This post is by Shane and first appeared on http://sportshistoryshow.blogspot.com

Anyone who has an elder sibling has probably had to go through the experience of feeling marginalised. Whether it’s when receiving the cheaper presents on Christmas Day, having to wear their ‘hand-me downs’ at the end of August – just in time for the new school year – or getting less pocket money at the end of the week (do parents even bother with pocket money these days and if so, is ‘pocket money’ even the correct term? Christ I’m old) it’s easy to feel like your parents have earmarked their affections for the child who came first. It’s not that they don’t love you as well but the elder sibling was always part of the plan. You were more of a alcohol-fuelled afterthought.

I don’t know if Felipe Massa is the younger sibling in his family, or even if he has any brothers or sisters. But in the German Grand Prix yesterday, the family known as the Ferrari Formula 1 team have made it very clear who is the favoured son in this schism.

In what has been a compelling and closely fought title race was sullied by Ferrari’s shameless flouting of the sport’s laws. In ordering Massa – who had been leading the race – to deliberately allow his team-mate Fernando Alonso to bypass him on the track to victory is not only against all ethics of competitive sport but strictly forbidden under the laws of Formula 1. This ruling has been in place since the farce of the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix when Ferrari pulled a similar stunt in getting Rubens Barrichello to step aside to allow Michael Schumacher to take the chequered flag. Continue Reading…

Dear Kiki,

Scuse the geeky question here Kiki, but the podcast always sound sexy silky smooth, and I’m just starting to get into this whole recording business as a musician and was wondering which microphones you use mostly for the shows.

Jacob from Norwich

Dear Jacob

Different podcasters use different microphones. I myself prefer Shure SM-58 dynamic mics. Others like condensers; the Samson line is a popular choice. And then there’s that weird one they used in the Star Trek movie that looks like a ball on a stick. Beyond microphones, a key element is some sort of interface between the mic and computer, like a USB interface or a mixer. Not a food mixer, an audio mixer. I know someone who made that mistake once, but I’m not supposed to tell that story about Admiral Marius. Don’t tell anyone, but Admiral Marius uses a microphone he found backstage after a Lady Gaga concert, and now he keeps it under his pillow, and it has a special name.

Dear Kiki,

Can you send me an iPod Touch?

Ben from South Australia.

Dear Ben,

I put in the post and addressed it to “Ben from South Australia,” so it should arrive probably never. Thanks for listening!

Dear Kiki,

I am in the United States, so every time I go to order something from Simply Syndicated I have to convert dollars to pounds. Example: I need to send 15 pounds:

(15 * 9/5) + 32 = (15 * 1.8) + 32 = (27) + 32 = 59 dollars. This seems like an aweful lot of money. Can you tell me if I’m doing something wrong?

Scott in Orlando

Dear Scott,

Of course you’re doing something wrong. You’re living in Orlando.

Send your questions to askapodcaster@britain.com

Dear Kiki:

I like listening to Nerd Hurdles, but I have to wonder who would win in a fight, Igor or The Banana?

… Sam in Santa Carla, California

Dear Sam:

Igor would win, silly. The Banana is a cartoon, and Igor is a real guy.

Dear Kiki:

What happened to some of the other Simply Syndicated shows, like Craig Bevan’s Movie Minutes, Paddy’s TV Surprise, Books You Should Read and the Bollocks show? There are never any new ones.

Sean in Dublin

Dear Sean: I wish people would use their real names here, and not unlikely pseudonyms like yours. Anyway, Movie Minutes concluded its run so Craig could focus on his music. While fans hope he releases the whole run on DVD with the bonus lost episode (Date Movie), Craig is staying mum on the topic. Paddy’s TV Surprise went on hiatus when Paddy J. Forde woke up in a caravan in Doncaster with no idea how he’d gotten there. He wondered where his clothes had gone, then suddenly remembered he is actually Canadian. He now lives in Canada and is awaiting the government there to approve the installation of electricity so he can get back to podcasting. Books You Should Read is coming back this summer and will sound a little different, as it will now be presented solely in Spanish and will consist of reviews of cookbooks.

Dear Kiki:

¿Por qué son todos los espectáculos Simplemente Syndicato en inglés? Este no es justo para la gente que dice otras lenguas.

Raimondo in Buenos Ares

Dear Raimondo:

¿No leyó usted la última pregunta? Márchese y luche contra un toro.

Do you have a question for a podcaster? Email askapodcaster@britain.com!

Dear Kiki:

I have been listening to Simply Syndicated shows for a long time, but I have never signed up for the forums. I want to, because I hear them mentioned a lot on the podcasts, and they seem like an interesting place. However, whenever I lurk on them, I just see a lot of in-jokes that I don’t understand. Why are there so many inside jokes?

… Debbie in Cardiff

Dear Debbie:

Blame Kumar.

Do you have a question for a podcaster? Email askapodcaster@britain.com!

Dear Kiki,

I am a longtime listener of the podcasts on this site. I have a simple question: Do Simply Syndicated podcasters record their programmes in a fancy studio? Because the sound quality is better than most podcasts.

…Lisa in Delaware

Dear Lisa,

No, there’s no fancy studio. Most of the shows are recorded in home offices, living rooms, even bedrooms. There are exceptions, of course. Masters of None is recorded in the men’s room at a hockey rink, and For Those About To Rock is recorded on Whip Buffley’s tour bus, from under the groupies. Of course, Starbase 66 is made in space.

Dear Kiki,

I wuz gOin to post a sick pic of two homies nekkkkkked in the forumz, but they aint work? It made me say OMG WTF, U wuld of luvved it. And yo you needz a rap show.

…Jordyn in Essex

Dear Jordyn

The forums are currently being rebuilt for a fresh start. I would normally advise people to be patient and wait, but I suspect you would probably be happier at 4chan. Please move along, nothing to see here.

Dear Kiki,

I’ve been with this girl for about two weeks. How long should I wait before I tell her I think her sister is super-hot?

…Robbie in Glasgow

Dear Robbie,

Tell her right now, and make sure you get it on video, and make sure you email me your YouTube link.

Dear Kiki,

Why do you have a podcast about Star Trek with British guys on it? What do British people even know about Star Trek? Shouldn’t they be doing a show about Coronation Street or Eastenders or whatever the crap is they watch over there?

…JD in Buffalo

Dear JD,

British people love Star Trek because of Jean-Luc Picard. They like the idea that in the future, even the French are British. Old rivalry, you see.

Dear Kiki,

Who is the most awesome Simply Syndicated podcaster?

…RMS in Haworth

Dear RMS,

That one’s easy. Barclay.

Do you have a question for a podcaster? Email askapodcaster@britain.com!

Welcome to the second installment of the traveling blindman. Firstly I have to give mad props to my mate Ro Karen from the Starbase. This wonderful picture you can see above is a result of my vanity and her mondoincreadblebrilliant photoshop skills. And also thanks to the MYSS crew for putting me on to Zoitochi in the first place, what an awesome film.
Secondly I was hoping that this would be a more regular thing than it so far is, but I have discovered that I have to be in the mood for writing, and that’s not all that often I’m afraid.

This weeks victi… er location for my inane ramblings is Alderly Edge.

Now may of you will not have heard of this delightful little town in Cheshire, but then again many many of you will have. You may not know why, it may just be a name stored in your subconscious and you have no idea how it got there. Well I can help. Its because Alderly Edge is footballer central.

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If you play for Manchester united, you tend to live either in Alderly Edge or Wilmslow. Most notably the Beckhams used to have a little place there. Well I say little, more like a mansion. I know this because I had to survey the house directly adjacent to theirs for blinds.
It looked lovely, I mean the wall and 2 security cameras you could see from said property looked very nice.

Now many southerners have a rather skewed view of anything north of Watford gap, we have a well known and much beloved saying in the UK, that of ‘It’s grim oop north’. Now I used to be one of these people until I moved to the midlands, yes thats right, I am not ‘oop north’ there is rather a lot of ‘north’ above where I live.

So imagine my surprise, this misconception firmly in place, when I drove through the land of Landrover discoveries, Bentleys and Aston Martins that is Alderly Edge.
And again the surprise when I began to get jobs in the area for several thousands of pounds in these rather opulent properties. Now unlike many of my old London clients, the ones here seemed much more ready to expound about the rich and privileged living in their locale.

I remember one customer saying ‘oh from up your ladders if you look east, see those roof tops, that’s where David Seaman lives’. This of course was supposed to in someway impress me, the lowly blind man doing his job. Little did this person realise that having done said job in London, more specifically St. Johns wood, Chelsea, Chiswick for over four years, I had already seen the most grotesque and outlandish extravagances and excesses that money could afford one in their place of residence. Added to this, I hate football and couldn’t really give two shits about where these overpaid ball jockeys live (hmm was that too harsh). So when I was noticeably unmoved and underwhelmed by the proffered information, he stopped showing off and we talked about his springer spaniels instead. Much more my thing

So to describe Alderly Edge:
To look at it as a town it really is nothing special, its just you know its supposed to be posh because the shops are all hairdressers and alfresco coffee shops. Want to buy a hammer? forget it, down the road to Macclesfield for that sonny.

The funniest thing I have observed there to support this view is the two pubs that are on the road to Wilmslow, almost right next to each other. One was a Hungry horse/fun factory type family pub, you know 2 meals for a fiver type deal. The other was a nice country pub with gourmet food. The Hungry horse is now shut down and the other has had a massive facelift, I’d bet £10 I wouldn’t understand half the dishes on that menu.

Due to traffic difficulties in this town I soon started using a back way through the town center. This takes me past one of the most posh primary schools I think I have ever seen, which also sums up the area quite nicely. This is the kind of school where the school run consists of every parent in town driving their kids to school. You’ll see no dayglow jacket wearing train of pedestrian children walking through these gates. I swear that some of these people live in the next street along, but they simply have to drive as how else will all the other parents get to see the brand new vogue with personalised number-plates and chrome trim. Or the hip Dads who drop the single kid off on his way to work in his Ferrari Enzo.

Now I may be being overly harsh in this post as there is one thing I will grant (some) of the people who live there. Being away from London seems to have a positive effect, and on the whole, certainly the people I have worked for, they have been more amenable and treated me more like a human being than some of their contemporaries in the capital.

I don’t despise success or money, if you’ve earned it great, but for those who think that their net worth somehow makes them superior and gives them a pass to treat others as pond scum… in the words of my forum namesake……suck my balls.

Hi all

My posts on here have been extremely limited so far and comes down to one simple fact. I am a lazy git.

I find it much easier to talk into some method of audio recording device than to sit and type out my random meanderings onto a computer.But as I think Simply Read is such a fine addition to the Simply Syndicated site, I was inspired to come up with a more regular contribution.

Now deciding what I could write about was not easy, in fact it took some guidance from my eminently brilliant co host to get me to this point.

Some of you may know that I do a rather massive amount of driving in my job and over the years have been to countless places. My little corner of simply read is going to be experiences, impressions, recollections and as I said before meanderings about my travels. The places, the people and er………… the local takeaway amenities?

I am sure at some points it will enter rant territory and much will be with my tongue firmly set in cheek. There may well also be some bashing of local customs, enforcing of stereotypes but on the flip side there will be some that I dispute. I hope that in doing this I get across to those not UK based some of the vast differences here between places so geographically close on such a small island.

There will be little or no research, no accurate historical facts, just whatever comes out of my head. So er………..sorry in advance. Continue Reading…

The DeGrassi brand is a big one in Canada, and in parts of the States, too. It can refer to four or five TV series, some movies, books, even pencil cases and glittery nail polish. Today, though, I’m talking about just one facet of the franchise: DeGrassi Jr. High.

This 80s teen drama fooled a lot of people who thought they were watching a funny little show about kids. Instead, they got kick-assed by actual relevant topics: right off the bat, a 13-year-old girl announced she was pregnant. Later, characters would drink, use drugs, experiment with sex, question their sexuality and basically do things that real kids were really doing. This was possible because Canada has always had a much more mature attitude about television than America.

Do you remember when Brandon got drunk (on his first sip of liquor) and crashed his car off-camera, later to swear he Would Never Drink Again? That kind of 90210 heavy-handedness was largely absent from DeGrassi Jr. High. Later, when the show became DeGrassi High, the writers started dumbing things down, and by the end of it (a TV movie) it was a full-on Melrose Place tribute.

DeGrassi Jr. High was unabashedly Canadian, even after it started appearing on US TV in the late 80s. There was never any attempt to disguise dirty old Toronto as anything but. One episode features an attempt to buy beer at one of our Brewers’ Retail outlets, and nails it perfectly, stubby bottles and all. And there was a lot of sex-based humour; in one episode, Wheels thinks he might get lucky with Stephanie, but when he tried to buy condoms, the pharmacist is Stephanie’s mom. D’oh!

The show gave us some memorable characters. Joey Jeremiah, Caitlin, Snake, the twins, Spike, BLT (did you see BLT on the Lost episode What Kate Does? Yeah, that was him), Liz, Arthur, Yick … These were children first, actors second, and they looked it. Shot without makeup, in natural light, in a real school on a real street (a popular tourist stop in Toronto), DeGrassi Jr. High looked like a bad documentary, but felt like real life.

We all knew kids like the kids on this show. I’m a few years older than the actors, and by the late 80s I was out of high school and off to college, but even then, Monday nights meant everyone stopped what they were doing and tuned in for some DeGrassi. And we all knew someone who reminded us of someone on the show. There was a rock band called The Zit Remedy that knew exactly one song, and there was a band like that at my elementary school. We were called The Rhythm Method, and I am not making that up.

There’s a new series. I’ve never seen it, but I understand that it’s a direct sequel, with the original characters now the parents, and a new crop of young’uns. But every commercial I’ve seen makes it look slick and Hollywoody. Somewhere around here I have a DVD of the Kevin Smith appearances on the new DeGrassi: The Next Generation (love that title), so I guess I’ll have to watch at some point.

I found old DeGrassi DVDs, five episodes apiece, for a few bucks at a local store. I think I’ll pick them up for my kids, because as they get older, TV gets stupider, and I’d like them to watch something with heart.

– Kennedy, Starbase 66

This article was written by a Simply Syndicated fan, Shane aka “token bg” on our forums.

While you may regard this as hyperbolic it is said by some that the most high pressured job in England, with the obvious exception of Prime Minister, is the manager of the England soccer team. Given recent news headlines it seems we can add the position of England soccer captain to the list. For those who aren’t aware, here is the background to what I am referring.

Later this summer, England will compete in The World Cup. As always, England are seen as one of the competition’s potential winners. For a change, this belief is not unfounded. England’s performances over the past two years have been generally impressive and they can be rightly considered amongst seven or eight countries with a realistic chance of victory come early July.

But there’s a potential spanner in the works. Last Friday (29th January) it was revealed that the England captain had cheated on his wife with the ex-girlfriend of Wayne Bridge. Bridge used to be a team-mate of Terry’s at club level and is a current colleague of his in the England team. This has caused a media furore, with many in the media, as well as England fans branding Terry a disgrace and demanding that he have the captaincy of England taken away from him. The reasoning for this is that as captain of England, Terry is seen as an ambassador for the game of soccer and a role model for young children. As he has fallen short of these duties he must be punished. Continue Reading…

10: You will discover that there are people out there in the world who think the way you do, and you will be surprised.

9. Your friends will ask “What’s a podcast?” and you will get to say “I don’t know if you can handle the concept.”

8.  Your coworkers will notice that you have stopped trying to talk to them about Star Trek. This will lead to an immediate change in workplace status, ie: They’ll tell you about the box of doughnuts before they’re all gone.

7. You will eventually realize that most podcasts are pretty bad, and gravitate to Simply Syndicated, which has better T-shirts.

6. You will sign up for a forum that offers cameraderie, knowledge, wisdom, civility, and a few Floridians.

5. You will get to the point where you have to clear room off your iPod, and those Nickelback albums will be history.

4. You will discover that foreigners are kind of okay.

3. You will learn that it’s perfectly all right to just talk. And talk. And talk.

2. At some point, you will realize that not all microphones are created equal, but also that it doesn’t matter.

1. You will learn that there’s no such thing as “off topic.”

– Kennedy, Starbase 66