Hit The Beach - April 2010 - Track Listing
Sex Pistols - God Save The Queen
Jeff Healey - Its Only Money
Jeff Beck feat. Joss Stone – There's No Other me
ZZ Top - Francine
Randy Newman feat. Mark Knophler - It's Money That Matters
Michael Landau & Robben Ford - God and Rock n' Roll
Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited
Never The Bride - Betty's Song
Jeff Beck - Hammerhead
Too Slim & The Tail Draggers - She Gives Me Money
The Band - Rag Mama Rag
Mountain – Roll Over Beethoven
Last in the series.
Tuesday, 6 April 2010
Sunday, 4 April 2010
Keeping It Real with Rory Auskerry - April 2010
Testing times for exams
Since I last wrote I've progressed to the next stage of development in my new job as a studio manager (SM) by passing my pre-grid assessment. At the end of our initial training period the six of us new SMs were required to pass an operational assessment before we would be allowed to begin panelling 'real' programmes on the World Service. The test involved driving a fairly straightforward fifteen-minute programme and then answering quite a lot of questions about everything from digital audio compression, how microphones work to health and safety.
The idea of the test is to make sure that we are fully ready to go 'on the grid' and start driving programmes and news bulletins without supervision. It's a two way thing because, not only does it allow us to demonstrate to the management that we are fully competent and ready to go solo, but I also found that passing it gave me that little bit of extra confidence I needed to get stuck in without too many nerves. I was pretty apprehensive, and during the days before the test I did do a fair amount of swotting up on the things we've been learning over the last couple of months.
So the day of the test came and it all seemed to go ok. Supposedly not many new SMs actually pass first time. I'm not sure if the colleagues who told me that were just being nice though. I've decided that if anyone accuses me of being a swot for passing first time, I'll just alert him or her to the fact that it took me an embarrassing four attempts to pass my (road) driving test. After that expensive run of mistakes I think I was finally owed some good fortune in the testing department!
Passing meant that I could finally be let loose on my own to prepare and drive programmes without an experienced SM there to keep a close eye on me. I was really pleased to get the test out of the way quickly as I'd been itching to get going on my own. However, when I went into the studio the next morning to drive a Business Daily programme and there was no one there to cover my back, I was pretty nervous.
So far it's all gone pretty well although many Orcadians have said to me: "It's not safe to speak!" but I'm resigned to the fact that at some point I'm going to make a big mistake. I'm therefore working on the principle that the more experience I can accrue before that happens the better, as it might help me recover from a dicey situation.
The next challenge is going to come in the form of my first run of night shifts. I've never done one before and I'm not going to pretend I'm looking forward to it. Even when I was a student I was never a fan of all nighters or partying until dawn. I'm pretty good at getting up in the morning but I need my sleep, so the idea of trying to concentrate on a complicated radio show at 4am doesn't exactly fill me with excitement. Everyone on the team seems to have his or her own way of preparing and coping with nights, so I'll be interested to learn what works best for me.
As well as trying to find my feet at work I've had time to go and visit some relations in Salisbury. One of my aunts and her family lives there so I decided to jump on a train and go down to stay with them for a weekend. It was absolutely fantastic to get out of the hustle and bustle of the city and into the relative peace and quiet of the countryside. On the first day of my visit my aunt held a sale of her home-ware products in Stourton, Wiltshire. While she was busy at the stall I went for a walk in the park at Stourhead. As I've said before, I'm really enjoying living in London but just being able to walk around on grass and among trees feels pretty good when you've been traipsing around on pavements and carpet and staring at concrete and glass for weeks.
It was also really nice to be involved in the banter that goes on in a family home. That's one of the things I miss most about no longer living with my own family. In fact, thinking about how much pleasure it gave me to be in the company of my aunt, uncle and cousins made me think about what it must be like for older folk who live by themselves. A lot of families in Orkney seem to make a point of making regular 'Sunday visits' to relatives and friends who stay on their own. I think this is really nice and it's something I'll definitely try to do myself whenever I get the chance.
Another thing that's been winging its way around my head for the last few days is the dawning realisation that I've basically left home. It may seem obvious to some that when I got this job and went off to London I was actually going to be moving out, but somehow it didn't feel like it at the time. On reflection I think I just viewed it like I was heading off for an extended term at university.
In many respects I haven't properly left yet. For a start most of my stuff is still there including hi-fi, clothes, books, toys, keepsakes and an awful lot of, erm, rubbish. There's also the small point that I don't actually have another permanent home to take it to. Probably even more importantly than either of those reasons is that I haven't actually had any kind of conversation that might resemble a tearful, "Thanks for everything mum and dad, now I'm off to make my own nest." Until that occurs I don't think I can possibly consider myself as having 'left home', and to be honest I wouldn't want to. Having said that, I suspect one of my brothers will be chomping at the bit for my room, and if they don't want it I'm sure mum could find plenty of things to store in it!
From next month my column will appear in Living Orkney magazine. I've thoroughly enjoyed contributing to Orkney Today and I'm really looking forward to the new challenge. I hope you'll continue to read about what I'm up to in the magazine.
Keep it Real.
Since I last wrote I've progressed to the next stage of development in my new job as a studio manager (SM) by passing my pre-grid assessment. At the end of our initial training period the six of us new SMs were required to pass an operational assessment before we would be allowed to begin panelling 'real' programmes on the World Service. The test involved driving a fairly straightforward fifteen-minute programme and then answering quite a lot of questions about everything from digital audio compression, how microphones work to health and safety.
The idea of the test is to make sure that we are fully ready to go 'on the grid' and start driving programmes and news bulletins without supervision. It's a two way thing because, not only does it allow us to demonstrate to the management that we are fully competent and ready to go solo, but I also found that passing it gave me that little bit of extra confidence I needed to get stuck in without too many nerves. I was pretty apprehensive, and during the days before the test I did do a fair amount of swotting up on the things we've been learning over the last couple of months.
So the day of the test came and it all seemed to go ok. Supposedly not many new SMs actually pass first time. I'm not sure if the colleagues who told me that were just being nice though. I've decided that if anyone accuses me of being a swot for passing first time, I'll just alert him or her to the fact that it took me an embarrassing four attempts to pass my (road) driving test. After that expensive run of mistakes I think I was finally owed some good fortune in the testing department!
Passing meant that I could finally be let loose on my own to prepare and drive programmes without an experienced SM there to keep a close eye on me. I was really pleased to get the test out of the way quickly as I'd been itching to get going on my own. However, when I went into the studio the next morning to drive a Business Daily programme and there was no one there to cover my back, I was pretty nervous.
So far it's all gone pretty well although many Orcadians have said to me: "It's not safe to speak!" but I'm resigned to the fact that at some point I'm going to make a big mistake. I'm therefore working on the principle that the more experience I can accrue before that happens the better, as it might help me recover from a dicey situation.
The next challenge is going to come in the form of my first run of night shifts. I've never done one before and I'm not going to pretend I'm looking forward to it. Even when I was a student I was never a fan of all nighters or partying until dawn. I'm pretty good at getting up in the morning but I need my sleep, so the idea of trying to concentrate on a complicated radio show at 4am doesn't exactly fill me with excitement. Everyone on the team seems to have his or her own way of preparing and coping with nights, so I'll be interested to learn what works best for me.
As well as trying to find my feet at work I've had time to go and visit some relations in Salisbury. One of my aunts and her family lives there so I decided to jump on a train and go down to stay with them for a weekend. It was absolutely fantastic to get out of the hustle and bustle of the city and into the relative peace and quiet of the countryside. On the first day of my visit my aunt held a sale of her home-ware products in Stourton, Wiltshire. While she was busy at the stall I went for a walk in the park at Stourhead. As I've said before, I'm really enjoying living in London but just being able to walk around on grass and among trees feels pretty good when you've been traipsing around on pavements and carpet and staring at concrete and glass for weeks.
It was also really nice to be involved in the banter that goes on in a family home. That's one of the things I miss most about no longer living with my own family. In fact, thinking about how much pleasure it gave me to be in the company of my aunt, uncle and cousins made me think about what it must be like for older folk who live by themselves. A lot of families in Orkney seem to make a point of making regular 'Sunday visits' to relatives and friends who stay on their own. I think this is really nice and it's something I'll definitely try to do myself whenever I get the chance.
Another thing that's been winging its way around my head for the last few days is the dawning realisation that I've basically left home. It may seem obvious to some that when I got this job and went off to London I was actually going to be moving out, but somehow it didn't feel like it at the time. On reflection I think I just viewed it like I was heading off for an extended term at university.
In many respects I haven't properly left yet. For a start most of my stuff is still there including hi-fi, clothes, books, toys, keepsakes and an awful lot of, erm, rubbish. There's also the small point that I don't actually have another permanent home to take it to. Probably even more importantly than either of those reasons is that I haven't actually had any kind of conversation that might resemble a tearful, "Thanks for everything mum and dad, now I'm off to make my own nest." Until that occurs I don't think I can possibly consider myself as having 'left home', and to be honest I wouldn't want to. Having said that, I suspect one of my brothers will be chomping at the bit for my room, and if they don't want it I'm sure mum could find plenty of things to store in it!
From next month my column will appear in Living Orkney magazine. I've thoroughly enjoyed contributing to Orkney Today and I'm really looking forward to the new challenge. I hope you'll continue to read about what I'm up to in the magazine.
Keep it Real.
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