Fri 11th July: Summer Studio Soiree

An impromptu Friday eve drink to celebrate a re-visit to the studio from Holly MacDonald and a farewell to Mari after her placement...............

Left to right:
Mari, Flo, Maki, Holly, Sarah Magnay

Fri 11th July: Fashion DJ's Part 2

Thank goodness I worked out how to watch aswell as listen yesterday because when I heard Simon Foxton introduce his session I knew something was up. Not seemingly the Foxton voice I am familiar with; we investigated the video stream and it soon became clear..............Here was the impostor- one of Simon's assistants presenting the show from his office/shed with notes on " and this one is particularly special to me". Attired in a fresh "&Son" Dazzle polo shirt, he struck pensive poses as if reminiscing whilst listening to the eclectically chosen tracks. Over the hour, different camera angles zoomed in and out to frame him showing each viewpoint of Simon's shed and garden. (Here you can see some shots of the interior of his workspace, which he kindly took for my Kicker's research last year.)
This contribution to the day's schedule shone out for its idiosyncratic humour and beauty in planning. Both of which being Foxton trademarks. Thankyou for brightening up our day!

Meanwhile back at Abbey Road Studios, Stephen Jones had me abandoning my desk to crank up the volume and dance to Donna Summer's "Our Love": Mari was lucky enough to witness my embarrassing Abigail's party/mum style dancing before her last day at the studio.
Then Anthony Price's priceless tales of Moustique had me blissfully distracted from the 2nd round of VAT scrambling............

Today is the last day of showstudio.com on air so catch it while you still can................ 87.7 FM

Thurs 10th July: Tidy Up

Alex has been integrating some left-over props in and around the studio today. A definite perk of the job that we can adorn our walls with a myriad of randomly lush paraphernalia. The loo is turning into a mini museum with a swarovski lobster, newspaper noahsark, graffitied cross stitch sampler, fligarich toadstools, space rocket, string of teapot lids, giant silver bauble.............

Thurs 10th July: Fashion DJ's

Yesterday "fashion dj's" hit the airwaves for a 3 day programme organised by showstudio.com. I missed the day session but was blessed when I tuned in for the night's entertainment to get me through a pile of agonising paperwork. The time flew by listening (and laughing) along to the Boombox karaoke star "The-O" and his rendition of Macy Gray. It didn't matter that the performance wasn't visual as you normally encounter with his outbursts, because his voice was so hilarious. So in this way, it was quite unique.

This was followed by a desert island disc type session with Peter Saville which held some great tunes ("Road Runner" Jonathon Richman) and anecdotes (flying to San Francisco overnight for a meeting with Paul Macartney) . I had no idea that Saville was responsible for Wham artwork! Or that George Michael wrote, performed and mixed all the tracks himself!?

I'm looking forward to Stephen Jones and Simon Foxton's turn on the decks today and then Paloma Faith and Michael Clark tomorrow.................check the link for the full schedule.........

(Here is a pick I took of The-O and Chycca earlier in the year)

Weds 9th July: Gifts from Kidders

Emma Kidd very kindly brought back these gifts for me all the way from Mexico, via New Zealand....................Thank you so much I LOVE THEM!!!!!!

Tue 8th July: When Fletcher & Hay met...............

Beyond The Valley was the venue for the launch of Fletcher & Hay's Book that they compiled last year by asking the question "What are you thinking about?". Thier hit list of contributor's included (in Fletchers words) a performer, a painter, an artist, a friend, a brother and sister, a sister and sister, a stranger, a lover and a girl I once knew, a nude in New York, a beauty in bed

I am not quite sure what category I fitted into on thier hitlist but here is the printed postcard I returned to thier request.
The book is a really neat insight into snapshots of people's immediate brainspace.
I need to have a proper read to digest all the answers but when I have I will re-enter some chosen quotes here.............

Mon 7th July: Bangsalishous

Kim Howells and Fumi Nagasaka came to the studio today. Fumi is a photographer based in New York (where we crossed paths once before, in 2005 when she was shooting for Street Magazine) but travels to Europe in the Summer to visit friends and combine work. She is off to Berlin Fashion week on Wednesday where she is having an exhibition of photography and film. Kim is travelling in the opposite direction and packing her bags to spend a few weeks in NYC to take her work transatlantic. Bon Voyage Miss Howells!

Sunday 6th July: We Are Robots

The cousin crew...........representing for half of the force..............my nephew and niece..........