The Simpsons - My Take On An American Legend

Hi all you blog fans out there, hope you are all well. If you’re in England, you’re probably enjoying the sunshine and the rain that is parading over us at the moment. If you are elsewhere, I have no idea what your weather is like but you do! That made little sense so I’ll just get on with my subject for today. I’m trying to write at least 3 articles a week as one a day was proving too much when thinking of the load I have for other projects I am involved in.

I want to talk to you today about a television show I love to pieces. So much so that for months, it was practically the only thing I watched on television. I loved the humour, the animation and the fact it parodies reality in its style and approach. I am talking about The Simpsons, America’s greatest animated family, next to the Flintstones. Although, compared to the Flintstones, the Simpsons have run for 15 more seasons.

I remember seeing The Simpsons in the mid 90s, when BBC2 used to show it daily at 6pm. Those were glorious days, when you would tune into the show at 6, then watch Fresh Prince afterwards. The bonus with it being on the BBC was that there were no adverts to disturb the enjoyment. Occasionally, they would play Star Trek – The Next Generation instead of FP, which to some would have been a great joy. I was never a big fan of Star Trek until recently when I realised I finally have the patience to appreciate and enjoy it.

It shocked me to learn, years later, that the Simpsons are not intended for Children. At first glance, it looks like a cuddly children’s programme, but the content is more universal and occasionally a lot more daring. Other shows such as Family Guy, have taken this and gone way ahead with the adult humour. In later seasons of the Simpsons, they started to address deeper issues, such as sexuality, in which Homer befriends a homosexual then tries to stop Bart from becoming one. This is not the subject matter of a programme aimed at little kiddies. In the early 90s, Bart was seen as a bad influence because of the things he got up to, but as Matt Groening has pointed out, the early shows that caused this offence play “so sweet now”.

I have to say I prefer the earlier seasons. Seasons One to Five are probably my favourite of them all. They are the makings of a show that would become an institution the world over. Sure the animation was a little crude early on, but the material was there from the off. Homer seems to have become more stupid as time has gone on and it’s put the show out of context. They’re now looking for stories, and they’re starting to get very hard to come by. The earlier seasons would feature a flashback episode, where they would go back to 1980 to when Bart was born, and things like that. They really started to mess with the continuity as they struggle to look for stories of originality. It was when Bart says in a more recent episode, “the 90s, never heard of it”. This is despite the fact that in 1991 he had a hit with “Do The Bartman”, a rap record written by Michael Jackson. They really mess with the continuity and history of the show.

This isn’t supposed to a complaining post, because I’m sure they get plenty of them on a daily basis, I actually still enjoy the show. Everything fits together well and they have a proven format they know works. It was when they tried to make it into a movie that it went a bit far. I don’t know about you, but I didn’t find myself enjoying that movie very much. This is maybe because they showed all the best bits in the promotion for it. They did a Culture Show special, which looked at the history and showed clips from the film. I hate it when they do this, as they give away the memorable jokes. The movie gets a thumbs down from me I’m afraid.

Anyway, I’m going to end this post for now. I could say loads about The Simpsons, I’ve seen seasons One through to 15, after that it got a little hazy after that but I’m sure if you showed me episodes from later seasons, I’ve seen them. If you have opinions about the show, then please get in contact and comment here, your opinions all add to the point of a blog!

Piers Morgan - CNN - Can't Not Notice

Hey all you blog fans out there, just chilling out to a bit of Status Quo and thought I’d write something for this blog. Thanks for all the nice comments I have received recently, it has been much appreciated. What I want to talk here, you may not have seen, but you may have heard about through the internet. It is most prominent through Twitter.

I’m talking about Piers Morgan here, that guy we all love to hate. He really rubs people up the wrong way, most notably Lord Sugar, and you don’t want to get on the wrong side of him. Piers, starting out in journalism, he seem to have made his way onto television very slowly but surely. His roles in America and Britain’s Got Talent are things he was most famous for either side of the pond. He only got the job in America because Simon Cowell recommended him as he wasn’t available to take part.

Piers has also had the celebrity chat shows and such, where he talks to famous people about their lives. I found with these shows was that a majority of it was what I would call fluff. The guests got more and more bizarre also. I can understand Richard Branson, Bruce Forsyth among others, but why Kym Marsh or even Cheryl Cole. In a show which focuses on people’s lives, why have people who have hardly lived. Sure they’ve had bad experiences but you just don’t have the scope that you have with the heavyweight veterans.

He also did those programmes where he follows people around. This sounds like a programme for a stalker but this is not the case. His programme on Cliff Richard was ok, but it seemed like Piers was the one doing the talking not Cliff. This is where the criticism comes in, Piers can sometimes override his guests and suddenly it’s the Piers Morgan hour. Luckily when he did Lord Alan Sugar, he was put in his place. Speaking of Alan putting him in his place, have you seen Twitter? Some of the posts between these two have been hilarious. It all spawns from Piers’ new venture into America, as host of a CNN show, which replaces heavyweight Larry King. I wish Piers the best of luck with this, as it’s a refreshing change to see an Englishman have such a big solo slot in America, I’m sure Lord Sugar wishes him luck secretly.

I actually watched his show on CNN, as it is broadcast in the UK also. I caught the Anthony Hopkins show. I found the content to be very dry and very much aimed at a niche market. No longer is he working for a company that loves shiny things and fluff, this is serious business. So those who are hoping to tune in to hear Barrack Obama talking about his socks will be most disappointed. He spent his time talking to Hopkins about religion all because of his new film.

Anyway, this is the end of my post about Piers Morgan, if you have any comments about this subject, then please don’t hesitate to comment. If Piers wants to respond to anything I’ve said here, I won’t stop him!

Theme Park - A Classic!

Hi there blog fans, was just looking through my classic blog posts and thought I’d post this one about one of my favourite games, Theme Park. Hope you enjoy this; I have many articles like this one in my blog vault. Things I have written for other blogs that haven’t gone anywhere so hopefully you will enjoy!

Everyone at some time has had a go at the legendary Theme Park. I have fond memories of playing the original SNES version and thinking how amazing it was. Quite why, I'm not sure. The game's premise is perhaps the dullest thing in the world but somehow it works. You become involved in the happenings of your park and begin to enjoy watching that virtual money roll in.

I discovered the PC version shortly after and discovered a whole new world of shares, ordering supplies and striking up financial deals to make yourself successful. Let's be honest though, I reckon most of us just stuck it in sandbox mode and let the game do all the work while we loved watching the people go in and out. The music was one of the selling points for the game as far as I am concerned. It portrays a dreamy idealised world where everything is about the theme park and not much else. Tell that to the guy who programmed the dreary end sequence, which appears if you become bankrupt, which frankly ruins the mood of the game and is quite disturbing for a young person to see!

So if your a newbie to this whole thing, let me explain what this game is about. Basically you start a park then you buy rides, shops etc to go in your park. You can also add landscaping and workers to work in your park. You then try and make money with this to move onto the next park. You sell your park via auction in which your competitors bid on your park. If you've played Theme Hospital, you'll get what this game is all about. At the end of each year, they assess how much you have earned and your standing within the theme park community.

So whether you remember playing this as a kid, or you've never seen it before in your life, give it a try. But be warned, it can become very addictive. Also, if you own a PS3, you can download the PS1 version, which is quite close to the PC version of the game!

Please remember that if you want to comment on anything you have seen here, then don’t hesitate to comment! Your comments and opinions are greatly appreciated and add to the debate.

Chuckle Brothers - The Music Stopped, Sadly

Hi all you blog fans out there. Hope you are keeping well and enjoying what this blog has to offer. At this time, it feels like the blog offers nothing but we’ll see if that changes in due time. It’s been interesting to see feedback, sent through other services, about this page. It’s been very positive and I love the idea of audience participation in the subjects I discuss.

I’ve been looking into a childhood favourite recently. If you are like me, you watched these two guys on regular occasions just to see their hi-jinx and formulaic comedy routine. When I was really young, I used to say their names without saying their known surname. I’d go, Barry, Paul, Barry, Paul. People at this time mistook what I say and thought I was saying Barrymore, which is a different thing altogether!

I am of course talking about the Chuckle Brothers, Paul and Barry, who have delighted us with their presence with Chucklevision since 1987. Although I think the shows have become quite predictable, they are still fun to watch. Their Laurel and Hardy like routine is timeless, their catchphrases are easy to remember, and the Chuckmobil, or whatever it was called, is the one thing children want to have a go at driving!

I’m not here to talk about the TV series though, or the stage show, but the short lived music career of the brothers. I stumbled upon it by accident when looking through Youtube. There is a video on Youtube for the song, “Silly Me, Silly You”. This is a reference to another one of their catchphrases, and you know what, it is not that bad. I find myself repeating it and repeating it. Barry’s actually not a bad singer, Paul isn’t too bad either. I can see why they do stage shows every year, some with this song included.

It was when I tried to obtain a copy of the album, To Me To You, that I stumbled upon problems. There were not any copies on Amazon and Ebay had one copy, which went for under £10. It came to my attention that it was a rare album. I think this is a shame as it means people can’t experience in its native form; watching on Youtube just doesn’t have the same feeling for me.

Anyway, I guess I should end this post by saying, if you get the opportunity, give it a listen, you might be pleasantly surprised. That’s all from me for now, but if you have any comments on this subject, then please don’t hesitate to comment on this post.

David Beckham, Endorsing and the PS1!

Hey all you blog fans out there, apologies for not posting in the last few days. There is a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes. Valentines day was good, I hope everyone enjoyed themselves and you got something from that someone special! Just typing, and chilling out to Les McKeown’s solo album. If you don’t know who he is, he’s the singer from the Bay City Rollers and strangely, it has one or two tracks I would deem worthy.

I’m not here to talk about solo albums; I’m here to talk about something else. As some will know, I’m a big gaming fan. I’ve been writing some stuff for this blog gaming related, I need to finish it at some point.

I’ve been looking at a lot of PS1 games recently. I even did a list of them all, around 85 at the time of writing in total. I recently had a go at an endorsement product. It was called David Beckham Soccer! I mean, I’m not a big fan of David myself but I thought I’d give it a try. What I have to keep in mind is that it was released on the PS1 in 2000, so the graphics are not going to be up to scratch. I realised this when I went to play a game on my 21” and it looked snowy all over the pitch. I’m not talking about the weather either! I love it how companies get big name players to release their own video games. It was the same as Michael Owen, but frankly, I found his game much more enjoyable and less set on the fact of who was endorsing it other than the title screen. This showed Michael Owen joyfully saying “Welcome to Michael Owen’s World League Soccer 99, Have Fun!” I didn’t see such an entertaining thing in Beckham’s game, this is disappointing in a way.

I found the control system difficult but then I wasn’t used to it. I guess a lot of football games of this period had issues with the controls. I remember Actua Soccer had similar tendencies in the control style. The difference between DBS and AS is that Alan Shearer is way cooler than David Beckham in my opinion. Anyway, I’m getting off subject a bit here.

I guess what I’m trying to say is although there were good football games in this era; there were also some bad ones. People tend to forget that there was more than just Fifa in the 32-bit days. Anyone remember Viva Football? It was a game that allowed the player to play as one of the great teams from the past. I didn’t care that the graphics and controls were a bit dodgy; it was this one fact alone that drew me to it.

I guess that’s the key to games these days, gimmicks. All you have to do is to look at Little Big Planet and see that!

Anyway, thanks for reading this pointless article. I’m hoping to get some more up soon, so if you have any suggestions, please don’t hesitate to comment!

Emusic - It's Not What You Think It Is!

Hi all you blog fans out there. I’m going to take a little break from my passion for gaming posts and tell you about something I think you should know. It concerns a music download site which give away free downloads but unfortunately, their output is not to everyone’s taste. I’ll start at the beginning. I recently bought a new television and was offered a range of free things. One of these free things was a trial with Emusic, which is a download site similar to Itunes and Napster. Actually, it would seem this way from first glance but I was wrong. I got on there and it was basically a breeding ground for old recordings and unknown artists.

I personally don’t mind this as I listen to a lot of non-mainstream stuff. I was thrilled at the amount of Show of Hands material which was available to me, and cheaper than any other download site to my knowledge. I was offered some free downloads and I took them. In doing so, I had to sign up and choose a payment plan. I was told I could just cancel quite easily once my free downloads had been done. Unfortunately, I didn’t cancel quickly enough and sure enough £25 had been taken out. My answer to this is just to use up all that credit, because in my opinion it is good to discover non mainstream stuff, and then try and cancel.

I would beware that a lot of the older recordings of 60s artists appear to be rerecorded. These are sometimes inferior to the original and as some would say, not worth the money you spend. I think part of the attraction of the site is that downloads are only 42p, as opposed to 79p on some sites. This was great for me to get those older songs that have been stuck in my head for ages. Songs by Chuck Berry and the like are easily accessible, with most of his known recordings on there for all to download. If you’re looking for DJ Wotsit or MC Mammy featuring Miss Warble, you’re not going to find it here. I wouldn’t say it was suitable for the teen market unless they have a very eclectic taste in music. I would recommend this site strictly for people who prefer non mainstream or music from the mid 20^th century. I was interested to see an album by Inkspots on there, certainly not to everyone’s taste but I’m sure someone out there appreciates it.

So there you go, they are a non mainstream music provider. I was even shocked to see my own song on there. Just type in Jamie Dyer and up it comes, I Gave You My Lovin’. Shameless piece of advertising but I was thrilled to see my own recording up on this site, I wasn’t sad enough to download it from the site though!

Thanks all for reading and please leave any comments or stories of experience you may have on the subject below!

Gaming - One Of My Childhood Passions - Part 2

Hi all you blog fans out there. I hope you’ve been enjoying the recent posts, I try to update as much as I can in between work for University and the voluntary work I participate in. In the last blog post, I talked about my passion for gaming in the 8-bit era. In this post, I want to talk about the 16-bit era, in which my passion got bigger for the medium. This is the era of the SNES and Megadrive. As a child, I was a Super Nintendo person, mainly due to the great experiences I had with Nintendo’s 8-bit console. This is where the passion truly hit its peak.

As with many people, my first experience was the enhanced versions of the original Mario games from the NES era remade for the SNES. I loved the graphics and this new polished feel of these classic games. I spent a lot of my time on third party titles who were trying to make money from the success of platform games. I loved games such as Plok and anything made by Disney. They always had the imagination and new ideas. I never quite had the same enthusiasm when 3D platformers came rushing by when the N64 hit the scene in the mid 90s. 2D platformers were, and still are, the way to go in my opinion.

In addition to the newly improved graphics and sound, the group feeling we started in the 8-bit era stuck. I still remember playing the original Mario Kart and being amazed by the graphics and the fact I could race my favourite characters round a track with a friend. Competition really did ensue!

I didn’t have much contact with the Megadrive until much later on in years when I decided it was time to experience it. Unfortunately, it did not live up to my expectations but maybe that was because I decided to do this in the PS2 era. Games like Sonic on the Megadrive weren’t as good in my opinion as their 8-bit counterparts. They still had that platforming magic but it wasn’t as easy to master in my opinion. I also found that there was a lot of repetition with the Megadrive’s output. I mean a lot of the SNES games from that era, would also be on the Megadrive, but would have things cut or added on; most of the time it seemed like the latter. The SNES had something its competitor didn’t, the Mode 7 capability; quite what this is I’m not sure of even today.

I’m going to end this post for now, as the 16-bit era is massive in my opinion and there is so much more I wish to talk about in respect to this time of gaming. Thanks for reading and please don’t hesitate to comment if you have any opinions on what I have said in this post.

Gaming - One Of My Childhood Passions - Part 1

Hello all you blog fans out there. Sorry I haven’t posted in the last day or so, have had things on. Hope everyone out there is ok and enjoying the blog. As I’ve said previously, I’ve tried to do this daily but material can go dry after a while. You begin to not know what to write about. I would like to talk to you today about Gaming. People will be aware I have a bit of a passion for the subject. I want to take you through my journey as a gamer. This might not sound very appealing, but to the fan, I’m sure you can relate to it.

I started gaming back in the early 90s, a peak for the activity. There were no Wiis, Xbox360 or PS3s around at this time. No waving your arms about in front of a sensor, it seems primitive; but it was enjoyable. Two of the first consoles I ever played on were the Nintendo Entertainment System and the Sega Master System. I probably played the Mega Drive around that time too but I’m sure. I have vivid memories of playing Fantasia or some kind of Mickey Mouse game. Just for the record, anything with Mickey Mouse featured, is absolute gold until the Gamecube game in my opinion. Anyway, I started playing things like Sonic and Mario, the real kings of platform games. They might seem very basic now, but back then and still now, they are some of the best games ever released.

I used to play other games too, such as the puzzle game Kickle Cubicle. This was a puzzle game with very impressive graphics for the NES. What I love about these old games is although they look extremely simple, they are very difficult to master. I can say I’ve only ever completed less than 5 games in my collection, and they were probably on easy. I always take the opinion that it doesn’t matter what difficulty you have it on, as long as you enjoy the game. I must’ve completed Hercules several times on easy and still find it entertaining. Who wouldn’t love Danny Divito’s voice telling you to concentrate?

I’m digressing a bit here; I’m still talking about the early days. I used to play Paperboy a lot too, and I found it much easier on the NES to master. I played the arcade version through a compilation years later and it just didn’t feel the same. It wasn’t the Paperboy I grew up with. Arcade conversions were quite popular at this time; there were some good ones and some bad ones. I loved the NES conversion of Double Dragon; I still play it today via the WII’s Virtual Console. It was a fighting game at its best. It was immersive enough for you to get involved, but not realistic enough for you to take it seriously, unlike some of today’s games.

Gaming seems to have this reputation that it is a solitary activity, which I don’t personally agree with. Even before all this casual gamer stuff, I’d always try and play things like Mario with other people, even if it was just on one player. You make it a group activity and it suddenly doesn’t become a solitary geeky pastime anymore. Even when I first played a SNES, it was still a group activity.

Anyway, I’ve talked about Nintendo, perhaps I should talk about Sega’s 8-bit console while I am here. There were only ever three games I played on the SMS. These were Sonic the Hedgehog, Taz Mania and the arcade conversion of Rainbow Islands. I loved the 8-bit Sonic; it is still one of my favourite games. It was easy to get into; it was a lot simpler than its Mega Drive counterpart. Taz Mania was a challenging game but I found enjoyment out of it all the same. I loved the TV show and loved to play as Taz. I guess these TV shows adapted for games have this affect; you want to play as your favourite characters in a scenario similar to the TV series. I played Ducktales a while back, it was a good old fashioned platformer, but it was difficult!

Rainbow Islands was just one of those arcade conversions that was actually better than its original source. I played the Amiga version years later and it was terrible, almost unplayable to me who is used to the SMS version. I then realise the Amiga version was identical to the original; this made me love the version I love even more!

I guess what I take from the 8-bit era is this; a majority of the games were very good, there are a few turkeys out there, for their design and replay ability! One of my most played games of all time is Super Mario Bros 3 on the NES. It is simply, in my opinion, one of the best games I have played, and is one of the gems from this era.

Anyway, I think I’m going to write this blog in parts, as I’m writing a lot here. So, in true TV show style, join me on the next blog when I will be talking about the 16-bit consoles. This is where my passion for gaming really took off. Thanks for reading and if you have any comments on anything I have mentioned, then please comment below!

Blog TV - CCTV in your bedroom, with some guy on chat.

Hi all you blog fans out there. Just chilling to the Silicon Teen’s version of Memphis Tennessee and thought I’d come on and write a blog. Since the last post, I learnt many new things. One of those things was that they are making a Mr Men movie. First off, what are they thinking? Still, I will hold off any reservations and critique until I see something more concrete about the story and the film.

As some will be aware, I have been doing this thing for two weeks or so and I think I’ve got the hang of it now. I have done blogs before but this is the first regular one where I have something to say. I used to do video blogging/broadcasting through Blogtv.com a few years ago; it’s not the same I know. I enjoyed it but then you realise it’s you on video and random people talking to you; but still I enjoyed it at the time.

The whole concept of Blog TV is an interesting concept. It’s a chat room with someone on camera talking to you, similar to the BBC’s web chats; although the person talking to you is someone in their bedroom eating a bacon sandwich. It doesn’t seem gripping but somehow, it is.

It’s this whole human nature thing where we like to peer into other people’s world. Facebook is a great example of this. Still, Blog TV doesn’t just cater for the UK, it’s all over the world. Americans have certainly taken to it, with America’s Third Party broadcasting to a worldwide audience. Some of the American broadcasters I encountered during my journey with it were fascinating; it was like looking into a different culture. The only difference is they give their consent.

There are dangers with this thing though, such as you don’t know who is watching you; it could be anyone. There are a lot of musicians out there who use it, and probably love the attention they deserve. It’s just that a majority of the output on the website is just people sitting in their bedroom waiting to talk to people. What is funny is that some people when they do get viewers get all excited. This makes it entertaining somehow.

Anyway, that’s my view of Blog TV. It’s not all good, but then something like this is going to have its faults and critics. If you have any opinion on this, then please get in contact by leaving a comment below.

Cartoon Violence and the Big Scissors of Society!

Hi all you blog fans out there and welcome to another one of my media blog posts. I’m never quite sure what to write on these things so stay with me here. I was just looking at a 1930s cartoon starring Mickey Mouse, made by the brilliant Disney. A cartoon named “Pluto’s Judgement Day”, in which the character of Mickey Mouse has become rather scary. Let’s just say, you wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of the mouse. Anyway, on with the blog post after that pointless observation.

In watching this cartoon, I got to thinking about how some of these old cartoons get cut up because of political correctness. The cartoon with the biggest amount of cutting has to be Tom and Jerry. It was deemed so important that they broadcast that the vintage cartoons had been edited, mainly getting rid of smoking scenes between the characters.

While I agree that it sets a good example to today’s youth, it does not preserve history as it was intended. Sure there are racist things in these old cartoons but they should be left in to teach children about previous generations and the way they consumed media. I was quite annoyed to find scenes had been edited out of the Tom and Jerry DVD releases, plus some of the voices of the woman had been overdubbed with a “less offensive” voice. This really effects the authentic experience I expect when I watch a vintage cartoon from another era.

Luckily not all cartoons have suffered this fate, ones I have seen of Woody Woodpecker and the classic Disney shorts are all in one piece. Although I realise that while we all enjoyed them when we were young, they could perhaps be deemed too violent for today’s audience. This is probably why they don’t get any showings on TV anymore. One example of the violence in a Disney cartoon, Donald Duck throwing knives in a kitchen, well that just won’t do! At the end of the day, I think it is the parent’s decision to decide whether to show these aging cartoons to their children. I personally watched some of them and thought it wasn’t suitable for a very young audience. While I was struck with this impression, I still believe, as I have already stated, that they should be kept in the way they were originally intended.

So have you any opinions on this matter?  If you do, then please comment this. Everyone seems to have an opinion now on what is supposed to be shown to children. I find the programmes now are very tame, they don’t dare to go anywhere which might be on the edge, unlike the programmes aimed at adults! Look at Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, in my opinion, it just seems all education, education, education. I agree this is important for children but surely they need a bit of entertainment, perhaps with an educational message which is subtly hidden underneath the lashings of colour and movement in a cartoon.

Anyway, that’s my opinion on the subject, thanks for reading!

Radio Work - My Tips

Hey all! Below is a post I did for another blog some time ago, but I feel it is relevant to the subject of Media! Enjoy.

People have sometimes asked me what I use to broadcast a show each week on Real Hit Radio. Contrary to some opinion on internet radio DJs, I try to get the best professional sound possible. Its not high tech equipment but it does its job. Most dedicated DJs have to start at the bottom in terms of equipment and build their studio up. Some of the older DJs I'm sure started with a mic socket in their hifi and a cheap microphone from Tandy. It is a modest beginning but its a start for the budding DJ who has just heard a show on Radio One and thought, "I can do that".

Sound Desk
One of the main things I use is a sound desk, used to fade vocal and music up and down. There are several channels on this desk but I only use 2 (3 if you count the use of vinyl on occasions). One feeds from the microphone while the other feeds from the music and jingle source. The only setback to using this setup is that the headphones are playing what is going through the desk, not the encoder feeding to Real Hit Radio servers. Most of the time the sound is perfect for broadcast. This desk then feeds into the machine that broadcasts the show to listeners listening to Real Hit Radio

Microphone
The use of a microphone is essential for recording links between songs and other voice related parts in radio. I use a cheap Talkstar microphone, which runs through a Line 6 pod set on vocal, to amplify speech. If I was to just run the microphone through the desk, the sound would not be loud enough to be heard on the broadcast. I have tried previously to turn all the settings up on the desk when trying this method and although vocals are loud, they may not always be clear. So this is the reason for using the pod, which works well in the current setup. Making the vocals even clearer is the use of a pop shield, used to filter out unwanted "spit" or "pops" when someone is pronouncing their P's and S's. Shields like this one can be bought for under £10 over the internet and make a difference when recording. Some of the older Real Hit Shows didn't use one and the difference is there, links are now much clearer and noise is reduced to a listenable standard.

Tips for doing links
When presenters start out in the presenting game of Radio, there is a lot of hesitation there. You have alot to say but are shy in front of the microphone. You have what you are going to say all figured out but all that comes out are a bunch of words and a series of ums and arrs. Its rather degrading being on air and presenting in this unprofessional manner. It is only natural to be like this at first as you've never done it before and its completely new to you. You are probably thinking, what can I say about presenting that is of any use to you. I have been presenting for 2 years and have learnt many things about the world of radio. Here are a few tips to help you when on air.

Tip 1
Try to imagine there is no one listening to you and that you are completely alone with anyone who is in the studio at this time. That way, conversations with these people flow just like an ordinary conversation, which is radio at its best. Theres nothing more entertaining than listening to two people chattering away about absolutely nothing at all. After all, DJs such as Chris Moyles and Terry Wogan have conversations with their peers all the time about minor things and they're doing pretty well for themselves.

Tip 2
Try to think what you want to be in the presenting world. Do you want to be a pretender, or an out and out real person. Pretenders are those who put on a persona in order to make themselves more appealing or more entertaining to an audience. The real people angle is where someone goes into a studio and they are completely themselves. You find a lot of this on Community and Hospital radio as they are newbies to the game. Part of the pretender angle is putting on a voice. When I'm on air, I tend to put on what is known as "the broadcasting voice" or to anyone with a mobile, the "phone voice". It is a slightly pumped up version of your voice filled with positive angle. DJs such as Tony Blackburn are known for this kind of presenting. They are putting on a show for their audience!

Tip 3
Think about your music choices. I've always tried to stand out from the others while trying to provide an enjoyable and familiar experience for the listeners. If your doing a Folk show, you don't want to play Rock music, it goes against what you are supposed to do. Also, most stations don't want tracks with swearing in. I was recently sorting through tracks and found a track by Blink 182 called "The Rock Show". This song is known for having one or two swear words in. Playing this record would cost me my place at the station. If someone requests something like this, just play the clean version or play another song by that artist, most listeners like the idea of having a song dedicated to them, no matter what it is. It makes them feel part of it.

Anyway, that is my short but sweet starter tips and a runthrough of the basic equipment used in broadcast of Real Hit Radio. If you have any questions or would like to know a bit more, just email JamieD@Realhitradio.co.uk. 

Thanks!

VHS Blog Post

Hi all you blog fans out there. I was just loading up Spotify and thought I’d just write a quick blog about something completely random. In thinking about this, I thought maybe I could write about a tired old video format that is not in mainstream usage anymore. After all, I’ve written about Blu Ray, why not this particular format I am going to refer to. I am of course talking about the VHS, or video as it will be widely known

.

The battle between Betamax and Videotape was fierce, and unfortunately Sony lost out. I’m glad this happened as I can’t see us saying we’re going to watch a betamax tonight. I mean, every time we would have said video; we would’ve been corrected by a smart relative who wants to call everything by its proper name. I personally love the VHS format. Well ok, love is probably the wrong word to describe it. There is something about VHS which makes it special. Not the static you’d get if the tape was old or the flicker on the screen but just the feel of watching a video.

I still buy the odd video tape from the charity shop, although sadly they’re beginning to be phased out as they are considered a fire hazard. This really is health and safety gone mad. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a tape explode into flames. I don’t quite understand it myself.

I know part of the trouble of having these tapes was the size of them, big boxes that would fill up a shelf in no time. DVDs and Blu Rays have much smaller boxes so their storage takes up less space. Also, once a video got old or damaged, the picture would deteriorate and suddenly that recording you did of CITV is just a static flicking mess. Despite this, millions of users used the format to tape any programme of the TV they wanted to watch or keep. This has been useful in recent times as sometimes the broadcaster do not have original recordings of stuff, so have recovered recordings from home users. I personally discovered many programmes I didn’t know about previously through just taping a channel while at school then coming home to watch. It’s still giving the channel the audience right?

Anyway, I shall end this rambling post about an old video format by saying thanks for reading, and if you’re still using VHS, just comment here about your thoughts on it!

Glee - What's It All About?

Hey blog fans out there. This is rather a puzzling post, as I wanted to write something about Glee. Only problem is, I’ve never seen an episode of “Glee”, I only have the hype that surrounds it. The way I see it, as an outsider, it just seems like something that has come from the success of High School Musical. Let’s make a musical set in a school. Only difference is, Glee uses already established songs and artists for its musical material.

I personally don’t get it, the covers sometimes seem auto tuned in some songs, or maybe I’m wrong. Not that I have a problem with auto tune as long as it’s used for creative purposes. Looking at Don’t Stop Believing, it’s approach is clever, but what with all the hype around the original in recent times, isn’t it just jumping on the bandwagon? I don’t know really. The dance routines are probably quite good, but can’t help thinking its just easy programming. It’s been a phenomenon in the last few years, the comeback of the musical. I, for one, welcome it but there’s something about shows like Glee that seem false. I mean, like they don’t have a pure sense of a real musical about them. Thinking of High School Musical and Hairspray, they seemed natural in their first incarnations but anything after that seems to be milking its value.

The commercial arm of this whole thing has gone out of control too. There are loads of compilation albums of the covers from the show. They are virtually new interpretations of the songs. It’s the old rule; someone hears something on TV then goes to buy it. These record labels and TV stations certainly know how to work the audience. I guess it’s a good thing as the audience are perhaps experiencing music they would not have usually taken a look at, or perhaps just gives the viewers more versions of Pokerface or Holiday for their digital collection.

So there you have it, an article about Glee from someone who knows nothing about Glee. Just thinking about covers, just listening to a group called “The Silicon Teens”, a synth based group who do Rock and Roll covers. It’s creative, and very easy to listen to! Anyway, thanks for reading and please leave any comments you may have about Glee or related subjects.

Mr Men - Did You Watch It?

Hi all you blog fans, I want to try something different this time. It comes along the line of the children’s show theme I have talked about in recent times, and is yet another show from yesteryear. This one though, is not just a classic show, but can also be classed as an adaptation. I am talking about the Mr Men series, narrated about Author Lowe, broadcast in the early 70s right up to the 80s. When I was younger, I had a VHS of the series, which I got many plays of enjoyment out of.

For those who haven’t heard of the Mr Men, or Little Miss for that matter, then where have you been? The television series was adapted from the books by Roger Hargreaves. The stories were simple, the character designs were simplistic, but we loved it. There was Mr Happy, Funny, Tickle, Forgetful among others. I won’t ask you to name them all as you’ll probably go onto Wikipedia and look.

I loved the series as it was simple animation and an enjoyable pleasant watch. The style is reminiscent of the Mr Benn series which came about the same time. I often found that series rather slow in comparison. Ray Brooks does a good job on that series with the voice though, although Lowe’s delivery is surprisingly good. You don’t expect the man from Dad’s Army to have such a wide vocal range.

I said I was going to do something different with this post, so here it is. I want to know if you used to watch Mr Men when you were younger and if you still think it stands up today. This is not as easy as it sounds. This entire post is from a nostalgic point of view. As I grew up watching these, my view of things is going to be slightly rose tinted. I personally think, all nostalgic feeling aside, that these stories are timeless. Everything is so simple that it would fit into a children’s schedule quite easily if it was given the time of day.

Steven Moffatt's Forgotten Work.

Hi there you blog fans out there. You’ve probably noticed a children’s theme in my recent posts. Well, I am a fan of shows aimed at children because sometimes there are shows out there that can be seen as too grown up to be considered a children’s programme. I would like to talk to you about one such programme, written by a guy who now writes for family and adult audiences.

There’s been a lot of praise for Steven Moffatt, and why not he’s a talented writer. This is mainly due to his work on shows such as Doctor Who, Sherlock and Jekyl of recent times. It may be a surprise to some that he hasn’t been around for 5 minutes. He didn’t just start with the stuff he’s doing now. Obviously, he had the TV hit Coupling but there is a show which some of you may be familiar with, but might not realise who wrote it. I am of course talking about the Children’s series “Press Gang” from the 1980s.

Don’t let the term “children” fool you, this is as intelligently written as anything else Moffatt has produced. If you are not familiar with the show, it was a about a group of teens who run a school newspaper. The series revolves mainly around the relationship between the two leading characters, played by Dexter Fletcher and Julia Sawalha. Fletcher’s character of an American is a stereotype, but Julia is very believable as Lynda Day. Her opinion of Fletchers character is usual, she hates him, but you know there is something underneath.

One thing to note about this is just how hilarious this is. The dialogue is witty and rather playful at times. There aren’t many moments where you feel something was unnecessary. It certainly has that 80s feel about it, but that is down to the production, not the writer. This screenplay is as fresh now as when it was conceived, if you remove the obvious 80s references.

There are a lot of actors in this show who went onto great things, and other stints in television. You may recognise Owen and Lisa from Eastenders. You might know Fletcher from Kick Ass, or you might have seen Sawalha in the BBC’s famous adaptation of Pride and Prejudice as Lydia Bennett.

Moffatt’s work on this show is majorly forgotten, and I don’t think it should be. Everyone has to start somewhere, and in my opinion, this is a great place to start. People will sometimes forget this show because it’s been categorised as a children’s show. It had a reputation for covering subjects which were probably deemed too adult to be considered as content in a children’s programme. Shows along the same lines as this, such as Grange Hill for example, have a tendency to cover taboo subjects. It’s my theory that due to this, these shows should be classed as family entertainment and therefore you should check it out.

Thanks for reading this blog! If you have any opinions on anything that has been raised here, then please comment or send a message!

Championship Manager - Still Champion?

 Hi all you blog fans out there! I am here to talk to you about something rather unusual. I don’t want to sound like Jon Bentley again but it always seems good to include it somewhere. It is something which can take a lot of time and effort. They bring out a new one each year, with updated data and such. If you haven’t guessed what I’m referring to, I am talking about Championship Manager games and similar series on the PC.

If you don’t know what it is, I will tell you. It’s basically a management simulation of the football league. This is where you can take managerial control of a team, buy players etc. It sounds like an experience which should be thrilling to all those football fans out there. There is one slight probably, it is all text based. When I say this, I mean there is only text when playing. You can choose to have dots run around the screen while a game is happening but if you were like me playing the game, the commentary mode was faster and you wanted the game over and done with.

I know a little bit about this series as I myself was once addicted to it. I used to play it every day. I have probably broken some records in it as I played up to the year 2070 something. Considering I started on the 99/00 version of the game, I thought this was impressive. I stopped playing as the game started crashing when I got up to the 2070 mark. Also, what I have found with these types of games is that they have a short shelf life. For example, you’re not going to want to buy David Beckham on the 99/00 version of the game in 2005 unless you’re in it for nostalgia. Most people play these games so they can live their football dreams with the latest squads.

One of the best management games I ever played was Ultimate Soccer Manager 98 on the PC. I have found it was more colourful, better graphics and wasn’t based on a load of words and data on the screen. There was also a decent match mode where you could watch the players. The issue some people find with this is they want to play a Fifa style game where you control the players. A managerial game doesn’t hold these features. This is possibly why the Fifa games include a stripped down manager mode as part of their package, so people can play with David Beckham as he marches on to the pitch for Tottenham, or Andy Carroll running onto the pitch for Liverpool. Things that would never happen in real life football..... Oops

Anyway, I think I shall end this post as it might encourage me to go play Championship Manager. I enjoyed the hours I spent with it, but now it feels like it could be rather bland to play. There are millions of fans out there who would disagree.

Dumbing Down in Children's Television - A Short Blog

Hi there blog fans, Jamie here with yet another blog. I’ve been trying to do these daily but sometimes can be stumped at what to write about. If anyone has any ideas, which are media related, then please get in contact. I would love to hear from you!

So this brings me to today’s blog, and what to write. Right at this time of writing, I am watching classic 70s series “Ace Of Wands”. It is something I haven’t seen before in full episode form. It struck me how much it is a standard drama, which doesn’t seem to have the qualities of a programme aimed at children. Strangely enough this is its intention. One thing I know about it, it has a great theme tune, sung by Andy Bown of Status Quo and Judas Jump fame.

So when thinking about this show, does the show really go with their intended audience? I guess the best example genre to look at is shows aimed at children. It is my belief that children which were made before 2000 are quite intelligent in their approach. Look at something like “How”, its premise is educational, perfect for children. Its approach is simplistic but it is intelligent enough for an adult to sit and watch it and not feel intimidated. One of the few clips I have seen of “How” involved Fred using a potter’s wheel. This clip is hilarious and entertaining at the age of 21 as it would’ve been at its intended target audience.

With all the discussions about children’s television being dumbed down, you have to look at examples. I personally felt there have always been parts of the genre which have been dumbed down. If you go back to the Watch With Mother days, don’t things like Andy Pandy seem intimidating? Some would argue no as its intended audience wouldn’t see it like that. Take another example, Charlie Chalk from the 1980s. It’s the same kind of audience, but the writing in it is cleverer and funnier. It might also seem like there is a less educational concept in it but you do learn things from the show.

Anyway, I am going to end this post and ask your opinion on the dumbing down of television and if these shows fit their intended audience range?

Bertha: The Forgotten Gem Of Ivor Wood

Hi all you blog fans out there. I want to talk to you today about something which I adore very much, retro children’s television. With all the debate about dumbing down, I got to thinking about a show I used to watch, and occasionally watch now and again, named Bertha.

Bertha was a stop motion animation by Ivor Wood’s Woodland Animations. While the company’s big hitter Postman Pat got a lot more attention, I think it is something which needs to be highlighted. Bertha followed a factory machine and its workers. It is perhaps one of the most boring premises for a show ever, but somehow it is both charming and intriguing. Not only are there the usual stereotypical characters, the stories are in a way realistic but still have that zany element about them. Not only this, but it makes a lot of social statements about the society we live or lived in back in the 80s when it was conceived. For example, Mr Duncan is a Scotsman through and through, with a beard and understandable Glaswegian accent. Panjit is an Indian wearing turban, who works in the back warehouse. It is very controversial, the BBC would never have this on now.

I loved its story structure. They would announce what the machine was making then a whole story would be built around it, or be part of the solution to the problem, solved at the end of the show. There is this underlying message of togetherness and teamwork within the show. Everyone helps each other and there is a true friendliness about it. Somehow I can’t imagine a real factory being this gelled together.

The animation in the show was top class, very similar to Charlie Chalk, when looking at the models of the characters. Sadly the colours are rather bland, but it is to be expected when thinking about the programme premise and location. How can you make a factory look colourful and bright? Answer, make the machine, which is the focus of it green and make the Indian’s forklift yellow. This doesn’t really solve the problem; the colours are still rather bland even though the animation is spot on. As a side note, the narrator of the late Roy Kinnear is truly inspiring. Shelia Walker, the female voices is also brilliant!

Thinking about how little this show is remembered in the eyes of the media, it’s saddening really. It had so much potential but ran for around 13 or so episodes. I suppose the best series have very short life spans. I think it is time it got a rerun on some channel somewhere.

Hopefully this post has jogged a few memories for some, if you have any comments on this show, please feel free to leave them!

Kindle, Its not an egg!

Hi all you blog fans out there. Just a quick post to say hello to everyone and focus on something media related. If you’ve been watching the TV or are a regular visitor to Amazon, you would have come across something called Kindle. At first I had no idea what this was. I had a feeling it was something to do with a chocolate egg with a toy inside but I was sadly mistaken. I was walking through Currys one day and suddenly, there it was, a Kindle. It is a new device which allows the user to read a book on a small screen that fits in the palm of your hand. It’s basically an Iphone without all the other features. It has interested me but somehow, I don’t see the point. It goes on the lines of what I talked about in the last post, about a collection of physical media. Surely a book would fall under this category?

The trick with it is you download a book, for free or at an expense, then you read the book on this little device. While it seems clever, it can never replace the feeling of reading a real book where you turn the pages and look at the scribbles and underlines from its previous owner. In addition to this, there are already other devices which do similar things. The Nintendo DS had a programme where it had classic literature on offer to read. The Iphone has similar apps which do the same thing.

It seems like a waste of time, it might be a fad or it might catch on. I can’t imagine the book being replaced by something called a Kindle. Where did this name come from? This is one of those devices where the name doesn’t make sense with the product. I’m sure there are cheaper products which have the same function on the market.

On the subject of actually using the Kindle, I don’t own one but I assume it is relatively simple, as with all devices of this type. The issue I would find with it is that it would be like reading off a computer screen, which can not be a pleasant experience if reading text for a long period of time.

Anyway, there is my mini rant over, now to go look through Google Books, or read a PDF on the computer!