Tuesday, 15 November 2011
Storified: Matt Baker rides his rickshaw in North Yorkshire
Once I'd heard that Matt Baker was going to pedal his rickshaw through our village for Children in Need I had a fun day stalking him as he rode from Barnard Castle to York on the fourth day of his challenge
Tuesday, 30 August 2011
Scottish holiday part 3: Skye
The CalMac ferry terminal at Mallaig is the Gateway to Skye. We left the campsite at Arisaig and arrived at Mallaig well before check-in time, and so we drove round to East Bay where there were plenty of campervan sized parking places. Mallaig is a busy little place, and a coach loads of tourists were exploring. There was a fairly large Co-op so we stocked up on essentials for the cupboards - biscuits, crips, stuff like that. Then it was time to go back to the van and get in line for the ferry. Unloading the previous shipload and getting us on board was as efficient as it had been for the previous ferry crossings we'd made in Scotland and we were soon ready to cross the sea to Skye.
The trip over to Armadale was only about 40 minutes which gave us time to grab a coffee and buy some playing cards in the onboard shop. On deck it was so windy that the froth was blown from my cappuccino and splattered on a bulkhead, narrowly missing the woman behind me. But the views were spectacular, certainly better than any you get crossing the channel by ferry.
On Skye there was a definite island feel to the place, and as we climbed inland the cloud descended and the wind picked up. Our campsite had claimed to have a "nearby swimming pool' so we drove straight past the site entrance into the village of Kyleakin. I popped into Saucy Mary's coffee shop and found friendly staff who guided me across the bridge back to the mainland where the pool was in Kyle of Lochalsh. It seemed a bit of a cheat to leave the island so soon, and by bridge, but Jack and Edward fancied a swim and the weather wasn't up to much else so off we went.
The carpark at the pool was just big enough for us - I managed to get turned round and then occupied four bays with the campervan. The pool was smaller than the one in Oban, but me, Jack and Edward enjoyed our dip while Lucy sat this one out and read a few chapters of her book. When we were done the weather had brightened up and we went into the playground outside the pool which had just reopened after a big refurbishment. Edward was in love with the pirate ship, and I managed to remember some of what I'd learned from Mr Poole during PE lessons as me and Jack monopolised the basketball hoop.
When we went back to the campsite we found no sign of the owner, but a notice with our name on it was next to one of the pitches, so that was where we parked up. Ashaig campsite was the most basic we stayed at, but it was also the cheapest. Everything was clean and well organised and all the campers seemed happy. We broke out the cards we'd bought on the ferry and taught Jack how to play pontoon, using the Connect 4 counters as chips. He really enjoyed that.
The next morning we drove up to Portree, stopping when I found a puddle of signal on O2 to call the Torvaig campsite where we booked in for the night ahead. This was just a mile beyond Portree so we went straight to the site and staked a claim on a pitch with a bit of a view. This campsite was beautifully maintained and was quite different to the one as Ashaig. Again we got a friendly welcome and good value. We walked into Portree, coaxing a tired Jack down the hill into town. Portree is a busy town with lots of shops and cafes, a big school and a harbour. In Tobermory most of the activity was on the harbour front, but in Portree the main drag was above the harbour, which was much quieter with just a few seafood restaurants at the waterside. We bought lunch at the chaotically busy Stuart's fish and chips shop, and dined on the picnic tables outside. There were a lot of shops in Portree, but they seemed expensive and served the international tourist trade, including a cruise ship that was in the bay when we arrived. We added a couple of DVDs to our small collection. The TV aerial on the campervan was totally useless and although we had a variety of iDevices and my trusty Apple Dock to AV connector we were getting ready for a change of viewing.
The campsite was packed when we returned, and Edward made another friend from the Netherlands. The next morning was gloomy with low cloud and drizzle hanging in the air. We drove down into Portree and had coffee and waffles at Cafe Arriba which is clearly where the trendy young things hang out in Portree. Obviously we felt right at home.
This was the closest we had to a wasted day on holiday. It was only forty minutes to the next campsite at Staffin, and we arrived there early hopeful that the day would clear up. But the weather was set and the day remained dark and dank. The warden described Staffin as a village with four churches and no pubs, so it didn't seem worth getting drenched to go and explore its charms. We spent the afternoon playing Uno, Connect 4 and card games and were glad to have the extra couple of DVDs we'd got the day before in Portree.
It was a windy night and I lay awake for much of it wondering just how string the wind has to be to roll a campervan over. We rocked quite hard on the suspension but survived in tact. At one point I peeked out of the curtain and saw lights on in lots of the tents; it must have been a really uncomfortable night under canvass.
But the wind blew the clouds away and when we emerged the following morning there was a view of mountains and the sea that we'd never expected after the previous day. So after breakfast we drove down another narrow road to Staffin Bay where we found rockpools, a pier that seemed much to big fir the single boat tied up to it and stunning views across to the mainland where we could see some dramatically steep mountains.
We explored the rock pools and enjoyed the clear skies before heading off again to circumnavigate Skye's most northern point. It was more miles on a single track road, and we were surprised to find our journey disrupted by roadworks. You expect cones and delays on the motorway, but not out here. Because of the long wait at the lights we found ourselves in quite a convoy of traffic, but this thinned out as we made our way around the north of the island.
From this road around the northern shores of Skye you could look across to the Outer Hebrides, which are a just one tempting ferry crossing away from Uig. But we resisted that temptation, and made for the Skye Camping and Caravanning Club Site near Edinbane, where we were booked in for the next two nights. It was two o'clock by the time we were checked in and we were ready for a late lunch. The Warden suggested we go to Dunvegan and look out for the Dunvegan Bakery on the right past the Post Office.
This was a good tip. Dunvegan has a small but campervan friendly carpark with a view over the narrow end of the loch (Loch Dunvegan, obv) where a heron was posing for photographers with longer lenses than mine. We walked up the little street to the Bakery where we had lunch (sausage sandwiches for me and Ed, prawn sandwich for Lucy and the ubiquitous portion of chips for Jack) in their cosy cafe. Lunch was delicious and as the shop hadn't sold out when we'd finished we bought some bread rolls, scones and sausage rolls to take back to the campervan which formed the basis of breakfast and snacks the next couple of days. Across the road there was a village store so we picked up some more supplies there and then went down the road to Dunvegan Castle. Or at least their car park.
We'd been told at the campsite to walk down the road past the castle and follow it along the lochside where we'd be able to spot seals. We weren't sure at first if we'd found the right road, but it wound down to the shore past a beautiful little cottage to reveal a view back to the castle and out onto the loch where there were several small islands dotted in the water. It was easy to see where the seals were living because a succession of boats made trips out from the castle to get up close and personal with them, but we enjoyed the early evening walk and looking out across the water to see family groups of seals lazing on the rocks. Dunvegan was definitely my favourite place on Skye. It's little street of hotels and shops, the fabulous bakery, and the lochside walk all came together to give it an atmosphere that I hadn't felt elsewhere. It was also very peaceful, when Jack and Edward weren't making a racket.
The next morning we followed our noses onto the Waternish peninsula. Stein looked like an interesting coastal village, but we drove around the end of the peninsula at Trumpan first where again we found some amazing views and narrow roads. Coming back into Stein we drove down the road and parked at the end of the village by the slipway. We put on our coats and went onto the rocks at the waters edge where we had a chance to interact with the wildlife.
There were two scallops just sitting on the rocks, waiting for the tide to come back in and rescue them. Stein is home to two seafood restaurants, which have fresh ingredients right on their doorsteps! We'd planned to go to one of these restaurants for lunch, but the Stein Inn had a notice on its door which informed us that they were closed to allow them to prepare for a wedding reception they were hosting that night.
So we went next door to the gallery at Dandelion Designs where we enjoyed looking at some of the works on show and bought some pressies for the folks back home. The very nice lady behind the counter suggested we go across to Glendale where there are a couple of cafes and a toy museum, so we went back to the van and pottered off to Glendale, which was a bit further that we thought. Everything on Skye is further away than you think, and takes longer to get there than you expect, but we were on holiday and it didn't really matter.
We wanted to go to the Red Roof Cafe at Glendale which we'd seen advertised and had heard good things about. But the car park was full and there was nowhere nearby to park the campervan so we turned round and headed back to the junction where we'd seen another cafe with an unfathomable Gaelic name: Ceiteag's. Katie's was a proper old fashioned tea room where we had a beautiful lunch.
And Lucy had cheesecake. She needed a doggy bag because although it was the best cheesecake ever it was also a massive slice. After lunch we walked up to the toy museum. The rain was coming straight into our faces, so when we arrived our fronts were wet through, but our backs were bone dry. The Glendale Toy Museum occupies the front two rooms of a large house. The room to your left as you enter is home to the older exhibits and the room to the right houses the newer ones. The hallway is a small, low pressure, shop. Terry and Paddy who own the museum are retiring next year, which means you've got to go there before the end of the season in 2012. Then find them eBay where they'll be holding a rather large auction. Terry has a great line in patter and knows everything there is to know about toys. It's a very hands on museum with children, and grown ups, encouraged to play woth lots of the toys. The closure of the museum will have an impact on the cafes and other small businesses in this small community which support each other, but hopefully they'll all have had time to adapt their plans to cope with the change. Glendale was lovely, and certainly worth the effort of getting to, with or without the toy museum.
And that was the end of our last full day on Skye. Well, almost. Our neighbours on the campsite the night before had told us about the Coral Beach which we'd find right at the end of the road along Loch Dunvegan where we'd been seal spotting the night before. So we took the van down and found a car park which we partially blocked. But it was only another campervan we were obstructing, so I wasn't too bothered. It was still lashing down with rain, and the signs indicated a mile's walk to get there. Jack and Edward weren't keen. I thought I'd better stay with the van in case I needed to move it to let the other one out. So Lucy set off alone to find the Coral Beach, while we played Connect 4 in the warm and dry. By all accounts the beach was amazing. The black rocky shore suddenly gave way to a pinkish-white beach made up of tiny shell fragments.
The next day we left Skye over the bridge, stopping briefly at the playground in Kyle of Lochalsh, and returned to the campsite at Tyndrum where we'd stayed on the second night of our holiday. It was a good stopover on the way home, but most importantly it gave us a chance to return to the Real Food Cafe. This time we ate in, rather than having a takeaway and sat under the awning on what must have been the forecourt of the former Little Chef. I had a rather nice homes made scots pie which came with with a generous jug of meaty gravy. Everyone else had fish and chips and me and Lucy shared a bottle of Chardonnay, which was nice.
On our final day we drove down the shore of Loch Lomond to Glasgow and picked up the M74 to head south to the border and home. Overall we covered a little over a thousand miles in the fortnight, which wasn't overdoing it given that we did more than 200 miles on both the first and last days. The photos are all here, and the first two parts of the the holiday blog are here and here.
We had a great holiday and I can only recommend Scotland and campervans.
The trip over to Armadale was only about 40 minutes which gave us time to grab a coffee and buy some playing cards in the onboard shop. On deck it was so windy that the froth was blown from my cappuccino and splattered on a bulkhead, narrowly missing the woman behind me. But the views were spectacular, certainly better than any you get crossing the channel by ferry.
On Skye there was a definite island feel to the place, and as we climbed inland the cloud descended and the wind picked up. Our campsite had claimed to have a "nearby swimming pool' so we drove straight past the site entrance into the village of Kyleakin. I popped into Saucy Mary's coffee shop and found friendly staff who guided me across the bridge back to the mainland where the pool was in Kyle of Lochalsh. It seemed a bit of a cheat to leave the island so soon, and by bridge, but Jack and Edward fancied a swim and the weather wasn't up to much else so off we went.
The carpark at the pool was just big enough for us - I managed to get turned round and then occupied four bays with the campervan. The pool was smaller than the one in Oban, but me, Jack and Edward enjoyed our dip while Lucy sat this one out and read a few chapters of her book. When we were done the weather had brightened up and we went into the playground outside the pool which had just reopened after a big refurbishment. Edward was in love with the pirate ship, and I managed to remember some of what I'd learned from Mr Poole during PE lessons as me and Jack monopolised the basketball hoop.
When we went back to the campsite we found no sign of the owner, but a notice with our name on it was next to one of the pitches, so that was where we parked up. Ashaig campsite was the most basic we stayed at, but it was also the cheapest. Everything was clean and well organised and all the campers seemed happy. We broke out the cards we'd bought on the ferry and taught Jack how to play pontoon, using the Connect 4 counters as chips. He really enjoyed that.
The next morning we drove up to Portree, stopping when I found a puddle of signal on O2 to call the Torvaig campsite where we booked in for the night ahead. This was just a mile beyond Portree so we went straight to the site and staked a claim on a pitch with a bit of a view. This campsite was beautifully maintained and was quite different to the one as Ashaig. Again we got a friendly welcome and good value. We walked into Portree, coaxing a tired Jack down the hill into town. Portree is a busy town with lots of shops and cafes, a big school and a harbour. In Tobermory most of the activity was on the harbour front, but in Portree the main drag was above the harbour, which was much quieter with just a few seafood restaurants at the waterside. We bought lunch at the chaotically busy Stuart's fish and chips shop, and dined on the picnic tables outside. There were a lot of shops in Portree, but they seemed expensive and served the international tourist trade, including a cruise ship that was in the bay when we arrived. We added a couple of DVDs to our small collection. The TV aerial on the campervan was totally useless and although we had a variety of iDevices and my trusty Apple Dock to AV connector we were getting ready for a change of viewing.
The campsite was packed when we returned, and Edward made another friend from the Netherlands. The next morning was gloomy with low cloud and drizzle hanging in the air. We drove down into Portree and had coffee and waffles at Cafe Arriba which is clearly where the trendy young things hang out in Portree. Obviously we felt right at home.
This was the closest we had to a wasted day on holiday. It was only forty minutes to the next campsite at Staffin, and we arrived there early hopeful that the day would clear up. But the weather was set and the day remained dark and dank. The warden described Staffin as a village with four churches and no pubs, so it didn't seem worth getting drenched to go and explore its charms. We spent the afternoon playing Uno, Connect 4 and card games and were glad to have the extra couple of DVDs we'd got the day before in Portree.
It was a windy night and I lay awake for much of it wondering just how string the wind has to be to roll a campervan over. We rocked quite hard on the suspension but survived in tact. At one point I peeked out of the curtain and saw lights on in lots of the tents; it must have been a really uncomfortable night under canvass.
But the wind blew the clouds away and when we emerged the following morning there was a view of mountains and the sea that we'd never expected after the previous day. So after breakfast we drove down another narrow road to Staffin Bay where we found rockpools, a pier that seemed much to big fir the single boat tied up to it and stunning views across to the mainland where we could see some dramatically steep mountains.
We explored the rock pools and enjoyed the clear skies before heading off again to circumnavigate Skye's most northern point. It was more miles on a single track road, and we were surprised to find our journey disrupted by roadworks. You expect cones and delays on the motorway, but not out here. Because of the long wait at the lights we found ourselves in quite a convoy of traffic, but this thinned out as we made our way around the north of the island.
From this road around the northern shores of Skye you could look across to the Outer Hebrides, which are a just one tempting ferry crossing away from Uig. But we resisted that temptation, and made for the Skye Camping and Caravanning Club Site near Edinbane, where we were booked in for the next two nights. It was two o'clock by the time we were checked in and we were ready for a late lunch. The Warden suggested we go to Dunvegan and look out for the Dunvegan Bakery on the right past the Post Office.
This was a good tip. Dunvegan has a small but campervan friendly carpark with a view over the narrow end of the loch (Loch Dunvegan, obv) where a heron was posing for photographers with longer lenses than mine. We walked up the little street to the Bakery where we had lunch (sausage sandwiches for me and Ed, prawn sandwich for Lucy and the ubiquitous portion of chips for Jack) in their cosy cafe. Lunch was delicious and as the shop hadn't sold out when we'd finished we bought some bread rolls, scones and sausage rolls to take back to the campervan which formed the basis of breakfast and snacks the next couple of days. Across the road there was a village store so we picked up some more supplies there and then went down the road to Dunvegan Castle. Or at least their car park.
We'd been told at the campsite to walk down the road past the castle and follow it along the lochside where we'd be able to spot seals. We weren't sure at first if we'd found the right road, but it wound down to the shore past a beautiful little cottage to reveal a view back to the castle and out onto the loch where there were several small islands dotted in the water. It was easy to see where the seals were living because a succession of boats made trips out from the castle to get up close and personal with them, but we enjoyed the early evening walk and looking out across the water to see family groups of seals lazing on the rocks. Dunvegan was definitely my favourite place on Skye. It's little street of hotels and shops, the fabulous bakery, and the lochside walk all came together to give it an atmosphere that I hadn't felt elsewhere. It was also very peaceful, when Jack and Edward weren't making a racket.
The next morning we followed our noses onto the Waternish peninsula. Stein looked like an interesting coastal village, but we drove around the end of the peninsula at Trumpan first where again we found some amazing views and narrow roads. Coming back into Stein we drove down the road and parked at the end of the village by the slipway. We put on our coats and went onto the rocks at the waters edge where we had a chance to interact with the wildlife.
There were two scallops just sitting on the rocks, waiting for the tide to come back in and rescue them. Stein is home to two seafood restaurants, which have fresh ingredients right on their doorsteps! We'd planned to go to one of these restaurants for lunch, but the Stein Inn had a notice on its door which informed us that they were closed to allow them to prepare for a wedding reception they were hosting that night.
So we went next door to the gallery at Dandelion Designs where we enjoyed looking at some of the works on show and bought some pressies for the folks back home. The very nice lady behind the counter suggested we go across to Glendale where there are a couple of cafes and a toy museum, so we went back to the van and pottered off to Glendale, which was a bit further that we thought. Everything on Skye is further away than you think, and takes longer to get there than you expect, but we were on holiday and it didn't really matter.
We wanted to go to the Red Roof Cafe at Glendale which we'd seen advertised and had heard good things about. But the car park was full and there was nowhere nearby to park the campervan so we turned round and headed back to the junction where we'd seen another cafe with an unfathomable Gaelic name: Ceiteag's. Katie's was a proper old fashioned tea room where we had a beautiful lunch.
And Lucy had cheesecake. She needed a doggy bag because although it was the best cheesecake ever it was also a massive slice. After lunch we walked up to the toy museum. The rain was coming straight into our faces, so when we arrived our fronts were wet through, but our backs were bone dry. The Glendale Toy Museum occupies the front two rooms of a large house. The room to your left as you enter is home to the older exhibits and the room to the right houses the newer ones. The hallway is a small, low pressure, shop. Terry and Paddy who own the museum are retiring next year, which means you've got to go there before the end of the season in 2012. Then find them eBay where they'll be holding a rather large auction. Terry has a great line in patter and knows everything there is to know about toys. It's a very hands on museum with children, and grown ups, encouraged to play woth lots of the toys. The closure of the museum will have an impact on the cafes and other small businesses in this small community which support each other, but hopefully they'll all have had time to adapt their plans to cope with the change. Glendale was lovely, and certainly worth the effort of getting to, with or without the toy museum.
And that was the end of our last full day on Skye. Well, almost. Our neighbours on the campsite the night before had told us about the Coral Beach which we'd find right at the end of the road along Loch Dunvegan where we'd been seal spotting the night before. So we took the van down and found a car park which we partially blocked. But it was only another campervan we were obstructing, so I wasn't too bothered. It was still lashing down with rain, and the signs indicated a mile's walk to get there. Jack and Edward weren't keen. I thought I'd better stay with the van in case I needed to move it to let the other one out. So Lucy set off alone to find the Coral Beach, while we played Connect 4 in the warm and dry. By all accounts the beach was amazing. The black rocky shore suddenly gave way to a pinkish-white beach made up of tiny shell fragments.
The next day we left Skye over the bridge, stopping briefly at the playground in Kyle of Lochalsh, and returned to the campsite at Tyndrum where we'd stayed on the second night of our holiday. It was a good stopover on the way home, but most importantly it gave us a chance to return to the Real Food Cafe. This time we ate in, rather than having a takeaway and sat under the awning on what must have been the forecourt of the former Little Chef. I had a rather nice homes made scots pie which came with with a generous jug of meaty gravy. Everyone else had fish and chips and me and Lucy shared a bottle of Chardonnay, which was nice.
On our final day we drove down the shore of Loch Lomond to Glasgow and picked up the M74 to head south to the border and home. Overall we covered a little over a thousand miles in the fortnight, which wasn't overdoing it given that we did more than 200 miles on both the first and last days. The photos are all here, and the first two parts of the the holiday blog are here and here.
We had a great holiday and I can only recommend Scotland and campervans.
Friday, 19 August 2011
Scottish holiday part 2: Mull and Ardnamurchan
On Thursday morning we drove down the coast from Invercoe to Oban, and went straight to the ferry terminal. There we were guided into a lane for the Mull ferry and having parked the van we went inside to collect our tickets. The journey we'd booked was made up of three crossings, Oban to Craignure on Mull, Tobermory to Kilchoan back on the mainland and Mallaig to Armadale on Skye. We'd be leaving Skye via the new road bridge. For each crossing there were five tickets, one for each of us and one for the van, so it was quite a long strip of card that was printed off for us. As we had about forty minutes to kill before the crossing we hoped to find a coffee shop in the terminal, but there was just a huddle of vending machines in an alcove dispensing hot and cold drinks and a few snacks. Still, we got a drink to take back to the van and went to wait for the ferry.
When it arrived the MV Isle of Mull was quickly unloaded and we were guided on and into place on the car deck. We were on the 14:00 crossing, and although we'd had a late breakfast it was definitely lunch time, so as the ferry slipped out of the harbour we went to the onboard restaurant. The food was surprisingly good. Jack and Ed's chicken nuggets were cooked to order and the caesar salads that me and Lucy had were fresh. It all came in generous portions and wasn't too expensive, all together a better value and better quality meal than I'd expected.
Once we'd eaten there was time to venture out on deck and take in the views of Mull as we approached the land-fall. Duart Castle loomed out of the mist at us, looking like a location for an episode of Scooby Doo. Edward loves ships and was very excited, and very bossy. He was quite disappointed that the stairs leading up the bridge were behind a keypad-locked gate and he wasn't going to get to meet the captain.
Soon the tannoy blew the news that we should return to our vehicles, so we went back down to the car deck and settled back into the van. From Craigbure it was only seven miles to Fishnish where we'd booked into Balmeanach Park for the night. This was a much smaller campsite than we'd come across before, but the welcome was just as warm as any we'd received before. The facilities were a little more basic, but everything was clean and tidy. This was the first place where we saw lots of midges. There had been a few at Tyndrum, especially near the stream, but we'd not got many bites. By the time I'd hooked up the power my legs were covered in little black specks so I changed my shorts for jeans and we made sure everyone had lots of insect repellent on.
I got the bikes down off the rack and went with Jack to explore the area, while Lucy and Ed had a bit of a rest. We pedalled down the quiet road to Fishnish. There was a ferry due and we were passed by several commuters dashing to meet the ferry and leave the island for the day. By the slipway was a little hut, which was home to the Secret Kitchen Cafe, which has seating inside and out. We got a small tub of Orkney ice cream each and loafed around as a few more cars arrived. When we spotted the ferry half way across the sound we rod around the bay to get a view of it landing and Jack was fascinated at how the ramp unfolded from the bow (or maybe stern) of the MV Loch Fyne. Once the ferry had unloaded and the waiting vehicles had driven on we rode back up the hill to the campsite and Jack was ready to join the others vegging out for a while. We needed to restock the cupboard so I got back on my bike and went back down to Craignure in search of a shop. It was a great ride, bombing downhill on the quiet road which followed the coast back to the little ferry port. The Spar at Craignure was open, and I picked up most of the things on my list and improvised most of the rest. I even managed to cram it all into my panniers. I wasn't really looking forward to returning to the campsite as it was mostly uphill, the mist was turning to drizzle and I haven't ridden much recently so I'm not as fit as I perhaps should be. Having said all that I was back in the van sooner than I expected and was rewarded with a cold beer and being let off cooking.
The next morning was brighter and we drove up to Tobermory. Our hosts at the campsite warned us that most of the roads on Mull were single track, and told us the best place to park the campervan once we'd arrived in town. Jack and Edward were excited to be arriving in Balamory and we all thought the brightly coloured houses along the harbour front looked amazing.
We mooched around the various shops, buying postcards and Balamory goodies in the Tobermory Corner Shop and enjoying the variety of goods from power tools to telescopes and toys to whisky in Brown's.
By now we'd worked up an appetite (theme of the holiday?) and browsed the various options available on the main street, opting in the end for the MacDonald Arms Hotel, which wasn't the most salubrious prospect. But we were welcomed in and although the menu wasn't spectacular the food was good. Me and Ed had eggs and chips, each getting three runny eggs on a mountain of chips. An owd feller at the bar was having a pile of macaroni cheese and chips, and everyone's plates went back to the kitchen empty.
My legs were getting really itchy now, and I'd been bitten quite badly by the midges. It's not painful, just uncomfortable. When I was up and about I was distracted enough not to be bothered, but when I was trying to sleep it was most bother. Also it was quite annoying that I was the only one in the family to get bitten...
We spent two nights at the Tobermory Campsite (use the top gate to avoid the narrow bridge in your long campervan...) where Edward made friends with Jenning, who was camping in a tent with his family on holiday from the Netherlands. They didn't have a word of language in common but seemed happy in each other's company.
On Saturday we walked the mile or so in to Tobermory with a basket of washing which we left in the machines at the marina before exploring the top of the town where we found a playgound. The slides weren't very slidey and the boys weren't going fast enough down them until Edward improvised a helter-skelter style mat out of his coat and acieved escape velocity at the bottom of the smaller slide. There was also a playing field where I kicked a footy around with Jack. On the way back down to the main drag we spotted the hotel that had been Josie Jump's yellow house, now a more earthy orange but clearly recognisable with its tower.
The next morning, Sunday, we were due to leave Mull and planned to get the one o'clock ferry from the slipway at Tobermory. But we'd been told by a couple of people that we should go to Calgary Bay, so we turned left as we pulled out of the campsite and followed the narrow, windy road through Dervaig towards the west coast. It was a spectacular drive, and I'd later be glad of the warm-up, and took the best part of an hour to cover the twelve miles to Calgary. We parked at the art gallery and tea room, where it seemed rude not to have a cappuccino and hot chocolates. Behind the gallery was a workshop where a wood-cutter made sculptures and other pieces of art, many of which were displayed along the walk through the woods to the beach.
It was definitely worth the drive, the walk through the woods and inevitably getting the later ferry because the beach at Calgary is amazing. Fine white sand, shallow clear water with a hint of blue, green fields sloping down to form the cove and a couple of beautiful white houses which must have the most sunning views. We all took off our shoes, rolled up our trousers and had a good paddle. I was a lovely morning and Edward enjoyed running in the waves while Jack collected shells. Me and Lucy walked the length of the beach, which Ed thought must've been "very romantic."
There was a little green two-masted sailing boat called "Ruddled" moored in the bay. Edward was fascinated and desperate to wade out and climb aboard. Once he'd been talked out of that he tried to persuade us that we should buy a boat just like it. Reluctantly we went back to the campervan and wound our way back to Tobermory and the ferry. Once we'd parked at the top of the slipway I just had time to nip out to the harbour and get us fish and chips from the van on the pie, which bore a Les Routiers badge and had also been recommended to us. I just managed to run back in time to drive onto the ferry before they raised the ramp. The ticket collector let us take our lunch into the lounge and so we ate our late lunch as we crossed to Kilchoan back on the mainland.
This crossing brings you to Ardnamurchan, one of the most remote parts of mainland Britain. And we took a diversion to Ardnamurchan Point, where it's even more remote and six miles west of Lands End. The drive out to the point was interesting, along miles of single-track road with some tight bends. The last couple of hundred yards is a twisty section rocky outcrops on one side and a low stone wall to keep you out of the sea on the other. I was worried at one point that I might get the van stuck, but we got through and found space to turn around and park at the end.
Apart from the breathtaking views - keep a close eye on your children by the cliff tops - there is a surprising amount to do at Ardnamurchan Point. There's a gift shop where Jack bought a small tub of fart putty, not that he needs help making noises like that, and we got coffees and tickets for the museum and tour of the lighthouse. Or maybe that should be tour up the lighthouse?
The museum was interesting, informative and had plenty of interest for grown-ups and children. It told us some of the history of the local area, and the story of the lighthouse. The tour allowed us to spiral right to the top of the lighthouse (36 metres above ground and 52 metres above sea-level). Our guide was the former lighthouse keeper who used to climb the steps at least four times a day. He knew everything there was to know about the lighthouse, and explained how it's now all controlled and monitored remotely from Edinburgh. He was happy to answer questions and gave us plenty of time to take pictures and soak in the view.
We'd been on the 4:30 tour, the last of the day, and had quite a way to go to get to our campsite at Arisaig. We retraced our steps to Kilchoan and then pottered on to Salen where we found the A road where we thought we'd be able to get a move on was still a single-track road. The only hairy moment was when we met an articulated lorry coming the other way and had to reverse to let it thought. Most of the time people got out of our way, but this time we had to give way.
We were obviously going to be late arrivals at the campsite, but neither of us had any signal on our phones to ring ahead and warn them. Never mind, it was the most spectacular drive along the shore of lochs and twisting over passes between the hills. Eventually Lucy got through and then we hit the main road between Fort William and Mallaig which runs along the Atlantic coast, sharing space with the railway so you twist under arched bridges several times. Eventually we arrived at Sunnyside Croft, bought potato cakes from the shop for breakfast and relaxed with a well earned drink. We'd spent longer on the road than we'd planned 24 hours before, but getting to Calgary Bay and Ardnamurchan Point had more than made up for it, as had the views we'd seen during the drive.
The next day was Monday, which promised a 7 mile hop up the coast to Mallaig and a trip over the sea to Skye.
Once we'd eaten there was time to venture out on deck and take in the views of Mull as we approached the land-fall. Duart Castle loomed out of the mist at us, looking like a location for an episode of Scooby Doo. Edward loves ships and was very excited, and very bossy. He was quite disappointed that the stairs leading up the bridge were behind a keypad-locked gate and he wasn't going to get to meet the captain.
Soon the tannoy blew the news that we should return to our vehicles, so we went back down to the car deck and settled back into the van. From Craigbure it was only seven miles to Fishnish where we'd booked into Balmeanach Park for the night. This was a much smaller campsite than we'd come across before, but the welcome was just as warm as any we'd received before. The facilities were a little more basic, but everything was clean and tidy. This was the first place where we saw lots of midges. There had been a few at Tyndrum, especially near the stream, but we'd not got many bites. By the time I'd hooked up the power my legs were covered in little black specks so I changed my shorts for jeans and we made sure everyone had lots of insect repellent on.
I got the bikes down off the rack and went with Jack to explore the area, while Lucy and Ed had a bit of a rest. We pedalled down the quiet road to Fishnish. There was a ferry due and we were passed by several commuters dashing to meet the ferry and leave the island for the day. By the slipway was a little hut, which was home to the Secret Kitchen Cafe, which has seating inside and out. We got a small tub of Orkney ice cream each and loafed around as a few more cars arrived. When we spotted the ferry half way across the sound we rod around the bay to get a view of it landing and Jack was fascinated at how the ramp unfolded from the bow (or maybe stern) of the MV Loch Fyne. Once the ferry had unloaded and the waiting vehicles had driven on we rode back up the hill to the campsite and Jack was ready to join the others vegging out for a while. We needed to restock the cupboard so I got back on my bike and went back down to Craignure in search of a shop. It was a great ride, bombing downhill on the quiet road which followed the coast back to the little ferry port. The Spar at Craignure was open, and I picked up most of the things on my list and improvised most of the rest. I even managed to cram it all into my panniers. I wasn't really looking forward to returning to the campsite as it was mostly uphill, the mist was turning to drizzle and I haven't ridden much recently so I'm not as fit as I perhaps should be. Having said all that I was back in the van sooner than I expected and was rewarded with a cold beer and being let off cooking.
The next morning was brighter and we drove up to Tobermory. Our hosts at the campsite warned us that most of the roads on Mull were single track, and told us the best place to park the campervan once we'd arrived in town. Jack and Edward were excited to be arriving in Balamory and we all thought the brightly coloured houses along the harbour front looked amazing.
We mooched around the various shops, buying postcards and Balamory goodies in the Tobermory Corner Shop and enjoying the variety of goods from power tools to telescopes and toys to whisky in Brown's.
By now we'd worked up an appetite (theme of the holiday?) and browsed the various options available on the main street, opting in the end for the MacDonald Arms Hotel, which wasn't the most salubrious prospect. But we were welcomed in and although the menu wasn't spectacular the food was good. Me and Ed had eggs and chips, each getting three runny eggs on a mountain of chips. An owd feller at the bar was having a pile of macaroni cheese and chips, and everyone's plates went back to the kitchen empty.
My legs were getting really itchy now, and I'd been bitten quite badly by the midges. It's not painful, just uncomfortable. When I was up and about I was distracted enough not to be bothered, but when I was trying to sleep it was most bother. Also it was quite annoying that I was the only one in the family to get bitten...
We spent two nights at the Tobermory Campsite (use the top gate to avoid the narrow bridge in your long campervan...) where Edward made friends with Jenning, who was camping in a tent with his family on holiday from the Netherlands. They didn't have a word of language in common but seemed happy in each other's company.
On Saturday we walked the mile or so in to Tobermory with a basket of washing which we left in the machines at the marina before exploring the top of the town where we found a playgound. The slides weren't very slidey and the boys weren't going fast enough down them until Edward improvised a helter-skelter style mat out of his coat and acieved escape velocity at the bottom of the smaller slide. There was also a playing field where I kicked a footy around with Jack. On the way back down to the main drag we spotted the hotel that had been Josie Jump's yellow house, now a more earthy orange but clearly recognisable with its tower.
The next morning, Sunday, we were due to leave Mull and planned to get the one o'clock ferry from the slipway at Tobermory. But we'd been told by a couple of people that we should go to Calgary Bay, so we turned left as we pulled out of the campsite and followed the narrow, windy road through Dervaig towards the west coast. It was a spectacular drive, and I'd later be glad of the warm-up, and took the best part of an hour to cover the twelve miles to Calgary. We parked at the art gallery and tea room, where it seemed rude not to have a cappuccino and hot chocolates. Behind the gallery was a workshop where a wood-cutter made sculptures and other pieces of art, many of which were displayed along the walk through the woods to the beach.
It was definitely worth the drive, the walk through the woods and inevitably getting the later ferry because the beach at Calgary is amazing. Fine white sand, shallow clear water with a hint of blue, green fields sloping down to form the cove and a couple of beautiful white houses which must have the most sunning views. We all took off our shoes, rolled up our trousers and had a good paddle. I was a lovely morning and Edward enjoyed running in the waves while Jack collected shells. Me and Lucy walked the length of the beach, which Ed thought must've been "very romantic."
There was a little green two-masted sailing boat called "Ruddled" moored in the bay. Edward was fascinated and desperate to wade out and climb aboard. Once he'd been talked out of that he tried to persuade us that we should buy a boat just like it. Reluctantly we went back to the campervan and wound our way back to Tobermory and the ferry. Once we'd parked at the top of the slipway I just had time to nip out to the harbour and get us fish and chips from the van on the pie, which bore a Les Routiers badge and had also been recommended to us. I just managed to run back in time to drive onto the ferry before they raised the ramp. The ticket collector let us take our lunch into the lounge and so we ate our late lunch as we crossed to Kilchoan back on the mainland.
This crossing brings you to Ardnamurchan, one of the most remote parts of mainland Britain. And we took a diversion to Ardnamurchan Point, where it's even more remote and six miles west of Lands End. The drive out to the point was interesting, along miles of single-track road with some tight bends. The last couple of hundred yards is a twisty section rocky outcrops on one side and a low stone wall to keep you out of the sea on the other. I was worried at one point that I might get the van stuck, but we got through and found space to turn around and park at the end.
Apart from the breathtaking views - keep a close eye on your children by the cliff tops - there is a surprising amount to do at Ardnamurchan Point. There's a gift shop where Jack bought a small tub of fart putty, not that he needs help making noises like that, and we got coffees and tickets for the museum and tour of the lighthouse. Or maybe that should be tour up the lighthouse?
The museum was interesting, informative and had plenty of interest for grown-ups and children. It told us some of the history of the local area, and the story of the lighthouse. The tour allowed us to spiral right to the top of the lighthouse (36 metres above ground and 52 metres above sea-level). Our guide was the former lighthouse keeper who used to climb the steps at least four times a day. He knew everything there was to know about the lighthouse, and explained how it's now all controlled and monitored remotely from Edinburgh. He was happy to answer questions and gave us plenty of time to take pictures and soak in the view.
We'd been on the 4:30 tour, the last of the day, and had quite a way to go to get to our campsite at Arisaig. We retraced our steps to Kilchoan and then pottered on to Salen where we found the A road where we thought we'd be able to get a move on was still a single-track road. The only hairy moment was when we met an articulated lorry coming the other way and had to reverse to let it thought. Most of the time people got out of our way, but this time we had to give way.
We were obviously going to be late arrivals at the campsite, but neither of us had any signal on our phones to ring ahead and warn them. Never mind, it was the most spectacular drive along the shore of lochs and twisting over passes between the hills. Eventually Lucy got through and then we hit the main road between Fort William and Mallaig which runs along the Atlantic coast, sharing space with the railway so you twist under arched bridges several times. Eventually we arrived at Sunnyside Croft, bought potato cakes from the shop for breakfast and relaxed with a well earned drink. We'd spent longer on the road than we'd planned 24 hours before, but getting to Calgary Bay and Ardnamurchan Point had more than made up for it, as had the views we'd seen during the drive.
The next day was Monday, which promised a 7 mile hop up the coast to Mallaig and a trip over the sea to Skye.
Tuesday, 16 August 2011
Scottish holiday part 1; Stirling to Invercoe
The first day was all about getting as far north as we comfortably could. We picked up the motorhome from Busby Stoop garage on Monday and took it home to load up, then set off at about 12:30. Our route took us across the A66 and up the M6 into Scotland. We'd booked into the Witches Craig campsite near Stirling, which had been recommended by a friend of Lucy's who'd recently stayed there. On arrival we were directed to our pitch and given a key to the washrooms, and more importantly the key to the free wifi that was available all around the site.
The welcome at Witches Craig was really warm, and at reception I was also able to order milk and bread rolls for the morning. I also picked up a Visit Scotland map showing almost 300 campsites around the country, and a brochure for the ferry company Caledonian MacBrayne.
Feeling pleased that we'd managed to get to the campsite without crashing the van and had successfully got power connected we poured a drink, looked at the map and booked a site for the next night, not too far away at Tyndrum.
That night we learned that the success to happy camping was not to make the children go to bed as early as usual, but to let them stay up late and sleep in longer in the morning.
On Tuesday we had a relaxed start to the day and after packing up hit the road again for Tyndrum. After the luxury of wide motorway lanes and not many single carriageway roads the van felt wide and long, but wasn't actually too tricky to drive. We had a coffee stop at the Trossachs Woollen Mill where they served Costa coffee and a good slice of home made caramel shortbread.
We were in Tyndrum soon and after topping up the diesel at the garage we checked into the Pinetrees campsite and received another key for free wifi. With phones, an iPad and iPod Touch to support this was looking promising. We took the bikes off the rack and made our way up the village to find lunch. The Green Welly Stop where we'd refueled the van looked promising, and we got sandwiches at the Snack Stop there.
Back at the campsite Jack and Ed explored the playground and paddled in the stream. There were lots of children for then to make friends with as the campsite was busy with lots of walkers on the West Highland Way as well as caravanners and campervans like ourselves, We made plans to head into Oban the next day to visit the Calmac office and book some ferry tickets. We also booked our campsite for the next day on the shores of Loch Leven.
Jack had spotted the Real Food Cafe while we were out earlier, and we rode up to get take-away fish and chips for tea. The atmosphere in the renovated Little Chef was buzzing with families eating at the long tables while the queue to order snaked around them. The food was good too. We had collie which was cooked to order like everything else on the menu.
The car park in Oban was by the leisure centre. Seeing this made Jack and Edward decide we should go swimming, so we went swimming. The swim session currently running was full, so we had 20 minutes to kill before we could get in the pool. Just time for a quick Starbucks from the cafe at the pool, then.
The swim was fun, and Edward plucked up the courage to have his first go on a water-slide. After much faffing around he found that it was actually really exciting and we had a hard time getting him off the slide when it was time to get out of the pool.
Oban was busy and we did the shopping we needed to do but didn't have time to get to the CalMac office before we had to head to Invercoe.
At the campsite we were led to a waterside pitch with a fantastic view of Loch Leven. We were just a hundred yards or so from a stone pier and slip way where people were paddling and playing in the loch. There were crabs and other sea creatures in the clear water and the tide rose quite quickly. Within a few hours the pier was submerged and a horde of children stood on it, knee deep in loch but surrounded by much deeper water.
It was a beautiful evening and as I tended the barbecue I rang CalMac to book an Island Hopscotch ticket that would get us to Mull and Skye.
The welcome at Witches Craig was really warm, and at reception I was also able to order milk and bread rolls for the morning. I also picked up a Visit Scotland map showing almost 300 campsites around the country, and a brochure for the ferry company Caledonian MacBrayne.
Feeling pleased that we'd managed to get to the campsite without crashing the van and had successfully got power connected we poured a drink, looked at the map and booked a site for the next night, not too far away at Tyndrum.
That night we learned that the success to happy camping was not to make the children go to bed as early as usual, but to let them stay up late and sleep in longer in the morning.
On Tuesday we had a relaxed start to the day and after packing up hit the road again for Tyndrum. After the luxury of wide motorway lanes and not many single carriageway roads the van felt wide and long, but wasn't actually too tricky to drive. We had a coffee stop at the Trossachs Woollen Mill where they served Costa coffee and a good slice of home made caramel shortbread.
We were in Tyndrum soon and after topping up the diesel at the garage we checked into the Pinetrees campsite and received another key for free wifi. With phones, an iPad and iPod Touch to support this was looking promising. We took the bikes off the rack and made our way up the village to find lunch. The Green Welly Stop where we'd refueled the van looked promising, and we got sandwiches at the Snack Stop there.
Back at the campsite Jack and Ed explored the playground and paddled in the stream. There were lots of children for then to make friends with as the campsite was busy with lots of walkers on the West Highland Way as well as caravanners and campervans like ourselves, We made plans to head into Oban the next day to visit the Calmac office and book some ferry tickets. We also booked our campsite for the next day on the shores of Loch Leven.
Jack had spotted the Real Food Cafe while we were out earlier, and we rode up to get take-away fish and chips for tea. The atmosphere in the renovated Little Chef was buzzing with families eating at the long tables while the queue to order snaked around them. The food was good too. We had collie which was cooked to order like everything else on the menu.
The car park in Oban was by the leisure centre. Seeing this made Jack and Edward decide we should go swimming, so we went swimming. The swim session currently running was full, so we had 20 minutes to kill before we could get in the pool. Just time for a quick Starbucks from the cafe at the pool, then.
The swim was fun, and Edward plucked up the courage to have his first go on a water-slide. After much faffing around he found that it was actually really exciting and we had a hard time getting him off the slide when it was time to get out of the pool.
Oban was busy and we did the shopping we needed to do but didn't have time to get to the CalMac office before we had to head to Invercoe.
At the campsite we were led to a waterside pitch with a fantastic view of Loch Leven. We were just a hundred yards or so from a stone pier and slip way where people were paddling and playing in the loch. There were crabs and other sea creatures in the clear water and the tide rose quite quickly. Within a few hours the pier was submerged and a horde of children stood on it, knee deep in loch but surrounded by much deeper water.
It was a beautiful evening and as I tended the barbecue I rang CalMac to book an Island Hopscotch ticket that would get us to Mull and Skye.
Monday, 15 August 2011
Where've you been?
Scotland, actually.
I love Flickr, and have it set as the homepage in my browser. But the mapping is terrible. I've always wanted Flickr with a more Google Maps-ish looking map. And since some-one, probably on Twitter, linked to this how-to I've been having a look.
I think it works really well, and is a definite improvement on Flickr's implementation.
Oh, and there are more photos from Scotland to come.
View Larger Map
I love Flickr, and have it set as the homepage in my browser. But the mapping is terrible. I've always wanted Flickr with a more Google Maps-ish looking map. And since some-one, probably on Twitter, linked to this how-to I've been having a look.
I think it works really well, and is a definite improvement on Flickr's implementation.
Oh, and there are more photos from Scotland to come.
View Larger Map
Wednesday, 20 July 2011
Rupert, James and Rebekah at the Culture, Media and Sport select committee
The transcripts of the appearances by Rupert and James Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks before the Culture, Media and Sport select committee are now available online.
I took the text of the two sessions from the Guardian, and stuck the straight into Wordle. Then, because I didn't like the results, I took the words "James", "Rupert", "Murdoch" and "Mr" out of the Murdoch's session and the words "Rebekah" and "Brooks" from that transcript and tried again.
Here then for your enjoyment are yesterday's sessions as word clouds. The bigger the word, the more often it appears in the transcript.
Rupert and James Murdoch - click to go to a larger version.
Rebekah Brooks - click to go to a larger version.
I took the text of the two sessions from the Guardian, and stuck the straight into Wordle. Then, because I didn't like the results, I took the words "James", "Rupert", "Murdoch" and "Mr" out of the Murdoch's session and the words "Rebekah" and "Brooks" from that transcript and tried again.
Here then for your enjoyment are yesterday's sessions as word clouds. The bigger the word, the more often it appears in the transcript.
Rupert and James Murdoch - click to go to a larger version.
Rebekah Brooks - click to go to a larger version.
Monday, 11 July 2011
Press regulation: what's to fear?
One of the likely casualties of recent events in the media is the Press Complaints Commission.
As a regulator it's been, well, pants. The Express group of papers - which really do need regulating - have been allowed to drop out, and many breaches of the PCC code go with relatively little comeback on the publisher. Self-regulation hasn't worked for the national press.
Broadcasters are of course regulated by Ofcom, which has statutory powers. And news broadcasters seem to manage alright under its jurisdiction. One of the star news services of the past few days has been Sky News: from it's fantastic hour at six o'clock on Thursday evening to Adam Boulton tonight describing the future of his own channel as "in the balance" as spotted by Richard Jones
Unlike the News International controlled press they've given space to this story, and haven't been afraid to interview people who've been critical of Rupert Murdoch and News Corp. They've been across the story, covering it with balance and vigour. And all of this under the control of a regulator.
Journalists need some freedoms to do their job, but the loss of self-regulation doesn't mean the sky will fall in.
As a regulator it's been, well, pants. The Express group of papers - which really do need regulating - have been allowed to drop out, and many breaches of the PCC code go with relatively little comeback on the publisher. Self-regulation hasn't worked for the national press.
Broadcasters are of course regulated by Ofcom, which has statutory powers. And news broadcasters seem to manage alright under its jurisdiction. One of the star news services of the past few days has been Sky News: from it's fantastic hour at six o'clock on Thursday evening to Adam Boulton tonight describing the future of his own channel as "in the balance" as spotted by Richard Jones
Odd to see Adam Boulton on Sky News saying that the future of his own channel is "in the balance" after today's developments.less than a minute ago via HootSuite 
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Richard Jones
rlwjones
Unlike the News International controlled press they've given space to this story, and haven't been afraid to interview people who've been critical of Rupert Murdoch and News Corp. They've been across the story, covering it with balance and vigour. And all of this under the control of a regulator.
Journalists need some freedoms to do their job, but the loss of self-regulation doesn't mean the sky will fall in.
Tuesday, 7 June 2011
Apple computers: are they good value?
I've just replaced the battery in my MacBook. Not with an official Apple battery, which costs £101, but with this one from Play.com which was £36.90
The Apple battery clearly costs a lot more, but if it holds a charge for longer and endures more charge cycles would that make it better value for money?
That's the balance we're striking when we talk about value; it's not just what an item costs, but how well it does the job you need it to do.
Which brings me back to my MacBook. There are loads of articles all over the web where people have found similarly specced Windows and Mac OS running computers and seen what the price difference is. I'm not going to do that.
What I will say is that my MacBook is over four years old (it came in may 2007 after a blackcurrant related incident I don't like to talk about), it sees daily use and runs the latest version of OS X with ease. Software on OS X is, with noteable exceptions, really good and this is one of the main reasons why I still prefer Macs. But I reckon the cost of running the MacBook has been fairly cheap.
Hardware wise I've added 1GB of RAM from Crucial.com/UK/ which cost me £28 and upgraded the hard drive from 80 to 320GB which cost £73, but I've kept the old drive in a USB enclosure and use it daily for work. (I should probably start backing that up).
As for software upgrades go I've paid for upgrades to OS 10.5 and 10.6, which is going to be a bit more than £100 (I know I'll be tempted with Lion, but my MacBook will be one of the lowest spec machines capable of running it and I don't want to take a big performance hit).
So, sound off and let me know what you think about the value of spending more.
The Apple battery clearly costs a lot more, but if it holds a charge for longer and endures more charge cycles would that make it better value for money?
That's the balance we're striking when we talk about value; it's not just what an item costs, but how well it does the job you need it to do.
Which brings me back to my MacBook. There are loads of articles all over the web where people have found similarly specced Windows and Mac OS running computers and seen what the price difference is. I'm not going to do that.
What I will say is that my MacBook is over four years old (it came in may 2007 after a blackcurrant related incident I don't like to talk about), it sees daily use and runs the latest version of OS X with ease. Software on OS X is, with noteable exceptions, really good and this is one of the main reasons why I still prefer Macs. But I reckon the cost of running the MacBook has been fairly cheap.
Hardware wise I've added 1GB of RAM from Crucial.com/UK/ which cost me £28 and upgraded the hard drive from 80 to 320GB which cost £73, but I've kept the old drive in a USB enclosure and use it daily for work. (I should probably start backing that up).
As for software upgrades go I've paid for upgrades to OS 10.5 and 10.6, which is going to be a bit more than £100 (I know I'll be tempted with Lion, but my MacBook will be one of the lowest spec machines capable of running it and I don't want to take a big performance hit).
So, sound off and let me know what you think about the value of spending more.
Saturday, 4 June 2011
Five things that parent bloggers do better than me
It's a well known fact that parent bloggers are giving the internet a bad name. Well, it is since yesterday.
But some of them are also very good at what they do. Here are five things you can learn from the cream of the parent bloggers.
But some of them are also very good at what they do. Here are five things you can learn from the cream of the parent bloggers.
- They post regularly. Writing often helps you find a voice, allowing you to settle into a "house style." The expectation of regular new content also helps to build an audience for your blog.
- They're focussed. By regularly blogging around a theme or topic they make sure their readers know what to expect from them and make sure they regularly meet this expectation.
- They read and comment on other blogs covering similar topics to build awareness that they're there and help feed traffic to their own blogs by leaving links.
- They join the debate beyond the blog. By following readers on Twitter and other social networks they are part of their readers' online lives even when they're not blogging. This can lead to tip offs and ideas for future blogs. It also makes the blogger closer to becoming one of their reader's friends. This is good because we trust our friends. If I read your blog and think of you as my friend I'm much more likely to give credence to what you say.
- They use social media to help spread the word. They tweet and tweet again about the day's article and link to it on Facebook. They'll also spread the word about fellow bloggers' work. This can be a genuine endorsement of posts they've enjoyed or feel strongly about, but it also increases the likelihood that their own work will be retweeted and promoted by others.
How else have parent bloggers shown the way for the rest of us online?
Friday, 3 June 2011
Parent bloggers - giving the internet a bad name?
I know I shouldn't have done it, and actually I blame Nicki Cawood:
My gut reaction to the question was to snort "No!" and leave it at that, but then I made the mistake of clicking through the link and reading the article. Still working against my better judgement I left a comment.
Before I get ahead of myself, the gist of the piece is that PR companies should pay the expenses of bloggers that they invite to attend events. Then there were eight comments in agreement with the blogger. I felt it was time for some balance, so left a dissenting comment. It wasn't an attempt to be controversial, I just happen to disagree with the post and commenters so far. My comment got a couple of responses and I replied to some of them, but there is more to say about this and I don't want to appear to be a troll over at Tots100 so I'll marshall my thoughts here.
So - should bloggers expect to get travel expenses to attend marketing events paid by PR companies?
No. If you really want to go find a way to pay for it. Otherwise, don't go and write about something else. As I said in my comment, you've decided to go it alone as a parent blogger and you have to live with that choice. If you want to work for a media organisation with a budget for travel then go and do that. But it's better to make what you're doing work for you. If you attend the same product launches as everyone else your blog will be just like everyone else's. Surely an advantage of running your own blog is the freedom to write about what you want, when you want, how you want? Don't be a mouthpiece for big business; do your own thing.
But we're only hobbyists, we're not running a business here.
I know. My hobby is photography and if I want to go to London to take photos I don't expect to get train tickets sent in the post by the London tourism board. If it's your hobby, it's kind of the idea that you pay for it yourself.
PR agencies who did an occasional blogger outreach out of London would get a lot of kudos (and probably some good write-ups for their clients).
Yes, but your review of something should depend on the quality of the item, not how well you're treated by the PR company.
What I think is saddest about this is that the bloggers are letting themselves be partially driven by the agenda of the PR circus. Blogging should be about doing your own thing, writing what you want to write. A day spent making a six hour round trip to London for a thirty minute event could be spent finding local contacts. There will be people making stuff near you, there are baby groups you could visit, and local newspapers who might want columnists. Rather than be driven by the marketeers use some of that initiative you showed when you learnt to self-host WordPress, get out in your communities (real or virtual) and bring in your own stories.
Brilliant article on @Tots100 http://bit.ly/k73jg5 Should PR Agencies pay Travel Expenses For Bloggers?less than a minute ago via TweetDeck Favorite Retweet Reply
Nicki Cawood
NickiCawood
My gut reaction to the question was to snort "No!" and leave it at that, but then I made the mistake of clicking through the link and reading the article. Still working against my better judgement I left a comment.
Before I get ahead of myself, the gist of the piece is that PR companies should pay the expenses of bloggers that they invite to attend events. Then there were eight comments in agreement with the blogger. I felt it was time for some balance, so left a dissenting comment. It wasn't an attempt to be controversial, I just happen to disagree with the post and commenters so far. My comment got a couple of responses and I replied to some of them, but there is more to say about this and I don't want to appear to be a troll over at Tots100 so I'll marshall my thoughts here.
So - should bloggers expect to get travel expenses to attend marketing events paid by PR companies?
No. If you really want to go find a way to pay for it. Otherwise, don't go and write about something else. As I said in my comment, you've decided to go it alone as a parent blogger and you have to live with that choice. If you want to work for a media organisation with a budget for travel then go and do that. But it's better to make what you're doing work for you. If you attend the same product launches as everyone else your blog will be just like everyone else's. Surely an advantage of running your own blog is the freedom to write about what you want, when you want, how you want? Don't be a mouthpiece for big business; do your own thing.
But we're only hobbyists, we're not running a business here.
I know. My hobby is photography and if I want to go to London to take photos I don't expect to get train tickets sent in the post by the London tourism board. If it's your hobby, it's kind of the idea that you pay for it yourself.
PR agencies who did an occasional blogger outreach out of London would get a lot of kudos (and probably some good write-ups for their clients).
Yes, but your review of something should depend on the quality of the item, not how well you're treated by the PR company.
What I think is saddest about this is that the bloggers are letting themselves be partially driven by the agenda of the PR circus. Blogging should be about doing your own thing, writing what you want to write. A day spent making a six hour round trip to London for a thirty minute event could be spent finding local contacts. There will be people making stuff near you, there are baby groups you could visit, and local newspapers who might want columnists. Rather than be driven by the marketeers use some of that initiative you showed when you learnt to self-host WordPress, get out in your communities (real or virtual) and bring in your own stories.
Wednesday, 25 May 2011
In Manchester football journalism really is dead.
Oh dear. Yesterday I blogged about Sir Alex Ferguson's heavy handed response to Rob Harris' question in a press conference. I suggested that football journalism is broken because of the balance of power between the media and the clubs.
Forty-seven minutes into today's PM programme (iPlayer link) there's an illuminating interview with Peter Spencer, the Sports Editor from the Manchester Evening News. Spencer basically says he doesn't want people coming into press conferences rocking the boat and upsetting the clubs; and he puts the pressure of filling pages above his reporters' right to probe a bit.
I'm not suggesting that journalists abandon commercial realities. Of course papers need filling, but we need to be honest with our audience. In countries where governments are hostile to the media or where correspondents can only travel with a state "minder" it's not unusual for the restrictions and conditions placed on the journalist to be made clear.
It'd be great to see sports journalists being as candid as their colleagues in hostile nations about the restrictions their working under, whether self-imposed or not.
(Thanks to Andrew Glover for giving me the nod about this interview)
Forty-seven minutes into today's PM programme (iPlayer link) there's an illuminating interview with Peter Spencer, the Sports Editor from the Manchester Evening News. Spencer basically says he doesn't want people coming into press conferences rocking the boat and upsetting the clubs; and he puts the pressure of filling pages above his reporters' right to probe a bit.
I'm not suggesting that journalists abandon commercial realities. Of course papers need filling, but we need to be honest with our audience. In countries where governments are hostile to the media or where correspondents can only travel with a state "minder" it's not unusual for the restrictions and conditions placed on the journalist to be made clear.
It'd be great to see sports journalists being as candid as their colleagues in hostile nations about the restrictions their working under, whether self-imposed or not.
(Thanks to Andrew Glover for giving me the nod about this interview)
Tuesday, 24 May 2011
Press injunctions: maybe it's Fergie's fault.
In the same way that Apprentice candidates have to call Alan Sugar "Lord Sugar", you're meant to call Alex Ferguson "Sir Alex", but he does little to deserve that respect. Manchester United, and Sir Alex in particular have a relationship with the press that's based on fear and loathing. He's scared of them and he hates them. Considering that the Reds just pocketed £60 million pounds via the Premier League from TV companies you'd think that they'd be better disposed towards the media, but not so.
Fergie thought he could ban a journalist from Associated Press who asked a non-injunction-busting question about Ryan Giggs at a press conference, where journalists are supposed to ask questions.
Rob Harris simply asked this: "The most experienced Champions League player in the team's obviously Ryan Giggs, it's the fourth final for him, how important for the team is he on Saturday?"
But for Fergie it was too much and he set about planning to ban Harris from the pre-match press conference on Friday. A press conference which is managed by Uefa and that United have no control over. I had been wondering how Giggs could have been so badly advised about managing the media recently, but if his boss behaves like this you can see where his influence may lie.
Football journalism is actually broken in this country. Newsrooms are scared of being denied access to clubs. They shy away from stories that show the clubs in less than glorious colours and don't ask difficult questions because they fear becoming persona non grata at the training ground or in the press box. I'd like to see a sports desk take the risk and if they're declined further access then tell it like it is and inform their audience what's gone in. In 2011 there have to be other ways of reporting football that don't depend on attending the regular press conferences anyway. I know it won't happen, but I'd love to see it.
Fergie thought he could ban a journalist from Associated Press who asked a non-injunction-busting question about Ryan Giggs at a press conference, where journalists are supposed to ask questions.
Rob Harris simply asked this: "The most experienced Champions League player in the team's obviously Ryan Giggs, it's the fourth final for him, how important for the team is he on Saturday?"
But for Fergie it was too much and he set about planning to ban Harris from the pre-match press conference on Friday. A press conference which is managed by Uefa and that United have no control over. I had been wondering how Giggs could have been so badly advised about managing the media recently, but if his boss behaves like this you can see where his influence may lie.
Football journalism is actually broken in this country. Newsrooms are scared of being denied access to clubs. They shy away from stories that show the clubs in less than glorious colours and don't ask difficult questions because they fear becoming persona non grata at the training ground or in the press box. I'd like to see a sports desk take the risk and if they're declined further access then tell it like it is and inform their audience what's gone in. In 2011 there have to be other ways of reporting football that don't depend on attending the regular press conferences anyway. I know it won't happen, but I'd love to see it.
Sunday, 15 May 2011
Podcast round up
I do like a good podcast. I subscribe to several that are a mix of UK radio shows I can't listen to live, US public radio that's been recommended to me, and podcasts that aren't made by traditional broadcasters. I usually listen to these in the car during my 40ish minute trip to work.
First up is Answer Me This which is having a spring break while Helen and Martin the sound man get married. Answer Me This is a simple idea, done well. Sometimes a bit smugly, but well. Listeners send in questions, asking Helen Zaltzman and Ollie Man to "Answer me this..." Helen and Ollie use all the knowledge available on Wikipedia to provide answers and gently mock the questioner. I've been subscribing for about a year and it's the podcast that makes me shout at the radio the most. Which is probably not the interaction they're aiming for with their audience, but it makes me happy. When the podcast comes back Helen and Ollie are going to be smugger than ever as they've just won a Gold for Best Internet Programme at the Sony Awards.
Desert Island Discs is brilliant as a podcast. With shorter musical inserts (for contractual reasons) the castaway's story suffers from less interruption. Kirsty Young is very, very good interviewer able to move easily between chapters in the castaway's life and clearly enjoying every minute of it. The castaways themselves aren't always well known public figures, but are always interesting. Recent favourites have been Johnny Vegas, Lawrence Dallaglio and Alice Cooper.
I'm sure that Steve Martin won't mind me describing the Earshot Creative Review as being a podcast for radio anoraks only. It's a review of creative content made for radio: jingles, promos and adverts. Steve knows his stuff and brings in a range of contributors each month from commercial radio and the BBC to play stuff they've made and been inspired by and talk about why it works. It's often recorded on location somewhere, is always well made and is much more fun than it sounds.
Radio 4's Friday Night Comedy Podcast allows you to catch up with the Now Show or The News Quiz, depending on which show is having a current run. The News Quiz is the radio precursor to Have I Got News For You, presented by Sandi Toksvig and The Now Show is a Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis vehicle with an eclectic roster of extras and guests. Whichever show is running you'll get half an hour of satire based on the previous week's news. It should be essential listening for news junkies and comedy fans alike.
I'm going to bundle the next two together. Media Talk and Tech Weekly both come from The Guardian's impressive stable of podcasts. They take advantage of The Guardian's expert journalists in these fields so Media Talk's regular presenter Matt Wells will be joined by the likes of Maggie Brown and John Plunkett as they round up what's going on in the media. Tech Weekly sees Jemima Kiss, Charles Arthur and other Guardian tech heads in the studio with Aleks Krotoski.
Karl at work suggested I try WNYC's Radiolab. It's a fantastic, but sometimes frustrating listen. Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich present each hour long episode which will feature three stories loosely linked by the edition's theme. It's sort of science based - because it's a Radio Lab - but the storytelling is more important than the science. The programme has a distinctive style which is where I sometimes fall out with it. It's higly edited, and sometimes the presenters will talk over a contributor to precis what they've said and move the story along. To me this is an example of form triumphing over content and it causes more shouting at the radio. That said it is something different to anything I've heard on radio in the UK and does feature some brilliant stories. The fortnightly episodes are an hour long, but the podcast feed also includes "Radiolab Shorts" which are bitesized extras where you can hear material that didn't make the cut, pieces inspired by the longer episode and sometimes responses to earlier programmes.
99% Invisible is another programme from US public radio. It's presented and produced by Roman Mars, the man with the best name ever. It describes itself as "a tiny radio show about design"and recent editions have included Soviet design classics, concrete furniture and Nikko the Concrete Commando who scratched his name across a city. Roman is a droll host and each five minute episode is made with as much love and care as each hour of Radiolab.
So that's what's in my Podcast library in iTunes. What do you think of my selections, and what do you regularly download. Let me know in the comments.
First up is Answer Me This which is having a spring break while Helen and Martin the sound man get married. Answer Me This is a simple idea, done well. Sometimes a bit smugly, but well. Listeners send in questions, asking Helen Zaltzman and Ollie Man to "Answer me this..." Helen and Ollie use all the knowledge available on Wikipedia to provide answers and gently mock the questioner. I've been subscribing for about a year and it's the podcast that makes me shout at the radio the most. Which is probably not the interaction they're aiming for with their audience, but it makes me happy. When the podcast comes back Helen and Ollie are going to be smugger than ever as they've just won a Gold for Best Internet Programme at the Sony Awards.
Desert Island Discs is brilliant as a podcast. With shorter musical inserts (for contractual reasons) the castaway's story suffers from less interruption. Kirsty Young is very, very good interviewer able to move easily between chapters in the castaway's life and clearly enjoying every minute of it. The castaways themselves aren't always well known public figures, but are always interesting. Recent favourites have been Johnny Vegas, Lawrence Dallaglio and Alice Cooper.
I'm sure that Steve Martin won't mind me describing the Earshot Creative Review as being a podcast for radio anoraks only. It's a review of creative content made for radio: jingles, promos and adverts. Steve knows his stuff and brings in a range of contributors each month from commercial radio and the BBC to play stuff they've made and been inspired by and talk about why it works. It's often recorded on location somewhere, is always well made and is much more fun than it sounds.
Radio 4's Friday Night Comedy Podcast allows you to catch up with the Now Show or The News Quiz, depending on which show is having a current run. The News Quiz is the radio precursor to Have I Got News For You, presented by Sandi Toksvig and The Now Show is a Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis vehicle with an eclectic roster of extras and guests. Whichever show is running you'll get half an hour of satire based on the previous week's news. It should be essential listening for news junkies and comedy fans alike.
I'm going to bundle the next two together. Media Talk and Tech Weekly both come from The Guardian's impressive stable of podcasts. They take advantage of The Guardian's expert journalists in these fields so Media Talk's regular presenter Matt Wells will be joined by the likes of Maggie Brown and John Plunkett as they round up what's going on in the media. Tech Weekly sees Jemima Kiss, Charles Arthur and other Guardian tech heads in the studio with Aleks Krotoski.
Karl at work suggested I try WNYC's Radiolab. It's a fantastic, but sometimes frustrating listen. Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich present each hour long episode which will feature three stories loosely linked by the edition's theme. It's sort of science based - because it's a Radio Lab - but the storytelling is more important than the science. The programme has a distinctive style which is where I sometimes fall out with it. It's higly edited, and sometimes the presenters will talk over a contributor to precis what they've said and move the story along. To me this is an example of form triumphing over content and it causes more shouting at the radio. That said it is something different to anything I've heard on radio in the UK and does feature some brilliant stories. The fortnightly episodes are an hour long, but the podcast feed also includes "Radiolab Shorts" which are bitesized extras where you can hear material that didn't make the cut, pieces inspired by the longer episode and sometimes responses to earlier programmes.
99% Invisible is another programme from US public radio. It's presented and produced by Roman Mars, the man with the best name ever. It describes itself as "a tiny radio show about design"and recent editions have included Soviet design classics, concrete furniture and Nikko the Concrete Commando who scratched his name across a city. Roman is a droll host and each five minute episode is made with as much love and care as each hour of Radiolab.
So that's what's in my Podcast library in iTunes. What do you think of my selections, and what do you regularly download. Let me know in the comments.
Friday, 13 May 2011
Audition CS5.5
When the public beta of Audition 4.0 for Mac came out I downloaded it straight away and blogged about my first impressions. Since then I've enjoyed having a version of Audition on my MacBook, and now that the final release has come I've taken advantage of a generous education discount and bought the full version.
I was surprised to see the new version of Audition included in the CS suite, because I thought Soundbooth would stay there and Audition would be on it's own branch. However it does make much more sense to bring Audition in with the other pro apps. Soundbooth has been discontinued, so there's no budget audio editor from Adobe: it's Audition or nothing.
There's not a massive amount more to say. I haven't given it a full work out yet, so can't tell you too much about the functionality. Visually the final release is very similar to the beta; a History palette has been added to the bottom left of the screen, and you can search for help in the top right corner.
There are a couple of other things I've noticed that are different to Audition 3.0, and probably were in the beta too. In the multitrack view you used to be able to drag a clip out of the files panel and move it across to the right hand end of the timeline prompting everything to move left and allowing you to find the end of the previous clip. This was really neat for quickly putting together radio packages and doesn't work in the new version. I also liked the "Autoplay" tick box in the open/import audio file dialogue box that allowed you to preview files by clicking on them which was handy if you had a large directory full of sfx or other files to browse through.*
In the beta there was no "Generate" menu which in 3.0 allowed you to create tones and noise. This is still missing, as is the ability to group clips in the multitrack view.
For a full list of what hasn't made it through from previous versions into Audition CS5.5, or what's been renamed have a look at this page on the Adobe website.
Over the next few days and weeks I'll explore the package further. If you've questions, or things you want trying out (mainly from a broadcast production point of view, I'm not planning on recording an album) then leave a comment and I'll do what I can to help.
*I've just remembered that in OS X you can use Quicklook to get a preview of files in dialogue boxes by clicking on the icon, which is almost as good as Autoplay. How you can replicate that in Windows is another matter.
I was surprised to see the new version of Audition included in the CS suite, because I thought Soundbooth would stay there and Audition would be on it's own branch. However it does make much more sense to bring Audition in with the other pro apps. Soundbooth has been discontinued, so there's no budget audio editor from Adobe: it's Audition or nothing.
There are a couple of other things I've noticed that are different to Audition 3.0, and probably were in the beta too. In the multitrack view you used to be able to drag a clip out of the files panel and move it across to the right hand end of the timeline prompting everything to move left and allowing you to find the end of the previous clip. This was really neat for quickly putting together radio packages and doesn't work in the new version. I also liked the "Autoplay" tick box in the open/import audio file dialogue box that allowed you to preview files by clicking on them which was handy if you had a large directory full of sfx or other files to browse through.*
In the beta there was no "Generate" menu which in 3.0 allowed you to create tones and noise. This is still missing, as is the ability to group clips in the multitrack view.
For a full list of what hasn't made it through from previous versions into Audition CS5.5, or what's been renamed have a look at this page on the Adobe website.
Over the next few days and weeks I'll explore the package further. If you've questions, or things you want trying out (mainly from a broadcast production point of view, I'm not planning on recording an album) then leave a comment and I'll do what I can to help.
Sunday, 8 May 2011
Shiny like Chrome
I've stuck with Safari since it was a beta, and have been happy enough with it - we're only talking about a web browser after all, and it's the content that really counts, not the conduit.
I've had Firefox installed for the odd website that didn't play well with Safari, but in contradiction to what I've just said, I never really liked it much and don't fancy using it all of the time. So I've installed Chrome and I have to say I'm quite happy with it. Rather than trying to import settings and bookmarks from my sick version of Safari I started at scratch.
The first thing I set up was the Save to Delicious bookmarklet, because I store most of my bookmarks there and just use what I can fit in the bookmarks bar locally. (Delicious is great, and seems to have a better future now that Yahoo! have sold it. If you've never looked into Delicious, you should). Then I added extensions for bit.ly and Evernote. I don't like the default setting of new tabs opening next to the current one, instead I want to open at the end of the tab bar, like Safari, and there's an extension for that too.
I subscribe to one or two RSS feeds, and although they're all in Google Reader I don't like that interface and prefer to read them in NetNewsWire. Chrome doesn't seem to have native support for sniffing out feeds and subscribing to them, but a bit of Googling brought me to these instructions and the RSS subscription extension.
And I think that's all the tweaking I've done. What have I missed? What are the extensions you like and use the most?
Tuesday, 3 May 2011
Thirsk fire
I heard about Storify a while ago, and it's now gone into public beta so I was keen to have a play.
Then tonight there was a big fire in Thirsk, so I had a little play.
If you're not familiar with Storify it's a way to curate content from various social media sites to help tell stories.
Then tonight there was a big fire in Thirsk, so I had a little play.
If you're not familiar with Storify it's a way to curate content from various social media sites to help tell stories.
Tuesday, 29 March 2011
How has the BBC doubled the TV audience for the Australian GP in only two years?
Earlier this afternoon Jake Humphrey, presenter of F1 race coverage on BBC television, tweeted about the viewing figures for the weekend's Australian Grand Prix:
2008 was the last Championship that was covered by ITV, in 2009 the BBC took over, so the clear implication of Jake's tweet is "We've more than doubled the audience!!" Which would be something to shout about.
But with viewing figures it's never that simple. How can you be sure you're comparing like with like?
In 2008 the Austrailan GP started at 15:30 local time, meaning that British F1 fans had to be in front of the telly at 04:30 to catch the start. This year the red lights went out at 17:00 local, which meant viewers had to be up at 07:00 to see the start and 06:00 to see the build up to the race (although it would feel an hour earlier with the change to BST overnight).
For what it's worth I think the BBC coverage is better than ITV's was* but it's not so much better that it will have doubled the audience. There are only so many F1 fans and even if the programme is better now it can't create more fans from nowhere - although having had a good couple for years for British drivers and constructors in 2008 and 2009 won't have hurt.
Grands Prix used to start at 13:00 local time wherever they were held, and European viewers had to get up early or watch races into the evening. Now Bernie Ecclestone has done deals to get races on screen at better times for us in Europe, in order to get higher audiences and more sponsorship revenue.
If you're on telly at 04:30 you really are only going to get the die-hards, if you're gifted a more civilised start time you're going to get better figures.
*When ITV won the rights from the BBC in 1997 they too did a much better job. Programmes stagnate, teams get stale and ideas run out. A new contract should result in a better show, for a while at least.
You guys are amazing. In 2008 less than a million got up to watch the Australian GP live. On Sunday it was OVER 2 million at 6am! #bbcf1
Jake Humphrey
jakehumphreyf1
2008 was the last Championship that was covered by ITV, in 2009 the BBC took over, so the clear implication of Jake's tweet is "We've more than doubled the audience!!" Which would be something to shout about.
But with viewing figures it's never that simple. How can you be sure you're comparing like with like?
In 2008 the Austrailan GP started at 15:30 local time, meaning that British F1 fans had to be in front of the telly at 04:30 to catch the start. This year the red lights went out at 17:00 local, which meant viewers had to be up at 07:00 to see the start and 06:00 to see the build up to the race (although it would feel an hour earlier with the change to BST overnight).
For what it's worth I think the BBC coverage is better than ITV's was* but it's not so much better that it will have doubled the audience. There are only so many F1 fans and even if the programme is better now it can't create more fans from nowhere - although having had a good couple for years for British drivers and constructors in 2008 and 2009 won't have hurt.
Grands Prix used to start at 13:00 local time wherever they were held, and European viewers had to get up early or watch races into the evening. Now Bernie Ecclestone has done deals to get races on screen at better times for us in Europe, in order to get higher audiences and more sponsorship revenue.
If you're on telly at 04:30 you really are only going to get the die-hards, if you're gifted a more civilised start time you're going to get better figures.
*When ITV won the rights from the BBC in 1997 they too did a much better job. Programmes stagnate, teams get stale and ideas run out. A new contract should result in a better show, for a while at least.
Tuesday, 8 March 2011
Tits on the Radio
Swearing on the radio is a funny business. Radio in the UK has no watershed, so if you can justify it, and get clearance from the appropriate senior editorial figure, you can say fuck in the middle of the afternoon in a Radio 4* drama.
I'm writing this having listened to the Radio Academy's Radio Talk podcast about late night phone-ins, where about 25 minutes in the talk turns to swearing. There's a discussion about why radio and TV differ in their use of bad language.
But generally, radio is much less sweary than the telly. I think this is a good thing. There is an argument that says that our listeners will be swearing in their day to day language, so why not swear on the radio? Good radio is meant to be conversational, and what could be more conversational than slipping in the odd fuck?
I think there are big differences between radio and TV, how the programmes are constructed, and how we consume them. Radio is a much more intimate medium than TV. As a presenter if you swear on the radio it's like you're swearing directly at your listener. And for good radio presenters it is the listener, they're communicating to one person, not many.
On the other hand telly programmes are aimed at mass audiences, and a TV presenter isn't swearing just at me, but to the crowd. It's a much more indirect insult.
Also, and I've only instinct rather than RAJAR and BARB figures to support this idea, I suspect that radio listening is more likely to be done alone whereas television viewing is a more social activity with groups of people watching together as friends or families. So again the swearing on the radio is directed at me whereas on the telly it comes at us.
I like it that there's little swearing on the radio, and wouldn't like it to change. I don't buy the argument that swearing more on air acts as some sort of leveller between presenter and listener. But am I wrong - what do you think?
*UPDATE: Thanks to Justine Potter who suggests Radio 3 is a better bet to get your really bad language on the air in daytime.
I'm writing this having listened to the Radio Academy's Radio Talk podcast about late night phone-ins, where about 25 minutes in the talk turns to swearing. There's a discussion about why radio and TV differ in their use of bad language.
But generally, radio is much less sweary than the telly. I think this is a good thing. There is an argument that says that our listeners will be swearing in their day to day language, so why not swear on the radio? Good radio is meant to be conversational, and what could be more conversational than slipping in the odd fuck?
I think there are big differences between radio and TV, how the programmes are constructed, and how we consume them. Radio is a much more intimate medium than TV. As a presenter if you swear on the radio it's like you're swearing directly at your listener. And for good radio presenters it is the listener, they're communicating to one person, not many.
On the other hand telly programmes are aimed at mass audiences, and a TV presenter isn't swearing just at me, but to the crowd. It's a much more indirect insult.
Also, and I've only instinct rather than RAJAR and BARB figures to support this idea, I suspect that radio listening is more likely to be done alone whereas television viewing is a more social activity with groups of people watching together as friends or families. So again the swearing on the radio is directed at me whereas on the telly it comes at us.
I like it that there's little swearing on the radio, and wouldn't like it to change. I don't buy the argument that swearing more on air acts as some sort of leveller between presenter and listener. But am I wrong - what do you think?
*UPDATE: Thanks to Justine Potter who suggests Radio 3 is a better bet to get your really bad language on the air in daytime.
Friday, 11 February 2011
Lock 'em up and throw away the key to the ballot box?
Prison. What's it for? Punishment or rehabilitation? Do convicts merely lose their liberty or are their human rights taken away too? Do we differentiate between people in for a few months for minor offences and those locked away for longer terms.
What if you happen to be inside when an election is called? If you were sentenced to time in a British jail today you'd have to be expecting to serve more than four years to still be there when the next general election happens. In Scotland the average sentence (not including life sentences for murder) is over nine months (281 days).
Today MPs voted by a margin of 234 to 22 (where the hell were the rest of them is this is so important?) to defy the European Court of Human Rights' decision that inmates should be enfranchised.
This isn't a simple issue, it's not black and white. There's a whole rainbow of shades of grey between the two extreme opinions. If you believe that convicted criminals lose their human rights and should be left to rot then it's clear cut; how can you let these people have the vote? Of course you can't.
But I think that prison is about more than punishment. Convicts lose their freedom. Massively. And so they should. But we shouldn't forget about them. One way we judge a society is by how it treats its prisoners, and it's important that however long they're sentenced for that they're prepared for what will happen when they're released. Teach them functional skills, prepare them for work, keep them busy to avoid the fall into drug use and the "university of crime." As the end of a sentence approaches and we're trying to prepare a convict for life outside again, why not let them have a vote if an election comes around? Inmates preparing to be released should be encouraged to take an interest in the society that they'll be re-joining. Let them engage by voting.
On Wednesday Eric Illsley, the MP for Barnsley Central pleaded guilty to charges of fraud relating to £14,000 worth of expense claims. He's due to be sentences in four weeks. If he gets more than 12 months the Representation of the People Act 1981 will cause him to be disqualified from parliament, his seat will be declared vacant and a by-election will be called. If he gets less than a year he doesn't have to give up his seat. How he'll represent his constituents and where he'll hold surgeries is a bit of a mystery. It's grossly hypocritical to have laws that allow MPs doing time to keep their jobs, but to stop convicts from voting them out of office.
So where do I stand on this? Well, not all prisoners should be allowed a vote, but perhaps those in open prisons preparing for release should get their place back on the electoral register, or maybe those serving less than a year. And what about prisoners on remand who are yet to face trial?
It's not easy, but sometimes being a small-l liberal means you have to support things that aren't popular.
What if you happen to be inside when an election is called? If you were sentenced to time in a British jail today you'd have to be expecting to serve more than four years to still be there when the next general election happens. In Scotland the average sentence (not including life sentences for murder) is over nine months (281 days).
Today MPs voted by a margin of 234 to 22 (where the hell were the rest of them is this is so important?) to defy the European Court of Human Rights' decision that inmates should be enfranchised.
This isn't a simple issue, it's not black and white. There's a whole rainbow of shades of grey between the two extreme opinions. If you believe that convicted criminals lose their human rights and should be left to rot then it's clear cut; how can you let these people have the vote? Of course you can't.
But I think that prison is about more than punishment. Convicts lose their freedom. Massively. And so they should. But we shouldn't forget about them. One way we judge a society is by how it treats its prisoners, and it's important that however long they're sentenced for that they're prepared for what will happen when they're released. Teach them functional skills, prepare them for work, keep them busy to avoid the fall into drug use and the "university of crime." As the end of a sentence approaches and we're trying to prepare a convict for life outside again, why not let them have a vote if an election comes around? Inmates preparing to be released should be encouraged to take an interest in the society that they'll be re-joining. Let them engage by voting.
On Wednesday Eric Illsley, the MP for Barnsley Central pleaded guilty to charges of fraud relating to £14,000 worth of expense claims. He's due to be sentences in four weeks. If he gets more than 12 months the Representation of the People Act 1981 will cause him to be disqualified from parliament, his seat will be declared vacant and a by-election will be called. If he gets less than a year he doesn't have to give up his seat. How he'll represent his constituents and where he'll hold surgeries is a bit of a mystery. It's grossly hypocritical to have laws that allow MPs doing time to keep their jobs, but to stop convicts from voting them out of office.
So where do I stand on this? Well, not all prisoners should be allowed a vote, but perhaps those in open prisons preparing for release should get their place back on the electoral register, or maybe those serving less than a year. And what about prisoners on remand who are yet to face trial?
It's not easy, but sometimes being a small-l liberal means you have to support things that aren't popular.
Wednesday, 2 February 2011
That Fox News map of the Middle East
All over my twitter stream for the last few days have been people tweeting and re-tweeting this screen-grab of a map of the Middle East from Fox News.
Egypt is in the wrong place, it's where Iraq was when I last looked.
Everyone's getting hot and bothered about the channel's ignorance and the poor grasp of geography shown by American as the crisis in Egypt unfolds.
But it's not a new image. Do a little Googling and it soon becomes clear that the map dates back to July 2009, as these sites explain.
And just look at the picture. If it was anything to do with the current story wouldn't Egypt be one of the highlighted countries rather than Syria, Iran, Jordan and Israel?
And who's to say that it hasn't been Photoshopped? If it was a photo of a telly with the map actually on-screen I'd be much less dubious, but a clean graphic like that could easily have been tinkered with and who'd know it?
Last week I read this excellent blog post from Paul Bradshaw about verifying online content.
With some justification we're told not believe all that we read in the papers, but we should also remember that things are even easier to spoof online. As well as reading Paul's post it's worth being aware of snopes.com which is a great site for dispelling urban and internet myths, and a good way to waste hours of your time.
Tuesday, 1 February 2011
Driving the desk
In music radio in the UK there's a group of people who believe you can't be a real presenter and connect with the programme, really feeling the music, unless you self-op. That's not a euphemism, it means you have to push all of the buttons yourself. It's called driving the desk.
It's one of those things that can be tricky to explain, is actually quite simple, and in total contradiction of myself is really bloody hard to do well.
Most people can learn to do it adequately in a day or so. But some should never be let loose near a fader.
This man is one of those...
(via someone on Twitter who re-tweeted @ricksimmonds)
It's one of those things that can be tricky to explain, is actually quite simple, and in total contradiction of myself is really bloody hard to do well.
Most people can learn to do it adequately in a day or so. But some should never be let loose near a fader.
This man is one of those...
(via someone on Twitter who re-tweeted @ricksimmonds)
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