Keeping it real with Rory Auskerry - August 2010

Keeping it real with Rory Auskerry - August 2010


I’ve just arrive back in London after a thoroughly enjoyable ten days in Orkney. It was the first time I’ve been back since I started this job back in January and as the months passed I realized more and more how much I miss the place. It’s great being in the capital, the weather has been almost perfect for months now and I’m really starting to feel settled in my job. But as the song so rightly says, it’s great to be back home in Kirkwall bay.

As I’ve mentioned in previous columns, I’m trying to teach myself some basic video editing and production skills. To try and move this process on, and in an attempt to make the results of my efforts a little easier on the eye I’ve invested in a high definition camcorder. Although it’s certainly not a ‘professional’ piece of kit I’ve so far been very pleased with the results.

It arrived in Orkney in time for me to take it out to Auskerry, on route to which I gave the little camera it’s first proper outing. How lucky did I feel when two porpoises decided to play in the bow wave of the boat as we motored along! I’d seen plenty of porpoises before, but never this close; they were literally surfacing no more than ten feet from the boat.

While I was on the island the weather was lovely so I took the opportunity to film as much of the island as possible. I think It’s always nice to have pictures as a visual record of places and events, but I think high quality video’s that will remind me of my childhood home will become all the more special as life and work cause me to spend long period of time away from the place.

Now that the technology to record and edit high quality video footage is affordable and relatively simple, I would hope to see more of Orkney’s beautiful landscape being captured ‘on film’ by armature movie makers. I’m sure some nicely shot footage of wildlife and landscapes uploaded to the Internet would do no harm to the local tourism industry.

Back at work, and things there are looking good there too. In the last month or so, I’ve been given several opportunities to drive some of the longer, more complex programmes. It’s the first time I’ve had a chance to do this since we completed our initial training back in February and I was very excited to get back in the driving seat.

As I expected, The newsroom in the BBC World Service has been a very interesting place to be this summer. With the general election followed by the World Cup and Wimbledon it’s been busy and fast paced. Although arguably of less international significance than the football, the election was a highlight for me. I’ve always taken an interest in politics, but being in the centre of the action on election night itself was superb. Being in London meant I also got the chance to head down to Westminster to see where all the TV action as taking place on college green. As this months picture shows, it was a popular place with news-hounds, tourists and obviously journalists!

As I mentioned the football, I feel capello’d (see what I did there) to say that I was backing England. I would have loved Scotland to have been in South Africa as well, and to be honest they probably would have played better than the England squad. Having said that, the level of unpleasantness and vitriol I’ve seen and heard from some Scots and Orcadians is I think, at best, petty, at worst, plain unacceptable. There is no need to be making “come on’ the Nazis - beat the English” comments in any walk of life. It’s quite simply offensive to both sides.

I’m quite sure that fans of the beautiful game in Orkney will be much more civilised in their comments regarding the forthcoming Parish cup final. I’ll be home for the game, more than likely watching from Radio Orkney’s temporary pitch side studio. With a bit of luck the weather will be nice and for one can’t wait.

Living Orkney Column - Keeping It Real with Rory Auskerry - July 2010

Living Orkney Column - Keeping It Real with Rory Auskerry - July 2010

I don't remember getting many 'black marks' at school. I wasn't particularly clever, nor was I particularly rebellious, I mostly just got on with it. I suspect I left more black marks on the floor of the gym hall from my rubber soled pumps than were ever given to me by disappointed teachers. Coupled with my good fortune in largely avoiding reprimands at school, I am also pretty organised with money. I am a prolific saver and apart from a fairly severe CD buying habit I don't tend to spend much money each month. I was therefore very surprised, and pretty distressed to discover that I had a black mark on my credit report.

The reason this has come up is as a result of some calls I made to estate agents in Manchester. My job will take me North sometime next year and I'm looking to become a first time buyer. Having spoken to some agents, who stressed the importance of a healthy credit rating, I looked mine up. Discovering that a missed payment on my credit card showed up on my report, I called the bank.

You're probably thinking, 'Rory, you didn't pay your bill on time so you've only got yourself to blame?'. Well on the face of it I'm sure that's what it looks. However, the missed payment happened after the direct debit I set up on the card was canceled by the bank without me asking them too. It started last November when I got a letter saying I had missed a payment and would therefore be charged twelve pounds.

I went down to the bank the very helpful staff called the card helpline and explained that a mistake must have been made somewhere along the line to cancel the direct debit payment. The operator on the card helpline had a look on the computer, noticed that a something wasn't right and the twelve pound charge was duly reimbursed. I was delighted with the speed and efficiency in which the both the staff in the branch and the person on the helpline dealt with the problem and I thought that was the end of the matter.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago when I decided to take a look at my credit report. Discovering I had this black mark, I called the same card helpline and explained the situation. To cut a long story shorter, I basically hit a brick wall. In the end I spoke to five different people, including a very nice lady in the Kirkwall branch, and I must have spend at least 3 hours on the phone.

One of my friends, who used to work on a banking helpline suggested to me via Facebook that I ask to make an official complaint. This resulted in much swifter action. In fact, within 24 hours I was called my someone from the customer services team and informed that they had 'arranged to clear any derogatory information held on [my] credit file'. What a result! I really hope that our newly elected government make some effort to legislate against this kind of behavior. Until then the message I think can be taken from this is that persistence and not accepting no for an answer often pays off, especially with businesses or companies who want your cash.

I'm actually writing this sitting out on my balcony in the sunshine. I've been doing quite a bit of this over the last few days and I'm hoping to do a lot more as the summer approaches. One of the things that's become very noticeable again is the constant sound of planes landing at Heathrow. I know that the disruption caused by the Icelandic volcano has been devastating for some people, but for those who live near or even under the flight path of any major UK airport, and didn't plan to fly, its been a real treat.

While the skies have been temporarily free of vapor trails I've been thinking about the environmental impact the lack of flying has had on the planet. The ash its self can't be good when it lands, but the lack of flying must have saved thousands of tonnes of aviation fuel. All in all, I suspect the grounding of flights has had an overall positive impact. It also raises a question about our reliance on aviation. I'm a big fan of flying, in fact I wanted to be a helicopter pilot long before I got interested in radio. However I'm very aware of the already huge, and growing impact that flying has on our planet.

I wouldn't suggest we park up all the planes because that would just be ridiculous, but It seems that we could do worse that sit down at think of some ways to cut down on the amount of flying we all do, especially within the UK. I think one of the biggest problems is that flying is often much cheaper than traveling by train. Personally I enjoy trains; you get a much better view than you do on most flights, you can stretch your legs a lot easier, there's a lot less waiting around before you travel and you don't have to persuade security that you're not a terrorist. I'm excited about government plans for a high speed rail link to the North and I think this would be of far more benefit to people and the environment than another runway at Heathrow.

Before I finish this month, I thought I'd mention the marathon. To be honest I've never really taken much of an interest until this year. Now that London is home I felt more connection with it, plus I had a better idea of where people were as the cameras followed the runners around the course. Unfortunately I was working on the day, but I finished early enough to be able to go down to the palace and see the non professional runners crossing the finishing line in their thousands. It was really quite spectacular to see and the atmosphere was very nice too. There was a real vibe from all the spectators near me that they were willing someone on. I'll certainly be back again next year, although like the Ba', I doubt I'll be taking part.

Hit The Beach - April 2010 - Track Listing

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.

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.

Keeping It Real with Rory Auskerry - March 2010

A blast of Clapton and Beck, and a squash on the tube

SINCE I last wrote, I've been able to tick something very important off my 'list of things to do in life'; I went to see Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck perform, together and apart, at the O2 Arena in London. Clapton and Beck are two of my favourite guitarists ever, and to get the opportunity to see them 'live' has long been an ambition of mine.

My godmother bought me two tickets for a Christmas present and since the gig was on Valentine's Day, I decided to take Lizi with me. We had great seats, just a little higher than the stage and off to one side. As a result we had a good view of the entire performance, but we could also see the big projection screens that were showing close-up shots of the action.

Jeff Beck was the first to play. He walked on in a cool white and black top, jeans and a pair of aviator shades. He said absolutely nothing for the first two or three numbers, electing to blow the audience away with his unique style of playing. I've read that he has a new album coming out in April - something I'll certainly be featuring on my blues and rock show on Radio Orkney. He played quite a lot of material that will form part of 'emotion and commotion' as well as several familiar tracks like Big Block and a stunning cover of The Beatles A Day In The Life.

The other main highlight of his set for me was when Sharon Corr of the Corrs joined Jeff on stage. She played the violin for Mna Na Heireann, which I think is a Kate Bush track that translates as Women of Ireland. The track mixed her lamenting violin with a 12-piece orchestra and Jeff's inimitable guitar playing.

After a short interval, it was Clapton's turn to take to the stage. He began on the acoustic guitar - playing Driftin, Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out and Running On Faith. Then he picked up an electric guitar and launched into a fantastic set which included three of my all time favourites: Tell The Truth, Key To The Highway and Cocaine.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the concert was watching Clapton and Beck performing together. I've always enjoyed watching how musicians interact and communicate while they are playing together on stage. The facial expressions and gestures all seem to mean something, but to someone with almost no musical knowledge, to me it's a kind of magic.

It felt to me as if no sooner had it started, than it was time for the encore. I'd been wondering what they might play out with. After a few moments of discussion, and what looked like mildly embarrassed protest from Jeff, they launched into a fantastic rendition of Beck's hit single Hi Ho Silver Lining. I've never seen Jeff singing before, in fact he hardly seems to say anything at all, but he joined in with Eric as they brought the evening to an end in true 'guitar god' style.

As you have probably gathered, I absolutely loved it. Even though Lizi doesn't pretend to be a particular fan of either guitarist, she said she really enjoyed it too. The atmosphere was fantastic, the sound was great and as far as I was concerned it was over far to quickly. One thing that did amuse me was the fact that Lizi and I were probably two of only a hand full of people under 50 in the entire arena!

Over the last couple of weeks I've been thinking about some of the main differences between London and Orkney. The one that became obvious almost immediately centres around the underground tube network. I find that when I'm at home I get used to bumping into folk I know all the time. It doesn't matter where you are, down the street, or on one of the ferries; you just keep an eye out for a familiar face. I have always liked that aspect to life in Orkney and I've found it quite hard to adjust to the complete opposite down here.

Where it's most apparent is on the Tube. I find myself looking around the carriage wondering if I'll spot someone I know, only to realise that everyone thinks I'm being nosy. Nobody looks at anyone else; in fact people seem to make a deliberate show of not looking at you, instead choosing to stare at the floor, advertising boards or the station maps.

I have discovered that there are a few exceptions though. At peak times the trains are often so crowded you literally can't move. As a result everyone is forced to occupy what would normally be someone else's personal space, and therefore a no go area. As a result of this 'rush hour space invasion' people seem to pay more attention to each other, and occasionally, if you're lucky you might catch someone's eye and get a sympathetic 'yeah I'm packed in too' sort of look.

The other thing that happens is some people seem to take a fairly relaxed 'I'll get home eventually' kind of attitude while others get very stressed and sometimes, a little aggressive. A few days ago a woman started shouting at a man for blocking her path to the door. He was trying to explain that he literally couldn't move but that once the people behind him had got off the train, he would move to let her off. She started being a little 'fresh' with him and despite him moving aside the second his predicted space became available she continued to swear at him until she was out of earshot along the platform.

All I'll say is, it's nice to know that when Dave Gray announces: "We are now approaching the Kirkwall terminal …" we are not likely to get barged into, sworn at or squashed like a sardine.

Hit The Beach Track Listing - 9th March 2010

Hit The Beach Track Listing - 9th March 2010

Three Times A Fool - Joe Bonamassa Album: Black Rock
Mama Kin (Live) - AeroSmith Album: Aerosmith
It's Gonna Be Alright - Stefan Schill Album: Don't Say A Word
Sweet Inspiration - The Derek Trucks Band Album: Already Free
Korean Bodega - Fun Lovin' Criminals Album: 100% Colombian
Broken Man - Scott McKeon Album: Trouble
Brimful Of Asha (Norman Cook Remix) - Cornershop
Tryin' To Find The Blues - Bad Taste - Orkney Original Music
Get A Haircut - George Thorogood & The Destroyers
Album: Greatest Hits: 30 Years of Rock
A Day In The Life [Live] - Jeff Beck
Album: Performing This Week...Live At Ronnie Scott's
Night Life - Joe Bonamassa and BB King Album: Black Rock
Riff Raff - AC/DC Album: Powerage

Keeping It Real with Rory – Febuary 2010

Learning the ropes at 5 Live.

THE past month has been like a whirlwind for me. For the last three weeks I've been spending Sunday night through to Friday afternoon at the BBC's training centre just outside Evesham in Worcestershire. I'm one of six new recruits who were successful in getting jobs as trainee studio managers, and we're currently being brought up to speed on all the different aspects of the job.

Leading up to this, at the beginning of January, mum and I set off on a road trip with most of my belongings in the back of a hire car. I drove into the centre of London at about 10pm and after getting my stuff into the flat I conked out almost immediately. There isn't much scope for preparing for a ten-hour drive down the motorway when you've been living in Orkney!

Anyway, the following morning I needed to get a tube to BBC Television Centre where me and the five other new recruits were due to meet for the first time. I was apprehensive but it was really nice to be able to walk into the building knowing I wasn't going to have to do another job interview! The purpose of the induction day on the Friday was to give us a sense of where we'd be working after the initial three weeks of training were complete.

That's all but done now and I think I can speak for the whole group when I say it's been a very steep learning curve. Having said that, it's also been a lot of fun and I know that I've learned a great deal of very useful information and skills that will certainly come in extremely handy in the months and years to come.

Aside from the training it self, the six of us have bonded really well and I've really enjoyed spending so much time with them, both at work and socially in the evenings. I'm pretty sure we have eaten in almost all the restaurants in Evesham over the past couple of weeks! We've had a lot of laughs together and several of the staff and management have told us that groups of delegates like ours usually remain good friends long after the training course is over.

To get away from the pressures of work I arranged to spend last weekend with some of my best friends from university. One of them works in Birmingham as a sound assistant on the BBC lunchtime TV soap, Doctors, so I travelled North on Friday to catch up with him. After a relaxing evening chatting in front of the telly, and a welcome lie in on Saturday morning, we drove up to Sunderland.

The house I rented in Sunderland last year is still occupied by two of my original housemates so the four of us went out on Saturday night to Independent, the night club I DJ'ed in while I was studying. We had a fantastic time and it was really nice to get back together again and check out some of the old haunts as mum calls them. I'm hoping that we'll be able to get together again in the next couple of months as I think it's important to catch up with friends in person, and I think I'll also be glad of an opportunity to get out of London occasionally.

Having said that, I have been extremely fortunate in terms of my new home. My godmother recently bought a flat in Knightsbridge to use when she needs to stay overnight in the city. When I told her I had applied for the job she very kindly offered me the spare room if I needed it, so once I heard I'd actually got it I was able to tick accommodation off my 'to do' list!

The flat is spacious and warm and the living room windows look out over a 'D' shaped garden, which is shared by the houses across the street. It's a five-minute walk to the South Kensington tube station where I can get a direct tube into work in about 20 minutes which is extremely handy. The prospect of living in London for the next wee while is really exciting, and I'm looking forward to exploring bits of it and getting to know the areas where I'll be living and working.

When mum and dad used to take me there on holiday as a child I was always a bit scared of the place, I suspect mostly because it is so much bigger and busier than back home. However, now that I've got a few years of living away from home under my belt I feel ready, and excited about taking on the challenge of getting settled in and making myself feel at home in the place. Whether I'll have much time for exploring anywhere during the next four weeks is any one's guess, as I know I'm still going to be kept very busy with work.

Although we've been simulating real programmes during training sessions in Evesham, it's essential that we get familiar with the broadcast desks that we'll be using in London. As a result, we'll spend all of February training on the 'real things' in Bush House, which is where the BBC World Service is based. Several people have asked me why I'm learning how to 'drive' World Service programmes when my job is actually to work for 5 Live. The answer is that because we are the new recruits, there are a lot of people who need to be re-trained in preparation for 5 Live's move to Salford next year before we do. As a result, we're going to get the chance to build up our 'on air' air experience at Bush House before we move over to Television Centre in the summer, and eventually, sometime next year, to Salford Quays.