And So I Watch You From Afar - Academy Birmingham 19/10
Since ASIWYFA first dropped their incendiary first LP I’ve been keeping an eye firmly fixed on them. But, even though I wrote about them for Metro, I’ve been forced to miss several of their gigs. Instead only catching snatches of them energetically leaping around on YouTube.
This week, despite having a tiring day at uni, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to finally to see them unpixellated. The Belfast-based lads were supporting This Will Kill You so I went down nice and early and got myself pressed up against the barrier in an active attempt to relive my teenage years. I've mostly moved away from rock bands in the last 10 years but there's something about this band that stirs the young rock beast inside me.
Only against the barrier can you see flying splinters from shattered drumsticks, the sweat dripping from bent heads onto their guitars. They band's name might imply considered distance but the only way to watch the band up-close in full visceral effect.
Going headfirst down the Pixel Pipe
Here's a pic the wife took of me yesterday, SLR had been left on manual! Just want to see where this goes reall
When Journalists Kill
After a long day at Hello Digital I went over to Aston University to listen to a talk by Dr Ben Goldacre of Bad Science fame.
Although the title of the lecture was 'When Journalists Kill' it was a suitably freewheeling, humourous and passionate talk which spiralled on for 40 minutes beyond the allocated time. His general theme was how poor reporting, based on misinformation and poor investigation is extremely dangerous. Along the way various cod scientists, nutritionists and new agers get suitably lampooned!
Ben has asked me not to publish the recording, at least until he's finished touring it. He's more than happy to do an interview with me, so keep an eye out for that! In the mean time he's given me permission to steal this 2007 Brighton Science Festival recording from his site. Download it by right clicking here or play it below.
[audio: http://badscience.net/files/ben_goldacre_brighton_scifest_2007.mp3]
6Music - On One
I was at 24Carrots on Saturday and bumped into two producers asking for our opinions on BBC 6Music. I was more than happy to be filmed as 6Music is my favourite radio station.
I've been listening ever since I got a digital radio for Christmas 6 years ago and pretty much like every show they do (except George Lamb - and I'm not even going to hyperlink that!) but a final thing occurred to me later on that I'd like to share.
I have this theory that Britpop wouldn't have happened if Radio 1 hadn't brought in the changes they made under Matthew Bannister. The most important element wasn't the notorious clearing of DJ dead wood (which is incidentally why I dislike Lamb, I remember Simon Bates) but the re-invigoration of the playlist. Suddenly eloquent intelligent pop was being listened to by a mainstream audience. Of course it still had to strike a national chord but it was listened to.
I met Mark Riley (AKA The 'Hapless' Boy Lard) at Depercussion Festival in Manchester a few years back and told him how much I liked his 6music show. He was appreciative of my praise but added "Yeah. but it should be on Radio 1 shouldn't it..."
Many people of my generation have a soft spot for Mark (Radcliffe) and Lard but it wasn't just their sense of humour or deep respect for music but also the breadth of art and literature covered in the show. In fact many people I know have favourite comedians, poets and writers that can be traced back to Mark And Lard. Bannisters changes elevated art to be discussed on air even giving some airtime to comedy shows in their own right for the likes of Collins And Maconie, Lee And Herring - paving the way for the superb Blue Jam by Chris Morris.
I know radio's changed and we're now all filtering our way through our own personalised schedules these days but there's something to be said for a broad range of interesting art to be available on the mainstream. Bringing arts and comedy shows onto 6music might be moving away from the 'music' part of their edict. So where else do we go for our cultural spark? Is it Radio 4 or should it be Radio 1?
A Widget, A Widget, A Lovely Widget, A Widget I Have Got
I've spend today installing plugins for my site. I'm posting to see which ones are working.
#Brum Meet One
This is our first real meeting for#Brum a new hyperlocal news site for central Birmingham. We're still very much in development at the moment and we'd really like involvement, help and suggestions from non-MA Online Journalism students.
It would be great if you could comment on the conversation we had, or you can also track and make suggestions at our #Brum Wiki
You can right click 'save target' for the MP3 here or you can listen to it below.
[audio:http://dandavies23.wordpress.com/files/2009/10/hashbrummeetoneeq.mp3]BTW We got off to a poor start by not recording the first five minutes!
BCC DIY Audio Interview
This has moved from my journalist archive as this is the best home for it and it's interfering with my Silver Skins Podcast feed.
Here is the full interview with Stefan Lewandowski following a very long hack day for BCC DIY.
Other BCU MA Online Journalism coverage: Alex Gamela
Social Media And Its Impact On Mainstream Journalism
I recently headed off to the BBC to hear Nic Newman present his paper 'The rise of social media and its impact on mainstream journalism'. They recorded the session so you might want to keep an eye on Reuters site for a better recording.
You can right click 'save target' for the MP3 here or listen below.
[audio:http://dandavies23.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rise-of-social-media-impact-mainstream-journo-bbc-discussion.mp3]The discussion took place in the chamber facing a picture of Lord Reith which the chair points out at the beginning. Some notes and live twittering to accompany this talk can be found at Caroline Beavon's site. This is the post from Chiara Bolognini.