Well, "Project X", formally Raw Britannia, may have finally found its new brand name for the website that is purely for Unsigned Artists (as opposed to the other brand name for all the other media activities we're taking on now) and that name may well be MuHu.com *it may be muhu.com, I'm not quite sure on that one yet* and the person who has come up with such an amazing, potential, brand name? ...
Still not guessed who? It was me! Yes I was lucky enough to have created a potential name for the brand. The "word" MuHu came to me at the time because we'd been discussing ways of getting a name for the brand and that a lot of good brands had used "made-up words" instead of existing words e.g. NIVEA. Some of these "made-up words" were the mixing of two words/names/places e.t.c to make a brand name up.
So I was thinking that we're going to be showing Unsigned Music in Hull and was trying to get all of those words into one word. However UnMusull didn't sound too great in my head, and after the disaster of Banana Vinyl with some of the other Production team, I decided to drop the idea of unsigned as un doesn't make for an inspiring prefix. So I was left with Muhull, Musull, Mussll, Husic (not too bad) and finally I came to the idea of MuHu. It seemed that it was not a completely idiotic idea for a brand name and has been seriously considered at least by the Producer and hopefully others. The only downside is that it might already be a website's name but maybe we'll be able to buy the domain name off them. MuHu will also stand for something else other than Music in Hull as we don't want to be stuck to one geographically position as we do want to eventually expand so I think it may now stand for Music Hub (much more sensible as Music in Hull technically should be MuiHu.. not as great).
Hopefully this will be the new name for the brand but if not I'm sure it will be something just as catchy and simple (rather than over-elaborate and confusing) that people can understand and enjoy. However, this doesn't mean everything is hunky-dory, alas we still need to technically recruit rolling students for the positions like runner and 3rd choice camera-man e.t.c and all of the Production team are being interviewed on either Friday (like me) or Tuesday in order to explain what "Job" they'd like to perform for the Company and also their choice of name for the brand if they have an idea (I will suggest both MuHu.com and also Banana-Vinyl.com because I love them both equally). I would like to keep going on my position as Set List Co-Ordinator (I entitled the role myself, sounds good, no?) but I'd also like to ask if I can try out the role of Presenter, the role I originally wished to take when we were interviewed by Alan and Darren for Raw Britannia, I just hope our current Presenter doesn't reject the idea.
Either way I am looking forward to the meeting with our Producer and Marketing Officer (I think that's her title, not sure) and getting a brief time to tell them what I think my Set List Co-Ordinator gig should entail.
Thursday 28 October 2010
Monday 25 October 2010
It's coming to that time of year again
It's the last week of October and Hallowe'en is fast approaching as is the end of Semester One and yet the work is not flowing. Dissertation has been put on hold, only one essay has been set as of yet and tutorials only just begun last week, it's about to get much more difficult and a lot more stressful. The perfect time to go on a sobering adventure of giving up alcohol and chocolate for a month. Not the best of times a lot of people may argue to give up on such pleasures, but, the two things that distract me the most apart from the internet which I can't get away from anyway as I need it to do work, watch videos and lectures for my dissertation and to stay in contact with my friends and importantly family abroad.
It may seem a bit unnecessary to some people to give such things up for a month, but the challenge is key to me avoiding nights like the Rugby League Social. A night that was very fun and enjoyable but once again stepped over the line through peer-drinking (not peer-pressured drinking but drinking with mates who have a different attitude to drinking than you), and I found myself the next day not remembering how I got home but knowing I had got home safely. Therefore to avoid more nights like that, cut-down on drinking and lose some weight too (it's always a bonus), I've given up on alcohol for a month, in preparation for Exam period, dissertation writing and Lent. As for the chocolate that's to see if I can give it up the same way I've given up sweets which has been for four months now.
Anyway away from the odd topic of my fastings... Onto "Project X" again, tomorrow I have a meeting with Rachael, the producer, and I'm sure the rest of the teams, marketing and technical, to discuss further developments and hopefully to start officially moving forward i.e. a name! [I still want to have Banana Vinyl as the name for the Show and its website, but I believe Rachael and my friend Steve (Artist Liaison Manager) have permanently shot that dream down]. I am really looking forward to getting fully involved in this project both on the Production Team and also with my original job, my very, lazy job, of Booking and Stage Manger as it was entitled by Alan during Raw Britannia's tenure.
Onto new and more personal excitements I now have dates in which I will be seeing two of my closest friends, first week of november will be a happy week for me as not only will I potentially get to see my best mate Ricardo, Drummer of the Blonde (free bit of publicity for you mate haha) but I will most certainly get to see my first year of University Buddy and good pal, Russ who is coming down from Preston for the day or weekend and I can't wait to have some good old banter with the pair of them!!
Any who, off I go to get on with some tutorial work for Histories of Punishment and some reading for the subject too.
It may seem a bit unnecessary to some people to give such things up for a month, but the challenge is key to me avoiding nights like the Rugby League Social. A night that was very fun and enjoyable but once again stepped over the line through peer-drinking (not peer-pressured drinking but drinking with mates who have a different attitude to drinking than you), and I found myself the next day not remembering how I got home but knowing I had got home safely. Therefore to avoid more nights like that, cut-down on drinking and lose some weight too (it's always a bonus), I've given up on alcohol for a month, in preparation for Exam period, dissertation writing and Lent. As for the chocolate that's to see if I can give it up the same way I've given up sweets which has been for four months now.
Anyway away from the odd topic of my fastings... Onto "Project X" again, tomorrow I have a meeting with Rachael, the producer, and I'm sure the rest of the teams, marketing and technical, to discuss further developments and hopefully to start officially moving forward i.e. a name! [I still want to have Banana Vinyl as the name for the Show and its website, but I believe Rachael and my friend Steve (Artist Liaison Manager) have permanently shot that dream down]. I am really looking forward to getting fully involved in this project both on the Production Team and also with my original job, my very, lazy job, of Booking and Stage Manger as it was entitled by Alan during Raw Britannia's tenure.
Onto new and more personal excitements I now have dates in which I will be seeing two of my closest friends, first week of november will be a happy week for me as not only will I potentially get to see my best mate Ricardo, Drummer of the Blonde (free bit of publicity for you mate haha) but I will most certainly get to see my first year of University Buddy and good pal, Russ who is coming down from Preston for the day or weekend and I can't wait to have some good old banter with the pair of them!!
Any who, off I go to get on with some tutorial work for Histories of Punishment and some reading for the subject too.
Saturday 16 October 2010
Unsaid
As I sit listening to the Fray's two albums on Spotify and after reading a co-worker's blog on the demise of our Unsigned Music Programme, Raw Britannia, I began to feel the need to add some more diversity to my Blog, rather than just the mindless ramblings of a third year criminology and sociology student.
Raw Britannia is no more. Full Stop.
At least the Raw Britannia that I and all the other crew members that with me have resigned from Executive Producer's television show idea. I don't completely understand all the technical details, as I've written before my job at RB was as an Artist Liason and as "Booking and Stage Manager", I prefer Set-list dude, fancy and inappropriate titles are silly and mis-leading. However, the RB show may be cancelled at Hull Uni (we still believe the Exec Producer's may continue with it somewhere else, but it may well fail) but on the positive note, we, the Hull Uni crew, have a new direction, one that has been cutely re-named for now as "Project X" by my co-worker. I myself am looking forward to this as we may well be given some good backing by Hull Uni but more than anything it will be our thing, we will be the bosses and we've all been bumped up to production team (personal triumph for me). I am looking forward to the next team-meeting on Tuesday although it shall be a brief meeting for me as I will have to rush off to rugby pretty sharp-ish.
Other things aside from RB and "Project-X", is to mention the Hull fair and the ISA party last night. It's depressing to say but both have lost their touch. The Fair, maybe just Hull's or maybe all fairs, have lost their appeal, no longer do I want to spend a shed load of money on Rides that last a minute and make me dizzy or buy lots and lots of candy apples, candy floss and other types of sweets, including Brandy Snaps. I did go on three rides a severe decrease from my first year when I went on about 12 and spent about £20, this year including food, I only spent £11. The rides I went on were fun albeit the ghost train for a quid was more dangerous than scary, low ceilings that had I been half a foot taller would have decapitated me. One ride however, was worth it's £3, it was an hexagon ride that had 8 seats back to back on each pod that then was lifted 50ft in the air and rotated. To make matters worse, apart from the fact that I am afraid of heights, was that you were not seated but held up by a metal bar between your legs and handles to hold onto (and of course the usual harness). Definitely a ride worth it's money.
Raw Britannia is no more. Full Stop.
At least the Raw Britannia that I and all the other crew members that with me have resigned from Executive Producer's television show idea. I don't completely understand all the technical details, as I've written before my job at RB was as an Artist Liason and as "Booking and Stage Manager", I prefer Set-list dude, fancy and inappropriate titles are silly and mis-leading. However, the RB show may be cancelled at Hull Uni (we still believe the Exec Producer's may continue with it somewhere else, but it may well fail) but on the positive note, we, the Hull Uni crew, have a new direction, one that has been cutely re-named for now as "Project X" by my co-worker. I myself am looking forward to this as we may well be given some good backing by Hull Uni but more than anything it will be our thing, we will be the bosses and we've all been bumped up to production team (personal triumph for me). I am looking forward to the next team-meeting on Tuesday although it shall be a brief meeting for me as I will have to rush off to rugby pretty sharp-ish.
Other things aside from RB and "Project-X", is to mention the Hull fair and the ISA party last night. It's depressing to say but both have lost their touch. The Fair, maybe just Hull's or maybe all fairs, have lost their appeal, no longer do I want to spend a shed load of money on Rides that last a minute and make me dizzy or buy lots and lots of candy apples, candy floss and other types of sweets, including Brandy Snaps. I did go on three rides a severe decrease from my first year when I went on about 12 and spent about £20, this year including food, I only spent £11. The rides I went on were fun albeit the ghost train for a quid was more dangerous than scary, low ceilings that had I been half a foot taller would have decapitated me. One ride however, was worth it's £3, it was an hexagon ride that had 8 seats back to back on each pod that then was lifted 50ft in the air and rotated. To make matters worse, apart from the fact that I am afraid of heights, was that you were not seated but held up by a metal bar between your legs and handles to hold onto (and of course the usual harness). Definitely a ride worth it's money.
Wednesday 13 October 2010
The Night Listener
Here I am again, writing on my blog. It's been a fortnight since my last update and a lot has happened and at the same time nothing has happened. Classes have finally started and I'm three quarters through my second week, although according to the muck-up on the Social Sciences calendar this is actually week 11. Confused? You will be after this.
My modules for semester one are as follows; Tuesday 09:15a.m.- 11:05a.m Histories of Punishment (a rather invigorating account of the history of punishments in England and the UK since 1750s and how they have evolved, a module in my field of information) after that I get to breathe and do Raw Britannia work for two hours before another two hours of my favourite named course "Evil". This module has been my most anticipated and yet may well have been the biggest let-down so far, but more of that later. The third lectured module this semester, (My dissertation is my fourth but has no lectures 'cept for the occasional "info & help" lecture), is Problems of Youth. Again not a particularly invigorating module like evil but much more in my wheelhouse than last years modules.
The reason that I was anxious to get back to University intellectually was for the debates we might have in the "Evil" module and yet so far, the pupils have been so silent (myself included) a few of us will speak up but it's always the same people: A blonde girl, another male Student and Myself. The other reason it seems to have been a let-down is that we are doing it as an almost Philosophical module and trying to link it to criminology and although that's great for debating (although so far no debates) it makes it horrible for trying to envisage reading and taking an exam and an essay on. So far in this module we have looked at the Theodicy of Evil, The Evil Genius and G_d and the Devil. I did try to stir some trouble, so some seeds etc.. but even my comment that G_d in the story of Adam and the Apple couldn't stir any trouble. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed the small and almost silent gasps of the row behind as the Lecturer seemed shocked that I could suggest this but she didn't stay shocked for long either. It seems that although the lecture material and the lecturer (at times) can be intellectually stimulating but the seminars are thoroughly dull. We even watched a 20 minute snippet of the Matrix to discuss the Evil Genius but the technology thwarted the lecturer just like in the film we were trying to watch. So after almost an hour of trying to watch a 20 minute sequence, we only had 5 minutes to discuss.
The title of this week's Blog, is the name of a Robin Williams film that I will be watching on I-Player soon after finishing this. There is a line in it at the beginning that I loved, "As a storyteller I've spent many years looting my life for fiction. Like a magpie I tend to steal the shiny stuff and discard the rest. The Facts can always be altered when you're telling a story". This week has been an interesting week so far, Jarand and I went to see the new horror film Devil. We'd intended on seeing Resident Evil: 3D but had to settle for Devil, which turned out to be a good film in the end and had a perfect correlation to my "Evil" module, it had an unseen malevolent being that causes pain, anguish and distress to those stuck in the elevator of a Lawyers' building. The film had good twists and turns but in order to be truly scary it needed more action, more emphasis on the claustrophobia of being trapped in an elevator and less of the Christianity bullshit. Last night, was another eventful outing with Jarand, Sarah and her English friends to Welly, the evening's music was rather painfully loud and screamo. Although there was some Paramore and some Alexisonfire being played. Later on in the night we moved from the upstairs room to the downstairs room to dance along to Pop-punk music. It was a good night and the sort of nights that I have missed around Hull for sometime now. Jarand and I then got some take-away, I only got something small, Jarand as always burger, chicken and chips. We then sat up all night chatting til about 4 a.m. It was a good end to the beginning of what is shaping up to be a good week.
My modules for semester one are as follows; Tuesday 09:15a.m.- 11:05a.m Histories of Punishment (a rather invigorating account of the history of punishments in England and the UK since 1750s and how they have evolved, a module in my field of information) after that I get to breathe and do Raw Britannia work for two hours before another two hours of my favourite named course "Evil". This module has been my most anticipated and yet may well have been the biggest let-down so far, but more of that later. The third lectured module this semester, (My dissertation is my fourth but has no lectures 'cept for the occasional "info & help" lecture), is Problems of Youth. Again not a particularly invigorating module like evil but much more in my wheelhouse than last years modules.
The reason that I was anxious to get back to University intellectually was for the debates we might have in the "Evil" module and yet so far, the pupils have been so silent (myself included) a few of us will speak up but it's always the same people: A blonde girl, another male Student and Myself. The other reason it seems to have been a let-down is that we are doing it as an almost Philosophical module and trying to link it to criminology and although that's great for debating (although so far no debates) it makes it horrible for trying to envisage reading and taking an exam and an essay on. So far in this module we have looked at the Theodicy of Evil, The Evil Genius and G_d and the Devil. I did try to stir some trouble, so some seeds etc.. but even my comment that G_d in the story of Adam and the Apple couldn't stir any trouble. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed the small and almost silent gasps of the row behind as the Lecturer seemed shocked that I could suggest this but she didn't stay shocked for long either. It seems that although the lecture material and the lecturer (at times) can be intellectually stimulating but the seminars are thoroughly dull. We even watched a 20 minute snippet of the Matrix to discuss the Evil Genius but the technology thwarted the lecturer just like in the film we were trying to watch. So after almost an hour of trying to watch a 20 minute sequence, we only had 5 minutes to discuss.
The title of this week's Blog, is the name of a Robin Williams film that I will be watching on I-Player soon after finishing this. There is a line in it at the beginning that I loved, "As a storyteller I've spent many years looting my life for fiction. Like a magpie I tend to steal the shiny stuff and discard the rest. The Facts can always be altered when you're telling a story". This week has been an interesting week so far, Jarand and I went to see the new horror film Devil. We'd intended on seeing Resident Evil: 3D but had to settle for Devil, which turned out to be a good film in the end and had a perfect correlation to my "Evil" module, it had an unseen malevolent being that causes pain, anguish and distress to those stuck in the elevator of a Lawyers' building. The film had good twists and turns but in order to be truly scary it needed more action, more emphasis on the claustrophobia of being trapped in an elevator and less of the Christianity bullshit. Last night, was another eventful outing with Jarand, Sarah and her English friends to Welly, the evening's music was rather painfully loud and screamo. Although there was some Paramore and some Alexisonfire being played. Later on in the night we moved from the upstairs room to the downstairs room to dance along to Pop-punk music. It was a good night and the sort of nights that I have missed around Hull for sometime now. Jarand and I then got some take-away, I only got something small, Jarand as always burger, chicken and chips. We then sat up all night chatting til about 4 a.m. It was a good end to the beginning of what is shaping up to be a good week.
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