May
20
The business of presenting . . .
May 20, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Are you one of those folks who listens to the radio in complete ignorance of what’s required of the person speaking to you? Do you listen to Nicky Campbell’s polished Scots in the morning and think I could do that nae bother? Do you marvel at Kirsty Young’s (even more) polished Scots on Radio 4 […]
May
20
Chance Encounters . . .
May 20, 2007 | 1 Comment
Yesterday I bumped into an old colleague on the streets of Islington in north London. This is the third time in about 15 years that I’ve randomly met someone I used know in what must rank as one of the world’s most populous cities. In a place with a population of 7.5 million the question, […]
May
13
Archipelagic icicles . . .
May 13, 2007 | 1 Comment
The thorny subject of lyrics cropped up again last night at the Eurovision song contest. Ireland’s entry came in at second bottom – 23rd place – with a true abomination. Any song containing the words “Archipelagic icicles” deserves everything it got . . . Me and my flatmate started to watch the Eurovision contest last […]
May
6
The Beeb’s Worst Lyrics . . .
May 6, 2007 | Leave a Comment
BBC 6 Music has a poll of the top ten worst ever song lyrics. The results were based on the suggestions of more than 2,000 listeners to the station and while I agree there are some hideous examples of songwriting I can’t let Black Sabbath’s entry at number #10 go . . . # 10 […]
Apr
30
Rent or Buy?
April 30, 2007 | Leave a Comment
I had a conversation with my neighbour on Sunday across the back garden wall. It went like this. Neighbour: “Did Will and Carols’ Mum and Dad give Ana the house?” Me: “No they rented it to Ana.” Neighbour: “So are you renting or buying? ” Me: “We all rent?”
Apr
9
Hunt the Cluster Bomb
April 9, 2007 | Leave a Comment
I’m always ready to listen to opposing arguments about the rights and wrongs of any international political situation. Lets face it, working on the world’s greatest talk show means it’s unavoidable. But using the Easter tradition of hunting for eggs to make a point about the global arms trade by having your kids hunt the […]
Apr
8
Naoko Kondo
April 8, 2007 | 3 Comments
Did you know Naoko Kondo? She had black hair, was about 5,5 feet tall, with a slim figure. Her bicycle was an old mountain bike and silver (or metallic gray) in colour. She cycled to Docklands everyday on Clapham Road. I never met her but the information above I gleaned from a flyer posted up […]
Apr
2
EMI heed Uncle Pauly . . .
April 2, 2007 | Leave a Comment
. . . . well, not quite but it’s nice to see that days after my rant against DRM, EMI have announced they’ll make high-quality unlocked tracks available for purchase. This is a step in the right direction but as the article mentions, only 5% of all music sales are currently online. The next step […]