Dr. Antti silently on the air

Dr. Antti Sakari Saario (32) recently made his debut as a radio host on "Eclectic", a radio show broadcasted by Bailrigg FM, the Lancaster University student radio station. The Finn didn`t speak much, but listeners in Lancashire as well as an international internet audience heard some quirky, quality tunes.

"I really enjoyed the show and passed the good word on to other people, but I wish he could have spoken a bit more", Mr. Rune Svendsen, (30) an internet listener from Bergen, Norway, said. "Talking wasn`t really happening as I was very, very tired. I was just a guest and kept it low key", Dr. Saario told Whitmore Reans Gazette after the show.

Dr. Saario is a lecturer and Director of Studies in Music Technology at Lancaster University.

Council tax on the rise

Council tax payers in Wolverhampton were today told they are facing a 4.9 percent increase. The rise takes effect in April and will see bills go up by between £40 and £120 a year.

"This is just another example of how useless Wolverhampton City Council is", Den Tenksomme Vraslosken says. "This is the old tale of politicians passing their responsibilities on to the public, I fail to see why the public should have to pay the bill for problems with budgets."

The 26-year old student says none of the public services covered by the Council Tax is working properly, and that the City Council should examine how the money is spent rather then passing the bill on to the public.

"The Council Tax is the only substantial revenue the City Council are able to control without Government interference, all other revenue is subject to Government funding and control. It’s just not fair giving the public the bill for your own inability to govern the city."

Pushwagner

Den Tenksomme Vraslosken is currently designing a promotional web page on the Norwegian Pop Art artist Pushwagner as part of an assessment component from the University of Wolverhampton. Any advice as to design or comments on his work would be appreciated!

Hail Captain Ahab

I have just re-read "Moby Dick" by Hermann Melville. I think I was about ten years old the first time I encountered Captain Ahab and his obsession with the white whale, and I can honestly say I missed out on a few paraphrases back then. My thought is this; the grown up reader isn’t necessarily better off than the child. (...)

What I always wanted to do

I interviewed the British Punk/New Wave legend Wreckless Eric on a Saturday last December, as he was playing at a local pub. I never got my review published, the notebook from my interview has been in my drawer ever since. Now I‘m thinking I just have to post it here.

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Den Tenksomme Vraslosken

During the end of the seventies he shared stage and record label with Nick Lowe, Ian Dury and Elvis Costello. He was part of that legendary Stiff Records tour. Then he disappeared. Now, Wreckless Eric is back on the road with new songs.

I met him ahead of his concert in Wolverhampton. The intimate Newhampton pub is the kind of venue you are likely to find him at these days. I know you shouldn‘t dwell too much on the past, but when you are talking with a man like Eric Goulden, it‘s really hard not to. “I went out of the public eye in 1980, a lot of people think I‘m dead”, he says while examining his pizza. He doesn‘t look dead. In fact, he looks like any other Brit in his late forties.

Obviously, I have to ask. What made you leave the music industry all those years ago? “Well, it was all very funny at the start. Touring the USA, Europe and New Zealand was fantastic. Hanging out with Nick (Lowe) and Elvis (Costello) was a lot of fun. Nick (Lowe) gave me money and sent me to Dublin to write songs, I usually wrote the songs in taxis on my way to band rehearsals. I had fun. But after a while it all became marketed, I felt expected to come up with witty songs about boys and girls. I lost my hunger and left it all behind.”

He‘s come a long way, Eric. After leaving Britain in 1985 he spent two years in a Parisian suburb drinking red wine as well as looking after his girlfriend’s garden. He then found peace of mind in the French countryside. In fact, it was so peaceful there he stayed for seven years. He started missing his friends in Britain and returned to regenerate his career in 1994.

During all this time he‘s been doing concerts and tours around Europe, but it‘s all been very quiet. Until now, that is. He is under new management, and tells me his career is finally moving in the right direction.

Yes, things are definitely happening. He‘s started his own label, Southern Domestic, after spending years trying to find a label interested in new songs. He also published his autobiography in the summer, called “A Dysfunctional Success”. He can see himself write another book, possibly a novel. “The boundaries blur these days, but being creative is really what it‘s all about”, he tells me as his manager taps him on the shoulder. It‘s time to be creative.

“Doing this is what I always wanted to do”, he says as we shake hands. What more can you expect from life, really?

Because of the snow

It is snowing today. Last night I sat by my window looking on as it fell down into my back garden. It is such a beautiful thing. It makes even the ugliest landscape appear pure and clean.

Being used to the British weather, I was both pleased and surprised once it started coming down, and even more so once I realized it wouldn‘t just melt away. It was just too much of the wet stuff. About a centimetre of it was left on the ground this morning.

I‘ve come to understand the British panic when confronted with King Winter. On my way towards University I noticed the traffic ran smoother due to the centimetre of snow, people seemed to act with more care. I would be surprised if anyone was caught speeding in Wolverhampton today.

My lecturer asked us to be careful on our way home, “because of the snow.” It was probably something he said to be polite or just to round off his session, but I am going to take his advice to heart. Just because of the snow.