Reality TV follow up mini-blog

http://www.bafta.org/ is currently showing a clip of that reality TV event I attended at BAFTA a few weeks ago - I'm not sure how long it's up there for, but for people who read my earlier blog about the surreal nature of people like Kelvin Mackenzie and Greg Dyke talking about how reality TV is shaped, I promised to put a follow-up on this blog, so here it is - I must confess it made me see TV very differently. Click the speaker if there is no sound.... and I'll be back with a proper report on the Spinvox ICA 60th Anniversary report soon!

Brushes with the Rich and More Famous!

Now here's something that doesn't happen every day... it's a picture of me in OK magazine!! how exciting, apart from the fact that a) this was from 2005, a million years ago, and b) there's an errant bit of hair in my face...

Ah, that short brush with tabloid fame and such a long time ago.... thank goodness I can redeem myself tonight, and get glammed up to attend the ICA's 60th Anniversary Gala dinner... I will be leaving shortly after the systems failure in the Wardrobe Registry gets debugged i.e. I decide what to wear.

http://www.ica.org.uk/Figures%20%20of%20Speech%20Fundraising%20Gala%20Dinner+15641.twl

I'm going to grab my JVC Everio camcorder just in case anything exciting happens, it should fit into my TARDIS-style handbag along with the vast amount of other electronics that generally accompanies me everywhere. Thank goodness I have a powermonkey to plug into, which makes things a little greener.

[...someone performed a Random Act of Kindness on me the other day and touched my heart.]

Tomorrow I'll be off to Bournemouth to do some filming in my capacity as Tech Girl on the Telly - but rest assured, I'll report back from this fabulous occasion, probably on the train back home if I finish processing my emails... which reminds me, if you read my "extreme" blog a few weeks ago, I went off to that club Guanabara in the end, and the London School of Samba gave a live performance, which was incredible - I'll post up some pics of that as well.

...and don't forget to visit my latest Q&A session on Virgin's page! love, LJx

New Year, Different Difference?

A slightly belated "Happy New Year" to you, Chinese and/or otherwise. The picture on the left is Twilight on Gerrard St, London, which is the main drag of Central London's Chinatown area. The place looks magical, with lanterns swaying in the breeze attached to absolutely every possible stationary object. New Year fills us with optimism, that this time, things will be different; we will be different.

On my way to the gym this morning, I remember reading a statistic saying 97 % of all people who make New Years resolutions break them - 8 % of the total actually break those resolutions in the first 10 seconds, and it is with this thought in mind that I'm feeling pretty proud of myself about making my way to the gym on this freezing occasion, a full 1 months and 11 days into the UK's new year. But this was not a new year's resolution - I decided to join a gym in September.

Why did I not pressurise myself with a New Year Resolution this year? Because with an NYR, I'll get 364 chances to fail - guaranteeing that every time I don't reach my expected goal, it's time to resign myself to endless telly, feeling dejected about the sheer mountain of unfinished business shouting for attention, and hoping that next year will be different.

So today, I'm going to challenge the popular assumption that an arbitrary day, zero hour, "wipe the slate clean on Day 1" mentality is the only way to get back on the self improvement train, and say instead that any day, at any time, when we make a conscious decision to do something different, that's when persistence, determination, and that elusive, sparkly feeling that we're "on our way" is a great and just reward.

Like many people, I'm interested in goal-setting, personal development and self-improvement, and writing down my goals and aims helps me to focus more. (If you're looking for a goodie, I humbly suggest Getting Things Done, which I overhauled my life with a year or two ago). Last time I did this was in November - not conventionally a month for that sort of thing, unless it's your birthday, perhaps.

Be Excellent to Each other!

Anyhow, this week I received some interesting emails, including one from the BBC, one from a short film producer, and the continuation of an exciting music project I'm currently sworn to secrecy about. All of these emails represent a move in the right direction - and I have to confess it's all a little bit scary. I know I'm on TV already, which is a massive achievement, but these projects represent quite a big leap and I wonder why taking that step into the unknown brings up such feelings of vulnerability, even though what I want most in the world is to be knee deep in Music, TV and technology for the rest of my days.

I'm beginning to realise that the big change for me this day, 15th February, is that it's time to be ready for the next level, which I've spent my whole life preparing for, so this year is as good as any. It's time for all that hard work to be translated into amazing opportunity, and although it's a petrifying concept, I think I can handle it. So Happy New Day to you, dear reader, and wherever we go, let us go boldly, as a certain Starship Captain or two might say. Live long, and Prosper.

lots of love, LJ x
spoken through SpinVox tweaked by LJ

I'm on TV Right Now!!!

I'm sitting on set with Gary, the floor manager, with about 18 minutes till I go back on air! Talk about taking advantage of free wireless internet :-)

I've decided to try and blog from more unusual places after I met someone whose cousin's husband is currently aboard the NASA space station (you can see him here). As I can't get into space right now, I thought I'd settle for a live television studio instead.

Studio 4 is, for once, warm - it's usually closer to absolute zero here, due to some incredibly zealous air conditioning. I've just come from Central London to do a quick show about MP3 players and I'll be going back out to a Brazilian club called Guanabara after I've packed up.

Wow, that sounds really exciting - it's the first time I'm going out dancing in ages, so I'll try and take a few pics of the place so you can see it too.

Right, James the producer has just said there are two minutes until I'm back on air, so I'd best get myself ready, and post like the wind... Rock and roll!!