Welcome back to the Lost Property Office, where no mention at all is made of a certain track on a new Saint Etienne album, but we do honour the warming crackle of real vinyl on the air. Instead Rob Brennan is my guest who was the first man in space on his street, and had the proof too. We also consider the difficulties of navigating London when you are new, the occasionally pornographic covers of National Geographic Magazine, the biggest disappointment of our shared childhoods and the appeal of cricket is patiently explained to a disbeliever. We also take Michael Gove to task of education and then are instantly silly about it as if to undermine our point.
Music comes from the sleeve of a Mike Sarne singers album, but salty revelations are discovered along the way. If you have any info about the music, objects, trams in Bath or want to book a trip into the office feel free to let me know in the comments, you’ve all been quiet of late…
After last weeks unfortunate unplanned hiatus, we are back, back, back with a thoughtful contemplative episode which stretches the format to the edges of acceptability. Along the way we discuss the stupid naming of stations on the Chicago subway, if “finding £20 in the street” is a satisfactory story for even the most banal of radio shows, how to make a flump, the joys of soft furnishings and Bath Moles is yet again name checked. Music comes from the big floppy folder (people just don’t lost mp3 players any more), and an artist whose name is either really Niel Armstrong, or the person who wrote on the CD can’t spell Neil. In English at least.
Oh, the guest is “Carsmile” Steve Hewitt of FreakyTrigger. And I took all the swears out of the rapping so your kids can listen to it and everything (unless they listen to the show backwards in a Dark Side Of The Moon way in which case the only legible words will be the swears. Perhaps worth doing?
There is a game that is played between critics and films sometimes. Occasionally a film comes along which is kicked to death in the street like some sort of cathartic act of bullying. I can only imagine critics walking out of certain films with some sort of mob mentality dropping on them like a Derren Brown collective piece of mind control. What causes this is the perfect storm often of excess onscreen, excess offscreen (in particular the press notes) and the film itself being no good. There are other things that will help this along. A commercially successful director who has never really produced anything all that brilliant. Use of the word vision: as in “from the visionary director”, or his own “unique vision”. Sometimes I wonder if it is just a matter of critical flexing of their otherwise weedy and Vitamin D deprived muscles. Certainly we saw it earlier this year with John Carter, a perfectly amiable folly which I rather enjoyed. Because that is the thing with these follies, they often aren’t the worst thing in the world, they are often rehabilitated, enjoyed for what they were, or even ironically taken up. As I said above it’s a game, and getting to the end of this list it is a game I am playing for the second time. I already slagged this film of last year, and had a perfectly good time in doing so. And a year on, I am starting to feel a bit bad about it, whilst having committed to playing this game one last time. more »
This weeks Lost Property Office is the darkest yet, as sinister doings in Shoreditch are uncovered. Infact all doings in Shoreditch have the opportunity of being sinister, but we discover the potential infamy of this weeks guest, Cecily Nowell-Smith (aka Cis of this parish). Along the way people are lost, the science of cosmetics is discussed, fossils remain lost in the hinterland of North London and we go Car Booting. If its good enough for Flog It!!! its good enough for us. Music this week comes from the magic folder, and Northern China (it is a SOAS Lost Property Office) and we discover the secret to all good historians research methodology. Could we ever have a cycling monarchy in the UK, and is that because they can’t ride a bike. All this inanity and more.
As ever available here, and on iTunes, and if you have anything to say please feel free to say so after the break. Particularly if you know more than us about the Uigar people and their music (though its got to be said, this is one of the best music selections for some time).
Expectations are often the problem, rather than a bad film, when you go to the cinema a lot, like I do. And many a time I have drifted out of Screen 1 at the Renoir disappointed that a favourite boutique arthouse director had not lived up to his previous work. The problem being that their previous work I probably went to with no expectations at all and was pleasantly surprised. Pleasant surprise has the habit of becoming awestruck respect, and in some cases films which you “discovered” are hugely over-rated. And thus their poor, but not significantly poor successors end up in this list because the expectation outweighed that of what any film could seriously provide. more »
This week in the Lost Property Office I have an actual real life guest, so no talking to myself luckily. And even more luckily the guest is the inestimable Mark Sinker, writer about music, film and crisps as he has billed himself elsewhere (the excellent Silent London Podcast). We chew the fat on a number of items, whilst marvelling at the Pathos Of Spring, a CD which doesn’t quite live up to its billing. Mark is rather gready with his land grab from the office, but finds some fascinating objects (including what may be called CONTRABAND). On the way the conversation takes in green rubber monsters, the kind of mould a wallet picks up in the countryside, Chinese Faxes, the migration of the Pashtun, murder mysteries, and whatever happened to Kes (he died – SPOILERS).
As ever if you recognise the Pathos Of Spring, or any of the items discussed drop me a line in the comments below. And if you would like to join the growing band of Lost Properteers, feel free to let me know, I am always looking for interesting guests. For the comments just click “more”.
There is a rule wherein every newspaper columnist is allowed one “Get Out Of Jail Free” card, where they can write a column about the process of writing a column. It is fantastically self serving, self indulgent, and an easy well to go to if inspiration dries up. Well in the case of podcasts there is a analogous situation, which I explore in this weeks podcast which truly shows the danger of letting me loose on a microphone without a safety net. This weeks music comes from a lost SD card, and is probably Brazilian, and on the show today’s Lost Propertier finds some food, a little bit about human anatomy pre-1940 and talks at great length about a scary trailer park in York. Dogs are discussed, as are flip-flops, the great lost cash card scams of the 1990′s and there is a moment reflection when I realise I may never, ever go into space.
Its a very special show this one so make sure you don’t miss it (or at least listen to the first three minutes to decide if you want to miss it). If you recognise the music, or want to enter the competition (YOU CAN WIN SOMETHING WITH THIS PODCAST) either e-mail pb14@soas.ac.uk, or put you details in the comments. We’d love to hear from you as ever.
This weeks Lost Property Office takes on a decidedly theatrical flavour as I invite Kerry Lambeth to do battle with the assorted umbrellas and notebooks. And in the course of our discussion we consider a Bright Beach Memoir (Sussex not Long Island), how many copies of the Complete Works Of Shakespeare one needs, the perfect size for a woman to be to get her dream job, and the value of comedy. Music comes from the big folder of lost CD’s again, and this week even comes with a CD insert, so the connection between Kerry picking music from Kerry (and Donegal) can be made most explicit.
There is also a slightly uncomfortable moment near the end of the podcast where, undoubtedly not for the first time, Aristole and Aristophanes are mixed up and its never quite admitted to us. Well we have recorded proof of our own slip up, and it is one that I daresay Aristophanes would have appreciated for its comedic value.
As ever if you recognise any of the stuff or have anything to say, please feel free to hit the comments and claim your missing stuff.
The most significant thing lost in this weeks Lost Property Office could well be my voice! Luckily I have an excellent guest in the form of Rock Star, Playwright, Validator and Edinburgh Smash MJ Hibbett, who does allow this episode to drift slowly into Grumpy Old Men territory when we discuss “Whatever happened to Bath Moles?” Also on the agenda, comics, the Boo Radleys “Lazarus”, The Famous Five and the lack of statuary in the Fens. And a piece of apposite music by the star himself, accompanied by a CD that exists to cheer someone up. You can decide if it does!
As ever, if you recognise any of the music, or the items, please let us know in the comments, and keep losing stuff losers, because without your losses, there would be no show. And if you are interested in guesting, feel free to say so in the comments below, the more interesting losers there are, the better the show is. So MJ Hibbett!
And we are back in the Lost Property Office, this week with the fearless Kat Stevens who is the first of our guests to shun the sometimes predictable CD route to music, and instead pick a USB stick. And what a USB stick it is too, look at the photo for crimes against promotional USB’s! In today’s episode we talk long and hard about Prague, Private Eye, The Lost City Of Atlantis and how cool it must have been. Kat reveals her superpower, thus destroying her secret identity once and for all. We hear about Japanese Ninja Number One, Japanese Geisha Number One and I briefly fantasise about presenting the Radio One Rock Show, without really knowing if such a thing even exists any more.
As ever, if you recognise any of the music, or the items, please let us know in the comments, and keep losing stuff losers, because without your losses, there would be no show.
Pete Baran: Half formed opinions on everything, three quarter formed opinions on film so that's my main topic of discussion. Started Pumpkin State and Pumpkin Pubs in 2000 which got incorporated in a Great News For All Our Readers style in 2004 into Freaky Trigger.
Welcome back to the Lost Property Office, where no mention at all is made of a certain track on a new Saint Etienne album, but we do honour the warming crackle of real vinyl on the air. Instead Rob Brennan is my guest who was the first man in space on his street, and had the proof too. We also consider the difficulties of navigating London when you are new, the occasionally pornographic covers of National Geographic Magazine, the biggest disappointment of our shared childhoods and the appeal of cricket is patiently explained to a disbeliever. We also take Michael Gove to task of education and then are instantly silly about it as if to undermine our point.
Expectations are often the problem, rather than a bad film, when you go to the cinema a lot, like I do. And many a time I have drifted out of Screen 1 at the Renoir disappointed that a favourite boutique arthouse director had not lived up to his previous work. The problem being that their previous work I probably went to with no expectations at all and was pleasantly surprised. Pleasant surprise has the habit of becoming awestruck respect, and in some cases films which you “discovered” are hugely over-rated. And thus their poor, but not significantly poor successors end up in this list because the expectation outweighed that of what any film could seriously provide. 
There is a rule wherein every newspaper columnist is allowed one “Get Out Of Jail Free” card, where they can write a column about the process of writing a column. It is fantastically self serving, self indulgent, and an easy well to go to if inspiration dries up. Well in the case of podcasts there is a analogous situation, which I explore in this weeks podcast which truly shows the danger of letting me loose on a microphone without a safety net. This weeks music comes from a lost SD card, and is probably Brazilian, and on the show today’s Lost Propertier finds some food, a little bit about human anatomy pre-1940 and talks at great length about a scary trailer park in York. Dogs are discussed, as are flip-flops, the great lost cash card scams of the 1990′s and there is a moment reflection when I realise I may never, ever go into space.
This weeks Lost Property Office takes on a decidedly theatrical flavour as I invite Kerry Lambeth to do battle with the assorted umbrellas and notebooks. And in the course of our discussion we consider a Bright Beach Memoir (Sussex not Long Island), how many copies of the Complete Works Of Shakespeare one needs, the perfect size for a woman to be to get her dream job, and the value of comedy. Music comes from the big folder of lost CD’s again, and this week even comes with a CD insert, so the connection between Kerry picking music from Kerry (and Donegal) can be made most explicit.
