Keeping It Real with Rory Auskerry – November 2009

It’s been another busy and enjoyable month at Radio Orkney but for me there have been two obvious highlights. The first was completing a week of live broadcasts from the Orkney Library and Archive as part of BBC week there. Dave suggested to us that broadcasting live from there would be an interesting change of scene for us. We all thought it was great idea, so when the mics went live at half past seven on the Monday morning, I found myself sitting at a table in the library’s entrance lobby.

Shift patterns dictated that it was my turn to present the first programme from our new ‘studio’. I was pretty nervous about it because I’d never really presented much live stuff from anywhere other than our normal studio or the one from which we ran the student station at uni. To enable the whole thing to work we needed to have one member of the team based in the Castle Street studio to actually get the programme on and off the air at each end of the programme.

Because we wanted to do interviews with library staff about the things they were doing as part of the BBC week we also needed another one of our team in the library to carry out live interviews. So in the end I had Dave in the library with me, and Andrew back in the studio. The show went off without a hitch and I got a real buzz from the whole experience.

I didn’t present any other programmes that week but I was in every morning to press the buttons and switches in the library. This involved dialling the studio’s ISDN number (basically a high quality telephone line), setting the microphone levels for the presenters and playing in the pre recorded parts of the programme from my laptop computer.

We invited members of the public to come along to the library and watch the show going out live, and for me, one of the best things about the week of ‘outside broadcasting’ was the fact that we got immediate feedback from the folk sitting in front of us. Normally the morning show shift is handled by one of us aided by a co-presenter, so it was great fun having all of the available Radio Orkney staff in each morning. The entire week of programmes really felt like a team effort.

The second highlight of the month for me was getting behind the microphone to present the first ‘Hit The Beach’ programme of the new series. I love blues and rock music and being given the freedom to play some of my favourite tracks on the air is a real privilege. I just hope that I’m able to convey my enjoyment of the music to the folk listening at home.

Having spoken about the highlights I feel like I should give some balance and mention something, which has always been a bit of an issue for me. I am an inherent worrier. When I was a child I worried about everything from being late to missing trains and getting separated from mum in the supermarket.

Although I think I’ve relaxed a bit with age, I still worry about things more than most other people I know. In some respects it helps me because I pride myself of being on time and not forgetting important things. However, the nature of my current job at the radio station seems to be exacerbating the issue. When it’s my turn to present Around Orkney, I get up at around quarter to six and arrive in the office shortly before half past. This gives me just over an hour to check the scripts, find out if anything has happened over night that we need to broadcast such as coast guard incidents, add the weather forecast to the programme running order and make any other final adjustments. This is all fine, but my tendency to worry means that more often than not I find myself not sleeping properly the night before I’m ‘on’.

The most recent example was last week when I woke bolt upright in bed convinced that I had slept in and missed the show. I grabbed my watch from the bedside cabinet and read the time as twenty to eight in the morning. This threw me into a complete panic. I just couldn’t believe that both my alarms had failed! In desperation I checked my watch again only to realise I was reading it upside down. Suddenly twenty to eight became ten past two giving me a good three and a half left in bed.

I suspect there are a lot of people who have been in a similar situation. If you haven’t, believe me it is not pleasant. I certainly hope this kind of thing doesn’t become a regular occurrence or I suspect I may well suffer a heart attack long before I reach forty.

On a different note I have decided to put some of my spare time to good use and teach myself how to edit video footage on my computer. I really should have made more effort to learn the skills while I was at university but unfortunately none of the video production staff managed to inspire me to gain much of an interest in it.

I wish one of them had helped me to realise how I could use the skills in a news environment, or more simply for making little promotional video’s to encourage people to listen to my radio shows and podcasts. If they had I would have tried to learn the skills as a priority.

What I was shown was interesting and I enjoyed the teamwork side of video that you often don’t get with radio projects, but at the time it just didn’t enthuse me. So, in an attempt to rectify this lack of foresight, I have bought a small camcorder and some books about digital video editing. We’ll just have to see how I get on. Cheers.

Hit The Beach – November 3rd 2009 - Track Listing

Hit The Beach – November 3rd 2009 - Track Listing

Rolling Stones Let It Rock (LIVE)
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Jammin’ Me (LIVE)
Tommy Emmanuel Don’t Hold Me Back
Tina Turner Addicted To Love (LIVE)
Black Crowes Go Faster
Walk Of Life Dire Straits (LIVE)
Robbie Robertson/Eric Clapton Who Do You Love (LIVE)
The Small Faces Lazy Sunday
AC/DC Heatseeker (LIVE)
Chuck Berry No Particular Place To Go
Buddy Holly Rave On
Gary Moore Walking By Myself

More at www.roryauskerry.com
Thanks for listening!

Hit The Beach Track Listing - 06/10/09

Hit The Beach Playlist - October 6th, 2009

Oasis Cigarettes and Alcohol (Definately Maybe)
Paul Rose Ninth Life (Note To Self)
Chris Rea Working On It (Still so far to go...The Best of Chris rea*)
Juliette & The Licks Smash & Grab (Four on the Floor)
Randy Newman Gone Dead Train (Perfromance Soundtrack)
Freddie King Going Down (Greatest Hits)
Thunder Feeding The Flame (Laughing on Judgement Day)
Dave Hole Lets Get Loose (Working Overtime)
Sonny Landreth Bad Weather (Outward Bound)
Chris Rea Come So Far, Still So Far To Go (Chris Rea*)
Fleetwood Mac My Heart Beat Like a Hammer (Best of Peter Green)
G3 Going Down (G3 Live)

Keeping It Real with Rory Auskerry - October 2009

Carefree fresher days

Now that we are experiencing the autumn equinox, several of my friends who still have time left to do at university have packed their bags and headed away south again. I must confess that it does feel a bit weird that I'm not going away as well, made all the worse by the fact that my girlfriend is one of them and even my younger brother has headed off to New Zealand for a year.
Several of my friends have made comments on Facebook about how they wish that they were a fresher again. These discussions have conjured up great memories for me of those first few hours when I had just arrived in my flat and was introducing myself to my fellow house mates.

We were all nervous but I can recall being incredibly excited. I remember well how cool it felt having that first pint in the student bar, going to the first party, shaking hands with a seemingly endless stream of people from all over the country and the first night in my student room. The week or so that followed was a drink-fuelled haze of great fun, constant laughs, junk food, endless hellos and not enough sleep. I'll never forget my fresher's experience - it was a truly fantastic time. However things inevitably move on and I think even if I could do it all again I'd rather not, instead I'll opt to keep it as a great memory.

Although there are obviously a lot of attractions to being a student - the ability to go for a sleep in the middle of the afternoon and take a long lie in for a start - I still think I prefer having a job and working. I feel a bigger sense of achievement when I'd doing radio things 'for real' rather than an exercise at uni. Plus I enjoy having money in my pocket all the time, as opposed to the three times a year when the government decided to give me my student loan.

However, one thing about employment I am not enjoying much at the moment is trying to sort out how to do my accounts and pay tax. Although I'm working full time at Radio Orkney, I am technically a 'freelance journalist' and classed as self-employed. As a result I have to do my tax returns myself, rather than having it deducted from my pay slip automatically. I'm led to believe this has advantages because I can clam for certain things like mileage and part of my phone bill as business expenses, and therefore save money, but it all seems a bit tedious.

I know there are a lot of people in Orkney who have been self-employed all their life so this may well be a familiar issue to you. If it is then I'm sorry for reminding you about it. If it's not but you think it might be soon I wish you the best of luck because although I've always been pretty organised with money, I won't pretend that I'm not finding it a stretch. Even Vince Cable finds tax facts a challenge!

Continuing on a work theme, the Radio Orkney team and I are gearing up for the beginning of evening programmes next week. This winter will see the return of the usual favourites; Bruck, 'The Dashing White Farmer Show' with Liam Muir, 'Tuesday Folk' with Andy Cant and 'On The Border' with Norrie Drever. I will also be presenting a second series of my music programme, 'Hit The Beach' starting on Tuesday. I absolutely love having a chance to play some of my favourite blues and rock tracks on the radio and I tend to spend hours mulling over which tracks to include each month.

As well as the music programmes there are several exciting additions to the evening line-up this year. Dave is working on a new programme called 'Hoose Wark' that will look at many different aspects of building. Robbie will be presenting a programme about farming, and Andrew will be offering listeners the chance to find out more about the history and development in Orkney's many parishes, in his new programme, 'Parish Pump'.

I'm really excited about the new line-up, not least because it will involve a lot more programme trails - the making of which is one of my favourite jobs. It also means I'll be spending more time presenting programmes live 'on air' which is another. The downside of course is a couple of hours of extra work every day!

Another part of the job that I enjoyed recently was getting the chance to learn some camera skills. The team who produce Reporting Scotland, the half-hour teatime Scottish news programme on BBC One, sometimes ask for coverage of a major story happening in the county.

The requirement for camera work to be done in Orkney is sporadic and when the call does come, it's always Fionn who goes off to do it. However, as he's currently the only member of the team with the skills to put a TV piece together, Dave and his bosses further South were keen for some of the rest of us to learn some basic camera skills. This would then enable us to at the very least record and send unedited footage to our colleagues in Glasgow. That way, when Fionn is on holiday, someone else may be able to step in.

As a result we were paid a visit a few weeks ago by a video journalist and camera trainer from Glasgow who came up to show Dave and I how to use the equipment. Luckily for me, footage of the Fair Isle bird observatory pods that I shot while on a training trip to the Hatston pier ended up on Reporting Scotland later that evening. I won't lie and say I wasn't pretty chuffed! All in all it's been a busy four weeks and frankly I don't know where the time has gone. It will doubtless be Christmas before we know it, but until November, cheerio.

Keeping It Real with Rory Auskerry - September 2009

Stormy days and sunsets

Over the last few months I've been interested to see how the recession would manifest itsself in different areas of everyday life - especially here in Orkney. The thing that I have noticed most of all is that it seems to have, so far at least, not struck a major blow to the county.

On the one hand there are national papers like the Sunday Observer that are set to close because the company which owns it can't make it pay. On the other hand, a small business in Westray is reporting a 27% increase in trade - the biggest growth they have seen since they started the business.

On the face of it this is great news. Many people I've spoken to think the recession is on its way out; some say it will never really affect us at all. Despite wishing to share these optimistic views I am a little concerned that we could just be in for a downturn a little later than people south, much like the delay we have with getting new films at the Picky.

These thoughts were consolidated after I spoke to the Mabens in Westray just over a week ago. I stayed overnight to do a few interviews around the island on the Thursday followed by a live contribution to the Friday morning programme on Radio Orkney from the site of the new community wind turbine.

It was the first time I'd presented a live element of the programme anywhere other than in the studio, and it was also my first attempt at using the 'Bgan' satellite link. After a less than perfect night's sleep due to my predisposition to worry, I managed to do the job without any major mistakes - so that was another challenge crossed off my list.

As soon as I arrived back in Kirkwall a house full to the rafters greeted me. Almost thirty members of my extended family had made the journey North to be there for a party to celebrate four of our birthdays. It's always a real treat to see my aunts, uncles and cousins as I get on well with all of them. However, our house is not the biggest in the world and once you start trying to feed and entertain that many people it can become quite a logistical nightmare.

Perhaps one of the most interesting things to observe once you get such a big group of people together, especially when they are related is the dynamics of the relationships. It amused me to see many of the character traits I see in myself and my brothers reflected in other members of my wider family.

I think it must be true that every family has an embarrassing uncle, an aunt who gets tipsy on a seemingly tiny amount of wine and someone who is so forgetful that they ask you the same question several times. To me, the banter and laughs that inevitably occur when you get such a group of people together is one of the things that makes family time so special. It was a fantastic weekend and with the help of a stack of pictures I'll be remembering the highlights fondly until the next big get together.

August also saw two of my best friends from uni arriving in Orkney - for the second time. You may remember me recounting the events of two summers ago when five friends and I failed to get to Auskerry due to bad weather. Despite this unfortunate setback, Phil and Andy were keen to come back and try again for a second time.

The long weekend we chose was the one following the county show. Having had such great weather for the shows and the parish cup final I was pessimistically thinking it couldn't last. As it happened I was right as we did get a fairly wet and windy weekend. However, the trip out to the island was fairly pedestrian and we managed to get our tents erected just before the rain started.

Over the course of the three days we were there the lads experienced heavy rain, gale-force winds, glorious sunshine and back to calm sunny weather again. Part of me was disappointed that we hadn't had perfect weather for the entire holiday, but on the other hand I was glad that the lads were able to see Auskerry in a range of different conditions.

Over the three years I've lived with them in Sunderland I've often talked about stormy days and beautiful sunsets on calm evenings on the island so I was quite happy that they got to see these events for themselves.

One of the highlights about the trip was that one of my best friends from Orkney was able to come out with us. I was keen for both groups of friends to meet and therefore create a cross-reference between my home life and the one I experienced at university. As I'd hoped the lads got on really well and we all enjoyed a fantastic summer break.

Finally for this month's column I wanted to mention some exciting news for local radio listeners. The BBC Trust which works on behalf of the licence fee payers to ensure you get the best from the corporation has decided to back enhanced investment in regional news services like Radio Orkney and Radio Shetland.

As a result we're looking at ways to expand the range of services offered by the BBC in the county. Many of the suggestions have come from local listeners and although I can't say too much at this stage, it's likely to mean some exciting developments at Radio Orkney. Watch this space!

Keeping It Real with Rory Auskerry - August 2009

Trying To Keep His Cool

I’ve been amazed at how many people, even folk I don’t know, have commented to me about ‘the day the computers died’. Almost everyone I meet seems to have been listening, or heard about the morning when some of the computers at Radio Orkney overheated to the point where most of the key equipment didn’t work properly.
After I’d managed a few programmes without too many mistakes Dave Gray decided to let me do a programme without anyone in the building to supervise me. I was nervous about the prospect but I figured that as long as I followed my checklist to the letter and did everything the guys had told me to, it should be ok. How wrong I was.
It was during that week last month when most of the local temperature records were broken and at about half past six on that Wednesday morning we were breaking them too. The small room that our computer servers are stored in reached a staggering 42 degrees Celsius meaning that the actual brains could barely function.
The computer that prints the scripts was telling me to revert to the backup system, the computer that plays out the audio in the studio was acting up and the one that allows us to actually get the studio live to air was also on the blink. I couldn’t even call an outside line on the phones because they are also run off a computer that had decided to take a holiday somewhere hot.
More or less the only people who were cool, was Kylie Harcus, my co-presenter that morning, and Robbie Fraser who was actually several hundred miles away at the Island games in Aland. I managed to get him dialled up on an ISDN line as he was due to contribute to the show so he was there to tell what I needed to do to get on air using the backup system.
To cut a long, and somewhat fraught story short, we eventually go on air about five minutes later than normal. After 25 minutes of things continuing to go wrong we made it to eight. I was mortified at how much of a mess the programme had been and I was sorry about what the folk at home had to put up with.
Having said that everyone both in the office and elsewhere has been very nice about it. It seems that a combination of Kylie’s ability to remain calm, Robbie’s long distance advice and my days of busking live shows at Uni helped to get us through.
Dave was nice about it too and he still hasn’t sent me packing yet so I think he knows I’ve learned from it. I did laugh when I went to the pub the following night though. I walked in and asked Melba behind the bar for my usual pint of lager to which she replied; “Hello Rory, you’re only getting half a pint because we only got half a programme!”
More recently I took a couple of days off to go south for my graduation ceremony. Mum and I took the first ferry of the day from to Gills Bay on the Wednesday morning and drove all the way to Sunderland. We had arranged to stop in Newcastle to have a meal with my housemate Phil and his family, none of whom I had met despite living with him for three years. Although we arrived in the city on the nose of nine o’ clock, I managed to get lost in the one-way system so we didn’t get our meal until almost ten.
The following morning we got up early and re-grouped with my other old housemates and their parents and headed off to the Stadium of light in Sunderland. Several people have since commented that a football stadium might seem an odd place to stage a graduation ceremony and I can see why.
However, the Stadium is actually a very impressive building and the function rooms are very nicely done out. It’s also a venue signifying immense pride and achievement in the city and I think the University management therefore see it as a fitting place to host all six of the annual graduation ceremonies.
I still haven’t quite got over the fact that I got awarded a first class honours degree. I went to Uni fully intending to come away with a 2:1 at best – which I would have been extremely proud of. I went there to get the experience as much as the paper work so when the results letter came through the door I was truly shocked.
It turned out that as I had expected, most of my work averaged a 2:1 – except two of the practical radio modules - one of which was my dissertation documentary.
When it came to marking, that half hour programme about home education was given 80%. Because the dissertation module is worth 40 credits as opposed the usual 10 or 20, it and the other 20 credit radio module I did well in managed to push me up to a 1st overall. To me this indicates that if you work reasonably hard at everything, but really pull out all the stops for the things you enjoy, it seems the rewards are there.
I’ve been feeling a bit awkward about writing about all this stuff because I don’t want folk thinking I’m trying to big myself up. To be honest, I think if anyone needs to be given a real pat on the back it should be the people who contributed to the programmes by agreeing to be interviewed, offering advice or simply letting me endlessly play bits to them until I was happy with it - so thank you very much all of you!
I’m writing this month’s column while half an eye is watching a live AC/DC concert DVD. I was very jealous of all my mates who were at the recent Hamden Park gig. I’ve seen photos and it looked, and by all accounts was, a truly excellent concert.
I heard on Top Gear last week that the bands lead singer Brian Johnson is almost 62! I hope the band keep going long enough for me to get a chance see them, and I’d also like to think that I might be half as fit as them when I reach their age but somehow I doubt it. Cheerio.

Keeping It Real with Rory Auskerry - July 2009

Generation Crunch

IN the wake of the European elections last month, I have been thinking about the way elections are currently regarded by young people. Until now I have had to vote via post as I have been away at university, so my first vote at the ballot box was an interesting experience for me.

As I arrived at the Kirkwall polling station, I expected to find the St Magnus Centre busy with folk queuing up in their lunch hour to mark their ballot, but it seemed that very few people were interested in the election at all. There was not a single young person there other than myself. In fact, the only people I did see voting were at least 60 years old.

I believe there are a number of issues responsible for poor turn out and a general apathy towards democracy. The first is that politics is regarded by most of my generation as boring, ineffectual and neither interesting or important. The second is the actual method used to cast and collect votes.

The antiquated system of putting an 'X' on a ballot paper at a polling booth has been the same since before women first got the right to vote in 1928. We now live in a society where millions of people vote every week on comparatively trivial issues like Susan Boyle's singing success and who gets evicted from the Big Brother house. Meanwhile we still have this old fashioned, cumbersome and inconvenient system for deciding the far more serious issues of who runs our country and what part we play in Europe etc.

I believe the Government needs to realise that if turnout is to improve, (it was just 26% in Orkney for the recent European elections) and if young people are to get interested in politics, they need to do something fairly radical, and do it soon. I suggest that people should be able to vote online by logging onto a Government website and using their national insurance number or some other individual code to cast their vote.

I'm not suggesting polling stations should be done away with just yet, but it seems obvious that the system needs modernising. If people can safely use the internet for banking, shopping and booking flights, I simply will not accept that online voting is not a safe and credible option. Perhaps investment in new voting methods would be more worthwhile than ID cards?

As a fan of the Apprentice, I'm pleased to see that Sir Alan Sugar has taken up a position in the House of Lords. However, I am a little concerned that if politicians feel the need to share power with celebrities as a way of boosting national interest in their policies then we have problems as a nation. I believe that people should care about what is going on, who's in charge and what decisions are being made without the need for celebrity endorsement.
I think Sir Alan makes excellent TV and he clearly has a great business acumen that may well help guide the country through the recession. However, it could be the beginning of a slippery slope. Imagine if the BBC Parliament channel began to look more like an episode of the Britain's Got Talent with celebrity judges hitting their 'X' buttons when MPs make poor decisions, or Sir Alan pointing his firing finger at one MP a week for filing dodgy expenses claims.

I don't think anyone would argue that it wouldn't make great entertainment, but something along those lines could trivialise politics. I would however like to see some changes in the way all Government bodies present themselves to encourage young people to take a greater interest, and feel more part of the decision making process.

I was alarmed to read in a national paper last week that the 'class of 2009' graduates are probably in the worst financial and employment position of any year of graduates before us. One in six young people dubbed the 'generation crunch' face unemployment. In the 16 to 25 year age bracket, 18.3% are unemployed - that's the highest rate for 15 years.

I still believe that people with talent, skills and a real desire to work will find a job but with the employment climate looking so dire, it's incredibly likely that many young people will find themselves out of work at some point. One of the biggest issues with this is not simply the lack of money and the inevitable damage unemployment does to a persons moral, but that employers much prefer to hire people who already have a job, as opposed to taking on people who might be on the dole or living from the 'bank of mum and dad'.

I am incredibly fortunate to have full-time work at Radio Orkney, especially because I love the job. However, I don't think the Government is doing enough to help graduates and young people to find work or training. It's perhaps only a small blessing to those with almost £20,000 of debt, but at least we don't have to begin paying our loans back until we start earning over £15,000 a year. For many graduates and other young people, myself included, that day may be some way off.

For the last week, I have been down in Exeter and Bristol seeing family. I have two sets of twin cousins who are only a month different in age to me and they celebrated their 21st birthdays with a couple of parties - one in each city.

Although going south so soon after getting back from uni was a bit of a drag, I think it is really important that my cousins and I see as much of each other as we can, especially at special events like birthdays. The parents in the family have always made a lot of effort to get us all together at least once a year and consequently we all get on extremely well.

Although it was an expensive trip for me, I think it was definitely worth the effort and I hope we all keep making it. Cheerio.

Keeping It Real with Rory Auskerry – June 2009

Missing Being A Student

Life as a student is now over for me. Last week saw me presenting my final show on our student radio station Utopia FM; leaving the media centre and many friends behind forever.
Because the last couple of weeks have been pretty tiring and stressful; with work deadlines, a two-hour show every day as well as packing to be done, I’m pleased to be home with some time to relax and reflect on these last three years.

Looking ahead to the next six to twelve months I have two main concerns. The first is that in a week or two, when the facts sink in that this is the end of Uni and not just another holiday, I will miss being a student really badly. The second is whether I’ll be able to get a job anytime soon! Luckily I have work sorted out at Radio Orkney for this summer, but I’m preparing for the worst-case scenario of unemployment come September. I’ll be applying for any jobs I can over the next few months so I’ll just have to see what happens.

Having said that, I have been getting increasingly despondent about the state of politics in the country at the moment. I think the media frenzy over the MP’s expenses is irresponsible. Like most people I’m disgusted at the level of dishonesty, rule bending and the lack of morals many of our elected representatives have displayed. If the public showed as little morality as some of the MP’s, this country would be completely on its knees. They should be leading by example, not showing us how to fiddle the books!

However, I think the way the media have covered the expenses debacle is actually a very cleverly crafted smoke screen to keep our minds off the bigger issues. I’m fully aware that the media have a duty to report facts and keep the public aware of what’s going on, but they also have a role in leading their audiences too.

We are all worrying about what’s going to happen now that we are suffering the worst economic collapse in 70 years. As a nation we have growing unemployment, which is especially scary for students who have thousands of pounds of debt; we are at war in the Middle East; our planet needs urgent attention to protect it, and us from climate change and yet every newspaper, radio and TV station feels the biggest story is which MP has cleaned their moat, or over ordered on light bulbs and scatter cushions.

At the moment Orkney seems to be doing alright with farmers getting good prices for livestock and the tourist industry benefiting form people choosing to holiday in the UK. But with 40% of the county’s workforce employed in public sector jobs we are in real danger when the inevitable cutbacks are made.

I’m not excusing the MP’s, who should certainly be brought to account. I think where serious wrongdoing can be proved by the Allowances Select Committee, the culprits should face the law in the same way you or I would. Ultimately though, the voters will decide who stays and who goes at the next election. I just hope people don’t vote for extremist parties as a knee jerk reaction.

On a much smaller scale, I have recently been trying to deal with some issues at University regarding the way the media department has been run during my time in Sunderland. Since before I first arrived, up until January this year there has been nobody filling the ‘Head of Radio’ role. This has led to a number of things being neglected and overlooked which I think is a disgrace, especially given the amount of money we pay each year to be educated.

I gathered a few mates together who have first hand experience of the problems I wanted to address. These included a general lack of support by university management for the Utopia student management team, and a lack of communication between the visual media and radio departments. This has ultimately resulted in radio being left out of the so called ‘media awards’ for two years running.

We arranged a meeting and hopefully the issues we raised will be dealt with and improvements will be made for future students. Although I’m not a complainer by nature, I don’t see why we should keep quiet when these things have had a direct effect on our experience at the University of Sunderland.

On balance I’d have to say that university has been a fantastic experience, and one that I will certainly remember fondly. I’ve met a lot of great people, and had the opportunity to learn and do things that I would not have been able to had I gone straight into full time employment after finishing school.

However, I am certain that my three years at Uni were enhanced greatly by the extra things I have got involved in alongside my degree course. Without Utopia radio, our Northern Hype DJ enterprise, my Student Ambassador job and the other things I did while I was there, I would simply be another average media graduate. I really hope that making that extra effort in my spare time will reap rewards if I get some job interviews, although I did them for fun at the time.

Last month I went to the Stadium of Light to watch my first premier league football match. Despite Sunderland conceding two goals to Everton early in the second half, Lizi, Phil and I really enjoyed being part of the atmosphere.

It was fascinating to see perfectly normal men and women walk up the steps and take their seats, only minutes later to change from calm, relaxed fathers and mothers, into raging, yelling maniacs! Every time something happened on the field that they weren’t happy about, they stood up, waving their arms and swearing as the blood vessels on their necks and arms looked as if they were about to burst.

Some of the chants and heckles were possibly even more entertaining than the game. Well worth the twenty-seven quid I’d say – although I wouldn’t go every week. I’m already looking forward to the parish cup final although I am sure that it will be much more civilized! Cheerio.

Keeping It Real with Rory Auskerry – May 2009

End of an era

I'VE just got back to Sunderland after a thoroughly enjoyable two weeks at home. I'm reluctant to call it a holiday as I think I probably worked harder and achieved more in those two weeks than I would have done had I been down here! I was almost full-time in Radio Orkney but also trying to get my dissertation programme finished. Thankfully the 30-minute documentary is now completed and I handed it in last week.

The work is far from over though, as I must also submit a production file including scripts, music reporting forms and contributor information etc. Then a week later, I must hand in a 2500 word evaluation of the production process from the conception of my ideas right through to the final edit. I've learned a heck of a lot from the process though, so there will be plenty to write about.

I've discovered that making a feature-length documentary is a totally different discipline from a short news piece both in terms of its structure and the style of presentation. When I first recorded the documentary links in the studio they sounded far too strident and newsy. After discussion with my tutor I decided to record them 'on location' down at Scapa beach.

I got some funny looks from folk out walking their dog or driving past. I also had to try and record in between boats going out, planes flying over and the council dustcart going past! At least if you happen to have seen me you'll now know that I wasn't just talking into a furry thing at 9am on a beach for no reason!

In light of this year's Orkney population change study which was published last week I'm moved to raise a point about such matters. Throughout my life I have come across people who openly hold the view that incomers are bad for Orkney.

Thankfully these people seem to be in a minority. However such views are apparent enough that I think a debate should be had with a view to persuading such people to modernise their attitude.

The population study clearly shows that several of Orkney's communities are under threat of becoming unsustainable.

Areas highlighted as being in need of attention include North Ronaldsay, Flotta, Graemsay, Eday, Wyre, Egilsay, Rousay, Sanday and Stronsay. Even Hoy, Westray and Shapinsay are listed as having below average economic activity and a reliance on migrants to sustain the population.

I was born here and I've lived here all my life. Between them, my parents have been here for over 60 years and although I consider myself to be an Orcadian it's up to you to make a judgement on that. My point is this; if these few indigenous Orcadians don't embrace 'ferry loupers' as an addition to the work force and perhaps more importantly the gene pool, then this wonderful county is at risk of suffering in the long term. It seems obvious to me that many of the people who move here bring much needed skills, as well as children to fill the schools and young people to marry.

It's also worth mentioning that such anti-incomer views are also very hypocritical. It seems odd that an Orcadian can happily move to Canada or New Zealand to live and work but doesn't like incomers to the county.

There are so many great things about Orkney and the vast majority of people are kind, open minded and forward thinking. However I think the minority, through a feeling nothing short of racism, are potentially fraying a lifeline that is undoubtedly helping Orkney to grow and prosper.

I'm going to step off my soap box for a while now as I think the air up there is getting a bit thin. However I would like to make some comments about the county's only commercial radio station, Superstation Orkney.

I've been listening on and off while I'm home and for the most part I like the music the station plays. However, I had heard rumours that none of the speech shows were actually broadcast live from Kirkwall. It turns out that this is not the case, with the daytime shows all coming from the station's studio in Junction Road.

I do think the station management have missed a bit of a trick though, as there doesn't seem to be any buzz about the station, or indeed much notability about it at all. Most of the listeners I have spoken to seem to regard it as audio wallpaper and a lot of my mates disregard it in favour of Radio 1 or 2.

To me this seems to be a crying shame, as having a radio station that broadcasts music and chat 24/7 in as small a place as Orkney is fantastic. I can't believe that there isn't a good number of young people who love music and wouldn't jump at the chance to get on the radio!? If I wasn't involved with the BBC I would be banging on the Superstation's door every day to try and get a show.

Having spoken to the managing director of the station, I have discovered that they plan to launch a training programme in June to encourage young people to get involved. This will be promoted on the station this month, so keep your ears peeled.

I really hope that some young people get involved as I think the station would benefit greatly from some local knowledge as well as the excitement this would inevitably generate. Let's have some anarchic, loud and exciting radio from the local commercial sector!

That's all for this month. I have mixed feelings over the fact that the next time I write I'll have finished my degree and left university, probably forever. For those of you frantically trying to get things finished, as I am this month, I wish you the best of luck. Cheerio.

Auskerry: 03 Dec 2008. Barry Kirkham

Useless friends, airport security, leaving parties, smashed windows, pranksters and skidding on the ice. Rory is joined by his mate Barry Kirkham for a look at whats been occurring since Martin was in with Rory for a podcast. Great banter, chat and the odd jingle... Its the Rory Auskerry show.

Hit The Beach – April 29th 2009 - Tracklisting

Here's the tracklisting for April 29th - the last show of the season.

1. Real Mean Bottle - Bob Seger featuring Kid Rock (Face The Promice)
2. Six Days On The Road - Taj Mahal (Best of)
3. Down In The Flood - The Derek Trucks Band (Already Free)
4. That's My Home - Buddy Guy with Robert Randolph (Skin Deep)
5. Cooler N' Hell - Ray Wylie Hubbard (Delerium Tremolos)
6. Soul - Aynsley Lister (Equilibrium)
7. My Generation (Instrumental Version) - The Who
8. Gonna Move - Susan Tedeschi with Derek Trucks (Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean)
9. Strawberry Fields - A Skillz vs the Beatles (Re-mix)
10. Your Time Is Done - Bad Taste (Orkney Group - Original Track)
11. Rock Steady - Bonnie Raitt & Bryan Adams (Road Tested - Live)
12. Heatseeker - AC/DC (Live At Donnington)

That's all from Hit The Beach this season. The show will be back on the air in October so listen out then. Thanks for listening this time. :)

Keeping It Real with Rory Auskerry – April 2009

Jobs and all that Jazz

A couple of weeks ago I applied for a job as an assistant producer at BBC Radio 2 in London, but unfortunately I was not selected for an interview. This was the first application I’ve ever made for a job so I didn’t know what to expect.

It would have been nice to get an interview, as the feedback from that would inevitably have fed into future applications. I suspect that the current job climate is making things even more competitive than normal, as journalists and presenters attempt to get BBC Jobs after being forced to leave the struggling commercial sector. However, I think even taking this into account I was punching above my weight, especially given that I’m only 21 this June and I haven’t even graduated yet! I’m very fortunate that I have other options in terms of work and education to buy me some ‘job hunting time’.

Something that’s been playing on my mind for a while is how employment and the move to fully-fledged adult hood will effect how much I see of my family. At the moment, the only time my immediate family are all together is during Christmas holidays or perhaps a week here and there in the summer when I spend some time on Auskerry. This is because dad spends a lot of his time on the island, and when I’m home in the summer I tend to spend most of my time in Kirkwall working and seeing friends. As this has featured throughout my life I’ve kind of got used to it but I’d still like to spend more time with us all together.

In terms of my extended family, I’ve always got on well with my aunts, uncles, grand parents and cousins on both sides. I only get to see these family members once or twice a year because they all live south, so it’s always a very special occasion. Part of me wishes they live closer but I’ve noticed that a lot of families who live near to such relations often don’t see them much, or in some cases, even get on with them. I think this is a real shame and I suspect that the old adage that you can choose your friends but not your family is very true. Perhaps with family, less is more.

I’ll be together with most of my dad’s side of the family this weekend as one of my cousins gets married. I’m really looking forward to this and I hope that as my cousins and I get embroiled in work and families of our own, we can still find the time for an annual get together.

Since the last column I’ve been able to go to two interesting events in the city. The first was a concert with the BBC Big Band playing as part of the Great North East Jazz Festival, which has been running for over six years now. The sixteen- piece band are real pros and they were both great to listen to and watch.

I was able to organise an interview for Utopia with the band leader and the festival director just before the band went on stage. I was amused by the latter gentleman’s answer to my question about whether young people are into Jazz in the North East, to which he answered; “yes, they love it. You can see them all sitting upstairs.” The downstairs area of the venue was filled with rows and rows of pensioners and, as I discovered later, the upstairs area was very sparsely dressed with a hand full of young people. He certainly knew how to do his ‘theatre of radio’ PR; I couldn’t fault him for that.

I went with a few friends and we all thoroughly enjoyed it, despite the fact that none of us would actually consider ourselves to be jazz fans. It doesn’t seem to be a particularly ‘cool’ genre at the moment, certainly not like hip hop or indie is. I think this is a shame because so many current performers have their roots in Jazz, and its spontaneity makes it very exciting to listen to.

I was also fortunate to be able to attend a radio academy master class that was held in Sunderland two weeks ago. Speakers included the radio breakfast presenters form BBC Tees and the commercial station, TFM. These seasoned professionals were able to offer us a real insight into the job of a ‘jock’ as well as giving us some tangible tips as to how to be successful in the industry.

One of the most interesting things I learned came from TFM breakfast presenter Graham Mack, when he drew a parallel between politics and radio. He suggested that presenters should to get out into their ‘patch’ or ‘constituency’ and talk to their potential listeners. He said that the listeners are effectively voters when it comes to audience figures and therefore a good presenter will canvas their listeners. So watch out if Dave Gray starts chatting you up in the street!

The event lasted a full day and in addition to what I’ve mentioned we had demonstrations on everything from podcasting to in-store radio like ASDA FM. I really enjoyed it and hope that I can use some of what I learned if and when I get a job in my chosen career.

I hope that you’ve caught some of my music shows on Radio Orkney over the last few months. If you tuned in for last night’s edition of ‘Hit The Beach’ you’ll have heard me playing a new track from Orkney based DJ and producer, Will Atkinson. I’m very keen to play music from local bands and Dj’s on the show so please do get in touch via my website. www.roryauskerry.com. I’d like to finish by wishing all my readers and listeners a very happy Easter. Cheers.

Hit The Beach – April 1st 2009 - Tracklisting

Hit The Beach – April 1st 2009

Arthur Conley - Sweet Soul Music (Blues Brother, Soul Sister)
Joe Bonamassa – Lonesome Road Blues (The Ballad of John Henry)
Beth Hart - Soul Shine (37 Days)
Paul Rose – Note To Self (Currently Unreleased)
J.J. Cale – Cherry Street (Roll On)
The Stone Coyotes – The Sailors Song (Rise From The Ashes)
Bruce Hornsby – A Night On The Town (A Night On The Town)
Will Atkinson – Enough Is Enough (Dave Pearce's Trance Anthems 2009)
Fatboy Slim – Satisfaction Skank (Not Released)
Annie Lennox – Shining Light (The Annie Lennox Collection)
The Parlour Mob – Hard Times (And You Were A Crow)
Eric Sardinas – Ride (Eric Sardinas & Big Motor)

Keeping It Real with Rory Auskerry - March 2009

Competing for a job

AS the nation sinks deeper into this recession it is difficult for students not to worry about their chances of gaining employment after they graduate. I understand that for families living close to the breadline, who have suffered a cut in hours or even redundancy, the plight of students is probably not at the top of their 'worry list'. Anyone looking for a job is at a disadvantage at the moment, unless you work for a company which organises repossessions. However, I think it's worth discussing the employment issues from a student perspective.

It is likely that by the time this year's university and college graduates hit the job market, the slump in the economy will mean there just isn't enough demand for labour for everyone to gain employment. This is going to be as much a problem for media graduates like myself, as it might be for business, engineering or any other graduate.

Students who are about to graduate should be giving consideration to all options available after the umbilical cord that is student life, is finally cut. I'm planning to apply for jobs in the hope that something might come up after the summer but I'm also looking at a contingency plan in case my employment fears are proved to be right.

I'm thinking about applying to do a one-year Masters degree course here in Sunderland to increase my qualifications, and therefore to buy myself another year through this recession. I'm hoping that I will get a job offer before September but I've never been one for leaving things to chance and I like to have a backup plan. I also feel that I'd rather remain in full-time education for a year than take up a job that's not related to my long-term career aspirations.

There is a third dimension for me because our student radio station, Utopia FM, will now definitely be going live as a full-time 24/7 community station from September. If I was to come back and do a Masters I would be in a perfect position to get really involved with its development. This would be really exciting and would offer the opportunity to do a regular show and therefore build up a considerable number of 'on air hours'. I would also be able to form part of the full-time management team and consequently gain valuable experience in radio station management.

Although the employment market does not look too good at the moment, I'm hoping that when things do start to improve again companies will be taking on more new staff than they would in a normal year. If this is the case then competition would certainly be fierce. I'm certainly interested to see where things will go over the next 12 to 18 months.

As part of the preparation process for gaining employment I've been preparing my CV. As this is something I've no previous experience of, yet it's something that could gain me that all-important interview, I have been taking extra care to try and get it right. I'm fortunate that several members of my extended family have seen a great many CVs as part of their jobs and they are therefore able to offer me some very useful advice and guidance. It has surprised me how long the process has taken already, and how many conflicting suggestions exist online for how the document should be laid out. It's not an easy thing to do and I'm very glad I started on it nice and early.

A couple of weeks ago I had the interesting and somewhat nerve-wracking experience of interviewing my first lord. Lord David Puttnam was at the university along with the Olympic running medal winner, Steve Cram, to re-name the Media Centre, the building in which most of my classes take place.

Lord Puttnam was responsible for producing several notable films including Chariots of Fire, Memphis Belle and Local Hero. One of the reasons why I liked Local Hero is because I saw in it several similarities with Orkney and its people, and the characters in the film. Everyone seemed to know each other, which is a feeling I often get in Orkney, and one of the main characters had several jobs, which also happens at home. If you haven't seen the film I would definitely recommend it.

David turned out to be a very pleasant man and an easy interviewee. In fact, far more concerning than his status was the fact that I had to interview him at the front of a lecture theatre in which were seated about 30 students waiting for David to begin his talk. Luckily my fellow students resisted the urge to heckle, probably out of respect for him rather than care for my recording.

I'm sure everyone is well versed on the Jade Goodie story which is tragically unfolding before us in the media. I admit that I never cared much for her on Big Brother; however I think it's shameful that there are people who criticise her now for what she's doing. Even though she has courted the media throughout her career, to me she is showing great bravery and courage in facing the public in her deteriorating condition. The fact that she is only a few years older than I is a scary thought, and I admire the fact that she is using her last strength to ensure some kind of stable future for her young
children.

I think people who still criticise her now are showing a very cold-hearted and unpleasant side to their character. However much we dislike her or her husband, surely the public and the media should show some compassion for her children.

Hit The Beach - Tracklisting - 04/03/09

Hit The Beach – March 2009


Joe Bonamassa – Sick In Love
Alison Krauss and Robert Plant - Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)
Jeff Healey – The Weight
Chris Rea – Stainsbury Girls
ZZ Top – Tush
The Hot Melts – Edith
Skalder – Kev’s Tune
Skeewiff - Man of Constant Sorrow
Jeff Beck – Where Were You? (Live at Ronnie Scotts)
John Martyn – May You Never
The Smiths – How Soon is Now

Keeping It Real with Rory Auskerry - February 2009

Dreams of flying high

Before I left Orkney, I was lucky enough to be taken up for a trip in a beautiful new light aircraft built and flown by Tommy Sinclair. As you can see from the picture, it was a dry, bright day. There was a south-westerly breeze. We were in the air for almost an hour, flying over Finstown, Kirkwall, Deerness, Auskerry and Stronsay. Apart from my flight home in the Flybe Saab aircraft before Christmas, which was after dark, this was my first time in the air for months.

I have wanted to learn to fly from the age of about six when I first remember seeing the Nothern Lighthouse Board's bright red BO-105 helicopter. The chopper used to visit Auskerry several times a year throughout my childhood. It brought engineers, commissioners and replacement gas cylinders for the lighthouse every nine months. More recently, the helicopter landed tons of building supplies and equipment as part of the changing of the light from a gas-powered system to one that now runs on power harnessed by 36 solar panels and stored in a huge bank of batteries. There is also a diesel generator for back up.

Anyway, when I was younger I used to sit for hours watching with fascination that workhorse of a helicopter flying to and from the NLB ship, MV Pharos with load after load slung under its belly. Over the years I had the chance talk to many of the pilots and I was even lucky enough to be taken for a couple of trips around the island. As a result of all this I wanted to be a helicopter pilot for most of my childhood. When we started spending the winter months in our house in Kirkwall, mum arranged for me to get involved with Orkney Flying Club. I used to cycle out most Sunday mornings and the regular guys at the club often treated me to a flight. This only served to reinforce my desire to become a pilot.

After doing this for a couple of years, it was time for me to begin looking at my career options. Before leaving school, I contacted all three of the armed forces to find out if they would take me on and train me to fly. All three of them asked me the same question; have you any history of asthma? I had guessed that this might come up and pose a problem and unfortunately I was right; although I rarely wheeze much now, unless cats are present, my medical records showed that I did suffer with asthma when I was younger.

This, coupled with the fact that I'm six foot four inches tall, meant that all three rejected me. The height was a problem for the air force because their training process meant I'd have to be at least physically capable of flying fast jets as well as helicopters and transport aircraft. Although I have never envisaged myself at the controls of a Tornado or a Eurofighter they insist that you can fit in the cockpit, and be ejected, without the control panel relieving you of your legs. So I had to look for another career!

To come back to my flight with Tommy, it was fantastic to see some of Orkney from the air and to have a go at the controls of his lovely four-seat Jabiru J430. I still get the same buzz from flying as I did as a child and I hope that one day I'll be able to afford to pay for private tuition so I too can fly myself and my friends around for fun.

The debate over Home Education has surfaced in the media again recently after the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) launched a Review of Home Education and a short online consultation. This suggested that home educators are potential child abusers. It also inferred that elective home education should be overseen by the very authorities that have let some families down to the point where they have had to withdraw their children from the state school system. Home-educators have fought to be allowed to home-educate which often means using teaching methods very different from those advocated by Education Authorities, so I think that this would be a backward step.

I listened to the Jeremy Vine programme on Radio 2, (as I often do), when they were discussing this issue. I'm disappointed at the government for showing this level of distrust in home educating families. I don't see any reason why parents who home educate their children would be any more likely to abuse their children than any other adult. I have so far not yet found any evidence to support their claims.

Last week we had the screening for our third year TV studio project. My group decided to make a short drama about a young girl who gives birth to her son in the breakfast room of a Travelodge, accompanied by her mother, three businessmen and a taxi driver who's stuck because of some heavy snow. It's a modern version of the Christmas story and I think it turned out OK in the end.

Although radio is clearly my main passion, I have enjoyed the TV studio modules throughout my course. It's a good opportunity to work as part of a team and I must admit I quite like playing up to the camera. In the end I acted a wise man in the drama despite having never acted anything other than the proverbial village idiot before. I think it went OK and although there were several mistakes, both from the technical side and in the acting, we got good feedback from the lecturers and our peer group after the screening.

Now that semester one has come to an end, I'm looking forward to starting my new modules next week as well as concentrating on putting my CV, audio demo and job applications together. I'd like to take this opportunity to wish everyone taking exams at the moment the very best of luck. I remember how hard I found both the revising and the exams themselves. Cheerio.

Hit The Beach - Tracklisting - 04/02/09

HIT THE BEACH – Wednesday Feb 4th 2009

Thunder – On The Radio
The Verve – Love Is Noise
Teddy Thompson - One of These Days
Wiley Feat. Daniel Merriweather – Cash In My Pocket
Frankie Miller - Over The Line
Queen & Paul Rogers – The Cosmos Rocks
The Stone Coyotes – Fire It Up
Paul Rose - Get Carter
Brookes Brothers - Tear You Down
Bruce Springsteen - My Lucky Day
Molly Hatchet – Down From The Mountain
Delaney & Bonnie with Eric Clapton – Things Get Better

visit www.roryauskerry.com for more information and links to the BBC Listen Again feature.

Keeping It Real with Rory Auskerry - January 2009

Resolution to get a job

Now that the whirlwind of Christmas is over the realisation of what I need to achieve in the coming year has begun to hit me like a brick wall. That's not to say it's not going to be an exciting year, but it's certainly going to be a busy one.

I'm due to graduate from my Media Production degree in early July but to do that I've got several programmes I need to produce and essays to write, not to mention a CV to compile and covering letters for job applications to work on.

I always like to have a plan, and to know what's ahead so that I can work towards goals and targets. However, this year is going to include a very important target as after I graduate. I'm going to be looking to start my first 'real' job, whatever it may be.

I'm hoping that I'll be fortunate enough to get work for a radio station or a production company as a junior researcher or broadcast assistant somewhere, perhaps in London, but given the current employment and economic circumstances I think getting any job after university is going to be easier said than done.

I would imagine there are a lot of young people who are feeling equally uncertain about the future. I think the best thing I can do is to just keep working away at things, gaining experience and with a bit of luck things will turn out OK.

Something that has interested me for a long time is the ways in which parents deal with the inevitable developments in their sons' and daughters' behaviour as they mature and become adults. I've discussed this aspect of growing up with other adults and my parents as well as people my own age, and I've come to the conclusion that it all goes in one big cycle.

Here's an example; a year or two ago I might have had to ask to be allowed to go out drinking into the early hours or to have a girlfriend to stay. Heated discussions would almost certainly have ensued between my parents and I, based on my thinking that they were being a bit square, and them thinking I was not yet old enough to be allowed the level of freedom I was asking for.

I would argue that they must have hated it when their parents curbed their freedom, and mum and dad would respond that it was their house and I was living under their roof and therefore their rules.

Now that I'm only months away from turning 21 these rules seem to have relaxed and consequently the arguments have stopped.

I've come to the conclusion that these arguments occur because parents wish to protect their children and make sure they don't take on too much, too soon as it were. Now that I've grown up a bit I can understand this better; seeing it as a level of care that I can now be grateful for, even though two years ago I would have loved to have had parents who would, 'let me do what I liked, when I liked'.

I would always argue: "I bet you hated it when your parents kept you in so why are you doing it to me?"

This is what really interests me - the fact that when you're a young person you just want to do whatever you like and the parental input is more often than not a total pain, but when you become a parent you're prepared to go through very emotionally painful arguments to protect your kids. I remember in the heat of an argument, vowing that I would be a 'cool' parent. I'll be fascinated to see what I'm actually like if one day I do become a dad.

Moving from parental influence to that of the church, I was very shocked to hear of the comments made by the Pope about homosexuality and the environment. Speaking just four days before Christmas, in the middle of the season of good will to all men, Pope Benedict announced that saving humanity from homosexual behaviour was as important as protecting the rain forests.

Although I don't consider myself to be religious at all anymore, I have been brought up as a Christian. I cannot understand how the Catholic faith can allow itself to be led by a man who clearly has unjustifiable anti-homosexual views. Pope Benedict is in a position of considerable influence and should be using that power to promote peace and tolerance, not to alienate a part of our society which has just as much right to live as they please as any other.

One of Jesus' two principal teachings was that you should love thy neighbour as thyself. It does not say, 'love thy neighbour as yourself, (unless your neighbour happens to be gay)'. Apart from the fact that his comments are, in my view, entirely unacceptable, they are also very offensive. Even if Pope Benedict actually believes that to be true, surely one of his advisors should have suggested that the season of peace and goodwill was perhaps not the best time of year to take a pop at an already marginalised group. It begs the question as to whether the media should actually give airtime to any specific religious leader, especially one who is prepared to punt ideas like that around the world's media.

An early Christmas present came in the form of my new website which my house mate Andy has built for me.

www.roryauskerry.com will be a first point of contact for potential employers as I hunt for jobs this year. It's also an ideal way for me to provide easy access to my podcasts. Andy is a bit of a wiz at this sort of thing and although I'm trying to teach myself how to build sites, I don't think I'd ever get one to look as nice as he has managed to. I hope you'll have a look around. Cheers.