I should have been scouting for a suitable filming location today but I wanted to be in and out of town as quickly as possible so that I could take Jack to the park for a long run out before getting on with some work, (on a Saturday) so the locations will have to wait. A couple of cafes have already turned down the chance to basically have free advertisements of around half an hour in length thanks to a lack of understanding of the concept, but hopefully there will be at least one that shares my vision. This has always been a problem when trying to sell a new idea; people can’t get their heads round it. I had the same problem when I tried to get the idea on a video podcast (or an ‘online television show’) off the ground in 2007, nobody knew what a podcast was, never mind a video version especially as YouTube was restricted back then to ten minutes in length (it was a less technical time). These days the Internet is a bigger audience puller (in certain areas) than television and radio but it has taken this long for everyone else to catch up. Trying to explain the reason I need to film in a café is becoming a bit tiresome, they seem to think I want to do it while the place is open and that they will need a full staff there, even worse they seem to want me to pay them. One café (the one I really wanted to use) wanted to charge me for the hire of the place on their closed day, which isn’t really how it works.

Talking of Internet entertainment today was set aside to get through several jobs including recording The Sunday Alternative. Before that I chipped away at my emails and brought my blog up to date while posting a few new adverts for Bowie Day (a short story inspired by A Christmas Carol) and although I seemed to be on a bit of a go-slow I did manage to accomplish quite a lot. None of this was as important as taking Jack for a play on the park with his ball of course. When I arrived back at home from my whistle stop trip to town to sort out some banking he was looking at me as if to accuse me of going back on my promise so I had no choice. We spent a good hour there until another dog (and his owner – for want of a better word) came along for their turn. In Jack’s haste to bark at the next dog he lost his ball, the idiot.

The podcast was recorded without a hitch which is good as last week I apparently forgot how to use my recording equipment over the Christmas holiday. Listening figures were down for the post Christmas show, a pity really as it contained some great music. Last week things were back to normal so hopefully it was just a festive glitch with too much going on over Christmas.

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This week’s edition of The Sunday Alternative is here.