Thats the state of things at the moment, pure frustration. We now have a backlog of about 14 hours of film tape waiting to be edited and uploaded. Included in the backlog is all the footage from ArtsFest, including our own Lyme Live ArtsFest Special, featuring among others local author Lucy Daniel Raby. There is the recent Three Cups Public Meeting at Woodmead Halls, and our own Lyme Live Woodmead Special with Mayor Michaela Ellis and Pip Evans. We have the annual Save the Children Concert from the Baptist Church Hall, the new organ at St. Michaels, a lot I can't remember there is so much, including a couple of Council Meetings. The sad thing is that some footage will be outdated by the time we can resume, or even, if we can resume., and will probably go straight onto CD and into our vast programme archive.
The hard part is that there is absolutely nothing we can do about it and we have ceased filming now because all our spare tape is locked up in the backlog. It's ironic that we now have four or five active camcorders, and have the capability of filming anything and everything that happens. We have a DVD copier that can churn out 10 Cd's or DVD's at once, which is great because out 'Postcard from Lyme' DVD is selling fairly well in town. It won't earn enough however to purchase a new laptop.
That is, in a nutshell the real problem. The only machine we have that is capable of editing video, groans and complains bitterly with real feeling every time I connect it to a camcorder. Editing video can be quite a long process, first the movie has to be uploaded into the computer in real time, That's one hour per tape. Then, besides the time it takes to edit and caption a full hour, it has to be 'saved'. That takes about another hour. After that, it takes another hour to upload to the TV Channel. A new laptop wouldn't change this, it will still take as long to edit and upload programmes, but at present, it takes the infernal machine more than an hour to save 10 minutes of video! Don't ask if we've done this or that to the computer, we have, we've defragged, cleared files, reformatted, updated, upgraded, disk cleaned up, and even hoovered the keyboard, but nothing doing. The hard drive has simply packed its bags and gone.
The thing we need, and have to have if we're to continue is a laptop with at minimum 100Gig hard drive, and about 4Gig ram memory. We could 'get by' with less, but these machines tend to be expensive, and without miracles, I don't think we will see much change out of £500. It's not all hopeless however, we beleive, in fact have been told, that forces are active in the town to get us back on the road again, and as soon as we are, I think we should have a celebration party with the headline, 'Disaster Narrowly Avoided' which I'm sure Pip Evans will describe as the worst headline he has seen since the one about small earthquakes in Chile!
Saturday, 24 October 2009
Sunday, 18 October 2009
Technical Difficulties
Lyme Regis Community Media Association
To add to this, our only professional camcorder (CanonXL1) is in need of serious and expensive repair, and we simply can't afford the expense of this.
The Community Media Association came into being in October last year as a natural progression from LymeRegisRadio and has always been organised by enthusiasts and volunteers. In just the last few months, we've recorded events and produced DVD's for B Sharp, filmed Carnival Week, produced our own 3 hour DVD now selling in local shops, produced and released an album by local singer/songwriter Simon 'The Beard' Leach, and launched LymeRegisTV.We record an average of 3 items every week, including events, meetings, interviews, and festivals plus our own promotions and presentations.
We still have CD copies of every thing we ever recorded,, which adds up to a phenomenal 1,000 plus CD's. I don't think anyone in town has avoided our microphone or the eye of our camera over the last 6 years, and if we've done nothing else, we've made a deep and detailed record of the life of Lyme Regis during this period. (2004-2009) At present, these CD's have little value, and perhaps time will be served best if I package them up and leave them in the loft for someone to find in about 50 years or so! In a few years time, everyone we filmed will be desirous of seeing how they were then, and overall, should see how Lyme was then.....
We know that Lyme loves our project, we know this from the many emails we receive, we know it from the daily thousand people who log in and view our programmes, we know it from comments from locals on the street, we know it from the visitors who recognise us and tell us they regularly tune in, we know it from our performance in Google and other search engines. It's a shame that we've failed to convince local 'bureaucracies' of the value of this work. Bill McCallum and myself have gone through hoops over the past year trying to find funding, but it seems that whatever we demonstrate, we are assumed to be just another website, which neglects the fact of our involvement in every group and organisation in the community. Beyond this, I don't know what else to say.
To continue, without expanding the project, we need at least the following:
Laptop Computer (60G hard drive, minimum 2G memory)
Canon XL1 repair.
Internet and Hosting fees for next year.
We are doing our best to resolve difficulties and hope to be continuing broadcasting soon.
Thankyou.
Saturday, 10 October 2009
To Friends/Members/Crew/Contributors/ArtsFest. THANKYOU! I would like to offer my own personal thanks to everyone who took part in creating this very special event. To Christine Allison and her team who organised it all so brilliantly. To cope with a total of 60 artists, all with different needs, plus all the myriad other events surrounding ArtsFest, is a garantuan task. For local artists, £50 all in to have pictures on display in the Baptist Church Hall, the Town Mill ,town shops, and have publicity in a glossy brochure, is fantastic value, so it isn't surprising that more artisits take part every year. Add to that Open Studios and workshops, and it's easy to see how this event drew the imagination of the whole Lyme community. I also apologise profoundly to the hanging team at the Town Mill for the wet red paint on my contribution, and I promise that next year my pictures will all be completely dry.
My own event, 'Thought...for a moment' at the Town Mill, might have said 'Nomad' above the door, but it was very much a collective effort from the ComMA group, and I couldn't have done it without the special input of these friends. In no particular order, thanks to Emily Blech, local young talented musician/singer/songwriter/actor who gave us some great film footage, sang and spoke on the 'Rave' track, and (completely unrehearsed!) did the Rooftop scene with me. Simon 'The Beard' Leach who played 12 string guitar, Mary Ball who sang with me, Jon Hallet and his drum skills, and Bill McCallum who provided film inspiration and handled the Camcorder on the night. This was really an experimental trial run and I expected the techie stuff to fall to bits all the way through, but in the end, it held together, and with a great audience, we got through it. An edit of it will shortly be appearing on the MusicTV Channel of LymeRegisTV. Having had the experience, we are already considering doing something similar next year, in a larger venue, with audience particiation, and a lot of coloured light.
The real ComMA event was Friday Night Live at the Town Mill, which did indeed turn out to be an ArtsFest Special. Sally Holman dropped by and chatted about the early days of ArtsFest and its development, desperately trying to keep yours truly strictly on the subject of ArtsFest, but I always have so much to talk about with Sally, and don't see her often enough! Lucy Daniel Raby, local auther and writer of Nicholai of the North talked also about ArtsFest, writing workshops, and her forthcoming Christmas production at the Marine Theatre. We did those interviews early because Lucy and Sally had other commitments, but we'd just put Julian Shaw, singer songwriter and a regular favourite on Friday Night Live on the stage, when suddenly the room filled with people, including Jill Raines, one of the Bermuda artisis in town this week. So with the assistance of some Lancashire lads and lasses, a good time was had by all. Seems also a good time to let you know that Lyme Live returns on 12th October, in its new guise as Monday Night Live at the Woodmead Halls, and thereafter, every second Monday in the month, with a Quiz Night in December. Thanks also for all the welcome feedback on my Dream paintings at the Baptist Church Hall, and at the Town Mill.
Best Wishes,
Nomad
My own event, 'Thought...for a moment' at the Town Mill, might have said 'Nomad' above the door, but it was very much a collective effort from the ComMA group, and I couldn't have done it without the special input of these friends. In no particular order, thanks to Emily Blech, local young talented musician/singer/songwriter/actor who gave us some great film footage, sang and spoke on the 'Rave' track, and (completely unrehearsed!) did the Rooftop scene with me. Simon 'The Beard' Leach who played 12 string guitar, Mary Ball who sang with me, Jon Hallet and his drum skills, and Bill McCallum who provided film inspiration and handled the Camcorder on the night. This was really an experimental trial run and I expected the techie stuff to fall to bits all the way through, but in the end, it held together, and with a great audience, we got through it. An edit of it will shortly be appearing on the MusicTV Channel of LymeRegisTV. Having had the experience, we are already considering doing something similar next year, in a larger venue, with audience particiation, and a lot of coloured light.
The real ComMA event was Friday Night Live at the Town Mill, which did indeed turn out to be an ArtsFest Special. Sally Holman dropped by and chatted about the early days of ArtsFest and its development, desperately trying to keep yours truly strictly on the subject of ArtsFest, but I always have so much to talk about with Sally, and don't see her often enough! Lucy Daniel Raby, local auther and writer of Nicholai of the North talked also about ArtsFest, writing workshops, and her forthcoming Christmas production at the Marine Theatre. We did those interviews early because Lucy and Sally had other commitments, but we'd just put Julian Shaw, singer songwriter and a regular favourite on Friday Night Live on the stage, when suddenly the room filled with people, including Jill Raines, one of the Bermuda artisis in town this week. So with the assistance of some Lancashire lads and lasses, a good time was had by all. Seems also a good time to let you know that Lyme Live returns on 12th October, in its new guise as Monday Night Live at the Woodmead Halls, and thereafter, every second Monday in the month, with a Quiz Night in December. Thanks also for all the welcome feedback on my Dream paintings at the Baptist Church Hall, and at the Town Mill.
Best Wishes,
Nomad
Thursday, 10 September 2009
State of Flux
It’s how I was originally going to start this piece, by saying we are at present in a State of Flux. Then I remembered that we’ve been in a state of flux ever since we started this project back in 2004. It’s fair to say however, that over the last 12 months, since our small project grew into an association, the changes have been coming faster than ever. Which prompts me to say thank you, to all our viewers and listeners for the many messages wishing us well during our big changeover. This really has been a full on year, and placed in the context of house moves and personal developments, we haven’t stopped since January.
Making the transition from Audio to Video has been a difficult, and expensive process, and as you know, it’s been a ‘trial project’ for the last two years, until we finally took the plunge in June this year by launching LymeRegisTV. We’ve been astounded by its success too. There is no doubt now that the change was well worth the effort. Can’t deny though, that film is a lot more problematic than Audio. Takes a lot longer to edit, therefore the Editor (me), has a continual backlog.. Takes a lot longer to upload too, which means one entire laptop is now busy full time uploading to the TV Channels.
Looking at our Viewer Stats, it’s easy to see that our most popular programming is the LymeLive Channel, our own local TV Show, which would be weekly, if we could find a venue. Very difficult to find a venue in Lyme where we can do a weekly live show. Eventually, we’ll have to bite the bullet, and do it monthly, but if anyone out there can suggest somewhere, call us now! The CarnivalTV Channel is also proving to be immensely popular, in its first week online at the end of August, it collected plus of 2,000 ‘Viewer Minutes’, whats that in hours?
Highlight of the year, aside of course from our own Big Launch event, has to be the Red Arrows, find the footage of it, a fabulous video with a lot of close-ups on the planes, defiant seagulls insisting on flying through the roar of the engines, cheering watchers, for the moment, find it on the CarnivalTV Channel.
Had a great time at the Relay for Life, and I guarantee on the video that LymeRegisTV will definitely be putting a team in next year, maybe I might get one of those camcorders that straps to your head. Our team will be in training soon with Moonlight Walks on the Undercliff, and midnite nude bathing on the back beach? All said and done was a great event, for a worthy cause, and the organizers deserve tons of praise for creating a non stop walking party, the enthusiasm at times was overwhelming. Find it on our EventsTV Channel Click ‘On Demand’ to view particular programmes. While you’re there, check out the interview with .Tracey Emin and Mark Hix………
We now have enough camcorders to loan one out. If you’re group or organization is having a special event and you could film it for us, or if you’re an individual with a life interesting enough to create a Video-Diary……call us…..
Making the transition from Audio to Video has been a difficult, and expensive process, and as you know, it’s been a ‘trial project’ for the last two years, until we finally took the plunge in June this year by launching LymeRegisTV. We’ve been astounded by its success too. There is no doubt now that the change was well worth the effort. Can’t deny though, that film is a lot more problematic than Audio. Takes a lot longer to edit, therefore the Editor (me), has a continual backlog.. Takes a lot longer to upload too, which means one entire laptop is now busy full time uploading to the TV Channels.
Looking at our Viewer Stats, it’s easy to see that our most popular programming is the LymeLive Channel, our own local TV Show, which would be weekly, if we could find a venue. Very difficult to find a venue in Lyme where we can do a weekly live show. Eventually, we’ll have to bite the bullet, and do it monthly, but if anyone out there can suggest somewhere, call us now! The CarnivalTV Channel is also proving to be immensely popular, in its first week online at the end of August, it collected plus of 2,000 ‘Viewer Minutes’, whats that in hours?
Highlight of the year, aside of course from our own Big Launch event, has to be the Red Arrows, find the footage of it, a fabulous video with a lot of close-ups on the planes, defiant seagulls insisting on flying through the roar of the engines, cheering watchers, for the moment, find it on the CarnivalTV Channel.
Had a great time at the Relay for Life, and I guarantee on the video that LymeRegisTV will definitely be putting a team in next year, maybe I might get one of those camcorders that straps to your head. Our team will be in training soon with Moonlight Walks on the Undercliff, and midnite nude bathing on the back beach? All said and done was a great event, for a worthy cause, and the organizers deserve tons of praise for creating a non stop walking party, the enthusiasm at times was overwhelming. Find it on our EventsTV Channel Click ‘On Demand’ to view particular programmes. While you’re there, check out the interview with .Tracey Emin and Mark Hix………
We now have enough camcorders to loan one out. If you’re group or organization is having a special event and you could film it for us, or if you’re an individual with a life interesting enough to create a Video-Diary……call us…..
Tuesday, 23 June 2009
BIG Launch Report
120 invited guests turned up for the event, which commenced at 7.30pm with food and wine, accompanied by The Beards CD album, ‘Beggars Belief’, playing in the main hall.
Lyme Regis Community Media Association was launched at 8pm with an introduction by Nomad and some film clips to demonstrate the range of work we are covering in the community. These included the film made by our youth camera team of B Sharp during Evolution Rocks at the Marine, which announced our forthcoming sessions at Insparation. Lyme Regis Community Media Association is designed to act as a catalyst for the whole community, to establish and develop community based communications media for empowerment, cultural expression, information, local economic development and entertainment. We want our work to build on the reputation of Lyme Regis as a cohesive community with diverse interests and CoMA will be a platform for cultural programmes, supporting new and existing businesses, entertaining the community and visitors and providing information that is of interest to all.
LymeRegisTV was launched with a short clip from our movie of ‘Candles on the Cobb’, which attracted so much attention on YouTube last year. The platform we have chosen is a number of stand alone channels, each channel will stream film all the time, but visitors can click on the ‘On Demand’ button to choose from the list of programmes available on each channel. Channels at present, including content, are as follows:
Evolution Rocks: An example of how we can create a TV Channel for s specific event. Currently running is the Opening Night, UNESCO Youth Summit, Around the Marquees, a clip from Herbie Treehead, and B Sharp at the Marine, with still more to come.
Events Channel: Look here to find the May Day Fete, the Bermuda 400 Celebrations with film from both Whitchurch Canonicorum and Lyme Regis, and Food Rocks!, including interview with Mark Hix.
Civic Channel, presently featuring this years Mayor-Making, and the first Full Council Meeting with Mayor Michaela Ellis in the Chair.
News Channel: Big feature at present is the complete 2 hour meeting about the Three Cups at Woodmead Halls, which is already attracting significant numbers of viewers! You could also see the Gig Club AGM, and the story of Bills Hat!
More Channels will be set up in the next few days:
Lyme Live Weekly: and the first public interview with Michaela Ellis, plus a special edition from the BIG Launch.
MusicLyme Channel: first uploading will be a live set in Lyme from Adam Watson.
HolisticTV: with your host Sue Darling, opening with next weekends Psychic Fayre at the Orchard Hotel, Rousden.
B Sharp Channel: Will soon feature all the bands who performed at the Summers Day of Music last year, the fabulous session at the Marine, and the Music Session from Woodroffe School last week. (interrupted by false alarm fire engines!)
‘Beggars Belief’ by The Beard CD Album was launched next with a video of The Beard performing ‘The Tramp’ from the album in a very Chaplinesque setting! A.K.A. Simon Leach, The Beard is a true ‘born and bred’ local who has been singing his excellent songs around the area for many years.
This album also marks the first release from Lost Region Records, which will act as a catalyst for local musical talent, creating CD’s and DVD’s to promote our musical culture. Further releases will be announced in October this year.
‘A Postcard From Lyme Regis’ was the highlight of the evening, featuring a 10 minute trailer of this epic movie with over 3 hours of Lyme on video. After the trailer, Mary Ball presented Mary Godwin with a copy for the museum archives.
After a short break, festivities continued with a special edition of Lyme Live Weekly, the new title for Friday Night Live, a light-hearted magazine programme featuring local interviews and local talent, ,hosted by Alan Vian who interviewed Sue Outhwaite, organiser of this weekends Psychic Fayre, followed by Nomad and Bill McCallum, with music from talented 16 year old singer and keyboard player Emily Blech performing her own song, and 2 songs from the excellent sound of Mark Foxhall, who performed a thrilling version of ‘Halleluya’.
Breathless? For sure! But no time to rest because local young brothers rock outfit, Wise Intentions, fresh from their triumph at the Nettle Eating Championships, hit the stage and provided a storming end to the evening!
In conclusion? we want to work with you “The Community”, we need you to keep us informed about what’s important to you, to get you involved in making programmes. CoMA is open to members from across all interests within the community. Our key issue is now to raise the funds that we need to add to our equipment to enable us to produce top quality films for both the community and as saleable products.
Next? ‘A postcard from Lyme Regis’, and ‘Beggars Belief’ will be on sale locally and online in the next few days, at only £5 each. Buy both and get £1 off each!
We ended the evening by driving down to the Three Cups at midnight to take sausage rolls and sandwiches down to the vigilantes, Rikey Austin, Jo Farmer and Peter Wiles They had already collected around 750 signatures! Note to WDDC: The Three Cups is an important piece of Lyme’s heritage, it MUST be compulsorily purchased and re-opened as a hotel!
Lyme Regis Community Media Association was launched at 8pm with an introduction by Nomad and some film clips to demonstrate the range of work we are covering in the community. These included the film made by our youth camera team of B Sharp during Evolution Rocks at the Marine, which announced our forthcoming sessions at Insparation. Lyme Regis Community Media Association is designed to act as a catalyst for the whole community, to establish and develop community based communications media for empowerment, cultural expression, information, local economic development and entertainment. We want our work to build on the reputation of Lyme Regis as a cohesive community with diverse interests and CoMA will be a platform for cultural programmes, supporting new and existing businesses, entertaining the community and visitors and providing information that is of interest to all.
LymeRegisTV was launched with a short clip from our movie of ‘Candles on the Cobb’, which attracted so much attention on YouTube last year. The platform we have chosen is a number of stand alone channels, each channel will stream film all the time, but visitors can click on the ‘On Demand’ button to choose from the list of programmes available on each channel. Channels at present, including content, are as follows:
Evolution Rocks: An example of how we can create a TV Channel for s specific event. Currently running is the Opening Night, UNESCO Youth Summit, Around the Marquees, a clip from Herbie Treehead, and B Sharp at the Marine, with still more to come.
Events Channel: Look here to find the May Day Fete, the Bermuda 400 Celebrations with film from both Whitchurch Canonicorum and Lyme Regis, and Food Rocks!, including interview with Mark Hix.
Civic Channel, presently featuring this years Mayor-Making, and the first Full Council Meeting with Mayor Michaela Ellis in the Chair.
News Channel: Big feature at present is the complete 2 hour meeting about the Three Cups at Woodmead Halls, which is already attracting significant numbers of viewers! You could also see the Gig Club AGM, and the story of Bills Hat!
More Channels will be set up in the next few days:
Lyme Live Weekly: and the first public interview with Michaela Ellis, plus a special edition from the BIG Launch.
MusicLyme Channel: first uploading will be a live set in Lyme from Adam Watson.
HolisticTV: with your host Sue Darling, opening with next weekends Psychic Fayre at the Orchard Hotel, Rousden.
B Sharp Channel: Will soon feature all the bands who performed at the Summers Day of Music last year, the fabulous session at the Marine, and the Music Session from Woodroffe School last week. (interrupted by false alarm fire engines!)
‘Beggars Belief’ by The Beard CD Album was launched next with a video of The Beard performing ‘The Tramp’ from the album in a very Chaplinesque setting! A.K.A. Simon Leach, The Beard is a true ‘born and bred’ local who has been singing his excellent songs around the area for many years.
This album also marks the first release from Lost Region Records, which will act as a catalyst for local musical talent, creating CD’s and DVD’s to promote our musical culture. Further releases will be announced in October this year.
‘A Postcard From Lyme Regis’ was the highlight of the evening, featuring a 10 minute trailer of this epic movie with over 3 hours of Lyme on video. After the trailer, Mary Ball presented Mary Godwin with a copy for the museum archives.
After a short break, festivities continued with a special edition of Lyme Live Weekly, the new title for Friday Night Live, a light-hearted magazine programme featuring local interviews and local talent, ,hosted by Alan Vian who interviewed Sue Outhwaite, organiser of this weekends Psychic Fayre, followed by Nomad and Bill McCallum, with music from talented 16 year old singer and keyboard player Emily Blech performing her own song, and 2 songs from the excellent sound of Mark Foxhall, who performed a thrilling version of ‘Halleluya’.
Breathless? For sure! But no time to rest because local young brothers rock outfit, Wise Intentions, fresh from their triumph at the Nettle Eating Championships, hit the stage and provided a storming end to the evening!
In conclusion? we want to work with you “The Community”, we need you to keep us informed about what’s important to you, to get you involved in making programmes. CoMA is open to members from across all interests within the community. Our key issue is now to raise the funds that we need to add to our equipment to enable us to produce top quality films for both the community and as saleable products.
Next? ‘A postcard from Lyme Regis’, and ‘Beggars Belief’ will be on sale locally and online in the next few days, at only £5 each. Buy both and get £1 off each!
We ended the evening by driving down to the Three Cups at midnight to take sausage rolls and sandwiches down to the vigilantes, Rikey Austin, Jo Farmer and Peter Wiles They had already collected around 750 signatures! Note to WDDC: The Three Cups is an important piece of Lyme’s heritage, it MUST be compulsorily purchased and re-opened as a hotel!
Wednesday, 20 May 2009
Painter of Dreams
Very pleased to be finally taking part in ArtsFest. Until a couple of years ago, we had a little shop in Lyme from which I sold my work, and having been totally involved in the internet and LymeRegisRadio since then, I really need to get back to some real work.
Anyway, here are a few advance pictures. The rest you can see in September...
Tuesday, 19 May 2009
Population Control
Last time I checked out the current population of Lyme Regis, it weighed in at about 3,800, which is why I'd like to know how it is that every time I go out or attend a meeting, I run into the same 10 people. Ok, I admit this might be a slight exaggeration, but it does sometimes seem that all the events in this amazing town are managed and organised by just a few spirited people. Funny though, even as I write this, I recognise it as the 'cynical' view, and that the entire population of Lyme turns out to just about everything, and every citizen is involved in one town group or another. It's what I love about this place, there really is never a dull moment. Truth is that any pedestrian journey takes twice as long because I'm continually running into friends/neighbours/visitors who want a chat, and today was no exception to the rule.
I could say that the day began at around 10am with a call from Ken Whetlor (esteemed Councillor and former Mayor) asking me my plans for the day, but the truth is that it began at 7.30am with Baby (a.k.a Bubble), our parrot, burrowing under the duvet with me, and pecking me on the nose to tell me it's rising time just after Mary left for work. I spent the morning doing paper work, though as I do most of it on the net these days, it would be better described as paper free work, and I still have apologies to make for the sundry emails I haven't yet replied to.
It was after lunch before I launched myself into society, heading first for LRDT where I chatted with Laurence Madill about Evolution Rocks. Laurence (a.k.a Ed?) is making us a 100metre router cable which we hope will connect us to the internet and allow us to live broadcast the Opening of the FossFest. This cable will lead all the way from the Theatre office into the theatre bar, where our camera will be plugged into a laptop. We also discussed broadcasting from the Alex Hotel, who are hosting the UNESCO Youth Summit, another live broadcast on Friday this week. After reporting back to Richard Doney, and a short chat with Diana Dixon and Dr. Anja, I strolled down to the Marine and had a look at the lie of the land, pondering on how to route our cable from A) the theatre office, to B) the theatre.
I set off for home then, coming across Guy Ottewell on his bike along the riverwalk. Guy updated me on the new monthly newspaper his partner Tilly is producing, and we chatted for a few minutes, mostly about media matters. After arriving home, and updating Ken on the days activities, I knocked off and relaxed with Mary for a couple of hours, Mary had been doing a spot of weeding in our miniscule garden area, and we were both mutually admiring the spectacular yellow roses that have appeared in the past few weeks. We've only been here since the beginning of Feb, and are really settled in, parrot especially having a little more flapping area!
At 6.30 I set off for Woodmead for the AGM, the indomitable Stan Williams in the Chair, nattered with Derek Hallet, letting him know that I couldn't stay till the end because histalkative son Jon was arriving at home for a rehearsal/recording session on The Beards CD album, which we're working on night and day in order to get it complete in time for our BIG LAUNCH event at Woodmead on the 20th June.
So there you go, a day in the life of Nomad, and if I counted correctly, thats 11 people, not including the parrot!
I could say that the day began at around 10am with a call from Ken Whetlor (esteemed Councillor and former Mayor) asking me my plans for the day, but the truth is that it began at 7.30am with Baby (a.k.a Bubble), our parrot, burrowing under the duvet with me, and pecking me on the nose to tell me it's rising time just after Mary left for work. I spent the morning doing paper work, though as I do most of it on the net these days, it would be better described as paper free work, and I still have apologies to make for the sundry emails I haven't yet replied to.
It was after lunch before I launched myself into society, heading first for LRDT where I chatted with Laurence Madill about Evolution Rocks. Laurence (a.k.a Ed?) is making us a 100metre router cable which we hope will connect us to the internet and allow us to live broadcast the Opening of the FossFest. This cable will lead all the way from the Theatre office into the theatre bar, where our camera will be plugged into a laptop. We also discussed broadcasting from the Alex Hotel, who are hosting the UNESCO Youth Summit, another live broadcast on Friday this week. After reporting back to Richard Doney, and a short chat with Diana Dixon and Dr. Anja, I strolled down to the Marine and had a look at the lie of the land, pondering on how to route our cable from A) the theatre office, to B) the theatre.
I set off for home then, coming across Guy Ottewell on his bike along the riverwalk. Guy updated me on the new monthly newspaper his partner Tilly is producing, and we chatted for a few minutes, mostly about media matters. After arriving home, and updating Ken on the days activities, I knocked off and relaxed with Mary for a couple of hours, Mary had been doing a spot of weeding in our miniscule garden area, and we were both mutually admiring the spectacular yellow roses that have appeared in the past few weeks. We've only been here since the beginning of Feb, and are really settled in, parrot especially having a little more flapping area!
At 6.30 I set off for Woodmead for the AGM, the indomitable Stan Williams in the Chair, nattered with Derek Hallet, letting him know that I couldn't stay till the end because histalkative son Jon was arriving at home for a rehearsal/recording session on The Beards CD album, which we're working on night and day in order to get it complete in time for our BIG LAUNCH event at Woodmead on the 20th June.
So there you go, a day in the life of Nomad, and if I counted correctly, thats 11 people, not including the parrot!
Monday, 20 April 2009
British Telecom & Alices Restaurant
First, I must apologise for being absent from my blog for so long. For the past several months, we’ve been occupied with house moving, and though I can’t say it was tough, I can’t say it’s easy to move after 12 years in the same central Lyme flat. Now we’ve moved and settled in, the dust is clearing, both from our possessions and our minds, and we are now ready to face another great year in Lyme Regis. We spent most of January clearing up our lives, and moved at the beginning of February. Only dark spot in the whole thing was British Telecom, who failed to read our instructions and left us disconnected from the world until almost the end of the month. As you can understand, this has meant a delay both in creating programmes and uploading them to the site, I got so mad during it, I wrote this diatribe to BT, which I already circulated pretty widely by email, so you might as well enjoy the benefit also…
British Telecom(A Parody by Nomad, with apologies to Arlo Guthrie and ‘Alices Restaurant’)
This song is called Mary’s New Home, and it's about Mary, and her new home, but Mary’s New Home is not the name of Mary’s new home, it's the name of the song, and that's why I called this song Mary’s New Home.
Now it all started two months ago it's on two months ago at Christmas when my friend Mary got the news that she could move into her new home, which happens to be just around the corner from the place she lives in now with her partner Nomad and a highly trained vicious Ninja killer parrot known as Bubble. After visiting the new place, she decided that the move would happen at the end of January. Being as she was leaving the old place, and seeing as it was close by, she decided to take her phone number with her and phoned BT who said on their website, ring this number and have your phone put in at your new address, including Broadband connection. Just phone 0800 800 150, and one call does it all. Took us awhile to get through, and we had a lot of fun getting the right Press One, or Press Two, Three, and even Four, until finally getting a text message saying your phone will be connected on your moving day. Afer having an Indian Dinner that couldn’t be beat, we went to bed tired but happy and didn’t get up until the following morning. Well moving day came round, and using a pick up truck, two estate cars and a saloon car, we loaded 127 cardboard boxes, furniture, clothes, computers and a washing machine, and each vehicle making 3 trips, we set off making the whole move by 3.30pm in the afternoon. Was a nice day, the sun shone, and we opened a bottle of wine and toasted the weather after everything was moved. After having an Indian Dinner that couldn’t be beat, we went to bed tired but happy and didn’t get up until the following morning
But that’s not what I came to tell you about. I came to talk about BT…… We picked up the phone and sure enough there was a dialling tone, so we waited for BT to connect the Broadband, and for the phone to ring. Mary noticed, (remember Mary? It’s a song about Mary), that no one was phoning her, which isn’t usual, Mary being a very popular person, having a job and all and a lot of friends. I picked up the phone, dialed 0800 800 150, and fixing on the nature of my enquiry, pressed 2. After pressing two, I had to press 1, 2, 3 or 4. I pressed 2, and then had to tap in the full phone number, which I did when a nice lady with a Scots voice said, “I am sorry, I can’t find any information about this number”, and hung up. I was hung up about this, and dialled again, pressing two for the nature of my enquiry, and this time pressing 3. A nice man with an Indian accent asked how he could help me. After getting all the details down, the guy, in Indian guy, speaking in a French accent to an English person, said…..”Are you satisfied sir with my service to you, the way I’ve dealt with your query?”....and I proceeded to tell him the story of the 127 cardboard boxes, the furniture, clothes, computers and washing machine, adding the pick up truck, two estate cars and a saloon, and reminded him that Mary still didn’t have a phone connection, or internet, but that he had been very polite and very helpful. He smiled all the way from India and told me, with triumph in his voices that the phone would be on in 3 working days. I reminded him that that’s exactly what the last operator said, and he said no worries this time, this is all in hand and now in progress. I accepted his reply, and feeling hung up, I hung up.
3 working days later, and still not having the phone connected, I called Mary’s number and a nice English lady informed me that I had dialled incorrectly and should try again. Understanding immediately that the phone was still not connected I phoned BT again at 0800 800 150. The nice Scottish lady answered the phone and said, depending on your enquiry, press one or two, and when that is done, depending on the nature of your enquiry, press 1, 2, 3, or 4. I pressed Three and waited for a while until a man with a nice Indian accent called Akit asked how he could help me. I proceeded to tell him the story of the 127 cardboard boxes, the furniture, clothes, computers and washing machine, including the pick up truck, two estate cars and a saloon, each making 3 trips in all, and he said, very good sir but how can I help you. I proceeded to tell him the story of my 7 previous calls to BT, the buttons I pressed, and how long it took and that Mary’s phone was still not connected, and he said, “Sir, your phone IS connected”. I told him it wasn’t, and I tried to phone it and it didn’t ring, and he said “Sir! Stop it right there!”, and said “Sir, we have given you a new number!”……I proceeded to tell him the story about how Mary was only moving round the corner, and reminded him that the number, don’t forget the number, it’s coming round again, 0800 800 150 would move the phone number and Broadband all in one go, and seeing as it was just around the corner, a new number wasn’t necessary. He told me that wheels were already in motion, and in 5 working days, Marys phone would be active with her original phone number.
I reminded him that I was told that 3 days ago, and the 3 days before that, and time seemed to be increasing instead of decreasing, and I couldn’t help it, I began to raise my voice a little, telling him that he didn’t seem to be listening to my problem, he told me then that I was not listening to his helpful advice, and that the answer was always 3 to 5 working days. I asked him to repeat back to me what my phone number was and what new address it should be connected to…and I realized I was listening to a stock question, asked at the end of each enquiry, in order to convince the caller that their problem was being dealt with, and that the answer to any question is always 3 working days. So, next time you call BT at 0800 800 150, see if YOU can find which button to press if all you want to hear is that the answer is always 3 working days. 3 days later and Mary still not connected, and the realization dawning that I was gonna have to go through the entire process again, I figured I needed some therapy, and called my psychiatrist. I was hungdown brungdown hungup and all kinds o' mean nasty ugly things, realizing I was never gonna get a phone or broadband, and I was stuck in the desperate cycle of phoning every 3 working days. And I walked in and sat down and said, “ Shrink, I wanna kill! I wanna I wanna kill.Kill. I wanna I wanna rip out telephone wires, I wanna tear BT phone operatives apart. I mean kill, kill,KILL,KILL." and I started jumpin’ up and down yelling KILL KILL, and he started jumpin up and down with me and we was both jumping up and down yelling "KILL KILL",
When I went home, sat down and dialled 0800 800 150, I was good and ready and fired up. And I pressed 1’s 2’s and 3’,s until finally I was ear to ear with another BT operative somewhere very far away. Putting on my meanest most sinister voice I uttered quietly, “I’m recording this call for therapy purposes”, and then laid out the entire story of Mary’s New House, with three part harmony, full orchestration and feeling. Now friends, there was only one or two things the BT operative could’ve said and the first was he could have given us a medal for being so brave and honest on the telephone, which wasn't very likely, and we didn't expect it , and the other thing was he could have said Mary’s phone would be connected in 3 to 5 working days, which is what we expected, but there was a third possibility that we hadn't even counted upon, “Sir, you have the wrong department, I am transferring you now”, I shouted out in pain and frustration, “I wanna make a complaint, and suddenly, everything went quiet in India, until Mozart came on the line, followed by what appeared to be the BT psychiatrist, saying, “How can I help you Sir”. In tears of despair, I told him the entire story, and he said, “Don’t worry Sir, I am writing down everything you say, I will put it in writing and send it to the Complaints Dept, you will receive a copy by email. “I HAVE NO PHONE OR BROADBAND SO HOW WILL I SEE WHAT YOU SEND ME!! “No problem Sir, Mary’s phone will be connected for certain in 3 to 5 working days”.
And that’s how it stands at present. Mary, (remember Mary? It’s a song about Mary) is still not connected. and the only reason I'm singing you this song now is cause you may knowsomebody in a similar situation, or, you may be in a similar situation, and if you’re in a situation like that there's only one thing you can do and that's call BT wherever you are on 0800 800 150 and say, “You can get anything you want, at British Telecom, and hang up. You know, if one person, just one person does it, it might ring bells. And three people , three people, can you imagine, three people calling 0800 800 150, singing a bar of British Telecom, and asking if Mary’s phone is connected yet, they might think it’s an organization and start getting their act together. And can you imagine fifty people a day, I said fifty people a day calling 0800 800 150, singing a bar of British Telecom, and asking if Mary’s phone is online yet, friends they may thinks it's a movement. And that's what it is, the British Telecom Mary’s Phone Movement, and all you got to do to join is sing it the next time it comes around on the guitar. With feeling. So we'll wait for it to come around on the guitar, here and sing it when it does. Here it comes.
You can get anything you want, at British Telecom.
(excepting phone calls)
You can get anything you want, at British Telecom.
Phone ‘em up, they’re in Bangalore,
Twenty thousand miles from your new front door
You can get anything you want, at British Telecom,
(excepting broadband)
at British Telecom………..
I can now tell you that we are finally online and rolling towards a great year on LymeRegisRadio, with many changes to tell you about........
British Telecom(A Parody by Nomad, with apologies to Arlo Guthrie and ‘Alices Restaurant’)
This song is called Mary’s New Home, and it's about Mary, and her new home, but Mary’s New Home is not the name of Mary’s new home, it's the name of the song, and that's why I called this song Mary’s New Home.
You can get anything you want at British Telecom.
You can get anything you want at British Telecom.
Phone ‘em up they’re in Bangalore,
Twenty thousand miles from your new front door.
You can get anything you want at British Telecom.
But that’s not what I came to tell you about. I came to talk about BT…… We picked up the phone and sure enough there was a dialling tone, so we waited for BT to connect the Broadband, and for the phone to ring. Mary noticed, (remember Mary? It’s a song about Mary), that no one was phoning her, which isn’t usual, Mary being a very popular person, having a job and all and a lot of friends. I picked up the phone, dialed 0800 800 150, and fixing on the nature of my enquiry, pressed 2. After pressing two, I had to press 1, 2, 3 or 4. I pressed 2, and then had to tap in the full phone number, which I did when a nice lady with a Scots voice said, “I am sorry, I can’t find any information about this number”, and hung up. I was hung up about this, and dialled again, pressing two for the nature of my enquiry, and this time pressing 3. A nice man with an Indian accent asked how he could help me. After getting all the details down, the guy, in Indian guy, speaking in a French accent to an English person, said…..”Are you satisfied sir with my service to you, the way I’ve dealt with your query?”....and I proceeded to tell him the story of the 127 cardboard boxes, the furniture, clothes, computers and washing machine, adding the pick up truck, two estate cars and a saloon, and reminded him that Mary still didn’t have a phone connection, or internet, but that he had been very polite and very helpful. He smiled all the way from India and told me, with triumph in his voices that the phone would be on in 3 working days. I reminded him that that’s exactly what the last operator said, and he said no worries this time, this is all in hand and now in progress. I accepted his reply, and feeling hung up, I hung up.
3 working days later, and still not having the phone connected, I called Mary’s number and a nice English lady informed me that I had dialled incorrectly and should try again. Understanding immediately that the phone was still not connected I phoned BT again at 0800 800 150. The nice Scottish lady answered the phone and said, depending on your enquiry, press one or two, and when that is done, depending on the nature of your enquiry, press 1, 2, 3, or 4. I pressed Three and waited for a while until a man with a nice Indian accent called Akit asked how he could help me. I proceeded to tell him the story of the 127 cardboard boxes, the furniture, clothes, computers and washing machine, including the pick up truck, two estate cars and a saloon, each making 3 trips in all, and he said, very good sir but how can I help you. I proceeded to tell him the story of my 7 previous calls to BT, the buttons I pressed, and how long it took and that Mary’s phone was still not connected, and he said, “Sir, your phone IS connected”. I told him it wasn’t, and I tried to phone it and it didn’t ring, and he said “Sir! Stop it right there!”, and said “Sir, we have given you a new number!”……I proceeded to tell him the story about how Mary was only moving round the corner, and reminded him that the number, don’t forget the number, it’s coming round again, 0800 800 150 would move the phone number and Broadband all in one go, and seeing as it was just around the corner, a new number wasn’t necessary. He told me that wheels were already in motion, and in 5 working days, Marys phone would be active with her original phone number.
I reminded him that I was told that 3 days ago, and the 3 days before that, and time seemed to be increasing instead of decreasing, and I couldn’t help it, I began to raise my voice a little, telling him that he didn’t seem to be listening to my problem, he told me then that I was not listening to his helpful advice, and that the answer was always 3 to 5 working days. I asked him to repeat back to me what my phone number was and what new address it should be connected to…and I realized I was listening to a stock question, asked at the end of each enquiry, in order to convince the caller that their problem was being dealt with, and that the answer to any question is always 3 working days. So, next time you call BT at 0800 800 150, see if YOU can find which button to press if all you want to hear is that the answer is always 3 working days. 3 days later and Mary still not connected, and the realization dawning that I was gonna have to go through the entire process again, I figured I needed some therapy, and called my psychiatrist. I was hungdown brungdown hungup and all kinds o' mean nasty ugly things, realizing I was never gonna get a phone or broadband, and I was stuck in the desperate cycle of phoning every 3 working days. And I walked in and sat down and said, “ Shrink, I wanna kill! I wanna I wanna kill.Kill. I wanna I wanna rip out telephone wires, I wanna tear BT phone operatives apart. I mean kill, kill,KILL,KILL." and I started jumpin’ up and down yelling KILL KILL, and he started jumpin up and down with me and we was both jumping up and down yelling "KILL KILL",
When I went home, sat down and dialled 0800 800 150, I was good and ready and fired up. And I pressed 1’s 2’s and 3’,s until finally I was ear to ear with another BT operative somewhere very far away. Putting on my meanest most sinister voice I uttered quietly, “I’m recording this call for therapy purposes”, and then laid out the entire story of Mary’s New House, with three part harmony, full orchestration and feeling. Now friends, there was only one or two things the BT operative could’ve said and the first was he could have given us a medal for being so brave and honest on the telephone, which wasn't very likely, and we didn't expect it , and the other thing was he could have said Mary’s phone would be connected in 3 to 5 working days, which is what we expected, but there was a third possibility that we hadn't even counted upon, “Sir, you have the wrong department, I am transferring you now”, I shouted out in pain and frustration, “I wanna make a complaint, and suddenly, everything went quiet in India, until Mozart came on the line, followed by what appeared to be the BT psychiatrist, saying, “How can I help you Sir”. In tears of despair, I told him the entire story, and he said, “Don’t worry Sir, I am writing down everything you say, I will put it in writing and send it to the Complaints Dept, you will receive a copy by email. “I HAVE NO PHONE OR BROADBAND SO HOW WILL I SEE WHAT YOU SEND ME!! “No problem Sir, Mary’s phone will be connected for certain in 3 to 5 working days”.
And that’s how it stands at present. Mary, (remember Mary? It’s a song about Mary) is still not connected. and the only reason I'm singing you this song now is cause you may knowsomebody in a similar situation, or, you may be in a similar situation, and if you’re in a situation like that there's only one thing you can do and that's call BT wherever you are on 0800 800 150 and say, “You can get anything you want, at British Telecom, and hang up. You know, if one person, just one person does it, it might ring bells. And three people , three people, can you imagine, three people calling 0800 800 150, singing a bar of British Telecom, and asking if Mary’s phone is connected yet, they might think it’s an organization and start getting their act together. And can you imagine fifty people a day, I said fifty people a day calling 0800 800 150, singing a bar of British Telecom, and asking if Mary’s phone is online yet, friends they may thinks it's a movement. And that's what it is, the British Telecom Mary’s Phone Movement, and all you got to do to join is sing it the next time it comes around on the guitar. With feeling. So we'll wait for it to come around on the guitar, here and sing it when it does. Here it comes.
You can get anything you want, at British Telecom.
(excepting phone calls)
You can get anything you want, at British Telecom.
Phone ‘em up, they’re in Bangalore,
Twenty thousand miles from your new front door
You can get anything you want, at British Telecom,
(excepting broadband)
at British Telecom………..
I can now tell you that we are finally online and rolling towards a great year on LymeRegisRadio, with many changes to tell you about........
Thursday, 23 October 2008
Tesco in Lyme Regis?
Tesco in Lyme?
Expressing any opinion about this in Lyme right now is tantamount to suicide. Feelings on the question of the impending arrival of the retail giant are running very high. I don’t think that even the two years upheaval of our seafront caused this much controversy, to the point where it’s the only talking point wherever you go.
But opinions vary, depending on which cross section of Lyme society you’re talking to. When we made our video last week, we interviewed local traders, mostly shops close to the epicentre, but we’ve already been asked if we might ‘redress the balance’ by pointing the camera at shoppers.
At the Lyme Traders Association meeting tonight, you could have cut the air with a Tesco plastic bag. The accent of the discussion was about what happens when a giant like Tesco drops onto a small town. Local Traders suggest that Tesco will kill all the shops, invite other ‘big name’ competitors into Lyme, change the face of Lyme forever, etc, etc. Colin Willis chaired the meeting as best he could amongst a plethora of actions and ideas, almost begging them to calm down and look seriously at the options available, announcing the alternative consequences of a large retail area being empty, like the Three Cups. Meanwhile, propositions of campaigns being announced, sticking up posters, canvassing the town, hate Tesco till they go away, organising meetings, canvassing the populace, demonstrating outside the store, boycotting, with the main theme of Stop Tesco Coming to Lyme, and personally I think its all rhetoric.
No doubt at all that it’s a thorny subject. We all feel for those who might lose their jobs, or lose their livelihood, but these are changing times, and as Marcus Dixon so subtly put it, the way people shop is changing, more shopping is done on the internet, the real question arises within the community, and it’s uncertain as yet that the community of Lyme Regis don’t want Tesco. There is also the view that the biggest loss to the town is Woolworths, or that Woolworths merely decimates a different area of local business than Tesco. In the main, Tesco hits the food shops. Pip Evans commented that having visited a nearby Tesco Express, he found no fresh fish on sale, a remark directed, not too subtly, at Simon Bennett, local wet fish man, who with Franny Owen, is the loudest and most outspoken. In fact, the meeting wasn’t well supported by traders, might seem clear that those shops whose trade is unlikely to suffer, didn’t attend. I can hear already the cry of the few that Tesco will damage everyone, damage the town permanently, destroy Lyme’s retail individuality, but, is that really true? It represents a flawed belief that visitors only come here for the shops. It isn’t true! None of us, visitors or residents, are here because the shops are great. In fact, most of us are complaining that we can’t get our staple foods in Lyme. In the Summer the tourists empty the Co-op while residents are at work, and other food shops are either too expensive, or too specialist for daily needs. From that point of view, if Tesco is going to fill that need, I’m all for it. Also, I don’t have a motor car, and I can avoid a twice weekly trip to either Axminster or Bridport. A lot of elderly residents are in a similar situation, having to make a 14 mile round trek to do a little shopping.
The reason people come here, (and including via ancestry, those born here), visit this place, open businesses here, live here, paint pictures, make movies and write books here......, has a lot to do with that big blue thing that borders the southern edge of the town.
Expressing any opinion about this in Lyme right now is tantamount to suicide. Feelings on the question of the impending arrival of the retail giant are running very high. I don’t think that even the two years upheaval of our seafront caused this much controversy, to the point where it’s the only talking point wherever you go.
But opinions vary, depending on which cross section of Lyme society you’re talking to. When we made our video last week, we interviewed local traders, mostly shops close to the epicentre, but we’ve already been asked if we might ‘redress the balance’ by pointing the camera at shoppers.
At the Lyme Traders Association meeting tonight, you could have cut the air with a Tesco plastic bag. The accent of the discussion was about what happens when a giant like Tesco drops onto a small town. Local Traders suggest that Tesco will kill all the shops, invite other ‘big name’ competitors into Lyme, change the face of Lyme forever, etc, etc. Colin Willis chaired the meeting as best he could amongst a plethora of actions and ideas, almost begging them to calm down and look seriously at the options available, announcing the alternative consequences of a large retail area being empty, like the Three Cups. Meanwhile, propositions of campaigns being announced, sticking up posters, canvassing the town, hate Tesco till they go away, organising meetings, canvassing the populace, demonstrating outside the store, boycotting, with the main theme of Stop Tesco Coming to Lyme, and personally I think its all rhetoric.
No doubt at all that it’s a thorny subject. We all feel for those who might lose their jobs, or lose their livelihood, but these are changing times, and as Marcus Dixon so subtly put it, the way people shop is changing, more shopping is done on the internet, the real question arises within the community, and it’s uncertain as yet that the community of Lyme Regis don’t want Tesco. There is also the view that the biggest loss to the town is Woolworths, or that Woolworths merely decimates a different area of local business than Tesco. In the main, Tesco hits the food shops. Pip Evans commented that having visited a nearby Tesco Express, he found no fresh fish on sale, a remark directed, not too subtly, at Simon Bennett, local wet fish man, who with Franny Owen, is the loudest and most outspoken. In fact, the meeting wasn’t well supported by traders, might seem clear that those shops whose trade is unlikely to suffer, didn’t attend. I can hear already the cry of the few that Tesco will damage everyone, damage the town permanently, destroy Lyme’s retail individuality, but, is that really true? It represents a flawed belief that visitors only come here for the shops. It isn’t true! None of us, visitors or residents, are here because the shops are great. In fact, most of us are complaining that we can’t get our staple foods in Lyme. In the Summer the tourists empty the Co-op while residents are at work, and other food shops are either too expensive, or too specialist for daily needs. From that point of view, if Tesco is going to fill that need, I’m all for it. Also, I don’t have a motor car, and I can avoid a twice weekly trip to either Axminster or Bridport. A lot of elderly residents are in a similar situation, having to make a 14 mile round trek to do a little shopping.
The reason people come here, (and including via ancestry, those born here), visit this place, open businesses here, live here, paint pictures, make movies and write books here......, has a lot to do with that big blue thing that borders the southern edge of the town.
Thursday, 31 July 2008
Plastic Bags, lazy journalism, and Turn Lyme Green
Had an email this morning asking if i had any 'follow up' on my blog entry on the subject of TurnLymeGreen. In some ways I kind of regret writing it in the first place, though I stand by almost everything I said in it. I've had quite a few comments, some via email, and several verbal comments from townsfolk, mostly in agreement with my comments. There were also some comments on a TurnLymeGreen circular, but they were in the main so negative that I didn't want to add fuel to a non existent fire by reporting them here. I didn't regard the accusation of 'lazy journalism' or 'if LymeRegisRadio is to have any credibility I would suggest keeping objectivity to the forefront and personal soapboxes to the rear' from one TurnLymeGreen member as fair comment or worth repeating. Firstly, I'm not a journalist, I'm a citizen of Lyme Regis presenting my own personal view. My comments were not specifially about TurnLymeGreen, they were about Plastic Bag campaigns, which I really do think muddy the water. I'm not the only one who thinks so, not even in Lyme Regis. Aside from putting my own view about Carbon Emissions and Global Warming, the peice was pretty much tongue in cheek, at worst sardonic.
Though I do have a small apology to make in regard to three comments on the aforesaid TLG circular. 'Plastic bags are a start and thats all we have ever said', added to, 'in fact, carbon emissions are very serious, Although TLG is not currently doing anything about this', and 'would be great if some people took on a campaign to reduce carbon emissions'. I apologise for suggesting that TLG had anything in its brief concerning Carbon Emissions or Global Warming, and I note the admission that it isn't doing anything in this direction. It wasn't my intention to 'slam or ridicule' public initiative, and I deny that I'm guilty of that. Simply putting a point of view which deserves to be heard is all. I also believe that 'all involved are doing what we can and are genuine'. I accept that TLG is doing a good job within its chosen framework, its aim of making Lyme a greener place to live or visit, and if Carbon Emissions are not part of its brief I'll make no further comment.
The other communications I've had ask if LymeRegisRadio is still recording TLG events. Answer is we would if we could! We seem to have been dropped from their Mailing List and we don't even receive Press Releases. I think this is a shame and I can't understand why. In personal terms I'm a practicing environmentalist. I don't own a motor car, encourage others to lessen their addiction to the beasts, and I've been reusing and recycling like a madman for more than 30 years. That part is personal, I don't need to be a member of TLG or any other organisation to hold that view. In terms of LymeRegisRadio, I don't know what to say. We reported faithfully, with very few edits, on three TLG events, and interviewed the key people on our Friday Night Live programme. Those sessions are still being listened to by many people in Lyme and around the world. The most popular is the talk by Mukti Mitchell about living a Low Carbon Lifestyle. I loved Mukti's positive view, and was personally inspired by his talk. A man after my own heart who understands the bliss of living a Low Carbon life.
So if any apology is necessary, I'll offer it in this way: We now have a Canon XL Broadcast/DVD quality Digital Camcorder, and if TLG would like to make use of it to make a beautiful positive film about how Lyme could benefit from lessening its dependence on fossil fuels, please call me.
Though I do have a small apology to make in regard to three comments on the aforesaid TLG circular. 'Plastic bags are a start and thats all we have ever said', added to, 'in fact, carbon emissions are very serious, Although TLG is not currently doing anything about this', and 'would be great if some people took on a campaign to reduce carbon emissions'. I apologise for suggesting that TLG had anything in its brief concerning Carbon Emissions or Global Warming, and I note the admission that it isn't doing anything in this direction. It wasn't my intention to 'slam or ridicule' public initiative, and I deny that I'm guilty of that. Simply putting a point of view which deserves to be heard is all. I also believe that 'all involved are doing what we can and are genuine'. I accept that TLG is doing a good job within its chosen framework, its aim of making Lyme a greener place to live or visit, and if Carbon Emissions are not part of its brief I'll make no further comment.
The other communications I've had ask if LymeRegisRadio is still recording TLG events. Answer is we would if we could! We seem to have been dropped from their Mailing List and we don't even receive Press Releases. I think this is a shame and I can't understand why. In personal terms I'm a practicing environmentalist. I don't own a motor car, encourage others to lessen their addiction to the beasts, and I've been reusing and recycling like a madman for more than 30 years. That part is personal, I don't need to be a member of TLG or any other organisation to hold that view. In terms of LymeRegisRadio, I don't know what to say. We reported faithfully, with very few edits, on three TLG events, and interviewed the key people on our Friday Night Live programme. Those sessions are still being listened to by many people in Lyme and around the world. The most popular is the talk by Mukti Mitchell about living a Low Carbon Lifestyle. I loved Mukti's positive view, and was personally inspired by his talk. A man after my own heart who understands the bliss of living a Low Carbon life.
So if any apology is necessary, I'll offer it in this way: We now have a Canon XL Broadcast/DVD quality Digital Camcorder, and if TLG would like to make use of it to make a beautiful positive film about how Lyme could benefit from lessening its dependence on fossil fuels, please call me.
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