Personalia
This is Radio Nowhere…is there anybody alive out there? - Bruce Springsteen
Writing about ones self in this manner is always difficult but here’s my attempt to give you some information about who am I. For a start, I will tackle my my unusual middle name. The E is short for Early - this comes from the fact I was born six weeks early back in 1989. Aside from the topics mentioned below, I also enjoy politics, current affairs and debating on a wide range of topics. A common question is who my favourite musician are - at the time of writing are tossed up between Talking Heads and Pink Floyd. I am sure most will agree thatDark Side of the Moon is an epic masterpiece, while I find Fear of Music just as exciting. They say what a man drives, defines him and hopefully my car does just that. I own a 2004 Mazda MX-5 1.6i in British Racing Green that I purchased in the summer of 2008 to enjoy the nice weather and something nicer than my old Toyota Aygo+ 1.0. I likely own the largest hat and scarf collection in Van Mildert College, with a wide assortment of garments in my possession. I am onto my second brownish panama hat after losing my first one at Jam By The Lake in June. Blown away or stolen…you decide?
Seb Payne is the definition of ‘the great British eccentric’ - Gary J. Cameron
Computer Scientist
I’m in the second year of my reading of Computer Science at the University of Durham. Being the UK’s only Active Learning In Computing Centre, one feels special and to be here and I enjoy studying here, even when the theory gets though. The areas of day to day study range from Java, mathematics, logic, more maths, networking to even more mathematics. This year, I’m involved in a cross-site virtual geocaching project with a team at Newcastle University too, just to make things interesting. I have not got any ideas on which area I will research in depth for my dissertation but I am hoping some ideas will become apparent in the next six months.
Journalist
As you browse around site, you can see that many articles are linked to Palatinate, the student newspaper at Durham. For the past few months, I have become a steady and major contributor to their Indigo arts section with opinion pieces, interviews with bands and reviews of new music. The Writings category links to all my published work. I have also contributed photography to various issues, of both sporting and portrait nature. Improving my writing skills has been one of the most enjoyable aspects of my second year and journalism is a profession I wish to pursue in the future.
Station Manager
As from 15th March 2008, I am the official boss of Purple Radio, the student radio station for Durham. Purple Radio operates 24 hours a day during term time with over 150 DJs that broadcast daytime shows, specialist shows in the evening and speech shows here and there. Being the manager involves everything from hoovering the office, ensuring DJs turn up for shows, maintain the quality of our stream and decorating here and there. If you are around Durham and want to see around Purple, just let me know. I am very proud of the station and the work we have done so am always willing to show people what we have. Read about more Purple on our website.
Photographer
Since my father passed me his Nikon F at a young age, photography has been a passion and interest for me. I currently own a Nikon D80, F50 and the aformented F. Lenses include the Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G, 50mm f/1.8 D as well as a few older manual ones for the F. Since Christmas past, a SB600 flash has joined the collection to make low-light situations slightly better. You can see my photos online in three places on online (dependent on what you are looking for) - Facebook for fun stuff, Flickr for general creativeness and Smugmug for the serious stuff.
DJ and Presenter
Stop Making Sense is my specialist music show every Wednesday at 8:00pm on www.purpleradio.co.uk. As well as the odd show with just myself, I try to bring special guests on to brighten the atmosphere and introduce some great banter. The music usually ends up being an eclectic mix of songs that spring to mind at a certain point in time. Artists can range from The Rascals to the Spencer Davis Group. The show may be available as a podcast one day but licensing issues forbid the station from rebroadcasting copyrighted music and it will require myself to edit it down to the speech content only. One day, maybe.
Musician
In the spare time I have, I like to do a bit of music jamming. Like most teenagers, I started off with a cheap electric guitar a few years ago but moved to a Fender Telecaster when I continued to learn and progress. In February 2007, I discovered the electric bass and my true calling in life was found. My go-to bass these days is a Ernie Ball Music Man StingRay in black with maple neck and a 2EQ preamp with EB Slinky Strings through an Ashdown Electric Blue E180. I also own a Lakland Duck Dunn signature, as a backup and when I fancy a slimmer neck.
I’m the bassist and master of ceremonies for The Gatefold - a fun and funky band that play around Durham whenever work permits. Someday, we’ll have a website to point to so you can find out more!