In the Cast

I am pretty busy at the minute. I don't live a stressful life by any means but there are certain things that my current situation requires me to do. Prepare to move out, earn some money, watch as a many Bo Burnham videos on Youtube as is humanly possible during one earth day.

Another mammoth demand on my time are podcasts. Such is my addiction to the brilliant (and free) audio downloads I often find myself listening to my Ipod in bed thinking that I can't go sleep as I have such a backlog of quality to catch up on. My profound love of the Hamish and Andy podcast has been documented on this blog before and probably forms the bulk of my listening duties. They churn forty five minutes of gold everyday from down under giving me a considerable workload from the kick off.

Then factor in Mark Kermode's weekly film reviews (it's practically obligatory to listen if you ever fancy seeing a film again) and you are up to a running total of 3 hours a week. But the madness doesn't stop there (I'm beginning to scare myself totaling all this up). I have recently become addicted to the Times Online podcast "The Bugle" which is a self proclaimed "audio newspaper for a visual world" and is hosted by two of Britain's finest comedy talents Andy Salzman and John Oliver. The latter is currently making it big in America as a prominent writer and correspondent on the excellent "Daily Show with John Stewart", which garnered an Emmy last week for it's the continued high standard of it's writing. Another 50 minutes is thrown on to the bonfire of lost time in the shape of Adam and Joe's six music show. The 3 hour Saturday morning broadcast is honed down to a consistently funny highlight's package which captures the DIY ethos perpetuated by the pair. Search "Song Wars Quantum of Solace" on youtube to see the best of their home made offerings.

I haven't even begun to examine the "sports" facet of my podcasting addiction. Sport is the topic that perhaps most lends itself to podcasting as all you need is a couple of mics and some passion to debate in much the same way people do down the pub after watching a game.The Football Ramble is a podcast that does just that and is a podcast to which, after being directed to it a month a go, I have frequently been compelled to listen to before other more stalwart members of my ipod lineup. The four guys that do it managed to top the Itunes sports charts without any backing from sponsors and continue to create intelligent, hilarious editions week in week out. The Guardian's football weekly podcast manages to often crow bar two podcasts a week in with their somewhat superior resources. Just as enjoyable as the Ramble in a different way James Richardson and Co. are the place to go especially for informed analysis of the game on the continent and in South America, something that is hard to come by elsewhere.