D.I.Why

I had a brainwave. I recently got one of those little gidgets that the Government is subsidising that is supposed to cut the amount of water used in a shower. Whilst I was fitting it, I thought, I might as well get a new shower head, the one I have having been there since I moved in 17 or so years ago.
A trip to the DIY store got me the showehead (and it didn't cost me anything asI had some internet survey vouchers which covered the cost!) and so I set to work.
All went well; the head fitted the flexible pipe; the gidget fitted at the other end, and water came out when I turned it on. Magic!

This evening, I decided to rinse around the bath using the new showehead - and notived that the flexible pipe is now broken. Doh.
As in computers, so in life - fix one thing, and two other problems arise to take it's place. I'm waiting for the second thing...

Stand By For Haribo

OK, I can slightly spill the beans now, as the programme in question has been on the air for a few weeks now and the week in which I hada slight involvement is long gone!
Way back in January I auditioned for a new BBC Quiz show entitled "A Question of Genius"; a short time later I was called and asked if I would like to be a standby contestant for the first week of the show, which would mean a trip up to the BBC studios in Glasgow. I jumped at the chance - it's not every day that you ge tthe opportunity to see behind-the-scenes of a TV show, especially not a brand new one!

I was very well looked after the whole time I Was there and the other contestants were a great bunch of people; unfortunately, my services were not required (though those of the other standby were as oen of the contestants lost her voice on the last day of recording!)
During the day, I spent my time in the Green Room watching the recording, drinking lots of tea and coffee and knocking back the Haribo (as well as enjoying the lunch and indulging in a little quiz practice with those contestants who had been eliminated from the various rounds); in the evening, most of the group went to various places in downtown Glasgow and enjoyed great food, conversation and drink (the first night we went to The Ubiquitous Chip, which served fantastic bar food; the next night someone in the group found a pub quiz at The Drawing Room in Sauchiehall Street so we went en-masse, split into three teams and came 1st, 2nd AND 3rd! As well as this, the food was again brilliant; I had Belly of Pork and it was incrediable!)
I won't go int othe technicalities of the show, being brand new, there were still a few loose ends to be shaken out of the format, but the end result was an excellent show which deserves to do very well indeed - I hope it gets recommissioned (especially as I'm hoping to audition again!)
Plus, I got to meet the host of the show, Kirsty Wark, who was friendliness personified - all the contestants said this and she proved it in the brief chat we had on the last day of recording!

At time of writing the show is still on - you'll find it on BBC2 at 16:30 Monday to Friday.

Questions, Questions...

I was in Glasgow this week. Why? I can't tell you - yet!
It was great fun though, and VERY interesting... All I can say (I think) is that I was involved with a new BBC Quiz Show being made by BBC Scotland, and that if the recording sessions I saw is anything to go by, it will run and run and run...

I WILL post about it once the show is on the air, I promise!

Toys and Games

Well, Yesterday was eventful. I collected my LOOOOOOONG awaited new iPod Touch in the morning (paid for almost entirely with gift vouchers gained from online surveys!) and, in the afternoon, I went for an audition for a TV quiz show (I won't name the show or the channel - yet...)
The latter was fun, and a real eye-opener - most of the other auditionees had already been on several other game and quiz shows; contestants form "Mastermind", "Going For Gold", "The Weakest Link", "Eggheads" and "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" (amongst others!) It was interesting hearing them all talk about their various experiences on some of the best known shows in British TV, and I learnt a lot about the process of appearing on a show from them.
Now I just have to wait for the call to tell me if I've got past the audition and onto the show itself...

See what happens when you neglect something?

New Year, New attempt to keep things updated, so I thought I'd come onto my blog and see about posting something new - first thing I see is that there is a comment I need to moderate - and it's from an old friend I haven't seen in ages and for whom I lost the email address! Hello, John! I'll be emailing you shortly!

Other news - I lost my trusty Swiss Army Knife (but will be replacing it soon-ish); I am so close to getting an iPod Touch (I'm just waiting for Macworld before getting one just in case they announce a memory bump); I have a few potential interviews lined up for the podcast; and I now have The Simpsons Season 10!
So, will this be the year I post more regularly to the blog (any of them)? Only time will tell...

Goodbye, Chairman Humph.

Jazz Legend Humphrey Lyttleton passed away today, aged 86.
He was an excellent trumpeter, an inspirational radio presenter (his long running BBC Radio 2 show "The Best of Jazz" only came to an end last month) and irrepressible Chairman of the 'Panel Show to End All Panel Shows', "I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue", which I was fortunate enough to see being recorded last year (see the blog post "Samantha Live" below).

RIP Humph.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Busy day today - a very good friend celebrated her 60th birthday with a great party (from which I have just returned) and, earlier in the day, I attended a seminar on "Podcasting, Rights and Music" hosted by the UK Podcasters Association and the Open Rights Group at The Guardian's Scott Room in Farringdon, London.
It was a really great afternoon listening to experts in the field of Pod/Vodcasting and Music Licencing and talking to fellow podcasters about various aspects of producing podcasts (A quick plug for my two (at present) shows - UK C ardCast and Radio Tilling!)
The seminar was video streamed live using a Nokia N95 (which was interesting to see!)Apparently the edited highlights will be online later - for more on this visit the UKPA blog.
My thanks to UKPA for giving me the opportunity to attend.

If You, dear reader, are a podcaster based in the UK, you REALLY should consider joining UKPA - there are three levels of membership, with the most basic being free.

New Year, New Bike!

I've had my old Peugeot Puma mountain bike for 20 odd years - it's one of the first 'mountain bikes', and is really more of a standard Gents tourer frame but with thicker wheels, and 18 speed deraillier gears.
It's a bit big, a bit heavy and a lott juddery on the pitted road surface I use to go to and from work every day, so when I found I had enough vouchers to go get a new bike on Amazon, the old Peugeot was retired (no pun intended!)
The new bike, a CBR Java with full suspection, 21 speed derailliers, front disc brakes and alloy frame and wheel rims, arrived last Friday (the same day, by the way, that I went to see Spamalot with a friend who had a spare ticket - great show!).
The suspension take a little getting used to - I've tightened up the rear suspension as I was suffering from rather a lot of bounce - but so far, no reason to regret the decision to buy it!
The only downside is that it didn't come with mudguards - which means my back has been spattered with mucky water - but that will be fixed at the weekend.

2008 is the year I use the internet to get expensive stuff for nothing or next to nothing - the next step is to do enough online surveys to get me enough points for the iPod upgrade I want to make, from the 1st Gen Shuffle to the latest Classic (though I'm sorely tempted by the 32Gb Touch that has just been announced...)

Cheap Choo-Choo

It's been a while since I posted here, which would suggest to any casual reader that nothing very much has happened in my life lately. This is true.
In fact, probably the most exciting thing that I did recently was to buy a train set for my brother in the Marks & Spencer sale - what can I say, he likes model trains, and this was reduced from £149 to £9...

What I have been doing is working on podcast episodes, planning a second podcast (about the author E.F.Benson), and completing enough online surveys to enable me to get an iPod Classic this year (and/or a new bicycle!) Before anyone asks, no, I don't do those pyramid-type schemes, where you end up relying on the entire population of the UK signing up to referral offers so you can get the latest gadget - these are legitimate 'answer some questions online for points which you save up for shop vouchers' type surveys.

It's my birthday soon, so if anyone wants to help the 'Paul needs a new Bike, preferably with full suspension and a bit lighter than the current 20 year old model' fund, send Amazon.co.uk gift vouchers! :)
Amazon.co.uk Gift Vouchers

Fan-iddly-tastic!

Saturday afternoon, I went to the cinema to see "The Simpsons Movie" with my nephew - almost as much of a Simpsons fan as I. 30 year age difference between us, but we were both laughing (me with a chesty rumble as I have a cold at the moment) at much the same things for much the same reasons. There were a couple of moments when the question "What does that mean?" could be heard, but he answered me politely...
We stayed until the very end of the credits, which was an adventure for him - it was the first time he had been the last person in a cinema and he was thrilled by the experience - especially when he saw the various bits in the credits (and in the soundtrack) that "We're the only people who have seen" He (and I) have been waiting ages for this film - he saw the trailer at (I think) the Wallace & Gromit film when it came out and has been asking me ever since to tell him when it was coming out. Now, of course, he wants to know when the sequel is due out... And all because of one word said by one of the main characters in a credits sequence!
On the way home, he kept on singing the "SpiderPig" song. No-one else in the family quite understands why he and I love The Simpsons as much as we doo, but then they gave up on me when I first got into Star Trek, and he's following a similar path with Star Wars (you could say he is my young Padawan...)
Now, of course, it's "When is the DVD coming out and can I get it for Christmas?"

Said by both of us at the same time, to the bemused stare of his father/my brother, who came to pick us up from the cinema.

The Sound of His Voice

(DS9 fans will get the paraphrase of an excellent Season 7 episode!)
My speaking voice isn't that hot. I've discovered that there is a slightly sibilant tone, and I sound way more 'Esturary' than I thought. The reason I've suddenly realised this is that I have been recording a podcast covering Non-Sport trading cards (one of my many collecting/hoarding activities!)
I suspect this is something that happens to everyone the first time they hear a recording of their voice - I had the idea that my voice was posher, clear and well enunciated; now I understand why some people have problems understanding what I say!

Samantha Live!

Well, I'm back from the Clue recording and it went about as swimmingly as it could have! There are pictures, but the ones taken in the theatre are decidedly blurry, due to the zoom on my camera not being sufficient, me not being used to the various settings on the thing and the fact that one of the ushers was a little too strict about the 'No photography' thing. Still, I'll post a couple at the end.

Now, if you don't want to know who the guest panellist was until you hear the radio broadcast (in June), look away now.

Stephen Fry.

Stephen Flippin' Marvellous Fry

Sir Stephen of the Fry-ness.

Result! I was hoping for Jeremy Hardy (given we were at the home of the English National Opera, that would have been apt) by Sir Fry-ness was a more than acceptable alternative, given the fact that I'm a huge fan (and even wrote a letter to him, to which he wrote a really nice reply!)

Anyway, to start at the beginning - I got into London at around 11am and proceeded to Mornington Crescent as something of a pilgrimage (I thought it appropriate - after all, I would, hopefully, be watching a game that night and so seing the place for real would be the perfect start to the day)

On the platform, having just got off the Northern Line train.

I went up to street level (by lift - MC is one of the few remaining Tube stations with lift access), went through the ticket gates and saw - rain. Chucking it down, it was. Luckily, I had my brolly, so I dived out, and crossed the road to take the following pictures:

The Station from the pub doorway opposite (umbrella framing device entirely my own!)

A slightly damp me in front of the station - the thinning hair is purely a trick of the light (he wrote hopefully...)

I went back into the station, having first noticed the statue in the pedestrial area in front of the station:Closer inspection reveals it to be of Richard Cobden (link to Wikipedia)

What I forgot to do, of course, was take a picture of the Blue Plaque erected in the memory of Willie Rushton (mainly because it wasn't until searching Wikipedia for the Richard Cobden link above that I realised there WAS a Blue Plaque! Rats! - that means another trip in due course...)

I re-entered the station to continue my journey around town (pausing only to take more pictures of myself:

That's the last of the pictures of me, I promise)

I killed a few hours at the British Museum (which was heaving - unsurprisingly, given it was a Bank Holiday Monday and it was still raining) and Oxford Street (where I found a die-cast Dalek keyring is, of all places, Marks and Spencer - my local branch had a few before Christmas, but I hadn't bought one because I was hoping for reductions in the January sale - of course, no Dalek keyrings were in the sale) I did hope to find the Dalek Egg Cup M&S did for Easter, but no luck.

Eventually, I went off to King's Cross station to meet up with my friend, and (after a most enjoyable Indian meal near Charing Cross Road) we walked over to the London Coluseum. Huge crowd assembled in front of the theatre - a good mix of ages, which slightly surprised me (though it really shouldn't have done) . On a counter in the lobby were SIGNED copies of Humphrey Lyttleton's anecdotal memoirs "It Just Occurred to me - The Thoughts of Chairman Humph" (amazon.co.uk) for sale - so I bought one.

Entering the auditorium, and finding our seats, on stage were the tables covered in a BBC Radio 4 sheet, and (at the back) a piano:

A mirky pic I know, but you can just make out that there are 6 microphones - two each for the teams, one for Humph and one for - yes - Samantha! So, the rumours that Samantha is a completely imaginary entity can be dashed right now - what other proof does one need? :)

Jon Naismith came on stage and did a little 'warm-up', telling a pretty awful joke that made the audience laugh in much the way you'd expect a pretty awful joke to do - he asked for a show of hands to see who in the audience were first timers to a recording and it appeared to me that almost the entire audience were newbies! (that audience, by the way, was in the region of 2400 - according to Naismith, the largest audience (not including the radio listeners) they had yet performed to - I'm proud to be a part of Clue history!)
Next, Naismith introduced the teams; huge cheer after every name, and a seriously huge cheer for Fry. Next came Colin Sell and finally, Humphrey himself. Samantha was slightly delayed, attending to a few personal matters at the back.

The show started. I won't discuss all the rounds, or what songs were performed (though I will say that Stephen Fry got almost a standing ovation for his effort in "One Song To The Tune Of Another") but at one point, Humphrey made a comment about having celebrated his 86th birthday two weeks ago and Colin Sell struck up with the tune to "Happy Birthday", and the audience sang along. If you have never heard "Happy Birthday" sung by nearly 2400 people in a theatrical setting...

One round that didn't seem to do very well was an attempt at a "Life on Mars" spoof, which I suspect will either be dropped completely, or will be severely cut.

An interval followed (mad dash for the bar) then the second half, and the second week's show with the moment everyone had been waiting for - Mornington Crescent! This match involved a new Mornington Crescent computer game joining in - if it gets left in the broadcast edition, regular listeners will recognise the voice of the computer (and that's all I am saying)

A couple of pictures of the cast, though as stated above, they are not particularly good:

(L-R) Stephen Fry, Colin Sell, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Humphrey Lyttleton, Jon Naismith (Samantha had to slip off at this point to attend to an urgent call of nature), Graeme Garden and Barry Cryer.

And finally, a shot of the laser Display Board (I think being held by Samantha; a stagehand was having difficulties with it, and she had to pull it off):

It may be difficult to make out, but the display shows "Kingdom"...

So. I've seen Clue live. Would I do it again if I got the opportunity? Yes! Being in the presence of so many people all determined to heartily enjoy themselves, makes the whole experience 10 times more fun, being able to join in the traditional audience responses without having people in the home/office/bus look at you askance is a great relief! I may even try to get to the tour the cast is doing with Jeremy Hardy ( a sort of "Greatest Hits" - not for broadcast and being performed at a number of theatres in August and September, with the possibility of more dates next year)

This time tomorrow...

...I'll be at the London Coluseum, ejnoying the early stages of an "I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue" recording. The time has dragged since I managed to get the tickets, and now the day is finally upon me. What to do before the show? Well, I'm meeting up with a friend and we're probably going for a curry beforehand (if you have the seats behind me, my apologies in advance!) but I'm not meeting him until late afternoon, so I have most of the day to kill. Suddenly, a light bulb appeared above my head (I know it did, I was it reflected in my monitor!) - a pilgrimage to that holiest of Clue holies, Mornington Crescent. I shall be going via Tower Hill, which may well leave me open to accusations of going deliberately into nip, but I don't care.
Yesterday, I planted some Tomatoes.
Tomorrow, I see Clue and visit a nondescript (probably) Tube station.
On Tuesday, I await the Gas Meter Man.
It's an exciting life I lead.

I'm Jolly I HAVE Got A Clue!

Woo-Hoo! I have been a fan of the BBC Radio 4 show "I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue" for years, but have never, until now, been able to get tickets to a recording. Until now, that is! Either I haven't been around on the day, or I haven't been able to get through to the ticket office, or something has come up to prevent me from getting to hear the show, which stars Humphrey Littleton, Barry Cryer, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graham Garden and, of course, the delectable (and near legendary)Samantha.
Full report after the recording in May. As long as something doesn't come up in the meantime of course...

How to build up your DVD collection on a budget 2...

Previously in this blog, I wrote about the proliferation of 'free' DVD's given away with the UK National newspapers - well, they are still appearing (though not, perhaps, as frequently as before) - recent films include "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" and the complete ITV adaptation of "Doctor Zhivago" starring Kiera Knightley.
Since that earlier post, there have been a lot more 'partworks'; sets that are built up over a number of weeks by collecting tokens published daily. The Sun/News of the World and The Daily Mule[1] are especially good for this - recently The Currant Bun did a series of "TV Heroes" (mostly the same old reruns of Frost, Prime Suspect and John Thaw episodes) and The Mule was running that stallwart of New Year Partwork magazines, a series of improving your body and mind discs (including Yoga, Pilates etc)
I've avoided those, concentrating on Films (which this year, in addition to the previously mentioned titles, have included "Nuns on The Run" and "Privates on Parade") I'm hoping for another couple of Carry On movies (and, perhaps, the one TV Christmas special the Daily Express hasn't so far released as a freebie!), one or more Hollywood classics, some more 'Art house' from The Independent and other interesting stuff that I wouldn't have bought but which Im more than happy to add to my collection for the cost of a newspaper!
The collection is now in excess of 100 discs - and I have actually watched some of them!

[1] Steve Bell 'If...' reference :)

T'wonderful!

First post of the new year! And its something relatively trivial, but it does show that good customer relations STILL exist!
Before Christmas, I bought a box of Twinings English Breakfast tea bags - partly because I had run out of the usual PG Tips (I had been given a big box the previous Christmas when there was a Wallace and Gromit heat sensitive mug!), partly because there was a special offer on the price in my local supermarket and mostly because it came with rather nice, free, metal tea caddy (and I'm a sucker for 'free' stuff) I like English Breakfast - it's a bit stronger and more tea-ish than the ordinary blended stuff.
Unfortunately, when I got it 'ome, I found that two bags were stuck to the bottom of the box - some of the packaging glue had leaked, and in trying to remove the bags, I tore them, spilling tea everywhere.
Later that evening, just in case they might be interested, I left a message on the Twinings website, suggesting they might want to check their gluing machine. I was emailed the next day, asking for my details and suggesting that I might be sent something back for my inconvenience. I was pleased to get the return email and, thinking I might get a couple of tea bags as replacements, thought no more of it. Last week, I got a hand signed letter from Twinings explaining the problem, apologising for the inconvenience and (again) mentioning that something would be sent to me - this week, the something arrived - two boxes of English Breakfast teabags! Woo Hoo!
I'll be writing a proper letter of thanks to Twinings, but I thought I'd mention it here (not that anyone reads this I suppose!) This is a company that responds to customer feedback and (as a result) encourages brand loyalty. Thanks Twinings!

Return of the Mac

After some 20+ years, I am finally the owner of an Apple Mac.
Years ago, whilst (for some reason I can't remember now) I saw my first Apple computer - I think it was the Lisa - at one of the London Rail terminals (possibly Waterloo, though I don't know what I was doing there) I liked it, but there was no way I was ever going to be able to afford one.
I gradually progressedthrough various home computers (the Sinclair ZX-81, the Spectrum, the Atari 520 STFM) and eventually moved into the WinTel environment, in which I have been resolutely lodged ever since (despite the occasional detour due to the acquisition of some other piece of kit - for example, an old Apple //e that my then employer was throwing away - I gave it a home and played with it for a good while and it's still in the old study and, as far as I know, working!)
Well, recently, I've been building 'new' computers out of discarded PC's donated by friends and family, using additional parts from eBay, and was perfectly happy to continue in this vein when, out of the blue, a friend asked if I'd like an Apple Mac G4? What harm can it do to accept, I thought, and accepted.
I've had it for a little over a month now, and it's fun! I still have to get used to the different way it does things, and my PC's are still the main machines I use for emails and web surfing etc., but I can see the Mac taking over for Skype (there is a beta of Skype Video for Mac out at the moment, and I've added an iSight camera to the collection of computer bits cluttering the spare bedroom that now serves as my study!) and for servicing my iPod, amongst other things.
This leopard isn't changing his spots - at least, not ALL of them...

Fundamentally Sound

Amongst other things, I'm a Pet Shop boys fan; I've ben to several of their concerts, have all the albums (well, not the Further Listening 2 CD sets, I'll admit!) and most, if not all, the singles (including the Fan Club exclusive!)
So, although I had high hopes for the new album, "Fundamental" when it came out a month ago, I was concerned lest it turn out to be another "Release" which, to be brutally honest, left me lukewarm.
I had nothing to fear. "I'm With Stupid" the excellent first single is representative of a return to the sound most PSB fans love them for - electronics, multi-layered backing and touching, ascerbic and typically PSB style lyrics!
Personal stand outs are "Integral", the aforementioned "I'm With Stupid" and "The Sodom and Gomorrah Show" which not only show the band in their best light, they also show the hand of Trevor Horn, who produced the album.
This is not going to be a detailed, track-by-track review - you can get that elsewhere. All I'm going to say is - if you like PSB, you'll love this album; if you don't already like them, this might be the CD you've waited years to hear*.
(the link above goes to amazon.com who, at time of posting, are doing the 2 disc version - complete with guest vocalist Sir Elton John :) - for £8.99)

* apologies for the dismal paraphrase of a PSB single...

That reminds me...

I was chatting in work yesterday about Matchbox toy cars and I suddenly remembered that I hadn't seen my favourite, an Orange Ford Capri with a black movable bonnet, for some time. I more or less assumed it was lost, though I do still have most of my toy cars in an old Jacobs biscuit tin - (and let's not get started on my reminiscences about Granny Grumps sending a tin over from Ireland for Christmas!)
When I got home, I decided to dig out the tin, which was in my study under the Ikea bookshelves, to see what I DID stil have - and after a bit of rummaging I found the Capri! It's battered, with bare metal in places where the paint scraped off during play, but still in a reasonable condition! I don't know what it was, but when I was a child, the Ford Capri was my favourite car of all - yes, I liked the supercars and sports cars but the Capri was the one I liked the most; I was ever so excited when, age 6, I got to ride in one (my first and only trip - to date!)
Anyway, in case anyone reads this and is interested, here it is:

(Picture taken on an Olympus C-700 Ultra Zoom)

That was the WHAT?!?!?!

Oh dear.
Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.
Channel 4 broadcast the last episode of "(Star Trek) Enterprise" yesterday and I have to ask - 'What was the point of THAT?'
Basically, the plot boils down to this: Riker has a problem and used some video recordings of Enterprise to help him make the decision we know he was going to make anyway (because, being trekkers, we all saw that TNG episode already)
They didn't even show Archer's speech at the end! They built up to it, but they didn't give Scott Bakula the chance to exit with a dignified speech?
Pah!
OK, so it was fun to see Troi and Riker in 'Classic TNG' uniforms (though Marina Sirtis seemed to have problems remembering what accent she should be using), but using them as the hook for the plot was disrespectful to the rest of the cast who, regardless of what you might think of the show as a whole (I dropped out in season two to be brutally honest, though what I saw of season four suggested that things were improving into a show I might have watched more regularly) deserved a proper close.

Paramount, it has to be said, lost my respect some time ago as far as their milking of the Trek cash cow was concerned - and on the evidence of this episode, they won't be getting it back any time soon (not that that matter to them!)