Holid-day.  Celebra-ate.  Holida-ay.  Celebra-ate.

via flickr.com

Hello, everybodypeeps.  Spike here.  Your podcast in-boxes will be dark for the next few weeks, owing to the fact that @jockopablo and I are off on vacation.  Not together, you understand, oh no.  That would make things far too easy.  No, instead, our vacations are staggered, just for maximum impact.  Paul is off this week, I'm off next.  And just to add insult to injury, we'll throw in ANOTHER week for no reason other than laziness, which means we're back on Friday the 18th of June. 

This leads me on to the next point.  You may (or may not) have noticed that I talked about a major announcement about the future of the show on last week's episode.  It wasn't the fact that we're taking a few weeks off, it's actually that we're re-tooling the show.  You probably won't notice too much difference, but here's what's happening and why:

• The show is eschewing news and current affairs to focus purely on media.  This will give it a better shelf life and, hopefully, bring in a few more listeners.  Don't get me wrong, the number of listens we get on a weekly basis knocks my socks off, especially considering we're not "names", we're not publicised anywhere and that there's forty billion other podcasts that cover news and politics.  We figured that by playing to what gets the most response from listeners (media questions), we could tighten up the searchable keywords and categories and be more attractive to a wider audience.
• "The Paul And Spike Show" as we know it is officially no more - it will now be known as "Paul And Spike: Too Grumpy Critics".  All addresses and contact information stay the same, though, as will the RSS feed, so you will continue to receive the show in the normal way, for as long as you see value in it.
• We'll keep having an interesting mix of guests on, and the weekly questions to the commentariat will continue, but we will now open the show with our own Week In Stuff, followed by the guest's who, quite frankly, probably doesn't give a tinker's cuss about whether we've watched the first season of "Drop The Dead Donkey" or not.  The week's question will follow on from there.
• Runtime for the show will be sixty minutes.  No change for the folks who listen to the show on Radio Six International, but a big change for podcast listeners.  The reason we're cutting the show down is that we think 100 minutes is too long for a podcast; most podcast consumers will see an hour as a more comfortable time investment.  Besides, how many other podcasts do you listen to that are more than an hour?  Be honest.  It is a *bit* much.
• Change six: there is NO CHANGE SIX.
• Change seven: no poofters.

So there you have it.  See you on the 18th?

THE PAUL AND SPIKE SHOW, EPISODE #218 - Friday May 21st, 2010.

Download the show mp3 here.

iTunes? Zune? Feed Reader? Subscribe here, or paste sub.paulandspike.com into your podcatcher of choice!

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This week's guest is political strategist and film fan Dusty Trice. Plus, you'll find out what part of a film Paul broke when he was talking to cute ushers, why Dusty thinks a certain scene in "Fast Times At Ridgemont High" would make a great political commercial and what film Spike likes, but only because Tony Wilson said it was OK.  

0:00:00 - ...hold on a minute. Is Spike *flirting*? Drinks update: Paul is drinking the top-shelf tequila, Spike is drinking drain cleaner. Barf.

0:04:16 - Catchup time! Some stragglers with two American cents on last week's topic, and someone who has picked up a spooky numbers station!

0:12:47 - Some beautifully complex and smart questions from the commentariat, and a Dennis Kucinich impersonation you won't believe, as political strategist Dusty Trice joins The Boys to talk politics, social media, corndogs, and why Senator Al Franken's campaign manager jipped him out of a drink. Here's his rather impressive bio: "Dusty Trice is a New Media Professional with 14 years of political experience, most recently as a senior staffer on Sen. Al Franken’s campaign and as a Social and New Media Campaign Consultant. He has a strong political instinct with experience in using social networks and other New Media platforms to effectively convey campaign messaging."

0:43:47 - He's with Coco! Can you believe Dusty got to hang out with Conan O'Brien at an Al Franken fundraiser? How cool! Also, on the nightstand, the intriguingly titled "Lamb: The Gospel According To Biff", and he's been "kvetching over the new Dr Who" and the colour of his sonic screwdriver. One of us! One of us! One of us!

0:47:55 - Paul's Stuff week sees another one crossed off the Ebert list in the shape of Erich Von Stroheim's "Greed" (is the word is the word is the word), and the Korean action film "Shiri".

0:52:09 - Spike's been unimpressed by "Serpico", but - against all odds - manages to draw a straight line between the movies "Moon" and "Bubba Ho-Tep". Work that one out. Good news is that Paul has a plot theory. Hmmmm.

0:58:11 - This week's movie-related question is the polar opposite of last week's: which movies did you so enjoy that you can watch them multiple times? Most films people see once, maybe twice, and then forget about, but it takes an extra special movie to sustain repeated viewings. Dusty feels guilty about his low-brow choices... that is, until the commentariat put in their two uncouth cents. Want to add to the discussion? You're not too late - send them to The Usual Address and The Boys will add you to the catchup crew on a future show.

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Keep in touch! You can use your existing Facebook and Twitter accounts to log in and comment at PaulAndSpike.com, email the show any time at The Usual Address, and befriend The Boys at The Twitter: @spikester and @jockopablo

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Netflixers! Here's a link to some of the more pertinent movies mentioned, for your rentage/streamage. Brain Donors, Sex In The City, Coneheads, Star Wars (episode IV), Casablanca, Citizen Kane, Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles, 24 Hour Party People, Seven Samurai, Maltese Falcon, Arsenic And Old Lace, Love With The Proper Stranger, Cinema Paradiso, Dirty Dancing

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THE PAUL AND SPIKE SHOW, EPISODE #217 - Friday May 14th, 2010.

Download the show mp3 here.

iTunes? Zune? Feed Reader? Subscribe here, or paste sub.paulandspike.com into your podcatcher of choice!

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This week, The Boys finally ask the question they've been threatening to unleash on the commentariat for a long time...

0:00:00 - Headphone thief Spike is experiencing disappointment with the spoils of his thievery. But all is not lost, he recommends a set of cheapies to you, the listener. So, there's that.

0:04:35 - This week on Challenge Paul, we see how much Star Trek (TOS) trivia he knows and can guess. One thing's for sure, he gruffly debates the split infinitive.

0:14:15 - Catchup from last week's "Obsessions" show, which leads on to whether scent is the strongest memory-stirring sense.

0:18:08 - This Week In Stuff, whereby The Boys share their 7-day media intake, in order to warm you to, or warn you from, what next to read/watch/play. A multimedia week for Paul, finishing "Silent Hill: Origins" on the PSP, diving into Terry Brooks' book "The Black Unicorn" and getting all zen with PBS' special "The Buddha". One more off the Ebert list, and two and a half hours he'll never get back, in the shape of Robert Altman's "Nashville", which has left an indlible mark on his hand - the shape of the remote.

0:34:02 - Wringing more value from his $9 monthly Netflix fee, Spike gets his documentary fix from the self-indulgent "We Live In Public" and the unfeasibly forgiving "Forgiving Dr Mengele". Also on the slate, two radio shows about the influential electronic music pioneer Delia Derbyshire, the brains behind the theme tune to "Dr Who", although there's not much love from Spike for the new series.

0:57:50 - This week's question is one they've been threatening to do for a long time - what movie(s) did you watch once, enjoy, and never want to see again. Up for grabs are films like "Saving Private Ryan", "Philadelphia", and a groundswell of PTSD-mails for "Requiem For A Dream". Got any to add? It's never too late to send them to The Usual Address.

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Dude, you should *totally* keep in touch. Want to submit your Week In Stuff? Got a suggestion for a question or an Over/Under? Want to respond to a previous question? Grab us all at The Usual Address, on Twitter at @spikester and @higginbothamp and the mighty PaulAndSpike.com

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Arrrr, me hearty! Be ye a Netflixer? Watch ye the movies mentioned on the show, land lubber. And other pirate phrases.

The Buddha :: Nashville :: We Live In Public :: Forgiving Dr Mengele :: "Requiem For A Dream" ::

THE PAUL AND SPIKE SHOW, EPISODE #216 - Friday May 7th, 2010.

Download the show mp3 here.

iTunes? Zune? Feed Reader? Subscribe here!

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0:00:00 - At the third stroke, the vague reference from the past will be... the British speaking clock. doot. doot. doot.

0:08:08 - It's been a newsy week, The Boys discuss the Times Square bomber, from the same school of terrorism as the Glasgow Airport comedy jihadists. Also, Bill Maher claims that Republicans are racists. Or, rather, that racists are Republicans.

0:20:35 - This Week In Stuff, the segment where you can find out what TV shows, movies and books to either love or avoid. Have you discovered "The Singing Detective" yet? Paul is hoping that you'd watch the proper one, and not the remake. He took in another episode of "Benny Goodman: King Of Swing", which mentioned something that Mark Morriss of The Bluetones was moved to acquire, after Paul's glowing review in TPASS#209. One off the Ebert list, "L'Avventura" from prospective cereal maker Michelangelo Antonioni-Os, and one from the listener recommendation list, "The Phantom Of The Paradise". Carburetors, man! That's what life is all about! The PSP's been getting some button-mashing love, via "Silent Hill: Origins". So, sshh!

0:45:10 - Another quiet week for the Netflix-killing Spike, with the proper British version of the stunning "State Of Play", and documentaries "Dear Zachary: A Letter To A Son About His Father", and laments the "pivotable" points of "The King Of Kong".

0:54:20 - Question time. A badly asked question, or just a bad question? The Boys discuss obsessions, their own and those of the commentariat. Obsessions discussed are time, instruction manuals, shortwave radio, football and how many Christmasses Paul has left.

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Dude, you should *totally* keep in touch. Want to submit your Week In Stuff? Got a suggestion for a question or an Over/Under? Want to respond to a previous question? Grab us all at The Usual Address, on Twitter at @spikester and @higginbothamp and the mighty PaulAndSpike.com

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Are you a Netflixer? Here are links to the movies mentioned in this week's show: L'Avventura :: The Phantom Of The Paradise :: State Of Play :: Dear Zachary: A Letter To A Son About His Father :: The King Of Kong

This week's question is about obsessions.

Obsessed with having your DVD/CD collection in strict alphabetical order?  Obsessed with a specific person?  Or TV show?  Or movie?  Or radio station?  Do you have an obsession with checking Twitter at a certain time every day?  With holding your steering wheel in exactly the same place?  Maybe you're obsessed with collecting every single piece of memoribilia from "Gilligan's Island", or with the sugar packets all facing the same way?  Past or present, serious or funny, yours or someone you know's, let us know at all the usual places:

• Leave a comment on the blog - no registration required, you can log in with your Faveboook or Twitter accounts and comment at paulandspike.com
• via twitter - @spikester and @higginbothamp
• via The Usual Address, which IS...?
• on the potentially moribund TPASS Google Wave

You can submit up to three.  If you want to remain anonymous, please START your comments with that.  As a general rule, we don't pre-read emails or tweets or comments before we read them on air, so if you're going to disclose that you're obsessively following your ex, make sure you state that you don't want us to reveal your name at the start.

As always, please try to get your comments in by 6pm US-e / 11pm UK on Tuesday night.  If not, go ahead and add them anyway and we'll use them in the catchup segment of the next show.

TPASS#215 guest John Osborne's new radio show "John Peel's Shed" premiered this week.  For the next four weeks John will be playing songs that came directly, and literally, from the shed of British radio royalty.  John's relationship with Future Radio is covered extensively in his book "Radio Head".

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In 2002 John Osborne won a competition on John Peel's Radio 1 show. His prize was a box of 150 records from John Peel's own collection. John Peel's Shed is a show featuring the best tracks from those records. The series starts on Sunday 2^nd May at 9 pm on Future Radio.

 

The record collection includes 7 inch singles and full albums, including Screaming Lord Sutch, Royal Trux and Chilly Gonazles. The prize was won after John Peel invited listeners to send in reasons why they listened to his show, which he would send as part of the submission to that year’s Sony Awards. “My winning sentence was 'Music you want to hear played by a man who wants you to hear it.'” Osborne remembers. “Another box of records was won by someone suggesting 'John Peel has got thousands of records and is not afraid to use them.'”

This week, we talk to author and poet John Osborne, who wrote the book "Radio Head: Up And Down The Dial Of British Radio" I talked about a few weeks back.

John Osborne has long been a fan of radio - from late night sessions of John Peel to Test Match Special at dawn, he has always enjoyed tuning in to the riches of our best broadcasts. When his dull temporary job became drearier than ever, John decided to remain attached to his headphones all day to listen to some of Britain's more unknown stations as well as revisiting the mainstream to fully experience the breadth of our radio output. The result is a funny, disarming ride through aspects of Britain that are uplifting, informative and sometimes plain bizarre. Throughout his month of intensive radio listening, John flits through talk radio, sports shows, dips into the mainstream and the minority, exalts in specialist music shows, comedy and local radio before expanding his mind with an experimental arts channel. It seems there is something for everyone at the turn of a dial, whether that is the ranting of the permanently enraged, the gentle tinkle of a string quartet, West Indian stomp or the sound of frozen peas being thrown around Elephant and Castle underground station.John also gets under the skin of the radio business by interviewing presenters such as Mark Radcliffe and Nicholas Parsons as well as industry insiders. John's daily life is directly affected by his radio habit as he finds himself organising a poker night during exposure to The Jazz, and Zane Lowe's energy on Radio One goads him into cooking his stir fry at the same speed as Morecambe and Wise prepared their breakfast. Finally, John decides to turn his life around and radio becomes his saviour.

So we'll talk about that, plus his new book, "The Newsagent's Window: Adventures In A World Of Second-Hand Cars and Lost Cats", and trying to bum free copies off him, probably.

'I had met a lot of special people through newsagents' windows, and spent many enjoyable days with them. I found out about a community I never knew existed, the heart of rural Britain. I learned that everyone had a story to tell, and that people who live very ordinary lives are much more fascinating than explorers or pop stars.' John Osborne's second book is a comic voyage through small-town Britain via the ads in newsagents' windows: lost kittens, personal ads, a second-hand bike for sale, yoga classes ...Moving into an unfurnished house, John at first uses the ads in newsagents' windows to buy practical things like a bed and a settee. But on impulse one day he replies to an advert for a psychic masseur named Lucy, who tells him some startling home-truths as he sits on her settee in his pants. So begins a year of self-discovery and a wild obsession with newsagents' windows, which take John to a shoe-exhibition, to an Alan Ayckbourn play, to a wrestling match. He finds himself the owner of a man's entire video collection, a second-hand bike, a clapped-out Ford Escort - and discovers a community of a bygone age. Looking to improve his German, he meets a pretty German girl named Leni ...Hilarious and thought-provoking, The Newsagent's Window restores our faith - in our fellow human beings, in a world without ebay - and reveals the odd things that can happen if you let newsagents' windows dictate your day.

Any questions for him?  Post them below, or send them to The Usual Address, @spikester, @higginbothamp or at the Googy Wave.  Get your questions or comments in before 6pm USe/11pm UK tonight (tuesday 27th)

So, let's say you had a loan of the Tardis for a couple of hours.  What point in history would you visit?  And why?

Answer below, or at The Usual Address or twitter.com/spikester.  Answers in by 6pm east (11pm UK) on Thursday the 22nd, please. =)

Following on from the shenanigans contained within TPASS #212, Gavin sends us this personalised flash ad for Bob Dylan's upcoming best-of album.

In other news, there's a best of Bob Dylan now.  Who knew?