paul capewell’s blog

I didn’t get up to much on Sunday, although there are two topics I could write about any time: wine and radio.

It was a wet, grizzly day and, having been away half the week, I needed to stock up on groceries. I got all wrapped up and headed out. Normally a journey like this would be grotty and depressing. Fortunately I had a recent(ish) Tom Ravenscroft 6music show on my iPod.

For the uninitiated, Ravenscroft is the son of John Peel and, while he would baulk at any comparisons being drawn, he is (naturally) a lover of music, and frequently pops up as a DJ, sitting in for absent 6music hosts. He also hosted a show on Channel 4’s radio service, currently presents a series of mostly excellent podcasts on Global Soundtracks, and has a weekly unsigned show on Diesel U Music. So, given his somehow-familiar dulcet tones, his constant striving to uncover the latest exciting new music, and his appearance on various radio shows/podcasts, comparisons may well be made.

But whatever. The important fact is that he is an engaging host who you just know will play music you either love, or will soon grow to. Case in point his 6music show from earlier in November – he was sitting in for Tom Robinson. Very early on in the 2-hour show I heard a cracking downbeat electronica track which it emerged was free to download from an Italian record label. After that, “Now for a band from Christchurch, NZ,” he began. “I think they’ve been around for a while, but I’ve only just discovered them. In fact I think they’ve been around about 25 years… They’re called The Bats and this is called That’s How You’ll Find Me.” How utterly lovely. And unexpected! I mean, Ravenscroft has come to be one of those great paradoxes: I know where I am with him, but yet he always manages to surprise me.

And so it was that I was wandering past a bunch of geese in Platt Fields Park, watching the beads of rain slide off their back, with The Bats playing on my iPod. And that track was followed up by Lightning Bolt. Heavenly.

As the show played on, I don’t think I heard a song I didn’t like; I was listening to it on my iPod, I could easily have fast-forwarded anything I found boring. Indeed I found plenty that I wanted to explore further. Case in point Headlights‘ latest album Wildlife. I actually rewinded the show at that point, just to get the name of the band and wrote it on my hand so I’d remember to check them out. And I have. And it’s one of the best new records I’ve heard in months.

So I was trudging back from the grocery store, with a backpack full of food, the rain still trying to fall, and I thought “God, I wish Tom Ravenscroft was on the radio every day. Every week, even!” And then I remembered his Global Soundtracks podcast. I’ve dabbled in it a couple of times, but it’s rather more hit and miss than his 6music shows. However, inspired by this latest show, I went to listen to a recent GS podcast – entitled Eurotease – and came away knowing more about the Parisian scene than I did beforehand, and with a couple of artists I wanted to check out.

In the space of a couple of hours, I had a list of tracks I had heard, or that were related to what I’d heard, ranging from dream-like fuzzy lo-fi rock, to downbeat dubstep, to some pretty deep house. I haven’t had a new musical discovery day in what seems like ages, and suddenly I had lists of names and tracks. Perfect.

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In the evening, along with my requisite Sunday dinner of pie and mash, I had a couple of glasses of red wine. A few weeks ago I was very kindly sent some wine for free to test out. Now, I’m no wine connoisseur, but I do enjoy it, and the reason for me to test this wine wasn’t so much the liquid as the packaging. The wine was Hardy’s Nottage Hill so you know what to expect. Indeed, Fresh Case could’ve sent me two cases with just water or juice in – but I’m glad they didn’t…!

Fresh Case is a manufacturer with a new product just released, and put simply it’s a new take on the wine box. Now, box wine has a certain stigma attached to it. Whether it’s taken to festivals for as rapid consumption as possible, or left to sit in a warm kitchen getting staler and staler, box wine is usually just a terrible idea. When I told my mum I was trying out some new box wine, she stopped me mid-sentence to tell me just how bad it usually is. No no, I told her, Fresh Case have this sorted.

And they pretty much do! The packaging looks pretty good, and the storage and delivery systems are pretty smart. The red wine comes in a box to stand up proudly in your kitchen (or dinner table, or wherever), whereas the white wine is designed to lie down – perfect for a shelf in your fridge. Each box holds the equivalent of three bottles of wine, but taking up much less space, and with packaging far easier to recycle.

When I said to Fresh Case that I was a student with a sweet tooth for wine, I think they might’ve expected me to polish off the box or two in a few days. Hours, even. Contrary to this though, I made the white wine last three weeks, and the red wine still has a few drops in after a month of use. On reflection, six bottles’ worth of wine in four weeks is probably accelerated consumption in some peoples’ books, but I’ve not had it all to myself(!)

And what else can I say? The packaging works a treat, and the wine itself is good, good wine. I’m told the boxes are on sale at Sainsbury’s for £17.99 each – not too shabby when compared with the price of three glass bottles of the same wine. I think that’s the key here – if they had launched with some unknown wine, they’d have had a much harder time selling the product. Hardy’s wine has a good reputation and will hopefully help shift units.

I’ve not got too many bad words against the design – although it would be handy to know how much was left in the box sometimes. I found myself having to lift the box to try and judge how much was left – and not knowing how much the packaging itself weighs (very little, as it turns out), it was hard to establish. Also, while the delivery tap is well-made, and works great, getting the last of it out of the box was a bit fiddly. And I wasn’t straining the inner bag for the last drop! I mean that there was at least a glass of wine left which needed to be teased out of the box with the aid of gravity. The white wine box has a little leg to stand on and tilt it towards the tap, but I still needed to jiggle it about some.

Beyond that, it’s a great little package. It looks good, and the wine seemed to stay really fresh and crisp over the course of several weeks – something you couldn’t say about traditional box wine, let alone glass bottles. So, whilst I’m not a huge wine drinker, I reckon I’ll be picking up a couple of these boxes to take to my sister’s for Christmas – although I don’t foresee them lasting quite as long as my trial boxes!

Cheers, Fresh Case!

(You can check out a demonstration video and some more details at their website.)

No post for Friday 27 November 2009; it was a quiet day of travel. I woke up late, dossed around, headed back to Manchester via Euston and walked home from the station. Not too shabby.

Saturday I slept in too – although I was woken at 0840 by the postman trying to deliver a parcel. I had only just stirred though, so I left it. It’s weird the postie coming so early on a Saturday – he regularly comes at 10 or 11 on a weekday. I had a quiet morning, sticking some laundry on and tending to Wilhelm (our fish, remember?) who had gone without food whilst I was away. He seems perkier now.

In getting the postman’s notice from the doormat, I thought some more about how successful our trial has been. A week ago we put a note on the letterbox saying “no leaflets/menus etc”. John and I both agreed that it might stop the odd leaflet, but that most would still come due either to the bloodymindedness, or simply the lack of English, of those delivering them. Well knock me down with a feather as, after a week of the note being up, we haven’t had a single leaflet. Not a sausage. We have had our mail though, which is a blessing. So it looks like – for now – the note has worked. It was only a prototype too, so I’ll get to work on a more permanent option.

I hung up my laundry, had a quick bite of lunch and then headed out towards the city centre to meet Meesh. I found her after a bit of people-watching in Piccadilly Gardens and we headed up into the Northern Quarter for the Craft and Design Centre. The place was busier than I’ve ever seen it! It was the ‘winter extravaganza’ and there was live music, free mulled wine and canapés, crafts for the kids, not to mention the shops and talented, crafty creative folks who are always there. It was lovely to catch up with Nell as usual, and to meet her co-shop-owner-buddy. Also bumped into Clare, and got chatting with one of the other shop owners. Meesh and I had a good look around at some of the wares on display and I really felt an urge to get some stuff, although much of it is somewhat out of my price range. It did, however, remind me that Christmas is creeping ever closer and I need to sort out gifts for people. All in good time…

After the craft centre we headed to look for some hair stuff for Meesh before walking down towards Albert Square and Deansgate to look at the Christmas lights and markets. Meesh is a bit of a Scrooge, and I’m only a recent convert to putting up with Christmas, but it was a pleasant wander in the crisp, cold Manchester air, with only the busy crowds putting us off. We got on the bus to head home, and it was a pleasantly slow bus ride – as they often are down Oxford Road; or slow, at least – enabling more banter.

This evening I just caught some of the Wales/Australia rugby and had an evening of catching up on downloaded telly. iPlayer’s great, but I’m too much of a hoarder and things still expire before I’ve watched them…

Finally, my good friend Mia recently left for Whistler “to teach little children how to ski, and myself how to snowboard.” She’s done this sort of thing before – last time in Wanaka, NZ – but this time she’s decided to blog about her trip. Like all new blogs, and I don’t want to jinx it, I look forward to it being regularly updated for a while to come. Afterall, it’s an interesting experience she’s undertaking, and the blog has been started with the absolute best intentions:

I began searching around the Internet for a blog – a first hand recollection of the ups and downs of spending a season as an instructor. … I couldn’t find what I was looking for.  So I decided that I would make one myself.

After the events of Wednesday, Thursday was a rather more sober day (literally, thankfully). I woke early – knowing we had to be out by 9am. Fortunately I didn’t have much of a hangover and I was able to get myself up and breakfasted. I was going with mum to visit Grandmama, and showing up hungover wasn’t exactly going to be ideal.

John had to head home to Wales via central London and with mum and I going towards London we dropped him at the tube station nearest to Grandmama’s. It was at this point that I went from feeling a bit dizzy to feeling… Well, ‘green’ is probably the best way to describe it. Still, I had been necking Lucozade, and I had a job to do, so I was able to just about maintain my composure.

We got to Grandmama’s – she had been in hospital since the stroke, but was coming home to have the place assessed by occupational therapists (OTs) before going back for more physio work – and opened up. It was cold inside, and not a little bit eerie to be visiting Grandmama’s house without Grandmama there. Fortunately she wasn’t far behind us, although I could only watch with sad eyes as she slowly made her way down the steps into her front garden. I was cheered slightly though when I thought about how relatively well she was doing – she’s an 86 year old lady who’s had a stroke, afterall – and more so when I realised the two workers weren’t actually supporting her down the stairs and were merely on hand in case she lost her balance.

She seemed very surprised to see me, and we exchanged a quick “This is my Grandson,” “Ah, we’ve heard lots about you!” “All good I hope?” patter before letting the OTs get in and have a look. Their job was to observe Grandmama in her own home, doing the things she would need to do on her own, and look out for any obstacles or things that needed adjusting.

I quickly got used to seeing her move in slow motion – she seemed perfectly balanced and was only needing to think her movements through a bit more than usual. For such a headstrong, independent woman, I imagine this will take a bit of getting used to. With that said, she seemed to have a great rapport with the OTs and was proving a ‘good student’ – something I possibly wouldn’t have assumed beforehand!

I suppose it was a bit strange seeing my Grandmama with reduced mobility in her own home, but any sadness was instantly removed by seeing just how ‘well’ she seemed mentally. Thankfully the stroke doesn’t appear to have affected her mind, only some of her movements, and it was nice to have five minutes to catch up inbetween letting the OTs do their job. They were great, by the way. Patient, clear, friendly, professional, and appearing to have only Grandmama’s interests at heart. They will apparently take measurements and such back to the gym to help practise steps and such that she will be used to. Obviously it’s early days, but I was impressed by this service. I mean, I didn’t think they’d just discharge an elderly woman with no aftercare at all, but if this OT stuff was anything to go by, she should be in good hands.

All too soon it was time to go. The OTs had done their bit, and it was time to get back to the hospital. We headed off too – but not before Grandmama said a sarcastic “thanks for having me!” as she left. I love her sense of humour, and seeing her on this trip down south was such good timing. It was a very positive experience.

The rest of the day just involved grocery shopping with mum, and the evening included a delicious roast lamb and sweet potato dinner – one of my favourite things about being home, for sure!

Well well well. Where to begin?

This day had been a long time coming. A year (more or less) of working with smart, creative people to get PULP going for another year, a brand new website built specifically for the job, many experiences had and friends made. And then we applied to the Guardian Student Media Awards, almost on a whim, simply because we thought it’d be silly not to. When we found that we had been nominated in the publication design category and the website category, I was over the moon.

The website was initially created as a response to a seemingly lazy and uncaring Union dragging their heels getting a website going. It’s one thing not to have a website for the magazine, but being so late in getting the entire Union’s website up and running was just laughable. I concentrated on our – PULP’s – needs, and started a quick blog; somewhere to host the magazine’s content and anything else we felt like putting online.

As the year went on, we realised that the website had potential as a portal for exclusive web-only content that we simply couldn’t put in the magazine – predominantly video. And so we managed to get some interviews, live sessions, short films, skits and so on up on the site. And they were pretty popular.

Fast forward, then, to Wednesday 25 November 2009, and Camden. Meeting up in The Monarch on Camden High Street, the core of PULP’s 08/09 team (L-R): Online Editor Paul Capewell, Editor-in-Chief Holly Dicker, Illustrator Mick Gent, Writer/Right-hand Man John Tucker, Designer Matt Sidebottom.

The evening, for me, was something of a celebration of what we had achieved in the previous 12 months. In many ways it draws a line under PULP 08/09. It finished in June really, with the last issue, and a riotous live session in the Union offices (for which the footage may never be seen due to a lack of cooperation from a one-time PULP staffer). The website continued for the summer, with intentions to carry on with the new academic year’s team. Then that wound up too. But I’ve written about that at length. Tonight was about 08/09.

The venue was Proud Galleries, Camden, and we headed in for the ‘drinks reception’. Frankly, we needed as many as we could get. Surrounded by people we didn’t know, in a venue that was a cross between a stripclub and some stables, I had butterflies about how the evening would play out and Holly was feeling decidedly not up for it. On the hunt for more free fizzy wine, I joined Matt for a wander round the venue; he had also convinced me that saying hello to some random strangers would be a nice idea – and it was.

We found free wine, and we met representatives from Leeds, Edinburgh, Cambridge, Nottingham Trent and more. And they were all lovely, sporting, friendly folks. And why wouldn’t they be? They were just like us: students being recognised for flying the student media flag. To be honest, I could’ve done with another hour of this ‘networking’ – there were some genuinely lovely, warm, talented, beautiful and interesting people in that building that night, and I’d have been honoured to meet more of them.

But by the same token, I was pretty glad when the doors to the large area of the club opened. We filed through to the place where the awards were to take place. I stumbled – with several wines under my belt by then – past a man I would later realise was Colin Murray, who was hosting the show. To my joy, the (tiny) tables to which we were allocated held a good supply of free booze, and I made short work of a bottle of white wine.

Several jokes were cracked as time went on; about stuff Colin Murray said; the presence of one NME staffer whom PULP had a run-in with; about how staggeringly well-dressed some people were; and I seem to remember booing Sky News at one point.

I’ll be honest though: the show was a bit of a blur. I remember cheering several winners. I remember drinking an awful lot of wine. I even remember opening a bottle of horrible, American beer at one stage, before realising my mistake. But suddenly, the publication design category had arrived, and we saw PULP’s name on the screen and heard it announced in the list of nominees. And.. Somebody else won. Blast. But wait – the website category was shortly after.

I barely even remember hearing the names announced, or seeing the names on the screen. But the second I heard our name mentioned after the words “and runners-up…”, I stood up straightaway, made for the stage (mercifully close, given my level of inebriation), looking to see John close behind me. For some reason only myself and John took to the stage for the award. We were stood on the stage for what felt like ten minutes. I don’t remember what I saw. I remember giving the guy handing me the award a cursory handshake, and trying to work out what Colin Murray was saying to John. I remember a lot of photos being taken (photos which haven’t surfaced on the Guardian website yet – but I do hope they will). And then I remember going back to our seats and hugging Holly, Mick and Matt a hell of a lot. I also remember shaking the hand of as many of University of York’s web team as possible. We were runners-up, but they had won, and I felt it was right to acknowledge them, having largely ignored most of the other award winners that night.

John and I had to leave soon after, although not before making off with all the swag that we could find. Attendees scored a neat business card holder, engraved with the event’s logo, and I appear to have come away with a couple of posters, Newton’s cradles and Rubik’s Cubes. I’m not entirely sure if I was supposed to, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. In hindsight, I’m glad I didn’t realise on the night that the business card holder contained more drinks tokens. I’d definitely had my fill.

The journey home was also a bit of a blur, but I remember capping the night off with John by watching the interview we conducted with PULP’s 84/85 editor, Phil Korbel. In some ways, our runners-up award is a small achievement, nothing to shout about. But in another, the background to how it came about, the tiny team of people who helped make it a reality, and the status of the awards as the student media awards, all make this quite a big deal for me.

I feel very proud to have been a part of a movement, a collective, and an era. The award marks some of what we achieved; it also marks the end of that era. Or the beginning of a new one? Perhaps that’s the best way to look at it.

Tuesday whizzed past. And for a day that starts just after 7am and finishes about midnight, that’s not bad going. I walked to uni with John and we were lucky to dodge the showers. I got to classes on time and was feeling good knowing we were doing ’solo’ work for the first time in ages. Sadly it turned out to be practice for our oral exam. What this meant was a completely shambolic hour of students testing other students, on a subject neither side cared nor knew much about. The marking was ridiculous and the whole affair was a bit of a waste of time. Once again I can see what the lesson was trying to achieve on paper, but it’s just never going to work.

So, once again, I was pleased to head to Organising Information where we had a new lecturer – who we’ve yet to break the ice with, I feel – talking about metadata. Good, interesting stuff, and next week sounds good too. The following week I think we have a guest speaker from the BBC to talk about metadata too, and that sounds fascinating.

Then the talk of the day arrived – an in-class test in the database theory stuff we’ve been chewing over for the past few weeks. It was actually less horrifying than I had expected. I remembered more than I thought I would, and I was able to answer fully. Whether those answers were relevant or correct is another thing entirely. But at last I was able to answer. I’m glad it’s out of the way now, at least.

In fact, we start the next topic for that unit soon – MySQL and PHP programming. I’m hoping this will be engaging stuff as I think it’s closer to being what I’m into than database theory. If we actually get round to making something work with the stuff we learn, I’ll be thrilled. I know we’ll do that in Spring, but I really do need hands-on examples for some subjects.

To facilitate this, and to be the early bird, I picked up a couple of books from the reading list. I was going to the library to drop off three books to make my bag lighter and I had clean forgotten ordering the new ones. Sadly they are bigger and heavier than the three I returned. Hah. Such is life. Neat bit of banter with the nice chap on the issues desk about the weird animals on the cover of those O’Reilly books.

I then popped into town to visit some shops and get some supplies for the trip to London – namely a shirt and tie. I was saying to John earlier – after saying I didn’t know how to tie a tie – that I think I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve actually tied one. I think I had to wear one in the early days of primary school, but certainly not for long, and never in secondary school.

Then I got to thinking that I know I’ve worn ties at the various funerals I’ve attended. And then.. When else? Hmm. Sorry state of affairs. And to be honest, the few minutes I spent trying it out earlier point to it becoming a much more common occurrence.

And I call myself an Esquire subscriber…