Tag: radio

Message Understood – 2nd April 2024

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Are you receiving
My vibrations,
Detecting these
Oscillations?

I’ve got a message for you
That you’re gonna wanna hear
Are you receiving me
Loud and clear?

Signals in space
Time has come
A human race
Together as one

I’ve got a message for you
You’d better be ready
There’s only growing up
To keep the ship steady

Are you receiving
These modulations?
Mind control
Manipulations

Message understood
You’d better tell everyone
That you’re ready
For what will come

Inspired by the main story of the Three Body Problem and an allegory for a student of mine who is struggling to grow up to face the future.
Submitted to Writer’s Workshop Prompts – radio and NaPoMo.

Today I’m feeling:

Pretty healthy and active.  Amy was out last night with Takky, Hangy and Berm so I had some free time to read, write and watch TV.  And it appears to be more of the same tonight too.  I want to be productive.

As I jumped into bed last night I caught this thought as I was opening up Telegram to get the latest reports from Rise of the Global South. ‘I read just enough tragic news that the axis of evil inflicts on people around the world to go to sleep with just the right amount of indignation.’

This month usually sees me making some adaptations to things that I do.  I deleted a whole bunch of Substack subscriptions. One, because there are other things I want to do with my time and two, I’m sick of reading so much about the dysfunction and lies from and about the USA.  It seems like inconsequential news to me these days.  It is all so negative and decisive too.  It’s not a good impact on the psyche.

I want to focus more on Asia and China as it is more relevant to my location and news is mostly just that – news.  No opinions, no vague nonsense masquerading as news.  And I also want to avoid news that is constantly comparing the USA and China.  It’s kinda moot these days.

Today I’m grateful for:

A quiet day of few plans, all achieved.

The best thing about today was:

Spending some time dinking around in my room, trying to organise computer files, reading and writing, though no guitar playing today.

Something I learned today?

Through some miracle, Ipswich is in the top position in the Championship.  It’s super close with Leeds and Leicester in the race too.

Review your acts, and then for vile deeds chide yourself, for good be glad. — Discourses 3.10

I spent some time this morning tidying up our cables along the fence.

I also cleaned out the litter tray and swept the floor in our bedroom.

New Ports – 28th October 2023

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Fate permitting I will set sail
Clearing the rocks and the harbour
Navigating the rough and smooth
The winds may throw their might
But I am on my way

Loosen the sails, watch the sunset
Or contemplate the clouds forming
Steer by the facts, the stars shining
This ship cannot be abandoned
New ports on the horizon

Today I’m feeling:

Positive and more awake than yesterday. Having to go to school today wasn’t a big deal as I could sit in House and catch up on my own things for the morning. I got my new timetable which looks okay apart from an individual online section that I’m trying to get made back into a normal class as I’ve already got lots of plans for those students. Either way, I can figure it out.

Today I’m grateful for:

My old Macbook Pro that I was eventually able to login to today after starting it up again yesterday. I got the shuffle going on my iTunes library and now just leaving it running like a radio that I can tune into whenever I want to.

The best thing about today was:

A general feeling of contentment and happiness, which I have been savouring throughout the afternoon.

What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?

Getting my new teaching schedule is always a bit of a shock after having got into the rhythm of the previous semester. I have 4 mornings of immediate starts which means rushing some coffee but it’s also good as I prefer that to waiting around. Also another Friday with lessons first thing and last thing with nothing in between. It will all settle in soon enough and I’ll get used to it again.

Something I learned today?

The Thai band SpeechOdd posted a message saying they are recording again and that spurred me onto message them about a possible future release, potentially a split 7” with Stacked State.

What is one funny story about my life?

I don’t think there’s anything funny these days. I mean, all the funny things that happen or occur have just become amusing. Some personal things still make me chuckle and I suppose if I was devilish enough I could spin them into funny tales for others.

That’s actually a little weird to think about. I’m happier than I’ve ever been but I’m not necessarily having fun. I’m enjoying my life as it is, fun or not.

I took this picture because whilst I’ve been away Nong Pear has been practising her coffee-making and wasn’t phased this time when I asked her. She made this amusing latte art so I asked for this photo.

Problem N – 28th July 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Too much, and thinking is affected
The past is a time still being perfected
Forever with us as a problem somehow
Living in the past instead of the now

Humanity’s state of mind has been distorted by its own bloody history.

Liu Cixin, The Dark Forest

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful to be able to enjoy falling asleep to weird interesting music. I love that feeling and sometimes reminds me of listening to John Peel as a teenager or jazz on the radio in the early hours.

Calpis candy – 13th May 2005

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment
pic: andrew watson

limited express (has gone?) ++ makes you dance! tour ++ may 2005

may 13th friday – 2pm-4pm – live on 3cr (small audience required!), melbourne – with vincent over the sink

we meet limited express (has gone?) at melbourne airport – both our planes arriving early. After quick hellos it’s back to business as if they never left and we pile ourselves and our bags, equipment and merchandise into a mega taxi and find ourselves 2 hours ahead of schedule at 3cr in collingwood.

it gives us chance to chat and catchup and quickly put together a flyer for our friend koji who will be working at the japanese festival on sunday afternoon.

several coffees later we head back to the studio and vincent over the sink knock out six of their quirky little numbers in a ten minute sprint live to air.

we cram back into the room as limited express (has gone?) set up and soundcheck and with a few technical difficulties rip roar through the last 25 minutes of the burning vinyl show with barely a second to take breath!

we pack up and head back to our host’s (mark from twitch of the death nerve) place and stockpile food and beer for a lazy evening of laughter and amusement and the creation of the super special ni-hao! cd packages complete with glitter, stars and hearts and a calpis candy!

by the end of the night there is glitter everywhere through mark’s house.

Hinge – 29th March 1988

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

I heard you whinge, whinge, whinge
You look like you’re on the fringe
You’re just about to unhinge
See you in the surfy water
Every day another daughter
Take them to a bloody slaughter

12th Dec 2021 – I’m sure I wasn’t the first but I’m happy to say I rhymed daughter and slaughter before Iron Maiden.

In 1995, after moving to the Central Coast, New South Wales, Australia I got involved with PCR-FM and did a radio show there which I called Unhinged and my name was The Hinge. Most times I played music I was into, other times I did noise sets (sometimes with collaborators), utilising the vacuum cleaner stored at the station.

It’s kinda odd to think about how quickly I made things happen in Australia. Australia was very lethargic in comparison with England so it was to my advantage in some ways. I took every opportunity to get on and do things and get involved. It took me many years to slow down a little.

The Week That Was – 4th November 1979

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 1 Comment

Record of the week: Specials – Message To You Rudy
Highest entry: BA Robertson – Knocked It Off

24th Aug 2022 – By this time my friends and I were just starting to form our favourite music and subculture. Danny Dowling and Nick Spooner were really into Two Tone and I loved the energy and politics of it too (without fully understanding it yet). I was pulling away more into punk rock, both music and attitude.

As I started to hang around in the village in the evenings over the next 12 months or so, that little group of friends was very diverse. Murray Jackman was the mod, Lee was the gribbly (our name for someone into hard rock and metal), Graeme was the trendy and I was the punk. Because the village was so small and there were so few kids we stuck with each other despite our subcultural differences.

4th November 1979
Dunno
2p 180p*

5th November 1979
(tick)
We’re back
2p 178p*

6th November 1979
Got John Wark in football cards
Danny brought radio but we didn’t find out no. 1 only number
2p 176p*

24th Aug 2022 – At this time we were all interested in hearing the chart rundown on Radio 1 during our lunchtime. Sometimes it went on too long though and we had to return to class. As Lena Martell was number one though, we didn’t really miss out on much this week.

I guess it felt like another form of sport, instead of following your favourite team you were following your favourite artists.

7th November 1979
So I found out today
2p 174p*

8th November 1979
1. Lena Martell
2. Dr Hook
3. Abba
4. Sad Cafe
5. Queen
6. Tusk
7. Jam
8. Viola Wills
9. Selecter
10. Still
2p 172p*

9th November 1979
Total fuckup in the charts
What’s fucking no. 1
Tell me
2p 170p*

24th Aug 2022 – Not sure what the deal was here but it does show how difficult it was for information to travel in those days. In this current time of knowing about everyone’s farts and burps in real-time, there’s something missing. Much like the idiom about the journey being more important than the destination and living is suffering, having everything at your fingertips really has no reward.

I still have a goal in my mind now, from all the way back in 1979. I think I’ve mentioned it before. One night whilst listening to John Peel under the sheets I heard a song with the lyric ‘Who are these people?” I still have a vague idea of the sound of the song though find it a little difficult to describe. It was quite a simple song, kind of like the Angelic Upstarts or some of the more upbeat Messthetics post-punk coming out, like the Leyton Buzzards ‘I’m Through With You’.

Anyway, I never wrote down any information. Maybe I never heard who the band was, which is annoying because I did start writing things like this down when I heard them so that I could try and buy them later. There were many things that I did track down eventually, some of which were 10 or more years later. But this one has eluded me and in my mind, I have a feeling that one day I will discover this song again and then I will soon die. I would like to say that I will not die UNTIL I hear this song again. Let’s see.

10th November 1979
Ipswich 0-0 Villa
2p 188p*

The Week That Was – 21st October 1979

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 1 Comment

Record of the week: Stranglers – Nuclear Device
Highest entry: Suzi Quatro – She’s In Love With You

10th Aug 2022 – The Stranglers had passed me by until now and I reckon I only heard Nuclear Device once and never again until I bought a copy a few years later. It felt strange that a song I loved and I believe charted was so rarely heard on the radio. I was starting to feel that someone out there had it in for the punks and good music. I don’t recognise this Suzi Quatro song but she was always a pleasure to watch on Top of the Pops, though as a weird soon-to-be 12-year-old I didn’t quite understand why!

21st October 1979
Nuclear Device (Wizard of Aus) is great
2p 188p*

10th Aug 2022 – Perhaps this was the start of my education into the terrible power of nuclear weapons which would only cast a longer shadow over our lives in the early 80s. I did love the pun in the record’s title. Perhaps a first inkling of an interest in language.

22nd October 1979
(tick)
Specials Message To You, Rudy is as above
2p 186p*

10th Aug 2022 – The Two Tone ska revolution was just starting to swing and my friends and I were getting into it. The music wasn’t punk but the messages were. I could identify. Any youth culture was interesting to me at this formative stage.

23rd October 1979
(4) Not long
Took radio to school
2p 8p 1756p*

10th Aug 2022 – Countdown to my birthday. Birthdays were still exciting. Soon to be 12. I took a radio to school so we could listen to music and particularly the chart run down.

24th October 1979
(3) Not as long as yesterday
2p 1754p*

25th October 1979
(2) Even shorter
1. Lena Martell
2. Buggles
3. Michael Jackson
4. Dr Hook
5. Sad Cafe
2p 152p*

10th Aug 2022 – Apart from the Buggles this top 5 is pretty atrocious, though I do have a Sad Cafe song in the memory banks.

26th October 1979
(1) One day
Christopher’s coming down tomorrow
Greatt!
2p 150p*

27th October 1979
Great
HEYY!
Ipswich v.
For what I got, look at next week
2p 148p*

10th Aug 2022 – A Saturday birthday with a friend visiting. Unfortunately, no memories retained, sadly.

An Ipswich Town related info box in my diary for my birthday week.