebay than return it to the president.
Definitely one of the more entertaining shows on offer during the warmer months.
Whilst I'm pretty content with things I only found out this morning that my credit card payment was deducted from my bank account last week so I'm just a little bit more skint than I thought. I'd best sort out a budget plan for the third year in case I don't get a job for the summer which is becoming more and more likely. The way I see it, I'll probably be more succesfull if I return to Canterbury permanatley after my degree as it will be a long term position I'll be looking for. However I'm going to keep going with my belief that passion pays off and am not going to let anything or anyone get me down whilst I'm still here.
12 Inch Toss
A feature in this weeks Film and Music supplement of The Guardian looked at what many musicians and music fans considered to be the most overrated albums. Some of the justified choices included "Nevermind" by Nirvana which I've never understood the hype around since it's dominance in the early 90s. There are a few good tracks on there such as "Come As You Are" and "Lithium" but I can remember seeing the band on Top Of The Pops performing "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and wondering how something like this could be "fantastic". Kurt Cobain's lower octave vocals on that performance move nicely onto another choice which I don't mind to be honest, The Smiths and "Meat Is Murder" which despite the attention grabbing lyrics hasn't converted me.
Also nominated were a few other controversial choices such as The Stone Roses self titled debut from 1989. One of the defining albums of the year even if the band were rubbish when performing live. And although it's got quite a lot of exposure I wasn't too sure about Pink Floyd's "Dark Side Of The Moon' being chosen but to be fair I haven't listened to it as much as others have.
One of those albums you have to listen to all the way through.
As well as the general shows from the last year I've also got the shows done by the third year for their live advanced radio project last year which consisted of the half hour magazine show "Lizzie And Lynsey At Lunch" and Joe Haddow presenting "Amplified" an 90 minute music show which for the final show included a stunning introduction where Joey managed to succesfully talk up to the extended intro to Muse's "Knights Of Cydonia". Listening back to these have given me a few ideas on what and what not to do when we do the same thing come September where we really will be thrown in at the deep end.
I'd best remember to bring the rubber rings when going back to halls in September.
Also nominated were a few other controversial choices such as The Stone Roses self titled debut from 1989. One of the defining albums of the year even if the band were rubbish when performing live. And although it's got quite a lot of exposure I wasn't too sure about Pink Floyd's "Dark Side Of The Moon' being chosen but to be fair I haven't listened to it as much as others have.
One of those albums you have to listen to all the way through.
As well as the general shows from the last year I've also got the shows done by the third year for their live advanced radio project last year which consisted of the half hour magazine show "Lizzie And Lynsey At Lunch" and Joe Haddow presenting "Amplified" an 90 minute music show which for the final show included a stunning introduction where Joey managed to succesfully talk up to the extended intro to Muse's "Knights Of Cydonia". Listening back to these have given me a few ideas on what and what not to do when we do the same thing come September where we really will be thrown in at the deep end.
I'd best remember to bring the rubber rings when going back to halls in September.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Dirt Jockeys
I was asked by Mum to watch tonight's edition of "How Clean Is Your House" which this week featured Vicky, a DJ at Manchester community radio station All FM who had a rather unpleasant looking flat which they renovated. Some of their cleaning ideas as always were rather bizarre such as using vodka to clean the large amount of vinyl records that were lying about in the house.
Overall it's given me an idea on what to avoid should the time come when I move into my own house which I hope will be after I've completed University next year.
Then again there is such as thing a wishful thinking.
The rest of the day like most of the others has been spent reminiscing and it's interesting to hear voices now familiar to me at Uni making there first appearance on what had just become an award winning station. One such person was Liam, a TV student guesting on Smoke International's rather enlongated World Quiz. The man himself isn't really known for his radio work on campus but more for his large amount of videos with him and other members of Team Buff miming to various pop songs. This one being a particular favourite, a rendition of McFly's "Five Colours In Her Hair".
There are a few rather amusing moments as well within the otherwise dreary content from October (my show included with appalling bass levels) such as when Seb and Jon on Smokin' Records accidentally announced a Tina Turner record as "Nutbush On Fire".
One of the many things that proves we'll never be mature students.
Overall it's given me an idea on what to avoid should the time come when I move into my own house which I hope will be after I've completed University next year.
Then again there is such as thing a wishful thinking.
The rest of the day like most of the others has been spent reminiscing and it's interesting to hear voices now familiar to me at Uni making there first appearance on what had just become an award winning station. One such person was Liam, a TV student guesting on Smoke International's rather enlongated World Quiz. The man himself isn't really known for his radio work on campus but more for his large amount of videos with him and other members of Team Buff miming to various pop songs. This one being a particular favourite, a rendition of McFly's "Five Colours In Her Hair".
There are a few rather amusing moments as well within the otherwise dreary content from October (my show included with appalling bass levels) such as when Seb and Jon on Smokin' Records accidentally announced a Tina Turner record as "Nutbush On Fire".
One of the many things that proves we'll never be mature students.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Stolen Musical Property
More musical enlightenment has been on offer for me tonight, this time in the form of the Shuffle boys with the theme being on Robbers. And some fantastic reggae and dub tracks featured including Toots and The Maytals "54-46 Was My Number", the Thievery Corporation with the similar sounding "38,45", and a stunning dub track from the Clash based around "Bankrobber" called "Robber Dub". Ideal listening for these rather warm conditions with the windows open.
Adam and Zo actually got the idea for the programme from the stolen Stylus needle in Studio 6 which prevented them from having the well deserved opportunity of playing vinyl. Nowadays we don't have any record players at all which defeats the purpose completely although I'm lucky I managed to get my vinyl copy of "Everyday" by Incognito dubbed before the disapearance.
This really is the ideal way of killing time over the summer without spending any bob. At least it shows that all those hours in RP1 paid off.
Adam and Zo actually got the idea for the programme from the stolen Stylus needle in Studio 6 which prevented them from having the well deserved opportunity of playing vinyl. Nowadays we don't have any record players at all which defeats the purpose completely although I'm lucky I managed to get my vinyl copy of "Everyday" by Incognito dubbed before the disapearance.
This really is the ideal way of killing time over the summer without spending any bob. At least it shows that all those hours in RP1 paid off.
The Rock 'N' Fall Years
I've finally managed to find the studio project from the other group in the second year BAMS TV students who decided to take a trip Back To The 80s. This was produced amongst others by Gemma, Lucie and Tobi and presented by the delightful Melina and our very own Ross Tilley.
Ross especially comes into his own throughout the programme and his preferred choice of 80s icon has definitely inspired me to get out a copy of The Goonies at some point which I've been meaning to do for quite a while.
I love how they've managed to make the top 10 rundown look almost exactly like how it did on Top Of The Pops throughout the early 80s although it could be improved by having "Yellow Pearl" playing in the background for the extra novelty value!
Not too sure about the fella at the end however, giving a performance of Spandau Ballet's "Gold".
In the unlikely situation of finding any spare time next year I may see if I can blag my way into a roller disco.
Ross especially comes into his own throughout the programme and his preferred choice of 80s icon has definitely inspired me to get out a copy of The Goonies at some point which I've been meaning to do for quite a while.
I love how they've managed to make the top 10 rundown look almost exactly like how it did on Top Of The Pops throughout the early 80s although it could be improved by having "Yellow Pearl" playing in the background for the extra novelty value!
Not too sure about the fella at the end however, giving a performance of Spandau Ballet's "Gold".
In the unlikely situation of finding any spare time next year I may see if I can blag my way into a roller disco.
"You're Getting Me All Squeaky!"
Listening back to these shows from what seems like way back when can be pretty mixed in terms of enjoyment but there were a few shows on the station that I do miss to a certain extent.
One of them being Pippa ST's show which used to go out on Monday nights and despite a lack of co-hosts this year I thought it was one of the rare shows on the station which could be carried entirely by just the personality. Rather than write about it I've put one of her links up here reflecting on the previous Saturday's Shiny Disco Ball and the lack of Fresher's in attendance. Ironically by the end of the year it ended up being vice versa as apart from those who lived close to campus, the bar and Area seemed to be dominated by 1st years.
I really enjoyed giving Pippa a hand every Monday writing her playlists as the show went along although problems with her housing and a lack of encouragement from other station members saw the show quietly disapear by the end of the semester. Apart from a few appearances with the Drama Society I didn't really see her until the last few weeks of the year at the various house parties I went to. She's been really positive when I've seen her and I hope she comes back to do at least one more show for Fresher's Week or sometime within the third year.
I'd best go and open the bedroom windows to let a bit of air in as I'm starting to sweat like mental. And my legs are still stinging after going through a footpath full of stinging nettles earlier today so essentially it's an indoor garden in my bedroom.
One of them being Pippa ST's show which used to go out on Monday nights and despite a lack of co-hosts this year I thought it was one of the rare shows on the station which could be carried entirely by just the personality. Rather than write about it I've put one of her links up here reflecting on the previous Saturday's Shiny Disco Ball and the lack of Fresher's in attendance. Ironically by the end of the year it ended up being vice versa as apart from those who lived close to campus, the bar and Area seemed to be dominated by 1st years.
I really enjoyed giving Pippa a hand every Monday writing her playlists as the show went along although problems with her housing and a lack of encouragement from other station members saw the show quietly disapear by the end of the semester. Apart from a few appearances with the Drama Society I didn't really see her until the last few weeks of the year at the various house parties I went to. She's been really positive when I've seen her and I hope she comes back to do at least one more show for Fresher's Week or sometime within the third year.
I'd best go and open the bedroom windows to let a bit of air in as I'm starting to sweat like mental. And my legs are still stinging after going through a footpath full of stinging nettles earlier today so essentially it's an indoor garden in my bedroom.
Get Up And Go! (Back To Sleep Preferrably)
An unintentional early start annoyingly enough, so I decided to be productive as possible and have a listen to what was on offer via my Bug. I stumbled across Invicta FM which I haven't heard for quite a while although nothing's changed that dramatically.
James Heming's still on Breakfast although they've finally dropped the Morning Zoo tag after finally realising that it's a shadow of it's former self since Neil Francis left in early 2000. I still don't really understand how James has been there for 7 years since taking over as he comes across as if he's only just woke up himself.
Even Ben Mundy the travel guy has bags more enthuasism than him and matches almost everything I like in a radio presenter.
Then again it's what the people of Kent enjoy at that time of morning and I suppose with a station brand with a very established heritage you can do no wrong.
I do wish that radio presenters of a certain type will actually realise that they are not comedians and that goes for a few people at Smoke as well who I won't mention by name. The best comedy within live radio usually comes unintentionally such as Bruno Brookes accidentally saying "Top Tits" on The UK Top 40 several years ago.
To be honest there's never really been a breakfast show on commercial radio I've ever gotten into religously for over six months.
Even during Essex FM's "Hotter And Fresher" heyday I always preferred Paul Lovett on drive to Martin Day at breakfast although that's mainly because Paul played more sung jingles on air! The best bit of Martin's show being a certain Peter Stewart on news who delivered it with such enthusiasm whilst authorative at the same time with phrases such as "Iiiiiin Showbiz!"
A perfect example of a presenter/head of news who could do the job enthusiastically without sounding like a send up.
James Heming's still on Breakfast although they've finally dropped the Morning Zoo tag after finally realising that it's a shadow of it's former self since Neil Francis left in early 2000. I still don't really understand how James has been there for 7 years since taking over as he comes across as if he's only just woke up himself.
Even Ben Mundy the travel guy has bags more enthuasism than him and matches almost everything I like in a radio presenter.
Then again it's what the people of Kent enjoy at that time of morning and I suppose with a station brand with a very established heritage you can do no wrong.
I do wish that radio presenters of a certain type will actually realise that they are not comedians and that goes for a few people at Smoke as well who I won't mention by name. The best comedy within live radio usually comes unintentionally such as Bruno Brookes accidentally saying "Top Tits" on The UK Top 40 several years ago.
To be honest there's never really been a breakfast show on commercial radio I've ever gotten into religously for over six months.
Even during Essex FM's "Hotter And Fresher" heyday I always preferred Paul Lovett on drive to Martin Day at breakfast although that's mainly because Paul played more sung jingles on air! The best bit of Martin's show being a certain Peter Stewart on news who delivered it with such enthusiasm whilst authorative at the same time with phrases such as "Iiiiiin Showbiz!"
A perfect example of a presenter/head of news who could do the job enthusiastically without sounding like a send up.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Accents Are The Best Medicine
I've just finished watching the first in Lenny Henry's new series investigating about the nation's sense of humour.
Whilst the programme itself tended to drag on for quite a bit, one of the main areas focused was whether there's a difference between accents in Birmingham and the Black Country.
I never really took great notice to the West Midlands accent until they introduced the character "Cat The Dog" on SM:TV, where Cat Deeley donned a long black perm and spoke with a rather strong "Buurmingam" accent. Around the same time Frank Skinner had Noddy Holder as one of the more memorable guests on his chat show and it was rather nice to hear a conversation with two Black Country accents with a very amusing anecdote on how Noddy ended up as the voice of the lift in the Walsall Art Gallery.
Whenever I hear that accent on television or radio I feel the need to impersonate it myself which is something that I also have a bad habit of doing with Zippy from Rainbow! It's impossible to do Zippy's voice without shouting so I'm rather nervous about doing it in the cosy conditions of Canterbury.
In my long trawl through the last year's output I'm still stuck in October and am remembering how much I hated being on Thursdays following on from "Smokin' Records".
This was normally after a long day of lectures in radio although for some reason I managed to sound rather upbeat on air.
Maybe I should change the title of the post to "music is the best medicine".
I'll need to ask those in charge next year make sure I don't have to present on any days I have lectures as the coursework will be crucial.
It would make sense to keep the Wednesday slot as it fits in well with the timetable and has more or less been the natural day for my show since the beginning.
I really miss the control I have over cooking in halls so tomorrow I'm getting the chance to make a delicious lamb stew with pasta for the rest of the house to enjoy. It's nice to know what other people think of my attempts at cooking as shown by my impromptu efforts providing the grub at the Harrow bonfire!
Whilst the programme itself tended to drag on for quite a bit, one of the main areas focused was whether there's a difference between accents in Birmingham and the Black Country.
I never really took great notice to the West Midlands accent until they introduced the character "Cat The Dog" on SM:TV, where Cat Deeley donned a long black perm and spoke with a rather strong "Buurmingam" accent. Around the same time Frank Skinner had Noddy Holder as one of the more memorable guests on his chat show and it was rather nice to hear a conversation with two Black Country accents with a very amusing anecdote on how Noddy ended up as the voice of the lift in the Walsall Art Gallery.
Whenever I hear that accent on television or radio I feel the need to impersonate it myself which is something that I also have a bad habit of doing with Zippy from Rainbow! It's impossible to do Zippy's voice without shouting so I'm rather nervous about doing it in the cosy conditions of Canterbury.
In my long trawl through the last year's output I'm still stuck in October and am remembering how much I hated being on Thursdays following on from "Smokin' Records".
This was normally after a long day of lectures in radio although for some reason I managed to sound rather upbeat on air.
Maybe I should change the title of the post to "music is the best medicine".
I'll need to ask those in charge next year make sure I don't have to present on any days I have lectures as the coursework will be crucial.
It would make sense to keep the Wednesday slot as it fits in well with the timetable and has more or less been the natural day for my show since the beginning.
I really miss the control I have over cooking in halls so tomorrow I'm getting the chance to make a delicious lamb stew with pasta for the rest of the house to enjoy. It's nice to know what other people think of my attempts at cooking as shown by my impromptu efforts providing the grub at the Harrow bonfire!
"Not A Drink From Those Crazy Yanks"
I'm always open to hear others talk about their own passions and earlier today I came across this video blog post from StephenH about his love for Irn Bru, (about 4 minutes in) a drink that I haven't drunk for quite a long time. Being a Scotsman himself it's not too surprising although I tend to associate the drink with the rather amusing advertisements made for it in the early 90s such as this one sending up Coca Cola spot on.
I can also remember when they used to make Irn Bru candy bars which were very popular about 10 years ago and it was difficult to avoid seeing one within the classroom.
Possibly one to buy and mix with the stronger stuff when I get back to London.
One of the other entertaining video blogs that help me to kill time come from Ross T giving me and many others an idea of what's going on with him back in Harrow and his continuing search for the ideal man.
The sad thing about these videos is that I've realised both of us have quite a few things in common! It's when he explains the reason for putting the video posts up which is more or less the same for this site overall as it allows me to learn a bit more of myself as a person as I'm dreadfully self concious.
Whether I've watched on of his blog posts from end to end is another story!
I can also remember when they used to make Irn Bru candy bars which were very popular about 10 years ago and it was difficult to avoid seeing one within the classroom.
Possibly one to buy and mix with the stronger stuff when I get back to London.
One of the other entertaining video blogs that help me to kill time come from Ross T giving me and many others an idea of what's going on with him back in Harrow and his continuing search for the ideal man.
The sad thing about these videos is that I've realised both of us have quite a few things in common! It's when he explains the reason for putting the video posts up which is more or less the same for this site overall as it allows me to learn a bit more of myself as a person as I'm dreadfully self concious.
Whether I've watched on of his blog posts from end to end is another story!
Monday, June 11, 2007
Rewarding Creativity
Just before tonight's ISIHAC on Radio 4, I found out that Michael Rosen has become the new Children's Laureate taking over from Jaqueline Wilson. Whilst the author/poet has plenty to his bow, the item felt the need to relate to his chidren's book based on the song "We're Going On A Bear Hunt" which epitomises the worst possible scenario around a camp fire.
Apart from having it extinguished by the fire brigade and almost being run over by the police as it was not long ago at Harrow Halls.
Just under a year ago I found a clip of the author adlibbing some poems with Nobby The Sheep on ITV's Ghost Train in 1991 and from that clip alone it goes to show the title couldn't have gone to anyone else. However I reckon I need to be the reverse of what the poet and the ewe are doing in that clip and a visit to Center Parcs would be an ideal holiday considering that we're not going abroad this year.
It wasn't the only Saturday Morning show to visit that particular venue as three years earlier Going Live! did the whole show from the nicely shaded swimming pool where the guests included none other than Sylvester McCoy in full timelord apparel.
I'd imagine that around the time Trevor and Simon hadn't thought of a name for what would eventually become The Singing Corner!
Apart from having it extinguished by the fire brigade and almost being run over by the police as it was not long ago at Harrow Halls.
Just under a year ago I found a clip of the author adlibbing some poems with Nobby The Sheep on ITV's Ghost Train in 1991 and from that clip alone it goes to show the title couldn't have gone to anyone else. However I reckon I need to be the reverse of what the poet and the ewe are doing in that clip and a visit to Center Parcs would be an ideal holiday considering that we're not going abroad this year.
It wasn't the only Saturday Morning show to visit that particular venue as three years earlier Going Live! did the whole show from the nicely shaded swimming pool where the guests included none other than Sylvester McCoy in full timelord apparel.
I'd imagine that around the time Trevor and Simon hadn't thought of a name for what would eventually become The Singing Corner!
Sunday, June 10, 2007
The Lightning Bolt Of The South
I thought it would be more than appropriate to post some audio accompaniment for the last post so I've had a search through my audio archive and found a demo called Laser Lightning; a production library released by Dallas jingle company Century 21 Programming in 1989.
This was designed to demonstrate the many tracks and FX available on the CD library sent out to TV and radio stations around the world with the punchiest music tracks that were around back then.
One in particular that can be heard about 54 seconds in ended up being the news intro for Invicta FM throughout the early 90s, a bit of music that made me feel proud to live in the broadcast area around the time.
If anyone reading this happens to own the Laser Lightning library and would be prepared to let me have a listen I would be more than interested. I'm not sure if I'd find any productive use for it nowadays but very few tunes in this day and age give me that same buzz and excitement as those demonstrated above.
What you might refer to as an eargasm!
This was designed to demonstrate the many tracks and FX available on the CD library sent out to TV and radio stations around the world with the punchiest music tracks that were around back then.
One in particular that can be heard about 54 seconds in ended up being the news intro for Invicta FM throughout the early 90s, a bit of music that made me feel proud to live in the broadcast area around the time.
If anyone reading this happens to own the Laser Lightning library and would be prepared to let me have a listen I would be more than interested. I'm not sure if I'd find any productive use for it nowadays but very few tunes in this day and age give me that same buzz and excitement as those demonstrated above.
What you might refer to as an eargasm!
The Golden Rose Of The North
If any ITV company made good use of animated graphics then Yorkshire Television had to be one of the finest. The broadcaster was only too happy to show off its efforts in this little package put together in 1988 showing off the variety of animations made not just for the station's programmes but for various promotions used throughout the ITV Network.
Accompanying the bright colours is a 1988 style version of "Jingo" by Candido and plenty of gems are included such as Countdown, Calendar and the original Through The Keyhole which I haven't seen for so many years. I'd love to see a full edition from that era just to hear the rather synthy musical stings that precceeded Loyd Grossman pottering round a minor celebrities house.
Nowadays anything heavy on synths of a televisual nature for me is an ideal method of comedy as found out whilst going through the many royalty free CDs during the podcasting module earlier in the year.
If I remember correctly fellow student Paul Calvert described them as
"eighties music gone wrong" whilst Tudor was certain that even in the decade itself people would have thought "this is too eighties for us".
A good example which proves a point would be when the audience would react in an amused manner to the music that played whenever a contestant lost the Gold Run on Blockbusters.
For me this probably highlights another of my passions, colourful graphics with just as colourful music to match.
Accompanying the bright colours is a 1988 style version of "Jingo" by Candido and plenty of gems are included such as Countdown, Calendar and the original Through The Keyhole which I haven't seen for so many years. I'd love to see a full edition from that era just to hear the rather synthy musical stings that precceeded Loyd Grossman pottering round a minor celebrities house.
Nowadays anything heavy on synths of a televisual nature for me is an ideal method of comedy as found out whilst going through the many royalty free CDs during the podcasting module earlier in the year.
If I remember correctly fellow student Paul Calvert described them as
"eighties music gone wrong" whilst Tudor was certain that even in the decade itself people would have thought "this is too eighties for us".
A good example which proves a point would be when the audience would react in an amused manner to the music that played whenever a contestant lost the Gold Run on Blockbusters.
For me this probably highlights another of my passions, colourful graphics with just as colourful music to match.
The Worst Is Yet To Come
I've made a start on giving the Soul Expression site a long awaited tidy up and have began adding the various playlists from the last year. More should be added over the next few weeks as I go through the wide amount of output of Smoke Radio throughout 2006-2007. Just a shame I'm not compiling the audio for our station entry at the SRAs as I could have it done in minutes if people asked me for any specific moments from shows etc.
I'm nearing the end of the shows we did during Freshers Week and there's some really entertaining and eclectic stuff which was broadcast. These included the infamous Freshers Blind Date which saw an entire show broadcast from a bedroom in halls and what has to be an entry for the Best Interview SRA category; Goodlass and Marshall with Dave Benson Phillips!
I made a podcast of the show which for some reason never got uploaded so for those who missed the chaos first time round here it is for you enjoyment!
Other higlights included Andy B with Pippa ST and Tudor, who had a habit of cracking up whenever Pippa accidentally made a reference to seeing things!
Some superb specialist shows were on offer as well including The Punk Show from back in the days when Josie used to present with Ross T driving the desk with embarrassing consequences! One of the tracks played that week was "F**k It Up" by the Towers Of London months before Donny Tourette made a name for himself by looking stupid on Celebrity Big Brother and Never Mind The Buzzcocks.
Another stand out show was a special on Ryan Adams presented by Lewis, a Scottish film student including a superb cover of Willie Nelson's "Always On My Mind" as well as another track I liked from the 2001 album "Gold" called "Goodnight Hollywood Boulevard".
Listening back to the music shows especially can be really enlightening and inspiring as far as bulding my MP3 collection goes, as long as it doesn't break the bank.
But at the same time it can also take you back to a particular time and I'm now approaching what for me was a rather dark period for the station in October last year where the enthusiasm between members seemed to disapear and things started to feel rather empty. It took quite a long time for Fresher's to get their own shows and it seemed that only my show, Shuffle, Sport On Smoke and Smoke International were the regular shows on air with more and more people dropping out, or turning up for shows one week but not the next.
But as I've said before, ups are nothing without downs and I'm just an obssesive for remembering otherwise non descript periods of time.
I'm nearing the end of the shows we did during Freshers Week and there's some really entertaining and eclectic stuff which was broadcast. These included the infamous Freshers Blind Date which saw an entire show broadcast from a bedroom in halls and what has to be an entry for the Best Interview SRA category; Goodlass and Marshall with Dave Benson Phillips!
I made a podcast of the show which for some reason never got uploaded so for those who missed the chaos first time round here it is for you enjoyment!
Other higlights included Andy B with Pippa ST and Tudor, who had a habit of cracking up whenever Pippa accidentally made a reference to seeing things!
Some superb specialist shows were on offer as well including The Punk Show from back in the days when Josie used to present with Ross T driving the desk with embarrassing consequences! One of the tracks played that week was "F**k It Up" by the Towers Of London months before Donny Tourette made a name for himself by looking stupid on Celebrity Big Brother and Never Mind The Buzzcocks.
Another stand out show was a special on Ryan Adams presented by Lewis, a Scottish film student including a superb cover of Willie Nelson's "Always On My Mind" as well as another track I liked from the 2001 album "Gold" called "Goodnight Hollywood Boulevard".
Listening back to the music shows especially can be really enlightening and inspiring as far as bulding my MP3 collection goes, as long as it doesn't break the bank.
But at the same time it can also take you back to a particular time and I'm now approaching what for me was a rather dark period for the station in October last year where the enthusiasm between members seemed to disapear and things started to feel rather empty. It took quite a long time for Fresher's to get their own shows and it seemed that only my show, Shuffle, Sport On Smoke and Smoke International were the regular shows on air with more and more people dropping out, or turning up for shows one week but not the next.
But as I've said before, ups are nothing without downs and I'm just an obssesive for remembering otherwise non descript periods of time.
Saturday, June 09, 2007
The Hidden Extra
Slightly overcast but warm enough for the windows to be opened throughout most of today.
Earlier this evening we popped over to Concha and Martin's house and it was good to see them again, the first time I've seen them after I brought my glasses so it's been quite a while now.
Dad and Martin had a bit of a chat about their memories of Whistle Test and how it really was event television back in those days. Once again the DVDs of the series released by the BBC are a must for any music fan.
Tonight's Doctor Who must have been a nightmare for the props department with a story involving gargoyles who could transport people back in time but they didn't actually move. Instead they changed postion every few seconds whenever there was no light in the room they were in.
The episode also made me look very stupid as I finally managed to work out why the hidden features on DVD are called Easter Eggs.
One of the best I know of happens to be the full version of "Free Love Freeway" on Series 1 of the Office, which later ended up being recorded in the studio with Noel Gallagher on backing vocals which actually turned out to be very good!
A more imaganitve one was on Dead Man's Shoes and a first take of the commentary where Shane Meadows and Paddy Considine weren't happy with their ramblings so they started again!
Ideal ways of killing time.
Earlier this evening we popped over to Concha and Martin's house and it was good to see them again, the first time I've seen them after I brought my glasses so it's been quite a while now.
Dad and Martin had a bit of a chat about their memories of Whistle Test and how it really was event television back in those days. Once again the DVDs of the series released by the BBC are a must for any music fan.
Tonight's Doctor Who must have been a nightmare for the props department with a story involving gargoyles who could transport people back in time but they didn't actually move. Instead they changed postion every few seconds whenever there was no light in the room they were in.
The episode also made me look very stupid as I finally managed to work out why the hidden features on DVD are called Easter Eggs.
One of the best I know of happens to be the full version of "Free Love Freeway" on Series 1 of the Office, which later ended up being recorded in the studio with Noel Gallagher on backing vocals which actually turned out to be very good!
A more imaganitve one was on Dead Man's Shoes and a first take of the commentary where Shane Meadows and Paddy Considine weren't happy with their ramblings so they started again!
Ideal ways of killing time.
Friday, June 08, 2007
Migraines Worse Than Work?
Same sort of day as usual, nothing that eventful for most of the day.
I gave a listen to this weeks Grooveline this afternoon and hopefully this will be become a regular activity for the next few Fridays that I'll be in Canterbury now I've got a bit more time to spare.
Some pretty good stuff including Quincy Jones in this week's Three Play and more from Maysa's latest album, but the highlight involved a slip of the tounge when referring to brit funk act Beggar and Co!
Around about mid-evening I ended up getting a bloody awful headache, not a good start to the weekend at all. However this was relieved by a visit to Cafe Mauresque for Dad's birthday meal which went pretty well. I went for the chicken tagine as always and delicious as it was, I don't really feel that full up as I'm still pretty hungry now resorting to the digestive biscuits in the tin near my bedroom mirror.
If it was possible I'd love to just sleep my way through the whole three months that I'm back here as I reckon in about three or four weeks I'll end up being a crotchety sort and forgetting about what drives me. However I reckon I don't think my batteries have run out just yet.
I gave a listen to this weeks Grooveline this afternoon and hopefully this will be become a regular activity for the next few Fridays that I'll be in Canterbury now I've got a bit more time to spare.
Some pretty good stuff including Quincy Jones in this week's Three Play and more from Maysa's latest album, but the highlight involved a slip of the tounge when referring to brit funk act Beggar and Co!
Around about mid-evening I ended up getting a bloody awful headache, not a good start to the weekend at all. However this was relieved by a visit to Cafe Mauresque for Dad's birthday meal which went pretty well. I went for the chicken tagine as always and delicious as it was, I don't really feel that full up as I'm still pretty hungry now resorting to the digestive biscuits in the tin near my bedroom mirror.
If it was possible I'd love to just sleep my way through the whole three months that I'm back here as I reckon in about three or four weeks I'll end up being a crotchety sort and forgetting about what drives me. However I reckon I don't think my batteries have run out just yet.
Living Under A Rain Gutter
It's pissing it down outside but I'm not in too bad a mood to be honest. This is partly because my room is on the top floor and whenever it rains heavilly you can hear it tipping on the ceiling, the same sort of noise as it makes on a tent or caravan.
The main reason I'm up pretty early is because Dad was opening his birthday presents which included some "non alcoholic" chocolates from Mum and my present was a box set compilation of jazz musician Charlie Parker.
Dad was playing CDs of a similar nature at full blast yesterday night which probably goes to show that he has turned into a Trevor Chaplin of some sorts.
The next family birthday's just over a month away as Olly will be turning 17 in July, then shortly after will be Mum also turning 49. I just hope that none of these birthdays end up with me getting in an argument with those celebrating as I've always been a bit crotchety as a result of working in ASDA around the time.
However there's no way I'm returning this year so it should be a different story.
The main reason I'm up pretty early is because Dad was opening his birthday presents which included some "non alcoholic" chocolates from Mum and my present was a box set compilation of jazz musician Charlie Parker.
Dad was playing CDs of a similar nature at full blast yesterday night which probably goes to show that he has turned into a Trevor Chaplin of some sorts.
The next family birthday's just over a month away as Olly will be turning 17 in July, then shortly after will be Mum also turning 49. I just hope that none of these birthdays end up with me getting in an argument with those celebrating as I've always been a bit crotchety as a result of working in ASDA around the time.
However there's no way I'm returning this year so it should be a different story.
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Uneventful But Not Unhappy
Run of the mill day once again, I handed in my application form at Next and did some more shopping at Morrisons. I've still got to wrap up Dad's birthday present for tomorrow but I'll get round to that before tonight definitely.
I'm also looking forward to a one off comedy drama by Richard Herring called "You Can Choose Your Friends" being shown tonight on ITV1. The underrated stand up comedian brings some very good actors together including Anton Rogers and Julia McKenzie reunited since they appeared in Fresh Fields.
Also making an appearance is Gordon Kennedy who recently appeared in the BBC's Robin Hood as Little John although those of an older generation are probably unlucky enough to remember him as Anthea Turner's co-host on The National Lottery Live!
Tomorrow should be slightly more exciting as we'll be going to Cafe Mauresque again for Dad's 49th and I'm looking forward to the lovely chicken tagines and Ciabatta bread.
Later in the holidays we need to go somewhere for my birthday meal which has been delayed as a result of me being in at Uni for the occasion!
I'm also looking forward to a one off comedy drama by Richard Herring called "You Can Choose Your Friends" being shown tonight on ITV1. The underrated stand up comedian brings some very good actors together including Anton Rogers and Julia McKenzie reunited since they appeared in Fresh Fields.
Also making an appearance is Gordon Kennedy who recently appeared in the BBC's Robin Hood as Little John although those of an older generation are probably unlucky enough to remember him as Anthea Turner's co-host on The National Lottery Live!
Tomorrow should be slightly more exciting as we'll be going to Cafe Mauresque again for Dad's 49th and I'm looking forward to the lovely chicken tagines and Ciabatta bread.
Later in the holidays we need to go somewhere for my birthday meal which has been delayed as a result of me being in at Uni for the occasion!
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
"I'll Have Some Bloody Loud Jazz, And The Bloody Neighbours Can Bog Off!"
A rather extensive list of possible birthday presents from Dad was on the dining room table when I got up this morning. Amongst them included compilation CDs from Charlie Parker, Coleman Hawkins, Chet Baker and other performers on a list sounding very similar to the order made by Trevor Chaplin in the YTV drama series "The Beiderbecke Affair"originally broadcast in 1985. When I get slightly more better off I must buy the new DVD boxset of that series which contains a soundtrack CD containing the stunning musical accompaniment as performed by the Frank Ricotti All Stars.
Frank Ricotti also being the man who played percussion on the original theme to Grange Hill!
I went into Fopp in Canterbury to buy the present and also went to Next to get a job application form for the position I saw advertised yesterday. I just need to find my N.I. card which I hope mum has kept safe downstairs. Or I could just see if I've got any ASDA pay slips lying about in my room.
Dad isn't the only one recieving presents as I got another package in the mail containing more CDs with countdowns of yesteryear only this time of an aural nature as broadcast on many a Sunday afternoon on Radio 1.
These included ones from September 1984 with Simon Bates at the helm and two with the chart master Bruno Brookes from September 1986 and exactly one year before Olly was born on the 9th of July 1989.
I'll keep these embargoed from my ears possibly for the next year as I always feel you need to have something to work towards. And also because I've got tons of other audio and visual nostalgia to keep me occupied throughout the next few months!
Frank Ricotti also being the man who played percussion on the original theme to Grange Hill!
I went into Fopp in Canterbury to buy the present and also went to Next to get a job application form for the position I saw advertised yesterday. I just need to find my N.I. card which I hope mum has kept safe downstairs. Or I could just see if I've got any ASDA pay slips lying about in my room.
Dad isn't the only one recieving presents as I got another package in the mail containing more CDs with countdowns of yesteryear only this time of an aural nature as broadcast on many a Sunday afternoon on Radio 1.
These included ones from September 1984 with Simon Bates at the helm and two with the chart master Bruno Brookes from September 1986 and exactly one year before Olly was born on the 9th of July 1989.
I'll keep these embargoed from my ears possibly for the next year as I always feel you need to have something to work towards. And also because I've got tons of other audio and visual nostalgia to keep me occupied throughout the next few months!
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Ilkley Moor Tat (In General)
Rather mundane sort of day really. I spent part of it going round Canterbury keeping an eye out for any job vacancies. I spotted one in the window of Next for a temporary overnight stockroom assistant which could be a bit of a challenge but an interesting one nonetheless.
I also spotted a few in Morrisons which didn't have a large amount of hours on offer but better than nowt in my case. Two of them included positions within the refurbished customer restaurant which from the designs looks a lot classier than anything found in ASDA. I don't think I'll be going for that job however!
On a slightly different and as always random note, another delve into Youtube has resulted in me finding the last few minutes of the Calendar Commentary Christmas Quiz
as shown on Yorkshire Television in 1991.
Future Tory Leader William Hague can be seen hogging the quick-fire round before being presented with his prize by a rather throaty Geoff Druett. The highlight of the clip for me is the elegant version of the Calendar theme which unless you've spent a lifetime in the YTV region won't really mean anything.
The plan for tomorrow and I guess for the next month is to make a start on listening back to stuff from the last year at Uni to compile for the SRAs. Well I've only really got to think about my own show but the buzz of the whole thing especially in Freshers Week and S(4)S really comes back when listening to what we've done.
I also spotted a few in Morrisons which didn't have a large amount of hours on offer but better than nowt in my case. Two of them included positions within the refurbished customer restaurant which from the designs looks a lot classier than anything found in ASDA. I don't think I'll be going for that job however!
On a slightly different and as always random note, another delve into Youtube has resulted in me finding the last few minutes of the Calendar Commentary Christmas Quiz
as shown on Yorkshire Television in 1991.
Future Tory Leader William Hague can be seen hogging the quick-fire round before being presented with his prize by a rather throaty Geoff Druett. The highlight of the clip for me is the elegant version of the Calendar theme which unless you've spent a lifetime in the YTV region won't really mean anything.
The plan for tomorrow and I guess for the next month is to make a start on listening back to stuff from the last year at Uni to compile for the SRAs. Well I've only really got to think about my own show but the buzz of the whole thing especially in Freshers Week and S(4)S really comes back when listening to what we've done.
The Navigation Labyrinth
Since the Web Radio module on the radio course last year I've started to become less patient with sites that have badly set up navigation. One such example being 4 On Demand which has so much to offer but the content is hidden right at the bottom of the page due to the rather large layout and tables.
When you click on a particular show or series it highlights two of the episodes that are available to download, when there are actually more on offer but can't be seen on screen unless you scroll down.
Which is such a shame as there's a wide range of programmes from the Channel 4 archives on offer from Father Ted to Desmonds. One of my unexpected finds was a programme called Star Test made by the people behind The Chart Show which involved celebrities being quizzed by a computer on a series of quirky categories.
The programme's concept was open to mimicry right from the beginning leading to send ups from French and Saunders and more recently Bo Selecta.
I hope this doesn't end up being too much of a money burner but then again the site does need a bit of improving as far as getting around it goes.
When you click on a particular show or series it highlights two of the episodes that are available to download, when there are actually more on offer but can't be seen on screen unless you scroll down.
Which is such a shame as there's a wide range of programmes from the Channel 4 archives on offer from Father Ted to Desmonds. One of my unexpected finds was a programme called Star Test made by the people behind The Chart Show which involved celebrities being quizzed by a computer on a series of quirky categories.
The programme's concept was open to mimicry right from the beginning leading to send ups from French and Saunders and more recently Bo Selecta.
I hope this doesn't end up being too much of a money burner but then again the site does need a bit of improving as far as getting around it goes.
"Be A Friend, Rewind To The End"
Now this is very nostalgic and suits my trainspotter exploits perfectly, a selection of video idents and promos from around the mid-late 80s!
First of all this promo from The Video Collection in 1985. The music that accompanies the sting after the legal disclaimer was also used to introduce the weather on TVS around the same time oddly enough although I wouldn't remember it as we were still living in London at the time.
The more memorable intro with the CGI television can be seen here.
I'm not sure if the strategy of logo designers and music composers was to scare the viewers witless but it certainly shows on this rather unnerving ident for Palace Video.
The part of the disclaimer that says "OR ELSE!" is just a hint for what's to come.
Never mind Palace, Slaughterhouse would be more appropriate!
This offering here is interesting, BBC Video from the Watch With Mother tape released in 1987 where instead of the rather unnerving synth tune associated with the brightly coloured star, we get a more cute and relaxed music box tune.
Even better is the replacement introduced shortly after in 1988 with a variation on the COW Globe which has to be my favourite video ident from Auntie.
The sole reason why I brought my copy of the Doctor Who "Curse Of Fenric" video all those years ago.
Credit of course to those who've been up in lofts in order to find these gems although I reckon in about 20 years time I could end up with a loft full of external hard drives!
First of all this promo from The Video Collection in 1985. The music that accompanies the sting after the legal disclaimer was also used to introduce the weather on TVS around the same time oddly enough although I wouldn't remember it as we were still living in London at the time.
The more memorable intro with the CGI television can be seen here.
I'm not sure if the strategy of logo designers and music composers was to scare the viewers witless but it certainly shows on this rather unnerving ident for Palace Video.
The part of the disclaimer that says "OR ELSE!" is just a hint for what's to come.
Never mind Palace, Slaughterhouse would be more appropriate!
This offering here is interesting, BBC Video from the Watch With Mother tape released in 1987 where instead of the rather unnerving synth tune associated with the brightly coloured star, we get a more cute and relaxed music box tune.
Even better is the replacement introduced shortly after in 1988 with a variation on the COW Globe which has to be my favourite video ident from Auntie.
The sole reason why I brought my copy of the Doctor Who "Curse Of Fenric" video all those years ago.
Credit of course to those who've been up in lofts in order to find these gems although I reckon in about 20 years time I could end up with a loft full of external hard drives!
Monday, June 04, 2007
My First Monday Without Intoxication
Well in a long while anyway. There are absolutely no soft drinks or squash in the house and I'm resorting to devouring on the rosy apples that I brought from M&S in Brent Cross last week. They're pretty sticky but it's better than nowt.
Hopefully I'll be able to alleviate my thirst by popping into Morrisons tomorrow and also buying some of their delicious wholemeal bread which I haven't bought since that rather wet visit to Wimbledon a few weeks ago.
Apart from that there's hardly anything worth writing as it's been a run of the mill day as far as getting out anywhere is concerned. I need to ask Dad what present I should get him for his 49th birthday this weekend which I hope won't be too expensive. I really need to get back into the habit of asking for presents rather than spending my own money on them.
Hopefully I'll be able to alleviate my thirst by popping into Morrisons tomorrow and also buying some of their delicious wholemeal bread which I haven't bought since that rather wet visit to Wimbledon a few weeks ago.
Apart from that there's hardly anything worth writing as it's been a run of the mill day as far as getting out anywhere is concerned. I need to ask Dad what present I should get him for his 49th birthday this weekend which I hope won't be too expensive. I really need to get back into the habit of asking for presents rather than spending my own money on them.
"Incognito, Just A Band"
I've stumbled across a record that's been around for a couple of months but certainly needs further exposure. Dan Le Sac Vs. Scroobius Pip and "Thou Shalt Always Kill" is definitely one of the contenders for the best record of 2007 which manages to set a few things straight about popular culture and life overall, and has put me back on the ground over a few things.
The video can be seen here where the lead singer looks like a cross between Borat and Bullet Baxter from Grange Hill!
In this decade everyone seems to be putting otherwise average performers and public figures on huge pedestals with the word "legend" now a shadow of its proper meaning. The lyrics to this song highlight how ridiculous this can be with even the performers themeselves putting themselves up for the stick. Then again for someone who can't make their own opinions without hearing other peoples, I'm guilty of quite a few things mentioned in the song such as liking bands just because other people like them. Hopefully not as much now but it will always live on.
The video can be seen here where the lead singer looks like a cross between Borat and Bullet Baxter from Grange Hill!
In this decade everyone seems to be putting otherwise average performers and public figures on huge pedestals with the word "legend" now a shadow of its proper meaning. The lyrics to this song highlight how ridiculous this can be with even the performers themeselves putting themselves up for the stick. Then again for someone who can't make their own opinions without hearing other peoples, I'm guilty of quite a few things mentioned in the song such as liking bands just because other people like them. Hopefully not as much now but it will always live on.
"Get Into The Groove"
I was up until the wee small hours last night sorting out my MP3s which I had been doing since about 3pm yesterday afternoon. Around about midnight I decided to treat myself by listening to the first hour of this week's Grooveline with Stephen, which I haven't heard for quite a while as a result of the internet in halls refusing to let me access Blast 1386, and being occupied with other things.
One track that really stood out was by a German band called Soulmine and a pop/soul
belter called "Livin' Together". You have to admire their achievement of writing a song entirely in English and with a cracking tune to match, reminiscent of Jamiroquai.
Also included were two tracks of Maysa's new album "Feel The Fire"; what many have described as a sequel to last years "Sweet Classic Soul" but with a more personal set of tunes. These included a really good cover of Michael Jackson's "I Can't Help It" from his "Off The Wall" album.
There was also The Chimes lead by Pauline Henry and their cover of U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" which made the Top 10 in 1990. I'm probably the only person who actually likes their version as many U2 fans were a bit pissed off when the song was released.
One to feature on Bubblegum Soul I reckon when I get back in September.
On that same subject, during our Red Nose Day broadcast a few months ago, Ben and Jason decided to adlib a song about "Bubblegum Soul" which was a tiny bit embarassing but very well written. I would upload it but Ross T has the disc which has got all the shows on from that day which for some reason I didn't get with the others when collecting them a couple of weeks ago.
If you're reading this Ross, I hope you be kind enough to wing the disc over to Canterbury and I will put the song up for all hear and be as embarrassed as I was. Thanks!
Still quite a lot to get done with stacks of CD-Rs and DVD-Rs of stuff I've burnt throughout Uni that really needs to be organised. I just love the idea of instant access because I'm dreadfully lazy at the worst of times.
One track that really stood out was by a German band called Soulmine and a pop/soul
belter called "Livin' Together". You have to admire their achievement of writing a song entirely in English and with a cracking tune to match, reminiscent of Jamiroquai.
Also included were two tracks of Maysa's new album "Feel The Fire"; what many have described as a sequel to last years "Sweet Classic Soul" but with a more personal set of tunes. These included a really good cover of Michael Jackson's "I Can't Help It" from his "Off The Wall" album.
There was also The Chimes lead by Pauline Henry and their cover of U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" which made the Top 10 in 1990. I'm probably the only person who actually likes their version as many U2 fans were a bit pissed off when the song was released.
One to feature on Bubblegum Soul I reckon when I get back in September.
On that same subject, during our Red Nose Day broadcast a few months ago, Ben and Jason decided to adlib a song about "Bubblegum Soul" which was a tiny bit embarassing but very well written. I would upload it but Ross T has the disc which has got all the shows on from that day which for some reason I didn't get with the others when collecting them a couple of weeks ago.
If you're reading this Ross, I hope you be kind enough to wing the disc over to Canterbury and I will put the song up for all hear and be as embarrassed as I was. Thanks!
Still quite a lot to get done with stacks of CD-Rs and DVD-Rs of stuff I've burnt throughout Uni that really needs to be organised. I just love the idea of instant access because I'm dreadfully lazy at the worst of times.
Sunday, June 03, 2007
The Extended Tidy Weekender (In A More Literal Sense)
Today consisted of a walk in nearby Blean woods with mum, dad, Aunt Helen and Uncle Richard. Richard actually ran the longer route training for a marathon taking place in Nottingham later in the year whilst the rest of us went on one of the shorter routes on offer. As much as I was tempted I decided not to run although I did have to explain the difference between the Great North Run and The London Marthon quite a few times due to the many distractions, namely the large amount of squirrels.
They left with their son George this afternoon where they ended up taking the balloons that both George and Olly inflated yesterday while everyone else was in France buying booze and so on.
The rest of the day has been spent orgainising my MP3s into an ordinary manner and labelling them like mad giving them the composer details and the record labels. The Music Radio module has definitely had an affect on my organisational mannerisms this year.
I've managed to uncover some tunes that I never knew I had including "Prologue" by Renaissance, the bizarre "Detachable Penis" by King Missile and the 60s soul classic "Nothing But A Heartache" by the Flirtations.
Exepect the next few blog posts to be pretty sparse in as there's a lot to get through and I also need to start listening back to various Smoke output from throughout the year to compile the entries for the SRAs. Overall there's no excuse to be fed up over the holidays. As long as I find some way of earning bob at the same time.
They left with their son George this afternoon where they ended up taking the balloons that both George and Olly inflated yesterday while everyone else was in France buying booze and so on.
The rest of the day has been spent orgainising my MP3s into an ordinary manner and labelling them like mad giving them the composer details and the record labels. The Music Radio module has definitely had an affect on my organisational mannerisms this year.
I've managed to uncover some tunes that I never knew I had including "Prologue" by Renaissance, the bizarre "Detachable Penis" by King Missile and the 60s soul classic "Nothing But A Heartache" by the Flirtations.
Exepect the next few blog posts to be pretty sparse in as there's a lot to get through and I also need to start listening back to various Smoke output from throughout the year to compile the entries for the SRAs. Overall there's no excuse to be fed up over the holidays. As long as I find some way of earning bob at the same time.
Saturday, June 02, 2007
"Bu-dum Bu-dum"
The third episode of "7 Ages Of Rock" was the best one so far in the series, this week focusing on Punk and on areas such as the divides between the US and UK punk acts.
A key example being when Patti Smith was having success with her LP "Horses" and Johhny Rotten before a Sex Pistols gig ranted to the audience "orses?, orses? orse shit more like".
The programme also looked at artists such as the Buzzcocks and how they made one of my favourite punk records "Boredom".
This was a record that I've known for a long while as it was the soundtrack to many long car journeys on a C90 tape that my dad recorded of a selection of his punk 7"s.
It turned out that the comedy elements of the song were intentional such as the song going silent at random points and the two note guitar solo which sent up the concept of guitar solos overall.
This lead on to how Punk ended up being what it was against in the first place, predictable and uninspiring with the Sex Pistols breaking up and the Clash moving on to explore other genres such as reggae and dub on their groundbreaking "London Calling" LP.
Whilst the programme itself was very informative they left out a few acts from the genre including the New York Dolls, and female lead UK act X-Ray Spex although they did feature the Slits and Sixouxie and The Banshees; Sixouxie Sixoux being one of the women in the audience for the infamous interview that the Sex Pistols took part in for Thames Television, and they even showed the station ident in the programme as well!
After seeing the one who didn't look like Jason Donovan getting booted out of the search for Joseph, we had a gander at the final edition of Have I Got News For You with Moira Stuart in the chair coming across really well. A good but not spectacular end to the series with Marcus Brigstocke making a welcome return as a guest. One of the highlights being Paul Merton's interpretation on the unfortunately named European TV Station R.C.T.V.
There was also a re-hash of a joke originally done on the show in 1998 about Peter Mandelson where just as Moria was about to give her own opinion on the man who shut down a television station they flashed up Test Card F.
That's a sight I wouldn't like to see when least expecting it.
A key example being when Patti Smith was having success with her LP "Horses" and Johhny Rotten before a Sex Pistols gig ranted to the audience "orses?, orses? orse shit more like".
The programme also looked at artists such as the Buzzcocks and how they made one of my favourite punk records "Boredom".
This was a record that I've known for a long while as it was the soundtrack to many long car journeys on a C90 tape that my dad recorded of a selection of his punk 7"s.
It turned out that the comedy elements of the song were intentional such as the song going silent at random points and the two note guitar solo which sent up the concept of guitar solos overall.
This lead on to how Punk ended up being what it was against in the first place, predictable and uninspiring with the Sex Pistols breaking up and the Clash moving on to explore other genres such as reggae and dub on their groundbreaking "London Calling" LP.
Whilst the programme itself was very informative they left out a few acts from the genre including the New York Dolls, and female lead UK act X-Ray Spex although they did feature the Slits and Sixouxie and The Banshees; Sixouxie Sixoux being one of the women in the audience for the infamous interview that the Sex Pistols took part in for Thames Television, and they even showed the station ident in the programme as well!
After seeing the one who didn't look like Jason Donovan getting booted out of the search for Joseph, we had a gander at the final edition of Have I Got News For You with Moira Stuart in the chair coming across really well. A good but not spectacular end to the series with Marcus Brigstocke making a welcome return as a guest. One of the highlights being Paul Merton's interpretation on the unfortunately named European TV Station R.C.T.V.
There was also a re-hash of a joke originally done on the show in 1998 about Peter Mandelson where just as Moria was about to give her own opinion on the man who shut down a television station they flashed up Test Card F.
That's a sight I wouldn't like to see when least expecting it.
Even More Random Pop Nonsense!
Not being a huge fan of the series I've only managed to find out about the long awaited male contestant who entered the Big Brother house last night.
Zak Lichman a 26 year old who used to be a member of early noughties boyband "Northern Line" and sadly enough I can remember them as well!
They made quite a few appearances at the time on shows such as SM:TV Live and were played quite a lot on Essex FM which at the time was a listening weakness.
Their most memorable track for me was one called "All Around The World"; not an East 17 cover, not a Lisa Stansfield cover but a disco tinged dancer which is a perfect example of my sort of bubblegum pop record.
What's even more sad is that Zak's not the only member of the band to appear
in a reality TV show as fellow band member Andy Love made it through to the second stages of the first series of Pop Idol in late 2001. This was the part of the series when each contestant had to perform to the judges in a rather enclosed room accompanied by a solo piano. And I'll be honest, I ended up breaking down after Will Young performed "Light My Fire" for the first time as it stood out perfectly amongst the blandness, and the eventual winner did the right thing to finally hit back at Simon Cowell for dismissing it as "distinctly average".
This being the same man who gave us Robson and Jerome.
Zak Lichman a 26 year old who used to be a member of early noughties boyband "Northern Line" and sadly enough I can remember them as well!
They made quite a few appearances at the time on shows such as SM:TV Live and were played quite a lot on Essex FM which at the time was a listening weakness.
Their most memorable track for me was one called "All Around The World"; not an East 17 cover, not a Lisa Stansfield cover but a disco tinged dancer which is a perfect example of my sort of bubblegum pop record.
What's even more sad is that Zak's not the only member of the band to appear
in a reality TV show as fellow band member Andy Love made it through to the second stages of the first series of Pop Idol in late 2001. This was the part of the series when each contestant had to perform to the judges in a rather enclosed room accompanied by a solo piano. And I'll be honest, I ended up breaking down after Will Young performed "Light My Fire" for the first time as it stood out perfectly amongst the blandness, and the eventual winner did the right thing to finally hit back at Simon Cowell for dismissing it as "distinctly average".
This being the same man who gave us Robson and Jerome.
Blammy's Blog: A Pretender To The Throne
With this blog in the last month or so becoming a showcase for my many music tangents I've managed to find another site that is entirely devoted to exactly that and probably does a better job than I do.
Pop Unlimited run by AcerBen contains posts devoted to several records mainly from the 80s and 90s that we'd all thought we'd forgotten. I really like the header at the top of the page based on the Top Of The Pops logo from the "Year Zero" era of the early 90s.
Such "classics" include TV tie-ins North and South who's biggest hit was "I'm A Man Not A Boy" from their CBBC series "No Sweat". And there's also a few really talented vocalists who had moderate long term success including the stunning Conner Reeves, who around the same time as North and South had releases such as "My Father's Son" and "Read My Mind". Nowadays he's writing for artists such as Joss Stone and despite my rather cynical comments in the past I think her current album isn't too bad.
I could go on for ages but I'd end up stealing the content off Ben's site so I guess I'll leave him to wax lyrical. But that site is definitely going on the links column at the right of the page.
Pop Unlimited run by AcerBen contains posts devoted to several records mainly from the 80s and 90s that we'd all thought we'd forgotten. I really like the header at the top of the page based on the Top Of The Pops logo from the "Year Zero" era of the early 90s.
Such "classics" include TV tie-ins North and South who's biggest hit was "I'm A Man Not A Boy" from their CBBC series "No Sweat". And there's also a few really talented vocalists who had moderate long term success including the stunning Conner Reeves, who around the same time as North and South had releases such as "My Father's Son" and "Read My Mind". Nowadays he's writing for artists such as Joss Stone and despite my rather cynical comments in the past I think her current album isn't too bad.
I could go on for ages but I'd end up stealing the content off Ben's site so I guess I'll leave him to wax lyrical. But that site is definitely going on the links column at the right of the page.
Unapacked And Unplugged
I left Harrow Halls at around 6am this morning saying goodbye to flatmates Jess and Hariet along the way. The timing was spot on because the minute I walked out of the flat, the fire alarms went off for the second time that night. As I was giving my keys in at reception the porter was just stood static as if bugger all was happening so I legged it to the tube station.
I found out at the Undercroft yesterday that Hariet had actually aqquired all the music that was coming out of her flat yesterday from none other than Phoebe, a fellow 1st year CMP student and co-presenter of the Dry Ice chillout show. If I was the one organising the awards I would have definitely given them the prize of best female specialist newcomers but then again I'm musically biased.
Anyway, that's beside the point.
I was very sleepy on both the tube and the train journey home, luckily waking up at the right stops I had to change at. As soon as I got home I ended up falling asleep for most of the day waking up at around 4:30pm. I immediately made a start on unpacking everything and it looks as if most of my property made it back safely. The only thing I haven't managed to find amongst the clutter is my mobile phone charger although I've borrowed my sisters in the short term whilst she's in America until mid August.
And things are almost sorted out with one tiny exception; we've had a log-in key added to our wireless internet connection since my last visit and as Mum and Dad are in France with my mums sister and her husband, I'm resorting to using the rather bulky machine in the low temperature cellar with the yellow tinged monitor. Hopefully they'll return soon and I won't end up getting pnuemonia throughout the summer.
I found out at the Undercroft yesterday that Hariet had actually aqquired all the music that was coming out of her flat yesterday from none other than Phoebe, a fellow 1st year CMP student and co-presenter of the Dry Ice chillout show. If I was the one organising the awards I would have definitely given them the prize of best female specialist newcomers but then again I'm musically biased.
Anyway, that's beside the point.
I was very sleepy on both the tube and the train journey home, luckily waking up at the right stops I had to change at. As soon as I got home I ended up falling asleep for most of the day waking up at around 4:30pm. I immediately made a start on unpacking everything and it looks as if most of my property made it back safely. The only thing I haven't managed to find amongst the clutter is my mobile phone charger although I've borrowed my sisters in the short term whilst she's in America until mid August.
And things are almost sorted out with one tiny exception; we've had a log-in key added to our wireless internet connection since my last visit and as Mum and Dad are in France with my mums sister and her husband, I'm resorting to using the rather bulky machine in the low temperature cellar with the yellow tinged monitor. Hopefully they'll return soon and I won't end up getting pnuemonia throughout the summer.
Burn Baby Burn!
My last few moments in halls for this year and I'm starting to feel rather sad about leaving. However the main reason it's only started to sink in now was because the events of last night tended to overshadow that feeling completely.
I arrived at the Underpants at around 7:30pm where there were quite a few people waiting to see the England Vs Brazil game. Whilst they had the match build up on the big screen there was no sound and a few people decided to go off to a nearby pub in Kenton before they even got a chance to switch the sound on at the Undercroft. Pretty soon after, birthday boy Chris Jones arrived along with Penny, Lucy T, and all but one of the residents of the Northwick Mansion
Later arrivals included Pippa ST and her flatmate Hollie and even Ross G was there adding to the excitement. Decio was spinning the tunes and we got a bit of everything with me getting rather excited when they started playing "The Twist" by Chubby Checker and "Move Bitch" by Ludacris. Despite staying open until 3am, the bar was pretty much rammed and the impatience of some of the customers ended up with them getting a bit too rowdy resulting in them getting arrested.
I tried not to let that get in the way despite not having a lot to drink myself and we finished the night in style with "The Time Of My Life" from Dirty Dancing as the final record played.
But the party wasn't over as quite a lot of us decided to start a bonfire on the grass outside the Harrow Campus which almost everyone contributed too. First year film student Dave even brought his guitar with him which resulted in various members of Team Buff joining in with renditions of McFly songs and even the theme from Friends!
I then realised that I still had last night's lamb stew and pasta to finish off so I decided to heat it up and bring it out for everyone to share! Those who helped me finish it off thought that the sauce from the stew was really lovely with the pasta but the enjoyment didn't last long as both the fire brigade and the police arrived to put a stop to our cavorts.
All the chaos and excitement caused by this resulted in another individual getting arrested, this time for taking photos as it apparently broke the Terrorism Act although he was released shortly after although from what I heard they didn't let him go lightly. The police couldn't force us to return to our rooms either because the fire alarm was going off, although this time they actually had someone in the reception to finally switch the noise off.
The perfect way to finish my second year in halls and I'm hoping my final year will see a similar scenario. For now though I've got three bags full of stuff, some of which I wish I'd given to Mum and Dad two days ago, to travel back to Canterbury with. I'd best have a check to see when the earliest train from now is.
Overall I'm going to miss campus life whilst back in Canterbury.
I arrived at the Underpants at around 7:30pm where there were quite a few people waiting to see the England Vs Brazil game. Whilst they had the match build up on the big screen there was no sound and a few people decided to go off to a nearby pub in Kenton before they even got a chance to switch the sound on at the Undercroft. Pretty soon after, birthday boy Chris Jones arrived along with Penny, Lucy T, and all but one of the residents of the Northwick Mansion
Later arrivals included Pippa ST and her flatmate Hollie and even Ross G was there adding to the excitement. Decio was spinning the tunes and we got a bit of everything with me getting rather excited when they started playing "The Twist" by Chubby Checker and "Move Bitch" by Ludacris. Despite staying open until 3am, the bar was pretty much rammed and the impatience of some of the customers ended up with them getting a bit too rowdy resulting in them getting arrested.
I tried not to let that get in the way despite not having a lot to drink myself and we finished the night in style with "The Time Of My Life" from Dirty Dancing as the final record played.
But the party wasn't over as quite a lot of us decided to start a bonfire on the grass outside the Harrow Campus which almost everyone contributed too. First year film student Dave even brought his guitar with him which resulted in various members of Team Buff joining in with renditions of McFly songs and even the theme from Friends!
I then realised that I still had last night's lamb stew and pasta to finish off so I decided to heat it up and bring it out for everyone to share! Those who helped me finish it off thought that the sauce from the stew was really lovely with the pasta but the enjoyment didn't last long as both the fire brigade and the police arrived to put a stop to our cavorts.
All the chaos and excitement caused by this resulted in another individual getting arrested, this time for taking photos as it apparently broke the Terrorism Act although he was released shortly after although from what I heard they didn't let him go lightly. The police couldn't force us to return to our rooms either because the fire alarm was going off, although this time they actually had someone in the reception to finally switch the noise off.
The perfect way to finish my second year in halls and I'm hoping my final year will see a similar scenario. For now though I've got three bags full of stuff, some of which I wish I'd given to Mum and Dad two days ago, to travel back to Canterbury with. I'd best have a check to see when the earliest train from now is.
Overall I'm going to miss campus life whilst back in Canterbury.
Friday, June 01, 2007
Leaving London On A High
Very hard to believe it's June already, especially as this time last year I was away in Spain on an alleged holiday in a villa in the middle of nowhere. A good day to be going out on anyway, an almost clear sky with very warm temperatures and Hariet my flatmate next door has got chillout music playing at full blast which is very pleasant accompaniment. The only problem is that she's got MSN on at the same time so you can hear chiming at regular intervals. I'm probably one of the only people who doesn't use sound alerts on my computer as they can get very irritating.
As planned I went for a rather long walk through Harrow and Wealdstone and up a rather long hill en route to a place called "Bushey Heath" I never ended up there as I didn't like the thought of the long way back! Oh well maybe next year.
Looking back on this year overall it's not been to bad, it's had it's fair share of ups and downs but then again ups are nothing without downs.
The autumn semester for me was pretty much depressing, starting off with the theory modules being messed about as a result of one of the lecturers moving their module from the first to the second semester. Not even our success at the SRA's could lift a smile for me during this rather stressfull period as I was struggling with the features module and later the News and Magazine module which for me was one of the most stressfull group assignments I've worked on.
However there were a few high points including Level 42 at the Royal Albert Hall and going to Blandford to surprise Kim for her 21st birthday. I may be popping over again later in the year for The Great Dorset Steam Fair as having spent most of my spare time this year watching animated rollercoasters and dodgems, it will be nice to see and even ride the real things!
December was probably my busiest month as I had to help out with the assessed News And Magazine programmes whilst at the same time "entertaining" the shoppers of Brent Cross at BXFM and even finding time to do extended versions of the Soul Show on Smoke filling the gaps of other station members who were finding the pre-Xmas stress a bit too much.
After a rather disapointing and unmotivating Refresher's Week, the second semester got off to a positive start with the Music Radio module and the perfect introduction where we watched two documentaries; one on light music and radio, and another looking at DJs from over the years. And it was difficult to contain my excitement when the theme to Pick Of The Pops made an appearance!
Other highlights included the visit to Gcap and the radio commercials exercise, as well as getting the chance to present the assessed show itself. Whether I'll take a similar role for the advanced module next year remains to be seen.
Then came the Internet and Podcasting module where that and the continuing perils of Smoke resulted in me returning home to Canterbury to recuperate for a few days which I found extremely useful.
It made me realise that I'd probably got too involved and worrying about other people's problems rather than my own and I'd never been more relieved to be back in my home town than in my whole time here at Uni. I'm feeling the same about tomorrow which I suppose is good in a way as it will mean I'll get to enjoy more of the fresh delicious wholemeal loaves from Morrisons!
Anyway that's besides the point, at the same time I ended up changing the whole concept of my podcasts and within a day after returning to Canters I more or less had everything in the can and went back to Harrow with my interviews sorted out and managed to complete the assignment with no major problems. Apart from spending two hours in the studio trying to get the delivery of my links to be perfect.
I've also got to meet loads of new people and societies in the last year which has been fantastic and I've even gotten the opportunity to DJ every month at the Undercroft and doing the same thing (sort of) on Area 51's biggest night of the year at their end of semester Foam Party.
With S(4)S bringing the year to a positive end I've never felt better and have quite a postive outlook on what I want to be doing within the next year and possibly beyond University.
This was also helped by purchasing what I've said many times to be the best book about radio Essential Radio Skills which I'd go as far as saying has been more influential than anything I've been taught on the radio course here at Westminster.
However there's still one more year to go and yes there will be a lot of ups and downs but I'm certain that by next year I'll be even more confident but hopefully not too cocky!
I'd best start selling myself and making good use of the contacts I've managed to get hold of in the last year to keep myself on solid ground.
Overall I'm sure I'll be meeting lots new faces and involved in plenty more escapades in 2007-2008 but for now I'd best start looking ahead to drinking the bar dry at the Undercroft tonight!
As planned I went for a rather long walk through Harrow and Wealdstone and up a rather long hill en route to a place called "Bushey Heath" I never ended up there as I didn't like the thought of the long way back! Oh well maybe next year.
Looking back on this year overall it's not been to bad, it's had it's fair share of ups and downs but then again ups are nothing without downs.
The autumn semester for me was pretty much depressing, starting off with the theory modules being messed about as a result of one of the lecturers moving their module from the first to the second semester. Not even our success at the SRA's could lift a smile for me during this rather stressfull period as I was struggling with the features module and later the News and Magazine module which for me was one of the most stressfull group assignments I've worked on.
However there were a few high points including Level 42 at the Royal Albert Hall and going to Blandford to surprise Kim for her 21st birthday. I may be popping over again later in the year for The Great Dorset Steam Fair as having spent most of my spare time this year watching animated rollercoasters and dodgems, it will be nice to see and even ride the real things!
December was probably my busiest month as I had to help out with the assessed News And Magazine programmes whilst at the same time "entertaining" the shoppers of Brent Cross at BXFM and even finding time to do extended versions of the Soul Show on Smoke filling the gaps of other station members who were finding the pre-Xmas stress a bit too much.
After a rather disapointing and unmotivating Refresher's Week, the second semester got off to a positive start with the Music Radio module and the perfect introduction where we watched two documentaries; one on light music and radio, and another looking at DJs from over the years. And it was difficult to contain my excitement when the theme to Pick Of The Pops made an appearance!
Other highlights included the visit to Gcap and the radio commercials exercise, as well as getting the chance to present the assessed show itself. Whether I'll take a similar role for the advanced module next year remains to be seen.
Then came the Internet and Podcasting module where that and the continuing perils of Smoke resulted in me returning home to Canterbury to recuperate for a few days which I found extremely useful.
It made me realise that I'd probably got too involved and worrying about other people's problems rather than my own and I'd never been more relieved to be back in my home town than in my whole time here at Uni. I'm feeling the same about tomorrow which I suppose is good in a way as it will mean I'll get to enjoy more of the fresh delicious wholemeal loaves from Morrisons!
Anyway that's besides the point, at the same time I ended up changing the whole concept of my podcasts and within a day after returning to Canters I more or less had everything in the can and went back to Harrow with my interviews sorted out and managed to complete the assignment with no major problems. Apart from spending two hours in the studio trying to get the delivery of my links to be perfect.
I've also got to meet loads of new people and societies in the last year which has been fantastic and I've even gotten the opportunity to DJ every month at the Undercroft and doing the same thing (sort of) on Area 51's biggest night of the year at their end of semester Foam Party.
With S(4)S bringing the year to a positive end I've never felt better and have quite a postive outlook on what I want to be doing within the next year and possibly beyond University.
This was also helped by purchasing what I've said many times to be the best book about radio Essential Radio Skills which I'd go as far as saying has been more influential than anything I've been taught on the radio course here at Westminster.
However there's still one more year to go and yes there will be a lot of ups and downs but I'm certain that by next year I'll be even more confident but hopefully not too cocky!
I'd best start selling myself and making good use of the contacts I've managed to get hold of in the last year to keep myself on solid ground.
Overall I'm sure I'll be meeting lots new faces and involved in plenty more escapades in 2007-2008 but for now I'd best start looking ahead to drinking the bar dry at the Undercroft tonight!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)