My Media

I had an assignment today. It was fun. I basically had to talk about myself, which as we all know, is the one thing that everybody in the human race loves to do. So here it is.

Newspapers: The few times I ever buy a newspaper, it is invariably The Guardian. Either on a Monday for the Media and Sports (rounding up the weekends football, but only if Everton win) and a Friday for the film and music section. All is very loosely leafed through then discarded with not much thought.

Magazines: Having been a subscriber to several different magazines previously, I am disappointed in myself to not be reading more. When I can I get Clash magazine, and the odd Q and Total Film if the content looks interesting enough, but sure enough, like the papers, I never find much time to actually sit down and read them.

Books: I never like starting a new book until I’ve finished what I am currently reading, but still end up buying books all the time, so much so now that I have far more books than I’ll ever have time to read. When such a thing does happen, I tend to go for the more…out there books, with ‘American Psycho’, ‘Trainspotting’ and ‘Crash’ being favourites. And of course I read far too many comics, instead of the more ‘academic’ things I should be reading. Although Tony Wilson’s ’24 Hour Party People’ is pretty interesting, if you believe everything that tosser says. Oh and also, I fucking hate Harry Potter.

Radio: I only ever really listen to the radio when I wake up, because that’s what my alarm is. Something about waking up to the soothing sounds of Classic FM makes the task seem a lot less arduous, or maybe I just put up with it to avoid getting out of bed. Other than that, the radio show that I am a presenter for is the only thing that I really tend to bother listening to.

Music: The logical place to begin is at the start I guess, so Oasis. From an early age that was it. A mix tape of Oasis one side, Blur the other. But since then my tastes have expanded to such a degree that I’ll claim to ‘listen to most things’, before staunchly criticising whatever is put on. But then again, some things I do like. I am a big fan of most guitar based music, from the 70s punk, through the post-punk 80s (with a very light sprinkling of some metal and new romanticism), the Brit-pop 90s, even the baggy trousered, excessive swearing, drop-D tuned ‘nu-metal’ (for a brief period) right through to the modern ‘Indie’ (whatever that is) music of today. But don’t be put off, I’ll listen to most things.

TV: I hardly ever watch TV, unless it is to see Jeff Stelling tell me how badly Everton are losing. But there are a few shows I feel warrant buying the box sets for. The likes of Big Bang Theory, Flight of the Conchords, and going back a bit to Teachers, always amused me. But then I also like many of the different comedy shows that are out there, from both sides of the Atlantic. I don’t like any of that ‘reality tv’ shite though.

Film: To say that I am a DVD whore would be an understatement. I tend to buy DVDs at such a rate that I could probably keep HMV in business myself, well, until I ran out of money. I love films. Not as much as music, but still a hell of a lot. I don’t know if I really have a type that I prefer, apart from a severe dislike towards ‘chick-flicks’ and shit like ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Twilight’. I am a massive sucker for anything even remotely comic-book related. Even if the film is utter toss, if the credits say ‘Based on the graphic novel by…’, I’ll probably like it. Also developed a bit of a soft spot for the ‘Indie-comedy-romance’ type film too. The likes of ‘(500) Days of Summer’, ‘Juno’ and ‘Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist’ particularly appeal. But maybe that’s because of the kick ass soundtracks.

Websites: Err…I’m not really one of those ‘surf the web’ type people. I go online to check my emails, indulge in my delusions of grandeur on Facebook (I mean who really gives a shit about anything you say on there?), and occasionally see what is cheap on Amazon or Play. I read a blog my dad writes, because he’s my dad, and is actually pretty interesting, and download music from various different places but that’s really it. By the way, one word that will destroy your life if you let it: Farmville.

Adverts: That Cadbury’s advert with the Gorilla was shit. That ‘Compare the Meerkat’ advert is shit. Those ‘Shelia’s Wheels’ adverts were shit. Hang on a minute, all adverts are shit. But everybody still watches them don’t they? And then insist on telling everybody how shit they actually are. Probably not what they had in mind when they were made, but at least everyone is talking about their product. Ironic really, isn’t it?