Favourite Podcasts - 10 - Words Fail Me

A celebrity opens the page of a dictionary, and then Dave and Neil discuss the words on that page. A simple idea devised by Dave Lovering and Neil Denham (oh, that would be me) just before Christmas 2009.

Sir Patrick Moore, Mark Kermode, Robin Ince, Sir Tim Rice, Zandra Rhodes and many many others, 21 in all, have opened the dictionary so far.

I know I may be biased, but I think this podcast is a fairly good listen, we try and edit the real rubbish out, but hope to keep it sounding like 2 normal people chatting in the pub about a random selection of topics.

Dave is great at finding people to open our dictionary, whereas I do the technical side of things, and we get about 100-150 downloads each month... not a huge amount but enough to keep us doing it!

Thanks to all who have listened, any suggestions for improvements are welcome at wordsfailmepodcast@gmail.com

If you have not listened yet then try one or two, episodes can be found on itunes, podbean or more detail on the blog.

A history of Neil in 100 objects - Object 3 - Oxford English Dictionary

I am not quite sure when Dave and I decided that we might like to do a podcast, but I do remember when we spent an evening in November 2009 throwing ideas about. All sorts of formats for the podcast came up, from the Collings & Herring style 'turn the microphone on and see what happens', to something very structured with reoccurring features each episode.

I don't remember whose eyes were first drawn to the dictionary, but I do remember suggesting we could discuss the words on a random page, and then Dave suggested that we got a celebrity to choose that page. I thought it sounded a good idea but very unlikely, who would agree to open a page of a dictionary for 2 unknown people recording an unknown thing on the internet?

Well I was surprised, by Christmas Dave claimed to have one dictionary opener recorded and in the can, and 2 others lined up.

It turned out our first guest was Christoper Biggins, a great high profile guest, far more famous than I was expecting! Then Dave asked if I would like to meet the film critic Mark Kermode, and of course I did! I have been a big fan of his broadcasts since I first heard him back on the Mark Radcliffe show on Radio 1 many, many years ago.

Through this podcast I have also met comedians Jo Caulfield and Robin Ince, Speedway star Ivan Mauger and musician Rick Wakeman. This dictionary was centre stage in each of the meetings, and many of the people we meet are quite taken by handling a big dictionary, Rick Wakeman would hardly let go of it!

We (well Dave) entered the podcast for the Sony Radio Awards this year, and although we were not nominated we did get to go to the nomination ceremony and hang out with guys from the radio industry.

Since moving away from Exeter it has been more difficult to get together and record, but this has made us creative with recording locations and we have done podcasts from the British Library, the V&A, the steps of Westminster Abbey, as well as various pubs.

The podcast fills the gap in my life that used to be taken up with doing various bits of radio work (more about that another time) is now filled by podcasting, and it is much more rewarding. You have total editorial control and I really enjoy the editing process.

If you have not listened before then please do, I hope it makes you smile once or twice. You can find episodes on the Words Fail Me blog.

A short history of blogging by me. By me.

Picture yourself back in the year 1992.

How Vain.

To think that anyone would care about you enough to want to read your diary, other than perhaps your parents and girlfriend. All those thoughts, all those little things you do each day that are of no real consequence - in 1992 they all stay firmly in your head, and only occasionally spill out in words, perhaps after a few drinks or written in a secret black book hidden under your bed.

Fast forward nearly 20 years and we have Twitter, each and every thought can be broadcast instantly on a mobile device in the place that you thunk it.

Rewind about 10 years again and we find ourselves in 2002, for me this is blogging year zero. Encouraged by many friends, especially Dave Walker, of Cartoon Blog and Wibsite fame, I started up my own blog, Neil's Slightly Random Wiblog.

I had already played about with websites for a few years, Neil's Slightly Random Webpage, first in a geocities form, then moved onto a real server. The long dead (and seemingly un-archived) site contained a few reviews of CDs I liked, and a few links to things I did. I updated it at least twice a year.

I liked blogging much more though, the instantness of it, people being able to leave feedback, and not having to worry about the technical side of things. My first blog post, in July 2002, read Someone just walked by whose mobile phone ringtone was set to "We wish you a Merry Christmas", Seasons Greetings!

I continued this blog for 6 years, and for a variety of reasons decided it was time to set up a new blog, exeblog, a blog themed around my home town of Exeter. This ran for just over 2 years, and then we decided to move to Aylesbury, making a blog about Exeter a little difficult for me to update. It was retired September last year, I may revive it if I move back.

Other than the blog that runs alongside the Words Fail Me Podcast. I have been blogless since September, the void filled by microblogging at my Twitter account and the timewasting sensation that is Facebook.

But here I am again, a new generically named blog with no real purpose other than being a space that has my name on it.

How vain of me.