Fourth Plinth Occupation

I’ve just come across this really cool project in London, and just had to share it with you.

This summer, sculptor Antony Gormley invites you to help create an astonishing living monument. He is asking the people of the UK to occupy the empty Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square in London, a space normally reserved for statues of Kings and Generals. They will become an image of themselves, and a representation of the whole of humanity.

Every hour, 24 hours a day, for 100 days without a break, a different person will make the Plinth their own. If you’re selected, you can use your time on the plinth as you like. One & Other is open to anyone and everyone from any corner of the UK. As long as you’re 16 or over and are living or staying in the UK, you can apply to be part of this unforgettable artistic experiment.

You can play your part in making this idea a reality – either by volunteering yourself, by telling others about it, or by experiencing it online or in the square itself.

At the moment, there’s a panda on there. Not a real one, because that would be dangerous. It’s a guy dressed as a panda. Apparently his girlfriend made the outfit for him. He’s mic’d up, webcam’d up and advertising his mobile number for people to call. I haven’t called him, but I have sent him a text.

It’s actually really quite cool.

Here’s the panda;

You can watch the action live at http://www.oneandother.co.uk/ where you can also find out more about the project.

FixMyStreet

I love the FixMyStreet website (or as my friend Martina likes to call it StreetMyFix) In fact it’s now become a bit of an addiction of mine, other than this blog and Facebook of course.

I really wish that more people knew about it, and used it as it’s so easy to report issues to the Council (in my case Brighton & Hove City Council). It literally takes a couple of minutes and then it’s done.

You can report abandoned vehicles, street lights that aren’t working, graffiti, pot holes, pavement issues, the list is endless.

I’ve even been recommending it to my friends when they moan about things.

Now all the guys and girls at mysociety need to do is create a version for the Nokia N95 and I can sort stuff out as I walk past it.

Please, stop relying on somebody else to report things, take some pride in your local area and take the lead in sorting it out yourself. You’ll enjoy the satisfaction of things being fixed and telling people “I made that happen”.

There’s even a little picture up there in the top left hand corner for you to click, so you don’t even have to write the website address out or Google it!

Vulcan Petition Update

You may remember that I previously posted a link to the Number 10 petition website in connection with Vulcan XH558. If you don’t then you can find the post here.

The petition said;

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to ensure the Vulcan XH558 project receives sufficient funding to enable it to continue “Honouring the past and inspiring the future.

Details of Petition:

After many years of hard work and £7 million, Vulcan bomber XH558 finally flew again on 18 October 2007. It was a mammoth effort that overcame a number of major setbacks. A truly extraordinary and inspirational project. It has delighted onlookers at airshows throughout the year and serves to educate future generations about the Cold and Falklands Wars. However, the outlook is grim. The downturn in economic conditions now puts the future of the only flying Vulcan bomber in the world in doubt. With tightening budgets, companies that previously may have been willing to support XH558 now find they do not have the finances to do so. This unique plane must be saved in its current airworthy state for the nation. We petition the Prime Minister to step in to ensure XH558 reveives sufficient funding to continue flying – whether from public or private sources. She not only serves as a ‘living museum’ to educate a generation lucky enough not to be experience the Cold War, but also as a flying memorial to the servicemen who lost their lives during the Falklands conflict. XH558 requires a mere £1.75 million to continue its important work.

The Government have (finally) issued a response to the petition which had been signed by 19,860 people. There response is as follows;

Thank you for your e-petition.

The Government welcomes the preservation of the decommissioned Avro Vulcan G-VLCN and applauds the commitment by the Trust that has brought about its return flight.

In June 2004, the Vulcan to the Sky Trust was awarded £2,734,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund to assist in its aims of a return to flight and air display flying. However, as one of many warbird operations flying former military aircraft on the air display circuit in the UK, the operation of the Vulcan G-VLCN does not fall within the Ministry of Defence’s core business and further funding of this project would not be an appropriate use of defence resources.

The Ministry of Defence has provided support to the Vulcan Trust where possible, and has always been willing to consider abating charges for this support, whenever the circumstances are of mutual benefit to the Trust and the department. The RAF is committed to the long-term preservation of other non-flying Vulcan aircraft as examples of the type that are on display at both of the RAF Museum’s sites in Hendon and Cosford.

I’m sorry, but to me that just sounds like a lot of mumbo-jumbo (if that term really does exist). Exactly what does that statement mean? So the MOD won’t give any money because it’s not their core business. Maybe the MP’s who are at the centre of the expenses row should contribute, after all, they’ve fleeced us all out of several thousands of pounds (allegedly) when maybe that money could’ve been put to better use funding an important part of our history.

More to the point, why don’t they ever give an honest answer. A simple “Thank you for your support….but no” would’ve sufficed.

Let’s hope that XH558 is not left to rot away somewhere, especially as things seem to be bubbling away in far off places.

Reminiscing Part 52 – The Underground, Brighton.

I’ve been reflecting today on my past life, or at least my life back in the 90’s. I think it’s a sign of growing old. It won’t be long until I’m 40 and my youth will be gone forever (although having said that I’m having such a great time currently that I could be back in my 20’s again).

Tonight’s little reflection was brought about by thinking of The Underground Club in West Street, Brighton. Those days are now quite hazy, probably as a result of drinking too much snakebite and to much violent head banging, but I’ve still got a hell of a lot of music which reminds me of those nights.

Nights that would start off at Aldrington Station with my mate Jim, having a few sneaky fags in the concrete shelter and the odd miniature bottle of vodka, JD or if we were feeling really excited, a can of beer. We’d jump on the train, over to Brighton dressed in our best DM boots, combat trousers, leather bikers’ jackets and head off down Queens Road to West Street, to where our Mecca lay.

The spooky thing is I used to keep those flyers after every night, and after having been asked repeatedly by Paul in the cloakroom if I “knew of any parties”. The answer was always no, but he was normally so fkuced up that he couldn’t remember if he’d asked you. There was also Dave the DJ and the other guy with the turned up jeans, who’s name escapes me now.

I could go on and on and on about the nights there, how I ended up driving one night, stayed sober but still ended up in A&E with my then girlfriend Jo, the post club party at the Caspian in Preston Street for a kebab, being woken up the next morning by my parents to go to Church (with a raging hangover). Oh and how my friend Jim, thought the lyrics to Saturn 5 by The Inspiral Carpets were actually Satisfy, you got those betty davis eyes (or something similar) and Another Bloody Murder for the Boo-Yaa Tribe & Faith No More.

Rather than telling stories of memories that will ,quite frankly, not mean anything to you at all I’ve made this for you. It’s a 1 hour 20 (ish) mix of some of the music I remember from those days. If you’re a fellow Undergrounder or laterly the Cavern (before it got turned into some trendy chavvy place) and remember some of the tunes, the people, the nights, events etc please please please get in touch.

For now, enjoy A Tribute To The Underground, Brighton – made for you with love.

Right click the tape to download.

Save it to your computer and listen to it with a beer or 2.

Tracklist

1. Echobelly – Insomniac

2. Back To The Planet – Teenage Turtles (Extended Album Version)

3. Inspiral Carpets – Saturn 5

4. Chumbawamba – Mouthful Of Shit

5. Stone Roses – Love Spreads

6. Carter USM – Lean On Me I Won’t Fall Over

7. Blur – Parklife

8. Oasis – Shakermaker

9. Shampoo – Trouble

10. Rage Against The Machine – Know Your Enemy

11. Boo-Yaa Tribe & Faith No More – Another Body Murdered

12. Red Hot Chilli Peppers – Give It Away

13. Leftfield/Lydon – Open Up

14. Credit To The Nation – Call It What You Want

15. The Breeders – Cannonball

16. The Levellers – 15 Years

17. Cypress Hill – Insane In The Brain

18. Verucca Salt – Seether

19. The Charlatans – The Only One I Know

20. The Smashing Pumpkins – Today

21. Ugly Kid Joe – I Hate Everything About You

22 – The Levellers – One Way

DAB Data&Audio Test

There’s a Data&Audio Text running on DAB at the moment. I happened to discover it this morning and thought I’d video it for you because I know you like that sort of stuff.

done

ukdigital radio say this about the test;

For limited hours between Friday 26th June and Wednesday 1st July a test transmission will be broadcast on Digital One’s national commercial digital radio network. Unfortunately the most interesting elements of the test transmission will not be available on standard UK shop-bought DAB digital radios.

In a collaboration between Arqiva, Fraunhofer IIS, Audi, Global Radio, the BBC and Digital One – the test transmission is designed to demonstrate to delegates at the Radio Festival how advanced services can further enhance the listener experience on DAB digital radio. It shows technology and standards that are ready to be deployed now, which can bring additional benefits and features to listeners.

The test transmission is called “Data&Audio Test” and is a business-to-business demonstration for Techcon and the Radio Festival taking place in Nottingham.

The 192kb/s channel is supporting both data and audio – up to 160kb/s will be used for the audio with the remaining capacity carrying the non-audio data. The test transmission will include a loop of stereo audio extracts (which will be repeated approximately every 10 to 15 minutes) with standard DLS/radiotext and signalling data. However, there will be additional elements which will be demonstrated via in-car systems, mobile and fixed indoor receivers at Techcon and the Radio Festival 2009. These technologies/applications are not currently widely available and/or cannot be received on a typical shop-bought DAB digital radio.

• Slideshow – a sequence of still images which typically change each minute. The images are displayed on screens built into the radios. These screens are larger and more sophisticated than the text displays used on many radios for DLS/radiotext. In addition to the screens radios also require additional software to receive and display the images.

• Journaline – one of the advanced text services which has been developed to deliver high value news, information and entertainment at very low data rates. Journaline has been compared to Teletext because it uses a menu structure to access different subjects, headlines and text messages. Additional software not yet standard in digital radios is required to allow a radio to display the information.

• Surround Sound – something common in home cinema systems, MPEG surround is a way to experience a surround sound effect by transmitting data in tandem with a normal stereo audio channel. At Radio Festival demonstrations, delegates will be able to listen to the audio as surround sound. Consumers using standard UK shop-bought DAB digital radios will be able to listen to the same audio, but only in stereo (not as surround sound). This demonstrates that the technology is backward compatible; i.e. the more advanced feature does not prevent radios without surround sound technology from receiving the standard stereo audio.

The test transmission is designed to demonstrate a range of technologies which could eventually become part of regular DAB digital radio transmission in the UK. However, this would depend on cooperation between broadcasters, receiver manufacturers, retailers and regulators. Digital One has no current plans or timetable to launch services using these technologies, but hopes the demonstration sparks interest in the capabilities of digital radio.

Additionally, ITIS Holdings are demonstrating their TPEG traffic information service at the Radio Festival. The TEC application is designed to transmit traffic event information which, along with their Traffic Flow TFP application, will assist dynamic guidance systems for routing for navigation devices. This is a permanent service and will continue to broadcast after the Data&Audio Test service ceases, although additional software not yet standard in UK devices is required to view the data.

So there you have it.

The Most Expensive Album In The World…Ever?

I recently came across this album on Amazon, and immediately the tracklist appealed to me. Just the sort of music I like to listen to when I’m laid out on the sofa pondering.

I thought I’d buy it, but then I saw the price!

Yes that’s correct! The price of a new copy is £659.99!

That’s not a typo. Even the used copies aren’t cheap!

So you can imagine my pleasure when I got a copy through Amazon for the nice price of £5.24 + P&P. The last remaining sensibly priced copy. It arrived today and I’m listening to it whilst writing this (and whilst suffering from a hangover from partying last night).

It does make me wonder it this is the most expensive album in the world…ever.

Musical Memories

Just a quick post, because I don’t want my memories to fade. I’m listening to Queen II from 1974 – an album the same age as me – and I’m reliving my days in the 6th Form at Blatchington Mill School.

It’s the first time I’ve listened to this album for 17 years!! WOW, it’s almost as though I’m sitting in the West Wing library all over again, with my walkman on whilst doing my Psychology A Level work.

I’m now on Funny How Love Is…. Oh how I loved that song back then.