International Listening Update, March 2014

TEN MONTHS have passed since I last tuned the Short Wave band of my radio, to listen to broadcasts from all over the world. I took the opportunity to spend some time beside my radio on the afternoon of Thursday 27 March. The results of what I heard are here. All times are UTC (Universal Time Co-ordination, also known as GMT - Greenwich Mean Time); All frequencies are kHz (kiloHertz).

• 1615 UTC, 7265 kHz : Unidentified broadcast - Possibly China Radio International, broadcasting in the Russian language. Reception was fair. Male speech, female speech, news regarding France. Speech regarding President Francois Hollande, France. To 1620 UTC.
• 1630 UTC, 9410 kHz : BBC World Service - 'Sport Today'. European football: Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus, Real Madrid, Barcelona. Reception was fair. English to South Asia via Kranji, Singapore. Premiership football in England: Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea. World reaction via social media. To 1650 UTC.
• 1650 UTC, 9435 kHz : China Radio International - Learn to speak Chinese, referring to phrases such as "I won't go to the company today" and words such as "supermarket". Reception was good. English broadcast worldwide via Kashi, China. To 1700 UTC.
• 1710 UTC, 9500 kHz : Radio Australia [ABC - Australian Broadcasting Corporation] - 'Daily Planet' music programme, referring to the band 'Tangalo'. Male host. Reception was fair. English to Asia and Australasia via Shepparton, Victoria, Australia. To 1730 UTC.
• 1755 UTC, 9500 kHz : Unidentified broadcast - Speech interspersed with intro to the track 'Puffing Billy' by Edward White! To 1800 UTC.

• 2245 UTC, 9575 kHz : Medi 1 Radio, Morocco - 'Album Story' programme. Speech, followed by clips of tracks by Dire Straits, Santana and Michael Jackson. Female speech in French. Reception was good. Male speech, music by Bob Marley. To 2255 UTC.
• 2310 UTC, 9855 kHz : Radio Australia [ABC - Australian Broadcasting Corporation] - Female host with round table discussion regarding sport in the community and history of cricket in Samoa. Reception was fair. English to Asia and Australasia via Al Dhabbaya, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. To 2325 UTC.

That concludes the log of broadcasts I heard Thursday 27 March. I hope not to leave it so long next time!

It's Shara Time!

THIS week, Wallpaper of the Week brings you another image from the Facebook account of the amazing Maria Sharapova. The image is a still from a video Miss Sharapova posted on Facebook and on her Social Channel, as she prepared for training on a Saturday morning in October 2013. Maria's official Facebook channel can be found here.

Enjoy.

Eden FM - Eden Country Playlist - 15 March 2014

PRESENTING the playlist of Eden FM's weekly Country music show Eden Country, as broadcast Saturday 15 March 2014:

Hayseed Dixie - Walk This Way

Scott Holstein - The Spell

Jim Reeves - Then I'll Stop Loving You

Lady Antebellum - Singing Me Home

Ricky Skaggs - Coal Minin' Man

The Steeldrivers - Blue Side Of The Mountain

Lindi Ortega - When All The Stars Align

Kenny Chesney - Me And You

Willie Nelson - Mountain Dew

Johnny Cash - Bridge Over Troubled Water

Lonestar - I'm Already There

Hank Locklin - Please Help Me, I'm Falling

Dolly Parton - Why'd You Come In Here Lookin' Like That

Nanci Griffith - Outbound Plane

Alison Krauss & Union Station - It Doesn't Matter

Dixie Chicks - Everybody Knows

Glen Campbell - Rhinestone Cowboy (Live)

Elvis Presley - I Forgot To Remember To Forget

Tammy Wynette, Dolly Parton & Loretta Lynn - Silver Threads & Golden Needles

Tim McGraw - Something Like That

George Jones - I'm Not Ready Yet

Taylor Swift - The Other Side Of The Door

Nanci Griffith - From A Distance

Eric Brace & Last Train Home featuring Charlie McCoy - Stone Fox Chase

Elvis Presley - That's All Right

Charlie Rich - I've Got Mine

Patsy Cline - Lonely Street

The Bellamy Brothers - Sugar Daddy

Faron Young - Live Fast, Love Hard, Die Young

Willie Nelson - On The Road Again

Please give the Eden FM Country with Martin Facebook page a 'Like'. Thank you!

A Beautiful Sunset.

TAKING you back to September 1st, 2013, to a beautiful sunset in the Caribbean. The lady in the photograph is the magnificent Miss Maria Sharapova, and it is from her official Facebook account that I have shared this photograph as Wallpaper of the Week. Enjoy.

It's Taylor Ti- Oh. My. Goodness.

Taylor Alison Swift is FAB-U-LOUS.