Well, that's it. Last assignment of the year handed in and I'm officially finished for the summer. While nearly everyone I know is frantically revising for exams, I'm sitting here feeling blessed to be a Multimedia student... in fairness, it's not like I haven't had my fair share of exams in the past few years anyway.
I am now faced with the prospect of four months off, but I sure as hell won't be spending the longest summer holiday of my life sitting on my backside. I've got lots of plans. Here are a few of them.
Make a radio documentary – I've been planning this for months and have finally been able to make a start on it. I won't reveal the details yet because I'm paranoid about idea thieves who might be out there, but I recently recorded an interview and will be conducting a few more soon. Once I have it all put together, I'm hoping to have it broadcast. Fingers crossed.
Write as much as possible – I've already had a few articles published online, and I intend to keep this going. I've also set up a blog on comedy which I have big plans for, so watch this space. I've been meaning to return to writing fiction for some time now (I used to write loads of it) and I finally have the time to do that now without having to worry about assignments etc.
Go to Leicester to visit my friend – Again, something I've been meaning to do for ages, but when you're both busy with university in different countries, it's difficult. The only thing holding me back at the moment is money, but I'm determined to get over there.
Go back to Old Trafford when the new season starts – As my 21st birthday conveniently falls within the first couple of weeks of the Premier League season, I have been promised a match ticket. There's nothing better than going to watch United, and the fact that David Moyes is taking over as manager adds to the sense of anticipation.
Gigs galore – I've got three coming up this summer. I'm going to see The Who at Marlay Park in a few weeks (performing my all-time favourite album, Quadrophenia). Then I'll be seeing Brian May and Kerry Ellis at the Olympia at the end of June, with a friend from my course. Finally, I'm going to see Blur at the beginning of August with my sister, at the National Museum of Modern Art. This is the best summer of gigs I've had in ages!
Record music – Since I got my Zoom H4n for Christmas, audio recording has been made a million times more amazing for me. I'm getting back to playing guitar as much as possible and recording a lot of music.
Hope for a job – I've applied for a job, but I won't say what it is yet in case I jinx it. But fingers crossed!
These are just some of the ways I'm planning on spending my summer. I've never been the type of person who gets bored easily during a long break, but I'm pleased to have all of this to keep me going anyway.
Showing posts with label free time. Show all posts
Showing posts with label free time. Show all posts
Friday, May 17, 2013
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Radio Gaga
One of the things I was most looking forward to about coming to DCU was getting involved in the university's radio station, DCUfm. I'm now several weeks into my assigned show and absolutely loving it.
Midweek Mayhem airs on Wednesday afternoons from 1-2pm and is co-hosted by myself and three other people. Two of us are Multimedia students and the other two are Communications students. The format of the show is simple - we chat about anything we like and spin a few tunes in between. Topics range from quirky news stories to what's on TV and everything in between. Last week we managed to string together an entire conversation about chocolate bars. A lot of it is planned, but some of it isn't, hence the chocolate bar discussion. Basically, this first semester is all about helping newcomers to the station to get settled in and get used to the software and the whole idea of being on air. Next semester is when we get to propose new shows and let our ideas flow.
Before I started, I was set on the idea of producing and editing. I didn't feel confident about the idea of presenting at all; in fact, it terrified me. I had done some editing while on work experience at Beat 102-103 in Waterford when I was at school, and that was what first sparked my interest in radio as well as put the idea of production in my head. But when I became involved with DCUfm, I just sort of fell into presenting unintentionally. I felt sick with nerves before the first show, but I gradually eased into it and started to enjoy the experience. Once you get over the novelty of hearing your own voice through your headphones, it becomes easier. Now I'm really glad that I ended up presenting, and I'll definitely aim for that in the future when looking for work in radio. Apart from anything else, it's done wonders for my confidence, and it just goes to show that you can be shy like I am and still host a radio show successfully. In fact, I like being able to both present and produce, and I'm now quite confident at driving the desk during broadcasts.
Okay, so we're not super professional just yet. It's a student radio station, and that means making mistakes from time to time. But thankfully those have been few and far between, and we haven't made any major blunders like accidentally shutting down the entire system (though yours truly came quite close on one occasion). We're learning as we go, and it's fantastic getting to use professional software that you would come across in any of the top radio stations in the country.
I really look forward to our weekly slot, and I can honestly say that joining DCUfm is by far the best thing I've done here. It really is a highlight of university life for me. I love it so much that I'm hoping to propose my own music show for next semester. I've also joined the Documentary Team, and we'll be working on some exciting projects over the coming months. As well as this, myself and two other DCU students are also in line to make a documentary for a separate production company pretty soon, which is really exciting. Good times are ahead! In the meantime, listen in to Midweek Mayhem on Wednesdays from 1-2pm on http://www.dcufm.com.
Midweek Mayhem airs on Wednesday afternoons from 1-2pm and is co-hosted by myself and three other people. Two of us are Multimedia students and the other two are Communications students. The format of the show is simple - we chat about anything we like and spin a few tunes in between. Topics range from quirky news stories to what's on TV and everything in between. Last week we managed to string together an entire conversation about chocolate bars. A lot of it is planned, but some of it isn't, hence the chocolate bar discussion. Basically, this first semester is all about helping newcomers to the station to get settled in and get used to the software and the whole idea of being on air. Next semester is when we get to propose new shows and let our ideas flow.
Before I started, I was set on the idea of producing and editing. I didn't feel confident about the idea of presenting at all; in fact, it terrified me. I had done some editing while on work experience at Beat 102-103 in Waterford when I was at school, and that was what first sparked my interest in radio as well as put the idea of production in my head. But when I became involved with DCUfm, I just sort of fell into presenting unintentionally. I felt sick with nerves before the first show, but I gradually eased into it and started to enjoy the experience. Once you get over the novelty of hearing your own voice through your headphones, it becomes easier. Now I'm really glad that I ended up presenting, and I'll definitely aim for that in the future when looking for work in radio. Apart from anything else, it's done wonders for my confidence, and it just goes to show that you can be shy like I am and still host a radio show successfully. In fact, I like being able to both present and produce, and I'm now quite confident at driving the desk during broadcasts.
Okay, so we're not super professional just yet. It's a student radio station, and that means making mistakes from time to time. But thankfully those have been few and far between, and we haven't made any major blunders like accidentally shutting down the entire system (though yours truly came quite close on one occasion). We're learning as we go, and it's fantastic getting to use professional software that you would come across in any of the top radio stations in the country.
I really look forward to our weekly slot, and I can honestly say that joining DCUfm is by far the best thing I've done here. It really is a highlight of university life for me. I love it so much that I'm hoping to propose my own music show for next semester. I've also joined the Documentary Team, and we'll be working on some exciting projects over the coming months. As well as this, myself and two other DCU students are also in line to make a documentary for a separate production company pretty soon, which is really exciting. Good times are ahead! In the meantime, listen in to Midweek Mayhem on Wednesdays from 1-2pm on http://www.dcufm.com.
Monday, October 29, 2012
Alice Cooper at Wembley Arena
I'm just back from a fantastic Bank Holiday weekend trip to London to see my absolute love of loves, Alice Cooper, live at Wembley Arena. What a night it was! This was my fourth time seeing him, and let me tell you now - the guy does not do a bad show. He delivers every single time, and this time was no different.
Some people seem so bewildered at the idea of seeing an artist multiple times, as if you would get sick of it. As if! Okay, so you may hear many of the same songs, but with someone like Alice, it never gets boring because he's a master of entertainment and knows exactly what makes a great show. And, to be honest, he's so utterly badass that he could get up on stage and sing Twinkle Twinkle and I'd still think it was the greatest thing in the world.
As it happens, I have never seen Alice in my own country. Isn't that weird? Every single time has been in the UK. He doesn't come to Ireland very often (once in a blue moon) and when he does, something always seems to get in the way. Therefore I've made it my business over the last couple of years to travel the short distance overseas to see him, and it's meant that I've had the time of my life and made some fantastic friends from all over the world. I've also met the man himself on two of those occasions. Anyway, I'm rambling now, so on with the story!
Just like last year's trip, I had a 4am start (nobody but Alice could motivate me to drag myself out of bed at such an ungodly hour). My uncle and his wife were up at that time so had very kindly offered to drop me to the airport. My flight to Stansted was at 6.25, which was followed by a Stansted Express journey to Liverpool Street and a further tube journey to Wembley Park station. I arrived at the venue near enough to 10am, having been quite surprised that it was so easy to find, and was shocked to see that none of the usual suspects were there! By 'usual suspects' I mean the same people who are always at the front of the queue for every single Alice Cooper show in the UK (and quite a few elsewhere). I thought I was hallucinating! But sure enough, myself and three others formed the start of the queue. Eventually people I recognised started to turn up, and it wasn't long before I was chatting away to good friends whom I hadn't seen in a year, as well as some I had been in contact with online but was now meeting face to face for the first time. A great moment!
Queueing all day long can be an extremely draining experience, especially if the weather is as cold as it was yesterday, but it would be twice as tedious without the friendship and banter that goes with it. We picked up our tickets smoothly enough, which was a huge relief after the nightmare that was Alexandra Palace last year (to cut a long story short, we queued for nine and a half hours only to be shoved to the end of the queue after the box office decided to open at the same time as the actual doors). No such disasters at Wembley Arena, although there was a mad scramble for the front when we were eventually let in. We were also made to sit on the floor for several minutes, for some bizarre reason... venue protocol?
The first support act was Duff McKagan's Loaded, who were pretty good. Despite not being a fan of Guns N' Roses, I've always admired Duff, and I liked what songs I had heard from Loaded before the gig. That seemed to speed by, then Ugly Kid Joe came on. They were quite impressive too, though my enjoyment of it was kind of impaired by the fact that I was feeling rather queasy by this time, as the lack of sleep decided to catch up with me. However, by the time Alice was due to come on, the adrenaline had kicked in and I felt a lot better.
What can I say? Excellent show! I was a bit alarmed by the number of complaints from fans about the setlist during the tour, and I must admit I was a little disappointed myself to see only two songs from Welcome 2 My Nightmare (the latest album, for those who don't know) and six covers. However, there had been a few tweaks to the setlist during the shows leading up to London, the six covers were chopped down to four and Caffeine was added in to make it three new songs instead of two, so in the end I couldn't have been happier with the way things went. From my point of view, it was brilliant to hear Caffeine and The Congregation live for the first time, particularly the latter as it's one of my favourite songs from the album. For a change there was no Only Women Bleed, and Cold Ethyl was also missing. Ballad of Dwight Fry was back having been dropped for the last tour, so it was great to hear it again. Two of the big highlights were House Of Fire and He's Back, two 80s gems resurrected by popular demand from the fans.
On a personal note, it was a good night for me as I managed to catch another billion dollar bill from Alice's sword (a special orange Halloween one again, yay!) and I also got pointed at again during Poison, which never fails to make you go weak at the knees. I was so happy! There's nothing quite like staring directly into your hero's eyes while he sings right at you - unless of course you count hugging him. But that's another story for another day!
As usual, it was over far too quickly. To use that age-old cliché, time flies when you're having fun. Or, as my version goes, time flies when you're watching Alice Cooper. At least this time I didn't have to say goodbye to everyone straight away, which is always depressing. After the show I stayed with my friend Penny in Cheltenham. Another friend, Stephen, drove us back there, with Alice playing in the car of course. This morning I got up bright and early after a decent night's sleep, and Penny dropped me off at Bristol Airport to catch my flight home, before she and Stephen headed off to Nottingham for the next Alice show. Oh how I'd love to have stayed!
This is me, Stephen Coleman, Steven Crayn and Steve Lewis (that's a lot of Steve's!) after the show.
Some people seem so bewildered at the idea of seeing an artist multiple times, as if you would get sick of it. As if! Okay, so you may hear many of the same songs, but with someone like Alice, it never gets boring because he's a master of entertainment and knows exactly what makes a great show. And, to be honest, he's so utterly badass that he could get up on stage and sing Twinkle Twinkle and I'd still think it was the greatest thing in the world.
As it happens, I have never seen Alice in my own country. Isn't that weird? Every single time has been in the UK. He doesn't come to Ireland very often (once in a blue moon) and when he does, something always seems to get in the way. Therefore I've made it my business over the last couple of years to travel the short distance overseas to see him, and it's meant that I've had the time of my life and made some fantastic friends from all over the world. I've also met the man himself on two of those occasions. Anyway, I'm rambling now, so on with the story!
Just like last year's trip, I had a 4am start (nobody but Alice could motivate me to drag myself out of bed at such an ungodly hour). My uncle and his wife were up at that time so had very kindly offered to drop me to the airport. My flight to Stansted was at 6.25, which was followed by a Stansted Express journey to Liverpool Street and a further tube journey to Wembley Park station. I arrived at the venue near enough to 10am, having been quite surprised that it was so easy to find, and was shocked to see that none of the usual suspects were there! By 'usual suspects' I mean the same people who are always at the front of the queue for every single Alice Cooper show in the UK (and quite a few elsewhere). I thought I was hallucinating! But sure enough, myself and three others formed the start of the queue. Eventually people I recognised started to turn up, and it wasn't long before I was chatting away to good friends whom I hadn't seen in a year, as well as some I had been in contact with online but was now meeting face to face for the first time. A great moment!
Queueing all day long can be an extremely draining experience, especially if the weather is as cold as it was yesterday, but it would be twice as tedious without the friendship and banter that goes with it. We picked up our tickets smoothly enough, which was a huge relief after the nightmare that was Alexandra Palace last year (to cut a long story short, we queued for nine and a half hours only to be shoved to the end of the queue after the box office decided to open at the same time as the actual doors). No such disasters at Wembley Arena, although there was a mad scramble for the front when we were eventually let in. We were also made to sit on the floor for several minutes, for some bizarre reason... venue protocol?
The first support act was Duff McKagan's Loaded, who were pretty good. Despite not being a fan of Guns N' Roses, I've always admired Duff, and I liked what songs I had heard from Loaded before the gig. That seemed to speed by, then Ugly Kid Joe came on. They were quite impressive too, though my enjoyment of it was kind of impaired by the fact that I was feeling rather queasy by this time, as the lack of sleep decided to catch up with me. However, by the time Alice was due to come on, the adrenaline had kicked in and I felt a lot better.
What can I say? Excellent show! I was a bit alarmed by the number of complaints from fans about the setlist during the tour, and I must admit I was a little disappointed myself to see only two songs from Welcome 2 My Nightmare (the latest album, for those who don't know) and six covers. However, there had been a few tweaks to the setlist during the shows leading up to London, the six covers were chopped down to four and Caffeine was added in to make it three new songs instead of two, so in the end I couldn't have been happier with the way things went. From my point of view, it was brilliant to hear Caffeine and The Congregation live for the first time, particularly the latter as it's one of my favourite songs from the album. For a change there was no Only Women Bleed, and Cold Ethyl was also missing. Ballad of Dwight Fry was back having been dropped for the last tour, so it was great to hear it again. Two of the big highlights were House Of Fire and He's Back, two 80s gems resurrected by popular demand from the fans.
On a personal note, it was a good night for me as I managed to catch another billion dollar bill from Alice's sword (a special orange Halloween one again, yay!) and I also got pointed at again during Poison, which never fails to make you go weak at the knees. I was so happy! There's nothing quite like staring directly into your hero's eyes while he sings right at you - unless of course you count hugging him. But that's another story for another day!
As usual, it was over far too quickly. To use that age-old cliché, time flies when you're having fun. Or, as my version goes, time flies when you're watching Alice Cooper. At least this time I didn't have to say goodbye to everyone straight away, which is always depressing. After the show I stayed with my friend Penny in Cheltenham. Another friend, Stephen, drove us back there, with Alice playing in the car of course. This morning I got up bright and early after a decent night's sleep, and Penny dropped me off at Bristol Airport to catch my flight home, before she and Stephen headed off to Nottingham for the next Alice show. Oh how I'd love to have stayed!
This is me, Stephen Coleman, Steven Crayn and Steve Lewis (that's a lot of Steve's!) after the show.
Alice's handprints, just days old, to commemorate the fact that he is the only international artist to have played at Wembley in each one of the past five decades. Go Alice!
So that's the end of my Alice adventures for another while. I always hate having to say goodbye to people! Back to reality now, and trying to work on five assignments at once plus my photography presentation this Thursday... yikes! Still, at least next week is Reading Week, and before that I'm off to Manchester with some family members this coming weekend for a football match (United v Arsenal at Old Trafford). Can't wait!
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