In a week where Blackberry seem to have done the career-move equivalent of British Airways making more luggage space in the cabin by putting all the passenger seats on the wings of the plane, I find myself pondering upon my (over) use of the dreaded iPhone...
Forget emailing and phone calls which I barely ever get it out for, for me it's all about the podcasts (you can get them straight to your phone via iTunes which is ace for commutes), the games, and the nifty festival apps that are becoming more and more frequent (MaMA in Paris and Transmusicales in Rennes ones are both looking handy).
The wealth of podcasts is embarrassingly rich. Favourite include Football Weekly (sorry, I am completely addicted to this and there's nothing anyone can do about it), A History of the World in 100 Objects (all objects can be found in the British Museum which is pretty rad unless you're from one of the countries the UK nabbed the items from), and yes, Desert Island Discs.
DiD opened up their archives to the iTunes podcast thingy in March, and since then I've been doing my best to trawl through them. The DiD intro music, Kirsty Young's dulcet tones, (and Sailing By, another radio 4 classic) are all deeply engrained in my psyche...
Here are the episodes that stand out, and deserve a good old listen:
1) Jan Pienowski - 18.Oct.2009
Ahh, Meg and Mog, Haunted House pop-up book. THE STUFF OF LEGENDS. I tried to make a pop-up book when I was 5 but with A4 it turned out to be a bit flimsy. There was a giraffe involved. Beyond the creativity and the books, here Jan talks about his Polish heritage, living with his bipolarity (preferring not to take prescription drugs as they dulled his mind), his extensive collection of charity shop clothes and his 40-year relationship with his partner. Quite an exceptional man who has slipped onto my 'maxi-dinner party of all time' list.
2) Tony Adams - 27.Jun.2010
Being anti-Arsenal to the point of distraction, I wasn't looking forward to this one, but Adams' candid and unnervingly honest account of his alcoholism, crippling insecurities and lack of education are startling. His recovery, work with other professionals with addiction issues and his new management role as coach of the Azerbaijan team is worth checking out.
3) Anna del Conte - 19.Nov.10
One of the great things about the archive is you stumble across people you haven't heard of, or who you may have heard of but can't remember what it is they get up to. Signora del Conte is the Italian food writer who came to the UK in the late 40, and has been one of the main instigators in making Italian food as popular in the UK as it is today. Her tales of making horse-meat ragu without telling customers (they loved it and came back for more) is particularly good, especially when recounted in her inimitable voice and accent.
4) Lang Lang - 31.Oct.10
Lang Lang's Dad used to kick his arse into gear if he didn't do enough piano practice. I know exactly what this is all about, so this rather endearerd me to old Lang Lang. He takes his Dad to task a bit as well as far as I remember, go Lang Lang! He also got kicked out of the conservatoire in China for not having enough talent. Ha, fools!
5) Barry Manilow - 27.Sep.09
I have a memory, deeply etched in my brain of Manilow performing Copacabana when I was around 8. To me, he looked like the epitome of uncool or whatever that is. But I knew he looked like a bit of a div. So this episode kind of change my mind, as he came out of it looking like a bit of a dude. His obvious, deep-seated passion for music doesn't always come out with other musicians, but he is frighteningly knowledgeable and humble with it. Copacabana rocks as well I now realise.
Teeth by DZDEATHRAYS
Cheveu - Charlie Sheen by Wrong End Of The Seesaw
