more energy

heard this song while downunder on TripleJ (a very fine indie radio network) it makes me smile so much I thought it makes a perfect Friday anthem #enjoy

rock classic o'clock

since it's monday, and for some of us that can be tough... i believe a little blues gem like this can make the day a little better :) enjoy!

best job ad ever

**really don't think I need to say anything about this other than it was advertised by a pub in the heart of London's West End and just fabulous - imagine having a boss with a sense of humour?? priceless ;)

This is my England

By rights I should put this on my picture blog but as I'm having enough trouble keeping up with one blog at the moment I thought better of it! haha

This is a lovely little scene from that London.. it's fairly unusual to see two such iconic English designs together like this, the red post box was a Penfold design from the 1800s while the red telephone box came along later by George Gilbert-Scott, who rather neatly had already designed the just plain fabulous gothic Liverpool Anglican Cathedral*

I love it that here they are nestled together fighting the elements, left a little unloved and perhaps not long for the knackers yard! of course this would never happen, they're worth a fortune on eBay haha ;)





*if you ever get to Liverpool make sure you take a trip to the top of the tower - tis quite a sight up there! and also a little windy - take a scarf ;)

strangers on a train

hello stranger...

can't believe I didn't blog since August 21 that is an all time bad!!!

i'm back baybee.. did you miss me?*

so I met this fellow on a recent train journey in London... his name is Aror and he is from Lagos, Nigeria check out how smart he is!

we had both just got off long haul flights and it was silly early on a Sunday morning but he looked so dapper I had to chat to him! of course this being London his local relative couldn't quite fathom who this friendly person was on the tube.. but c'est moi ;) after explaining I was from the north we chatted about - in the first place - his very fine hat! turns out he was on his way to a family get together to celebrate his 70th birthday which had been in June...

he was so lovely, i mean do you know what i mean when i say he had good vibrations? call me an old hippy (hey!) but he just had good energy and i was so pleased to have met him... he really wanted me to delay my trip north and go to his party (and possibly marry me off into the family haha) but i explained my momma would be missing me! haha

i am reading a book called Straw Dogs by John Gray and it poses the theory that humans have invented their whole individuality... i haven't finished the book, it may have more to explain but it basically tells me 'humanity' is an invention by self-important humans of old... that we're nothing more than animals getting by in our self-made societies... BUT how do they account for the connection me and Aror made on a tube on a dreary sunday morning in October?

we have nothing obvious in common other than our 'humanity' he was a smiler, as am i.. we both enjoyed a chat.. it was just the best welcome home i could ask for after a long trip.. of course our encounter was of no obvious consequence.. we are social animals after all.. but something tells me that when you meet someone with a similar energy to yourself it gives you a warm fuzzy feeling and that is not worth nothing! #fact haha

so reader, i urge you to be on the look out for your stranger on a train ;)

*i know I have a very small crowd and frankly they're probs all gone now with such a lax attitude to my blogging but dudes i been going thru some real-life bs that frankly overtook my urge to write this so...

people pleasin' gal

self help books at the ready please people... i am a people pleaser and i'm sick of it! lol

i need some pseudo-shrink advice on whether once a people pleaser always a people pleaser?!

can i break from this self perpetuating prison of niceness?! haha i mean, i don't wanna be a complete biatch, a meanie, the selfish girl... but i need some kind of happy medium where i do what's best for me occasionally... without worrying about how it will impact on those around me!

answers on a postcard please!

creatures of habit

i am a gym bunny... i love to go, i miss it when i'm too busy to get there.. i am obvs addicted to the endorphins or something..

part of my gym ritual is to use only a few of the available lockers in the changing room.. particular machines on the gym floor get used over and again when there is a selection of treadmills to pick from.. i have a fav spot in the sauna and finally the shower block will have a fav cubicle..

thing is you do all this so subconsciously.. human beans being such creatures of habit it's under the radar.. only when it gets highlighted outside of your little reality tunnel do you step back and say oh yeh! haha

while in the showers last week i overheard 2 friends chatting.. woman 1 says: oh i've never been on this side before woman 2: i think i've been on that side once, but usually i'm on this side.. i smiled to myself while stood in my preferred cubicle.. it made me realise i too had a preferred side and when i saw one of the women in the changing area i said we're such creatures of habit! she agreed, she asked me if i used the same locker over and over again, to which i replied yes indeed i did!

it was a lovely reminder than human beans are so similar in such a fundamental way regardless of shallow differences.. creatures of habit are we.. if only we could have only harmless habits haha #cakesnotwithstanding

good music moves me

went to see an awesome band last night in Liverpool..

i saw them last summer in London and this was the first opportunity i'd had to see them again, so i was excited and full of anticipation before the gig..

The Suns are a surf/garage guitar outfit from Chester and they rocked my little world last night..

they played 11 songs and each was a beautiful guitar vignette singing to my very soul!

tonight my soul is enjoying the white album by those four boys.. it astounds me that a record i've heard over and over can still be such a joy to listen to! magic men they were, weaving spells with melodies and guitars.. music is good for the soul, amen!

jobseek and you shall find

so I'm looking for a new job.. have been for a few months now.. my current part time contract runs out in October and I'm very ready for something and some place new!

thing is, as fabulous as I believe I am at the radio stuff I do for a living, turns out I am terrible at answering one-size-fits-all HR questions about my relevant experience.. which is becoming an increasing problem! I'm not even very good when they get more specific.. I'm just good at doing stuff - not talking about it afterwards (much afterwards in some cases)..

now you may think I'm complaining cos I ain't got the goods - but baby I got 'em! I just can't tell you about them haha part of my job is to live in the moment, dealing with the business of live radio under pressure, then moving on to the next thing.. being asked by a HR bod who works in a no-pressure role to give an example of how I deal with problems is an impossible question - I did it.. I moved on! if I remembered every situation at work my head would explode! The job is about living in the moment, which as it turns out is not great for getting a new job! haha

so I guess I'm looking at some hard unemployed sofa time if I don't figure out what these people want me to tell them about myself.. it's so sucky cos I would never apply for a job I didn't think I could do! why doesn't my experience speak for itself?!

I'm mid-application for a job at the very bottom of TV production and the questions they ask you'd think it was to run the entire team! *sighs* best put the kettle on and get back to it.. but cripes I'm looking fwd to a period of NOT filling in job application forms soon!

if you would like to employ me, (of course you would, I'm the Jodester!) do send me a note with my expected responsibilities and salary ;)

let me tell you about #chocswap

you'll know by now that i'm a keen advocate of micro blogging site Twitter.. tbf it's taken me away from this 'proper' blog as it's so instant and available on my iphone, i can't resist but tweet everyday! imagine that! my inane ramblings every day!! hehe my poor 'followers'*

so a few months back i got a mention from a girl in Cincinnati, Ohio.. she remarked how unlikely it was that there was an @producerjodie working in radio just like her friend @producerjodi which is fair enough an observation to make so i replied hello to both and new friends were found :)

more recently i remarked on Twitter that i had just eaten 5 hobnobs**... to which @producerjodi asked what's a hobnob?? so.. a hobnob for the uninitiated, is an oat cookie with plain and chocolate covered variations and quite moreish, that is to say eating 5 was not my plan but just kinda happened!!! i suggested i send jodi some english biscuits and she send me some yankee ones and so #chocswap was born!

once at the supermarket i opted for some cadbury's crunchie biscuits for the swap, this because cadbury's is sooo english plus they were my new favourites, and no less addictive than hobnobs... packaged up and sent to Ohio we waited for the postal service to deliver them to @producerjodi...

a week later she messaged me on Twitter - they're yummy she exclaimed!! i'm sending yours this week!

another week later i had a pack of Oreo Fudgees in my possession!!! it's safe to say #chocswap was a storming success!!!

i can't think of a better use of internet friends than swapping yummy treats! haha well y'know it made me smile anyway, two radio gals, an ocean apart, going to their local postal service to mail cookies... it's a beautiful thing that we did haha

i recommend this sort of silly behaviour to you reader, the world can be a jaded place, let's make it nice again by doing nice things for strangers!

* if you wish to join them find me @producerjodie

**i did warn you about the innane updates! haha

ukelele gal

i joined a uke club! i have wanted to join this club for months but just didn't get around to it... so glad i finally got there... i don't mind telling you that after 2 hours of uke strumming i had a very sore index finger but in fact i didn't mind ;)

can you believe such a thing exists? the world is a wonderful place after all...

supermarket karma

today i went to the supermarket for some milk, breakfast, lunch etc... nothing out of the ordinary... but as i walked home i had a smile on my face! let me tell you why...

i bought a whole bunch of stuff - including those things i shouldn't have like chocolate biscuits and white choc magnums* - and i got to the checkout to find it wasn't too busy, usually on a sunday supermarkets are queue-tastic! i waited behind this old lady as she and her carer got through their shopping and as i did i saw a guy with an onion and a baguette looking for a place to pay.. now to give you some context i was at the only 'manned' checkout, there were a couple of self-service machines in use as well as the kiosk area for cigarettes, lotto etc but also busy... so i saw this guy and he had a look on his face that i instantly empathized with, the 'oh i only wanted to pop in, buy this onion and baguette and be gone but now i have to wait to pay... ruined' face!

so i caught his eye and waved him over, i said come here, go before me mister! he was reluctant, no, no need.. but i wasn't about to have my good deed turned down! haha i persisted, come on, i said, you have 2 items, it's no big deal, it's your lucky day, go next! after reassuring him i was sure, and this wasn't a trick, or a tv stunt (!) and good for my karma bank haha, he accepted my offer, saying thanks, how he was just parked on double yellows outside and actually how he had to buy fags from the kiosk anyway.. at which point the checkout boy who had obviously overheard the goings on piped up - which ones do you want? he was waiting to serve the next person (me or the dude) but was waiting patiently for the very elderly lady in front to get going... the random guy was incredulous - asked for the brand he wanted and the kid popped across to the kiosk to grab them for him... he said wow this really is my lucky day to which i reminded him it was only 12 noon so plenty of time for some other great stuff to happen to him!

it's a shame that this was such a surprise to him, hopefully he will return the random act of kindness to another human being some time soon and the ripple effect will make the world a little nicer for everyone :)

jeez i'm SUCH a hippy these days! lol

but anyways, i can totally recommend doing a stranger a good turn**, it cheered me right up and i was smiling all the way home***

*omg it's a good job i go to the gym!

**in my experience the reaction isn't always as good as this one was but it's worth the punt people!

***and not just cos i now had choccie biccies ;)

my fridge magnet tour

i seem to have become addicted to fridge magnets... i think i can blame my mother, not just because that's what you do, but because she is addicted to fridge magnets and seems to have gotten me started with some gift fridge magnets.. which you then can't help but add to! argh!

recently i have been spring cleaning.. and surely one of the things i really don't 'need' in life is fridge magnets.. and yet they tell a great story about my life* do they not? let me explain for you this collection..

top line - no messing about let's get straight to David! haha the classical David from Italy shows off his manhood in this magnet.. my friend Kate bought it for me as a momento when we were in Rome together a few years ago.. he's pretty eye catching no? hehe next across is a silver Liver Bird - a gift from my fridge magnet loving mother!! the Liver Bird is the emblem for Liverpool my home town, two giant Liver Birds sit aloft the Liver Building on the water front and word is, if they ever fly away Liverpool will sink 'neath the river Mersey - ya gotta love these old sailor yarns, only from a port city baby ;)

next up you have a postcard of a Boston Terrier... this is my dream dog should i ever decide to be responsible enough to own one (ahem)

okay next line down L-R we have a Guinness Toucan magnet.. I think I bought this in Kinsale on a weekend away with my mum, and we all know Guinness is good for you ;) this sits next to a signed picture of Deal Or No Deal host with the most Noel Edmondson.. couple of years ago I went with a bunch of friends to sit in the audience to watch people open them boxes and absolutely LOVED it! haha next up my most recent acquisition, a sign post for Australia , it reads 'It's a bloody long way' and it's not wrong!!! moving swiftly on we have a Brazilian magnet brought back for me by my pal Lou, then a lovely eye from Malta i think from the bf's parents.. just under that the word drizzle from a foodie magnet poetry kit of my dads, a Brighton magnet - I used to live there and 'twas amazing... and a superlambanana - a new Liverpoolian emblem, again from my mother..

onto the bull and the Isle of Mull magnet from another weekend away with my mum, up to Oban this time in bonnie Scotland... followed by an Edward Monkton magnet entitled the Pants of Peace**

okay back to Noel's piccie and we have another Aussie magnet - this time from the gallery of NSW featuring the work of native artist Margaret Preston.. underneath that a Holland fridge magnet from my bf's latest trip to Amsterdam.. next to this is a monkey from Monkey Forest in Stoke-on-Trent, this is an awesome day out - if you haven't already.. DO IT! haha the monkeys are right there on the path, i would love to know what they thought of human beans wandering around their forest!

ok next along we have a jailhouse rock Elvis Presley, i have had this a long time and can't recall anyone giving it to me so perhaps i bought it.. next along, a postcard that exclaims 'omg! my mother was right about everything!' which pretty much sums up the last 5 years of my life haha

this is held in place by a wooden heart magnet, another gift from my mother (are you spotting a trend?! haha) next along is a NYC magnet from my 1st trip there, i think it was 2005? not sure, but it was february and it was freezing!

next up more monkeys - this time from Monkey World in Dorset.. i really like monkeys.. underneath - it's a bit bleached out by the sun but there is a tropical fish that denotes the Birmingham Sea Life Centre.. that was interesting.. smelled kinda.. fishy tho! haha

finally my 50s gal magnet has written next to her 'she could never remember was it better to be safe? or sorry?' i bought this for myself and it does make me smile...

please feel free to send me snaps of your own fridge ;)

*of course now i've photographed and blogged this photo i have a log of them so i don't really need to keep them... omg i really have issues, i can't even bear the idea of chucking them away! haha

**this magnet broke today! it's now an ex-magnet...

the royal wedding

since you asked, i went to the gym and then to the pub on the big day in question.. it was on tv at both! but other than a quick glimpse of frocks i wasn't really up for celebrating.. i'm no party pooper so i didn't get all vocal about it but, y'know as a peasant, i wasn't really up for cheering on the over-priviliged ;) this picture was taken in the bunting-fest that was the beer garden of the Prince of Wales pub in Moseley, Birmingham.. a fine establishment, frequented by all sorts of local characters.. including this guy who had this tres amusing Wills face mask!

jetlagged jodester

oh my.. i really didn't think a week on from being home i would be feeling the effects of going upside down (to australia) and back again.. i keep waking up at 4am or thereabouts.. and you know how i feel about waking up at that godforsaken hour! ha - it's plain unnatural!

thing is 4am here, in Sydney is like 12noon, so it makes no sense why i would be waking then.. no sense at all.. but there it is.. every morning, today in fact it was 3.30am! then i either can't get back to sleep at all or, like today, i tune in a random radio station and drift off after about an hour of worrying about why it is i'm awake at such a stupid time of day..

re: australia, had rather a great time thanks for asking.. can't wait to get back! if only the australian gvmnt didn't have such a plain unfriendly working visa system, they'd be lucky to get the jodester on board! who can i write to to right this wrong?!! hehe well i shall just have to go holiday there.. they do nice beaches.. tho one thing i noticed on the way over via Singapore was all the skin whitening products on sale.. it made me realise once and for all that pale with freckles is what i am and what i should accept! people would literally pay to be this pasty! haha now that is a reality check when flashing my reflective white flesh in a bikini surrounded by bronzed bods.. i made more than one joke about how never in their wildest dreams could they be this white haha, true north west tones i got..

the one thing i learned while away is, that according to our antipodean friends, you can't compare oranges to apples... or is it apples to oranges??

either way, it totally goes over my head too, but i think it has a certain charm... a lot like australia actually :)

simple pleasures 101

tis long been my belief that it is the simple pleasures, the free, the frequent, the idiosyncratic pleasures that make life bearable...

one of these such pleasures is shooting the breeze with a stranger... nothing warms my heart more than to have a pleasant random conversation with another human being who i happen to be sat next to, stood in a line behind, thrown together with by fate... i understand that not everyone likes to chat, that to some, the idea of a stranger chatting to them is horrifying and an unwelcome intrusion into their reality tunnel*... even if that stranger is lovely little ol' me! ;)

recently i have found myself having more chats that usual, i have had a little extra time on my hands so i guess i just had the time to chat i was missing before... on a train i chatted to a man who was meeting his son for a big day at the football... he told me about his dog (a chocolate lab - i even saw a pic thanks to mobile technology!) his business, his son, his partner, his hometown in Essex... what a lovely window into a stranger's life! later the same day i chatted to a cab driver who took my joke about him knowing how to negotiate the busy Birmingham city centre streets and turned it into a fantastical story about how he was waiting to get wings fitted to his car but the licence to fly in the city was pretty steep hehe, that was fun! another cabbie told me he'd only recenlty figured out he'd been driving his cab for 20yrs, he'd seen it all and after all that was still convinced that on the whole people were good at heart... what a lovely confirmation from a reputable source! another chap i sat next to a another train was from Australia and shared with me that his favourite chocolate bar was a Twix.. which now when i see it in the store reminds me of him! haha

i don't discount the argument that sometimes you don't want to chat to the stranger trying to make conversation... if they seem a little bonkers it's a worry! but you have to negotiate through without seeming rude & unfriendly... my mum says i'm too nice and attract bonkers people but i think there are worse things to be accused of! ;)

i believe a chat with a stranger, bijou and beautiful, gone in an instant, is like a vignette in your life... completely stand alone, of no consequence and yet such a human experience.. we are social animals after all.. i urge you reader to be more chatty and enjoy it!

*my boyf says everyone has this, he heard it via some old philosopher dude... i like the concept and think it rationalises strange behaviours i witness in the everyday!

things I've learned

stress is not great for keeping up with a personal blog.

that is all.

for now!

daylight junkie

So I have a new fetish... daylight! haha

Having worked the early shift for 3 years I'm not used to seeing the sun on the way into work, and since it's January there isn't much sun anyway, but let me get to the point... I am currently working a shift covering holiday that allows me to leave for work just before 9am... the sun is up and waiting for me! And it's soooooo nice! It doesn't feel abnormal to be awake once the sun is up! I am, alas, back to a 6.30am wake up pretty soon so it's a short lived blast of normality... but what a diff'rence a day(light) makes as some might say(sing) ;)

Now I preface this by saying that you can find research to prove black is white and vice versa.. but! I read recently that shift workers are more prone to putting on weight because their sleep pattern isn't natural enough... i think there's a lot to be said for Mother Nature's body rhythms, she knows what she's doin' and then modern life comes along and messes it all up!

So while I can I'll be soaking up those daytime rays... i suggest you grab a little sunshine too, vitamin D is good for ya!

radio play rules

tonight i have Radio2 on - Bob Harris is playing some country style music and he played this band Crooked Still

i would never have heard of them if it wasn't for this chance radio play on a january evening! and they're lovely to listen to!

see!

radio rules! :)

good old rock & roll

so in order to keep up my spirits for 2011 i sometimes take a walk over to YouTube.. oh sweet time where do you go when one clip leads to another...

well here's one to share good friends of mine ;)




you're welcome !