From politics to pies, from history to how we live..
I'm alan, a half blind man who wants to know a lot about a lot. This is a place where I want to share the knowledge I fancy gaining at the time if I can successfully record it. For now at least, I'm going to do most if not all of the recording for This podcast on my phone because it's spontaneous and in my opinion more interesting. If you want perfect audio quality with highly polished production this won't be for you but if you just fancy going on an audio adventure with me then let's go.
This is the first in a series of who knows how many podcasts I put out during this period of social distancing. Here we have a series of short recordings I took when I went to York with Isla. We then have another series of recordings taken by our friend Isabella when she was in southern Africa on a safari holiday.
If you have any interesting recordings you would like to share, please send them to me and I'll think about putting them on here. You can also send a video and I can extract the audio no problem. I'll also keep you updated with how my social distancing is going if anything interesting happens..
28 Nov 2019
A Layman's Guide To The UK General Election 2019
Here in the UK we go to the polls for a general election on Thursday December 12th 2019 so I thought that after the moderate (even limited) success of my layman's guide to the European election, I could do another one. This time I thought it would be more interesting to bring Isla in so that we could share the responsibility of telling you about what's going on and how to get involved and I hope that if nothing else, our excitement over the prospect of election night itself ends up coming through. We forgot to mention some things like tactical voting, the process of voting against a candidate you disapprove of rather than voting for a candidate you favour, though the recording is already about half an hour long so forgive us this horrendous error. If we short changed you of some good information in any other way on this free and amature podcast, let me know so I can put it right next time.
We enjoyed recording this so I hope you enjoy listening to it just as much. We want to do one after the election detailing all the candidates and parties who make us laugh or wonder what on earth is going on.
21 Jul 2019
Giovanni, The Craft Beer Kitchen
I was sitting with Isla one day when she told me about https://www.stewartbrewing.co.uk/craft-beer-kitchen (https://www.stewartbrewing.co.uk/craft-beer-kitchen) where you can go and get help to brew your own beer. Our friend Isabella was coming over here for her birthday and wouldn't you know it, Isabella loves good beer. Isla doesn't but she does like science so it was a no brainer to make this a sort of birthday present from us. We decided to brew a coffee and vanilla stout and call it Giovani after a goat from a real life scenario in the world of Isabella that all 3 of us somehow turned into a Mafia gangster. In this podcast you'll get to hear our experiences brewing it, told after the fact because it would have been too noisy to record at the time. Secondly you'll hear me interview James, the brewer who helped us turn our idea into something people could drink. Then it's a trip to Stewart's Dockside Tap https://maps.app.goo.gl/3YKkHRQrDn8d69Ty8 (https://maps.app.goo.gl/3YKkHRQrDn8d69Ty8) to taste the beer with the manager Joe Crookshank who knows his stuff when it comes to beer. Lastly it's a skype call with Isla and Isabella who is back in Austria. Finally the two beer drinkers of the group could have some Giovanni at the same time. Thanks Isla for coming along even though you don't like beer or coffee. Thanks Isabella for coming along and liking beer and Coffee. Thanks Joe for agreeing to record the tasting, the Dockside Tap is my favourite local by a mile. Lastly a special thanks to the people at the Craft Beer Kitchen. We felt welcomd by friendly staff, Angus in particular gave me some good advice on the phone which came in handy and of course thanks James for helping us brew and sharing your knowledge. We loved it and we'll be back.
7 May 2019
A Layman's Guide To The European Election
The European election is coming up soon but who are we voting for? What are we voting for? Why are we voting and how does it work? I tried to go somewhere to answering these questions while I say the word "so" too often as I attempt to make this coherent. After all I'm just an enthusiastic amature who is half blind and curious.
2 May 2019
National Museum Of Flight Part 2. Touring The Hangers
The second part of our tour of the National Museum Of Flight where we get shown around by our friend Robin who happens to work there. The same people are here again, my fiancee Isla, her brother Charlie and his wife Joe so why don't you come with us as we enjoy our happy selves. Thank you Robin.
28 Apr 2019
Holiday Diceman
Where are we going on holiday? Find out our 6 choices and where the dice sends us.
25 Apr 2019
National Museum Of Flight Part 1. Concorde.
With more than a nod to continuity my fiance had her brother and sister-in-law staying with her so we decided to head out together for a cool day out at the National Museum of Flight where I made these recordings. Charlie and Jo are a lovely couple and they were the reason we ended up going all the way over to New Zealand to witness their wedding. Sadly they didn't join us for this first part although they did see it not long after. This is Concorde, the legendary supersonic passenger jet Project jointly designed and built by the UK and France. Flying from the 70s to the early 21st century, this plane was famous not only for her pure speed but her luxury and celebrity passengers. Join us as Isla goes through a brief history of supersonic flight then travel with us through the unexpectedly cramped confines of Concorde herself.
15 Apr 2019
Birthday Diceman
A very short recording of a fun game we enjoy playing in order to decide where we want to go. Tomorrow is islas birthday so we thought we would play diceman.
10 Aug 2018
New Zealand
A few weeks ago I went to New Zealand with my fiancee Isla in order to attend the wedding of her brother Charlie to a New Zealander called Jo. It was a lovely wedding but I never asked for permission to record any of it so I can't bring you any of that which is a shame. On the other hand, some of the recordings I did get were cool and interesting and bring back fond memories of a country I miss already. Firstly you'll here a recording from the back garden of the first place we stayed in Auckland, a peaceful wee place right in the city centre. Next is a recording of the induced eruption of the Lady Knox geyser. Induced yes but no less amazing for it. Our tour of Wai-o-tapu Thermal Wonderland really gets going and Isla, the real star of this show, really hits her stride with some reading from the info scattered throughout the park and her wonderfully evocative descriptions of what we find. All this being said, no description could ever do it justice. If you ever get the chance to go, you won't regret it. Lastly, after a brief interlude to hear the sound of New Zealand traffic lights, Isla then describes what she can see at Takapuna beach back in Auckland. A standard beach? Yes but not quite. I hope you enjoy these recordings. Feel free to respond on here or on my Twitter. I'd like to thank Charlie and Jo for inviting us to their wedding, i'm so grateful I got the chance to go. I'd also like to thank Isla's parents for driving us round New Zealand. That was much appreciated.
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