Carlisle United, December 2015

STORM Desmond early in December flooded Brunton Park and the surrounding area of Carlisle. Unprecedented rainfall brought flooding throughout Cumbria from Thursday 3rd December (West Cumbria), through Friday 4th and Saturday 5th (Eden Valley) to Sunday 6th (Carlisle & North Cumbria). This has impacted on Carlisle United, as only three fixtures have been played in December. The results of which are as follows:

Sky Bet League Two - Season 2015-2016.

The FA Cup, Round Two : Sunday 6th : Welling United 0 - United 5 (Attendance: 2028)

League : Saturday 12th : Oxford United 1 - United 1 (Attendance: 5936)

League : Saturday 19th : United 3 - Notts County 0 [Match played at Deepdale, Preston] (Attendance: 3336)

Getty Images captured an image of Brunton Park from the air, when the flood waters were at their highest:

In the aftermath of the flooding, the Club and fans came together to support the community. In the days following the Welling United game, the players volunteered their time to help residents of Warwick Road and surrounding areas remove flood damaged goods from their homes:

United players Michael Raynes, Joe Thompson and Jason Kennedy (Pictured left to right, above) removing flood damaged goods. United also appealed to fans who could safely get to Brunton Park to help them with the clear out of flood damaged areas of the Club. The following video from Carlisle newspaper News & Star shows the fans helping to clear out Brunton Park.

As the results at the head of post show, United fulfilled their fixtures away at Oxford United on Saturday 12th and the home fixture against Notts County on Saturday 19th was played at Deepdale, the home of Preston North End. United playing their 'home' fixtures at other grounds was to the chagrin of John Coleman, the Accrington Stanley manager, whose own team have had matches postponed due to a waterlogged pitch. United were due to play Stanley at The Wham Stadium on Boxing Day (Saturday 26th), but this was postponed, due to... A waterlogged pitch.

United were due to play Hartlepool United at home on Bank Holiday Monday (28th) - It would have been United's final fixture of the year - But this match has been postponed. It has been rescheduled for the evening of Tuesday 23rd February. It was rumoured Newcastle United's St James' Park could have staged the game.

Following the visit to Deepdale for the Notts County match, United will be on a tour of Lancashire for their next two home fixtures: United will play a League Two fixture against Plymouth Argyle at Ewood Park, the home of Blackburn Rovers, on Saturday 2nd January; United will play Yeovil Town in Round Three of the FA Cup at Bloomfield Road, the home of Blackpool, on Sunday 10th.

United's other scheduled fixtures for January: Barnet (away), York City (home) and Dagenham & Redbridge (away).

It's nearly Christmas!

As it is nearly Christmas, here is a nice wintery image of Brough Castle, taken early 2015. Enjoy.

Merry Christmas!

Happy Birthday, Taylor Alison!

TODAY, Sunday 13th December 2015.

Taylor Alison Swift is 26 years young.

Miss Swift is pictured wearing Roberto Cavalli at the Brit Awards 2015.

Happy Birthday Taylor!

Listening to the radio.

FIRST of all, welcome to December. Thoughts with those who have been involved in the Cumbrian floods, as a result of Storm Desmond.

This post leads with the logs of listening to the Tropical band late November, followed by logs of the Medium Wave band in early December. As always, times in UTC (GMT), frequencies in kiloHertz (kHz).

24 November 2015 (Tropical band):

• 2011 UTC, 3415 kHz : Shannon Volmet (Republic of Ireland). Fair to poor reception, Shannon Volmet, also known as Shannon Aeradio, North Atlantic Communications. Female voice reading data - 'Zero, Zero' - Service for weather reports and other information at Shannon Airport, Republic of Ireland. Continuous weather reports for the airport and times: 'Zero - Six - Zero - Zero'. To 2022 UTC.
• 2044 UTC, 3955 kHz : KBS World Radio (Seoul, South Korea). Fair to poor reception. German language service to Europe via Woofferton, UK. Speech from males (OM) and females (YL) in the German language. Music, speech: Sport - Boxing? Music, speech from male. To 2051 UTC.
• 2123 UTC, 5000 kHz : NIST Radio Station WWV (Boulder, Colorado, USA). Fair to poor reception. Time Signal broadcast, fluttery reception. To 2127 UTC.

3 December 2015 (Medium Wave):

• 1630 UTC, 639 kHz : CRo2 (Prague, Czech Republic). Good to fair reception. Two males in conversation. 750 - 1500 kW transmission via Prague, TCH (Czech Republic). Speech, audio stab, speech includes telephone interview. Czech language programme. To 1652 UTC.
• 1720 UTC, 666 kHz : BBC Radio York (UK). Good to fair reception. Male host speaking to representatives of a hospital support group - See more on the BBC York Facebook page. ID for BBC Radio York. Trailer for 'Northern Powerhouse' programme. BBC York traffic and travel. ID and time check. Music: Roy Orbison 'Only The Lonely'. North Yorkshire Christmas drink drive campaign launched, interview with the Deputy Chief Constable. 1730 UTC news: Military action in Syria. Sport: York City Football Club, non-league football in the FA Vase competition. Gary Neville joins Valencia. FIFA Committe. Snooker in York: Robertson v Higgins. Hockey. 500 watt transmission via Fulford, York. Weather update with Paul. To 1736 UTC.
• 1748 UTC, 684 kHz : RNE Radio Nacional (Seville, Spain). Fair reception. Male speech in Spanish, including sound effects of emails being received, text messages and voicemails - Including speech from a female. 600 kW transmission via Seville, Spain. Male and female speech, music. Time signal for 1800 UTC, IDs by female and male voices at the top of the hour. To 1800 UTC.
• 1824 UTC, 693 kHz : BBC Radio 5 Live (UK). Strong to good reception. Male host speaking to correspondent with regards to British Prime Minister David Cameron's plan to hold a referendum on Britain's membership of the EU. 'Drivetime with Tony Livesey and Anna...'. Mass shootings in California. News headlines at 1730 UTC. Sport headlines: Gary Neville is the new Valencia manager. FIFA vice President David Gill and committee meet in Zurich, Switzerland. Snooker. Hockey. Weather and travel updates. 50 kW transmission via Stagshaw, Northumberland (North East England). Football promo. UN climate change conference continues in Paris. How can the UK reduce food waste? To 1840 UTC.

• 1850 UTC, 711 kHz : France Info (Rennes, France). Strong to good reception. French speaking female mentions 'Supermarché', also a mention of US President Barack Obama. Male speech, female speech - Travel update? Male voice: Sport with Bernard. ID at the top of the hour (1900 UTC). Continuous speech in a roundtable discussion. 300 kW transmission via Rennes, France. News headlines at 1915 UTC: Californian shootings, terrorism. To 1911 UTC.
• 1923 UTC, 720 kHz : BBC Radio 4 (UK). Fair reception. 'Front Row' (Arts programme). Male host speaks to female guest - An actress. The host brings in another male who introduces a song from a soundtrack. 10 kW transmission via Lisnagarvey, Northern Ireland. Male vocalist talks about being inspired by Marvin Gaye and Nat 'King' Cole. To 1934 UTC.
• 2110 UTC, 738 kHz : RNE Radio Nacional (Barcelona, Spain). Good reception. Male speaks of Alexis Tsipras, the Greek Prime Minister. ID. Female speaks of terrorism. 500 kW transmission via Barcelona, Spain. Female speaks of Barack Obama. Music: Adele. Male speaks of Adele, her current album is '25'. To 2121 UTC.
• 2132 UTC, 756 kHz : Deutschlandfunk (Germany). Good reception. Classical concert, loud applause. German speech, female 'Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra', also 'New York Philharmonic Orchestra'. Next piece plays. Transmission via Ravensburg (100 kW) or Braunschweig [Brunswick] (200 kW). Classical piece from the New York Philharmonic Orchestra continues. Female host: 'Royal Philharmonic Orchestra'. Tone. Two 'Deutschlandfunk' ID's. Female speech: Corruption of FIFA, new arrests, links to the USA. To 2145 UTC.

• 2152 UTC, 756 kHz : BBC Radio Cumbria (UK). Fair reception. Male host promoting Georgie Spanswick (presenter). Music: 'Best of My Love'. ID for BBC Radio Cumbria, 2200 UTC news: Reaction following the implementation of RAF military action in Syria. Aftermath of the shootings in California. David Cameron seeks reform of the EU. Breastfeeding mum has baby taken off her. Ian Timms with news headlines here in Cumbria - Roads and railways affected by rain and flooding. BBC Radio Cumbria IDs - "Take care if out and about" - Ian Timms. Music: UB40 'Red Red Wine'. 1 kW transmission via Carlisle. Music: Roy Orbison 'Dreams of You'. 'Lilliburlero'. Text the studio. New music from Elton John, new music from Little Mix.. To 2210 UTC.
• 2231 UTC, 765 kHz : BBC Essex (UK). Poor reception. Music: Paul McCartney and Wings 'Silly Love Songs'. Male speech: "Hello to Bob, he's a truck driver just starting the night shift, so this is Bob's morning show". Music: Little Mix 'Love Me Like You'. Facebook task: 'Four Seasons or Three Degrees'. Text message; Email: "Could you please play my fab five?" Music: Frank Sinatra 'You Make Me Feel So Young'. 500 watt transmission via Chelmsford, Essex. Music: Glen Campbell 'Dreams of the Everyday Housewife', Michael Buble: 'Home'. To 2244 UTC.

I do hope that is comprehensive enough. Take care, catch up soon.

United's results, November 2015

ONE FA Cup result and four league results to bring you, now November's fixtures are complete:

Sky Bet League Two - Season 2015 - 2016.

FA Cup, Round 1: Saturday 7th: Plymouth Argyle 0 - United 2 (Attendance: 6005)

League: Saturday 14th: Bristol Rovers 2 - United 0 (Attendance: 6423)

League: Saturday 21st: United 2 - Portsmouth 2 (Attendance: 5503)

League: Tuesday 24th: Luton Town 3 - United 4 (Attendance: 7298)

League: Saturday 28th: United 3 - Crawley Town 1 (Attendance: 4641).

Carlisle United's festive fixtures begin with the second round of the FA Cup, away at non-league Welling United. Then there are four league fixtures: Oxford United (away), Notts County (home), Accrington Stanley (away) and Hartlepool United (home). C'mon ye Blues!

Le Bataclan: A light in the darkness.

AS the reverberations of the events in Paris continue, one survivor of the attack on Le Bataclan Theatre has given hope to the world, following a Facebook status update. That survivor is Isobel Bowdery. Isobel's post also showed the world that, despite the horror, the most beautiful love story can be found in the darkest of moments.

This was Isobel's personal Facebook profile picture in the aftermath of the Paris attacks, the face of the survivor whose status update would be read, liked, commented upon and shared all over the world. The status update was given a like by Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook.

Isobel was attending the Eagles of Death Metal concert at Le Bataclan Theatre with her boyfriend Amaury Baudoin. They were separated during the attack, but were reunited on the streets of Paris in the early hours of the Saturday morning.

Here are Isobel's words, from her Facebook status update, which introduced her to the world.

"you never think it will happen to you. It was just a friday night at a rock show. the atmosphere was so happy and everyone was dancing and smiling. and then when the men came through the front entrance and began the shooting, we naiively believed it was all part of the show. It wasn't just a terrorist attack, it was a massacre. Dozens of people were shot right infront of me. Pools of blood filled the floor. Cries of grown men who held their girlfriends dead bodies pierced the small music venue. Futures demolished, families heartbroken. in an instant. Shocked and alone, I pretended to be dead for over an hour, lying among people who could see their loved ones motionless.. Holding my breath, trying to not move, not cry - not giving those men the fear they longed to see. I was incredibly lucky to survive. But so many didn't. The people who had been there for the exact same reasons as I - to have a fun friday night were innocent. This world is cruel. And acts like this are suppose to highlight the depravity of humans and the images of those men circuling us like vultures will haunt me for the rest of my life. The way they meticoulsy aimed at shot people around the standing area i was in the centre of without any consideration for human life. It didn't feel real. i expected any moment for someone to say it was just a nightmare. But being a survivor of this horror lets me able to shed light on the heroes. To the man who reassured me and put his life on line to try and cover my brain whilst i whimpered, to the couple whose last words of love kept me believing the good in the world, to the police who succeded in rescuing hundreds of people, to the complete strangers who picked me up from the road and consoled me during the 45 minutes I truly believed the boy i loved was dead, to the injured man who i had mistaken for him and then on my recognition that he was not Amaury, held me and told me everything was going to be fine despite being all alone and scared himself, to the woman who opened her doors to the survivors, to the friend who offered me shelter and went out to buy new clothes so i wouldnt have to wear this blood stained top, to all of you who have sent caring messages of support - you make me believe this world has the potential to be better. to never let this happen again. but most of this is to the 80 people who were murdered inside that venue, who weren't as lucky, who didnt get to wake up today and to all the pain that their friends and families are going through. I am so sorry. There's nothing that will fix the pain. I feel priviledged to be there for their last breaths. And truly beliving that I would join them, I promise that their last thoughts were not on the animals who caused all this. It was thinking of the people they loved. As i lay down in the blood of strangers and waiting for my bullet to end my mere 22 years, I envisioned every face that I have ever loved and whispered I love you. over and over again. reflecting on the highlights of my life. Wishing that those i love knew just how much, wishing that they knew that no matter what happened to me, to keep belieivng in the good in people. to not let those men win. Last night, the lives of many were forever changed and it is up to us to be better people. to live lives that the innocent victims of this tragedy dreamt about but sadly will now never be able to fulfil. RIP angels. You will never be forgotten."

Isobel and Amaury went on to give an interview to Anderson Cooper on CNN, which is what I shall close this post with. Take a moment to think about those closest to you; We do not know what hand fate could deal us at any moment. Isobel and Amaury are the lucky ones. May their luck, and love, stand them in good stead for the future.

Paris, France, le 13 Novembre à 2015.

Lest We Forget.

The Results Board, October 2015.

OCTOBER was a month of League games for Carlisle United Football Club, with three home and three away games over the course of the month. Here are the results of those six fixtures.

Sky Bet League Two - Season 2015 - 2016.

League : Saturday 3rd : Stevenage 0 - United 1 (Attendance: 2999)

League : Saturday 10th : United 2 - Morecambe 3 (Attendance: 5303)

League : Saturday 17th : United 1 - Exeter City 0 (Attendance: 4021)

League : Tuesday 20th : Northampton Town 3 - United 2 (Attendance: 3642)

League : Saturday 24th : Wycombe Wanderers 1 - United 1 (Attendance: 3457)

League : Saturday 31st : United 3 - Yeovil Town 2 (Attendance: 4095)

The November fixtures begin Saturday 7th, away at Plymouth Argyle in the first round of the FA Cup, followed by four league fixtures: Bristol Rovers (away), Portsmouth (home), Luton Town (away) and Crawley Town (home).

Listening to Medium Wave in October.

AN enjoyable evening was spent, on Tuesday 20 October, tuning the medium wave band, beginning at the beginning, on 522 kHz. Here is what I heard that evening. Time in UTC (GMT); Frequencies in kiloHertz (kHz) :

• 1817 UTC, 531 kHz : Jil FM (Algeria), 600 kW via F'Kirina, Algeria. Choral singing, female speech, music. The Beatles - 'The Long And Winding Road'. Moderate to poor reception. To 1840 UTC.
• 1848 UTC, 540 kHz : Kossuth Radio (Hungary), 2 MW via Solt, Hungary. Speech from male and female, ID. Good to poor reception. To 1900 UTC.
• 1914 UTC, 549 kHz : U R 1 Persha Programa (Ukraine), 550 kW via Mykolaiv Luch, Ukraine. Music and speech from the National Radio Company of Ukraine. Moderate reception. To 1923 UTC.
• 1925 UTC, 549 kHz : Spirit Radio (Republic of Ireland), 11 / 25 kW via Carrickroe, Co Donegal, Ireland. Music, female speech including a 'Spirit Radio' ID. 'Spirit Radio, Passion For Life' ID. Evenings with Olga Kaye, 2000 UTC news and sport. Logged to 1945 UTC. Fair to poor reception.
• 1951 UTC, 549 kHz : Deutschlandfunk (Germany), 100 kW via Nordkirchen / Thurnau, Germany. Piano concerto. Male speech. Moderate to poor reception. To 2002 UTC.
• 2034 UTC, 576 kHz : RNE Radio 5 (Spain), 100 kW via Barcelona, Spain. Clear, male, Spanish speech. Poor reception. To 2041 UTC.
• 2046 UTC, 585 kHz : BBC Radio Scotland (UK), 2 kW via Dumfries, Scotland. 'Sportsound' Falkirk v Hibernian. Interview with Alan Stubbs. 2100 UTC news headlines: Motherwell & Clyde steelworks to be mothballed. Sport and weather. 'Another Country with Ricky Ross' : Owen Bradley: The Nashville Sound (Country music programme). Music: Patsy Cline 'Walking After Midnight'. 'Night Train To Memphis'. Logged to 2100 UTC. Strong to Moderate reception.
• 2111 UTC, 603 kHz : BBC Radio 4 (UK), 2 kW via Wrekenton, Newcastle - Upon - Tyne. 'The World Tonight' China's Xi Jinping's state visit to the UK, meeting the Royal Family. Strong, fair reception. To 2121 UTC.
• 2127 UTC, 603 kHz : France Info (France), 300 kW via Tramoyes, Lyon, France. Strong, clear speech, male speech regarding Bashar Assad, leader of wartorn Syria. Strong to moderate reception. Preview of the new Star Wars movie to be released. Champions League football update. To 2144 UTC.
• 2157 UTC, 621 kHz : RTBF (Belgium), 300 kW via Wavre, Belgium. Music, speech, female speech 'Bon soir', reads frequencies in kiloHertz. Music. Off air at 2202 UTC. Fair reception.
• 2207 UTC, 630 kHz : BBC Three Counties Radio (UK), 200 watts via Lewsey Farm, Luton. Music: Petula Clark 'Downtown'. Male speech, telephone callers. Music: The Corrs 'What Can I Do'. Music: 'My Boy Lollipop'. Poor reception. To 2235 UTC.

That's the October log complete.

Miss Townsend.

IT has been a while since this blog has celebrated Miss Roxanne Townsend, so here are a couple of great images of Roxi - The absolute beauty of the above image and then on a night out with Chanise Murphy.

Enjoy.

Wallpapers, Sunday 11 October 2015.

CELEBRATING the fabulous Taylor Swift with three wallpapers this week. The first one, above, is Taylor taking a selfie with Alan Carr during her visit to his show Chatty Man, which was broadcast Friday 24 October 2014, prior to the release of the album 1989, which was released the following Monday.  The second image was taken by Getty Images and is a beautiful shot of Taylor performing live:

The third image takes us back to 22 April 2014 and an image Taylor posted across her social media, when she was 'Looking for Easter eggs.....':

My goodness. Enjoy your week.

Happy Birthday! Ten Today!

A SHORT but important post. It was ten years ago this day that this blog came into being. You can link back to that very first post here. I would be interested to learn who the anonymous comment was posted by, I am sure that person made themselves known to me at the time, but due to the passage of time, it seems my memory may have mislaid that information!

Thank you to everyone who has visited this blog over the ten years, I have no plans to retire this blog anytime soon; To the contrary, you may have noticed the background template has been updated and expanded, something I did have in mind to mark the tenth anniversary of this blog.

If you would like to browse any of the posts from the past ten years, then you will find them all in the Blog Archive listed on the left of the page.

Enjoy the weekend.

Wallpaper of the Beach, 5 October 2015

OKAY, maybe not a beach, but not far off. Wallpaper of the Week is Wallpaper of the Beach this week, something this particular fixture reverts to from time to time. As a previous post included a link to Laura Robson's blog, then this week's wallpaper is an image Laura posted on social media almost twelve months ago; Surfboard aerobics in the Caribbean. It is an awesome image.

Enjoy.

That elusive fixture...

TWO DAYS ago, I posted what I thought was the roundup of the September fixtures for Carlisle United Football Club, but I was foiled by the fixture planner's computer, as the final fixture was this evening. So, here is that elusive fixture :

Sky Bet League Two - Season 2015-2016

Results for September 2015 :

League: Tuesday 29th: Leyton Orient 1 - United 2 (Attendance: 4408)

Good work Blues.

Sporty bits, September 2015

Sky Bet League Two - Season 2015-2016

Results for September 2015 :

Johnstone's Paint Trophy, Round 1: Tuesday 1st: Port Vale 1 - United 0 (Attendance: 2571)

League: Saturday 5th: United 3 - Barnet 2 (Att: 4925)

League: Saturday 12th: United 2 - Dagenham & Redbridge 1 (Att: 3871)

League: Saturday 19th: York City 2 - United 2 (Att: 3692)

Capital One Cup, Round 3: Wednesday 23rd: Liverpool 1 - United 1 (Att: 42518)

(After Extra Time, Liverpool won 3-2 on penalties)

League: Saturday 26th: United 0 - Newport County 1 (Att: 4402)

United still have one September fixture, away at Leyton Orient in Sky Bet League Two, on Tuesday 29th.

United have six League fixtures in October: Stevenage, Morecambe, Exeter City, Northampton Town, Wycombe Wanderers and Yeovil Town.

Laura the Explorer

As this is a sporting post, I shall link blogging and sport once again, courtesy of British tennis player Laura Robson, who has her own blog, Laura the Explorer, which I hope you will enjoy reading. Next summer will see the next Olympic games in Rio, a subject Laura has posted about on social media from time to time, as she hopes to represent Team GB on the tennis courts. To round off this post, here are some images of Laura representing Team GB at the London 2012 Olympics. Enjoy.

SUPERGIRL.

STILL Love this Asos cover from November 2014 - How to be a Supergirl by Taylor Swift.

Have a good week.

Wallpaper of the Week, 13 September 2015

THE next few weeks will lead up to the first anniversary of the release of 1989, Taylor Swift's album, written, recorded and produced with Max Martin and Johan Shelback.

The above image, this week's Wallpaper of the Week, is Taylor performing Welcome To New York, in New York, on the eve of the album release.

This week, Taylor tweeted that during the ongoing 1989 World Tour, she was honoured to perform Love Story in St Paul, on what was the seventh anniversary of the release of the song.

Enjoy.

He only saw her in his dreams.

MISS Taylor Alison Swift has released her latest single from her album '1989' and here is the accompanying video. This is 'Wildest Dreams', which, as of the evening of Monday 7 September, had amassed 36.1 Million views since the video was published on Taylor's official Vevo video channel on Sunday 30 August.

Enjoy.

Putting August to bed.

AUGUST is coming to a close, it is the Bank Holiday weekend and here on RFTFT is a feature which has been neglected for a very long while - A monthly round up of Carlisle United results and a preview of fixtures for the following month. As the new football season has begun, here are the results for August 2015 :

Sky Bet League Two - Season 2015-2016

August 2015

League: Saturday 8th: Mansfield 1 - United 1 (Attendance 4146)

Capital One Cup, Round 1: Tuesday 11th: United 3 - Chesterfield 1 (Att 2950)

League: Saturday 15th: United 4 - Cambridge United 4 (Att 6354)

League: Tuesday 18th: Plymouth 4 - United 1 (Att 6071)

League: Saturday 22nd: United 1 - AFC Wimbledon 1 (Att 5949)

Capital One Cup, Round 2: Tuesday 25th: QPR 1 - United 2 (Att 5501)

League: Saturday 29th: Hartlepool 2 - United 3 (Att 4935)

United have seven fixtures in September, beginning with a trip to Port Vale for the first round of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy, whilst later in the month, United visit Anfield, the home of Liverpool FC, in the third round of the Capital One Cup.

Medium Wave Roundup, August 2015

A RATHER warm Sunday was spent listening to the Medium Wave band and here is what I could hear. Log times in UTC (GMT); Frequencies in kiloHertz (kHz) :

• 1240 UTC: 1170 kHz: TFM 2, 320 watts via Stockton-On-Tees for Teesside. Music from Bobby Brown, Billy Ocean, ID for TFM 2. Music: Fleetwood Mac, ad break. News. Music from The Proclaimers, Dire Straits, Kate Bush. Good reception.
• 1325 UTC: 1215 kHz: Absolute Radio, up to 200 kW via Moorside Edge, West Yorkshire. Ad break, ID for Absolute Radio. Music: Queen 'Hammer To Fall', James Bay 'Hold Back The River'. Good to fair reception.
• 1400 UTC: 1242 kHz: Absolute Radio, 1 kW via Stockton-On-Tees. Music from The Waterboys 'Whole Of The Moon', Fatboy Slim 'Praise You'. Live from the Edinburgh Fringe. Good to fair reception.
• 1435 UTC, 1341 kHz: BBC Radio Ulster, 100 kW via Lisnagarvey, County Down, Northern Ireland. Male speech. Moderate reception.
• 1600 UTC: 1557 kHz: BBC Radio Lancashire, 250 watts via Oxcliffe, Lancashire. Piano accompanied by Operatic vocals. Moderate reception.

That's the list of broadcasts I heard in August.

Wallpapers of the week.

Guess who? It's Taylor!

Thank you August.

#LazyBlogging - 2 August 2015

Taylor Swift.

Enjoy.

Wallpapers of the Beach, 27 July 2015

THE SWIFT. Rolling Stone. Amazing combination. Enjoy.

To find out the origins of these images, take a look at the post below. 

Until next time...

Wallpapers of the week, 19 July 2015

ON September 25, 2014, Rolling Stone magazine published issue 1218 and the cover story was The New Life of Taylor Swift. It is to that issue of the magazine that this edition of Wallpapers of the week references. Yes, this edition is Wallpapers - Plural - As you get two this week, both taken from the stunning on location beach photo shoot for the magazine article. Enjoy.

Saturday Shortwave - July 2015

ONE WEEK ago, I spent the evening tuning the upper echelons of the Shortwave band. I was listening from 1900 UTC (GMT) on Saturday 11 July 2015, starting on the frequency of 17790 kHz Shortwave. Times in UTC (GMT); Frequencies in kHz (kiloHertz). Here is what I heard:

• 1909 UTC; 17790 kHz : Okeechobee, Florida is scheduled to be on the air, on this frequency, at this time, broadcasting to Africa. I am not sure if I heard a broadcast, as there was noise. I maybe could hear a voice - Wasn't sure.
• 1922 UTC; 17855 kHz : Music on this frequency in the 16 metreband, female speech. Reception: Moderate. Spanish language, male and female voices, music. Transpired to be Radio Exterior de Espana, Spain, broadcasting to North America via Noblejas, Spain. 200 kW transmission. Possibly the 'Tablero Deportivo' programme.
• 1945 UTC; 17885 kHz : Males in conversation. Reception: Moderate. Female speech, music. This is the BBC, Hausa language to Africa via Ascension Island, 250 kW transmission.

That concludes the Shortwave logs, until next time. To conclude this post, I shall add a couple of pictures, with captions to explain. Enjoy.

107.5 Eden FM is the not-for-profit, voluntary Community radio station for Penrith and the Eden Valley.

October 2014, Eden FM studio 1: Left to right: Martin Cowin (Presenter / Director), Lee Quinn (Chairman), Rory Stewart (MP for Penrith & The Border).

Midsummer Medium Wave logs

FRIDAY 3 July 2015, the evening of, was spent beside the Roberts R881, tuned to the Medium Wave band and here is what I heard. Times in UTC / GMT; Frequencies in kiloHertz (kHz) :

• 1925 UTC; 999 kHz : Rock FM 2, Preston. Music: The Cutting Crew, speech, ad break. Johnny Cash 'Ring of Fire'. James Blunt. Elvis Presley 'Burning Love'. The Style Council, Maroon 5. Presenter: Ray Rose. Transmission: 800 watts via Longton for Preston - Blackpool. Reception: Moderate to poor.
• 1952 UTC; 1008 kHz : Groot Nieuws Radio, Veenendaal, HOL (Holland). Music, English lyrics, female vocalist. 'Groot Nieuws Radio' translates as 'Great News Radio'. Dutch language service. Reception: Moderate to poor.

Sometimes, the Medium Wave band can be chaotic, and at 2012 UTC, on the frequency of 1035 kHz, came so many possibilities. Some of the programming I heard included female speech, male speech, music: Bob Marley 'One Love'. Just some of the broadcasts on the frequency included Lyca Dilse (Crystal Palace, London), BBC Radio Sheffield (BBC Asian Network), Northsound 2 (Aberdeen), WestSound (Ayr). Reception: Moderate to poor.

• 2035 UTC; 1044 kHz : Cadena SER, SER Euskadi, Radio San Sebastian, Spain. Male and female speech. Transmission: 10kW (kiloWatts) via San Sebastian, Spain. Reception: Poor.
• 2044 UTC; 1053 kHz : TalkSport, Droitwich. Ad break: Vodafone. NatWest T20 Cricket. Male hosts speaking of the FIFA Women's Football World Cup, men's FIFA World Cup, Le Tour de France. Newcastle United Football Club recruit Steve Mclaren as head coach. Tweets. Transmission: Up to 500 kW via Droitwich. Reception: Good.
• 2059 UTC; 1071 kHz : TalkSport, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Speech, ID, news headlines. Wimbledon Tennis: Heather Watson (GB) takes Serena Williams (US) to three sets; Williams wins. 1kW via Wrekenton, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Reception: Moderate to poor.
• 2108 UTC; 1089 kHz : TalkSport, Moorside Edge. Speech: Male hosts, films, birthdays. The new head coach of West Ham United is Slaven Bilic. Up to 400 kW via Moorside Edge (North England). Reception: Moderate.
• 2127 UTC; 1107 kHz : AFN Europe, Germany. Speech, ad break, music: Neil Diamond 'Song Sung Blue'. AFN Europe is Armed Forces Network Europe; the American Forces broadcaster in Europe. Transmission via Amberg, Grafenwoehr, Vilseck, Germany.

It could have been the battle of the BBC Locals on 1116 kHz at 2138 UTC, I could hear female speech. Broadcasts listed on the frequency: BBC Radio Derby (1kW) and BBC Radio Guernsey (500 watts), plus whatever else was coming in from Europe at the time.

• 2214 UTC; 1125 kHz : RTBF VivaCite, Wavre, Belgium. Speech - Not BBC Wales.

The battle of the commercials was taking place on 1152 kHz at 2230 UTC. I heard conflicting music tracks from Rose Royce 'Love Don't Live Here Anymore', Whitney Houston, male speech. On this frequency at that time were LBC (London), Clyde (Glasgow), Free (Birmingham), Metro (Newcastle-upon-Tyne), Key (Manchester) and Smooth (Norfolk / Plymouth). I could hear more than one broadcast!

• 2245 UTC; 1161 kHz : Tay 2, Dundee. Music: Crowded House 'Fall At Your Feet', Dionne Warwick? 'All The Love In The World'. Male speech, female speech, ID for Tay 2. Madonna? 'Caught In The Middle'? Reception: Good to moderate. Transmission: 1.4 kW via Greenside Scalp, Dundee. Promo, ad break: Homebase. Midnight news bulletin. ID. Music: Elton John 'Rocket Man', Dexys Midnight Runners 'Geno'. Gerry Rafferty 'Baker Street', Chris Rea 'Auberge / Let's Dance'. Ad break: Motorbikes for sale. George Harrison 'My Sweet Lord'.

At 2325 UTC (GMT), I called it a night.

Baby now we got Bad Blood.

ONE week has passed since Taylor Swift released the Music Video of  Bad Blood, taken from the album 1989.

I'll bring you the video at the close of this post, before that I will bring you the cast list of the short film - But first, meet Catastrophe, Arsyn and Mother Chucker :

The cast list of Bad Blood is as follows :

TAYLOR as Catastrophe

Selena Gomez as Arsyn

Cindy Crawford as Headmistress

Cara Delevingne as Mother Chucker

Mariska Hargitay as Justice

Ellen Pompeo as Luna

Martha Hunt as Homeslice

Jessica Alba as Domino

Serayah as Dilemma

Karlie Kloss as Knockout

Kendrick Lamar as Welvin Da Great

Lena Dunham as Lucky Fiori

Hailee Steinfeld as The Trinity

Ellie Goulding as Destructa X

Gigi Hadid as Slay-Z

Hayley Williams as The Crimson Curse

Zendaya as Cut-Throat

Lily Aldridge as Frostbyte.

I have whet your appetite more than enough, so here is Bad Blood!

Enjoy.

Another first for Abbie

REPORTING FROM THE FOX TOWER has, for a long while, supported the career of Miss Abbie J Steele and her career as an actress, director and model took another huge step this month, when Abbie featured in her first music video, which I will bring you in a moment.

First of all, to bring you up to speed with Abbie and the support this blog has given her, click here to go to the October 2014 post 'Autumn with Abbie', which is the most recent post on this blog to feature Miss Steele. That post includes links to previous posts featuring Abbie.

You can also find out more about Abbie by visiting her website; Follow her on Twitter and 'Like' her Facebook page.

Here are some stills of Abbie in the video :

Here is the video : Desire - Under Your Spell.

Enjoy.

A few notes...

THIS IS how a Saturday night rolls with me. Yes, it is this exciting.

This blog will reach the milestone of a decade later this year, I am considering refreshing the look of the page, which has remained the same since creation. That's for another day.

THURSDAY 7th May was a mixed day. I was in the congregation at Warcop to say goodbye to Neil, a gentleman I knew all my life and will be remembered. The sun shone brightly over St Columba's.

A visit to the Memorial Hall in Brough followed, so I could cast my votes in the Parliamentary and District elections. The Memorial Hall has been in situ for ninety years, respecting those who fought in the Great War a century ago.

I spent a short while mid afternoon listening to the Short Wave band on my radio. I heard WWCR-1, Nashville TN USA, on the frequency of 15825 kHz, broadcasting English to Europe, the Middle East and the Americas. The programmes I heard were 'Tell It From Calvery' and the Radio Bible Hour. Reception was moderate.

I also heard Radio Africa (Pan American Broadcasting) on 17790 kHz. The programme I heard included a female vocalist. Reception was moderate.

The evening was taken over by the reults of the General Election - I don't think any extra views need to be added to the events!

Those are the notes I wished to add to this blog. Do continue to visit and support!

An evening by the radio.

Wednesday 22 April 2015 : I sat in the bedroom of my home, under a sky which was still very blue in the evening dark, complete with a bright crescent moon. At 20:02 UTC, I was tuned to 954 kHz Medium Wave, ready to spend a couple of hours listening to whatever I would hear. Over the years I have collected much information about the broadcasts I could have heard, many frequencies were recognisable, though after a long day, there were moments of brain fade, so where I could not conclusively find the information I required in my own sources, I found information online which concurred with my notes. Here are the broadcasts I heard on that Wednesday evening - Times are UTC (GMT); Frequencies are kHz (kiloHertz) :

• 20:02 UTC, 954 kHz : CRo Plus, Male and female speech, with jingles, stabs and breaks. Czech language. Moderate reception via Brno, Czech Republic, 200 kW (kiloWatt) transmission. To 2016 UTC.
• 2034 UTC, 954 kHz : Onda Cero Radio, Live commentary of football. Spanish language. Onda Cero broadcasts from Madrid, Spain, 20 kW. Moderate reception. To 2043 UTC.
• 2053 UTC, 972 kHz : Radio Nacional, Spanish language, affected by propagation. Football commentary. Transmission from Lugo, Spain. To 2116 UTC.
• 2116 UTC, 981 kHz  - I was torn an confused. I was unsure of my languages and nations. My sources were contradictory; The old said Algiers - The language I could hear was French and the Algerians do speak French, don't they? The new said Czech Republic. The broadcast was a mix of speech and music, which to my ear was French. I heard Radio Algerie Chaine 2, which broadcasts around 300 to 600 kW. To 2125 UTC.
• 2125 UTC, 990 kHz : Cadena SER, Speech from two males in the Spanish language. Time pips at 2130 UTC. Cadena SER via Monte Archanda, Bilbao, Spain, 10 kW. To 2136 UTC.
• 2136 UTC, 999 kHz : Rai Radio 1, Female and male voices, live from Turin, Italy. Female is the dominant speaker.Propagation playing its part in reception. Relay of the Rai Radio 1 FM service via Volpiano, Torino (Turin). 50 kW. To 2146 UTC.

Sleep was calling me by that point, so at 2146 UTC (10:46pm BST), I signed off on 999 kHz. I enjoyed the evening listening to that busy band.

Goodnight.

Love Miss Sharapova.

MISS MARIA SHARAPOVA is the subject of this post on RFTFT, as Sunday 19 April 2015 is Maria's twenty-eighth Birthday. I present four pictures from the last year celebrating Maria and her achievements. Enjoy.

The first image, above, is Maria celebrating winning in Paris with the trophy, August 2014.

Above : Maria on court, September 2014.

Above : Mexico, Acapulco, February 2015.

Above : Mexico, Acapulco Beach, February 2015.

Happy Birthday Maria!

The Cyclists are coming...

DURING the past week, the route of the 2015 Tour of Britain was announced and two of the stages have a start or finish here in Cumbria. First is the start of stage three on Tuesday 8 September. The cyclists will start the stage in Cockermouth, travelling north along the coast from Maryport to Silloth-on-Solway, through the Solway Coast AONB [Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty] to Carlisle and then into Scotland, for the finish at Floors Castle, Kelso.

Stage five, as pictured above, takes place Thursday 10 September, starting in the Northumbrian town of Prudhoe, on to Hexham, where the route goes north to join the Military Road, following the line of Hadrian's Wall westwards, entering Cumbria to pass through Brampton before heading south to Cumrew, Plumpton and Dockray, then taking in Aira Force and Ullswater. The route then turns northeasterly to Penrith and Melmerby - The final part of the stage is the climb to Hartside.

Start planning your place on the route now!

News from the 19 Metre Band

THE 19 Metre Band is part of the Short Wave radio band and I listened to that particular spectrum of radio frequencies on the evening of Tuesday 10 March 2015. Follows is a list of what I heard that evening; As always, times in UTC (GMT) and frequencies in kiloHertz (kHz). Station names contain a link to their website.

• 2057 UTC, 15490 kHz : Radio Exterior de Espana, Spanish language football commentary, believed to be Real Madrid v Shalke in the Champions League. This broadcast was directed to the Middle East and Asia. Reception was moderate to poor. To 2113 UTC.
• 2119 UTC, 15580 kHz : Voice of America, Music - LOUD music - on Short Wave! Ariana Grande 'The Only One'. The family of Marvin Gaye are suing Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams over the song 'Blurred Lines', which samples a Marvin Gaye song. Rihanna 'Don't Stop The Music'. Mark Ronson 'Uptown Funk'. Fergie 'LA Love'. The presenter is Larry London. One Direction 'Little Things'. This was the 'Border Crossings' / VOA1 programme, English to Africa via Greenville NC [North Carolina] USA (An IBB transmission site). Reception was good. To 2139 UTC.
• 2143 UTC, 15610 kHz : WEWN (EWTN) Radio, English speech from the show 'Kresta in the Afternoon', presented by Al Kresta, 'Brought to you from Catholic Business Pages .com'. The show closes prior to the top of the hour, IDs for EWTN and WEWN, broadcasting from Birmingham AL [Alabama] USA. Frequency announcement for this hour [2200 UTC]: 15610 kHz. 'EWTN Newslink' carries the latest news stories from the Vatican. For the next two hours, the show is 'Catholic Answers Live'. Reception is good. To 2200 UTC.
• 2209 UTC, 15770 kHz : Overcomer Ministry, speech carries over the airwaves from Okeechobee FL [Florida] USA (WRMI - World Radio Miami International transmitter), the broadcast is the voice of Brother Stair on the Overcomer Ministry, broadcasting from Okeechobee to Europe and America. Includes a break for music. Brother Stair talking about the Second World War, the Japanese attack on the American base Pearl Harbour. Break for music. Reception was fair. To 2221 UTC.

Good to hear America with so much content in a contracting Short Wave band! Enjoy.

On the Radio : February 2015

I listened to the Medium wave band for a couple of hours, during the evening of Monday 23 February. Here is what I heard. Times in UTC (GMT), frequencies in kiloHertz (kHz). The station names contain a link to their website.

• 2106 UTC, 900 kHz, Radio Popular / Herri Irratia, Spanish language broadcast from Bilbao, Spain. Speech and music, including Whitney Houston 'The Greatest Love Of All'. Moderate reception. To 2124 UTC.
• 2134 UTC, 909 kHz, BBC Radio Five Live, 'The Tuffers & Vaughany Cricket Show' with Phil Tuffnell, Michael Vaughan and Mark Chapman. Topic of conversation is the current Cricket World Cup - England recorded their first win of the tournament over Scotland. The Test Match Special team are based in Canberra. Scotland's next match was against Afghanistan; The Afghan team coach - An Englishman - is interviewed. This transmission is up to 200 kiloWatts - The highest power broadcast is from Moorside Edge, West Yorkshire. Moderate reception. To 2148 UTC.
• 2213 UTC, 945 kHz, Smooth Radio, Music: The Style Council 'You're The Best Thing'; Berlin 'Take My Breath Away'. Varying levels of reception. ID? Soul track. The Pretenders 'I'll Stand By You'; Bee Gees 'How Deep Is Your Love'; REM 'Everybody Hurts'. Moderate reception: This transmission is from Sussex - The Bexhill transmitter, 700 Watts. To 2236 UTC.
• 2243 UTC, 954 kHz, CRo Plus, Czech language broadcast from Brno, Czech Republic. Female speech, with other male and female voices. 200 kiloWatt transmission. To 2300 UTC.

Whilst visiting the websites for the broadcasts above, the website for CRo Plus, operated by Czech Radio, based in Prague (Czech Republic), has an English language portal, which can be accessed here.

I also 'screen grabbed' the frequencies page from the website, which has a Google Street View image of the transmission site in the Czech Republic, which I heard here in the UK. Yes, I am an anorak. Here is the image:

Enjoy.