October 2003 Archives
On a break from editing... well I started after lunch so I suppose I don't need a huge break. Back pain, that's it, huge, xcruciating back pain, need lots of breaks... bought some grapes to sustain me. I enjoy the process of piecing together documentaries, playing little scenario's out in your head to see if they make sense when you put them together. Sometimes hours fly by but other times the minutes drag - think today is that kind of a day. But strangely the stories play out in your head and more times than not after a more difficult day you wake up next morning with a zillion ideas running through your head. I know that day will be Monday!
Just realised how tempting it is to go back into your last posting and edit, bad habit.
Thanks for reading the blog Caroline! wandered into Events and Entertainment looking for a sound effects CD and lo & behold she'd logged onto littleblip. Keep forgetting it's out there.
Have talked to a few bloggers in the last couple of days, great to put voices to the written word and very soon faces to those voices. I've just emailed Tom with today's list of contributors but there may be one or two extra added on Monday. Jaffar and Laura are still scouring the web looking for more female bloggers in Scotland.
Meant to have a rant about car drivers and their total disregard for cyclists (like me) but guilt is propelling me back to editing room. I'm sure there will be another similiar scenario very soon to SCREAM about!! and that' talking as an ex-Irn Belle.
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Morning :o) well i'm 14 weeks pregnant now and feeling great for it. Apart from the odd annoying zit or 2 i'm glowing and am told that I am very lucky. If only it were this easy here on in...but I sense that there will be no real difficulties :o)
Well Paul and I are winding down in time for our holiday, we jet off in the early hours of Sunday morning. I have been really busy in work, as has Paul, so we are really looking forward to it....a chance to get away from everything for a bit. And it's great for us as we don't see a lot of each other as we both still live with our parents, at opposite ends of the town. We looked at a lovely flat the other night...seemed just perfect but we will take our time...keep our options open and all that.
So my little bump is expanding quite quickly now.....i'm into bigger clothes...but not quite maternity wear yet. I got a little t-shirt last night with the slogan 'Pregnant - not fat' hehe. I'm still trying to hold back from buying anything for baby...until I have my 2nd scan at least...which will be in a few weeks time. Which reminds me, I still haven't received the literature for that! Hospitals!...sometimes I despair!
NikkiLittleBump xxx
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I started rehearsing with a band today. We played some kwasa kwasa music. They asked if I wanted to play at the weekend, but I declined. Maybe next weekend.
African misic is great fun, it is all about the beat. People don't want quiet, relaxing music. No, everyone wants music to dance to. So songs go on for a while, and don't change too much.
I only hope I can play it while drunk.
Mad day today, but in a good way. Spent the morning editing the Pub Quiz programme, on Sadie (our digital software) remember Dalmellington? Have got my first 2 minutes and now the rest of the programme will simply flow from it... that's the theory anyway. The Radio Times billings are due this week so my thinking cap is now firmly screwed on and I will be writing a few captivating lines which will compell you all to listen on the 28.11.03.
We've confirmed about 10 blogs now and are calling people with more info on the day. It's going to be a great programme, probably because we won't have any control. People blog about what they find interesting, although there will be a couple of themes. Thanks to Gordon on
scottish blogs, it's been such a great help.
Went to Botanics, Kibble Palace, for lunch today, didn't realise it's now officially closed til 2006. Have to find new winter hide-away for munching my sarnies and reading the paper. Orchids maybe? although I'm not a hot-house flower...
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Far too close. These things are huge.
Didn't manage to make a final decision on our bloggers! Still a week and a bit to go, so no real panic setting in yet..!! keep finding new people & discussing why we should or shouldn't include people. I'll set up a link to the Blogday Bloggers on this site next week so everyone can have a look. More info on Monday.
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My raison d'etre...
Finding and reading loads of weblogs, going to be very difficult to decide on the final 10-12, there's so much to choose between! Tomorrow, Laura, Faz, Jaffar and I are going to make our 'nearly' last decision. I say nearly because you never know what's hiding behind the next link... We're still looking for people from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds, any tips would be much appreciated. There are also a lot of people writing in the Central belt, the more people from across the country the better!
On a more personal note, I saw a fantastic exhibition at the Tate when I was in London at the weekend. My mate Jerry, who works at World Service is always late so I had 50 minutes to myself with The Weather Project spent most of it flat on my back looking at all us plebs in the huge mirrors. Fantastic.
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Met up with some very interesting guys on monday at TVC in London. Thanks for the invite! It was great to get some insight into the mindset of the main players. Have to admit I did on occasion feel like an intruder. Not that I totally lost the thread of conversation, I just hadn't realised it was such a boys club. Euan, check the obvious said of the 40 BBC bods who were going to come for the meet, 4 were women. I was the only one there. No big deal but a bit confusing, because there seem to be a lot of women out their writing... Strange.
Have you heard of Stuart Hughes? Beyond Northern Iraq? He has an incredible story to tell through his blog stuart in iraq Incredible. I really enjoyed talking to him.
As promised and because I'm practising, here's a link to a blog I'm starting to get a taste for plasticbag I'm sure you've all known about him for ages.
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Hello :o) well if you have'nt looked below already, look now as my wee scans are uploaded and are pretty darn amazing. I will have even more to show you in about 1 month's time...and these will be even clearer!
I'm now 13 weeks and I feel fab. I have recently started to feel my wee belly get harder and there is a slight mound forming..it's cute. I'm sleeping better and my appetite is back....and some!
Paul and I are getting on grand and looking forward to our holiday to Portugal...which is in less than 2 weeks :o)
I've started looking at little baby catalogues and have more or less planned baby's nursery out!
Catch ya soon, Nikki xox
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missed my flight this morning from london, was staying in Camden and got stuck in bus traffic!!!!>?????!!!
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Note : Be careful when shopping, as the local supermarket stocks a rather strangely named product. Toss detergent.
In the classroom you expect various things. However, somthing which you have to get used to are the legions of bugs which descend each day. There are bloody millions of them.
So, there you are teaching, the class is working quietly, and before you know what is going on all hell breaks loose. A hornet/bee/wasp/whatever, which is the size of an old fifty pence piece, decides to arrive in the classroom. And worst of all, I am supposed to be calm and know what I'm doing, because I'm the teacher.
These create the most commotion, but for sheer scale of insect, some of the beetles have to be seen to be believed. On Monday, the class and I were walking back from the assembly hall. Suddenly, there was a great deal of shouting. I discovered the reason was a beetle that was a good two inches long. Almost of of the class were in pieces. You just can't plan for this kind of thing.
why do I have problems posting & publishing everytime I log on? Allan fae IT is gonnae help me - yes? yes??!!
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I've sent off my first invitations to take part in Blogday, hoping you'll all find the prospect too exciting for words...???!! You know who you are.
Am off to London for a BBC external Bloggers meeting on Monday. These are the big guys, been doing it for years, like plasticbag.org, copydesk, linkmachinego, blackbeltjones etc... Will fix links when I get back, have to rush! Will be a total novice.
Have been entertaining colleagues with my stretches.
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Hiya :o) I have brilliant news....had my 1st scan and baby is doing well. I am actually 12 weeks pregnant..I thought I was only 10 weeks! The scan was so very clear...we could see arms, legs, eyes, mouth, a wee belly...and the reason the nurse new that I am 12 weeks is because the arms are fully formed (and also because I am over my sickness now). I swear I think little jnr was waving at us lol. It's an amazing experience and I feel so much happier now. Paul and I and everybody else I know are absolutey over the moon :o)
Click here to see a copy of my scans....if you look carefully my baby is lying on it's side with it's hand by it's face...you can see the belly, arm and face clearly enough in the 1st one, and the face very clearly in the 2nd one. MummyNikki xxxx
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Today has been all about backs. Hurt it about 4 yrs ago bla...bla...bla... and like 90% of the population (according to my new best friend the physio) I'm not alone. Incredibly he said if you stopped 60% of us on the street we would say we'd experienced back pain in the last month. So, I've been told to do 2 kinds of exercise every 2 hours - office entertainment I know. We're checking my progress in 2 weeks I know you'll be fascinated to know.
Oh! an' surfing the net for blogs like I do I came across Scott from Edinburgh Uni who's doing a ph.d on bloggers writing styles www.perseus.com/blogsurvey. Can't wait to read the results.
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Play I some music, reggae music.....
I'm a tad disappointed that there isn't more of that sweet reggae music here in Tanzania. It seems to be that most people are now listening to R'n'B or rap. (Americans have more than just politics to answer for.) Local radio plays this or dodgy eighties music. I've heard some eighties songs that I'd rather not have remembered. They should stay in the past, or at least in record collections of people I don't know.
Hello :o) well I am such happy chappy today...because I go for my 1st scan this Thursday. But it wouldn't have been that way if I hadn't have looked into it....
I rang the antenatal clinic to find out what was keeping my 1st appointment letter....they'd only gone and sent it to the wrong address! And they were asking me to come along for my scan at the end of November..when I would have been 16 weeks...4 months!! Everybody I spoke to advised me to speak to my GP and find out what was happening. So sure enough I rang my GP and she was as confused as I was. She was really nice about it and said she would look into it and for me to call her back in a few days. So that made me a lot happier.
But it just so happens that when I got home that evening, my GP had indeed rang the house and left a message with my Mother that I am to go this Thursday for a 'reassurance scan'...I was so happy! It will put my wee mind at rest. If I had to wait until week 16 I think I would have gone completely mad! It just goes to prove that you have to speak up in these situations!
So there you are...I'll have my 1st wee scan in a couple of days. Baby will only be 10 1/2 weeks (1st scan is usually at 12 weeks) so may not be too clear but I don't care...I just wanna know that my little baby is ok :o) I will get my picture posted on this site for you to have a look at....and everything will all seem that little bit more real. I promise to get pics of my growing bump up here soon too....it'll be fun to see just how quickly my belly..and my baby :o)...grows.
Catch ya soon...OverTheMoonNikki xxxx
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Being BlackMailed - my boss, Jeff Z. wants a mention. He lives at the end of the corridor in a small room where the blinds are always drawn... this is how he developed his passion for reading blogs. Oh! but he is such a nice man and has an endless store of brilliant ideas AND always looks exceptionally intelligent when he relays them to us with comic fervour. Today I compulsively burst into laughter at the sight of him. He also brings his childrens toys to work because "they hadn't been to the BBC yet", a request from his youngest child. I saw him introduce a bear to Karen.
Is that enough? have I saved my job Mr Z?
Did anyone see the full moon last week?
It was incredible. There's large tree at the back of the building I live in and last thursday the wind was thrashing it, the sound was fantastic. Through the branches I could see this neon moon, clouds were being driven past it. I turned off all the lights and sat down to watch. Made me feel so alive, as if there were so many opportunities out there waiting to be experienced. Nearly made me laugh out loud. I love autumn.
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Hi folks :o) sorry for not having been around....was a little sick last week...but don't worry because I'm great now :o) I was having a few wee concerning pains and was very nauseous....but it was nothing serious and I was assured that it is only my body accommodating the little one inside....the body has a lot to get used to! But once I hit 12 weeks apparently it all settles and I will start to feel great and I will start blooming :o)
I am just waiting now for my letter to come from the hospital regarding my first antenatal appointment for scans etc and the waiting is driving me craaaazy!! It's frustrating, as I don't feel I can go and look at wee baby things just yet. But as people say...it'll be here soon enough...and soon enough I'll be showing, and complaining about how my clothes don't fit me anymore lol......bring it on is what I say!
So Daddy and I are getting on well...it has brought us closer....we think its amazing how we two could create a little life together. We are looking for somewhere to live at the moment as it just makes you want to be together at all times. So the next lot of months are going to be a BIG test on our relationship...lets hope it all works out :o)
Well baby is now 10 weeks old.....and the size of a plum apparently! Goodness me junior is growing fast! Catch ya later ...Nikki xx
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Turkey 0-0 England
Saturday really has to involve football. So as usual, I went to the local,Top Hill Bar, and got a good seat early. I got there at five thirty, and the football was due to kick off at eight. (We're two hours ahead of British time, and it was an evening kickoff) The pub was quiet when I arrived, and I chatted to some friends.
In fact, there was a power cut at the time, and it was nice to sit and chat for a while. The pub is where I learn most of my swahili, profane or otherwise. However, the power came back at seven, and the pub began to get busier. By eight there were a hundred people in the room.
Top Hill Bar has a small room with the bar in it,which is always too dark, and a bigger room to the side of this with a TV at one end. They set up the chairs in rows on a Saturday when the football is on, and bring more out. It's packed. But you have to get in quick or you will get one of the really uncomfortable metal numbers at the back. The front chairs are a few patio sets.
Most people in the pub were supporting England. Mainly because every week, everyone watches two live premiership games on the South African satellite channel. Although, Hassan was along with me, and a few others supporting Turkey. I always support whoever England are playing, and Hassan just doesn't like the way they play football. The populus were initially puzzled by my lack of support for England, but that was all cleared up when the Scotland result was announced. The game was punctuated by much shouting, and some choice swahili. Ultimately, the game was a draw and my 100 schilling(about 7p) bet was safe.
However, the best thing about the pub at the moment is that all the bar staff know me by now, so my beer is always cold. If you don't spcifically ask for a cold beer, you will get a warm one. (baridi - cold) Some things are important.
....And then over the weekend, about two hours drive from my house, I saw all of this crazy stuff.
Electricity can come and go. It is by no means a constant feature. I've got a gas stove in my house, so I'm covered. I can always make food. However, today was one of the inopportune power failures at school. Options pointed in one direction. We sang. David Bowie as it happens. "The sun machine is coming down, and we're going to have party.."
I really should get on with learning swahili. I've learnt some, but it is still a tad limited. I keep on having a different conversation with the person I'm talking to. Although, most of my conversations in swahili are in the pub....
The Scotland football game isn't on the TV. But, on most Saturdays, English first division football is. Thats harsh.
Had our first Blogday meeting today, went to Offshore for ok coffee & non-officey atmos. We've found lots of interesting and engaging storytellers from all kinds of backgrounds, don't know how we're going to choose. I'm really starting to hear the programme now, maybe we could kick off with the early risers and some morning blogs:
"Woke up, tripped over a shoe, hit my head - not a good start" to comments about the day - news, family, books read, relationships, work, travel, whatever people are doing on the day. If you've got any ideas pls tell me, should be getting a comments post set up any day now.
am now off to be pummelled, therapeutic message, my treat, will be very mellow tonite.
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Hi :o) feeling good today. Here is a little info. on what baby is doing at 9 weeks. To see a picture of what baby look's like click here it's surprisingly clear for such early days.
Baby
We have elbows! Your baby is now approximately 13-17 mm crown to rump length, or about 0.51 - 0.66 inches. He/she also weighs in at 1 gram! Toe rays are present as the toes begin to form. Gonads have become testes (for boys) or ovaries (for girls). Baby will move away if touched through the uterine wall, and can spontaneously move as well. Ossification (hardening) of the bones may begin.
Dad
Don't worry if she cries at a commercial or seemingly for no reason. These are simply hormones. The same ones that might cause her to be more irritable. And if you think it's bad being on the receiving end, let us assure you that it's not very pleasant to feel like your body has been taken over. Again, the good news is that as the placenta matures and begins to take over production of some of these hormones, mom-to-be feels better.
Nikki xx
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I know you're dying to know... Yes, the Big Quiz Night in Dalmellington was a RIP ROARING SUCCESS!! congrats to Jo & Jen and everyone who worked on it. We've recorded fantastic material, only problem is - there's so much of it. A lot of listening through and editing in store over the few days. It'll be a great story.
Good nite had by Jaffar & Willie (the roving reporters) who at one point were accosted by a crowd of zealous pub quizzers, the female kind, and had their specially made T-shirts ripped off. Couldn't stop talking about it in the car back, I drove back since I made Jaffar drive down. Our lives were only at risk the ONCE!
Thanks for all your emails about BLOGDAY! pls keep spreading the word. We're scouring the net at the moment, researching and reading, looking for weird and wonderful writers who'd like to feature in the programme we're making.
We've also got a new Blogday team member who on his first day (today) bought profiteroles. Smart move Faz.
He has also endeared himself to us because this weekend he had a Marilyn Monroe Moment. First time in a kilt and he was caught unawares by a gust of wind at Edinburgh Castle. Great wedding photo... Thanks for the tip Muslim, we've been quietly humming "... let the wind blow high, let the wind blow low..." all afternoon.
And Me? Quiet weekend, needed to recooperate. DVD fest at my sisters on Saturday night & coffee with Maya on Sunday were about the height of my social endeavours. Fab.
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Life is too bloody noisy some days. There is no gentle arrival of sound as the surrounding fauna begins it's day. Nope, six a.m. and all hell breaks loose. Everything is either eating, shagging or just bloody showing off. I need to accept this and go to bed earlier.
At least I won't sleep in, but I might invest in some small rocks for throwing purposes, just to make myself feel better.
Howdy. Well today I just feel plain sicky bad :o( but I've learnt how to deal with it - by drinking plenty of water and eating dry toast! Yuk I know but hey it works! Just had a lovely weekend chilling with Paul and doing very little...he looked after me well :o)
I wondered why I hadn't had word from the hospital regarding my first antenatal appointment so I rang them and they hadn't received the letter of referral from my doctor...and he claimed to send it 3 weeks ago! Anyway they have faxed it through now and I should get a date for my first appointment in about 1 week's time. I didn't realise this but the first appointment isn't until week 12-14 of pregnancy...so I have AGES to wait :o( I would really prefer to have that over and done with before I go away on hols (when i'll be flying at 12 weeks) so maybe they could hurry it on or something, fingers crossed. At my first appointment I get a wee scan and everything :o)
Well ya know the way I said I was gonna keep going to my gym :o/ well excuses aside, I just couldn't be bothered with it at the moment....but I'm gonna have to get my ass into gear before the abundance of Maltesers that I am scoffing move to the hips and stay there forever lol. Everybody says that I have an excuse cos im pregnant but im trying not to think like that ;o>
Catch ya tomorrow...Nikki xxx
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I may have returned to some semblance of normality today. However, my problems were only due to reasons which could, and have, affected me in many a place.
Yesterday I was in the grips of a quite involving hangover. It was of biblical epic proportions. (Charlton Heston should have starred in it.) Therefore, my day revolved around relaxing, watching football, drinking moderately and eating badly cooked fried food. It had all of the elements required to pull myself together. Well, that and nagging felling that I was always falling.....
Anyway, today is a usual Sunday. The religious punters are giving it plenty. (By that I mean shouting) And keeping my sunday morning doze brief. I've read the Sunday papers, and all that I can remember from those are the football scores, and thats only because I saw them yesterday. Oh, and I've made chips. (I needed junk food.)
As I continue my decline into sloth, I can at least shed some light on the reasons.
On Friday, I recieved my first pay cheque from school. Happy days. This, understandably, prompted an ill thought out, and impromptu drink.
....I definetly remember being in four nightclubs, (but I think two of those were the same one twice.) one of them even had a glitter ball. The music was African, or R and B. And I don't like R and B, but as the evening progresses I'll dance to any old rubbish.
This is not even taking into consideration the bars encountered earlier. I was keeping sensible and staying on the Kilimanjaro lager, which is pretty good. But sheer volume won in the end.
I think I spent a whole fifteen pounds, and that takes hard work.
By Monday morning, Mr Kennedy will be back at school. I feel good by then, and hopefully look a little better. I must be getting old if a hangover can last this long....
Here's a wee update in the hectic life of a radio producer. HA! i hear you cry, do they know what real work is? We do, we do... honest. I'm working on another documentary aka The Big Quiz, and the big finale is tomorrow nite in Dalmellington, Ayrshire. Dalmellington is BBC Scotland's Soundtown? sound familiar? Anyway, Jo The Producer Jo has organised a simultaneous pub quiz in 9 pubs to take place between 8-10. Each quiz master has an assistant, that's 18 people, then there's the BBC crowd, about 8 of us and between 4-7 teams in each pub! I'm making a doc about the event, things are falling into place so let the mayhem begin!
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Hi there.....feeling better today just a little tired and a tiny bit restless. I'm chomping at the bit now until I get a letter from my doctor for my first antenatal appointment....for all I know it could be twins!!! Scary thought!
Because I am not showing yet, sometimes I even forget that I am pregnant! But I'll not speak too soon because I have a funny feeling that eventually I will become the size of a house lol. One wee difference I have noticed (apart from slight nausea) is in my nails and hair...they seem to be growing faster...not that I'm complaining...and my skin looks more radiant :o)
Baby is now 8 1/2 weeks old. I am going to do a little research into what baby is doing now and I'll post it here when I do. Catch ya soon.....Nikki xx
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My thought bubbles...
How many mic's? .... what can we have for tea in Dalmellington...
Will anyone notice the sound quality difference if I use one DATman and 3 mini-disc's?
How am I going to get quality quiz master feed into m.disc?
do I want to drive or shall I ask Jaffar?
have to send email to reporters Matt (who'll be in the quiz master bus) & James (placed at BBC Nervecentre on the night) and tell them what I want them to record ...
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