Thursday 31 December 2009

2010: The Year We Lose Contact
(with Adam & Joe)

A blog entry on the final day of the year carries some kind of stupid, extra bulk wherein appraisals and roundups are expected. This is all over and above the weight of my own heavy heart as I lament the passing of the last live utterance in who knows how long.

I'll post this in the middle of the evening, when all the young people are getting shit-faced and all the interesting people are having heated discussions over the canapes. I'm not going to upset myself by looking back over the last year with Viscount Buckules and Commander Cornballs. Maybe in two or three weeks, it won't hurt so much to remember all the fun we've had but right now, the memories are just too raw ....... and I'm probably just be a bit too lazy.

Furthermore, this amuse-bouche was posted on the lovely Adam and Joe BBC 6Music Blog, so there it is, job done. Now move on.



BBC 6Music did us proud throughout the festive season. We had a Best-of show on Christmas Eve and if you can find a copy of the full show somewhere(as opposed to the podcast version) it has some exclusive intros, jingles and stings, a couple of which didn't pop up in any other shows or podcasts unless I'm mistaken. ETA: It was repeated at 1am on New Year's Day so the window of iPlayer opportunity has expanded for your enjoyment.

They also brought us the 12 Podcasts of Christmas. These had a bit of jumbled logic for my silly, ordered mind. The annotations on iPlayer were all over the place as they randomly called more than one of them 'best of' or 'the second in the series'. Furthermore, they were all billed as being from old shows but podcasts #1 & #7 were from the last two Saturday shows, #5 was from the aforementioned Best-of, though the remainder were starting right back with the first ever podcasts (in MONO, never you mind). These retro podcasts were also broadcast as one hour shows, consecutively at midnight since 22nd December, making the podcasts available the minute the aired shows finished. The elves didn't make a downloadable podcast of the show that was aired on 26th December. Some (but not all) of the aired shows were cobbled together with music and jingles in a manner that I would perhaps describe as careless, in the unlikely event that I was being ungenerous. Since these shows were made from the podcasts that were made from original shows, it was bound to get messy at some point. They even included one with Garth. Regardless of the fact that I've probably listened to these podcasts a few times before, it was good to hear them on air. It also serves to remind us how lucky we've been with the length of the podcasts we've had this year. The Boxing Day one ran at nearly 80 minutes whereas they were loping in at just over 30 minutes in the old days.

Earlier in the month we discovered that Adam had done a little viral thingumy for a competition to California.

and within a few days of announcing this competition, we learned that Joe had won it!
YES, the bombshell we have all been dreading whereupon Joe slips off to Hollywood (in California, you see) was deployed with very little warning or ceremony.

That's not true, readers. Of course, Joe's film has been looming closer and closer over the months but he'll not be shooting in Hollywood....yet. We knew he'd have to take a break from the show but I suppose some of us (that'll be me) had hoped he might just make it into the tenties for a couple of weeks. I think I posted a link a while ago to the effect that shooting begins in February for ten weeks so that takes us into April and he may have some long hours in the cutting room soon after that which is why we don't have a solid return date.

The Guardian was having a slow week before Christmas so they decided to do a bit of scare-mongering by making the suggestion that The Adam and Joe Show might be gone forever but they don't seem to have any more exclusive information about this than the rest of us. I'd prefer to link the British Comedy Guide's summation.

The tone of the goodbyes in the last couple of shows were ambiguous and a tad confusing to my tiny brain. It made me wonder if, with the best of intentions to return, they thought they might not be able to, either because of their other own commitments or indeed due to the demise of the digital channels at the BBC. They thanked Jude (who was their producer when they first joined the station) which sounded rather final and yet Joe seemed at pains to say they would return. I've already waffled too much on Twitter about this and it doesn't stand too much dwelling upon. Surely, there's a way to get through life without a couple of idiothholes invading your Saturday morning radiowaves?

The final live show featured Boggins turning up in a panto where he was despatched to a fictitious life with Toddy Pipkins or some orphaned child. I had been inspired by the original suggestion that the Adam and Joe Show had been branded Boggins, to use that in my Twitter nick but that was often confused with the now higher profiled Boggins the Dog about whom I have always been rather ambivalent. So the time has come to move on from that short-lived notion and I've grabbed a random name from the Boxing Day show to replace it.

Adam has been busy with the You Tube. He finally uploaded one of his brilliant mouth-swapping videos with Christmas messages from Lily Allen and all sorts. However, Party Poopers Incorporated took some kind of idiotic exception to him using their footage without permission, so he took it down and it seems we'll never see the likes of that again. I'm still kicking myself for not saving it at some point during the 36 hours it was up there. It was like the film he made for the Music Video Awards, if anyone saw that there or at BUG.
Quick as a flash, he rushed us with another stunner here which I have also seen before somewhere, I think.

I don't need to remind anyone of the joy he brought to us with his Christmas Day film (see previous post). I realise he may have pre-posted the waffle on his blog but the timing of the YouTube upload is harder to control. He was thinking of his hungry subscribers even on the anniversary of Christ's rush into the world of hay and cow pops. What a guy.

While writing this, I've been shuffling some of my favourite clips which I have a habit of nibbling out of shows and podcasts. The show on 13th June and ensuing podcast are far and away the most gigglicious of the year but several others are fighting for second place in my non-existent chart of love.

I grabbed some of the webcam stuff at Glastonbury, and if I thought it wouldn't make the boys cringe with embarrassment, I'd post some here as a special end of year plopper but I'll have to restrain myself. Fond memories of Joe zoning out to Dizzie and making inappropriate gestures with the pretty coloured mike covers still play in my mind (and on my iPod).

I've collected a few random links over the last few days. Eddie Argos was moved to make an entry about Joe's film on GeekWeek yesterday. The people at Hi8us tweeted a bit about Attack The Block casting.

The IMDB still has it showing as 'In Development' but the bigger mystery is why Big Talk are only showing the trade mag cuttings but don't list it as being 'in production' whereas the lovely Tom Hollander vehicle which is barely out of R&D (well, I might be exaggerating for dramatic effect, there) has it's own little pull-down nubbin. I am not trying to cast any doubt on the production with this comment. Quite the opposite, in fact. I think this whole project might just be so immense, so awesome, so utterly stunning, innovative and gibberingly hilarious that they have decided to protect the public and annoying worry-worts like myself from getting any spoilery outfall about it. They can't keep that up for long but I guess that means that my dreams of a Paul type blog are probably going to be dashed.

Don't forget to bumble around this awful place so you can vote for Adam and Joe in the Laftas.

If you missed your chance to snag a copy of Ultra Culture's review of 2009 your shins will be forever raw from perpetual kicking. I'd love to pop a scan of Joe's contribution here but I'm already having day-mares at the thought of the derision I'd probably have hurled at me if I asked permission. All the mail order copies have gone now but you might yet find a dog-eared version at the counter in the BFI Film Store.

If you're some kind of millionaire or something, you could catch the worth-every-bloomin'-penny BUG events in January. Don't be put off by the 'Fully Booked' thingy. The first one is always the better one & they have loads of returned tix from the freebies who don't turn up.

Adam is also listed here on Jan 27th so he's never going to be far away, is he? It's the same day as the Lafta awards and there's no way that Joe would accept one on his girly-own so I guess that'll be a no show there. Note: I loves Joe, I do. Never any offense meant.

The Persuasionists is finally starting to show up in listings so six weeks of Adam Buxton on the telly might serve to carry us through the first bit of the drought. @monastico alerted us to this early review from the Independent, and have a poke around here if you want a bit more info. I went to one of these recordings and before I forget, do check out Simon Farnaby in The Bunny And The Bull.
Some podcast listeners will also remember that Daisy Haggard called Adam on his mobile and then hung up when he told her they were recording her. Joe also casually mentioned that he used to babysit for her. It's like their lives are made of magic, isn't it ?

He probably wouldn't thank me for mentioning it, but Headjam is back on Dave if you need a Joe fix.

I'm coming to the end of my waffle tether, you'll be pleased to learn - always supposing you've even made it this far.

I saved the best till almost last, though. When I say 'best' I never, ever mean to imply any kind of favouritism but in the absence of a short movie of Joe throwing his freakishly tall, directorly weight around the production office, Adam's gorgeous package, neatly quartered and plopped into Miranda Hart's end of year "Unwrapped" show surely must have been the best moment of the last 24 hours. Watch it while you can or wait for it to ping out from your telly screen again tomorrow at 12:40am - well technically that's the Day After Tomorrow. Adam did not feature in the red button bits but if you're a completist, you'll take a squint at them anyhow. IF he was looking, he must have been very heartened by the massively appreciative Twitter activity the instant he popped up.

I'll not make any promises but I'm chewing over the thought of dribbling some of my sound nibbles out of my Posterous feed to make people smile during the Period Of Drought. I don't want to get into trouble or upset the originators of these chunks of pleasure so I'll take a view later on........after a drink or two......by which time I will have probably decided to shut down this blog altogether.

So enjoy 2010 as much as you can. It'll only happen once. Keep the show alive by visiting the 6Music Blog and making idiotic comments and sharing artistic wonderment. Keep the station alive and warm by listening to it. Shower Adam's YouTube Channel with love and the occasional 'gay' comment. Don't shout 'Stephen' when you see Joe in a comic store because you know he'll go bright red and panic but most of all, get on with your lives and before you know it, Saturday mornings will be restored to their former glory and the cogs of the podmax maker will be whirring into action again and warming our cockills.

Friday 25 December 2009

Merry Christmas, Blogwatchers!

It would be close to insanity for me to whittle away at a finely tuned blogpost on this most intensely celebratory of days however, the following nugget will be rather more redundant tomorrow so don't miss today's gift from Cilla, Santa and Count Buckules. ETA: I see the lovely man has put it on his blog just now. The sweetest bloke on the net.


Adam had put a great deal of work into making another Christmas message that he then removed at the behest of the party-poopers in the 4Music playpen. It's a crying shame as it was a even more genius (and much longer) than this piece.

My home has minimal festive decoration but I took care of all the important areas, one of which is suitable for the internet.



I'll throw some more nonsense together over the next few days as I have somehow managed to find other exciting things to fill my time and neglected this silly corner, shamefully.

Finally, just a gentle reminder that there are lots of old podcasts here.

Saturday 5 December 2009

Buckles' About

It's a sure sign that I've had something properly worthwhile to do with my time when I miss a public appearance notification.

Adam Buxton did a tea-time platform with Spike Jonze at the Apple Store in Regent Street today. With the marches and the crowds in town this weekend, t wouldn't surprise me if it had taken him 3 hours from the end of podcast recording until tea-time to walk the few yards down Regent Street from the 6Music Studio to the Apple Store.

I'd already booked to see Where the Wild Things Are at the BFI, with the promise of a post screening Q & A, which prevented me from going to the Apple Store but I'm pleased to report that lovely Adam snuck across the river with Mr Jonze and slipped into an empty seat to watch the BFI bit.

I hope he's still having a lovely evening, going to special places where the dirty public aren't allowed. I'm pretty sure he scuttled into the BFI's Green Room straight after the show while Spike spent a commendable amount of time talking to interested filmgoers.

You can catch some tweets and there are quite a few snaps of Adam and Spike out there so I'm linking them.........

The Admiral
Richard Holt
Framescourer
Law7355
Maximus
and hellotom posted this from the BFI, while John H Ratford had a little chat with Spike.


For my part, I was a little grumpy that the BFI journo just asked bog-standard, obvious questions that are going to be all over the junket output anyway. When you pay for a special screening, you expect a bit more thought and care. I'm sure Adam's take would have been more fun and I think he mentioned on today's show that there had been a point when he was in the frame to do this one too.

Wednesday 2 December 2009

Compliments of the Season from 6Music

I really don't like that last negative entry popping up at the top of my blog so I'm dashing in like an advance party from Reindeer Squadron with some lovely little bits to look forward to from the magical, festive trees around the Castle ramparts.

The weekend before Christmas will begin with the regular show (if you call the last live broadcast for a few months 'regular' in any way).
BBC 6 MUSIC Saturday 19 December 2009
Adam And Joe
Saturday 19 December
10.00am-1.00pm BBC 6 MUSIC

Adam Buxton and Joe Cornish prepare for the Christmas season with their weekly reflections and some festive songs.

On the following Monday, they've scheduled some retropod broadcasts. At Midnight each night, you can listen to what seems to be a rather clumsy crash edit of some mainly bland music stuffed into the nooks and crannies of the lovely bits of daft waffle OR just download the podcasts as they were originally intended to be poured into your ears.
Adam And Joe's 12 Podcasts Of Christmas
Monday 21 December
12.00midnight-1.00am BBC 6 MUSIC

Adam Buxton and Joe Cornish fans who missed the prize-winning comedy duo's BBC 6 Music podcasts the first time round are in for a very special treat over the festive period, as the station offers the 12 Podcasts Of Christmas, available to listen to with music or simply to download.

This first programme was originally broadcast in January 2008.
Christmas Eve brings us a 'best of' but this year it's going to stay on 6Music. It seems that little Radio2 infiltration of last year was too much for the smooth types over there. This is the one that was lovingly put together by James. I'll bet he would have had many willing volunteers to help him wander through the last twelve months of material.
The Best Of Adam And Joe
Christmas Eve Thursday 24 December
4.00-6.00pm BBC 6 MUSIC


BBC 6 Music presenters Adam Buxton and Joe Cornish
Adam Buxton and Joe Cornish present the highlights from their Saturday morning BBC 6 Music show, featuring their take on the Glastonbury Festival, MPs' expenses and the BBC's Points Of View and The Archers shows. Plus there's the best of the listener contributions to Text The Nation.

It looks like Boxing Day is the designated mutual loving day for our two dog handlers. This is the pre-recorded show and it's usually a right rollocking radio rumble.
Adam And Joe
Boxing Day Saturday 26 December
10.00am-1.00pm BBC 6 MUSIC

It's Adam Buxton and Joe Cornish's traditional present-swapping show. The boys embrace Christmas cheers (and eggnog!) and Boggins the dog is bound to make an appearance, but will he make it through Christmas or will he be released from the Big British Castle for good?

If that warm and lovely pool of glistening, listening liquid doesn't feed all your frottage needs, luxuriate in the news that Adam and Joe have been nominated in two Loaded Lafta categories. If you can be arsed, log on and vote.
Funniest Double Act
Adam And Joe
Jedward
Armstrong & Miller
Simon Cowell and Louis Walsh
Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer

Funniest Podcast
Adam And Joe
Chris Moyles
Frankie Boyle
Rhod Gilbert
Richard Herring