NEW NEW NEW FOR 2015

5 months ago, when  i wrote

"Coming soon -
Spring 2015
A new series of local focus shows
LIVE IN TOTNES
5-6 PM alternate FRIDAYS
News, interviews, reviews, music, events, questions and ideas
What fun!
Excellent!"

I was unprepared for the smorgasbord of surprises, personal and family upheavals and new adventures the universe threw at me as 2014 ended - oh, and Chris Sadler, early Live In Totnes co-presenter, left the county for new adventures himself....     :-)  :-O  :-D
So I treated myself to a 'creative holiday' and did not make the Live In Totnes shows- I did not produce any radio at all !!!   and i did not amend or add to this blog, as I simply put all my time into regular, everyday life.
but now.....
i reckon - finally, ITS TIME to make something again-

Totnes is in full swing, I'm in a good place- personally, figuratively, geographically :-)
So-
whats tickling my community antenna at the moment?

well, ATMOS reaching stage 2 of its consultation-to-construction process is pretty exciting-
they are running drop in open afternoons every Wednesday until May 13th
and pop-up find out more events around the town...

ATMOS was one of my first radio focuses when i began my citizen journalism thang back in 2012- grand to see how far they've come, and how involved a whole town can be in the future of one of it's most contested sites- I might well have to revisit them again, and meet their community development with some (more) community radio  :-)

If one were to listen to that old Maid In Totnes / Town Crier Radio show you'd also hear from TQ9 CIC's James Engwell about a hyperlocaltastic project they was trying to launch- unfortunately their bid to NESTA was unsuccessful and TQ9 CIC folded in 2013-  leaving several great projects unrealised (including my favourite- a Rushbrook Arts Hub)- but, in the way that these things do, good ideas don't die, but go back into the mix, circulate, peculate, pass into different hands, and evolve.
I'm not surprised to see that ATMOS - led by the strong community feeling obvious though their MASSIVE consultation - is developing ideas (and potential sites and places) that meet the community focused briefs that were present in the TQ9 projects - and most likely many many other cool projects and group initiatives that only got sooooo far over the years.  

It is good to think that the energy and enthusiasm good ideas have generated is not wasted- even if the hoped for result was not accomplished at that time. Community is like a compost-  ther are so many layers and ingredients -the more that gets put in the richer it becomes, tho you do have to leave it to 'become' for the 'right time' to get something that will benefit us all....   and then, wow, ideas germinate, sprout, blossom and fruit.....   

Spring is here, gardening metaphors are proof to be sure.

So ATMOS-
also, to be considered soon-
THE LAND CONFERENCE
THE HIGH STREET ONE WAY SYSTEM
SOUNDART'S NEW STUDIO
TOTNES NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN
and the MAY DAY MINI FESTO event at Totnes Leechwell 
just for starters :-)

guests

COMMUNITY RADIO LESSON #589
remember to say thanks to your guests...

because, just like the town, and the radio station, this show would not be anything without good people:
THANK YOU SO MUCH TO OUR GUESTS SO FAR:

Corine and Lea from KEVICC Parents Association,
Matt and Jon Price of Proud2Be,
Jay Tompt from the Reconomy Centre
Anna Other representing  Totnes Arts Hub
Jackie Jono speaking about Reincarnation Street
Paul and James and Pippa of the Totnes Allotments Association
Di from the Birdwood Restroom Association
Anthea Tuckey of Birdwood House
Richard Mitchell from Bridgetown Alive!
Giles From the Albert Inn
Dot Spink on the Totnes Childrens' Centre
Ian Blackwell for  Dangerous Dads
Rupert Elford inviting y'all to  Totnes Juggling and Circus Skills Workshop
Wendy Stayte about  Incredible Edible
John Spelling on Fight The Power!
Frankie Finn for Totnes Town Councillor
Dr Gail Bradbrook of the  Street School Economics
Paul Bennet on behalf of Totnes Society
Laurel and David on the Food in Community CIC 

YOUR GOOD HUMOUR IN COMING ALONG AND COMING ON-AIR,  AND COMMUNITY SPIRIT WITH THE PROJECTS YOU ARE INVOLVED IN, IS AMAZING:   THANKS VERY MUCH!
 
....please feel welcome to come back with new news and updates on your projects, bring or send a friend along and generally pass on the word : Live In Totnes Radio Show welcomes folks to share their community news, events, campaigns, music, jokes, questions and ideas...

Here in Totnes what we are doing just feels like having fun, but scratch a little deeper and we kinda fit the description below, from The Community Radio Handbook, which considers the important work community radio programming can do in communities accross the world- and which we are all contributing to, just by putting our voices and ideas together, and inviting YOU ALL UP TO GET INVOLVED TOO:

Main Functions of Community Radio as Formulated in South Africa

Community radio should:

•Promote and reflect local culture, character and identity;

•Assist in creating a diversity of voices and opinions and encourage individual expression;

•Increase access to a diversity of voices on air;

•Assist in creating a diversity in broadcasting ownership;

•Be responsive to the needs of their community;

•Contribute to human resources development for broadcasting and where appropriate to job creation;

•Encourage members of the relevant community to participate in programming and production matters;

•Encourage innovation and experimentation in programming.

YAY!

Mondays and Thursdays 5-6pm on Soundart Radio 102.5fm

1,2,3,4,5

COMMUNITY RADIO LESSON #587 : always continue in the best possible way. Never mind if the streaming drops out mid broadcast - with live guests and telephone interviews, keep trucking and make the very best of their time and generosity- the internet is wobbly, but there is no need to be a wobbly presenter - a good podcast is as valuable as live FM...

Making experimental radio in a new setting each time, and inviting guests on to the show each time, has been .... amazingly interesting.

Our first show, Live from my front room, didn't work at all.

The second, from the Reconomy Centre was brilliant and neat.

The third, from Birdwood House, was fun, but technically challenged.

 

the forth, from the Albert Inn, Bridgetown, was smooth and successful.

the fifth, back at the Reconomy Centre, kept defaulting to blank air.
and the sixth--- is this Thursday coming, we'll back at Birdwood House again, and how it will go anyone's guess......

So we know we can, and we know its a bit chancy :
we are feeling confident, but still learning  :
the shows are ace, but don't always make it on-air !

Chris Sadler and I are developing the format - we're keen to bring in more open discussion, and with Dave and Chris' techie skillz n support, we're hoping to work through the hiccups and level off - though there will be adjustments required throughout the whole project I'm sure....

I've decided to blog in the form of #LESSONS. These are the lessons I'm learning through practise- in the classic school of knocks style of bumping into them hard (dying live on air, again, Ouch!)  I'll write 'em starting from the high 500's, because tho I've not been logging them so far, I'm finding Live From Totnes lessons are coming thick and fast and adding straight on to the community radio learning already done through my involvement with Soundart Radio. To be truthful, there is no book to read that can tell you how do do experimental radio / community development work 'in the field'. You just have to jump in and do it - tick lists, plans and qualifications can only get you so far :-)

Its hard to keep up with blogging alongside the everyday time demands of work, kid and putting regular broadcasts together :  but jotting down LESSONS (like number #587 above) keeps it current, manageable and irreverent. Aha! 

COMMUNITY RADIO LESSON #588 - stay irreverent - even when dealing with serious topics (including the subject of making radio), maintain balance and good humour.

If Live From Totnes Radio Show was being made by radio professionals with a whole load of funding and time ( rather than us poor passionate amateurs!), the whole shebang would undoubtedly be 'perfect' and without flaw. It would also be a rip of culture - not made by the people for the people, and not something that has at its' heart the desire to facilitate dialogue on the community level. 

Writing #LESSONS as reminders to myself keeps me humble and keeps me focused on the idea of making community radio accessible-  its D.I.Y- we are beginners in it just for the love of it.    .....So its not in the bag yet so to speak : Live In Totnes Radio Show is in the box, a work in progress, and we'll be getting it out to play with at a venue near you soon.


 To interact with the show,  to find out about guests and the news, campaigns, music and events we featured, check out our facebook group....  or drop us a email : liveintotnesradioshow@gmail.com

getting ready for a show....

First 'Live In Totnes' is to be broadcast tomorrow- Monday 16th 5-6pm
We're even on the schedule....

sound check - check (and check, check, and check again)
biscuits - check
tea n coffee (strong fair trade coffee, n decaf, fruit, and good old British Rail teas) - check
guests - check
some major nerves - CHECK

This will be fun- its all a little experimental, so we'll be bringing in and testing out new elements as we go along through the season -  especially the listener participation aspect : i got a number and will give it out on-air, so folks can get in touch, there is the facebook, and the door is ajar........

The equipment sprawls across my table (funny to see a table of equipment and remember stories of the journeys / arrivals of all the kit) - old, new, borrowed, blue, well travelled, 'virgin', red, black, yellow, silver :-) - its a bit untidy- so steps are getting taken to streamline proceedings...

favorite Totnes street art from the past year ...

Shanni Ong's lovely art from the Castle Inn beer garden- sadly now gone :

As is the King Edward VI Community college sports pavilion...

              

The Atmos site at the old Dairy Crest depot : very derelict, very nice

Banksy- inspiring strong morals and sloppy stencil work in a town near you,  outside Barclays Bank

about 20 years old - strong strong paint enduring at the old lobster pot factory

Old Bridge in winter - sacrilegious desecration of town heritage

Paradise Lost - Epic

Last Sunday as part of The Totnes Festival, I took part in a community reading of Paradise Lost. The whole book was read, over 11 hours -10am-9pm. IT WAS... EPIC

The performance had been cooking for the last 6 months-  initiated and led by Alice Oswald, a locally based poet of national renown. Alice's enthusiasm for poetry is kinda infectious-  rather than being a confirmed Milton fan, I joined up to the open call for readers more as a sound recordist, and because I am a fan of Alice's own poetry. I was keen to have my ears opened to a new style of writing, and was betting she knew a good poem when she read one, since her own writing is pretty cool too. I was right- Paradise Lost turned out to be a feast of words- a twelve course banquet even- served with a rich sauce of political history and social philosophy. yum yum yum.

"Better to rule in Hell than to serve in Heaven" chalk add on the Totnes High Street

So, here is some history pertaining to Paradise Lost, and you yourself if you be an Englandlander :-)

John Milton (1609 -1674) was a English writer of national import living in the first and middle part of the 17th century. He was a Protestant, a scholar and a democrat. He put aside his poetic leanings to immerse himself in the more pressing work of questioning the establishment and promoting the English revolution through writing popular prose pamphlets (for example the 1644 publication of Areopagitica, a treatise rejecting censorship before publication and arguing for freedom of enquiry- YAY for early citizen journalism!)

A contraversalist and a great debater, Milton's key engagement was with ideological questions about the nature of government and authority. Often accused of heresy and subversion, Milton encouraged the English public to think deeply about both the King's right of rule and their obligation to serve:

No man who knows aught can be so stupid to deny that all men naturally were born free, being the image and resemblance of God himself, and were, by privilege above all the creatures, born to command and not to obey. (CPW, III.198) The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates (which was published only a month after Charles' execution in January 1649 and which serves primarily to justify the regicide.)

                              Justice & Equity 1635 plaster frieze, Totnes Guild Hall

Milton spoke as many as 10 languages - and was Secretary of Foreign Tongues for Oliver Cromwell's Republic- essentially a position as the chief voice-piece for England across the world during the decade of the Republic. Milton's political objectives were always clear even to the point of the restoration of the monarchy. Milton issued many arguments in favour the Civil War and the introduction of a Commonwealth State of England, such as The Readie and Easie Way to Establish a Free Commonwealth, published only a few months before Charles II gained the throne in May 1660.

It was only after the restoration, and his banning from political writing (and closely missing having his own head cut off for treason) ,that he returned fully to poetry- his duty done, he felt he could use his right hand again for a more personal project. Unsurprisingly, Miltons' poetry, politics and spirituality were very closely entwined- and this is super-evident in Paradise Lost. Although a metaphysical and religious work, it is often read as a allegory of sorts : though set in Heaven, Hell, the Garden of Eden and purgatory, there are many similarities in tone and speech with Milton's overt political writings, and the characters too, can be cast with the English political context and subsequent Christian spiritual crisis in mind.

It turns out Paradise Lost really needs to be read aloud. Milton was blind when he composed it- he would let his muses visit him at night, and then speak out loud his verses to his scribe every morning. Not surprisingly it was only on reading it out loud, or hearing it spoken, that the the playfulness of ye olde Englis grammar and the instrumentality of the language come out; and the story itself!  Rather than being bibilo-fuddy-duddy, Paradise Lost came to life when spoken- it took on a glow- like a fire side chant, a tale of great daring do and complex motivations, thunder peals, lightning strikes, fresh sun-risings, eventful even-tides, romance, revenge, battles and sacrifice.

We read in the Totnes Guild Hall - a medieval court room visited by Oliver Cromwell, still in use by the Totnes Town Council, and perfect for oration - in our case, a public performance. Our company of readers came to about 30 people, including poets, the Bard of Exeter, Royal Shakespeare Company actors, Pagans, Atheists, Occupy Exeter representatives, the Lady Mayor of Totnes, playwrights, cleaners, play workers, teenagers-  and we passed the book along between us almost like a relay- but it wasn't a race- the words set a spacious rhythm, with readers and listeners alike sat or standing round, contemplative and immersed in the sound.

Free to attend, the door was left wide open, and around 100 folks drifted in through he day. I recorded the performance (including the first hour and a half backed by the Sunday bells at St Mary's Church!!!), and it will be broadcast in full by Soundart Radio 102.5fm as one of our Sslloowwssuunnddaayy programmes. I think John Milton would have been proud of us : we reclaimed some real English Heritage, and together made a production that stands for many good things : public speech,  public congregation, free will, and the central place within community of both political and soul-full art.

(Alice Oswald runs a Monthly Poetry Conversation at Sharpham House- well worth strolling up the River Dart for!)

Once more into the fray....

Its been a supercrazy 5 months in ole Totnes, but here I am again- bracing myself for a new radio and writing project :-)

Using the box of delights I bought from the Bare Foot Bee Keeper (Cheers Phil!), I'm preparing to launch a new show. From 16th September, twice a week from 5-6pm, I'll be producing a local magazine style programme -'Live In Totnes' which will indeed be, er, live in Totnes.

Soundart Radio is supporting through streaming services so, from my box of mics and mini mixer, via my laptop to the Dartington studio on the hill, onto the Internet proper and then the FM bandwidth, I'm hoping to open up a platform for sharing news and ideas - a drop in radio hour for all the good and news worthy wonders of the local area. If i wasn't making it, i hope it will be the kind of radio I'd be listening to myself whist making the dinner or driving home from work : a mix of local music, debate, chat, events, reviews, oddities, more local music and news....

I've been turning the idea of a Totnes Media Co-op over and over in my mind for a few years. There have been a few good attempts to get a indie paper going here, but unfortunately none have made it beyond first issues. I think all have agreed that media are a essential aspect of social infrastructure which belong better in the realm of the public, rather than as the domain of the private sector.

Grassroots media and community journalism seem to be becoming more and more popular and relevant, as large mass media is revealed to have self serving allegiances tied to political and corporate dealings. Hand made productions and community run projects don't mean a lack of authenticity -  I think its rather the opposite. Mass media and highly produced productions can of course be wondrous, informative, entertaining and have a important role in the mediascape- but there are qualities in small scale endeavours serving localities which regional and national platforms cannot reproduce (here, for example, is my current favorite highly reputed citizen journalist Scriptonite -eloquent, well researched, enlightening). Just because a media product is 'popular', or the word 'community' is part of it's TM title doesn't make it accessible truthful or democratic.  There's a whole load of paradoxes here really worth pondering, such as the ideas of 'objective' media, and the worth of  'mainstream values'. 

I hope 'Live In Totnes' can be part of opening up our community radio further into our community. I am taking inspiration from Free Radio pioneer Tetsuo Kogawa, who kick started miniFM in Japan in the 1980's, His work showed that broadcasting meetings around tables, from accessible rooms with a open doors, could break down walls and open new ways of viewing how media can be enjoyed and harnessed to empower the wider community.
Here and now, its a experiment : and hopefully, it will be a whole lot of fun too....

News on a local event? Bring it!
Thoughts on a public issue? Yes please!
Something happening, happened, or should happen? Wing it down to 'Live in Totnes' and share them thoughts.... 

This show has potential for a lot of contribution - from phone in interviews and comments online, to folks making their own reports and contributing one-off or regular segments, to 'the open door' really being embraced and listeners coming up to the cafe or public room we're using that evening and joining in the conversation live on the show. Maybe the angle is more a collaborative one then - by making the show super flexible and regular, I reckon there will be a 'in' for all kinds of voices- a right proper mix, reflecting the diversity and passions of our area. 

I'm casting about for venues and co-hosts currently, and looking forwards to it immensely-
and reminded of a post I made here 2 years ago for a set of shows - Town Crier is done, but 'Live in Totnes' plans to revisit some of the same territory :

"Hear Ye!!!      Town Crier is a a hour of news, opinion, interviews and reporting that aims to elucidate local matters : with a focus on projects, developments, activities and events that are of public and social import.
 Oyez, Oyez, Oyez!
Civic journalism is a type of journalism that can be best described as place-specific, amateur, impassioned, and embedded in the community of which it speaks. Town Crier is based in Totnes, and on the airwaves of Soundart Radio : relevant, irreverent, focused, and broadcast with an invitation: if you would like to participate, with a news story, as a reporter, or in any other way please get in touch."

:-) 
'Citing!!!