Ever feel like you're born in the wrong era?

I've been thinking this over a lot recently since Saturday night's "Take Me Out".



Viewers of the show will remember this chap (and the strange woman he ended up going with)

Immediately after this show was broadcast my facebook was flooded with friends telling me how this chap will either be me in 25 years, or how I am him now.

It got me thinking - I really do believe I was born in the wrong era. I buy 78rpm records rather than downloading songs via iTunes, I own a pocketwatch, and my room is full of vintage posters.

I do my hair in a sharp side part with plenty of pomade and I feel more comfortable in a suit than I do in a hoodie and jeans which would be normal atire for most students.

Yet - most people my age seem to treat me as a bit of an oddball. I'm that strange kid stuck in the past and I apparently have the mental age of a 70 year old man (as I'm always told that)

Is it now no longer acceptable to try to be a gentleman wherever possible, or am I doomed to a life of eccentricity with people who share similar tastes? I seriously hope it isn't the latter, because I can remember what things people said about SU President Daniel Hutchinson...

My brush with Japanese state television

WOW. That's all I really can say about today. I'm tired and drained but my god did I have the best day of my life so far.

It's still not sunk in that I'm going to feature in a programme broadcast to a country with a population of 120,000,000 people.

This morning I was tired and grouchy. I was also incredibly nervous - it's not every day something like this happens. So the crew arrived, with a mass of equipment. HD cameras, light panels, highly sensitive microphones and the like. As a journalism student I was a bit awed by the value of items now in my house.

Eventually they set up and began filming various shots of my gramophone, the record itself - and an interview with me. I don't think I was quite prepared for some of the questions they asked me!


After that, I went into uni then they came to film me around the university, and me at work - complete with Jonathan Creswell and Charlotte Reid as my friends walking around and laughing about various things.

Seeing the pros at work was a great thing - they were incredibly detailed and got some really amazing shots out of an otherwise boring gramophone and myself. I even got an origami handkerchief as a thank you - I just can't wait for the tape of the documentary in May!

PS - Given the amount of media appearances I've had lately, I think I could get used to it. It's damn good fun being in front of the camera!

The cogs of the PR machine are turning...

Photo: Jon Culver

This week has seen a few bizarre changes in my life to say the least. As most of you will know, I got a call recently asking me to go on Japanese national TV.

"Great!" I though. I went to university the next day and casually mentioned it to my friends and Gary, my radio tutor. Aside from his first response (which was that they were making a documentary on a crazy eccentric like myself), he seemed quite interested. "I'll do an email to Debbie to let her know the good news".

Since then, things have snowballed somewhat. The return replies from Debbie were very enthusiastic - "let's get him to write some paragraphs that can be used for publicity, and get LSJ TV to cover it". So fair enough, I drafted some paragraphs about what had transpired.

The next email came from Barnie, one of the senior TV lecturers. I had asked him what sort of idea he had for LSJ TV. The return reply was very...interesting. Barnie went on at length how this would not only benefit me, but the university as a whole. He had forwarded on the email to Thirzah in the press office who is now drafting a press release for the local (and possibly national media). I even got an email from the Vice Chancellor congratulating me on my achievement.


A gramophone similar to mine. Photo: Lokarta

Of course, any publicity is good publicity and it all helps for my CV (not many people can say their hobby has got them on Japanese TV) but this comes with a small feeling of unease. It's pretty evident that my tutors looked at my story and rubbed their hands with glee. Why? Because it's a huge PR coup for the university.

Think about it. I can practically see the headline in Thursday's Echo - "Lincolnshire student achieves international fame for hobby". As journalism students we are always taught to be wary of PR people, but it appears I have unwittingly become a cog in the huge PR machine

It's times like these I remember why I chose my course...

Today was a very emotionally draining one. I got up at 5:30, and at 7am was on a train to Grantham to carry on my coverage about the "Keep Safe" project.

Basically it's a scheme whereby stickers are put in shop windows for people with learning difficulties recognise a place to go if they experience any trouble or are victims of crime.

It had got to about 2pm, I hadn't eaten since my breakfast at 6am and I was tired already - but I was finishing up. I decided to interview one of the representatives of the project from Hertfordshire where the project has been tested. This lady has learning difficulties, but gave some excellent responses to my questioning.

My heart began to tear when she said quite plainly "People think of us as children, people with learning difficulties". I bit my lip and continued the interview. The lady continued to relate about how she had been assaulted in more ways than one by her family members , neighbours and had abuse thrown at her by people in the street all because of her learning difficulty.

I was so disgusted. She genuinely was one of the nicest people I've met, I got on so well with her and she was so upfront with her responses. The smile never left her face and she really seemed interested in what I had to say.

There is however a silver lining to her tale. She was awarded the MBE for her services to disabled charities, and she told me quite a few funny stories about the times she visited Buckingham Palace for various receptions!

I left the day feeling quite torn inside. Part of my degree is finding people like this to interview, and as I always say - everyone has a story to tell. Unfortunately those stories aren't always the best, and I really can't help but feel for the pain that some of the people I speak to have been through.

I just hope I can do her story justice with my radio package, after hearing her tale I feel compelled to.

The next few days as a mute...

The lovely James and myself at the Masquerade Event

For those people who had the pleasure of talking to me (or saying things to me and me replying by writing on my Blackberry) last night, they will have quickly realised that I've become a mute.

On Thursday I was struck by an illness which left me bedridden for the next 3 days. Fast forward to Saturday. I was all but recovered however my throat was a little sore. Since I was determined to make it to the LGBT event that night I took some paracetamol and went out sober.

It turns out that the shouting I did in there to be heard (and also the time I spent on the door out in the cold) didn't do any wonders for my voice - I am now mute.

The likelyhood is that I will be mute tomorrow, and I think I will stick to not talking much on Tuesday if possible to allow my voice to recover.

I have to say, it is a rather weird feeling. Communication is one of those things that you take for granted - I found it incredibly frustrating last night when I could only communicate with facial gestures and over emphasized hand signals. You feel very cut off from the world. Taking it all in but not giving your input, and having to wave your hand in front of your neck and mouth the words "NO VOICE" quickly becomes annoying.

I'm thankful this happened over a weekend and not during the week. Obviously a lot of broadcast journalism relies on the voice!