Medium Wave Logs, December 2014

THIS FINAL post of 2014 brings details of the evening of Saturday 27 December, which I spent tuning the medium wave band of my radio and here is what I heard (All times are UTC / GMT, frequencies in kHz [kiloHertz], power in kiloWatt [kW] ):

• 2028 UTC, 756 kHz, BBC Radio Cumbria, 1 kW via Brisco, Carlisle. Moderate reception. 'BBC Introducing' with Nell Dunn. To 2036 UTC.
• 2114 UTC, 810 kHz, BBC Scotland, 100 kW via Westerglen, Stirlingshire. Good to moderate reception. The best pipe bands of 2014. To 2123 UTC.
• 2140 UTC, 837 kHz, BBC Radio Cumbria, 1 kW via Barrow in Furness. Strong to moderate reception. 'BBC Introducing' with Nell Dunn - Music from Elton John. To 2150.
• 2206 UTC, 855 kHz, Radio Nacional de Espana, 300 kW via Murcia, Spain. Strong to moderate reception. RNE-1 with male host, speech and music. To 2227 UTC.
• 2230 UTC, 864 kHz, 'La City / France Bleu' (Presumed), 300 kW via Paris, France. Strong to good reception. Female host with Station ID and music. To 2254 UTC.
• 2317 UTC, 882 kHz, BBC Radio Wales, 100 kW via Washford or other sites. Strong to good reception. Christmas mixtape music. To 2337 UTC.
• 2349 UTC, 900 kHz, RAI Uno (presumed), 600 kW via Milan, Italy. Good to moderate reception. Male host, Italian language, music, possible co-channel interference.

I hope to browse the short wave band in the new year of 2015, bringing the results here, on Reporting From The Fox Tower. I would like to wish you all a Happy New Year!

Townsend's Mexico - Part Five!

PART Five is the final part of Townsend's Mexico - For now - Celebrating the make up artist, model, one-time WAG and singer Roxanne Townsend. This image was posted by Roxi on her Twitter account, in reflective mood, when she captioned the image "I need to feel the heat on my body", which rings true, especially now that we are in the deepest of winter.

I do hope that you have enjoyed Townsend's Mexico - Though I have kept back a couple of items, so that Roxi will return in 2015. The plan is to keep up to date with Roxi, especially with her work as a make up artist and model. With regards her singing, Roxi was once part of the girl band Demo, which comprised Roxi, Sam Grierson, Biannca Lake and Malika Jones. They did audition for The X Factor, but were unsuccessful and disbanded sometime later.

The ultimate beach babe will be back in 2015!

Enjoy.

A Birthday and a Beach

SITTING in front of the keyboard and the screen on the December evening of Saturday the thirteenth, I reflect upon another phenomenal year for Miss Taylor Alison Swift, pictured above, who is celebrating her Birthday on this day. This blog celebrated Miss Swift's Birthday on this date in 2013 too, which is the marker from where we will take a look at Taylor's incredible year. Miss Swift had performed at the 2013 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, where she smashed it with a live performance of I Knew You Were Trouble. Taylor Alison was in the final stages of the RED Tour in Australia as 2013 became 2014, the Tour visiting the O2 Arena in London for four sold out nights, as well as a whistle stop tour of Europe, as Winter became Spring.

At this point, Taylor was, as we now know, busy working on the new album, whilst taking a beach holiday, which was featured here on RFTFT recently - The 'Looking for Easter Eggs' photograph. It was Taylor's much anticipated Yahoo! Livestream web broadcast in early August that gave Taylor the moment to shine in front of her international audience, unveiling the album 1989 and the single, Shake It Off. The single became available to purchase, whilst the album became available on pre-sale. The television and radio promotional tour followed, including UK visits to BBC Radio 1, The Graham Norton Show on BBC 1 and Alan Carr: Chatty Man on Channel 4, as well as The X Factor on ITV 1. 1989 was released worldwide in late October, the packaging of the physical CD includes a cover slipcase and a set of 'Photo's from Taylor'. The album entered the charts at number one.

To complete the circle, Taylor performed at the 2014 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, performing Blank Space and Style, whilst dressing appropriately for the occasion, that is, short, skimpy and sheer.

#HappyBirthdayTaylorSwift

Townsend's Mexico - Part Four!

MISS ROXANNE Townsend visited Mexico in Spring 2014 and here is another image that she shared on social media, which received a very true comment of  "Why is this face and body not on every billboard poster, coffee table magazine cover and TV show?"

I think you would agree; Red Hot Roxi is so sexy.

Enjoy.

Wallpaper of the Beach, 6 December 2014

YOU may also refer to this post as 'Townsend's Mexico - Part Three!', as I continue to share another image from the one-time X Factor auditionee and one-time wag, the fabulous Miss Roxanne Townsend. This series of images has its own hashtag, #Roxico, which is a combination of Roxi and Mexico, obviously. The above image of the babe on the beach has a resolution of 1024 x 768, which makes it ideal for a desktop wallpaper, so click on the above image to find out if it is the right size for your desktop.

Enjoy!

#Roxico

Townsend's Mexico - Part Two!

DECEMBER IS HERE and this blog goes into 'review of the year' mode as the year draws to a close. I am pleased to bring you Townsend's Mexico - Part Two! Celebrating the magnificent Miss Roxanne Townsend and her April 2014 trip to Mexico, which Roxi shared on social media, in the form of a selection of photographs, which are being shared here, with Roxi's blessing. Show your support for Roxi by following her on Twitter. Enjoy #Roxico!

Townsend's Mexico - Part One!

REPORTING FROM The Fox Tower is celebrating the amazing Roxanne 'Roxi' Townsend, a British model, stylist, make up artist and singer - More of which in upcoming posts on this blog. In the Spring of 2014, Roxi enjoyed a hot holiday in Mexico, from which the above image was taken. To learn more about Roxi, follow her on Twitter. The above image was one of the first she posted on social media in April 2014, from Mexico, which shows how very different April in Mexico is, compared to April in the UK!

TAYLOR SWIFT - The 'Blank Space' Video

September 2014 featured the 'Welcome To 1989!' post here on RFTFT, which celebrated Taylor Swift's Yahoo! Livestream broadcast, in which Taylor announced the arrival of the album '1989' and the first single from it, 'Shake It Off'. The blog post in September featured the 'Shake It Off' video, so I would like to follow up by bringing you the official music video of track two from '1989', I present 'Blank Space'.

Enjoy.

Wallpaper of the Beach, 15 November 2014

FOLLOWING LAST week's post, Taylor by the Sea, this post follows up the comparison to the previous Wallpaper of the Beach, which featured Miss Maria Sharapova. The above image was originally posted by Miss Taylor Swift on social media over the course of Easter 2014, the image she described as 'Looking for Easter eggs'. Miss Swift would go on to feature in a photoshoot for Rolling Stone magazine, at the beach, which may lead to a future Wallpaper of the Beach.

Moving away from beaches and the sea for now, I would also like to share an image of Taylor taken earlier in 2014, when she was pictured looking very stylish - Does the colour of her bag match her trousers? - when she was pictured out and about with her first cat, Meredith, in a bag that the press named her 'pussy purse'. I shall leave you with that image to enjoy, until next time.

Taylor by the Sea

LOVE THIS image that Taylor Swift posted on her social media earlier this year, especially now autumn is upon us. Taylor has featured in some more recent photoshoots at the beach, which I intend to bring you here on RFTFT.

Until then -

Enjoy.

Wallpaper of the Beach: 2 November 2014

FIRST of all, may I thank you, the visitors to Reporting From The Fox Tower, for now making over thirty thousand visits to this blog, now in the ninth year of existence. The title of this post is a play on words of the regular feature Wallpaper of the Week, but for this edition it is on the beach, with Maria Sharapova at the forefront of the image. I don't think I need say much more. Thank you all once again for continuing to visit this humble blog.

Enjoy.

Autumn with Abbie

REGULAR visitors to Reporting From The Fox Tower will know I am a supporter of the career of Miss Abbie J Steele, pictured above.

Abbie has a new website, abbiesteele.co.uk where you can follow her career as an Actress and a Model, whilst finding all about her as a person and view videos of her work, the photographic and runway portfolios, as well as reading the blog on her website. The site also has links to Abbie on the social media sites of Linkedin, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. You can also subscribe to Abbie's newsletter via email.

One of Abbie's most recent photoshoots was a bridalwear shoot, with a backdrop of restored railway rolling stock, which links nicely to the previous posting from the Eden Vally Railway at Warcop!

I hope this update has been informative. My previous posting, An Appreciation of Abbie, posted Saturday 14 June 2014, can be viewed here.

Until next time, enjoy.

Revival of the Railways

FOR this post on RFTFT, I'd like to share some photographs from Easter Sunday, 2014. That day, I visited the Eden Valley Railway at Warcop, as part of the Classic Commercial Vehicle Rally, which had a bus service running to and from the railway. I enjoy visiting the site; The facilities the railway site has are of great interest. They host an 'Emporium', from which you can browse and purchase such a wide range of goods, they also have refreshments served at 'The Buffer Stop', from where I purchased a drink and a couple of postcards, which reproduced the railway posters from days gone by. You can also enjoy the views of the surrounding fells from here.

The building is also home to two model railway layouts, which are intended for younger visitors, but those of all ages were enjoying the model railway on Easter Sunday!

Upon arriving at the site, your admission fee is also the point from where you are issued tickets to take the 2.2 mile train journey on this beautiful, revived line. The platform, seen in the above photographs, is next to a building which features a traditional railway clock, as picured here.

On the way to the platform, you pass the beautifully restored signal box, which is pictured here.

During your journey, you will be joined by the volunteers taking the roles of the Station Master and the ticket inspectors, who will clip your ticket as you enjoy the views of Warcop, Sandford and the surrounding area.

It is a thoroughly enjoyable day out. The passenger train services for 2014 have now ended, but do make a note in your diary for Easter 2015, when they resume. For more information, visit the Eden Valley Railway website.

Enjoy.

Attack of the Lego shark!

PLEASE, PLEASE be aware of that most VICIOUS of creatures, the Lego shark. The picture above shows when I was the victim of said beast earlier this year, when it was meant to be under the control of Miss Zoë Badder - But the Lego shark escaped from its supposedly 'safe enclosure' (her handbag) and took a big chunk out of my finger. Thankfully, I have made a full recovery. So please be warned of the Lego shark...

Welcome to 1989!

ON THE EVENING of Monday 18 August, Miss Taylor Alison Swift hosted a long awaited Livestream (webcast) via Yahoo! As pictured above. The above image was taken during the final ten minute countdown to the half-hour broadcast, live from the Empire State Building, New York City, at 5pm Eastern Standard Time, which was 10pm British Summer Time. Taylor wore a white crop top with matching white skirt, as you can see in the next image, taken during the Livestream broadcast:

Oh yes, Taylor did look rather tanned and gorgeous during the broadcast too, in the run up to which Taylor Tweeted that is was "Time to reveal some secrets" and we weren't disappointed. First was the announcement of the new track 'Shake It Off', which was played as an audio track during the broadcast. That was followed quickly by the announcement of the new album, '1989', which is to be released Monday 27 October. The cover of the album was also unveiled during the broadcast:

The broadcast also included a live audience at the Empire State Building and groups of fans at Livestream parties at international locations, such as Canada and Norway. Taylor took questions from social media, which had been submitted prior to the broadcast, one of which asked if any videos would accompany the new tracks. It was at this point Taylor aired the video for 'Shake It Off':

The broadcast was rounded off with the news that '1989' is available to pre-order via Taylor's website and 'Shake It Off' is available to purchase and download. Taylor closed the broadcast with the words "There's no sale like a pre-sale" as social media went into overdrive and all the details of the album and single were available on Taylor's website. The website page is here and link to Taylor's Facebook page here. Find out more about Taylor's UK chart positions via the Official Charts Company website. 

That's the latest news regarding Taylor Swift, I'm Martin Cowin.

Enjoy.

An August post! (Better late than...)

AUGUST MAY almost be over, but the sun is still shining and the day is good. Apologies for not posting throughout the month of August, I hope to be back with comprehensive postings over the coming days / weeks / months(!), bringing you some of my thoughts regarding my interests, including sports updates, including football, tennis and cricket.

I hope to catch up with Abbie Steele to bring the joint article that has been mooted since the last post (which you can find if you click Abbie's name) and to bring you all of Abbie's latest social media and website news, as well as all the news from her career as a professional model.

Also, I hope to reflect on the continuing work of Eden FM Radio - now broadcasting on 107.5 FM as well as online.
There was also the news from Taylor Swift this summer, regarding her new single, video and album, so that may be a priority.
Enjoy the remainder of Summer 2014 and stay with Reporting From The Fox Tower!

Wallpaper of the week: .png edition

TO prove the versatility of this here blog, Wallpaper of the Week refers back to the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2013, at which Taylor Swift, pictured above, performed 'I Knew You Were Trouble.' live and this here blog marked the occasion last November with a post 'Live from the Catwalk'.

This post would like to follow the lead of the post last November, in making the point that Miss Swift does have fine legs and there is a rumour that Miss Swift may have been offered the role of a model at the next VS Fashion Show later this year! The show this year is in London.

The Union Flag, on which the design of  Miss Swift's dress was based, has never looked better.

Enjoy.

A Swift one...

I Do hope you are enjoying the fantastic summer weather - Well, the summer is in full swing where I am - and what is better on a summer day, than a Swift one. Oh yes. So, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, Miss Taylor Alison Swift, singer, musician, actress, model.

Enjoy.

An Appreciation of Abbie

TAKING time out from the FIFA World Cup 2014 to take time to remind you of the thread in support of Miss Abbie J Steele, which was titled Then and Now. In support of Abbie, RFTFT will bring you all the latest details of her current work, as an actress and model, in a future post. That posting will include links to Abbie's social media sites and her new look website, which is being created at the moment. I am also hoping Abbie herself will write a few lines for this blog, which would be very much appreciated.

For now, I shall close this posting with an image of Abbie, taken late 2013 from a professional photoshoot, which I hope you enjoy.

Welcome to Summer!

SUNDAY the first of June has arrived and this is the month that the FIFA World Cup will begin. This blog, though, is going to take a look back at the football season which has recently concluded with cup finals and play-off finals at all levels. Was your team in the hall of fame or the hall of shame? Here are all the details of who did what in 2013 - 2014. Enjoy.

• Champions League winners: Real Madrid
• Europa League winners: Sevilla
• FA Cup winners: Arsenal
• Capital One (League) Cup winners: Manchester CITY
• Johnstone Paint Trophy winners: Peterborough United
• FA Trophy winners: Cambridge United
• FA Vase winners: Scholing FC

• Premier League Champions: Manchester CITY
• Relegated: Norwich City, Fulham, Cardiff City.

• Championship winners: Leicester City
• Promoted: Burnley
• Play-off winners: QPR
• Relegated: Doncaster Rovers, Barnsley, Yeovil Town.

• League One Champions: Wolverhampton Wanderers
• Promoted: Brentford
• Play-off winners: Rotherham United
• Relegated: Tranmere Rovers, Carlisle United, Shrewsbury Town, Stevenage.

• League Two Champions: Chesterfield
• Promoted: Scunthorpe, Rochdale.
• Play-off winners: Fleetwood Town
• Relegated: Bristol Rovers, Torquay.

• Conference Champions: Luton Town
• Promoted via Play-off: Cambridge United
• Relegated: Chester, Dartford, Tamworth, Hyde.

So it's a congratulations to both Manchester CITY and Cambridge United, both double winners at opposite ends of the football league. That concludes the 2013 - 2014 football season. Enjoy the World Cup, enjoy the summer.

Miss Kournikova!

REPORTING From The Fox Tower would like to mark the summer season of tennis played on clay and on grass by paying homage to Miss Anna Kournikova, pictured above. We would also like to take this opportunity to link back to a post in honour of Miss Kournikova's Birthday last summer, a post entitled '#WinningIsn'tAlwaysPretty', which you can view here. The hashtag is explained in the post. As with the post last summer, access Anna's Facebook page, which also appears to be the role of her official website.

Roll on Summer, let's have a good one.

Get this blog on your mobile device!

HERE is the QR code which should, hopefully, enable you to visit this blog on your mobile device. Which means you could access these ramblings from anywhere. Enjoy...