Thursday, July 28, 2005

Links

Upcoming shows

I have to admit, I've been a bit tireless in the campaign for listeners and the likes - and everything has worked out rather sweetly. Now the tricky part. So much to do before the big Audio Coffee Birthday Bash and so little time to do it all in - I've got stuff lined up and that, but.. I need more!
Contributing factors for the whole weekend include the fact that some of my friends will be in Gdansk, Poland that weekend, meaning it's going to be a little quieter for listeners at the time my show will go out, there's also the fact that the concert these people are going to, well... Jean Michel Jarre... it's his birthday that week, it's also 2 years that week since C J Wray moved in here with me and well.. the show is a year old too.

So do bear with me for this weeks show... with as much music as one can cram in to two hours, fun and chat and the likes (regular listeners/downloaders of the show will know whats what by now... do remind me.. I forgot!!)

Bringing next weeks show will be impossible.. so there wont be one. I'm on holiday anyway. I'll be off to some nice quiet coastal town building sandcastles, eating fish and chips along the promenade and not eating too much ice cream (has to be a mr.whippy... has to have a flake in it... has to have that delicious red sauce smothered all over it..)and attending a fair and carnival as well as a trip to Newcastle (because I've never been there).

When Audio Coffee returns after its little break, we're going to go all Christmassy... why? well.. hahaha! I realised that in my rather extensive archive on my computer, there's no Christmas stuff... so.. why not? I know it's early, but by Christmas anyway, you'll be sick of all the Christmas songs and I can bring you a Christmas free show by then. See? that *does* make some sort of sense!

As for the other stuff planned for the show, that will happen when the other stuff happens and I'm working as closely as possible with the necessary parties to ensure that does happen as and when it happens. Early indications show that the end of September is a likely time that this will all happen, so it's worth hanging on for.
This will all form part of an exciting project that I'm working on that will get released some time next year (as it is a year long project!) probably courtesy of a local charity that I shall be working alongside.
(It's all complex stuff, there's rules and things I have to stick to and I can't go and do stuff without their knowledge/permission - which they're kindly granting!)

So, thats the news so far.

Audio Coffee:

Sundays @ ampcast.com 10am Eastern Time, 12 noon in the UK and 1pm across most of Europe!

http://hotline.ampcast.com <-- DO please join in the chat.. it's nice to know if you're listening!!

Monday, July 25, 2005

Links

Audio Coffee birthday celebrations start NOW!!!

Back in August 2004, Audio Coffee made the move to Ampcast.com and has pretty much stayed there ever since. It's had a decent reputation (the less said about our new mic the better, I've since changed it for the old one and it works better)
So, to celebrate this, I've raised the gain a little and decided that rather than just play the stuff I have been playing on the show for the last year or so, I'd set the challenge to the musicians of Ampcast.com in what I'm calling 'The Coffee Cup Challenge'


The Objective:

The challenge is simple - if you're prepared to do it.
Firstly, you must be an ampcast.com artist, or an independant artist willing to allow me the necessary permissions to play your tracks on my show (email me the download details and permission and I can sort the rest out - I did say it was simple...)
It's a 'three note' challenge.. and they can be any three keys/notes next to each other to form the basis of a tune ONLY (I hope I'm making sense so far)
The rest is up to you... as long as those three notes make up the tune of the song/tune and the genre is pretty much 'what you can do'. The exceptions are rap, heavy heavy metal, death metal and something you've done already (I will check)
The best of the selection will be aired on the shows on the 21st and 28th August 2005.

Other birthday celebrations:

Well, I've nothing other than the challenge set in stone, but I'm sure that as soon as I have an idea, I'll be making the world at large aware of it right here. Any comments click on the comments below and do the decent thing.

Ta very much!

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

Links

WE ARE NOT AFRAID

We're not.

Manchester has had a couple of alerts and scares over the weekend - has it bothered me? NO!
(It's stopped me going to Manchester though, for the time being... well.. no point going there if there's nothing I really need/want from there is there? heck, the KFC in Piccadilly Station can wait too...)

We're a tough nation. It takes a lot before we're truly in the soup. Take weekend for example. Londoners all out celebrating the 65th Anniversary of the end of the second world war - all packed down London like nothing had ever happened. I'm proud of that. It brought a lump to my throat - and I'm (Strictly speaking) not the sort of person who is easily brought to tears for whatever reason. Seeing those flypasts sort of kicked it in for me. I wondered just HOW defiant we could be as a nation... and yeah, I think we did well on Sunday as the Mall heaved with people.

Of course, all the other necessary groundwork has to go on - my thoughts and prayers still rest with those who have someone missing or killed in the atrocities, but as a nation as a whole, our 'dust yourself down, get up and get on with it' attitude makes us a breed apart from others. Take heed America, we're used to this sort of thing, we've had decades of experience thanks to the IRA and several UXBs' from WW2.
We're outwardly calm, our exterior belies the fact that underneath, we're seething with rage, anger and the need for a 'nice cup of tea' over all this, but as things go, we're a breed apart - and need to be.

Ok, so the terror alert status here is still on high - I can live with that. It's not a problem for me. I'm vigilant, I'm cautious without being TOO catious... I know the limits!

I have a hospital appointment on Thursday. It will be at noon - the time when, for two minutes, we'll be stopping and thinking and reflecting on the events of the past week. Of course, I'll be joining in with that silence, as I did for Dunblane, 9.11 and every other 2 minute silence there has been. I'll just be in a hospital doing it rather than being at home for once and I'll be able to feel the full effect of that silence and it probably will get to me because for once, I'll be able to hear that silence. I know it sounds strange saying 'hearing the silence' but it makes sense. There's a saying about silence being the loudest thing you'll ever hear and I'm hoping I go almost DEAF.
I urge anyone who is anyone to stop and reflect for that two minutes outside of their homes. Stop everything.. don't drive, don't work, don't eat, don't drink. If you're in a car - pull over! If you're driving a HGV - PULL OVER!! It doesn't matter what brand of religion you support, what colour your skin is or ANYTHING - stop and think for those two minutes PLEASE.

That two minutes silence is another way of showing how we as a nation, as a planet, opposed to this awful type of disaster - regardless of where it is, can stand in silence for 2 whole minutes as a mass act of defiance against the perpetrators behind this kind of unwanton aggression and violence.

Granted, there's going to be more alerts and the likes for the forseeable future. Unless you got something to hide, it's not a problem.

As responsible people, (and I'm talking to all responsible people) just be more alert and aware if you're going anywhere because if you leave something behind that could cause suspicion, you're just only going to endanger others and make yourself look stupid.


Its not so much as 'we're not afraid' we're all MAD (Massive Act of Defiance).

And there's none happier than me for saying I am MAD!

Thursday, July 07, 2005

Links

Scummy Bastards

Sorry for the topic heading, but thats how I feel towards the mindless cowards that have done what they have to London today. Yesterday, it was celebrations... today it's chaos. Lives have been lost, many more are going to be psychologically scarred by this event. Wounds will heal... memories don't.
My thoughts are with the families of those who have lost someone today. Whoever is responsible, I pray that CCTV cameras have caught you performing your senseless acts and that the Police catch you all.
Yesterday, we cheered, there was ticker tape, confetti and tears of joy at getting the Olympics. Today, we had our 9/11 and the face we wear today is the face of utter shock.

Words fail me now. I'd like to say more, but other people have to say their 'more' first.
The only consolation is the pulling power between the people of London and the emergency services, you can bring a Brit down, but you can't bring Britain down.We might be an island nation - but we're one HELL of an island nation! The fatalities could've been higher, but they weren't. Thank God.

We've learnt a lot over the last few years, implementing anti-terrorism laws - and it's going to pay off. Mr.Terrorist, whoever you are, be assured, your cards are marked. We're all paying attention, you cannot win. We're watching you.

Tuesday, July 05, 2005

Links

10th July edition of Audio Coffee

Let the sky gods bless everyone with sunshine and a little wind this weekend as the annual event of the year (for me anyway) takes place here in this little village (LOL, it's not little really!) this Saturday the 9th July (look.. for editing purposes, this weeks show goes out *nearly* live!)

So.. tune in..

Sundays:

7-9am EDT
12-2pm In the UK
1-3pm in Europe

AMPCAST.COM/RADIO <--radio
AMPCAST.COM/AUDIOCOFFEE
HOTLINE.AMPCAST.COM



Things never go to plan do they? I *did* intend to do something, but as the only dj's that were at the event only played loud crappy commercially available music, my chances of recording anything for the show were zero. It was also very hot weather - and travelling between two sites was accutely exhausting to say the least and one can only go so far on cups of fruit smoothie. Thank heavens I took loads of pictures!! (can't publish them yet.. have had massive problems with camera drivers for pc - for some reason, they don't like XP and XP doesn't like them, so I need to go out at some point and purchase a card reader. I think now.. I can abandon my old camera (well.. I say that, I'll keep it cos it still works)) And once I get the pictures published (I think I got some amazing pics) I'll be allowing people to see them. I can't display the hi-res pics because they're for a local organisation and might get published elsewhere (like some of mine have in the past)
Right, I'll stop showing off now...