Back On The Horse - Alrewas Radio and other things

So I have started University and the first thing that I do is forget to blog for 2 months. I know, great isn't it? The point really is that I haven't had much to blog about. I can't tell you about village stuff or radio stuff or farm stuff because I am not there at all, and I can't tell you about Uni stuff like work because to be honest there has not been an awful lot to tell. So the thing that has inspired me to jump back on the blogging horse (funny image isn't it?) is a trip back to cold and miserable Alrewas.

The reason for my return was to see my sister play in the pit orchestra for a production of Wizard of Oz put on by the school she goes to. Now let me give you a little bit of background. Normally it is me sat in that sweaty and cramped seat in the pit, and my sister sat in the audience trying to make my laugh by pulling funny faces at me, but this time it was the other way round! Now apart from it being incredibly weird to go to a school production and not have anything to do apart from sit there a watch, it was great fun to pull funny faces at my sister while she tried to play clarinet!

So on my return home I thought I would make the most of being home. The typical cliche of bringing your washing home from uni for your mum to do does not go unfulfilled of course, and neither does the obligatory trip to town with the family to look round T K Max and get a Greggs, as well as the obligatory "help with heavy lifting job" that also needs to happen. This time it was for a washing machine, which heaven only knows what my Mum and Dad have got planned for it in Yorkshire, but I will tell you one thing: apparently washing machines have a great big concrete slab in them. Who knew?

Anyway the point that I am trying to arrive at involves a meeting around this very MacBook regarding Alrewas Radio. Yeah do you remember that thing in the summer that I spammed you with until your finger bled from clicking No... no... no... no... Well it is back! Woo!

I joke really because I am really looking forward to opportunity to do it again, and I am also really excited to be able to pass the radio baton (that is 2 times I have used a metaphor in this blog... things really are going downhill) to Ellie Smeeton and Alisha Herriot, who have featured on the radio before but are now hopefully going to take on more of the management and organisations and stuff, so I can enjoy drinking tea and eating mince pies!

So watch this space for more news about the Radio to come including some official details to be released very soon. And in the meantime, type the url tinyurl.com/alrewaradio into the bar at the top and sit next to your computer. Don't move until I tell you to click go!

Thanks for reading!

And I nearly forgot, happy opening the first box on your advent calendars... for tomorrow!

Follow me on twitter: @peachy146

Follow Alrewas Radio on twitter: @AlrewasRadio

Long Time No Blog

Firstly I would like to make an apology for not posting in a while, but I have been rather busy. Firstly, on monday, as I have explained before, we did the radio again. All day, from 7am - 8pm. Which I can tell you is a bloomin' long day, especially when you are running it. I can tell you that sleeping for about 20 hours was well needed after that.

Although of course, that never happened. All week I have been working crazy amounts of overtime to save up a bit more money for university when I go off in a few weeks time.

This was something I wanted to talk to you about, as I have found out through my own experiences, our student loan will not be enough. Now if you are looking to go to university and things, one of the things you do need to make sure you think about is money.

How are you going to get your way through uni? It is also well known that a big part of going to university is the er... social side of things, and this is something you also have to think about. Do you have enough money every week to last you through the year? If not, then how are going to make sure you do? Do you need to find work whilst you are at uni, or even find work during the holidays when you are home too?

These are all questions that I think need their own post to help answer and for me to give my opinion on them, so stay in touch for the next installment.

Thanks for reading,

Follow me on twitter: @peachy146

Alrewas Radio Rocks - This Bank Holiday Monday at Alrewas Village Hall!

As previous posts would suggest, tomorrow, Bank Holiday Monday 26th August 2013, Alrewas Radio will be live between the hours of 7.30am and 8pm, alongside an Alrewas Arts Fest Pop-Up Archives Arts Cafe Flea Pit thingy. Basically it will be a great day or afternoon or whatever to pop down to the village hall and have a chill, watch a film, listen to some live music and have a nice cuppa and a piece of cake.

Not that I am trying to get you all away from your computers though, quite the opposite. Because as I said, but just in case you missed it, Alrewas Radio - LIVE - 7.30AM - 8PM. We have so much going on tomorrow it is really exciting and there is going to be some golden radio!

To kickstart the day, I will be taking James' normal breakfast show with the return on Barge Or No Barge in a new interesting format... yeah that;s right you will have to tune in to find out what that is all about.

We have  got plenty of new DJs on this time and Caitlin is one of them. She will be doing a Charts Show, definitely one to listen to if you like the modern music scene, and also want to support new Alrewas Radio up and coming DJs.

Then we have the return on the nostalgic duo: Ellie and Alisha to bring us some more amazing tunes from years gone by. They have 2 hours of pure gold from genres including Motown, Soul, Rock and Roll in all it's formats and 60s pop.

Next 2 brand new DJs again, this pair play together in the County Jazz Band, and will be showing off some of the best Jazz tunes. This is something I am particularly looking forward to, something different to the usual Beatles and Queen format of Alrewas Radio, and also some fresh faces... or voices... or whatever.

Next we have 2 new shows, but with the same old lot. First is the premier of The Great Debate, a talk show where we discuss certain topics and different views and opinions surrounding them. The theme for tomorrow is the eduction system. Tune in for more: Radio 4 eat your heart out.

The second of the 2 new shows is On This Day, where we play music that was released or made famous or in the charts or whatever on 26th of August from decades gone by. Based on our normal decades show, a more condensed and fun version. Definitely some really good tunes to listen to.

Next we have the return of the Legend Mr James Richardson, with his Drive Time show, some classic features returning no doubt such as Cheesy Track of The Day, and Foreign Favourites.

Sam Wilkinson, a rookie radio DJ (did you see what I did there?) but he has some absolutely brilliant tunes to play (I know this because he is the only show who has produced a tracklist, including my own show!). Please support him whilst you eat your bank holiday tea, it will be great fun.

Lastly but not leastly, me and James will be rounding off the day in Jamie's absense with some really fresh and modern dance anthems, something which we thought we would keep seperate from the rest of the day of radio and give it it's own slot at the end of the day when you can sit back and relax, or get up and have it little dance in your living room, to some great new tunes.

I hope you do find time to tune in tomorrow, it will be great to have you. Here is how:

tinyurl.com/alrewasradio

or alternatively go to: http://www.alrewas-artsfest.co.uk/ARhome.html

And be sure to get in touch with us by either tweeting us: @AlrewasRadio
Or send us an email to alrewasradio@hotmail.co.uk
Or you can even make a request using the widget on our website listed above.

Thanks and we will be in your ears tomorrow!

Follow me on twitter: @peachy146

Candy Crush House Rules

Some of you may have seen a tweet that I posted last night about my parents arguing over who had used up all the lives of Candy Crush, and as a result of that interest I have started playing it too. I have always steered clear of it due to it's "addictive capabilities" and "impulsive in-app purchases" however I could hold off the curiosity no longer.

There is one trait that we all have as children of our parents. We cannot let them know more about something that is cool and modern. That would be BAD. This in the past has led me to learn all about how a computer works just so I can baffle them with jargon and things, and so when I find my mum and dad hopelessly addicted to Candy Crush, to the point where the first thing they do when they get up in the morning is use their 5 lives, I have to make sure I am ahead of the game, literally speaking.

Unfortunately I think I may just have ruined my life... ever since I downloaded it at about 6pm yesterday I have been unable to get off my phone. I have successfully run down the battery twice in one day, which would normally take me 2 days, and I have had to schedule things that I do in order to fit around life regeneration. Not only that, but it is SO frustrating. I have heard my Dad say on numerous occasions: "This game is fixed, all it wants is your money, I am never playing it again." Half an hour later he is sat on his iPad looking intently a several coloured squares, hoping, praying, that this time he will get past level 30...

There is one thing to be said though, for my Mum and Dad's new addiction to the iDevices, is that they seem to have created a new house rule. It reads: "The one who is playing Candy Crush, plays Candy Crush and is therefore excused of any other jobs."

It does make me laugh really that parents lecture you for the whole of your lives that there is more important things in life than games and computers and phones and TVs, and you can't let them take over your life. The sad fact is though, is that when my Dad gets up early to sit downstairs with his cup of coffee and play candy crush, is enough ambition for me and my sister to rip them for be "addicted" which I am content with, for the time being anyway!

Thanks for reading!

Follow me on twitter: @peachy146

Me and Lucy: Our Story So Far...

As some of you may know, I own a Morris Minor Traveller called Lucy. Firstly let me tell you a little bit about her. She is 45 years old and was rescued from my Great Uncle's barn in September after being sat unused for 14 years. She was only owned by 2 other people before me. The village estate stonemason and the local farmer, being my uncle. The stonemason used her as a builders van and my uncle used Lucy as a posh car for when he wasn't driving sheep around in the back of his series 3 Land Rover. 

She has had her ups and downs since she arrived in my care, but over the past 9 months she has been amazing! She has taken me to school pretty much every day, and got me home again on most of them, she has even taken me as far as North Yorkshire to the farm she first came from, and then back again from that. 3 times! 

She has been to 2 Rallies with me. One of those being the Morris Minor Owners Club Young Member's Rally and the other one of those being the International Morris Centenary Rally where she was joined by over 600 of her brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, cousins, nieces and nephews, and grandparents, and probably great grandparents too! 

The reason why I got a Morris Minor is quite simple. Insurance. The most expensive thing you can actually buy is Insurance for a teenage boy in the UK. On the ford fiesta that I learnt to drive in the insurance would have been 3 times what the car was actually worth in money. I had spoken to a friend about Morris Minors and he said that is was so so so much cheaper for the insurance, and no doubt it was, a quarter of the price! So that is why Lucy is Lucy... well sort of. The real reason why Lucy is called Lucy is because she has the best number plate in the world. LSD 496G. Naturally, for a teenage lad, that is quite amazing to say the least. And as a Beatles fan, that makes it even more perfect-er-erer.

Many of my friends and family have asked my what is going to happen to Tom and Lucy when I go to university in not too many days time. Well Lucy cannot be expected to travel with me all the way to Liverpool, and it is far to big a city for her to be comfortable (and not get her wheels nicked) so I am going to have to leave her at home. However, given the history that the car has to me, I am going to have to keep her forever. We are going to try and make something work long distance until I have finished university until she can join me where ever I reside and we can live happily (and bumpily) ever after.

The End.

Thanks for reading!

Follow me on twitter: @peachy146

The Trials and Tribulations of Running A Radio Station: Part1

As part of Alrewas Radio, we experience the highs and lows of any community project, and while the satisfaction and accomplishment of what you end up with at the end is something that cannot be compared to with anything else, there are 2 main issues that you always find within these things.

The first is time. The point with community run voluntary projects is that people do them over and above what they would be doing on a day to day basis. This means that these projects are never anybody's first priority. Whilst it is great to get people involved, this does cause a lot of issues with actually getting stuff done. I mean I have been off school and doing basically nothing else with my life and I still haven't managed to get everything done that I wanted to!

This leads to another problem. When people don't have time to do stuff, they often don't have time to be in constant email contact either. This proves difficult when trying to get stuff done. You try and contact a person but they are busy doing other things, so you can't do that thing and everything ends up working it's way further and further down the job list.

Don't get me wrong though. I absolutely love getting involved with things. I like being busy, and I like helping people, I like making a difference. It is that which gives us the drive and determination to achieve something, whether it be a little radio on a boat or wether it be a massive jam packed arts fetsival across an entire 9 days, it is all worth it and good fun in the end. To see a whole community pull together to actually make a wonderful event is something which is so amazing to see, and is what I would say is the best in human nature.

Thanks for reading,

Follow me on twitter: @peachy146

Alrewas Radio Update 5/7/13

Long time no posty I am afraid guys, and I do apologise! I have been busy hard at work. Yesterday for example, I did a 7-1 shift in the co-op, then I had 15 minutes for my lunch before I shot off up to the primary school to run radio workshops with some year 6s, for a podcast they are creating for their Leavers Evening!  enjoy doing stuff with the radio, so it is a great opportunity for me to dust off the old macbook and mics. I then dashed straight off to beavers, where we were playing a massive game of capture the flag in a field right next to the canal in a field full of cow poo. Lovely...

But as far as the topic of this post, Alrewas Radio. The last time I wrote, I was just about ta attend a meeting about something completely unrelated, but still very related! There is currently a development of a Village Neighbourhood Plan, to allow people to have a say in the development of the village, and this is something that I have been dragged into, being a young person on the organisers emailing list... But anyway, with a few other young people in the village, we are going to be creating some little short clips to do with our village plan.

At a meeting about this, I discussed with the Alrewas Radio Gods about the possibilities of future expansion of Alrewas Radio, and in the process, I have got a bit caught up in techy hype...

I have also borrowed some mixers and mics from the recording studio we have at school to use during the Alrewas Radio Barge Fest (24th - 28th July, be there or be square) and on the back of that we will have some funding to invest in some new kit.

I have been looking into it and I have found what I think we are looking for. I am thinking about investing in a 8 channel input alongside 2 radio condesner mics that, when used together, will give us a wider range of things to do and also a much better quality.

So, lots of new and exciting things to come from the production side of Alrewas Radio, as well as from the Presenting side! I hope you guys are all looking forward to it as much as I am!

Thanks for reading.
Follow Alrewas Radio on twitter: @AlrewasRadio
Follow me on twitter: @peachy146

Spam Emails

Recently I have had a spate of spam email sent from my account. And this has lead me to get very angry about it. So much I have decided I need to write a blog about it. I just want to explain to everyone about them and ho best to avoid them.

Basically spam emails work on athe prinicipal that they will spread in a chain reaction. People we send them, people will click on the links, which will then make emails send from their accounts and it will spread like so. The way the virus is able to use your acount to send emails is because upon clicking on a link or sometimes even just viewing the email it is able to track your email address and password and automatically log into your account with the use of a 'bot.' These viruses are called botnets because they spread in this automatic way.

So here is the best thing to do if you find out you are sending these emails. Change your password. The botnet relies on being able to access your account using the login details and as soon as you change them then you can stop it getting in. I would suggest changing your email password reguarly anyway. I doesn't have to be anything vastly complicated or unfathomable because the virus tracks what you type in, so it will be able to get it no matterhow complicated it is.

There are also things you should do to prevent these things happening to you. Don't open any emails unless you know what they are about, and do not ever click on any links unless you are 100% sure what they are for. If you do get a dodgy link and want to investigate, don't be tempted as it will most likely be a virus. Also make sure you let the person who has sent the email know that you sent it. They will never find out unless someone tells them they are sending them because they don't appear in any folders. The way I first came to know about it was because I got 10 failure notices that came through and a load of out of office replies, but a few people also sent me an email just to let me know I was sending out spam.

There has been a similar virus on twitter, being able to hack twitter accounts. And the same ideas apply here. Be careful with what you click on because you can never tell whether it is safe or not.

Follow me on twitter (but don't send me spam): @peachy146