Coming in Your Ears

Oh, I almost forgot - time for a shameless plug.











Back when I was a wee bit younger (and I'm only 21 so don't go too far back), my school operated an internal radio station, Radio Grangefield, which basically meant that anyone in the school could go on and inflict their tastes in music on their peers during the designated lunch break.

That was great, but then one of the tutors had a bit of a brainwave. Instead of just having the station running for an hour a day over speakers dotted around the school, they would take the idea to the locals of West Leeds. The Media Studies department then scrapped together around £3000 for a restricted service license, allowing them to use an FM transmitter for a period of 4 weeks.

That was some 10 years ago. Today, the station is going still going strong, and has undergone a major development over the years. From playing vynal records on a small FM modulator, they not have a fully digital set-up, broadcasting live on an RDS FM transmitter and online.

It's far more than a PR stunt for the school as well. It provides a unique experience for the students to pick up skills that academic work just won't teach them. The station is run almost entirely by the students. They produce the programme content, they book studio guests and they sell the advertising space, all of which counts to their portfolios.

And as of this Monday, the station has started broadcasting again. I'd fully recommend you have a listen, either online or, if you're within reasonable distance from Pudsey, on 87.7FM. I don't know how strong the signal is, but I picked it up at the White Rose Centre yesterday if that's any indication.

Oh, and the the promo video on the schools media site (underneath the talent contest clips), that's my handy-work ;)

The point behind Poker?

It doesn't take much persuasion for me to find myself inside an ale house of some variety, so when I was invited to a Pudsey hostelry by an old mate, I didn't stop to ask many questions.









Upon arriving at said establishment, it became clear that the night would not be consisting of numerous drinks, pool and darts but instead, would be featuring eight individuals sat around a green table who would take in excess of one hour to pass around some bits of cardboard and some coloured plastic discs.

It quickly became apparent that this particular venue was part of some "Live Pub Poker League" and that these scenes were becoming increasingly common within those four walls. As a complete novice, I stood well back, but my friend had no intention in explaining to me the intricacies of Texas Hold 'em.

So I sat just over his shoulder, not saying much for fear of distracting him and upsetting the hoard of locals who could tell that I "wasn't from round 'ere". Instead I just watched and nodded as he turned around and told me "that's a good hand, that is" and "he's bluffing, he is".

The game itself is as boring as sin. For reasons I still don't understand, players were dropping out after various rounds and in the end, two players were left to battle it out. My mate actually emerged victorious to take the grand prize of £11 that had been so valiantly fought for. That said, my opinions obviously count for little, Poker is a massive industry and has acquired a global media appeal.

Sky Sports, in fairness, do their very best to sensationalise the whole event. Titles such as "Poker Million Masters" are obviously designed to give the idea of six fat blokes at a table a little bit more of an appeal and sticking heart-rate monitors on the players and having a whole host of graphics appear on screen make for compelling viewing after you get home from the pub at 1:00am.

The pub itself was hardly Pudsey's most upmarket establishment. The choice of beer being limited to nothing worth consumption, the overwhelming prevalence of Burburry clad 17-year-olds and the illegal sale of Eastern-European duty free cigarettes from behind the bar spoke volumes.

Still, these places serve a purpose I suppose.

It's Just One Big Reunion

Merry Christmas everyone! Santa has been and emptied his sack, left me a brand spanking new iPod and other paraphernalia and I'm sat here now after being stuffed with turkey.





I've so far managed to lay-off the booze, for today at least, instead choosing to go out in Pudsey on Christmas Eve night for copious amounts of alcohol.

Having gone to school and sixth form college in the town, it's fairly common to see the old school mate now and again but never before last night had I crossed paths with so many familiar faces.

In just a few minutes of setting foot in the first of many Pudsey hostileries, I'd come across a friend who I had previously gone to school with, done A-Levels with and worked on this film with. Having spent a gap year trekking across Australia, she's now preparing to go to Nottingham Trent University, two years after she'd originally planned.
There were plenty others that I could go on and on about, ex school-mates, ex rugby team-mates, I could go on.

It was just hard to believe that a boozy night in a few ropey pubs and bars would be like a real-live version of friends reunited.

Happy Christmas everyone!