BBC Radio 1

Originally posted on my journalism blog. It relates to Britain, so I thought it might fit nicely into Eloise, even though it's more British culture. Plus, just look at that Greg James eye candy!

Almost every morning when I wake up and have to go to work at 8 a.m. or class at 9:30, I use the fabulous website TuneIn to listen to Radio 1 on the BBC. I'm an anglophile, you have to know this about me. TuneIn is an example of the internet at its best. Someone created the really cool concept of streaming ratio stations from around the world and you can choose to listen to whatever you want from wherever you want. So I chose England, naturally. Luckily the time difference suits me perfectly-- when I'm listening at 7 a.m. here in Missouri, in London it's 1 p.m. So I get to hear the afternoon DJ by  the name of Greg James who is hilarious, quite attractive (check out below), and oh so British. He's got that perfect amount of Brit wit to wake me up in the morning, get me in a good mood and get myself up to date with the UK's top news stories (which usually involve soccer, or "football") and their top 40. My love for Britain originated from their brilliant music, so I must indulge myself in my original passion daily.

OK, now that I'm done with that small tangent, you must wonder why I'm going on about a radio station from across the pond. Well, this past week and a half we have been talking about audio in my multimedia class and even created our own audio interview pieces (complete with ambient sound). It had me thinking how much work, precision, and ungodly amount of time must be spent on Radio 1, not to mention NPR and every local radio station across the country. It took me hours to create a one-minute piece for this class. Of course it's a little bit different since Radio 1 is live and all the planning is done beforehand, but their timing and quick thinking must be impeccable. I have a new found respect for the radio business. Even though radio culture is a bit different in America from England, (I'm not sure if Americans go out of their way to listen to the radio, while I feel the British do. Could be completely wrong. Not sure.), creating audio is a modern, intense business. I now look at it through new eyes.

photo in opening graphic from: http://www.billboard.com/column-chartbeat/thinking-un-conventionally-about-radio-1004105095.story#/column-chartbeat/thinking-un-conventionally-about-radio-1004105095.story