Blasting Off To Reading

My visit to Reading and Blast 1386 went well and it's the first time I've been to the main city itself. Myself and Stephen arrived at TVU about 15 minutes before we were on air and they've got rather modern facilities and it looks as if everythings well looked after at all times.

The show itself went well and I enjoyed having the selection of music in the second hour which included Light Of The World, Swing Out Sister and the Kyoto Jazz Massive.
We even got an e-mail from my dad who was listening in the garden back at home so I'd imagine it's a bit more brighter in Canterbury than it was in Reading and London.
Stephen and myself in between also had a chat in between links about all the ITV channels going off air which I didn't see, but Stephen and his girlfriend did and apparently it lasted for about 6 hours in the London area.
I'd imagine it proves a point of a few things about the station and it's many hiccups that it's had over the last few years both on and off screen.

As for tonight Michael's having his 19th birthday do in the form of a buffet, although I'll finish off the chilli I saved from last night before things start. I also need to buy some booze as well so I'd imagine Red Russians will do the job.

Getting In The Groove

There's a birthday do happening in my flat tomorrow evening as Michael's coming back to celebrate his 19th and I've been asked to DJ again. It will be in the same way I did at Cat's birthday a couple of months ago although it will be on limited equipment, i.e. my laptop. It should be good fun though and not too chaotic and hopefully they'll be quite a few people turning up.

As my laptop's speakers aren't that loud, I went up to the radio rooms to "borrow" a set of speakers, but to be honest no one ever uses them and I'll be bringing them back on Monday.
Sam was also up working on her radio feature that she was unable to do in the first semester due to personal reasons back in October. I very much doubt that there were anywhere near as physically bad as what I was going through that month in which I couldn't even relax or lie down properly.
Overall she's very busy juggling both the feature and two jobs over the summer.

On a similar note I will be visiting one of Sam's old haunts tomorrow, Blast 1386 where I will be guesting on Grooveline with Stephen Howie and choosing all the music for the second hour of the show.
Hopefully I've chosen a good and varied selection and it can be heard at 12pm tomorrow, via the website and clicking Listen Live.
I'm definitely looking forward to it all and it should be an eventful weekend.

"Rrrriiight!"

I managed to get my washing done today although I had forgotten to take it out of the holdall until now which makes things a bit trickier to sort out.
Asides from that I saw they had Loyd Grossman as a guest on the One Show tonight and I didn't realise until now that he has a resmblance to David Gauntlett, one of the more popular lecturers at Westminster University. I would more than happily opt to take the Media Consumption module again provided I didn't have to do the essays.

Britain's Got Talent is still in full flow although I don't understand why in almost every VT package they use "Kashmir" by Led Zeppelin as the backing track. I can remember when the track was used on P. Diddy's song from "Godzilla" and my brother and a few of his mates were making rather naughty jokes about the video when he was falling in the sky.
Hard to believe that's about a decade ago now.

Almost Occupied

Once again another quiet day here in halls although things are looking up for the next few days.
I've been asked to choose an hours worth of tunes to play on this week's Grooveline with Stephen this coming Saturday which should be enjoyable and Smoke Radio are hosting next Monday at the Undercroft for the final time this year which I hope to be DJing at for part of the night.

Apart from that nothing's really been happening apart from going into the Undergrad office to change the expiration date on my ID card to 2009 which took a bit of time but I got there in the end. And I guess I'll be spending tonight as every other night this week with the third of the Britain's Got Talent semi finals which are enjoyable to say the least.

I'm hoping I can go through tomorrow without falling asleep halfway through the day although it doesn't seem too likely.

Quiet On Campus

I haven't really been up to a lot today apart from heading to Marylebone as planned.
Whether it's the poor weather or just everything in general, this years 1st years aren't really being as outgoing as last years this semester so there isn't really a lot going on.

I'd imagine tomorrow's going to be more of the same although I may go to the
Harrow Campus library again to see if there are any DVDs worth borrowing after getting out "Snatch" a few days ago.
I'm just not really feeling as motivated and forward looking as last year, although
we all know what happened in the end when I was feeling positive about the year to come when the time actually came.

"Lights Will Guide You Home..."

I left at around 10:30pm to go to the Undercroft only to find that it was closed.
I've no idea why that was the case but it was lucky I gave Chris and his housemates a ring in good time as they were just about to get a taxi to go down there.
I was invited over to there's where we then went to the New Moon in Kenton where a few people were already there including Lottie, Sophie, Phil Landers, and Alice who was behind the bar. Denis was very tipsy which isn't normally the case and spent a lot of time mucking about and messing about with chairs and the balloons which were hanging.

By the end of the evening, fellow housemate Danielle was in an even worse state and Denis and Stoobie had to literally carry her back to the house.
Shortly after this, myself, Chris, Phil H and Denis were watching all the music channels on Sky Plus and Denis still in a rather drunken state would proceed to either throw cushions or threaten to throw the table at Chris and Phil when they kept switching to a channel that was playing Coldplay videos continuously which they were singing along to in high pitched voices.

We decided to call it a night shortly after and rather than sleep on the couch I was offered the spare room previously occupied by Pete, and Dave Sharp although it was quite tricky getting out of it this morning as I knew I had to be in Central later this morning for an appointment at the Marylebone campus.

Hopefully next Monday should be a slightly different story as it's the last Monday of semester and the Undercroft should be in full flow although it's been in a bit of decline this year with drink prices increasing and so on.
Then again everything's on the increase as rice and pasta is now more expensive than it has been which will probably mean my final year will really be a struggle.

"Stealing Stones"

Hasn't been too much of a brilliant day really, especially as it's a bank holiday when most of the smaller shops are closed including Wenzels which meant I had to go all the way back to halls in the pouring rain. I did go to Sainsburys later on and brought one of their baguettes amongst other things although to be honest their bread isn't as good.

I watched Snatch as planned last night and it's not too bad a film with an early appearance from Stephen Graham off "This Is England", and Mike Reid playing
"Doug The Head" although I wouldn't rank it as high as everyone as did when it came out.
I still prefer Adam and Joe's version to be honest with "Vinnie Football" and "Cousin Lavvy" although their version was meant to get laughs.

As for tonight the plan is to watch the first of the semi finals in Britain's Got Talent and then hopefully head over to the Undercroft if anyone else is going.
Then I reckon the first thing I plan to do tomorrow is head for Wenzels to buy one of their better loaves. Well compared to the Kenton Sainsbury's anyway.

Smuggling The Truth

I don't know how I'm managing here as barely anything has been happening today.
I had a listen to "The Unbelievable Truth" on BBC Radio 4 earlier this afternoon which is a comedy panel game hosted by David Mitchell from Peep Show where contestants have to talk about a subject made up of lies and smuggle truths in front of their fellow competitors without getting caught out.

There was a good selection of contestants this week including Adam Buxton, Tim Vine, Ed Byrne and Lee Mack who did quite a good job on last week's Have I Got News For You. One of the subjects if I remember correctly was about potatoes and it turns out that they have been used to generate electricity although they can't be used as batteries to power clocks.

I've just returned from the Harrow campus library where I've borrowed a DVD of the
Guy Ritchie film "Snatch" which I hope will be entertaining. I've never seen the actual film before although Adam and Joe did a very funny parody with their stuffed toys called "Twat" with the tagline "A Bunch Of Gits Talking Total Sh*t" as directed by teddy bear Guy Richtoy.

Hopefully the original should be interesting and witty.

"Answers On A Postcard"

Another day which barely anything's happened has taken place although I hope things will get a bit better tonight as I'm making a lamb shank stew as I'm typing this.
I went to Wenzel's to get the usual bakery conviniences and I later went to Sainsburys as I was out of apples and something to drink.

I also had a listen to Grooveline which I will be guesting on next week and I'm definitely looking forward to, and I need to have a search for some tunes to play as Stephen's asked me to bring a few along. Definitely something I've been looking forward to for quite a while and it will be nice to see the insides of Blast 1386 which has had quite a history in it's 6 years on air.

I also managed to find an interesting discovery on UKNova in the form of the first edition of (well, part of) Series 2 of Going Live! originally broadcast on the 8th of October 1988 with Phillip Schofield presenting solo, as Sarah Greene along with newly engaged partner Mike Smith were recovering from the helicopter crash that happened the month before.
They did however take part in an O/B from the hospital ward with special guests the Proclaimers performing their then new single "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)".

Other guests included T'Pau, whose lead singer Carol Decker helped to present the Video Vote section of the show which included videos from Duran Duran and Deacon Blue's "Real Gone Kid" which got the winning score.
There was also Kylie Minogue who brought on her sister Dannii for her first UK TV appearance and the Press Conference guest was Tessa Sanderson, fresh from competing at the Seoul Olympic Games.

There was also the usual items such as Double Dare with Peter Simon featuring
Letitia Dean and Adam Woodyatt from Eastenders, and the infamous duo Trev and Simon with the first appearance of their pants swinging act "The Singing Corner" where they were joined by Kylie Minogue or "One Of The Pogues" as one of them mistakenly read.
The programme also included an infamous cock up where Phillip was trying to explain how to enter a competition which needed two envelopes so they could send back details of how to attend an audtion for the annual Young Entertainer contest.

Definitley an interesting discovery and a testament to the quality era of television overall.

Penne At Prezzo

Once again today's been more or less the same as every other day this week with not a lot going on and me feeling very tired despite not actually doing anything.
I did go into Central today however, to see Mum where we went to Prezzo's and I had a rather interesting penne dish with chicken which was different although the sauce was a tiny bit rich or strong, I don't really know how to describe it.

I may go to the bank tomorrow to finally put in the cheques that were sent to me for my birthday and I'll need to find other ways of occupying myself tomorrow evening as Doctor Who is taking a week off due to the Eurovision Song Contest which I imagine Mum will be watching tomorrow.

Possibly More Productive

I haven't really been up to a lot today. I sent a letter to ASDA asking about employment over the summer which I'm really not sure about, although I also signed up to volunteer at "Lounge On The Farm", a music festival which takes place near Canterbury in July.
The latter basically involves bar work and gets me into the festival for free so it should be something different to occupy myself over the summer.

However overall I want to pace myself before what I reckon will be a rather intense final year at University so I'll want to keep myself occupied but at the same time not do too much to exhaust myself. I'll see what happens when the time comes.

Down With Defeat

Still a bit down after last nights result but it wasn't too bad a night overall.
I arrived at Spoons at around 7:30pm where Chris, Phil and Alice were working and Denis was around with them. After half time we were joined by Ross Powell and Jane and things started to get a tiny bit more chaotic when one of the customers stood on his chair and mooned at the TV screen when Ryan Giggs came on towards the end of the second half. Inevitably he got a telling off by Shree, one of the bar managers.

After we'd been into penalties and then sudden death I decided to leave, leaving Chris and Denis to celebrate Manchester United's victory and I was feeling rather knackered anyway.
I'm now up in the radio rooms where hopefully I should be finished with sorting everything out in terms of backing up audio. I may also send letters out to places in Canterbury hoping to get a bit of money over the summer although I'm not sure how succesfull I will be in doing so.

Behind The Blues

Once again it's been rather quiet here and there's not a lot I've been up to really.
I spent part of the afternoon up in radio sorting more stuff out and the rest of it asleep although there's still stuff to be done in making sure things are backed up.

It's starting to brighten up again outside halls so people are spending time outside although tonight as planned I'll be spending my time at the New Moon in Kenton hoping that Chelsea do well in the Champions League final. I hope Chris isn't working there tonight as he's a Man U supporter but overall it should be good fun.

A Bit Too Laid Back

Barely anythings been happening today apart from a visit to the counselling service at the Marylebone campus to discuss a few things with regards to next year.

I even ended up spending the whole afternoon asleep in bed waking up at just before 7pm so goodness knows how I'll cope tonight.
I may watch the second part of "The Duchess in Hull" where Sarah Ferguson has been trying to change the dieting plan of a low-income family in Hull who are all overweight and although I've had similar weight problems over the last year, it makes me feel better that I'm not as bad as they are.

I really don't know how I'll spend tomorrow. If anyone I know is going I may watch the Chelsea V Man U game at Spoons in Kenton but either way it will be absolutley rammed.

Slightly Mellow Monday

I went to the Undercroft as planned last night where I met up with both the Phils and Denis who were at the front of the bar. We had a chat about a few things I've written on the last couple of posts and about next year overall with Phil H saying that he wanted to move away from presenting to continue producing live performances from bands.
I think I know who will be taking that role in the advanced module in the autumn.

The DJ there was mainly spinning a few dodgy mash-ups with out of tune acapellas such as Justin Timberlake's "Sexy Back" mixed with "Billie Jean", and Kelly Clarkson's
"Since You've Been Gone" over Rhianna's "Please Don't Stop The Music". The dancefloor wasn't really that packed either as they didn't move the chairs and tables until after midnight.

Also around were Oli P who's having a do at Koko this Friday for his 19th birthday and James Rowney who was kind enough to buy me a drink although to be honest I wasn't really up for having too many drinks for some reason or other.
I may try and relax my drinking habits this week and it saves me a bit of money anyway.

It Could Be A Lot Worse

Following my last post I've just woken up from a rather bizarre dream about us being at the Smoke Radio awards and me getting into a rather violent confrontation with someone who does a show, but wasn't actually there at the real awards.
I won't mention their name but Stoobie was having a chat with him via Facebook messenger when we were up in radio so it just goes to show that tiny things really do stick in mind and become bigger things later on. I don't even have anything major against the individual so I reckon it was a case of drink.
For some other reason the Beatles song "Get Back" was constantly playing in every place I went to although I don't think it was one of the songs I heard on VH1 Classics earlier today.
I did however hear the Wet Wet Wet Childline cover of "With A Little Help From My Friends" which isn't too bad.

My main aim this summer is to make sure my whole life doesn't end up being like a dream although I'll go onto to explain about that in a later post. As for tonight it's probably the case of another visit to the Undercroft for Happy Mondays although I'm not sure if many people will be turning up as it's been quite dead over the last few weeks.
I appear to have now been dubbed as the "V.King" by bar manager Jim Chapman which is what he wrote in my birthday card last week so my aim is to go full circle with the flavours again tonight.

"Fresh" Starts

I'm feeling rather unsure about next year already which is ridiculous because I'm getting concerned about things I shouldn't be worrying about.

Basically I heard that Lottie who's now head of daytime programming at Smoke has spoken to someone who I won't mention by name who wants their show to take over the 5-7 slot from the legendary Goodlass and Marshall who made their bow last Friday.
This is despite only doing one show last week and not exactly having the best chemistry with people around them in the studio.

I don't like to upset anyone but the problem with Freshers Week last year was that it was too over-indulgent with hardly any interaction with the Freshers themselves and no contingency between shows. That's what it felt like for me as a listener as I wasn't there for the majority of the week and I'm worried that if what I think is going to happen, then it will be another washout.

Then again it's too early to speculate and unlike last year I will actually be allowed to have a few drinks so I can enjoy my final Freshers the same way I enjoyed last week really.

"Yo!, Back Up Now And Give The Brother Room"

Yesterday evening I got a call from Chris inviting me to see him and most of his house at work in Spoons alongside Lottie who's just started working there.
It was Pete's last night working there as he's moving to Aylesbury with Siobhan permanantley and I arrived just in time as he was finishing his final shift where he made his bow by singing the Funeral March as he was about to leave the employees door.

Also drinking there were Denis and Stoobie and we were later joined by Dean who indulged in a chocolate dessert. I didn't have anything to eat this time as before I went, I had another chicken and pasta meal which is becoming a dreadful weakness.

By around 10pm we headed back to Stoobie's with Phil H who had finished his shift although Chris had to keep on working until after midnight. As is normally the case I decided to endure in music videos on VH1 Classics and shortly after Phil kept switching betweeen Brokeback Mountain on Channel 4 and The Patriot on Five where at this point I started to fall asleep on the couch once again although at one stage Phil attempted to wake me up by playing "Boom Shake The Room" at full blast.
I'm sure there were several other practical jokes that lot were playing that I can't really remember but at some stage I did fall asleep in the end.

I spent the morning watching more videos on VH1 Classics and gameshow repeats on Challenge before heading over to Uni where I am now with Stoobie and Denis where we may be heading into Harrow soon. Denis has just got a new job at Waitrose so I guess that means all the occupants in that house are now fully employed for the summer. Something I'll need to sort out in Canterbury although it would be nice to get some work experience in radio as well.

"Whatever You're Doing Tonight, Have A Nice Night!"

Last night's Doctor Who was pretty good and it was interesting to hear an extract from the theme tune to "The Beiderbecke Affair" in the episode when the Doctor and Donna emerged in 1920s dress. That happened to be the composition of Frank Ricotti who played percussion on the original theme to Grange Hill which from what I've heard has been brought back for the final series.

Nothing's really planned for today although as I type I'm listening to the return of radio legend Bruno Brookes, making a one off appearance on BBC Radio Berkshire where there have been some good tunes playing and very good listener reaction including one listener wanting to hear "When Will I Be Famous" by Bros which has lead to a bit of debate on air!

I also need to get a few things from Sainsburys including some fizzy stuff as I'm starting to die of thirst. Apart from that I doubt there's anything else happening.

Lying Back But Hopefully Occupied

My final few weeks at Uni this year I reckon are going to be pretty quiet with not really much going on although I'll try and find ways of occupying myself one way or other.
Today was spent listening to Stephen on Grooveline where there was a brilliant tune from the Sunburst Band's new album called "Journey To The Sun". I also managed to see Portsmouth's victory in the FA Cup Final when they collected the silver trophy accompanied by Feeder's "Feeling A Moment".

I may spend the next few days organising things and making sure shows from the last year at Smoke are backed up and it will give me something to occupy myself over the summer listening back to shows of various levels of entertainment and musical genres.

Currently I'm listening to PY on Smooth Radio playing another tune from
the Sunburst Band album; "Sitting On Top Of The World" of which the chorus is putting a very big smile to my face and a few tears which very few tunes do these days.
Possibly an album of the year? Well unlike Swing Out Sister's latest release it's been worth the four year wait.