Kiva and Kylie
I've not been online much recently since with the fine weather I've been down the allotment a lot, but I had an interesting day revolving around the media today. A week or two ago I was contacted by Kiva and asked if I was willing to do an interview for the BBC programme Click since they were doing a piece about lending online. Rather surprisingly, since I tend to keep a very low profile in life, I said yes.
Today I went up to the Television Centre at White City and did the interview. It was very interesting but quite low-key at the same time so not too nerve-wracking. Talia, one of the producers, did the whole interview herself. This involved moving the furniture, setting up the lights, getting the camera focused and asking the questions, while I just sat there being a talking head :-) I'm not sure if she was able to get much that was useful in the way of quotes since I had the same kind of feeling as when you're talking to answerphones - lots of repetition and never knowing when to stop! But she was able to film me going through a typical loan on Kiva, so that could be incorporated into the piece.
My niece accompanied me today, and wasn't too bored by having to sit in on the interview since she's done some media studies so was able to relate to all the lights and camera stuff that was going on. But the main reason for us going to London together was our visit to the Kylie Exhibition at the V&A which was great fun. Now my niece knows just about everything about Kylie and was able to comment on every costume, photograph and piece of music. I know hardly anything but still found lots of things that were familiar in the background of the last couple of decades, and it was impressive to see just how skilled she was at inventing different personas. This was particularly apparent in the photo portraits where it was almost impossible to believe it was the same woman in two juxtaposed pictures, and then the next one would be different again. There was a good selection of actual costumes on show, and the fabrics and construction were fascinating just standalone without any connection to who wore them, although that context did add more to the viewing. I might not have gone to the exhibition if my niece hadn't been such a fan, but I really enjoyed it and had a great day out.
Today I went up to the Television Centre at White City and did the interview. It was very interesting but quite low-key at the same time so not too nerve-wracking. Talia, one of the producers, did the whole interview herself. This involved moving the furniture, setting up the lights, getting the camera focused and asking the questions, while I just sat there being a talking head :-) I'm not sure if she was able to get much that was useful in the way of quotes since I had the same kind of feeling as when you're talking to answerphones - lots of repetition and never knowing when to stop! But she was able to film me going through a typical loan on Kiva, so that could be incorporated into the piece.
My niece accompanied me today, and wasn't too bored by having to sit in on the interview since she's done some media studies so was able to relate to all the lights and camera stuff that was going on. But the main reason for us going to London together was our visit to the Kylie Exhibition at the V&A which was great fun. Now my niece knows just about everything about Kylie and was able to comment on every costume, photograph and piece of music. I know hardly anything but still found lots of things that were familiar in the background of the last couple of decades, and it was impressive to see just how skilled she was at inventing different personas. This was particularly apparent in the photo portraits where it was almost impossible to believe it was the same woman in two juxtaposed pictures, and then the next one would be different again. There was a good selection of actual costumes on show, and the fabrics and construction were fascinating just standalone without any connection to who wore them, although that context did add more to the viewing. I might not have gone to the exhibition if my niece hadn't been such a fan, but I really enjoyed it and had a great day out.