Podcasts about Esher

Did you know that fellow '60's Brit rockers The Kinks had their biggest ever hit in 1984? Who didn't love "Kum Backing", their tribute to one of the very first bootlegs: the Beatles acetate "Kum Back"? Here at the UBP we love the Kinks, kink shaming, Kum & Go gas, and this legendary bootleg, heard by the #Kum2GetherToo for the very first time just this month! Some Beatles "fans", right? I'll bet they can't even pronounce "Esher" correctly... So do get your tape recorders rolling, but be forewarned; Kash Patel may come to your home to sing songs about justice for people who poop on senate desks. Smart fella, that one. All of 'em, really. ANYHOO, when your tape is rolling, Bob, be ready for more questions than a societally-destructive right wing manosphere podcast is "just asking", such as:

Samantha Carr talks with residents of the Esher Manor Care Home about their wartime experiences including VE Day.

Sandra Herrera and Jess McDonald discuss all the big takeaways from Week 6 in the NWSL. From the NC Courage securing their first win at the expense of KC Current's first loss to Esher doing the unthinkable with her third brace in four games. The ladies also welcome in a post-match interview with Arin Wright of Racing Louisville after their 3-3 draw on the road with Portland. And finally, deliver their Weekly Best XI. Watch USWNT and NWSL games on P+" with a link to ⁠https://www.paramountplus.com/home/⁠ Attacking Third is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Follow the Attacking Third team on Twitter: ⁠@AttackingThird⁠, ⁠@LisaCarlin32⁠, ⁠@SandHerrera_⁠, ⁠@Darian_Jenks⁠, and ⁠@CCupo⁠. Visit the Attacking Third YouTube channel: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/attackingthird⁠ You can listen to Attacking Third on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Attacking Third podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Attacking Third podcast." To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This Is Hospice Care is a national campaign highlighting the growing need for hospice care and the vital roles Gifts In Wills plays in funding hospices. Graham Laycock talks to the CEOs of three Surrey hospices, Mark Byrne CEO of the Woking and Sam Beare Hospice, Nigel Seymour CEO of Princess Alice Hospice in Esher and Paul Farthing CEO of Shooting Star hildrens Hospice in Guildford.

The adventurers of Remor Mutandis decide to work with the Esher they rescued, Nellick.Every episode we get better at audio, thank you for patience!This Session contains profanity, satirical humor, and references to both drugs and probably sex.Support the show by rating us 5 stars and recommending us to a friend!Follow us on Instagram @goon.questIf you would like to submit a name for an NPC or provide a magic item suggestion, you can do so in a google form link in the Instagram bio!Don't have an Instagram, a direct link to the google form is here just for you.NPC & Magic item SuggestionDungeon Master is Jimmy MayPlato Zaltan is JoeyAdras is AlekBoravik Smokestone is SamuelVoralden Derrickson is Chris (James)Alosrin is JaydenCompanionsNovelleBookyJayden is LehsairIntro Music by Alexander NakaradaOutro music by Alexander NakaradaIntro Theme by Alexander NakaradaCover art by Kasey MayMusic Included"Blinking LightsSpacey Outro"And other assorted piecesby Alexander Nakarada (www.serpentsoundstudios.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: ByAttribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Additional SoundsMonument StudiosMonument Studios (@monumentstudios) on LinkmeOpening song by Alexander Nakarada Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For our advent message today we have a special guest speaker, Rev. Dick Esher. Dick was the longtime youth pastor and associate pastor at First Methodist Church; we are so grateful to have him back as part of our community of faith. Listen as Dick shares with us about Mary's heart. Scripture Reading: Luke 1:26-38

Welcome to Studio Notes with Sasha DeWitt - a podcast for creatives where I'll be chatting with a variety of artists about their creative journeys as well as the nuts and bolts of what goes on behind the scenes when making artwork. This podcast is for artist and art lovers alike. I hope it'll inspire those who are thinking about pursuing art as a career as well as those who are already on their journey.Episode Notes:In this episode I interview Blue House co-founders, Binu Chaudhary, Karen and Parul to discover all the behind the scenes work that went into starting their wonderful art space and gallery that's based in Esher. I would also like to congratulate them getting voted by the public as Best Esher Independent 2024 in the Love Elmbridge Business Awards.In this episode we chat about:- their individual journeys as artists;- how they met;- seeking out other artists post lockdown;- a lot of tea, coffee and cake leads to dreams of an art space;- happenstance around finding an empty space;deciding to take the risk;- winging it;- gathering feedback to figure out how to grow and develop as a space;- what Blue House offer gallery, workshop space, work space and more;- the first time I met them and recognised the value of their space for artists and the wider community;- breaking down barriers around galleries;- defining for themselves what a working gallery is;- involving the local community;- the highs and the lows of running Blue House;winning the Best Esher Independent 2024 business award;- what's next for Blue House.Blue House website:https://www.bluehouseartspace.com/https://www.instagram.com/bluehouse_artspace/Binu's website & Insta:https://www.binuchaudharyart.com/https://www.instagram.com/binuchaudharyart/Karen's website & Insta:https://www.karencrompton.com/https://www.instagram.com/karencromptonart/Parul's website & Insta:https://parulofthesea.com/https://www.instagram.com/parulofthesea_art/

Charlie Cuzoo talks live to Andy Robertson from Rentstart's Sleep Out event at Esher Rugby Club, raising money for homeless people.

Monica Harding is the hard-working Lib Dem who scared Dominic Raab (remember him?) clean out of the Esher and Walton constituency, and has just been rewarded with an International Development brief in Ed Davey's top team. In our latest Quiet Riot Mini, Naomi Smith gets Monica's take on the Lib Dem conference and on life as a new MP. If you want to hear more about how she took in a new dawn for the country with her family, or how she dodged asbestos in Westminster, then listen in for 25 minutes of insight and laughter from someone who has done plenty of hard miles in politics before being elected. We make all of our content universally available for free but we do need your support to keep making it. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. This Thursday, our Ko-fi family will get the chance to take part in a Quiet Riot editorial meeting with Naomi, Alex and maybe even producer Kenny, so do head on over and sign up :-) Find us on Facebook and Twitter as @quietriotpod and on Bluesky. Email us at quietriotpod@gmail.com. Or visit our website www.quietriotpod.com. (We are working on threads and YouTube.) IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE DO. Click here to back Quiet Riot on Ko-fi. With Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou, and Kenny Campbell – in cahoots with Sandstone Global. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We discuss Intel's Stability Problems, future CPU Releases, and RTX 5000! [SPON: Go to Jawa.gg to build your next PC Hassle Free: https://jawa.link/MLIDJuly24 ] [SPON: Support MLID w/ the MinisForum AtomMan G7 PT: https://s.minisforum.com/3zBrtCE ] [SPON: Use "brokensilicon“ at CDKeyOffer to get Win 11 Pro for $23: https://www.cdkeyoffer.com/cko/Moore11 ] 0:00 Dan's Potty Mouth and YouTube Annoyances (Intro Banter) 4:20 Esher, Escher, and LGA 1700 Servers (Corrections) 12:21 New Testing Suggests 8GB is at its limits in 1080p 26:20 Future VRAM Requirements, AMD vs Nvidia Software 38:54 Nvidia RTX 5090's 500w TDP "Leaked" by Seasonic 44:55 Intel's Stability Issues Explode into Public View 50:24 Are Intel's problems mainstream knowledge yet? Would Nvidia buy x86? 1:07:04 Intel Arrow Lake AND Meteor Lake Refresh FULLY Leaked! 1:23:22 Panther Lake & Cougar Cove IPC Leaked! 1:32:37 Microsoft Massively Raises pricing for XBOX Owners 1:41:31 Intel Z890, ARM ASR, TSMC, Samsung stops Making Nintendo Switch 2 (Wrap-Up) 1:51:19 Noctua GPU Coolers, FSR & DLSS in 2024, ASUS Strix Strix (Final RMs) https://www.techspot.com/review/2856-how-much-vram-pc-gaming/ https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/gpus/nvidia-rtx-50-graphics-card-family-tdps-leaked-by-seasonic https://alderongames.com/intel-crashes https://youtu.be/yfjc7JaNCRY?si=2WDDlN0zFz2fkkwb&t=4884 https://youtu.be/QzHcrbT5D_Y?si=6WiU-_ubWSZ83VnR https://youtu.be/ARvIZGvukL4?si=QgqDriX4K6n9kKxJ https://wccftech.com/warframe-intel-14th-13th-gen-cpus-responsible-for-instability-issues/ https://youtu.be/2PO7hjYpWms?si=5Hf4BI-8k_B19apW&t=657 https://youtu.be/2PO7hjYpWms?si=vQkrJw1E43rlh-hT&t=1057 https://support.xbox.com/en-US/help/subscriptions-billing/manage-subscriptions/game-pass-updates-july-2024 https://www.cnet.com/tech/gaming/microsoft-is-raising-prices-making-changes-for-xbox-game-pass/ https://x.com/jaykihn0/status/1808631780163137863 https://wccftech.com/amd-surpasses-intel-brand-recognition-nvidia-bags-6th-spot-single-largest-brand-value-growth/ https://community.arm.com/arm-community-blogs/b/graphics-gaming-and-vr-blog/posts/introducing-arm-accuracy-super-resolution https://www.techpowerup.com/324323/tsmc-to-raise-wafer-prices-by-10-in-2025-customers-seemingly-agree https://www.techpowerup.com/324386/arm-unveils-accuracy-super-resolution-based-on-amd-fsr-2 https://www.techpowerup.com/324319/amd-to-acquire-silo-ai-to-expand-enterprise-ai-solutions-globally https://www.techspot.com/news/103709-sony-killing-off-recordable-blu-ray-bidding-farewell.html https://www.techradar.com/computing/cpu/intel-arrow-lake-leak-suggests-overclocking-is-exclusive-to-the-most-expensive-z890-motherboards https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c51yelv4e72o

We sat down with Esher and talked Mk1 Madness, Bike curriers, racing, past cars, and more... Check it!

Nick is joined by broadcaster and writer Cornelius Lysaght to discuss the latest from around the racing world. They begin by discussing the election result and assess the casualties and possible future allies for the sport. Nick talks to Cllr Andy Drummond, Deputy Chair of West Suffolk Conservatives about the election of Nick Timothy to the seat that includes most of Newmarket. Also on today's show, Aidan O'Brien with final thoughts on City of Troy's Eclipse bid, plus Andrew Cooper with a going report and Sportinglife.com's Dave Ord with Something for the Weekend. Tracey Harding drops in with a program of events for the National Horseracing Museum next week.

Joey Laver and Jack Nicol are back for the latest episode of Flat Out. The lads look ahead to the Group 1 action at Sandown where Derby winner City Of Troy is set to take on his elders for the first time. There's also the usual racing chat, thoughts and tips, with a quality supporting card at the Esher track as well as racing at Haydock. Please like and subscribe if you enjoyed this week's episode and we're always keen to hear your thoughts, feedback and fancies on the show and the upcoming racing!

  Special Monthly Prayers | Pst Elliot Lamptey

Big News from The Great Curator & London Bound! "Between 2 Slabs"Checkout B2S new London Card Show logo exclusive!!!!Great Curator has a big announcement tonight plus Dan and Merlin discuss preparing for their first London Card Show next week in Esher, Surrey May 11-12.Instagram:Dan @the.great.curatorMerlin @merleworldcardsLondon Card Show @londoncardshowFront Row Card Show @frontrowcardshowLondon Card Show Link Tree:https://linktr.ee/londoncardshowLondon Card Show May 11-12:https://londoncardshow.co.uk/To see more videos and livestreams from Merleworld Cards, click on the link below. Once at my Youtube channel, please subscribe and smash the bell button.Merleworld Cards on Youtube: / @merleworldcards  The Great Curator & Merlin will be doing giveaways once Merleworld Cards reaches 1,000 Subscribers!!! Just 19 subs away!!!! Subscribe and be eligible to win! Going to present a huge giveaway during this show for getting 1K subs!!!!#between2slabs#veriswap#slabmags#nsccshow#thegreatcurator #merleworldcards#typeiphotos#type1photos#mrminty#mrmintysupplies#cardprep#topps#superfractor#breaking#breakers#cardbreakers#mrminty#hobbycontent#hobbypromotions#originalart#originalphotography#wwe#marvel#marvelcards#spideyhits#piggybanx#frontrowcardshow#londoncardshowSupport the Show.

It's Sandown Jumps Finale day this weekend where Willie Mullins is bidding to become the first Irish trainer to have won the British Jumps Trainers Championship since the legendary Vincent O'Brien 70 years ago. He has declared a number of his most talented equine stars to travel to Esher such as El Fabiolo and Gaelic Warrior to ensure he fends off the challenge of 14-time champion Paul Nicholls and Dan Skelton. SBK are also taking part in our first flat sponsorship of the season as we support the SBK Vintage Crop Stakes at Navan where the top class Kyprios starts out as he bids to regain his Ascot Gold Cup crown. Jess Stafford, Tom Collins and Ross Millar preview the Oaksey Chase, Celebration Chase, Sandown Gold Cup in depth before taking a look at the SBK Vintage Crop Stakes and providing their best bets. Timecodes:00:00 - Introduction01:30 - Oaksey Chase05:30 - Celebration Chase11:20 - Gold Cup22:49 - SBK Vintage Crop Stakes27:08 - NAPs & NBs #sandown #horseracingtips #horseracing #itvracing #jumpsfinaleDownload SBK: https://getsbk.comFollow us on Twitter - https://twitter.com/sbk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Album de la semaine: "White album" (Beatles 1968) Beatles-Back in the USSR (Esher demo)-White album (Super Deluxe Edition) (18-68)Beatles-Back in the USSR-White album (Super Deluxe Edition) (18-68)P.McCartney-Band on the run-Band on the run (73)J.Lennon-Hold on-Plastic Ono Band (70)G.Harrison-I dig love-All things must pass (70)R.Starr-Bye bye Blackbird-Sentimental journée (70)Beatles-Dear Prudence (Esher demo)-White album (Super Deluxe Edition) (18-68)Beatles-Dear Prudence-White album (Super Deluxe Edition) (18-68)J.Lennon-Life begins at forty-Lost Lennon tapes (88)P.McCartney-Junior's farm-Venus and Mars (Deluxe edition) (14-75)P.McCartney-Backwards traveller/Cuff link-London Town (78)Beatles-Happiness is a warm gun (Esher demo)-White album (Super Deluxe Edition) (18-68)Beatles-Happiness is a warm gun-White album (Super Deluxe Edition) (18-68)J.Lennon-John Sinclair-Sometime in New York City (72)G.Harrison-It's Johnny's birthday/Apple scruffs-All things must pass (70)P.McCartney-Be what you see (link)/Dress me up as a rubber-Tug of war (82)Beatles-While my guitar gently weeps (Esher demo)-White album (Super Deluxe Edition) (18-68)Beatles-While my guitar gently weeps-White album (Super Deluxe Edition) (18-68)Michael Jackson-Girlfriend (cover)-Off the wall (79)G.Harrison-Crackerbox palace-Thirty three & ⅓ (76)R.Starr-February sky-Crooked boy (24)Beatles-Rocky Raccoon (Esher demo)-White album (Super Deluxe Edition) (18-68)Beatles-Rocky Raccoon-White album (Super Deluxe Edition) (18-68)R.Starr-Oh, my my-Ringo (73)G.Harrison-Flying hour-Somewhere in England (81)P.McCartney-Only love remains-Press to play (86)Beatles-Sour sea milk (Esher demo)-White album (Super Deluxe Edition) (18-68)Beatles-Mother Nature's son-White album (Super Deluxe Edition) (18-68)Beatles-Child of nature (Esher demo)-White album (Super Deluxe Edition) (18-68)J.Lennon-Jealous guy-Imagine (71)R.Starr-I keep forgettin'-Old wave (83)

Sam Hart is joined by Keith Melrose, Tom Park and Unibet's Ed Nicholson to preview the action at Sandown and Wolverhampton this weekend. In the first part of the show, the team preview the action at Sandown. The highlight on the card at the Esher track is the Imperial Cup. Will Bad finally get his head in front in one of these big handicap hurdles? The second part of the show analyses the card at Wolverhampton. The Flat season is just around the corner, and the Lincoln Trial Handicap could give us a few big-field handicap clues for the 2024 season. To finish, the team talk all things Cheltenham Festival before giving their weekend NAPs.

Welcome back and a Happy New Year. Giles welcomes 2024 by pondering the impending apocalypse. Thankfully that doesn't last long before thoughts turn to working or wanking, or both. Is work by its very definition not to be enjoyed? To quote Esther; “it's boring and it never stops.” It is unlikely that public sex acts would improve matters much, but it is hard not to consider once the seed has been sown. Speaking of filth, Giles hasn't washed in six days, but with good reason. Esher on the other had has washed, but in an unconventional manner. Perhaps it is because, like Kate Moss, they just don't give a fig…Here's to series twelve, thanks for listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 171 looks at "Hey Jude", the White Album, and the career of the Beatles from August 1967 through November 1968. Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode. Patreon backers also have a fifty-seven-minute bonus episode available, on "I Love You" by People!. Tilt Araiza has assisted invaluably by doing a first-pass edit, and will hopefully be doing so from now on. Check out Tilt's irregular podcasts at http://www.podnose.com/jaffa-cakes-for-proust and http://sitcomclub.com/ Errata Not really an error, but at one point I refer to Ornette Coleman as a saxophonist. While he was, he plays trumpet on the track that is excerpted after that. Resources No Mixcloud this week due to the number of songs by the Beatles. I have read literally dozens of books on the Beatles, and used bits of information from many of them. All my Beatles episodes refer to: The Complete Beatles Chronicle by Mark Lewisohn, All The Songs: The Stories Behind Every Beatles Release by Jean-Michel Guesdon, And The Band Begins To Play: The Definitive Guide To The Songs of The Beatles by Steve Lambley, The Beatles By Ear by Kevin Moore, Revolution in the Head by Ian MacDonald, and The Beatles Anthology. For this episode, I also referred to Last Interview by David Sheff, a longform interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono from shortly before Lennon's death; Many Years From Now by Barry Miles, an authorised biography of Paul McCartney; and Here, There, and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles by Geoff Emerick and Howard Massey. This time I also used Steve Turner's The Beatles: The Stories Behind the Songs 1967-1970. I referred to Philip Norman's biographies of John Lennon, George Harrison, and Paul McCartney, to Graeme Thomson's biography of George Harrison, Take a Sad Song by James Campion, Yoko Ono: An Artful Life by Donald Brackett, Those Were the Days 2.0 by Stephan Granados, and Sound Pictures by Kenneth Womack. Sadly the only way to get the single mix of “Hey Jude” is on this ludicrously-expensive out-of-print box set, but a remixed stereo mix is easily available on the new reissue of the 1967-70 compilation. The original mixes of the White Album are also, shockingly, out of print, but this 2018 remix is available for the moment. Patreon This podcast is brought to you by the generosity of my backers on Patreon. Why not join them? Transcript Before I start, a quick note -- this episode deals, among other topics, with child abandonment, spousal neglect, suicide attempts, miscarriage, rape accusations, and heroin addiction. If any of those topics are likely to upset you, you might want to check the transcript rather than listening to this episode. It also, for once, contains a short excerpt of an expletive, but given that that expletive in that context has been regularly played on daytime radio without complaint for over fifty years, I suspect it can be excused. The use of mantra meditation is something that exists across religions, and which appears to have been independently invented multiple times, in multiple cultures. In the Western culture to which most of my listeners belong, it is now best known as an aspect of what is known as "mindfulness", a secularised version of Buddhism which aims to provide adherents with the benefits of the teachings of the Buddha but without the cosmology to which they are attached. But it turns up in almost every religious tradition I know of in one form or another. The idea of mantra meditation is a very simple one, and one that even has some basis in science. There is a mathematical principle in neurology and information science called the free energy principle which says our brains are wired to try to minimise how surprised we are --  our brain is constantly making predictions about the world, and then looking at the results from our senses to see if they match. If they do, that's great, and the brain will happily move on to its next prediction. If they don't, the brain has to update its model of the world to match the new information, make new predictions, and see if those new predictions are a better match. Every person has a different mental model of the world, and none of them match reality, but every brain tries to get as close as possible. This updating of the model to match the new information is called "thinking", and it uses up energy, and our bodies and brains have evolved to conserve energy as much as possible. This means that for many people, most of the time, thinking is unpleasant, and indeed much of the time that people have spent thinking, they've been thinking about how to stop themselves having to do it at all, and when they have managed to stop thinking, however briefly, they've experienced great bliss. Many more or less effective technologies have been created to bring about a more minimal-energy state, including alcohol, heroin, and barbituates, but many of these have unwanted side-effects, such as death, which people also tend to want to avoid, and so people have often turned to another technology. It turns out that for many people, they can avoid thinking by simply thinking about something that is utterly predictable. If they minimise the amount of sensory input, and concentrate on something that they can predict exactly, eventually they can turn off their mind, relax, and float downstream, without dying. One easy way to do this is to close your eyes, so you can't see anything, make your breath as regular as possible, and then concentrate on a sound that repeats over and over.  If you repeat a single phrase or word a few hundred times, that regular repetition eventually causes your mind to stop having to keep track of the world, and experience a peace that is, by all accounts, unlike any other experience. What word or phrase that is can depend very much on the tradition. In Transcendental Meditation, each person has their own individual phrase. In the Catholicism in which George Harrison and Paul McCartney were raised, popular phrases for this are "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner" or "Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen." In some branches of Buddhism, a popular mantra is "_NAMU MYŌHŌ RENGE KYŌ_". In the Hinduism to which George Harrison later converted, you can use "Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare", "Om Namo Bhagavate Vāsudevāya" or "Om Gam Ganapataye Namaha". Those last two start with the syllable "Om", and indeed some people prefer to just use that syllable, repeating a single syllable over and over again until they reach a state of transcendence. [Excerpt: The Beatles, "Hey Jude" ("na na na na na na na")] We don't know much about how the Beatles first discovered Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, except that it was thanks to Pattie Boyd, George Harrison's then-wife. Unfortunately, her memory of how she first became involved in the Maharishi's Spiritual Regeneration Movement, as described in her autobiography, doesn't fully line up with other known facts. She talks about reading about the Maharishi in the paper with her friend Marie-Lise while George was away on tour, but she also places the date that this happened in February 1967, several months after the Beatles had stopped touring forever. We'll be seeing a lot more of these timing discrepancies as this story progresses, and people's memories increasingly don't match the events that happened to them. Either way, it's clear that Pattie became involved in the Spiritual Regeneration Movement a good length of time before her husband did. She got him to go along with her to one of the Maharishi's lectures, after she had already been converted to the practice of Transcendental Meditation, and they brought along John, Paul, and their partners (Ringo's wife Maureen had just given birth, so they didn't come). As we heard back in episode one hundred and fifty, that lecture was impressive enough that the group, plus their wives and girlfriends (with the exception of Maureen Starkey) and Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithfull, all went on a meditation retreat with the Maharishi at a holiday camp in Bangor, and it was there that they learned that Brian Epstein had been found dead. The death of the man who had guided the group's career could not have come at a worse time for the band's stability.  The group had only recorded one song in the preceding two months -- Paul's "Your Mother Should Know" -- and had basically been running on fumes since completing recording of Sgt Pepper many months earlier. John's drug intake had increased to the point that he was barely functional -- although with the enthusiasm of the newly converted he had decided to swear off LSD at the Maharishi's urging -- and his marriage was falling apart. Similarly, Paul McCartney's relationship with Jane Asher was in a bad state, though both men were trying to repair their damaged relationships, while both George and Ringo were having doubts about the band that had made them famous. In George's case, he was feeling marginalised by John and Paul, his songs ignored or paid cursory attention, and there was less for him to do on the records as the group moved away from making guitar-based rock and roll music into the stranger areas of psychedelia. And Ringo, whose main memory of the recording of Sgt Pepper was of learning to play chess while the others went through the extensive overdubs that characterised that album, was starting to feel like his playing was deteriorating, and that as the only non-writer in the band he was on the outside to an extent. On top of that, the group were in the middle of a major plan to restructure their business. As part of their contract renegotiations with EMI at the beginning of 1967, it had been agreed that they would receive two million pounds -- roughly fifteen million pounds in today's money -- in unpaid royalties as a lump sum. If that had been paid to them as individuals, or through the company they owned, the Beatles Ltd, they would have had to pay the full top rate of tax on it, which as George had complained the previous year was over ninety-five percent. (In fact, he'd been slightly exaggerating the generosity of the UK tax system to the rich, as at that point the top rate of income tax was somewhere around ninety-seven and a half percent). But happily for them, a couple of years earlier the UK had restructured its tax laws and introduced a corporation tax, which meant that the profits of corporations were no longer taxed at the same high rate as income. So a new company had been set up, The Beatles & Co, and all the group's non-songwriting income was paid into the company. Each Beatle owned five percent of the company, and the other eighty percent was owned by a new partnership, a corporation that was soon renamed Apple Corps -- a name inspired by a painting that McCartney had liked by the artist Rene Magritte. In the early stages of Apple, it was very entangled with Nems, the company that was owned by Brian and Clive Epstein, and which was in the process of being sold to Robert Stigwood, though that sale fell through after Brian's death. The first part of Apple, Apple Publishing, had been set up in the summer of 1967, and was run by Terry Doran, a friend of Epstein's who ran a motor dealership -- most of the Apple divisions would be run by friends of the group rather than by people with experience in the industries in question. As Apple was set up during the point that Stigwood was getting involved with NEMS, Apple Publishing's initial offices were in the same building with, and shared staff with, two publishing companies that Stigwood owned, Dratleaf Music, who published Cream's songs, and Abigail Music, the Bee Gees' publishers. And indeed the first two songs published by Apple were copyrights that were gifted to the company by Stigwood -- "Listen to the Sky", a B-side by an obscure band called Sands: [Excerpt: Sands, "Listen to the Sky"] And "Outside Woman Blues", an arrangement by Eric Clapton of an old blues song by Blind Joe Reynolds, which Cream had copyrighted separately and released on Disraeli Gears: [Excerpt: Cream, "Outside Woman Blues"] But Apple soon started signing outside songwriters -- once Mike Berry, a member of Apple Publishing's staff, had sat McCartney down and explained to him what music publishing actually was, something he had never actually understood even though he'd been a songwriter for five years. Those songwriters, given that this was 1967, were often also performers, and as Apple Records had not yet been set up, Apple would try to arrange recording contracts for them with other labels. They started with a group called Focal Point, who got signed by badgering Paul McCartney to listen to their songs until he gave them Doran's phone number to shut them up: [Excerpt: Focal Point, "Sycamore Sid"] But the big early hope for Apple Publishing was a songwriter called George Alexander. Alexander's birth name had been Alexander Young, and he was the brother of George Young, who was a member of the Australian beat group The Easybeats, who'd had a hit with "Friday on My Mind": [Excerpt: The Easybeats, "Friday on My Mind"] His younger brothers Malcolm and Angus would go on to have a few hits themselves, but AC/DC wouldn't be formed for another five years. Terry Doran thought that Alexander should be a member of a band, because bands were more popular than solo artists at the time, and so he was placed with three former members of Tony Rivers and the Castaways, a Beach Boys soundalike group that had had some minor success. John Lennon suggested that the group be named Grapefruit, after a book he was reading by a conceptual artist of his acquaintance named Yoko Ono, and as Doran was making arrangements with Terry Melcher for a reciprocal publishing deal by which Melcher's American company would publish Apple songs in the US while Apple published songs from Melcher's company in the UK, it made sense for Melcher to also produce Grapefruit's first single, "Dear Delilah": [Excerpt: Grapefruit, "Dear Delilah"] That made number twenty-one in the UK when it came out in early 1968, on the back of publicity about Grapefruit's connection with the Beatles, but future singles by the band were much less successful, and like several other acts involved with Apple, they found that they were more hampered by the Beatles connection than helped. A few other people were signed to Apple Publishing early on, of whom the most notable was Jackie Lomax. Lomax had been a member of a minor Merseybeat group, the Undertakers, and after they had split up, he'd been signed by Brian Epstein with a new group, the Lomax Alliance, who had released one single, "Try as You May": [Excerpt: The Lomax Alliance, "Try As You May"] After Epstein's death, Lomax had plans to join another band, being formed by another Merseybeat musician, Chris Curtis, the former drummer of the Searchers. But after going to the Beatles to talk with them about them helping the new group financially, Lomax was persuaded by John Lennon to go solo instead. He may later have regretted that decision, as by early 1968 the people that Curtis had recruited for his new band had ditched him and were making a name for themselves as Deep Purple. Lomax recorded one solo single with funding from Stigwood, a cover version of a song by an obscure singer-songwriter, Jake Holmes, "Genuine Imitation Life": [Excerpt: Jackie Lomax, "Genuine Imitation Life"] But he was also signed to Apple Publishing as a songwriter. The Beatles had only just started laying out plans for Apple when Epstein died, and other than the publishing company one of the few things they'd agreed on was that they were going to have a film company, which was to be run by Denis O'Dell, who had been an associate producer on A Hard Day's Night and on How I Won The War, the Richard Lester film Lennon had recently starred in. A few days after Epstein's death, they had a meeting, in which they agreed that the band needed to move forward quickly if they were going to recover from Epstein's death. They had originally been planning on going to India with the Maharishi to study meditation, but they decided to put that off until the new year, and to press forward with a film project Paul had been talking about, to be titled Magical Mystery Tour. And so, on the fifth of September 1967, they went back into the recording studio and started work on a song of John's that was earmarked for the film, "I am the Walrus": [Excerpt: The Beatles, "I am the Walrus"] Magical Mystery Tour, the film, has a mixed reputation which we will talk about shortly, but one defence that Paul McCartney has always made of it is that it's the only place where you can see the Beatles performing "I am the Walrus". While the song was eventually relegated to a B-side, it's possibly the finest B-side of the Beatles' career, and one of the best tracks the group ever made. As with many of Lennon's songs from this period, the song was a collage of many different elements pulled from his environment and surroundings, and turned into something that was rather more than the sum of its parts. For its musical inspiration, Lennon pulled from, of all things, a police siren going past his house. (For those who are unfamiliar with what old British police sirens sounded like, as opposed to the ones in use for most of my lifetime or in other countries, here's a recording of one): [Excerpt: British police siren ca 1968] That inspired Lennon to write a snatch of lyric to go with the sound of the siren, starting "Mister city policeman sitting pretty". He had two other song fragments, one about sitting in the garden, and one about sitting on a cornflake, and he told Hunter Davies, who was doing interviews for his authorised biography of the group, “I don't know how it will all end up. Perhaps they'll turn out to be different parts of the same song.” But the final element that made these three disparate sections into a song was a letter that came from Stephen Bayley, a pupil at Lennon's old school Quarry Bank, who told him that the teachers at the school -- who Lennon always thought of as having suppressed his creativity -- were now analysing Beatles lyrics in their lessons. Lennon decided to come up with some nonsense that they couldn't analyse -- though as nonsensical as the finished song is, there's an underlying anger to a lot of it that possibly comes from Lennon thinking of his school experiences. And so Lennon asked his old schoolfriend Pete Shotton to remind him of a disgusting playground chant that kids used to sing in schools in the North West of England (and which they still sang with very minor variations at my own school decades later -- childhood folklore has a remarkably long life). That rhyme went: Yellow matter custard, green snot pie All mixed up with a dead dog's eye Slap it on a butty, nice and thick, And drink it down with a cup of cold sick Lennon combined some parts of this with half-remembered fragments of Lewis Carrol's The Walrus and the Carpenter, and with some punning references to things that were going on in his own life and those of his friends -- though it's difficult to know exactly which of the stories attached to some of the more incomprehensible bits of the lyrics are accurate. The story that the line "I am the eggman" is about a sexual proclivity of Eric Burdon of the Animals seems plausible, while the contention by some that the phrase "semolina pilchard" is a reference to Sgt Pilcher, the corrupt policeman who had arrested three of the Rolling Stones, and would later arrest Lennon, on drugs charges, seems less likely. The track is a masterpiece of production, but the release of the basic take on Anthology 2 in 1996 showed that the underlying performance, before George Martin worked his magic with the overdubs, is still a remarkable piece of work: [Excerpt: The Beatles, "I am the Walrus (Anthology 2 version)"] But Martin's arrangement and production turned the track from a merely very good track into a masterpiece. The string arrangement, very much in the same mould as that for "Strawberry Fields Forever" but giving a very different effect with its harsh cello glissandi, is the kind of thing one expects from Martin, but there's also the chanting of the Mike Sammes Singers, who were more normally booked for sessions like Englebert Humperdinck's "The Last Waltz": [Excerpt: Engelbert Humperdinck, "The Last Waltz"] But here were instead asked to imitate the sound of the strings, make grunting noises, and generally go very far out of their normal comfort zone: [Excerpt: The Beatles, "I am the Walrus"] But the most fascinating piece of production in the entire track is an idea that seems to have been inspired by people like John Cage -- a live feed of a radio being tuned was played into the mono mix from about the halfway point, and whatever was on the radio at the time was captured: [Excerpt: The Beatles, "I am the Walrus"] This is also why for many decades it was impossible to have a true stereo mix of the track -- the radio part was mixed directly into the mono mix, and it wasn't until the 1990s that someone thought to track down a copy of the original radio broadcasts and recreate the process. In one of those bits of synchronicity that happen more often than you would think when you're creating aleatory art, and which are why that kind of process can be so appealing, one bit of dialogue from the broadcast of King Lear that was on the radio as the mixing was happening was *perfectly* timed: [Excerpt: The Beatles, "I am the Walrus"] After completing work on the basic track for "I am the Walrus", the group worked on two more songs for the film, George's "Blue Jay Way" and a group-composed twelve-bar blues instrumental called "Flying", before starting production. Magical Mystery Tour, as an idea, was inspired in equal parts by Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters, the collective of people we talked about in the episode on the Grateful Dead who travelled across the US extolling the virtues of psychedelic drugs, and by mystery tours, a British working-class tradition that has rather fallen out of fashion in the intervening decades. A mystery tour would generally be put on by a coach-hire company, and would be a day trip to an unannounced location -- though the location would in fact be very predictable, and would be a seaside town within a couple of hours' drive of its starting point. In the case of the ones the Beatles remembered from their own childhoods, this would be to a coastal town in Lancashire or Wales, like Blackpool, Rhyl, or Prestatyn. A coachload of people would pay to be driven to this random location, get very drunk and have a singsong on the bus, and spend a day wherever they were taken. McCartney's plan was simple -- they would gather a group of passengers and replicate this experience over the course of several days, and film whatever went on, but intersperse that with more planned out sketches and musical numbers. For this reason, along with the Beatles and their associates, the cast included some actors found through Spotlight and some of the group's favourite performers, like the comedian Nat Jackley (whose comedy sequence directed by John was cut from the final film) and the surrealist poet/singer/comedian Ivor Cutler: [Excerpt: Ivor Cutler, "I'm Going in a Field"] The film also featured an appearance by a new band who would go on to have great success over the next year, the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band. They had recorded their first single in Abbey Road at the same time as the Beatles were recording Revolver, but rather than being progressive psychedelic rock, it had been a remake of a 1920s novelty song: [Excerpt: The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, "My Brother Makes the Noises For the Talkies"] Their performance in Magical Mystery Tour was very different though -- they played a fifties rock pastiche written by band leaders Vivian Stanshall and Neil Innes while a stripper took off her clothes. While several other musical sequences were recorded for the film, including one by the band Traffic and one by Cutler, other than the Beatles tracks only the Bonzos' song made it into the finished film: [Excerpt: The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, "Death Cab for Cutie"] That song, thirty years later, would give its name to a prominent American alternative rock band. Incidentally the same night that Magical Mystery Tour was first broadcast was also the night that the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band first appeared on a TV show, Do Not Adjust Your Set, which featured three future members of the Monty Python troupe -- Eric Idle, Michael Palin, and Terry Jones. Over the years the careers of the Bonzos, the Pythons, and the Beatles would become increasingly intertwined, with George Harrison in particular striking up strong friendships and working relationships with Bonzos Neil Innes and "Legs" Larry Smith. The filming of Magical Mystery Tour went about as well as one might expect from a film made by four directors, none of whom had any previous filmmaking experience, and none of whom had any business knowledge. The Beatles were used to just turning up and having things magically done for them by other people, and had no real idea of the infrastructure challenges that making a film, even a low-budget one, actually presents, and ended up causing a great deal of stress to almost everyone involved. The completed film was shown on TV on Boxing Day 1967 to general confusion and bemusement. It didn't help that it was originally broadcast in black and white, and so for example the scene showing shifting landscapes (outtake footage from Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove, tinted various psychedelic colours) over the "Flying" music, just looked like grey fuzz. But also, it just wasn't what people were expecting from a Beatles film. This was a ramshackle, plotless, thing more inspired by Andy Warhol's underground films than by the kind of thing the group had previously appeared in, and it was being presented as Christmas entertainment for all the family. And to be honest, it's not even a particularly good example of underground filmmaking -- though it looks like a masterpiece when placed next to something like the Bee Gees' similar effort, Cucumber Castle. But there are enough interesting sequences in there for the project not to be a complete failure -- and the deleted scenes on the DVD release, including the performances by Cutler and Traffic, and the fact that the film was edited down from ten hours to fifty-two minutes, makes one wonder if there's a better film that could be constructed from the original footage. Either way, the reaction to the film was so bad that McCartney actually appeared on David Frost's TV show the next day to defend it and, essentially, apologise. While they were editing the film, the group were also continuing to work in the studio, including on two new McCartney songs, "The Fool on the Hill", which was included in Magical Mystery Tour, and "Hello Goodbye", which wasn't included on the film's soundtrack but was released as the next single, with "I Am the Walrus" as the B-side: [Excerpt: The Beatles, "Hello Goodbye"] Incidentally, in the UK the soundtrack to Magical Mystery Tour was released as a double-EP rather than as an album (in the US, the group's recent singles and B-sides were added to turn it into a full-length album, which is how it's now generally available). "I Am the Walrus" was on the double-EP as well as being on the single's B-side, and the double-EP got to number two on the singles charts, meaning "I am the Walrus" was on the records at number one and number two at the same time. Before it became obvious that the film, if not the soundtrack, was a disaster, the group held a launch party on the twenty-first of December, 1967. The band members went along in fancy dress, as did many of the cast and crew -- the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band performed at the party. Mike Love and Bruce Johnston of the Beach Boys also turned up at the party, and apparently at one point jammed with the Bonzos, and according to some, but not all, reports, a couple of the Beatles joined in as well. Love and Johnston had both just met the Maharishi for the first time a couple of days earlier, and Love had been as impressed as the Beatles were, and it may have been at this party that the group mentioned to Love that they would soon be going on a retreat in India with the guru -- a retreat that was normally meant for training TM instructors, but this time seemed to be more about getting celebrities involved. Love would also end up going with them. That party was also the first time that Cynthia Lennon had an inkling that John might not be as faithful to her as she previously supposed. John had always "joked" about being attracted to George Harrison's wife, Patti, but this time he got a little more blatant about his attraction than he ever had previously, to the point that he made Cynthia cry, and Cynthia's friend, the pop star Lulu, decided to give Lennon a very public dressing-down for his cruelty to his wife, a dressing-down that must have been a sight to behold, as Lennon was dressed as a Teddy boy while Lulu was in a Shirley Temple costume. It's a sign of how bad the Lennons' marriage was at this point that this was the second time in a two-month period where Cynthia had ended up crying because of John at a film launch party and been comforted by a female pop star. In October, Cilla Black had held a party to celebrate the belated release of John's film How I Won the War, and during the party Georgie Fame had come up to Black and said, confused, "Cynthia Lennon is hiding in your wardrobe". Black went and had a look, and Cynthia explained to her “I'm waiting to see how long it is before John misses me and comes looking for me.” Black's response had been “You'd better face it, kid—he's never gonna come.” Also at the Magical Mystery Tour party was Lennon's father, now known as Freddie Lennon, and his new nineteen-year-old fiancee. While Hunter Davis had been researching the Beatles' biography, he'd come across some evidence that the version of Freddie's attitude towards John that his mother's side of the family had always told him -- that Freddie had been a cruel and uncaring husband who had not actually wanted to be around his son -- might not be the whole of the truth, and that the mother who he had thought of as saintly might also have had some part to play in their marriage breaking down and Freddie not seeing his son for twenty years. The two had made some tentative attempts at reconciliation, and indeed Freddie would even come and live with John for a while, though within a couple of years the younger Lennon's heart would fully harden against his father again. Of course, the things that John always resented his father for were pretty much exactly the kind of things that Lennon himself was about to do. It was around this time as well that Derek Taylor gave the Beatles copies of the debut album by a young singer/songwriter named Harry Nilsson. Nilsson will be getting his own episode down the line, but not for a couple of years at my current rates, so it's worth bringing that up here, because that album became a favourite of all the Beatles, and would have a huge influence on their songwriting for the next couple of years, and because one song on the album, "1941", must have resonated particularly deeply with Lennon right at this moment -- an autobiographical song by Nilsson about how his father had left him and his mother when he was a small boy, and about his own fear that, as his first marriage broke down, he was repeating the pattern with his stepson Scott: [Excerpt: Nilsson, "1941"] The other major event of December 1967, rather overshadowed by the Magical Mystery Tour disaster the next day, was that on Christmas Day Paul McCartney and Jane Asher announced their engagement. A few days later, George Harrison flew to India. After John and Paul had had their outside film projects -- John starring in How I Won The War and Paul doing the soundtrack for The Family Way -- the other two Beatles more or less simultaneously did their own side project films, and again one acted while the other did a soundtrack. Both of these projects were in the rather odd subgenre of psychedelic shambolic comedy film that sprang up in the mid sixties, a subgenre that produced a lot of fascinating films, though rather fewer good ones. Indeed, both of them were in the subsubgenre of shambolic psychedelic *sex* comedies. In Ringo's case, he had a small role in the film Candy, which was based on the novel we mentioned in the last episode, co-written by Terry Southern, which was in itself a loose modern rewriting of Voltaire's Candide. Unfortunately, like such other classics of this subgenre as Anthony Newley's Can Heironymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness?, Candy has dated *extremely* badly, and unless you find repeated scenes of sexual assault and rape, ethnic stereotypes, and jokes about deformity and disfigurement to be an absolute laugh riot, it's not a film that's worth seeking out, and Starr's part in it is not a major one. Harrison's film was of the same basic genre -- a film called Wonderwall about a mad scientist who discovers a way to see through the walls of his apartment, and gets to see a photographer taking sexy photographs of a young woman named Penny Lane, played by Jane Birkin: [Excerpt: Some Wonderwall film dialogue ripped from the Blu-Ray] Wonderwall would, of course, later inspire the title of a song by Oasis, and that's what the film is now best known for, but it's a less-unwatchable film than Candy, and while still problematic it's less so. Which is something. Harrison had been the Beatle with least involvement in Magical Mystery Tour -- McCartney had been the de facto director, Starr had been the lead character and the only one with much in the way of any acting to do, and Lennon had written the film's standout scene and its best song, and had done a little voiceover narration. Harrison, by contrast, barely has anything to do in the film apart from the one song he contributed, "Blue Jay Way", and he said of the project “I had no idea what was happening and maybe I didn't pay enough attention because my problem, basically, was that I was in another world, I didn't really belong; I was just an appendage.” He'd expressed his discomfort to his friend Joe Massot, who was about to make his first feature film. Massot had got to know Harrison during the making of his previous film, Reflections on Love, a mostly-silent short which had starred Harrison's sister-in-law Jenny Boyd, and which had been photographed by Robert Freeman, who had been the photographer for the Beatles' album covers from With the Beatles through Rubber Soul, and who had taken most of the photos that Klaus Voorman incorporated into the cover of Revolver (and whose professional association with the Beatles seemed to come to an end around the same time he discovered that Lennon had been having an affair with his wife). Massot asked Harrison to write the music for the film, and told Harrison he would have complete free rein to make whatever music he wanted, so long as it fit the timing of the film, and so Harrison decided to create a mixture of Western rock music and the Indian music he loved. Harrison started recording the music at the tail end of 1967, with sessions with several London-based Indian musicians and John Barham, an orchestrator who had worked with Ravi Shankar on Shankar's collaborations with Western musicians, including the Alice in Wonderland soundtrack we talked about in the "All You Need is Love" episode. For the Western music, he used the Remo Four, a Merseybeat group who had been on the scene even before the Beatles, and which contained a couple of classmates of Paul McCartney, but who had mostly acted as backing musicians for other artists. They'd backed Johnny Sandon, the former singer with the Searchers, on a couple of singles, before becoming the backing band for Tommy Quickly, a NEMS artist who was unsuccessful despite starting his career with a Lennon/McCartney song, "Tip of My Tongue": [Excerpt: Tommy Quickly, "Tip of My Tongue"] The Remo Four would later, after a lineup change, become Ashton, Gardner and Dyke, who would become one-hit wonders in the seventies, and during the Wonderwall sessions they recorded a song that went unreleased at the time, and which would later go on to be rerecorded by Ashton, Gardner, and Dyke. "In the First Place" also features Harrison on backing vocals and possibly guitar, and was not submitted for the film because Harrison didn't believe that Massot wanted any vocal tracks, but the recording was later discovered and used in a revised director's cut of the film in the nineties: [Excerpt: The Remo Four, "In the First Place"] But for the most part the Remo Four were performing instrumentals written by Harrison. They weren't the only Western musicians performing on the sessions though -- Peter Tork of the Monkees dropped by these sessions and recorded several short banjo solos, which were used in the film soundtrack but not in the soundtrack album (presumably because Tork was contracted to another label): [Excerpt: Peter Tork, "Wonderwall banjo solo"] Another musician who was under contract to another label was Eric Clapton, who at the time was playing with The Cream, and who vaguely knew Harrison and so joined in for the track "Ski-ing", playing lead guitar under the cunning, impenetrable, pseudonym "Eddie Clayton", with Harrison on sitar, Starr on drums, and session guitarist Big Jim Sullivan on bass: [Excerpt: George Harrison, "Ski-ing"] But the bulk of the album was recorded in EMI's studios in the city that is now known as Mumbai but at the time was called Bombay. The studio facilities in India had up to that point only had a mono tape recorder, and Bhaskar Menon, one of the top executives at EMI's Indian division and later the head of EMI music worldwide, personally brought the first stereo tape recorder to the studio to aid in Harrison's recording. The music was all composed by Harrison and performed by the Indian musicians, and while Harrison was composing in an Indian mode, the musicians were apparently fascinated by how Western it sounded to them: [Excerpt: George Harrison, "Microbes"] While he was there, Harrison also got the instrumentalists to record another instrumental track, which wasn't to be used for the film: [Excerpt: George Harrison, "The Inner Light (instrumental)"] That track would, instead, become part of what was to be Harrison's first composition to make a side of a Beatles single. After John and George had appeared on the David Frost show talking about the Maharishi, in September 1967, George had met a lecturer in Sanskrit named Juan Mascaró, who wrote to Harrison enclosing a book he'd compiled of translations of religious texts, telling him he'd admired "Within You Without You" and thought it would be interesting if Harrison set something from the Tao Te Ching to music. He suggested a text that, in his translation, read: "Without going out of my door I can know all things on Earth Without looking out of my window I can know the ways of heaven For the farther one travels, the less one knows The sage, therefore Arrives without travelling Sees all without looking Does all without doing" Harrison took that text almost verbatim, though he created a second verse by repeating the first few lines with "you" replacing "I" -- concerned that listeners might think he was just talking about himself, and wouldn't realise it was a more general statement -- and he removed the "the sage, therefore" and turned the last few lines into imperative commands rather than declarative statements: [Excerpt: The Beatles, "The Inner Light"] The song has come in for some criticism over the years as being a little Orientalist, because in critics' eyes it combines Chinese philosophy with Indian music, as if all these things are equally "Eastern" and so all the same really. On the other hand there's a good argument that an English songwriter taking a piece of writing written in Chinese and translated into English by a Spanish man and setting it to music inspired by Indian musical modes is a wonderful example of cultural cross-pollination. As someone who's neither Chinese nor Indian I wouldn't want to take a stance on it, but clearly the other Beatles were impressed by it -- they put it out as the B-side to their next single, even though the only Beatles on it are Harrison and McCartney, with the latter adding a small amount of harmony vocal: [Excerpt: The Beatles, "The Inner Light"] And it wasn't because the group were out of material. They were planning on going to Rishikesh to study with the Maharishi, and wanted to get a single out for release while they were away, and so in one week they completed the vocal overdubs on "The Inner Light" and recorded three other songs, two by John and one by Paul. All three of the group's songwriters brought in songs that were among their best. John's first contribution was a song whose lyrics he later described as possibly the best he ever wrote, "Across the Universe". He said the lyrics were “purely inspirational and were given to me as boom! I don't own it, you know; it came through like that … Such an extraordinary meter and I can never repeat it! It's not a matter of craftsmanship, it wrote itself. It drove me out of bed. I didn't want to write it … It's like being possessed, like a psychic or a medium.” But while Lennon liked the song, he was never happy with the recording of it. They tried all sorts of things to get the sound he heard in his head, including bringing in some fans who were hanging around outside to sing backing vocals. He said of the track "I was singing out of tune and instead of getting a decent choir, we got fans from outside, Apple Scruffs or whatever you call them. They came in and were singing all off-key. Nobody was interested in doing the tune originally.” [Excerpt: The Beatles, "Across the Universe"] The "jai guru deva" chorus there is the first reference to the teachings of the Maharishi in one of the Beatles' records -- Guru Dev was the Maharishi's teacher, and the phrase "Jai guru dev" is a Sanskrit one which I've seen variously translated as "victory to the great teacher", and "hail to the greatness within you". Lennon would say shortly before his death “The Beatles didn't make a good record out of it. I think subconsciously sometimes we – I say ‘we' though I think Paul did it more than the rest of us – Paul would sort of subconsciously try and destroy a great song … Usually we'd spend hours doing little detailed cleaning-ups of Paul's songs, when it came to mine, especially if it was a great song like ‘Strawberry Fields' or ‘Across The Universe', somehow this atmosphere of looseness and casualness and experimentation would creep in … It was a _lousy_ track of a great song and I was so disappointed by it …The guitars are out of tune and I'm singing out of tune because I'm psychologically destroyed and nobody's supporting me or helping me with it, and the song was never done properly.” Of course, this is only Lennon's perception, and it's one that the other participants would disagree with. George Martin, in particular, was always rather hurt by the implication that Lennon's songs had less attention paid to them, and he would always say that the problem was that Lennon in the studio would always say "yes, that's great", and only later complain that it hadn't been what he wanted. No doubt McCartney did put in more effort on his own songs than on Lennon's -- everyone has a bias towards their own work, and McCartney's only human -- but personally I suspect that a lot of the problem comes down to the two men having very different personalities. McCartney had very strong ideas about his own work and would drive the others insane with his nitpicky attention to detail. Lennon had similarly strong ideas, but didn't have the attention span to put the time and effort in to force his vision on others, and didn't have the technical knowledge to express his ideas in words they'd understand. He expected Martin and the other Beatles to work miracles, and they did -- but not the miracles he would have worked. That track was, rather than being chosen for the next single, given to Spike Milligan, who happened to be visiting the studio and was putting together an album for the environmental charity the World Wildlife Fund. The album was titled "No One's Gonna Change Our World": [Excerpt: The Beatles, "Across the Universe"] That track is historic in another way -- it would be the last time that George Harrison would play sitar on a Beatles record, and it effectively marks the end of the period of psychedelia and Indian influence that had started with "Norwegian Wood" three years earlier, and which many fans consider their most creative period. Indeed, shortly after the recording, Harrison would give up the sitar altogether and stop playing it. He loved sitar music as much as he ever had, and he still thought that Indian classical music spoke to him in ways he couldn't express, and he continued to be friends with Ravi Shankar for the rest of his life, and would only become more interested in Indian religious thought. But as he spent time with Shankar he realised he would never be as good on the sitar as he hoped. He said later "I thought, 'Well, maybe I'm better off being a pop singer-guitar-player-songwriter – whatever-I'm-supposed-to-be' because I've seen a thousand sitar-players in India who are twice as better as I'll ever be. And only one of them Ravi thought was going to be a good player." We don't have a precise date for when it happened -- I suspect it was in June 1968, so a few months after the "Across the Universe" recording -- but Shankar told Harrison that rather than try to become a master of a music that he hadn't encountered until his twenties, perhaps he should be making the music that was his own background. And as Harrison put it "I realised that was riding my bike down a street in Liverpool and hearing 'Heartbreak Hotel' coming out of someone's house.": [Excerpt: Elvis Presley, "Heartbreak Hotel"] In early 1968 a lot of people seemed to be thinking along the same lines, as if Christmas 1967 had been the flick of a switch and instead of whimsy and ornamentation, the thing to do was to make music that was influenced by early rock and roll. In the US the Band and Bob Dylan were making music that was consciously shorn of all studio experimentation, while in the UK there was a revival of fifties rock and roll. In April 1968 both "Peggy Sue" and "Rock Around the Clock" reentered the top forty in the UK, and the Who were regularly including "Summertime Blues" in their sets. Fifties nostalgia, which would make occasional comebacks for at least the next forty years, was in its first height, and so it's not surprising that Paul McCartney's song, "Lady Madonna", which became the A-side of the next single, has more than a little of the fifties about it. Of course, the track isn't *completely* fifties in its origins -- one of the inspirations for the track seems to have been the Rolling Stones' then-recent hit "Let's Spend The Night Together": [Excerpt: The Rolling Stones, "Let's Spend the Night Together"] But the main source for the song's music -- and for the sound of the finished record -- seems to have been Johnny Parker's piano part on Humphrey Lyttleton's "Bad Penny Blues", a hit single engineered by Joe Meek in the fifties: [Excerpt: Humphrey Lyttleton, "Bad Penny Blues"] That song seems to have been on the group's mind for a while, as a working title for "With a Little Help From My Friends" had at one point been "Bad Finger Blues" -- a title that would later give the name to a band on Apple. McCartney took Parker's piano part as his inspiration, and as he later put it “‘Lady Madonna' was me sitting down at the piano trying to write a bluesy boogie-woogie thing. I got my left hand doing an arpeggio thing with the chord, an ascending boogie-woogie left hand, then a descending right hand. I always liked that, the  juxtaposition of a line going down meeting a line going up." [Excerpt: The Beatles, "Lady Madonna"] That idea, incidentally, is an interesting reversal of what McCartney had done on "Hello, Goodbye", where the bass line goes down while the guitar moves up -- the two lines moving away from each other: [Excerpt: The Beatles, "Hello Goodbye"] Though that isn't to say there's no descending bass in "Lady Madonna" -- the bridge has a wonderful sequence where the bass just *keeps* *descending*: [Excerpt: The Beatles, "Lady Madonna"] Lyrically, McCartney was inspired by a photo in National Geographic of a woman in Malaysia, captioned “Mountain Madonna: with one child at her breast and another laughing into her face, sees her quality of life threatened.” But as he put it “The people I was brought up amongst were often Catholic; there are lots of Catholics in Liverpool because of the Irish connection and they are often religious. When they have a baby I think they see a big connection between themselves and the Virgin Mary with her baby. So the original concept was the Virgin Mary but it quickly became symbolic of every woman; the Madonna image but as applied to ordinary working class woman. It's really a tribute to the mother figure, it's a tribute to women.” Musically though, the song was more a tribute to the fifties -- while the inspiration had been a skiffle hit by Humphrey Lyttleton, as soon as McCartney started playing it he'd thought of Fats Domino, and the lyric reflects that to an extent -- just as Domino's "Blue Monday" details the days of the week for a weary working man who only gets to enjoy himself on Saturday night, "Lady Madonna"'s lyrics similarly look at the work a mother has to do every day -- though as McCartney later noted  "I was writing the words out to learn it for an American TV show and I realised I missed out Saturday ... So I figured it must have been a real night out." The vocal was very much McCartney doing a Domino impression -- something that wasn't lost on Fats, who cut his own version of the track later that year: [Excerpt: Fats Domino, "Lady Madonna"] The group were so productive at this point, right before the journey to India, that they actually cut another song *while they were making a video for "Lady Madonna"*. They were booked into Abbey Road to film themselves performing the song so it could be played on Top of the Pops while they were away, but instead they decided to use the time to cut a new song -- John had a partially-written song, "Hey Bullfrog", which was roughly the same tempo as "Lady Madonna", so they could finish that up and then re-edit the footage to match the record. The song was quickly finished and became "Hey Bulldog": [Excerpt: The Beatles, "Hey Bulldog"] One of Lennon's best songs from this period, "Hey Bulldog" was oddly chosen only to go on the soundtrack of Yellow Submarine. Either the band didn't think much of it because it had come so easily, or it was just assigned to the film because they were planning on being away for several months and didn't have any other projects they were working on. The extent of the group's contribution to the film was minimal – they were not very hands-on, and the film, which was mostly done as an attempt to provide a third feature film for their United Artists contract without them having to do any work, was made by the team that had done the Beatles cartoon on American TV. There's some evidence that they had a small amount of input in the early story stages, but in general they saw the cartoon as an irrelevance to them -- the only things they contributed were the four songs "All Together Now", "It's All Too Much", "Hey Bulldog" and "Only a Northern Song", and a brief filmed appearance for the very end of the film, recorded in January: [Excerpt: Yellow Submarine film end] McCartney also took part in yet another session in early February 1968, one produced by Peter Asher, his fiancee's brother, and former singer with Peter and Gordon. Asher had given up on being a pop star and was trying to get into the business side of music, and he was starting out as a producer, producing a single by Paul Jones, the former lead singer of Manfred Mann. The A-side of the single, "And the Sun Will Shine", was written by the Bee Gees, the band that Robert Stigwood was managing: [Excerpt: Paul Jones, "And the Sun Will Shine"] While the B-side was an original by Jones, "The Dog Presides": [Excerpt: Paul Jones, "The Dog Presides"] Those tracks featured two former members of the Yardbirds, Jeff Beck and Paul Samwell-Smith, on guitar and bass, and Nicky Hopkins on piano. Asher asked McCartney to play drums on both sides of the single, saying later "I always thought he was a great, underrated drummer." McCartney was impressed by Asher's production, and asked him to get involved with the new Apple Records label that would be set up when the group returned from India. Asher eventually became head of A&R for the label. And even before "Lady Madonna" was mixed, the Beatles were off to India. Mal Evans, their roadie, went ahead with all their luggage on the fourteenth of February, so he could sort out transport for them on the other end, and then John and George followed on the fifteenth, with their wives Pattie and Cynthia and Pattie's sister Jenny (John and Cynthia's son Julian had been left with his grandmother while they went -- normally Cynthia wouldn't abandon Julian for an extended period of time, but she saw the trip as a way to repair their strained marriage). Paul and Ringo followed four days later, with Ringo's wife Maureen and Paul's fiancee Jane Asher. The retreat in Rishikesh was to become something of a celebrity affair. Along with the Beatles came their friend the singer-songwriter Donovan, and Donovan's friend and songwriting partner, whose name I'm not going to say here because it's a slur for Romani people, but will be known to any Donovan fans. Donovan at this point was also going through changes. Like the Beatles, he was largely turning away from drug use and towards meditation, and had recently written his hit single "There is a Mountain" based around a saying from Zen Buddhism: [Excerpt: Donovan, "There is a Mountain"] That was from his double-album A Gift From a Flower to a Garden, which had come out in December 1967. But also like John and Paul he was in the middle of the breakdown of a long-term relationship, and while he would remain with his then-partner until 1970, and even have another child with her, he was secretly in love with another woman. In fact he was secretly in love with two other women. One of them, Brian Jones' ex-girlfriend Linda, had moved to LA, become the partner of the singer Gram Parsons, and had appeared in the documentary You Are What You Eat with the Band and Tiny Tim. She had fallen out of touch with Donovan, though she would later become his wife. Incidentally, she had a son to Brian Jones who had been abandoned by his rock-star father -- the son's name is Julian. The other woman with whom Donovan was in love was Jenny Boyd, the sister of George Harrison's wife Pattie.  Jenny at the time was in a relationship with Alexis Mardas, a TV repairman and huckster who presented himself as an electronics genius to the Beatles, who nicknamed him Magic Alex, and so she was unavailable, but Donovan had written a song about her, released as a single just before they all went to Rishikesh: [Excerpt: Donovan, "Jennifer Juniper"] Donovan considered himself and George Harrison to be on similar spiritual paths and called Harrison his "spirit-brother", though Donovan was more interested in Buddhism, which Harrison considered a corruption of the more ancient Hinduism, and Harrison encouraged Donovan to read Autobiography of a Yogi. It's perhaps worth noting that Donovan's father had a different take on the subject though, saying "You're not going to study meditation in India, son, you're following that wee lassie Jenny" Donovan and his friend weren't the only other celebrities to come to Rishikesh. The actor Mia Farrow, who had just been through a painful divorce from Frank Sinatra, and had just made Rosemary's Baby, a horror film directed by Roman Polanski with exteriors shot at the Dakota building in New York, arrived with her sister Prudence. Also on the trip was Paul Horn, a jazz saxophonist who had played with many of the greats of jazz, not least of them Duke Ellington, whose Sweet Thursday Horn had played alto sax on: [Excerpt: Duke Ellington, "Zweet Zursday"] Horn was another musician who had been inspired to investigate Indian spirituality and music simultaneously, and the previous year he had recorded an album, "In India," of adaptations of ragas, with Ravi Shankar and Alauddin Khan: [Excerpt: Paul Horn, "Raga Vibhas"] Horn would go on to become one of the pioneers of what would later be termed "New Age" music, combining jazz with music from various non-Western traditions. Horn had also worked as a session musician, and one of the tracks he'd played on was "I Know There's an Answer" from the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds album: [Excerpt: The Beach Boys, "I Know There's an Answer"] Mike Love, who co-wrote that track and is one of the lead singers on it, was also in Rishikesh. While as we'll see not all of the celebrities on the trip would remain practitioners of Transcendental Meditation, Love would be profoundly affected by the trip, and remains a vocal proponent of TM to this day. Indeed, his whole band at the time were heavily into TM. While Love was in India, the other Beach Boys were working on the Friends album without him -- Love only appears on four tracks on that album -- and one of the tracks they recorded in his absence was titled "Transcendental Meditation": [Excerpt: The Beach Boys, "Transcendental Meditation"] But the trip would affect Love's songwriting, as it would affect all of the musicians there. One of the few songs on the Friends album on which Love appears is "Anna Lee, the Healer", a song which is lyrically inspired by the trip in the most literal sense, as it's about a masseuse Love met in Rishikesh: [Excerpt: The Beach Boys, "Anna Lee, the Healer"] The musicians in the group all influenced and inspired each other as is likely to happen in such circumstances. Sometimes, it would be a matter of trivial joking, as when the Beatles decided to perform an off-the-cuff song about Guru Dev, and did it in the Beach Boys style: [Excerpt: The Beatles, "Spiritual Regeneration"] And that turned partway through into a celebration of Love for his birthday: [Excerpt: The Beatles, "Spiritual Regeneration"] Decades later, Love would return the favour, writing a song about Harrison and their time together in Rishikesh. Like Donovan, Love seems to have considered Harrison his "spiritual brother", and he titled the song "Pisces Brothers": [Excerpt: Mike Love, "Pisces Brothers"] The musicians on the trip were also often making suggestions to each other about songs that would become famous for them. The musicians had all brought acoustic guitars, apart obviously from Ringo, who got a set of tabla drums when George ordered some Indian instruments to be delivered. George got a sitar, as at this point he hadn't quite given up on the instrument, and he gave Donovan a tamboura. Donovan started playing a melody on the tamboura, which is normally a drone instrument, inspired by the Scottish folk music he had grown up with, and that became his "Hurdy-Gurdy Man": [Excerpt: Donovan, "Hurdy Gurdy Man"] Harrison actually helped him with the song, writing a final verse inspired by the Maharishi's teachings, but in the studio Donovan's producer Mickie Most told him to cut the verse because the song was overlong, which apparently annoyed Harrison. Donovan includes that verse in his live performances of the song though -- usually while doing a fairly terrible impersonation of Harrison: [Excerpt: Donovan, "Hurdy Gurdy Man (live)"] And similarly, while McCartney was working on a song pastiching Chuck Berry and the Beach Boys, but singing about the USSR rather than the USA, Love suggested to him that for a middle-eight he might want to sing about the girls in the various Soviet regions: [Excerpt: The Beatles, "Back in the USSR"] As all the guitarists on the retreat only had acoustic instruments, they were very keen to improve their acoustic playing, and they turned to Donovan, who unlike the rest of them was primarily an acoustic player, and one from a folk background. Donovan taught them the rudiments of Travis picking, the guitar style we talked about way back in the episodes on the Everly Brothers, as well as some of the tunings that had been introduced to British folk music by Davey Graham, giving them a basic grounding in the principles of English folk-baroque guitar, a style that had developed over the previous few years. Donovan has said in his autobiography that Lennon picked the technique up quickly (and that Harrison had already learned Travis picking from Chet Atkins records) but that McCartney didn't have the application to learn the style, though he picked up bits. That seems very unlike anything else I've read anywhere about Lennon and McCartney -- no-one has ever accused Lennon of having a surfeit of application -- and reading Donovan's book he seems to dislike McCartney and like Lennon and Harrison, so possibly that enters into it. But also, it may just be that Lennon was more receptive to Donovan's style at the time. According to McCartney, even before going to Rishikesh Lennon had been in a vaguely folk-music and country mode, and the small number of tapes he'd brought with him to Rishikesh included Buddy Holly, Dylan, and the progressive folk band The Incredible String Band, whose music would be a big influence on both Lennon and McCartney for the next year: [Excerpt: The Incredible String Band, "First Girl I Loved"] According to McCartney Lennon also brought "a tape the singer Jake Thackray had done for him... He was one of the people we bumped into at Abbey Road. John liked his stuff, which he'd heard on television. Lots of wordplay and very suggestive, so very much up John's alley. I was fascinated by his unusual guitar style. John did ‘Happiness Is A Warm Gun' as a Jake Thackray thing at one point, as I recall.” Thackray was a British chansonnier, who sang sweetly poignant but also often filthy songs about Yorkshire life, and his humour in particular will have appealed to Lennon. There's a story of Lennon meeting Thackray in Abbey Road and singing the whole of Thackray's song "The Statues", about two drunk men fighting a male statue to defend the honour of a female statue, to him: [Excerpt: Jake Thackray, "The Statues"] Given this was the music that Lennon was listening to, it's unsurprising that he was more receptive to Donovan's lessons, and the new guitar style he learned allowed him to expand his songwriting, at precisely the same time he was largely clean of drugs for the first time in several years, and he started writing some of the best songs he would ever write, often using these new styles: [Excerpt: The Beatles, "Julia"] That song is about Lennon's dead mother -- the first time he ever addressed her directly in a song, though  it would be far from the last -- but it's also about someone else. That phrase "Ocean child" is a direct translation of the Japanese name "Yoko". We've talked about Yoko Ono a bit in recent episodes, and even briefly in a previous Beatles episode, but it's here that she really enters the story of the Beatles. Unfortunately, exactly *how* her relationship with John Lennon, which was to become one of the great legendary love stories in rock and roll history, actually started is the subject of some debate. Both of them were married when they first got together, and there have also been suggestions that Ono was more interested in McCartney than in Lennon at first -- suggestions which everyone involved has denied, and those denials have the ring of truth about them, but if that was the case it would also explain some of Lennon's more perplexing behaviour over the next year. By all accounts there was a certain amount of finessing of the story th

Sam Hart is joined by David Jennings, Keith Melrose and Unibet's Ed Nicholson to preview the action at Sandown and Aintree this weekend. The first part of the show focuses on Sandown, with three Grade 1s taking place on the card. Will we get to see Constitution Hill light up Esher in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle? The panel give their thoughts on the big-race action. We also get to hear from Nico de Boinville about his rides aboard Constitution Hill and Jonbon ahead of the weekend. In the second part, the team look at Aintree's card on Saturday. We see the Grand National fences being jumped in the Becher Chase, which looks as competitive as ever.   To finish, the team give their selections away from the ITV cameras before giving their NAPs of the weekend.

World-renowned and very clever Professor of Short Books, Douglas Ullard...along with his Twenty-Two Minute and Seventeen Second Classic Literature Audio Armchair Theatre Company (or TTMASSCLAATC) brings you H. G. Wells' great classic, but short, literary "masterpiece" in just...well...twenty-two minutes and seventeen seconds.  So, if you're trying to look smart in front of your friends and family because they think they KNOW the story of The War of the Wolrds... then, don't worry…we've done all the hard work for you. So sit back and listen to all those globally recognised names like...Esher, Leatherhead, Cobham, Staines and Chipping Ongar. Cast: Rakesh Boury as Narrator and others Joanna Brookes as Martian Leader and others Charlotte McBurney as Paperboy and others David Menkin as The Curate and others Caroline Rodgers as Mrs Narrator and others Ben Starr as Artilleryman and others With a special introduction by the Professor himself, Douglas Ullard. Written by David Spicer Directed by John Schwab and David Spicer Audio Production by John Schwab

David Burland joins Purposely to share his valuable insights into the Hospice Movement and the broader charitable sector. We also delve into the roots of his purpose-driven career and his current role as an advisor. David's journey in the charity sector began in the late '80s. His first role after university was organising business exhibitions and it was during this period that he saw a job opportunity at the Royal Star and Garter Home, an organisation his grandmother had once been a volunteer. This role marked his entry into the world of fundraising, and he was immediately captivated by the privilege of meeting veterans from the First and Second World Wars. David's experience at the home instilled in him a strong sense of purpose and he first experienced the joy one can get from making a positive difference. David's career path eventually led him to Princess Alice Hospice in Esher, as Director of Marketing, fuelling his passion for hospices and the work they do to support people at the end of life along with their families. Subsequently, David joined Help the Hospices, now known as Hospice UK, where he spent 13 successful years. He held roles as Director of Income Generation and later as Deputy CEO, allowing him to play a crucial role in engaging with member hospices across the nation. In 2012, David took on the role of CEO at Shooting Star Chase, a children's hospice service formed through a merger. His tenure was marked by the following achievements, including the accreditation of both hospices as 'Outstanding' by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). Under his leadership, the hospice expanded its services, significantly enhancing support for children and families in need. Today, David serves as a respected freelance consultant, collaborating with a diverse range of voluntary sector clients on multifaceted projects. His expertise encompasses various areas, including income generation, governance, and stakeholder management. David's insights extend to the governance of charities, where he has observed the challenges faced by trustees, especially those who have excelled in other sectors and find themselves navigating leadership and HR issues. He emphasises that the traditional governance model, rooted in a 19th-century Victorian framework, faces immense pressure, especially in the context of large multinational organisations. The reliance on volunteer trustees, who often have additional responsibilities, is increasingly under scrutiny. The need for a more contemporary and adaptable approach to governance is evident, given the complexity and diversity of today's charitable landscape. David's journey and perspective provide invaluable insights into the world of hospices and the charitable sector, shedding light on the challenges and transformations within the industry. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mark-longbottom2/message

Hello and welcome to conversations from the A and F podcast.  In this episode I speak to Esher, she is a late discovery step parent adoptee, foster carer and adopter. Esher shares her experience of discovering that who she thought was her father was not as a teenager and how that knowledge has unfolded through her life. She is also a foster carer and an adoptive parent and her personal experience has given her an informed understanding of the impact on identity of adoption and influences how she supports her child.  Esher now works to support others in terms of identity as well as working to develop understanding of racism. You can hear her speak at this event for the CVAA 'Anti racism in adoption assessment' here. As always if you've experience of adoption, fostering or special guardianship from any perspective personal or professional and would like share that on the podcast please get in touch through Facebook or twitter or email us at AandFpodcast@gmail.com Listen/subscribe on iTunes here Spotify here Google here

My guest this week is my former Esher teammate - Simon Goldsmith   This interview was recorded in May of 2023 and we talked about how he became a rugby keeno and a dedicated hooker, his pride at playing for Kent, THAT try against London Welsh, horrific injuries and an epic trip to support the Lions in New Zealand in 2017.   This is a really fun episode - I hope you enjoy!   LINKS Simon Goldsmith on Instagram - @sigoldsmith - https://www.instagram.com/sigoldsmith/ Tunbridge Wells RFC - https://twrfc.com/ Westcombe Park RFC - https://www.westcombeparkrugby.co.uk/ Esher Rugby - https://www.esherrugby.com/ Kent Rugby - https://www.kent-rugby.org/ My Name'5 Doddie Foundation - https://www.myname5doddie.co.uk/   PATREON Join The Amateur Rugby Podcast Patreon community for some extra amateur rugby goodness! (https://patreon.com/amateurrugbypodcast)   PODCAST KIT Everything I use to create, edit and produce this podcast can be found on my Creating a Podcast (https://www.amateurrugbypodcast.com/creating-a-podcast/) page.   SUPPORT If you would like to support the podcast in some way then there are plenty of options for you on my Support the Podcast (https://www.amateurrugbypodcast.com/support/) page.

What's your most loved and least favorite song on Fleetwood Mac's album Rumours?! For our third request episode, Dan's teenage nephew Esher suggested the 1977 classic and it won our public election. This second season finale turned out as epic as the album itself, with several rankings the likes of which we've never seen in our 30 episodes. Lots of fun facts and opinions and tales about the album producer getting you fired from the hosts plus the nominator nephew himself and Mara Kuge of the long-running Los Angeles AM Gold party Soft Rock Sundays. Listen at WeWillRankYouPod.com, Apple, Spotify and your local second hand newsstand. Follow us and weigh in with your favorites on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @wewillrankyoupod . SPOILERS/FILE UNDER:Alcohol, Beyond Yacht Rock, Big Love, breakups, Lindsey Buckingham, Buckingham/Nicks, Irene Cara, Rio Caraeff, The Chain, classic rock, clavinet, Clinton inaugural ball, Crunch Media, dobro, Dogg Face, Don't Look Down, Don't Stop, Dreams, drugs, Janice Engel, Esher, Chris Farley, Mick Fleetwood, Fleetwood Mac, Go Your Own Way, Going Home documentary, Gold Dust Woman, harmonies, Hole, I Don't Want to Know, Jellyfish, Mara Kuge, Led Zeppelin, Lola (My Love), Christine McVie, John McVie, the Move, Never Going Back Again, Stevie Nicks, Oh Daddy, Pixies, request episode, Rhiannon, Rumours, season finale, Second Hand News, soft rock, Soft Rock Sunday, Songbird, Whenever I Call You Friend, yacht rock, Yachtski scale, You Make Loving Fun, Zellerbach Hall, 1977 US: http://www.WeWillRankYouPod.com wewillrankyoupod@gmail.com http://www.facebook.com/WeWillRankYouPod http://www.instagram.com/WeWillRankYouPod http://www.twitter.com/WeWillRankYouPo http://www.YourOlderBrother.com (Sam's music page) http://www.YerDoinGreat.com (Adam's music page) https://open.spotify.com/user/dancecarbuzz (Dan's playlists)

The coronation of King Charles III on 6 May 2023 has prompted this humorous historical look at the British coronations. Since 1902, when Edward VII and his queen were crowned, the religious ceremony itself has drawn upon rites going back to the crowning of Anglo-Saxon kings. But reviving these old rites just belongs to an Edwardian fascination with a mythical Merrie England. And once you step outside all the solemnity of the Abbey, we are in a world that was entirely invented between the 1870s and the first world war. It was then that British royals turned into a strange mix of an oddly middle-class family that was given to stagey, mock-historical popular pageants, with an increasing display of military uniforms to boost Britain's failing international image. Thespian imperialist Lord Esher, who headed the coronation planning committee in 1902, had very little time for the ordinary British people he called ‘millions of drudges'. He insisted that everyone in royal ceremonies – not just the military – had to wear a uniform. It was meant to distinguish them from the mere mortals who could watch from the sidelines. Ultimately these events were always about international politics. The coronation of Charles III occurs in the context of Brexit and deep economic crisis and carries as much international weight as anything that has gone before.

As the end of season draws to a close the podcast team reflect on Esher and discuss the likelihood of Cambridge's National One League win ahead of their rearranged fixture with Birmingham on Saturday. Whatever the result from this - it's been an incredible season and stick with us as we bring you all the coverage and reflections on a prolifically successful season (across the club!) that will live on in the memory for every RAMS side!We're also joined by ambassadors of the U12s who are on tour this weekend - best of luck to you all and safe travels!Follow us on Instagram @rugbyrambleBrought to you by TRACK 7 PRODUCTIONS

The Podcast team discuss the fantastic spectacle at OBR last weekend against Cinderford as well as other club news including: the return of the Minis Festival; kinds words from professionally contracted Micheal Dykes and much more!As his final season comes to a close - Paddy and Spike are joined in the studio by Ollie Taylor (a bonafide RAMS legend)! We reminisce over magic moments in seasons past and look towards the Esher fixture, along with the recent 100 cap earning Ollie Cole (returning for his official guest spot after helping us out in the Pilot)!Its nearly the end of the season and the title race is still up for grabs! Stay tuned for next week's episode where we may potentially know the outcome for what has been a monumental season for our 1stXV.Follow us on Instragram @rugbyrambleBrought to you by TRACK 7 PRODUCTIONS

Pattie Boyd is an English model, photographer, and an eyewitness to key moments in rock ‘n' roll history, particularly in terms of the lives and times of the former members of the Beatles, especially George Harrison. In 1962, Boyd began her modeling career, later appearing on the covers of Vogue and other leading magazines. In 1964, she met Harrison while working as an extra on the set of "A Hard Day's Night." After moving in together at Harrison's Kinfauns home in Esher, Boyd and Harrison married in January 1966. Boyd was a regular fixture in the Beatles' lives, attending the June 1967 Our World live simulcast and joining them in Rishikesh, India, for the group's February 1968 visit to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's ashram. In 1970, Boyd and Harrison relocated to Friar Park, the former Beatle's enormous Victorian mansion in Henley-on-Thames. By 1973, the Harrisons' relationship was disintegrating. In 1974, the couple separated, with Boyd later marrying Harrison's longtime friend and collaborator Eric Clapton, who had nurtured a long-running passion for the model. Over the years, Harrison had written numerous songs for Boyd, including the top-charting Beatles hit “Something.” In 1970, Boyd was the subject of the legendary Derek and the Dominos' album "Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs." The album's title track describes Clapton's unrequited love for Boyd. Clapton later composed the Top 20 U.S. hit “Wonderful Tonight” with Boyd as his inspiration. In 2007, Boyd published her best-selling autobiography entitled "Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Me." In 2022, she published her latest book, "Pattie Boyd: My Life in Pictures." --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/everythingfabfour/support

The coronation of King Charles III has prompted this humorous historical look at the British coronations. Since 1902, when Edward VII and his queen were crowned, the religious ceremony itself has drawn upon rites going back to the crowning of Anglo-Saxon kings. But reviving these old rites just belongs to an Edwardian fascination with a mythical Merrie England. And once you step outside all the solemnity of the Abbey, we are in a world that was entirely invented between the 1870s and the first world war. It was then that British royals turned into a strange mix of an oddly middle-class family that was given to stagey, mock-historical popular pageants, with an increasing display of military uniforms to boost Britain's failing international image. Thespian imperialist Lord Esher, who headed the coronation planning committee in 1902, had very little time for the ordinary British people he called ‘millions of drudges'. He insisted that everyone in royal ceremonies – not just the military – had to wear a uniform. It was meant to distinguish them from the mere mortals who could watch from the sidelines. Ultimately these events were always about international politics. The coronation of Charles III occurs in the context of Brexit and deep economic crisis and carries as much international weight as anything that has gone before.

During the third round of the 2023 Six Nations, a minute's silence was held before each game to commemorate the anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Rugby Paper had the privilege this week of interviewing James Waterhouse, a former professional rugby player (Plymouth, Rotherham and Esher) who is now working as the Ukraine correspondent for the BBC. In a truly unique and extraordinary episode, James calls host Ollie Little, and columnists Nick Cain and Brendan Gallagher from Kyiv. 

Tony King was there when it all started, working for Decca in the late ‘50s, plugging records on Housewives' Choice and Family Favourites and looking after visiting Americans like the Ronettes, Roy Orbison and Phil Spector. He went on to become a close friend of many of the acts he worked with and his memoir ‘The Tastemaker' is full of wonderful tales and revelations about all of them. As is this podcast which includes … … the day Reg Dwight changed his name (and getting him session work with the Barron Knights). … wearing “lime green trousers, blue moccasins and a kaftan” at the Beatles' One World broadcast. … the weekend with George and Pattie Harrison in Esher when the Daily Express turned up to tell them McCartney had admitted he'd taken acid. … taking Brenda Lee to the pictures. … holidays with Charlie Watts in France and memories of his wake. … why he used to ring Elton up and ask, “what's the weather like there, Jean?”  … seeing the Stones at the Scene club with Chrissie Shrimpton. … the advice he gave John Lennon (and getting him on the Old Grey Whistle Test) … and the qualities all stars need to be successful.  Buy ‘The Tastemaker: My Life With The Legends and Geniuses of Rock Music' here …https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tastemaker-Life-Legends-Geniuses-Music/dp/0571371930 Tony dressed as the Queen in an ad for John Lennon's Mind Games album …https://www.facebook.com/johnlennon/videos/mind-games-advert/1009681682383878/Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for a whole world of extra and exclusive content, benefits and rewards: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tony King was there when it all started, working for Decca in the late ‘50s, plugging records on Housewives' Choice and Family Favourites and looking after visiting Americans like the Ronettes, Roy Orbison and Phil Spector. He went on to become a close friend of many of the acts he worked with and his memoir ‘The Tastemaker' is full of wonderful tales and revelations about all of them. As is this podcast which includes … … the day Reg Dwight changed his name (and getting him session work with the Barron Knights). … wearing “lime green trousers, blue moccasins and a kaftan” at the Beatles' One World broadcast. … the weekend with George and Pattie Harrison in Esher when the Daily Express turned up to tell them McCartney had admitted he'd taken acid. … taking Brenda Lee to the pictures. … holidays with Charlie Watts in France and memories of his wake. … why he used to ring Elton up and ask, “what's the weather like there, Jean?”  … seeing the Stones at the Scene club with Chrissie Shrimpton. … the advice he gave John Lennon (and getting him on the Old Grey Whistle Test) … and the qualities all stars need to be successful.  Buy ‘The Tastemaker: My Life With The Legends and Geniuses of Rock Music' here …https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tastemaker-Life-Legends-Geniuses-Music/dp/0571371930 Tony dressed as the Queen in an ad for John Lennon's Mind Games album …https://www.facebook.com/johnlennon/videos/mind-games-advert/1009681682383878/Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for a whole world of extra and exclusive content, benefits and rewards: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tony King was there when it all started, working for Decca in the late ‘50s, plugging records on Housewives' Choice and Family Favourites and looking after visiting Americans like the Ronettes, Roy Orbison and Phil Spector. He went on to become a close friend of many of the acts he worked with and his memoir ‘The Tastemaker' is full of wonderful tales and revelations about all of them. As is this podcast which includes … … the day Reg Dwight changed his name (and getting him session work with the Barron Knights). … wearing “lime green trousers, blue moccasins and a kaftan” at the Beatles' One World broadcast. … the weekend with George and Pattie Harrison in Esher when the Daily Express turned up to tell them McCartney had admitted he'd taken acid. … taking Brenda Lee to the pictures. … holidays with Charlie Watts in France and memories of his wake. … why he used to ring Elton up and ask, “what's the weather like there, Jean?”  … seeing the Stones at the Scene club with Chrissie Shrimpton. … the advice he gave John Lennon (and getting him on the Old Grey Whistle Test) … and the qualities all stars need to be successful.  Buy ‘The Tastemaker: My Life With The Legends and Geniuses of Rock Music' here …https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tastemaker-Life-Legends-Geniuses-Music/dp/0571371930 Tony dressed as the Queen in an ad for John Lennon's Mind Games album …https://www.facebook.com/johnlennon/videos/mind-games-advert/1009681682383878/Subscribe to Word In Your Ear on Patreon for a whole world of extra and exclusive content, benefits and rewards: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Album de la semaine: "Rock'n'roll" (John Lennon 1975) "Home recording" de 2019, inédit J.Lennon-Be-bop-a-lula-Rock'n'roll (75)P.McCartney-I'm in love again-A sideman's journey (09)G.Harrison-Rocking chair in Hawaï-Brainwashed (02)R.Starr-Y not-Y not (10)Beatles-Child of nature (Esher demo)-White album (68)J.Lennon-Stand by me-Rock'n'roll (75)Beatles-Being for the benefit of Mr. Kite…-Love (06)Beatles-I want you (she's so heavy)-Abbey Road (69)P.McCartney-Footprints-Press to play (86)Traveling Wilburys-Inside out-Traveling Wilburys vol.3 (90)J.Lennon-Slippin' and slidin'-Rock'n'roll (75)Beatles-Hey Jude (alternate take) (take 1)-White album (68)R.Starr-R U ready-Liverpool 8 (08)Beatles-Across the Universe-Beatles 1967-1970 (73)Beatles-I will (take 13) -White album (68)J.Lennon-Medley: Rip it up/ Ready Teddy-Rock'n'roll (75)Joe Cocker-Something-The essential Joe Coker vol.2 (03)P.McCartney-We got married-Flowers in the dirt (89)P.McCartney-Golden Earth girl-Off the ground (93)Beatles-I me mine-Let it be (70)J.Lennon-You can't catch me-Rock'n'roll (75)Beatles-The fool on the hill-Magical Mystery Tour (67)G.Harrison-Can't stop thinking about you-Extra texture (read all about it) (75)J.Lennon-Medley: Bring it on home to me/ send me some loving-Rock'n'roll (75)R.Starr & friends-Now the time has come-Single (17)R.Starr-You never know-Curly music (94)Beatles-Girl-Rubber soul (65)Beatles-Got to get you into my life-Revolver (66)

Alan Bosson talks to Claire Woodward, Marketing and Communications Officer for the Princess Alice Hospice in Esher with news of their Santa Fun Runs.

Graham Laycock talks to Lisa and Alison from The Surrey Circle that connects local businesses with their customers and about to publish a new edition of the Surrey Circle Little Black Book for Cobham, Esher and Weybridge – www.thesurreycircle.co.uk and Instagram @thesurrey.circle.

We take you on the 2AM art gallery journey, discuss our thoughts on the world's most famous painters, and their most prominent works of art.   TIMESTAMPS: (0:10) Cardiology test (2:00) Value of systems in your life (3:50) The beginning of our gallery tour (6:30) Moaning Lisa (9:45) Da Vinci himself (11:11) M.C. Esher (21:25) Vincent van go off (25:50) Outro   FOLLOW THE 2AM PODCAST: VISIT OUR WEBSITE  FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM  SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL GRAB SOME MERCH

It's the final episode of the season & Alex, Hask and Tinds are joined by the BBC's Ukraine Correspondent, James Waterhouse. This may seem random for this podcast, but Waterhouse used to play rugby in the Championship for Rotherham and Esher… and has since jacked it all in for a career in Journalism. They reminisce about James' days on the pitch and learn about the reality of life in Ukraine & the resilience it takes to report on the front line.

What's in a sales role?Sometimes it might be easier to ask what's not in a sales role….You're dealing with a wealth of departments internally, a raft of businesses externally and that's before we've got onto other responsibilities such as social media, beer festivals, activations and everything in-between.But the value and importance of such figures can sometimes be overlooked. I think it's pretty fair to say that when it comes to choice, fans of great beer have rarely had it better.Regardless of the style you're seeking, the ABV you're after or the country of origin you're craving, there are an array of varieties, catering for all tastes.But while there's an embarrassment of riches for the consumer, there's also a host of breweries competing for those all-valuable taps and space on fridge shelves.And that's something that Katie Arabella Ward knows a thing or two about.Katie is the key accounts, internal sales and operations manager at Big Smoke Brew Co.Big Smoke is a modern brewery and pub company, producing flavourful beer in the leafy suburbs of Esher in Surrey. Before her roles within beer at reputable companies including Northern Monk, Mondo, Carlsberg & Little Creatures and renowned wholesaler James Clay, Katie gained life experience spending four years as a freelance make-up artist both in the UK and US.And her passion for growing brands, championing original ideas & helping businesses gain recognition through creative sales & marketing tactics, make her a highly regarded member of the UK brewing industry.So that's why we asked today's guest to share her experiences of the industry. Speaking at The Brewers Lectures in Brighton last month, Katie talked on the perception many have of the sales role, her advice to people working in this side of beer sector, and the importance of balancing your professional and personal life.

Velice děkujeme všem patronům na Startovači! https://www.startovac.cz/patron/rohata-kostka-podcast-o-warhammeru/ E-mail: rohatakostka@seznam.cz Facebook: www.facebook.com/Rohatakostka/ Rohatý Discord: https://discord.gg/TvMmwMbHce

Our guest this week is former centre and full back Seb Jewell.  Seb has a unique perspective of his time at the club having lived through the joy of a couple of promotions to the Premiership, a B&I Cup win and was there at the end when the club went into liquidation.  He talks about his sliding doors moment of how he signed for Harlequins after playing for Richmond Rugby Club and how challenging it was to break into 1st team rugby.  He was loaned out to Esher for a couple of seasons to get consistent game time and he really blossomed as a player and was eventually signed by London Welsh. Seb chats about the Wednesday night sessions with the young lads and how much enjoyment he had playing rugby at Old Deer Park.  Enjoy.

Welcome to another episode of 'Stories From...' where I share anecdotes, stories and interesting tidbits from my journey across the country on The Great Rugger Run.   This week there are stories from Esher RFC where I speak with John Inverdale about his wonderful broadcasting career, the state of the world game, his time involved with Esher RFC and the future of National League Rugby.   https://amateurrugbypodcast.com #rugbypodcast #amateurrugby   PODCAST KIT Everything I use to create, edit and produce this podcast can be found on my Creating a Podcast (https://www.amateurrugbypodcast.com/creating-a-podcast/) page.   SUPPORT If you would like to support the podcast in some way then there are plenty of options for you on my Support the Podcast (https://www.amateurrugbypodcast.com/support/) page.

My guest on this week's episode is the man behind MK1 MADNESS! Esher, from U.S tells us where the idea of MK1 Madness came from and how it came to be! He also talks about his current project. Enjoy the show! MK1 MADNESS INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/og_mk1madness/ ESHER INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/mk1lap84/ MK1 MOTORWORKS INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/mk1_motorworks/ MK1 MOTORWORKS YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/mk1motorworks MK1 MOTORWORKS FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/mk1motorworks DAN: https://www.instagram.com/themonsterrabbit/ ARRAN: https://www.instagram.com/arran_liston/ MK1 MECCA FACEBOOK PAGE: https://www.facebook.com/mk1mecca MK1 MECCA INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/mk1mecca MIKE POLI'S VIDEO: https://youtu.be/V6LB4rCTTmM

Have you ever opened a fantasy book, looked at the map, and wondered what the author was thinking? Jesper and Autumn pull out their favorite worst fantasy maps and a few map pet-peeves in this humorous episode of the Am Writing Fantasy podcast. Oh, plus a ghost story and more! Join our Fantasy Map Masterclass at https://ultimatefantasywritersguide.com/fantasy-map-masterclass/! All maps mentioned were chosen in good humor and jest and reflect personal opinions that aren't meant to be mean! Check out some of the maps we talk: Jesper's maps— Wheel of Time: https://casapittura.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-wheel-of-time-map.html Warbreaker: https://www.brandonsanderson.com/annotation-warbreaker-map/ Warhammer: https://www.reddit.com/r/totalwar/comments/ft00oy/made_the_full_warhammer_map_including_the_east/  Eragon: https://www.etsy.com/dk-en/listing/485637759/map-of-alagaesia-eragon-mapchristopher Kushiel-world map: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/118923246398203552/ Autumn's maps— Game of Thrones: https://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/File:WorldofIceandFire.png Shannara: https://www.fantasybookreview.co.uk/blog/2012/05/29/new-shannara-map-of-the-four-lands/ Terry Goodkind: http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/sot/images/4/45/New_world_map.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20100308012633 Anne Bishop: https://www.annebishop.com/s.tir.alainn.map.html ______________ Tune in for new episodes EVERY single Monday.   SUPPORT THE AM WRITING FANTASY PODCAST! Please tell a fellow author about the show and visit us at Apple podcast and leave a rating and review.   Join us at www.patreon.com/AmWritingFantasy. For as little as a dollar a month, you'll get awesome rewards and keep the Am Writing Fantasy podcast going.  Read the full transcript below. (Please note that it's automatically generated and while the AI is super cool, it isn't perfect. There may be misspellings or incorrect words on occasion). Narrator (2s): You're listening to The Am writing Fantasy Podcast. In today's publishing landscape, you can reach fans all over the world. Query letters are a thing of the past. You don't even need an literary agent. There is nothing standing in the way of making a living from writing. Join two best selling authors who have self published more than 20 books between them now on to the show with your hosts, Autumn Birt and Jesper Schmidt. Jesper (30s): Hello, I'm Jesper. Autumn (32s): And I'm, Autumn. Jesper (34s): This is episode 145 of the Am Writing Fantasy podcast. And we are back with one of our top 10 episodes. And this time we'll each share five fantasy maps that are the worst, and we'll see who can well, basically create the best worst list again. Autumn (53s): And this was an interesting challenge to be describing Maps well on a podcast. So the YouTube listener, I think everyone just go check the show notes. We're going to have a links to some of the Maps we're talking about, but it'll be, yeah, we'll do our best, but I think we can be descriptive enough of what drove us crazy about the map in question. Jesper (1m 16s): Yeah. And we'll, we'll try, we'll try. At least we have 144 episodes behind us. So hopefully we should be able to think about this being an audio medium. Autumn (1m 26s): I know. Compared to some podcasts we're like middle-aged or something we're getting into the here. Jesper (1m 35s): Yeah. Yeah. That, that, when you said that, that reminded me of the, some of the comments on Facebook, around the episode we did about marketing to different generations. And Jason commented on one of the, on that post about listening to that episode, made him feel really old. And I just had to tell him like me too. Autumn (1m 59s): Yeah. When you're aged generation is next to the top, you're like, Ooh, that happened. Jesper (2m 5s): Yeah. Autumn (2m 6s): That's never fun. Jesper (2m 8s): No, no, it's not. Autumn (2m 11s): So how are things over in Denmark though? Jesper (2m 15s): Well, yeah, so this last week has been one of those where it actually started out quite well, but then it just went downhill from there. Yeah. I mean the good news was that I went to that interview to become a referee instructor that I mentioned a couple of episodes back. And then the national football association actually came back and confirmed that I was selected. That was a good start to the week. That is awesome. Of course, I, I still have an exam to pass and I have like tons of homework I do need to do in preparation as well, learning like the laws of the game by heart and interesting stuff like that. Jesper (2m 58s): But it does look like this is going to happen. So I'm pretty excited about that. It's Autumn (3m 2s): Very exciting. Jesper (3m 5s): Yeah. But then it went downhill from day, as I said, you know, so first the party who was selling the house that we were negotiating for, they decided that they didn't want to sell anyway. Oh my God. So I just said that we're going to pull the house off the market. So it was just like a colossal waste of our time, but also money of course, because we actually paid a building inspector to go out and, and look at the house and go through it with us. Right. So totally waste of time and money. But I really think that this, these people selling the house, I think they were just in it for the money. You know, they tried to see if they could sell the house with a huge profit. Jesper (3m 47s): And then when it turned out that they couldn't because when we placed our bit of wee bit far less than what they wanted, and then they decided, well, apparently we can't get this much money for the house. So then we're just not going to sell it. But I, I don't know. I just feel, of course it's, it's there. Right? They, they can do that as they please, but it's really annoying. Autumn (4m 8s): Yeah. You know, that's not the way that, you know, test your house market by like, you know, taking unsuspecting people who are sincerely interested in buying a house and you're like toying with them, you know, it's that little rude. Jesper (4m 23s): Yeah. I dunno. It, it also rubbed me the wrong way to that way of doing that, but, oh, well, what are you going to do? There's nothing we can do about it, but at least now we know it's not going to be that house. So we'll keep looking and searching and figuring out what to do. But what was worse than that was that our youngest son was also tested positive for Corona. Yeah. We talked a bit about it offline already. Autumm yeah. So, but yeah, he's been in self isolation since the beginning of the week with me sort of attending to him. I'm just a room service guy now. Autumn (5m 4s): Yeah. Jesper (5m 5s): Yeah. I think that pot actually, he quite like, so he's like, I would like something to eat and then it was just like me coming with a tray with something, food for him and stuff. So that part, I think he's, he likes, but he's doing all right after the circumstances and he's already starting to feel better and he's, what's like 200 million hours of TV, so we'll see how it goes. But at least I've not got any symptoms yet, even though I'm in close proximity with him, but I just fingers crossed that it'll stay like that. Of course. Autumn (5m 39s): Yeah. So near fully vaccinated. So that's, if you get it, the reason you are vaccinated, that is that it should be, hopefully be mild. So knock on wood that you'll be, everyone will stay healthy and he'll get better. Very soon. I have to admit when I was a teenager, tens, a little young, but when I was a teenager, I think I would have adored being locked in my room with a whole bunch of books and some music kid comic books and been like, yes, just bring me food and T I'll be fine. Just leave me in here for a month. Yeah. Jesper (6m 9s): I think like a 16, 17, 18 year old, you know, they would love that kind of thing I would to have at that age. But Tim, no. Autumn (6m 19s): Yeah, yeah. I was always a drawl or so was all my Crans were with me and some markers. I probably might be fine in there for awhile. Jesper (6m 27s): Yeah. Yeah. True. But yeah, I mean, due to all of these things, I haven't really written much this last week, so I'm not too happy about that, but what can you do that? Autumn (6m 36s): Yeah. We'll get back on track. It's fine. Life happens. Jesper (6m 41s): And how about you? Autumn (6m 42s): Oh, I already hinted. I had a bit of a story. So this is one that there's a lot going on in my life right now. Like everything from a sick dog that has kept me up and I'm hoping I can stay coherent for the entire podcast because I'm unlike, it's like, you know, having a baby every hour and a half the dogs go out. So I'm so tired. This was day four in a row. Parents. I don't know how you do it. I really don't know how you're doing, but I can handle a dog for about a week. And then I'm like, oh, please just get better. But I had an interesting thing that I had to share with you in the listeners that happened as you know, it was just down at my parents' house and that was, oh, it was so much fun. It was great being a kid again and getting to be spoiled with my parents taking me out. Autumn (7m 27s): But the day I went to leave was actually my brother's birthday. And as you know, my brother passed away in 2000. So 21 years ago, he actually would have been 51. And my parents and I were sitting around there's a little island in the kitchen and I'm like, yeah, you know, today was, would have been his birthday. Right. And they're like, yeah, yeah. And my mom said, well, you know, it's funny. It's, you know, it's like, he's there because I'm his youngest son and my one cousin or the spitting image of my brother and all the way down to his voice. And just as my mom was saying that, and my dad was agreeing the two drop-down lights above our head pop like really loud and blue, but they didn't just blow. Autumn (8m 9s): They blew the entire circuit in the kitchen and this is a newish house, you know, it's less than a 10 years old. They've just built it. And so like, we're like, oh gosh, that was, that's quite the timing. When, after my brother passed away, they actually had a whole bunch of electronical issues that happened in our old, old house. So we're like, oh, that was really funny. Ha ha. It's your brother. And so my dad's like, okay, he went on, he went fix the circuit, not a big deal. As we're sitting back down, finishing up breakfast, I, you know, I've got an eight hour drive ahead of me. So I'm trying to get ready to go. Mom's like, oh, I thought it was that light, that blue. I was like, no, it's that light. So they turned back on the lights. They both worked. They didn't blow either light. They're both halogens. Autumn (8m 49s): So when they blow, they're like this pan, the butter Che to change. But yeah, it was a, they turned back on lights and they were fine. We didn't blow either a light bulb. And so we all just, we just kind of sat there a few minutes. Like that's really weird. That's never happened before kind of, you know, acknowledged, Hey, you know, happy birthday bro. And had a few minutes of silence and then we're okay. We gotta get busy today. So I thought that was just so weird. Amazing, Jesper (9m 22s): Which went all out and then you could just turn them on again, as if nothing happened or whatever Autumn (9m 26s): We had to switch the circuit breaker. But for there's no reason. I mean, it's not just that the circuit blue, the lights pop, they won't even do it on the radio. It pops, the loud goes right over my head that I jumped off the stool. It was so amazingly loud, it blew the entire circuit in the kitchen, credible. And then when they turned back, the lights on everything worked fine, no smell of smoke, nothing. The house didn't burn down since then. It was just so strange. Jesper (9m 53s): It was just a sound from beyond. Autumn (9m 56s): Yes. And even my husband's not quite into souls and spiritual beliefs at the moment. And he was like, well, we are all, you know, every S every emotion in your body is done through electrical impulses from your brain. It's like, so yeah. Your brother would screw with the electronics early, like tricks. And yeah. So it was really, it really felt like he was there with us for a moment being his normal troublesome self. Jesper (10m 27s): Ah, that's, that's, that's actually a good story. I like, I like stuff like that. I thought you were like, I really don't know what I think about, you know, the whole souls and spirits and so on, but I'm also not in the place where I could, you know, say that I don't believe in it. I can't say that either, but I'm also not sure if I do believe in it, you know, it's, it's, I think it's very difficult. Autumn (10m 51s): I think it does take time, but there's enough NEF things that have happened in my life. I do believe that there is consciousness beyond our physical bodies. And that's how I put it. Whether you want to call it a soul or what, I don't like the religious context, you know, that, but I do think there's a consciousness that is greater than the sum of our parts and that exists beyond our physical bodies. So yeah, I would be surprised that my brother would hang around for 21 years to drop by on his birthday. But as you know, he had a tragic death, so anyone would have, you know, maybe he would, and it was really interesting though, is just when we mentioned how much my cousin and his youngest son are so much like him at least look like a magnitude totally different. Jesper (11m 38s): And if you should drop by at any day that it would be that day. Right. So Autumn (11m 43s): It would either be the day he died, which it wasn't, it was on his birthday, which yeah, that would be, especially him. And my mom were like, they're two peas in a pod. Their personalities were so similar. They'd each other like five, six times a day. So yeah. I could see him stopping by, on his birthday to say hi to my mom. Jesper (12m 1s): Nice. I like that story. Good story. Thank you. Narrator (12m 6s): A week on the Internet with The Am Writing Fantasy Podcast. Jesper (12m 12s): So we got our monthly critical reading started didn't we Autumm Autumn (12m 16s): Yes, we did. It's very exciting to get, see people voting on the books and getting into the one we've chosen. Jesper (12m 25s): Yeah, because in the next few weeks, we will do the episode where we will analyze last month book pick, which was the fifth season by NKG Emerson. However, it is now time to pick the book for October. That doesn't seem, Yeah, it's crazy, but that's the way it goes, you know, time flies when you're having fun, as they say, but as a reminder, the way this works is that we've created a poll in the Am, Writing Fantasy Facebook group. And here you can vote on which of three books you want us to read and analyze next month. Of course, we would love for you to read along. Jesper (13m 8s): And if you're a patron supporter, you will even be able to provide us with your views on the book. And we might just share that on air as well. So do you want me to share the books that we have the warming up for Autumm Autumn (13m 21s): Yes. Unless you want to pay some in a chat because I did not grab them before we started recording. Again, I here today, I'm not as busy as my dog, so I did not prepare for that. I prepared for the rest of the episode though. I did do that. Jesper (13m 35s): Oh, well, that's already progressed, so, okay. I'll not hold it against you then. Okay. The books that we pick this month, they is the winner of the world Fantasy or what it is called, which mark by cl Polk or another winner of the world Fantasy award, which is the sudden appearance of hope by clear north, or finally a third winner of the world FANTASY award, yet this kind of, kind of a T theme going on here. But the final one that you can vote for is Jade city by fondly. Jesper (14m 15s): So the voting has already started in the Am, Writing Facebook group. So either go there and place your vote, or if you want to become a more integral part of the process, you then go and join on Patrion. There's a link in the show notes for that as well. Autumn (14m 34s): Sounds good. I think we should give the Patrion votes, like double points because you know, they're special, important. They're more important. And I think if you are, I vote, cause you know, I have a vote on this one that we should get like 10 points, but you know, that's my opinion. Jesper (14m 49s): Well, we are not allowed to vote. This is the, the people voting. It's not us voting, Autumn (14m 54s): But we're readers too. Jesper (14m 56s): Yeah. But they, they force us to read Autumm and then we just read what the people want us to read. That's the way Autumn (15m 2s): It works. Well, it could be a worst job, Jesper (15m 7s): But the speaking of patron, by the way, we also want to give Nancy Hurst a huge shout out. Thank you so much for becoming a patron support, Nancy. It really makes a difference. And well, without people like you, we would probably not keep the podcast going for very long. So Autumn (15m 24s): Very true. Thank you, Nancy. And welcome to Patreon. We appreciate your support. Jesper (15m 34s): So before we get into this, we should probably say that where we share maps that were actually created for books or games or movies or something like that, the intention here today isn't to hate on those maps. So everything we say in this episode is meant as like humoristic views on Maps. So there are probably those of you out there listening who might like some of the maps that we are going to mention and you know what that is perfectly fine, nothing wrong with it. So basically just take everything we say from this point, onward as entertainment, rather than critical assessment of the Maps. Jesper (16m 14s): Does that sound fair? Autumn (16m 15s): That sounds very fair. You know, this is definitely, it was a pet peeve or something we point out it's a personal opinion. Other people may totally disagree and that's fine. We're just looking at it from our own perspectives and to have a little bit of fun and poke some fun at Maps because you know, if you want to pull up one of mine to poke fun, please have at it. I'm fine with that. Jesper (16m 37s): Yeah. Yeah. For sure. I mean, as I said, this is just entertainment guy, so it's a, it's a, one of our worst, top 10 lists. So we wanted to talk about Maps. So yeah, essentially we have to find some maps that we don't quite like. So be it Autumn (16m 51s): That'd be it. I think we manage. Yeah. Jesper (16m 53s): Yeah. So we should alternate, like we normally do Autumm and, Autumn (16m 59s): But I remember, yeah, I remember last time probably because I did the post-production recording and stuff that I went first, last time. So I think it's your turn to go first. Jesper (17m 13s): Okay. Okay. Yeah. One day I'll make up my mind if I prefer to go first and last, but I still don't know. So maybe it's actually good thing just to get the decision made for me. There you go. Autumn (17m 25s): Well, I was happy to do that because as we've said, this is a partnership, so it's good if we both make decisions occasionally. Jesper (17m 33s): Yeah. I think this is the fourth time you pointed that out today. So I don't know what's going on. Something is going on. Autumn (17m 42s): I'm picking idea today. It's fun. Jesper (17m 45s): Yeah. Yeah. You think it's fun? I do. I like when I pick on you Autumm but the other way around, it's not so fun, Autumn (17m 53s): But these lists are all about, you know, giving, giving back as good as you get. So here we go. Jesper (18m 1s): Okay. We'll I can start with my number five, but I must also say that it felt a bit different making this top 10 list compared to some of the other ones that we've made in the past, because it's, it's a bit more like, for example, the last one we, we made with like the worst superpowers, you know, some of it was really wacky and stupid and fun. Yeah. Whereas this is a, this is slightly more serious in the way that it's, it's a bit like, that's true. A little opinion, like you said before, it's not like fun like that in that con in that sense that it's just silly and stupid. Right. So, yeah, but let, let me get going here. Jesper (18m 40s): And number five is not the worst map that I've seen, which is also of course, why it's number five rather than number one. But I decided to include a map, which some people might disagree with me about, but that's okay. I can take it. Excellent. But it's the, it's the map for Wheel of Time. Okay. Autumn (19m 9s): Well that's the famous one. Jesper (19m 12s): It's very famous. Yes. But I've always found this map quite boring. No, it's just like, it's one huge large chunk of land. And then there was one of my pet peeves and as well, you have the 90 degree angled mountain range. Again, I freaking hate those. What I do. Why do they keep popping up on maps all over the place? I don't understand. Mountains will never, ever form like that. So when I see it, I instantly, I mean, seeing, like pulling my head hair out, like why do you do that? Please stop. Autumn (19m 50s): Yeah. It's sort of magic. That would not, I can't imagine how that would happen in nature. So I do agree with you in fact that I might be mentioning something about Maps that do that later. Not quite on the Jesper (20m 2s): Oh, okay. Okay. Yeah, because I mean, I could also have used the map for the Lord of the rings, but we have sort of pre-agreed ahead of time that we were not going to put that on the list because if we did, we would probably both have it on the list. Not because Lord of the rings is a Batman in general. I actually quite like it, but it's just the mountains around more, or that it's the same issue again here. And I don't like, I mean, Tolkien did have a reason for it. We won't get into all of that now. Why, why, what Tolkien had a reason for it and so on, but it's just like, come on. I mean, I don't know if it's because Tolkien did it and then everybody started copying or something. I don't know, but it's, it drives me insane. Jesper (20m 44s): And then there was also one this, a Wheel of Time map, like in the bottom left corner of the map, there was some cold something called the wind bites, his finger. And it's sort of like, it almost looks like a small islands that forms a finger or something, but it just looks really weird. So we'll put a link to it in the show notes. So have a look yourself, but I don't know. I just don't, I don't like it. It's not my favorite map. It's not the worst I've ever seen, but it's certainly not my favorite. Autumn (21m 16s): Yeah. I, And I, I picturing it. It's been a while since I've seen that one, but I do. I do know you mean it's never stood out to me as a great X for such, for a book that has become sort of like a hallmark of a fantasy series. It's kind of a map. I will agree with you. They really studied. I never read the, I haven't read the books. I will admit it. I've never read the Wheel of Time. It's too long for me to even contemplate until I like, until I'm locked into a room because I have COVID and someone's serving me to you and then, or I'm locked onto a desert island, then I'll read the wheel of time until then. I'm a little busy. Autumn (21m 56s): There's a lot of books. Jesper (21m 58s): Yeah. I, I got to, I got to book six. I think it was in the night gave up. Indeed. It's just, I mean, I understand the people who like it, but just for my taste, it is way too slow paced. It's just like, nothing happens. And Sunday on book, after book, after book where it's just like, yeah, I think I've mentioned it on the podcast before, but I specifically remember some, some places where you spend an entire chapter where nothing other happens that they need to exit attempt and it takes them all chapter to exit the tent and it's like, come on, move people. It drives me crazy. Autumn (22m 34s): Okay. I'd have to be really, it'd be at the bottom of my book pile and I was desperate for me to get through all of them. Then that's really tough. Yeah. Jesper (22m 43s): I gave up. But yeah, maybe a you're hinting at somebody who needs to serve your tea all the time. And I don't know what you were hinting at there, but maybe you read it one day when that happens. Autumn (22m 55s): I will hope so. Considering my husband is still currently I'm away in may and I'm, he's not kidding this hint. So let's just be in the dog. Are you ready for my number five? Okay. Jesper (23m 9s): Yeah, let's Autumn (23m 10s): Go. This one, there is an example later in my list, so I'm not going to share it now, but this is more of a generic, one of my pet peeves. And it's pretty easy to explain, but names of places that are in a font that is nearly illegible, even when it's at full scale, you know, those big, fancy Fantasy fonts. And then you take that and you shrink it to fit it into like a Kindle. Why, why, why, why do you even bother naming places when you cannot read it? Unless it is full poster size and then you maybe have a magnifying glass. It's just, I don't know. That gets my, just gets me every time. Autumn (23m 50s): I'm just like, why don't you do that? The terrain is already so difficult and you have trees and you have this, and then you have this loopy Fullan that you're like, I don't even know what that says. And it's an Elvish. Y Jesper (24m 5s): Yeah. I know why I know what you mean. I, I like to enjoy Maps, you know, I, I, I'm such a FANTASY map and she asked that I love looking at the maps and I can actually spend quite a lot of time just sitting there looking at all the details. And then if there's something I can't read or I can't see what it is, it's quite annoying to be honest. Autumn (24m 23s): Yeah. And especially, I think a lot of authors, you know, if they get a nice, sweet, done Fantasy map, or if they do it themselves and they use these fonts, they forget that when it's on your Kindle it's or even when a paperback book, I mean, we're talking about a very small image, three inches by four inches. Maybe it's tiny. It should be very clean. And yeah, I've seen some maps that you just kind of look at and you're like, wow, I don't even know what this is trying to tell me. Why did you put it in there? And I think that's just such a frustration and that's sort of why it's a pet peeve. It's just like this, isn't it. You don't want to open it up and be like, oh, I love maps. Maps are awesome. I cannot read this one. Jesper (25m 5s): I did indeed. Exactly. I'm with you there. Autumn (25m 10s): Okay. Well, oh, we're agreeing. So I'm winning. Awesome. Jesper (25m 15s): Oh, well, I don't know. Well, you agreed to the Wheel of Time as well. So we even at least now Autumn (25m 21s): Good memory. I was trying to trick you there. Jesper (25m 27s): Okay. Well, my number four, I might even get even more people on my back for this one on one another. Autumn (25m 33s): It was exciting. Everyone pick on Yesper with me. No. Jesper (25m 36s): Yeah. I already mentioned Wheel of Time with some people probably love, so that's a problem, but now I'm going to go all in and get even more people upset with me because now I'm going to mention one of Brandon Sanderson's maps. Oh, you're Autumn (25m 50s): Just asking to get yelled at. Jesper (25m 54s): I'm asking for trouble. Autumn (25m 57s): Oh geez. So what is wrong with one of Brandon Sanderson's Maps? Jesper (26m 2s): Well, this is a, this is the one for war breaker and it's basically it's in the city. So it's a, it's a map of a city. And, And in my personal opinion, as I said before, I love looking at maps, so they should be visually appealing and they should look good in my view. And it should be something that readers want to spend time enjoying. And this one is not, I mean, it's black and white. There's not necessarily anything bad about black and white maps. That that might be okay. In my opinion, again, I do like colors because I think it adds a lot more to the map, windows colors on it, but it's just like the way that the city has been drawn. Jesper (26m 44s): It is it's hand drawn, but it's extremely busy. It's just like houses all over the map, everywhere there's houses. And I get that this probably reassembling what a medieval city would look like, but it's just way too busy. And I mean, have a look at it. I'll, I'll play, there'll be a link to that one in the show notes as well. But I have a look because I just, yeah, I, I think, you know what I mean when you see it. Yeah. Autumn (27m 17s): I have seen this one. I think it's, it's drawn 3d, but not from the top. More like, kind of a sign. And so you don't really see the streets. I mean, it doesn't make, Jesper (27m 29s): I was just everywhere. Autumn (27m 30s): It doesn't help you. It doesn't work well as a map, it works better as like I drew a picture of a city. It's not really a map. Jesper (27m 40s): No, I know. Well, you're going to have a map of a city, but then at least try to reduce the amount of houses in there and make it a bit like something that is, you have some other things than houses to look at something that sort of makes you want to investigate all the parts of the map and look, oh, look over there. There's a small fountain. Or, you know, just make it a bit more appealing and interesting instead of just 200 million houses stacked on top of each other. Yeah. I don't, I don't like it now, but yeah. So now, now I both assaulted. We love time and wall breakers go from here. Autumn (28m 18s): And you're only at number four. I can't imagine what we're going to go from here. You know, if you touch dragon lands, people are going to like Flay you and bonfire you or something today. Jesper (28m 29s): I can promise I'm not going to go there. Okay, Autumn (28m 31s): Good. I just want to keep him safe. Right? Well, my number four is sort of what you've already hinted at. You had mentioned perpendicular mountains, but for me, I put number four as impossible terrain, as in not magical, but terrain like floating islands, that's fine. It's magical. But I mean, illogical cannot happen like rivers flowing through or mountains, which I have seen or around legs, which would not happen mountains. Like you mentioned, that are perpendicular or just randomly place. Like someone dropped a bag of mountains right. Onto their map. And it's scattered all over our, this is a fun one, which I don't know how many people have noticed continents that are perpendicular to each other. Autumn (29m 13s): And my example for this is game of Thrones. Have you ever noticed that was stereos? And now I can't even remember where the three McKee are. They're like completely right angles to each other. Jesper (29m 24s): They are. Yeah. The other thing is with the game of Thrones Maps, the other thing is that it doesn't even look very good. It looked just looks weird. It does look weird. Autumn (29m 33s): I Jesper (29m 34s): Mean, if you cut out all the, basically, if you think about the game of Thrones intro thing, you know, when the camera goes around the map and all that. Yeah. That looks cool. That looks extremely cool. So as long as you're focusing on the upside down map of England, which is basically a game of Thrones, if you will, if you focus only on Westeros there, then that looks good. Actually in my mind, I think that looks perfectly fine. But then when you take all the, I also don't remember the name of it, but all the lands with the Dothraki and all that up there, when you put that onto the map as well, it just looks weird. Autumn (30m 11s): It does. It does not. It's too. It's like someone put England made it the same size as all of Europe and just put it at the end outside of Portugal. And it's just like, that wouldn't happen. How would that happen? I don't get it. But, and even that, I actually have another example. So I didn't think about this cities. They don't bother me so much when they kind of seem to be somewhere where maybe a city wouldn't exist, because that gets to be curious. I always think, well, the author had a reason for putting a city there. So maybe, maybe not. I always give them the benefit of the doubt. So I think maybe there's a story I'm willing to at least hold my criticism of cities just appearing in the middle of nowhere. Autumn (30m 55s): Maybe it's an ancient ruin. And I just don't know that by looking at the map, but have you ever seen Terry Brooks' Shannara map where there are rivers that literally go nowhere? I mean, they flow and you can see them come together, these tributaries and they flow off and they'd go into other tributaries. It's like an Esher sketch of a Map. IBD stylistically. It's like, it makes me want to, like, I want to make an extra sketch of a, a fantasy world. It makes no sense. So I will link to that one in the show notes, but I looked at that and I think this is my example, too, for like a font that you're like, why did you use that font? But then you start looking at the rivers and they're like, going up, mountains are going, they're just lakes. Autumn (31m 40s): They flow into lakes and the number out of them, which can happen, but not like six times on the same map. It's just, just, it's one of those ones that is a hydrologist. You know, I studied environmental science and I'm looking at this going, no rivers don't go together and then flow apart and just branch off and disappear into the wild. It just doesn't make sense. Jesper (32m 7s): No Am yeah. Well what you're saying, not with rivers, but this stuff that doesn't make sense us. So actually my number three pig as well. Autumn (32m 17s): Oh, go figure we, again, we met, if, if the listeners do not know this, we kind of met because of Fantasy maps. So I would have kind of not be surprised that we have some of the same things on our list of pet peeves. Jesper (32m 31s): Yeah. It's also a pet peeve, but I have a concrete one here though for my number three, but basically again with things that doesn't make any sense. Right. But here we're back to mountain ranges again. So my third pick and w I dunno, tell me why do we keep seeing this problem with mountain constantly? I don't get it, but this third one on my list is the world of Warhammer. Autumn (32m 56s): I Jesper (32m 56s): Don't think I've seen this. So this is a, like a miniature war gaming setting in the middle of the ocean. In this map, you have a very large circular island and yes, you guessed it. There's mountains formed in a freaking circle. Autumn (33m 14s): Volcanic. It could be a massive caldera. Jesper (33m 18s): Yeah. This is where the Elsa lives in the setting. And it's been a long, long while since I read the law for the setting. But if I remember there is a reason for it, but honestly, I can't quite remember. And also I don't really care because it really rubs me the wrong way to see mountain shaped in a circle. It's just like, what the heck is this? Autumn (33m 41s): Yeah. Short, if I had massive caldera, like, you know, center Rini, volcanic kind of area. Yeah. Otherwise it doesn't make much sense. Ambassador asteroid impact that kind of thrust up the land on both sides, but in general, no mountains don't form right angles. And they don't form circles. You have a very weird planet if they do. Jesper (34m 3s): Yeah. And what even makes this map even worse than whites. Number three, I suppose, to number five, it's also had weird mountains is that it's like, take a look at the Warhammer Map. We'll link to it and shown it as well, but take a look at it and then tell me that it doesn't look exactly like a copy of, you know, you have north and south America, there's Russian as Africa. You even have Asia and Australia. The difference is that in the middle of the ocean, there is this circular Elvin kingdom with circular mountains. But otherwise everything else is exactly like earth. I mean, Autumn (34m 39s): Took the Atlanta. Smith's stuck it in the middle of the Atlantic called it where the Elvis came from and called it a new world. Jesper (34m 47s): But he couldn't come up with something just a bit more original than that. I just have a look at it. It's insane how much it's just a copy of earth. Autumn (34m 57s): That is funny. And that's actually a nice segue into my number three, which is different for this one. I know we Jesper (35m 4s): Had coordinated this. Sometimes Autumn (35m 6s): It all works out. No, it's always surprising when we're on the same stream of things, but yeah, it happens occasionally. So this one, Jesper (35m 18s): Occasionally I like the passive aggressive, common. It happens. Okay. Finally, Autumn (35m 27s): I'm being sarcastic. I think what happens every time we talk, we're like, oh yeah, I was already thinking of that easiest part. However, I will tell people that I let them think that we're constantly combating. Like we are on our top 10 lists. So my number three is, have you ever, it's a Terry Good kind Map and not to pick on him because it's a good, he's a good author. But this example is just a good, good example of one that I find so frustrating. And it's sort of what you just said. It's so generic that it can be anywhere or any continent, which makes me wonder, you know, how good is the story? Autumn (36m 7s): How original is any of this? When you look at it and you go like, oh, that's earth or, oh, that's a continent with an ocean. And it's like the Westmoreland's the north valley. Oh my gosh. Please make it interesting. Make it original. Don't just make it. It looks like you took a piece of the Gulf of Mexico and a little bit of Texas and gave it a different name and put it on a river and called it somewhere. You Know, it's horrible. Jesper (36m 40s): All right. I don't think I've seen that one too. Autumn (36m 45s): It's just it's so it's not in color. It's just, I'm like a antique paper in black. So black and white basically. And it's just line drawings and it literally just looks like anywhere. I, this is one of those ones where I think you've seen the world, the map, they call it a cliche Ville or cliche land. That's actually one of my favorite Maps because it is so well done. And it is funny, hilarious. Yes. The dragon tail islands, you know, it's, again, the setting that every Fantasy map has these exact same settings. And it's hilarious to look at, well, this one is sort of the same way, but not done to the gorgeous color quality of that one. And it's just black and white and you look at it and you're like, it could be Mexico. Autumn (37m 29s): It could be a bay in Alaska. You know, there's so many places that you're like, it's like, you know, James bay upside down it's yeah. It could be anywhere. And it doesn't inspire any excitement. And you look at it, you're like, I don't know where I am. Why did you make a map of like my backyard? I don't care. Jesper (37m 50s): No one of course the major difference is also that the, whether it's supposed to be a serious map versus one like cliche, it's just the cliche map world. That's meant to be just fun and goofy. Right. And there's a big difference in that. It is. Autumn (38m 6s): Yeah. And yeah, the cliche one is definitely it's done so well that I would actually buy it as a post or it is just, it is beautiful. And it is funny. It is so funny. So I should find that and I'll try to link to that in the show notes as well. Jesper (38m 20s): Okay. Good. All right. Well, moving on to my number two, so it's starting to get more and more nasty now, but my, yeah, my number one is even worse, but this one is, it's not far off what you were just talking about in the sense that following the same, like, well, yeah, well this is like somebody sat down and then they sort of brainstormed like, oh no, I can't do what I normally find on a Fantasy map. And then they made a list, like a checklist of that. And then they started just checking them off one by one. I put this on the map, put that onto Map, everything that, you know, just one of each. Jesper (39m 0s): So this is, this one is the fictional world of Aragon. And this is the map that they used for the inheritance cycle novels. And basically it's like, you find a volcano check, you find a grant lake check, then the awesome islands off the coast, check again, a single forest. Good. And then next to that, there was next to the forest is a single desert Check. So I might be, I don't know, it might be a bit harsher, but I really don't like the map. And also because they've placed the desert right. Smack in the middle of the entire map and it just looks really weird, but I don't know, sorry if somebody likes this map, but I'm just not a fan of, it just feels like a checklist map and then just smashed together. Jesper (39m 51s): There you go. Here's a Fantasy map and yeah. I'm not a fan. Autumn (39m 56s): No, no. That sounds like my impossible terrain. Why is there a desert next to a forest? I mean there's Jesper (40m 3s): Yeah, those, this doesn't D this one is such, well, there's a huge forest and then a desert right next to it. Autumn (40m 8s): That's just strange. I mean it, yeah. Where you would find that in nature without grasslands or a mountain, a rain shadow or a high plateau to cause lack of rain. I don't know. That would drive me crazy. I'd be looking at it, going through any classes. So I'd do all of the, I think it would drive me insane. Yeah. That doesn't sound good. One. I'll have to check that one out. I don't think I've actually seen the map. So that one will be interesting to take a peek at. Jesper (40m 38s): Yeah, yeah. Have a look at the link in the show notes. Autumn (40m 42s): Well, my number two is one that I, there are some examples out there, but I couldn't find a good one that I wanted to link to. So I'm just going to describe it. And that is Maps with place names that are named descriptively based on like, if you were holding the map and looking down at it and the people on the ground would never be able to see that pattern or the places where it is a fast continent with areas separated by large obstacles. You have the names all sound the same. So there's kind of two different maps there. So it's like, you know, this massive continent, the size of Asia and something at the far east and the far west sounds like they're from the exact same culture that always kind of like, you know, they should be different. Autumn (41m 24s): I want to see, I want to see some representation of different cultures and different types of people in climate, on your map. Because that makes me curious to know what's where I love traveling. That's why I look at these maps. I want to know what's going on, but yeah. But then you have those other maps and one of the examples, and I couldn't find an actual link to, it was a map that, you know, kind of looked like a body. And so there was like, the Heartland was literally where the heart was and the Headlands on the Jesper (41m 51s): Right. Yeah. Autumn (41m 52s): No, no, I don't care if it looks like that, unless they have hot air balloons or were named by a God or goddess, they don't know. It looks like that. That's just silly. So it was sort of like your one, your number of five, you mentioned something about the finger islands or something. It's just, no. So sometimes if there's a mountain and you can stand there and look off and say, oh, they're like fingers and you name it that way fine. But in general you don't go, oh my goodness, this looks like a Lotus flower. I'm going to name this Lotus island. Well, you don't do that. Jesper (42m 30s): No, no, it doesn't. It definitely requires that you get fire away from, from the, If I above the land and new, you can see it from distance. Otherwise you would never recognize patents like that. No, Autumn (42m 42s): Just drives me when I look at it. And I'm like cute though. It's like the Nazca lines, you know, we're going to, we have been debating how the Nazca lines were made and who they were made for, for centuries now. And it's just like, you know, don't do that to your readers. We don't want to, you don't want them to be confused over the map and why you named it? The elbow when no one knows it looks like an elbow. Jesper (43m 6s): Fair enough. Yeah. All right. Okay. Ready for the worst of my list here. Autumn (43m 11s): Yeah. This is going to be exciting. I want to hear what is the worst map you have found out? Jesper (43m 16s): Oh my God. So the number one on my list made it here because it's just too lazy for my taste and I'll start explaining why, and then it's going to sound pretty much like something I already said, but then there was a kicker at the end. Okay. So I mentioned before how Y hammer, the Warhammer map is just a copy of earth. Well, this one is basically the same, but it's just for Europe. So this is the, I think you pronounce it, crucial world map or something like that. We'll, we'll link to it in the show notes as well, but there are three trilogies written in this setting. Jesper (43m 58s): And while I do understand that they are supposed to be a fictional version of medieval, medieval, Western Europe. So I do understand that, but honestly, it just doesn't cut it for me. When you practically just take a map of Europe, slap some new country names on it and call it a day. That's not a fictional Map. No, I mean it, and this is where, I mean, like, that sounds very much like what I just said about Warhammer, because it's basically the same thing. But if you are naming the country on your map, that everybody can see when you know Europe, you can see to this Denmark and I'm from Denmark. Jesper (44m 41s): And instead of writing Denmark, you call it Joplin. And as a Dane, I can tell you that a part of our country, the part of our country that connects to Germany just south of us is called Joplin in real life. That's what it's called. So for a fictional setting, which I'm supposed to immerse, be me, it Mustin, don't freaking put names in there that is called in my national language. That's the name of the place that is already fucking sake. It's horrible. Autumn (45m 12s): That's that is, that'd be like me. I just wrote the tainted face series and it takes place in this world in this time. But you know, a different version where there's Faye and magic. And if I had included a world pap and why bother, so, yeah, and then two per se, it's fantasy and use real place names. But Jesper (45m 33s): I can imagine, I don't, honestly, I have to admit that I don't know what nationality, the author of the crucial series, what nationality it is, but I can imagine, and I might be a mistaking. And if I'm mistaking, then I'm apologizing in advance. But I have a feeling that it might be somebody who doesn't know the geography, maybe that well of Europe. And then they'd just think like, Jutland, that sounds like some FANTASY kind of a war. Well maybe, but it's, it's a real name of a real place. So at least do some Googling first and figure out if it's a real name before you put it on the map, Autumn (46m 10s): Or at least if you're going to, you know, if you're going to call it Fantasy, don't stay away from real-world words. If you found it. And you're like, oh, no one uses that anymore. That was the historic name. Just, just stay away from it. It's not worth it. Yeah. Jesper (46m 24s): And if you then telling me that the author actually didn't know that this is the real name and then put it on the map. Well, then I'm going to tell you, then it only makes it even worse because then, then you knew about it. And then what the heck are you then doing? Are you, it makes no sense to me. Autumn (46m 41s): Yeah. That's again, to me almost like lazy world building. If you're going to create a new world and you're going to call it a new Fantasy setting, make a new map. And if you have a hard time coming up with Fantasy images or a Fantasy landscape, like you just want to write a story and you want someone to hand you a map. There are programs and people who can do that for you. That is not a problem. Okay. I just found out how to randomly make a FANTASY map in like 15 minutes, I was like, oh, this is too much fun. It has, it just creates random things. I mean, it's, it's 3d and it looks pretty and you can start creating a story based on just something, something on someone hands you it's better. The world-building and mapping being is not your forte. Autumn (47m 21s): Get someone to do it for you and give you a hand. All right. Yes, please. You ready for my number one? This is a good, a good lead in to what my number one is because it kind of shows that I am a graphic designer. I have to admit. Okay. So my number one is Maps that looked like you sketched it while you were potentially drunk or you had a migraine and you just wanted to call it done. It's good enough. And just hate that. So there are software out there. There are cartography programs. There are graphic designers. There are people who can make you even a simple map that is quite lovely. Autumn (48m 3s): It can be black and white. It can be color, but don't just do these like little lines sketches. And I actually have an example for you. Have you ever seen an Bishop? She writes dark Fantasy and she has some of the worst Maps I've ever seen. I mean, Jesper (48m 22s): If there's any inhibition there that just got to come and murder, you Autumn (48m 26s): Let me know. Or they might agree. I mean, they're just, they're line drawings. They're just black and white, but there's just, there's no passion to them. There's no interest to them. They're so simple. There's simplistic. There's so they're painful. They're really painful. It's just, you look at it. And you're like, what is the point? Yeah, I will, you will. I will link to it in the show notes, but you look at it and you're like, what was the point of including this? It's just, you know, some trees and land it's, it's so boring that I would look at it. And I would probably not even pick up the book. I'd open up to the map and go, if this is all the time and effort you put into making a map and it is literally, it looks like you sketched it. Autumn (49m 6s): It was some thick lines over it and you call it good and published it. I just, if that's, what's your editing gonna look like, I just, I am making an immediate judgment call, which isn't probably right. But that is what we do. We judge books by their cover. We're going to judge it by their formatting. And we're definitely going to judge it by what that map looks like. And it's going to greet us pretty early in the novel before we even start reading. And if I see a horrible Map, I'll be like, oh, well, there's your book, what quality you're going to have in there. So, yeah. And Bishop one was just one that I was like, oh, this is so painful. I can't believe this. Isn't like a published novel. Autumn (49m 48s): This is really bad. Jesper (49m 51s): Oh my God. I'm, I'm curious to see how much hate we are going to get on the back of this episode, you know, because essentially it's going to be like, here are the world's worst Maps. And then in the show notes, there's just going to be a list of names of settings and all kinds of things that all the bots on the internet can pick up. And then, oh my God, I could just see how much hate we are going to get on the back of all this. But as I said in the beginning, it's Mendez entertainment. So take it for what it is. Autumn (50m 15s): That's a personal opinion, but, and if you need a better map maker, come talk to me. Cause lady I, your books, people say you write gorgeous, wonderful books, but you're a Maps, blah. They're just horrible. Jesper (50m 32s): So I don't really know how do we declare a winner of these two top five list here? Autumm because it's, I think it's a bit difficult. Autumn (50m 43s): I think I'm short of you just admitting I won, which is fine. I think that we, I think we might have to leave this one to the listeners if they don't, you know, come at us with pitchforks and torches for having pointed out Maps that they absolutely adore. So we'll have to see how that goes. Jesper (51m 6s): Well, at least as far as a controversy goes, and I guess we stepped off foot in the hornet's nest of whatever you say in English, but that's about right. But okay. Maybe we'll, we'll leave it for listeners to declare winner here because honestly I can't quite make up my mind because yeah. And not that I have seen all of the maps that you mentioned, but at least the point you made. Yeah. I agree with, and I also felt you agreed with the points that I was making. So I don't know. Autumn (51m 31s): Yeah. I think we can say the winner is the readers who do not have to see these horrible Maps when they pick up a book. So, Jesper (51m 42s): All right. Well, we talked a lot about Maps today and of course our lists here were intended as pure entertainment, as I said, but if you are interested in more like let's call it proper advice on Fantasy map-making and it's not just a lot of goofy, funny stuff that we are sitting here and blowing out then, or perhaps you just love fantasy match and you like to geek out about it then Autumm and I will actually be hosting an online virtual Masterclass about Fantasy mapmaking in a few weeks from now. So if you want interested in that and go check out the details, why the link in the show notes, that'll take you to the registration page. Jesper (52m 22s): And I can tell you, we are looking so much forward to host this map-making Masterclass for the very first time. In fact, yes, Autumn (52m 30s): It will be so exciting and we get to geek out about Maps, which again, it's what brought us together. So yay. It'll be awesome. Jesper (52m 38s): So next Monday, we are going to discuss learning through all the master classes and masterminds. How can such forums be helpful for your author career? Narrator (52m 50s): If you like, what you just heard, there's a few things you can do to SUPPORT THE AM WRITING FANTASY PODCAST. Please tell a fellow author about the show and visit us at Apple podcast and leave a rating and review. You can also join Autumn and Jesper on patreon.com/AmWritingFantasy. For as little as a dollar a month, you'll get awesome rewards and keep the Am Writing Fantasy podcast, going. Stay safe out there and see you next Monday.

In this episode, Britt takes a trip to India (not really) to find the link between Rage Against the Machine's Killing in the Name and The Beatles' Dear Prudence. A huge thank-you to Brett Marley for voicing the angry tweet, and to Rhys Auteri for his expert explanation of drop D tuning. Keep in touch with The Chain on social media - @TheChainPod on Twitter and @TheChainPod on Instagram. You can also find Britt on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Stuff from the episode: Tom Morello and Twitter respond to people only just realising Rage Against The Machine are political via NME A guitar lesson with Tom Morello via LNWY Donovan interviewed by Rolling Stone Magazine David Lynch talks to Paul McCartney for the Transcendental Meditation YouTube Channel Prudence Farrow on Witnify More interesting things: For the resources regarding Rodney King and #BlackLivesMatter, visit this episode's post on TheChainPod.com. More on Drop D Tuning via Bax Music “No one was to know that sooner or later she was to go completely berserk under the care of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. All the people around her were very worried about the girl because she was going insane. So we sang to her.” - John Lennon on the end of the Esher demo of Dear Prudence Analysis of the theory and production of Dear Prudence, via Ethan Hein on YouTube Stems: Deconstructing Dear Prudence on YouTube Two great Rolling Stone articles about The Beatles' time in America: The Beatles in India: 16 Things You Didn't Know and How the Beatles in India Changed America The Beatles in India via Wikipedia

Episode 4 brings me to talk with the uberly talented illustrator and muralist, David Eichenberger. David is another talent hailing from my hometown of Raleigh, NC, and merges classical children's book stylings with surrealism leanings of M.C. Esher. Listen in as he talks about how he developed his career, studied under master Fresco Painter Ben Long and stayed in Toulouse Lautrec's batchelor pad. Yes, you read that correct. Dig in! ******  Y'all! Join me for the release for my show, The Pencil Pushers Podcast - celebrating the hand-drawn arts. I'll be interviewing friends and idols in illustration, animation, comic-art, and more. - Mike Rosado https://www.instagram.com/ekimodasor/ Produced and edited by Max Trujillo Productions https://www.instagram.com/mxtrjll/  

Shayna's dating life is like an M.C. Esher image. Everything kind of blends together and you can't tell what's beginning or ending. But we peer through the magnifying glass to try to see the bigger picture. We also talk about abortion and masturbating with shower heads.