Monday, March 27, 2006

podcast 103 - with Sue

It's another late night show, this time it features Sue, my wife.

Download the MP3 of Podcast Paul's 'Podcast 103 direct from here.'

We talk about loads of stuff and play some pretty great music too, we also mumble and talk rubbish in parts as well...

We talk about:

Sue's terrible taste in music
Kids, they're lovely when they're young, then go horrible, then....even worse
Mikes Haircut... thinking he's unique
What we were like when we were 17
Clothes we used to wear
Blake's 7 - how awful it was (yet brilliant because it was so awful)
Butterflies with Wendy Craig and Leonard..
Hill Street Blues, Cheers, Frasier and Friends
Top Of The Pods
Sues Top 10 list
Sues B B Bionic secret knock

music from:

3 blind mice - the egg, (podsafe music network)
Andy Baker - Three Rivers (direct from Andy)
The Kokoon - Tied (from Magnatunes)
Andy Baker - Silent Sorrow (direct from Andy)
Gum - Tomorrow (podsafe music network)

Sunday, March 26, 2006

In bed with...


...the lap top.

It's nearly midnight and I'm tired. I usually stay up and do a podcast. Not tonight.

Lying down in the near darkness can make you become a bit introspect and ponder. Not tonight. I feel more reflective.

I wondered why it is that I blog and podcast and devote so much time and effort to this. I'm not really sure there's a complex answer. You don't need to be introspect and silly - I've seen a little of that recently and shy away from it.

Some folks always want to do an Oprah Winfrey and drag out all sorts of negative emotions. Am I an egotist, desperately craving attention, fame and fortune? You know, I honestly believe there are some folks that believe that. 'No' is the emphatic answer. Not at all.

I was raised in a very poor Birmingham neighbourhood. We had no double glazing, no central heating, no telephone and no television. I was actually quite a shy kid, but I knew what I wanted, I remember being moved by two things - illegal as it was then) two way radio and music. I was fascinated that I could speak to folks and even more fascinated to hear them talk back. I've never lost the buzz for either.

I do this because I find it great fun and a real privilege to be able to share music and thoughts with you all. This experience has mostly been wonderful, I've met some fantastic folks, heard some great music and learnt lots along the way.

So, when I read the navel gazing posts dotted around linked with the gloom of things fading away, I just shake my head. It isn't fading round these parts. Hope we all enjoy the ride together.

Saturday, March 25, 2006

5 days with Apple... and getting creative to WIN


UCE (University of Central England), the New Technology Institute and other partners have teamed up to offer 5 days of Apple... NTI are an accredited Apple Training Centre and have a podcasting day on May 10th 2006 in Birmingham.

By 30th April 2006, NTI are asking everyone to submit 2minutes of content IN ANY FORMAT - i.e. audio, video, print... the six best will be invited down to NTI and given a video camera, they will be working with EA Games, the best of the six will win a £900 box set of 'Final Cut Pro'.

So, if you're a podcaster, and can get yourself into Birmingham, UK on 10th May 2006, get creative!

A Whole day of \DIY


....seems so much easier when you have loads of stuff to listen to.

I am just about to embark on a full day of DIY, I feel as though my house looks as though a bomb has hit it, so I'm going to begin by buying and hanging some new doors - a real pig of a job.

The thing is, I'm not really so fussed about spending the time doing that because I can catch up with my podcast listening.

Does anyone have any recommendations?

I usually just set the lap top up and let it flow through the speakers. Look forward to your reccomendations!

Monday, March 20, 2006

so much red tape....


It's lunch time here at work and I've just sat through training on Money Laundering, how to spot it that is, not how to do it.

The rules are utterly ridiculous and mind boggling. I won't bore you with it all, but some of our laws are very well intentioned but laborious, circular and downright daft. The only folks these laws benefit seem to be the regulators. This smcks of a classic example of 'jobs for the boys'.

I remember once belonging to an office, where the firm's principal client insisted on having ISO 9001. What a great idea - get everyone routinely working in the same way with checks and balances. Great theoretical idea - useless practically.

I found that you could pass an ISO audit by having a beautifully ticked check box without ever having given advice to the client, or, even worse, entirely negligently advising the client,losing the action, but having the right coloured bits of card against the right documents. Conversely, you could ignore the bits of card, have a great rapport with the client, do things legally incredibly well - and fail the audit.

It strikes me that this happens a lot in legislation, or regulation, and here the music industry is a major culprit. Everyone wants a slice of the action, the creative intentions of the artist and their intentions are very much an afterthought.

I wish things would start to turn and there would be far less red tape...

Sunday, March 19, 2006

podcastpaul New Music Friday 2 - uploaded on Sunday

DOWNLOAD THE MP3 HERE
possibly the best music on the planet?

I've scouted out the very best independent music for you - and this week's selection is no exception. Some of the finest muic you'll hear in a very long time, neatly packaged here. The strap line is 'all about the music and nothing about the chat...'

Lovingly packaged with my personal 'integrity guarantee' - you will appear the most happening geezer in the company if you play these tunes on your work pc.

Corking music from:

St Christopher - Music that grooves podsafe music network
Brent Pocker - Fly Away podsafe music network
Arthur Yoria - My best routines magnatunes
MRDC - Believe magnatunes
Beau Hall - Never Gonna Make podsafe music network
Fumitaka Anzai - The Mermaid song - podsafe music network (not Magnatunes as I did say!)

I would LOVE to hear from you on this week's selection of music, do mail me, or leave a comment below please. Cheers.

Saturday, March 18, 2006

A Cake .....Made of Cheese?

I remember that Peter Kay Skit - "Cheesecake?! CHEESECAKE?? A cake..... made of cheese? "

Today, that became reality - I visited the beautiful village of Tetbury, in the Cotswolds with Sue, Harry, my Brother in Law Gavin and his wife to be.

Gavin and Kim are a lovely couple, but they are definitely not conventional. At their wedding they want Chocolate fountains, and a wedding cake.... made entirely of cheese.

We visited the cheese shop in Tetbury. They've decided on a brie base, Double Gloucester as a second base, the third I cannot remember - and a stilton top. Oh, and a Chilli cheese hunk at the side too.

I was stunned to hear that this little shop did £30,000 (about $50,000) in cheese wedding cakes alone last year. I was also slightly amused that in this traditional and beautiful Cotswold village they do lots of internet business. Check them out at www.houseofcheese.co.uk

Thursday, March 16, 2006

podcast102 podcastpaul It's been too long since my last podcast folks..


Podcast 102 - it really has been far too long since I last spoke to you all.

Download the MP3 here


As ever some rip-roaring music that you won't neccesarilly hear from anywhere else. If it's great I'll play it - if it's ok but very popular, I won't.

Jim from Seattle - Welcome, courtesy of Nick from the homegrown podcast - cheers mate! I bet you'll be humming this, it will absolutely drive you mad.
Mind has a mind - Laurence Elder (podcast music network)
Artificial The West Exit (www.magnatunes.com)
Oh Holy God - Kyiv Chamber Choir - WOW!!! This brought tears to my eyes (www.magnatunes.com)
Magnified - Very Large Array (www.magnatunes.com) I forgot to say, but do these guys remind you of Echo and The Bunnymen? Great running bass!

Thanks for the positive comments about new music Friday - I love it too.
Cheers to paul Pinfield from the Calmcast. Listen out for the brilliant project I'm sworn to secrecy about in a few months... my lips are sealed
Should I buy a license? Why not?
Send me an email paul@podcastpaul.com or leave a message on the blog at www.podcastpaul.com

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

when you're weary....


.....feeling small, when tears are in your eyes.. and so the old song goes.

I'm certainly not small, but definitely tired, and I'm certainly not tearful.

Ploughing my way through the mountain of work I have, only partly completing a 3000 word essay, preparing for a 5000 word research essay.... that's just the tip of the iceberg.

I've some great stuff lined up for the next podcast, and certainly plan to spend less time at the pc. Sometimes it all just catches up with you. I'm off to bed.

See you, and keep your ears peeled for the next podcast.

Thanks for dropping in by the way.

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Thank God it's...Tuesday

Download the MP3 here - New Music Friday with PodcastPaul


Thank God it's...er...Tuesday...

Welcome to New Music Friday Show no. 1 - the show for that Friday feeling you can download and listen to any day. Minimal chat and bucket loads of amazing music.

Fantastic music from the Podcast Music Network and Magnatunes:

Your face is not enough by 3 Blind Mice
Surrounded by You -by Laurence Elder
Listen to the radio by Tom Robinson
What Planet by Fluid
Like a magnet by Amplifico
So Easy by Laurence Elder

Huge thanks to Bernie for giving me the idea! Now go and play these great tunes in your office every Friday...

Leave a mail for me at paul@podcastpaul.com or simply by leaving a message here on the blog.

I love this!


.

Saturday, March 04, 2006

podcast 101 podcastpaul


Download the MP3 direct here

Podcast 101 - great music and chat as ever!

featuring music (all from the podcast music network)

So funky it stinks - by Furious Ball (underlay music on intro)
So Easy - by Laurence Elder - a seriously top track, if you're a podcaster PLAY THIS!
Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros - Tony Adams (Aria)
Wrong by Laurence Elder - again, another top tune. Who is this chap? How on earth is he not signed?
Regardless by Agency.

Audio Comment from Brad P @ whole lot of nonsense podcast

I talk about:

- The Tunbridge Robbery
- Gary Glitter
- Baby 'MB' and the right to life.
- Podcast user magazine
- length of the show

almost there......

It's 2.20 am, Saturday morning, I've just finished the show.

It'll be up tomorrow, promise!

;-)

Thursday, March 02, 2006

Adam Curry...

I attach below an email exchange I've had with Adam Curry.

I hate a bad air and thought it would be a really good idea to make amends. I fall out with so few people.

Hopefully we'll see Adam at the next podcastcon or featuring in the podcastusermagazine. It will however take a lot to overshadow the true star of the second edition; Roger Smalls!

It might actually be wise to point out that I have, many times been quite nice about Adam's stuff too. It was the silence that bugged me more than anything else as quite a bit goes on in the UK, yet you have to dig around to find out about it. Not so much now though, I'm pleased to say.

;-)

Email is a bloomin' nightmare, you need to read it from the bottom up:

Adam:

Cool. Email sux. I hate it.

AC

Paul:

ok mate - done. I'll blog that later, that is a very good point. I'll even send you an audio comment. Maybe I got the wrong end of the stick? I thought you were really cheesed off with me.

Hmm. Email is perhaps a bit one dimensional.

Adam:

From: Adam Curry To: paul nicholls (home) Sent: Thursday, March 02, 2006 12:56 PM Subject: Re: Apology. Paul,I never felt any of this. Either I never saw/hear it or maybe I'm just immune.What surprises me is that you are apologising privately. All your other gripes were public, so why not apologise publicly?AC

Paul

On 3/2/06, paul nicholls (home) <paulfromhome@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote: Adam, I hate the fact that I feel we have been at odds with each other, particularly as I'd been listening to you since Sep / Oct 2004.

I remember you pre-Madge Weinstein that's how long I have been listening... I make no bones about the fact that I was really fed up with you because of a few things: podcastcon in the UK and my thinking that you were not taking an interest and your irritation with podcastusermagazine. Don't however think I'm patronising you, or putting a condition on my writing to you. Please don't think I'm patronising, I absolutely promise you I'm not.

I hate feeling down on people and the one thing I don't want to do is keep you at arms length - I was so miffed I even stopped listening to you, until today. I really did enjoy listening again.

I had been annoyed previously, I'd also moaned about you and even blogged about it. I'm all over that now and hope you receive this mail in the spirit it's sent.

When I look back, perhaps I should have acknowledged the fact that you're a busy bloke, and we here in the UK are, no doubt about it a little behind the US in terms of where we are with podcasting right now. The UK scene is getting bigger and better, as I'm sure you know.

I really do not want you thinking that there's a wedge to drive, I promise you there isn't. I just wanted to grow up and write to you from my gut.

The podcast world does seem to be a small one and with that in mind, I'm sure we will bump into each other along the way. The offer is still open for you to do a piece for the magazine - or to speak at the next podcastcon, however, this time I temper that with knowing what a busy bloke you are.

With kind regards.

Paul

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Podcast User Magazine


Yet again the Podcast User Magazine team has risen to the challenge.

Issue no 2 - 45 hugely packed pdf pages, oncluding a couple of items from yours faithfully.

Look out for Geoff's article on becoming a ruthless listener and Richie Vobes discussion on stereo mikes.

Absolutely bloomin' ace and it's completely free.

If you've the facility to print off in colour (we have a bril colour copier / printer / emailer / scanner worth a few thousand quicd at work ) it reads superbly on paper.

Well done lads - and lasses.