Jessica 6 in 1984

I have been ridiculously busy over the last few weeks (all work and no play makes Jessica a crappy blogger)

However, I did find time to listen to a myriad of treats from 1984 and choose a few to share with you - my 1984 show is now available as a podcast here

This month's show includes selections from Black Flag, Special AKA, The Smiths, Wang Chung and Colourbox - you can see the full playlist here

In January I will be in 1952 (I like to make my life difficult) so if you'd like to help and make a suggestion for a song - or a year you'd like me to visit in 2011, please get in touch via Twitter or by e-mail

Have a wonderful festive season and I'll be back on 4th January wearing my poodle skirt and pearls... hope you'll join me x

Jessica 6 in 1971

You can now download my 1971 show as a podcast, available here

This month's show includes selections from Leonard Cohen, T Rex, The Supremes and Can, as well as many more. The full playlist for this show is available here

Thanks to Emma Mitchell, who helped me reach a final playlist for 1971 - if you would like to request a year or put in some suggestions for my next show, when I'll be in 1984, you can get in touch via e-mail or twitter

And, remember, it's RadioNowhere's 8th birthday on 11th November - if you can provide even the smallest gift to help us stay on air, we'll be your best friend forever... to donate, click here

Enjoy!!

I like to read books

I have just started reading George Orwell's 1984, so yes, I am 60 years behind the rest of the world! I have only read 30 pages so far, but already I am entranced... perhaps the book should have been titled 2010. Someone was talking to be about 1984 the other day, and I thought 'I really must read it' so now I am. There are so many things already that anger me about present-day society that I have found explained, like the term prolefeed to describe 'rubbishy newspapers containing almost nothing except sport, crime and astrology' (I see they had The Sun even then!) and crappy entertainment designed to anaesthetise the masses (so they also had ITV4).

I just finished The Comedians by Graham Greene, which is set in 1950s Haiti and really brings to life a vision of living there at such a volatile time in the country's history - obviously fictionalised, but from the Introduction, it appears that Graham Greene spent a lot of time in Port-au-Prince, and made quite an enemy of 'Papa Doc' Duvalier, who tried to discredit Greene's reputation. The themes include love, commitment, status and goodwill. It's a great book, but if, like me, you aren't fluent in French, you might want to have a French-English dictionary by your side, just so that you can get the best from the text.

I borrowed both of these books from the library (yay to libraries) but will probably buy them both anyway as they are well worth another read. Away to zShops...