Monday 16 January 2012

Were you really, genuinely outraged by this performance? I wasn't.


"YouTube and Twitter are wonderful, wonderful things that have changed how we interact with the world … But they have created a mechanism by which we can we can monitor and record behaviour, whether of private citizens or public figures, play them over and over again, and share them with an alarming rapidity. Perhaps this heightened speed also leads us to feel forced into heightened reactions. Without the time to digest context and meaning we can only choose from a range of default reactions, largely based on our own prejudices … There are real problems here; the first is that our need for instant reactions may lead us to the wrong conclusions."
Padraig Reidy, writing for guardian.co.uk, Thursday 1 December 2011.

Thursday 12 January 2012

Hard shoulder.


Little Chef in Rain, St. Neots, Cambridgeshire by
Paul Graham.

I had an Omelette Breakfast from Little Chef - East Harlow the day we signed our record deal.

Monday 9 January 2012

Overheard on the 18.26 to Manchester.

"This is a service announcement. Can customers traveling in the rear carriages of the train please be aware that the toilet is now blocked. I repeat the toilet is now blocked.”

Woman: He sounds guilty.

Wednesday 4 January 2012

On my radio.


Music journalist Pete Paphides tells the story of the M1's improbable 1960s music meeting place - Blue Boar services at Watford Gap.


John Waite reports on the Irish war heroes shunned for fighting in World War II. They deserted the Irish Army to fight alongside the British and were blacklisted at home.

Tuesday 3 January 2012

Soft shoulders and dangerous curves.



"The truck driving man is about as individual and as special a breed of man as you’re ever likely to meet. He’s a man used to long silences broken only by the soft hum of wheels that burn up the miles between lonely townships. He has his own set of driving rules, his own language and his own songs. They’re songs that truly reflect the nomadic life that he leads and the situations that lie around each bend in the road, songs with titles like “Soft Shoulders and Dangerous Curves”, “Burning Rubber” and “Bumper to Bumper”. The truck driving man may sing, hum or whistle them as he drives along that long black ribbon of tarmac towards his destination. Now you can share these songs of the road, as Big Dave and the Tennessee Tailgaters play and sing the tunes that have their own special message for each truck driving man… 
Wherever he may be."
Side 1
1. Truck Driving Man
2. Gimmie Forty Acres
3. Soft Shoulders and Dangerous Curves
4. Burnin' Rubber
5. King Of The Road
6. T-Town Tailgaitin'
Side 2
1. Convoy
2. Six Days On The Road
3. Giddy Up-Go
4. Diesel Smoke Sally
5. Bumper To Bumper
6. Girl On The Billboard

Monday 2 January 2012

Overheard in the pick and mix queue of the cinema.

Woman 1: My Week With Marilyn it is then.

Woman 2: Is it a true story?

Woman1: I should hope so. The best ones usually are. 

(Pause).

Bend It Like Beckham, for example.*

(The Pick and Mix queue moves forward).

She was good, wasn’t she?

Woman 2: Yeah.

(Pause).

Who?

Woman 1: Marilyn.

Woman 2: Yeah.

Woman 1: Good but also vulnerable.

Woman 2: Yeah.

Woman 1: It was the drugs that killed her.

Woman 2: Was it?

Woman 1: Well that and The President.

Woman 2: Yeah.

(Pause).

I’ve never seen a costume drama.

Woman 1: Never?

Woman 2: Never.

Woman 1: Not even Jane Austen?

Woman 2: Which one’s that?

(Pause).

Woman 1: Would you like some Revels?

*N.B. Bend It Like Beckham is NOT a true story.