Tonight pretty much sped by which I guess was good in a way as
myself, Steven and Caroline met up in London to see Sirin who
has been staying over here for a week.
It was quite a task getting all of us in the same place seeing
as Sirin is heading home to Cyprus tomorrow, but the evening itself
was enjoyable.
Eager to visit somewhere we'd never been before, we went to
Jerusalem, a bar/restaurant not too far from the Roxy Nightclub
just off Oxford Street.
I wasn't going to get any grub down me but when I saw they
had a rigatoni pasta dish in Ariabata sauce I was on there,
and it tasted absolutely superb.
It was good to catch up with everyone and clear a few personal
anxieties but also to have a bit of fun in Oxford Street as well
visiting a few souvenir shops.
I also managed to get a photo with the delightful woman herself.
She's got a lot going for her, and I hope those who work
with her in radio give the time to realise just how talented she really is.
On the train home meanwhile I was reading the Radio Times where
on Sunday Channel 4 will be premièring their 2010 film and my favourite
from the year, Four Lions.
The fact that it's part of a series of programmes to mark the 10th
anniversary of the World Trade Centre attacks is quite a bold move
although it's understandable that it won't please everyone.
But then again, Channel 4's never been a channel with a reputation
for saying sorry.
One of the big telly-related stories is that of Ortis Deley (with a silent r and a missing e) who has been dropped from Channel 4's athletics coverage as a main host.
It initially had me thinking why the public didn't react in a similar manner after he took over hosting Live & Kicking ten years ago until quickly remembering that they were all watching Ant, Dec and Cat and therefore couldn't give a bollocks altogether.
Elsewhere on 5 Live Jonathan Ross has been on Richard Bacon's show and opened up about why he left the BBC.
His explanation of the "worth a 1000 BBC journalists" had me thinking to a point as to this day, broadcast journalists in TV and radio are still paid very little for what they're worth when you take into account the length of time they've studied in order to get there.
In just under an hour I will be heading off from the East station to Central London where as we're meant to be meeting at 6:45pm at Tottenham Court Road, I may walk my way from Victoria, past Green Park into Picadilly, and to the tube station itself.
It took me an hour to get there from Victoria to Leicester Square, when I went to "Christ On A Bike" a few months ago so it should pan out nicely.
My outing means I'll miss Olly getting back here but it doesn't mean I won't see him at all, with him being here until mid-September.
Which reminds me, it's the first tomorrow so I'll need to get £40 to pay Mum and Dad's rent.
I should be looking forward to my visit to Central London tomorrow
and by tomorrow I'll probably be in a better mood, but currently
I'm just feeling really uncertain and anxious over really ridiculous things.
Let's say I'm in a similar state to Bart Simpson when wanting to
get hold of Radioactive Man issue 1 so badly, when the thought
of getting hold of a rare item takes over your thoughts
to an irritating extent.
I'm sure I'll be over it by tomorrow, but having slept in the middle of
the afternoon, I may end up having quite a long night.
Olly's returning from America tomorrow, and will be over here
until around mid-September when he goes back to University.
If I'm being honest it's difficult for me to get myself out of the
academic year calendar structure despite not been to University
for two years.
Presenting at a radio station within two Universities only
adds to that, but at least it's better than presenting from an
oversized secondary school...
Oops!
Think before you speak and all that garble.
Seriously, it will be great to catch up with Steven, Caroline,
and most of all Sirin, and I hope we go somewhere nice.
In the words of the song, what a difference a day made.
On Wednesday I will be heading over to London to see not
just Sirin, but also Steven and Caroline who I haven't seen
for months.
I'm really looking forward to catching up, and for once
being able to talk to people about my anxieties over
the last few months, and hopefully letting go.
Provided I don't get too tangled up, as Sirin's the real reason
I'm making the journey over.
As for today I went over to the Dane John Gardens
where a world music event was taking place, and I bumped
into Jon, a fellow student from my AVCE Media course at
Canterbury College which we both started almost ten years ago.
It was good to catch up, and it seems he's still seeing various
people, although I managed to avoid the topic of Spurs' defeat
to Man City yesterday.
Mainly because he's one of the nicer Spurs supporters I know of.
I headed home just before 4pm as I didn't want to miss the
return of the "T & T Music Factory" on BBC Radio 2.
Yes Tony Blackburn and Trevor Nelson were back for another
impressive selection of soulful stuff and they had a good chemistry
together with one listener christening them "The Ant & Dec of soul".
It was even more amusing when differences of opinion cropped up,
with Tony not being too keen on Trevor's choice of Donny Hathaway's
"The Ghetto" due to the lack of lyrics.
But what catchy lyrics they are.
No idea what I'm doing tomorrow, quite possibly finishing off
a bol I made with lamb mince earlier tonight.
I'm doing my very best not to match the weather outside on this
miserable bank holiday, but as always there are lots of petty
online issues preventing me from doing so.
I can understand how online angsts lead to measures as
extreme as "committing Facebook suicide" which a friend
from Uni has attempted to do but to no avail and probably
for the best as well.
Thankfully I'm not in that sort of state.
Yet.
I must admit though, I am a bit worried as Sirin hasn't
texted yet with regards on when I'll be seeing her in London.
I know she's getting out a bit with her excursions, but
I really hope that something happens this week.
I'll try texting her myself tomorrow.
Or sometime later tonight if I'm unable to sleep on it.
Surprisingly I've woken up earlier than I thought after sticking
with Craig Charles until about 4am this morning.
And it was pretty good, some excellent guests with music
to match although it was a pity Jocelyn Brown couldn't
be live in the studio due to being in quarantine for her granddaughter's
chicken pox.
Those who did appear live included Greg Edwards with a few
interesting anecdotes about his Soul Spectrum radio show,
Jazzie B who's choice of tunes included the rather impressive
Beverley Knight cover of "Fairplay", and Bluey featured an interesting
selection of 21st century soul acts including Mario Biondi and Raphael
Sadiiq.
From what I've read, the broadcast went on for longer due
to problems getting Aled Jones due to follow from the Manchester
studios, but I guess there's the option of iPlayer.
Wouldn't want to overdo the soulful stuff mind, especially
with the special with Tony Blackburn and Trevor Nelson
tomorrow afternoon which looks set to be a treat as it was last time.
As for today, it's a case of killing time and finding productive
things to do before heading over to the CSR studios for tonight's
bank holiday Blam Jam show.
Pretty much in the thick of what looks set to be a night of superb
radio, courtesy of Craig Charles' Soul All-Nighter.
As I type he's on 6Music switching back over to Radio 2 from 10
where I'm particularly looking forward to the guest appearances
by Greg Edwards, Jazzie B, and not forgetting Bluey fresh from
performing at Ronnie Scotts.
All the excitement has made me forget that I have a radio
show of my own tomorrow evening so I hope I don't stay in
bed for too long after the marathon broadcast finishes at 6am
tomorrow morning.
Especially as I've got some stunners including Deekline's remix
of "On A Ragga Tip" by SL2, and a dub version of Splodgenessabounds'
biggest bit "Two Pints".
That and a cracker of a duet between vocalist Amira and
New York production outfit Blaze from the late 90s.
Tonight's X Factor meanwhile put Harrow on the map with
vocalist Johnny Robinson who revealed a rather special voice
underneath his lively Carry-On persona.
I wonder if he's ever frequented the Junction on one of their
karaoke nights?
One thing that's frustrating me about the show however
are the constant whingey tweets from series 1 winner Steve Brookstein.
I know I may be in the same boat to a not so great extent,
but Steve if you're reading this, let it go why don't you?
Worrying times in Canterbury and it's rather scary to realise
that I was just metres from the goings on.
For want of an explanation, I managed to get my shopping
done in Tesco's earlier this afternoon, just hours before the city
centre was closed due to a fire in the nearby M&S.
In addition to that a suspicious package was reported near the
railway bridge in Old Dover Road, although it hasn't been confirmed
that both incidents were linked.
With Mum and Dad away this weekend, I'm a tiny bit nervous
about treading further in case anything else happens within
the city, but hopefully what's taken place so far is being looked into.
It shouldn't be too bad as the only visits in Canters I plan
to make this weekend are to get more wares, and to do the
radio show on Sunday.
That said, with Craig Charles' special tomorrow night
I will be no match.
Today saw another uphill and downhill journey to the University
of Kent campus to present another Drivetime show at CSR.
Whilst it's been different and fun to have a go at, I will be
relieved once it's done with by the time the Freshers arrive
and I won't be missing the awkwardness of Myriad at the worst
of times.
Not to mention that I'm becoming more lazy with regards
to show preparation.
Tomorrow I'm making an unexpected early return to the
Canterbury and District Recorder, although luckily this time round
I'm just lending a hand with the USB stick duplication which should
take just over an hour.
Provided of course that there aren't any problems with any
faulty USB sticks like the one that kept us waiting last week.
Overall it will give the arrival of the Bank Holiday weekend more
anticipation.
Again, save for filling in yet another application form, today hasn't
been that exciting.
I'll probably be more busy tomorrow as I'm doing another drivetime
at CSR, of which I've still got to prepare stuff for.
And there may be the odd new jingle I've put together too.
It turns out that Olly's actually back next Wednesday and that
this weekend I'm holding the fort again as Mum and Dad are
going up to Woodbridge and another open-air Shakespeare play.
Whereas I will be anticipating the return of Doctor Who which
in spite of the odd-sounding episode title looks set to be a good one.
For one thing, it will be a cure for blogger's block.
And so it seems has the depression and uncertainties that go with it.
After a struggle getting some shut eye last night, I ended up knocking
on Mum and Dad's door, half-asleep yesterday morning although
I can't remember exactly what I was going on about.
But to be honest neither can they.
In order to make day-to-day proceedings more interesting I had
a search for stuff on iPlayer and at the moment BBC Radio 2 is on
top form.
There's one programme I discovered that's been going for a few
weeks now, but on hearing the most recent episode I was very impressed.
That being Sounds Of The 20th Century produced by Trevor Dann's Company
which is far from just a chronological music retrospective.
Oh no, this is more of a historical take on Colin Murray's much
missed "Audio Bully" feature from his Radio 1 show, blending in
extracts of the songs from one year, with archive footage of television,
films, radio, and the odd ad or PIF.
Which in the case of the latter, featured the antics of the Tufty Club.
Even more exciting however is that this Saturday, Craig Charles
will be hosting a soul all-nighter including guest spots from ex Capital/Jazz FM
presenter Greg Edwards spinning the rare grooves, and Bluey
from Incognito giving an insight into modern British soul.
I wonder whether Mr Maunick will arrive on time, as the Cog have
a residency at Ronnie's this week.
And to top it off, Tony Blackburn and Trevor Nelson will be reunited
for a two hour soul show on Bank Holiday Monday, which I hope
will become a regular thing on special occasions as their 2Day show
back in June was arguably the most popular in terms of audience reaction.
Exciting times, exciting enough to possibly overshadow the return
of Doctor Who this weekend?
RIP Jerry Leiber, Nicholas Ashford, and John Howard-Davies
Mum and Dad have arrived home from Ireland and had bought
me a t-shirt as a present with an illustration of the Titanic.
It was built in Iron, that's why.
They're not the only ones returning this week as Olly's back from
America on Wednesday, but it's very unlikely that Kate will be
returning home in the long run, as she's got a promotion to a higher
position in her care-working job.
Hopefully tomorrow I shall get a few more job applications that I need
Mum to help me with, including one that requires me to write everything
on the application form by hand.
So if I fuck up, or think of something I'd wish I'd written earlier
later on, it won't even be worth putting in an A4 envelope.
I was feeling it to slightly higher extents than normal on my
radio show this week, to the point I got excited enough to
"drop" one or two bomb noises in one of my links.
This being the result of a text from fellow CSR presenter
James Waters, who had been doing the same in his show to
more comedic effect.
Luckily I resisted the temptation to play any airhorn noises
as that would just interfere with the music unforgivably.
On getting home I revisited another movie starring Dave Sharp
and Matty Deller, that being Hot Fuzz which wasn't just funny
but also proof that being passionate (if a bit life obsessed) with
a profession can lead to positive things.
Even if those around you "don't get" the same passion to the same extent.
Mum and Dad should be home from Ireland tomorrow, although
nothing's really planned at all next week, save for my two radio shows.
I won't say too much about tonight's X Factor as I imagine it will
echo what everyone else has said, but let's say I was laughing towards
the end at the guy who got into a bit of scuffle with Dermot O' Leary,
after being proved that a twat never changes his spots.
The rest of today's been spent unRARing stuff, and having a listen
to a bit more online radio.
One such offering being from fellow radio student Sirin who's
now made her way onto BRT's Bayrak International in Cyprus,
presenting the drivetime show at the bizarre hours of 8 until 10pm
(two hours ahead of UK time).
I'd see Sirin as our year's equivalent of Sony nominee Sarah Thompson,
as she was such a delight to have around, no bad word to say about anyone
(or anything), and had a lot to offer despite not getting the chance
to show it to the full whilst at Westminster.
As well as winning the Graham S Brand prize for the best radio feature.
She's done well though since finishing the course, and is heading back
over to our shores next week, hopefully stopping over in Canterbury.
I can remember her saying that she thought my mum was really
nice when meeting her at graduation, so Sirin if you happen to be
reading this, you're more than welcome to stop over.
It would be a good opportunity to show off my cooking abilities,
although I now know it wasn't so good using a vast amount of flour
within the stew I made earlier tonight.
It ended up tasting like one of dad's lesser than impressive pizzas
due to me putting tomato puree in it and all.
I think I'll stick with the Super Noodles tomorrow, possibly
with some pork loin steaks.
Last night was spent doing nothing really apart from un-RARing
audio sample packages and adding them to my "arsenal" of
production stuff if you can call it that.
The repetitive nature of the job was made more easier by
trawling the online radio dial and there was quite a lot
of interesting things on offer.
One such programme being the latest episode
of Radio 4's tag team interview show Chain Reaction where Manchester poet John Cooper-Clark interviewed
unsung comedy legend Kevin Eldon.
A combination you'd never really expect to see in
the same room together, but the chemistry works really
well together and it's good to hear references to Eldon's
slightly offbeat appearances such as Tony Rudd in Look Around You series 2.
And on that note, here is the said remix of "Machadaynu".
Also on my listening list, was George Galloway who has recently
returned to talkSPORT's airwaves on Friday nights.
A man I have had my reservations towards, but on listening
last night, I found myself agreeing with most of his views
some of which he was very passionate about.
Topics discussed included how the rioters should have
been punished, including one idiot who rang up suggesting that
corporal punishment should be brought back in, and the mass
number of students wanting to get into University this year to
avoid the increase in fees from next year.
One of the questions asked was if those who protested last year
had gone all quiet all of a sudden, which is an interesting point,
but judging by the responses recieved, the issue seems to be far
from finished.
And with the new series in full flow Big Brother was also discussed
via an interview with fellow former contestant Maggot, but
sadly this ended up as a reminisce of sorts, suggesting how they
thought their CBB which they appeared on was better than the
current one.
Not to mention Maggot getting arsey about people recognising him
more from Celebrity Big Brother than from his band Goldie Lookin' Chain.
In all honesty, I reckon Mouldy Lookin' Stain's parody was more
memorable.
As for tonight, the much anticipated new series of X Factor which
I won't lie about, I am looking forward too.
It will probably be the first time in five years I have actually been
at home to see the first episode live and a word of warning,
I will more than probably be tweeting constantly.
It was another Friday at the talking newspaper for Canterbury, where
on arrival I was told rather sternly by the senior engineer,
that I had made a few technical errors on my last visit with regards to the
very complicated and difficult to use editing software; Kings Audio.
I understood that these were serious issues for a blind newspaper,
but the way I was spoken to made me feel discouraged, almost to
the point of wanting to go home and not bother helping, but rather
than carry on quietly, I told the senior engineer directly how I felt.
That's something I have never done in such a tense situation,
to actually come back with my side of the story in an attempt
to act a lot stronger than I have before.
I was a bit upset with him referring to my Asperger's as "a problem"
which I am guessing can only mean it is a problem for him,
but it didn't cause any major disruption to proceedings and
it all went rather well, save for faulty USB stick that wouldn't
copy the audio onto it.
Despite it all flowing well for most of the session, I'm not back there
again until the 18th of November, and with regards to finding a proper
job I'm hoping that means I won't be back there at all.
I'll still help out however, and luckily the engineer is giving me a
dummy copy of Kings Audio to use on my own computer, as
well as a set of instructions.
I'll get to grips with their procedures eventually.
So then, the return of Big Brother and from a programme point of view, it hasn't made too many changes to make it look like a staged/desperate relaunch of sorts.
There's a fair bit of interest having come back upstairs from watching to find my Facebook news feed clogged up with "JEDWARD TO WIN!" statuses which suggests that I may need to activate my filter, or bugger off from Facebook as a whole.
Anyway the show itself, and Brian Dowling is capable as presenter being enthusiastic and professional save for one awkward moment when being fondled by David Hasselhoff's ex-wife.
It was also a nice touch to have Marcus Bentley doing the "up the staircase facts", whilst not preventing Dowling from being the prominent presenter.
Again, I very much doubt I will set eyes on the rest of the series but it's worth noting the line up consisting heavily of high profile tabloid figures still in the public eye just for being famous.
I won't name them all on the blog, mainly because it will have been posted elsewhere online, and partly because I've never even heard of half of them.
Overall it's a possible case of role reversal, with the contestants being used to boost Big Brother's profile rather than the other way round.
The question being will the move succeed?
The answer being "Meh, it's on Channel 5, why would I give a bollocks anyway"
Going into CSR to present drive was the right idea, even with
the usual cock-ups taking place.
I felt more confident however, and for the next few weeks until
the Freshers arrive, I'll continue to give it a good go.
As for tonight, I'll be in front of the television, torturing myself
with the return of Big Brother on Channel 5, a move hasty and
desperate enough, resulting in the advertising billboards
displaying the wrong launchdate.
I said on the radio show this afternoon that I will be viewing
Channel 5's gamble in the same way as Homer Simpson
when Ned Flanders opens up his "Leftorium".
And like many, I won't feel bad if the series fails, as it falls
into a category which includes Katie Price, Louis Spence,
and David Hasselhoff.
The category being "not knowing when to fuck off".
I've learnt tonight that the way to cure tense moods and spite
is to walk very long distances, and drink supposed "energy drinks"
afterwards, so you're left feeling poorly and too weak to even
think about negative thoughts.
That was certainly the case on the way back from The Inbetweeners Movie, mainly because the distance between
the cinema and the Ashford International terminal was long,
and made longer by me taking a few wrong turnings.
As for the film itself I pretty much enjoyed it, plenty of laugh
out loud moments, although there were one or two that had
me going "oh shit" in a rather downbeat manner.
Anyone who has seen it so far will know when.
My only bugbear was the fight between Jay and Simon and the
subsequent aftermath looked tacked on, and overall it could
have been easily done as a TV movie as opposed to the big screen.
But it was a natural end to the sitcom and it's probably
the right decision not to make a further two television
episodes as originally planned.
The film itself may become link fodder for my return to CSR's
drivetime show tomorrow afternoon, as well as the launch of
the new Celebrity Big Brother.
Not that I want to promote the show of course, but more
to focus on comebacks that have worked and moreso on
those that haven't.
The reunion of The Happy Mondays in 1999 will more than
likely get a mention, which is sort of related as Bez won
Celebrity Big Brother back in 2005 before turning his
career to stand-up comedy and having a Saturday night show
on BBC 1 about Britain.
Seriously though, I managed to find an excellent blog post on the dos
and don'ts of work placements, which although it's about television
they're equally valid to radio.
Work Experience and Runners
It's still useful mind, as I am still searching for more related stuff
to apply for and the above blog will be a useful guideline, although
I was laughing nervously at the advice of not sending sweets
with a letter because it's "scary".
I'll be Ashford bound at 6pm to the screening of the Inbetweeners Movie through what will probably be a complicated train/bus journey so
I'll need to print the maps before leaving.
Haven't read any reviews yet, save from a tweet by Radio 1's
Matt Edmondson who seemed to enjoy it a lot.
Hopefully the movie won't be reflective of Edmondson's so-called comedy.
