Surveillance Britain.

Wow, I started to research this and it's a shocker! We've 1% of the world population and 20% of the world surveillance cameras... that's 5 million which accounts for 12 for each person!

Astonishingly London has 10,000 dedicated crime cams - at a massive cost of £200 million - or nearly half a billion dollars if you're in the US.

I'm still researching, if you've any comments, please make 'em, or mail me at podcastpaul@gmail.com

Busk Aid

My old mate and blogging podcaster extraordinaire; Dean Whitbread is supporting Busk Aid, a charity aimed at teaching South African township kids street music. Check out Dean at his blog here and the rise and shine breakfast radio show here

Best of luck Dean, and to the rest of you, please nip over and support Rise and Shine and Busk Aid.

Podcastpaul forum and message board

It's here - a group chat site for anyone who listens to the show(s) and would like a place to chat or discuss matters.

The chat site can be accessed from the icon at the side bar or by clicking here
See you in there - pop in and say hello!

lunchtime blogging

I have just enjoyed some lovely fish and chips and decided to give my much missed blogging some attention during my lunchtime. Immediately I eat them, I felt lousy and know I should have stuck to my skinny food. I've lost 28 pounds (or two stone in real money) and gone down 8 belt holes - I've had to cut the end of my belt and stick three new holes in - great, apart from the fact that my clothes are beginning to get too big for me!

As usual I'm not just busy, I'm breakneck mental. I've three trials in March - one of which is the biggest of my 24 year career Monday week, an audit next week, 8 exams starting tomorrow, continuing through Monday, Wednesday and Friday and hosts of other stuff I've got to get sorted before the weekend. Shocking. I'm beginning to dread opening my eyes of a weekday.

Is it just me that is chaotically busy, or is it life in general? It really is ridiculous, I just don't seem to get a moment's peace. Can you relate to the ludicrous, immediate deadlines, hours and hour of work and other pressures? I thought law would be a nice, gentle stroll in the park, dealing with things in an ordered fashion and sorting matters out in a nice, gentile smiley way. The new solicitors on the block are vicious, vile, unrepentant animals always attempting to take a pot shot, and the regulators more bureaucratic and pointlessly jobworth.

Oh the simplicity of being a postie, milkman or bloke in a factory pressing a button. Your day would start and finish at given points in time and dealines would not pervade my dreams....



I've been getting into the office before or around 6am to cram everything in, I'm sure that if I cut out sleep for the next two or three months and hired a chauffeur to drive me around, feed me, and generally do everything including wiping my backside that I might just see some light at the end of the tunnel.

The reason I love Swaziland so much is many things, but I love their attention to family life and just not screaming around like headless chickens. I'm desperate to get back there....

Emily

A pic of Emily.. and me..

podcastpaul podcast no170 - A Californian vibe...

PodcastPaul No. 170 – download the MP3 direct from here

Ari Shine – Crank it out Meticulous Records; California

Most of the music tonight from California – all entirely by chance….

A funny old few weeks since I last spoke to you all – time whizzing by - Tilly – and Emily. Thanks so much for all your messages, calls, mails etc.

The pain of dog training.

Bob Gentry – Upside down; California

Bob and Rose Cartwright – The Outside station; the. Brilliant podcast – go and listen – great if you’re commuting. Great production qualities and really interesting.

Last week I went to the Cotswolds with Sue. I love England, I’m biased, but the beauty around us is just astounding. Ledbury – haunting pennywhistle player – Eastnor castle.

Great time in London – cheap train and hotel tickets!

3 blind mice – Kolysanka; London

Rise of the foot soldier – awful, awful, awful. Don’t watch or support this. I just don’t get it…

Shannon Hurley – We are in Love; California

New podcast forum – very good, interesting – and busy, please join in… tell ‘em I sent you! Follow me on Twitter… paulnicholls

Entice – Listen Hard; California – I think this bloke’s voice sounds like Geddy Lee – go Rush!
Send an email – podcastpaul@gmail.com

Rise ofthe foot soldier. Utter rubbish

I sat and wasted two hours of my life on the most vile, vacuous and pointless nonsense.

There's a new genre of film about gritty life on the football terraces. 'Firms' are stocked with low life vermin desperate to fight, then there's the drugs and sex.... This is a film about... well, vermin, fighting, drugs and girls. Gouging, murdering, stabbing and mugging are all dressed up as lads having a bit of a laugh.

Scumbags.

For two hours I sat through gratuitous, pointless violence that glorified the life of some prior thug called Carlton Leach. He's such a tough bloke he has his own myspace page.. with a picture of.. tremble.. a gun on it. To think this man is cashing in on a previous violent lifestyle is just breathtakingly arrogant.

Willing the film to get to the end with some sort of point to it I watched humourless portayals of drug taking bullies. There wasn't any point apart from the director wanting to take us through the eyes of the underpriviliged underclasses of London. Get a life, I grew up in a rough backwater of Birmingham where kids had absolutely nothing, yes we had to fight and yes we went without, but we don't need some handwringing liberal to make a film about it. We still dine out on the poverty of Kes, and that was shot in 1969. At least that was a classic British portrayal with a point. This was a haphazard boasting of smashing some blokes head in on the tube against Milwall. Cheers for that.

There is a point to this post:-

1. Don't waste your time or money feeding some loser credibility. This thug offers nothing and you get nothing. He deserves nothing as he did nothing. If you're taken in by the film, he didn't get caught by the police, and if you believe his mates in the film, jail seems to be a laugh with all manner of cheeky chappies who get you connected.

2. What a stupid, idiotic, puerile message to send to kids in an increasingly violent Britain. This bloke is now 48 - fancy posting a myspace page up to glorify and capture a previous violent lifestyle. I'm ashamed to think a fellow English bloke wants to send that sort of a message to kids. Unfortunately my lad (18) bought the DVD.

I hope Leach reads this and can give me some sort of explanation for his violent memoirs ... apart from the cash and pitiful glory seeking from the youngsters he courts on myspace.

podcastpaul.com pillow talk 4

Download pillowtalk4 MP3 direct from here

It's here! Te latest instalment of Pillow talk4, I'm sorry about the quality of this, it was recorded directly on the laptop using the internal microphone.

It's a good show, despite Sue's constant knocking the laptop, rustling and various other noises...

send an email to the show: podcastpaul@gmail.com

Hello Emily

As you may know, Sue and I lost our lovely 9 year old Cocker Spaniel; Tilly a week ago.

Meet Emily, our new addition, certainly not a replacement for Tills, but hopefully a new best friend.

I met her for the first time about 10 minutes ago - Sue came back from viewing her with a little bundle.

Here's Emily; 8 weeks old with me.

Random Wednesday thoughts

I'm sitting at my desk at a minute at seven in the morning, I've been in since just after quarter past five and had, so far, a very productive morning. I'm taking just 10 minutes out to console myself with a blog post as it's curiously lonely at this time of the morning. I've been working with music in the background as I find this really helps - 'everything's changing' by Keane has just faded and 'Beat Surrender' by the Jam is now filling the office.

I reckon I can do a day's work in three to four hours without interruption in the morning. By the afternoon I'm all over the place, getting a second wind late evening.

It's been a funny old week so far. I was in meetings, not arriving home until nearly 11pm on Monday, last night I was at Uni involved in mock exams, not returning home until 10.30pm. It certainly isn't happening today, I aim to get some rest. There's only so far you
can push yourself.

I don't know about you, but I'm incredibly bored with the US primaries. Honestly? I'd rather watch blindfold Latvian table tennis.

I've been fascinated by the podcasts from the BBC - particularly "from our own correspondent" and "pods and blogs". Exceptional listening.

Bob Cartwright's "The Outdoor Show" is fantastic listening if you've a long drive: http://www.theoutdoorsstation.co.uk/ Bob is a great ambassador for quality. It amazes me how the poor audio early adopters started out with in late 2004 now near rivals the BBC.

On the home front, Sue is still in pieces about Tilly, she mentioned to me proudly that she hadn't cried yesterday and that she wants a dog in May. I don't know what I feel about that other than to say Tilly can never be replaced. It's incredible what an impression that lovely little dog left with us all.

Smooth operator; Sade has just started to play. I wish I was.... I wouldn't be in before dawn if I was!

Goodbye old friend.

Today was one of those days I will remember for all the wrong reasons.

Sue and I had our beautiful dog; Tilly, a lovely golden cocker spaniel from just a few weeks old. It seems like moments ago that Sue picked out the tiny little golden ball from the litter of pups from the breeder in Stoke On Trent. Those moments were in fact, nine years ago last November.

I'm not really an animal person at all, but Tilly wasn't an animal, she was a member of out family. She was so beautiful that we would be stopped by virtually anybody and everybody who would want to stroke and pet Tilly, commenting on her gorgeous curly coat, and daft mop of curly hair on the top of her head that looked like an 80s footballer's perm.

Tilly was the only other female in our house and was Sue's best friend. She loved and respected me, but doted on and snuggled up to Sue. Tilly was just always there. Everyone loved her and everyone commented on her beautiful, gentle nature. She loved Sue and the kids, and I know she loved me.

Tilly hadn't been well and the last week was particularly bad. All of her verve and life just seemed to slip away and she was so obviously uncomfortable. We knew that she wasn't well, but were totally unexpected for the unfolding events of today.

We took Tills to the vet this morning and were told to come back in the afternoon as there was a mass in her body that the vet could feel.

At around 4pm we were told that Tilly had cancer of the spleen and that it was virtually inevitable that this had spread to the liver. We were given the option of an exploratory operation, but told that it was highly likely that se wouldn't be woken again.

We were really presented with no option other than to put her to sleep today, or Monday. Tilly hadn't eaten since Tuesday and was vomiting regularly. There wasn't any way I wanted her to suffer until Monday. It just seemed cruel to prolong the agony. The worst of it was that the vets surgery would close within the hour or so.

We hot footed it across to the surgery and Sue was in bits. I did everything I could to hold it together as I drove to the vets surgery. We both knew exactly what we had to do and it seemed so awful and bizzare, yet the only option that we had.

When we saw Tilly, it was so obvious that she was so happy to see us, we held her as she slipped away, and it was just the worst, and awfully, the only thing to do. This beautiful dog, one of our best friends had been there with us through good and bad times - and in an instant she was gone. We were left alone with her, and Sue and I knew we would see her one last time, and then we would have to go.

We'll miss her terribly, Sue's eyes have been stinging from the tears and I'm doing all I can to hold it in as I write this post about her. The space in the corner of the room where Tilly always sat seems so empty, and the space by the side of the bed will be equally empty. The house was never empty when we were here on our own, Tilly would follow you around, her tail perpetually wagging and enthusiastic. She will leave a huge hole in our hearts.

Goodbye old mate. We'll miss you terribly.

podcastpaul podcast 169

Download the MP3 of podcastpaul169 right here, right now, right free of charge!

Brilliant trees - Talent

Hello to Rowland Cutler – lovely to chat to you on Skype mate – you MUST be my longest standing listener mate!

4th year of podcasting – loved ever minute of it – you’ve been a fantastic group of folks – loved meeting every one of you.

Licencing – wondering if should go down that route – some of the unsigned acts are fantastic, but quite honestly, like some of the signed acts, some of them are rubbish too!

Duran Duran – Falling down via podsafe music network

Always maintain some awesome gems – but you need to look hard – very hard – Ho;low Horse, Paul Rose, Mangomad, Simon Apple, Slashed Seat Affair. Supprt your unsigned artists, but I hanker after playing Ghost Town by the specials, Jump by Van Halen – the list goes on. Never ever understand the mentality of keeping the archived dusty stuff uncovered for us to rediscover. They’re a soundtrack to our life. Watch a film like pretty in pink if you’re late thirties / early forties and you’ll gasp at the soundtrack.

Eleanor McEvoy – Territory of Poets. Blimey! What a voice – awesome!

Jack – so proud of him. Great night last night at the gifted and talent evening at Lordsword Girls school, Birmingham.

Esteban – Santiago via the lads themselves – cheers boys!

Juan’s nan’s second funeral in Chile – yes you heard that right!

Good Lovelies – Taboo – cheers col!

Recommended listening:

From Our Own Correspondent (BBC)
Pods and Blogs (BBC)
www.darkcompass.com
This week in London - www.parkylondon.libsyn.com

Karmyn Tyler – luv me so via podsafe music netwok

send me a mail: paul (squiggly at) podcastpaul (dot) com