John Walker's Electronic House

Goodness, it’s Rum Doings 66. While not discussing whether the decimalisation experiment has been a failure, we tuck into Christmas pudding wine. And then dig up the argument over whether the Amiga or Atari was best (it was the Atari). Then we embark on an episode based on discussions inspired by the following randomly selected Wikipedia articles:

Bosko (cartoons, Loony Tunes Back In Action, Mary Poppins, CAP Alert)

Humber—St. George’s—St. Barbe (Yorkshire Ridings, island hopping, aeroplane maps, long flights and upper class, the S9 mp4 player, They’re Back, the Kindle, sharing is bad)

Tiny Broken Heart (Tragic Songs, alien robots)

Silchar (Why we don’t want to go to India, Chinese democracy)

Ribbon-tailed Astrapia (what we can learn from peacocks, John’s split wedding, the plan for cream teas, complete lack of million pound donations)

Nut (nuts)

Atasca (moth wrangling, the biggest thing we’d kill, The Man With Two Brains)

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[audio: http://rumdoings.jellycast.com/files/audio/rumdoings_e66.mp3]

Filled with the spirit of Spring, in episode 65 of Rum Doings we don’t discuss whether we’ve forgotten the true meaning of Easter. Then almost immediately start complaining about how rubbish schools are. And urinals. In fact, there’s much wee-wee discussion, including an innovative idea for bed weeing.

Also, wow, we have way more listeners than we thought. You’re one of around 10,000 people, so thank you so much for all the word-spreading you’ve done. Keep going, we may become famous or something. Nick’s too bashful to talk about that for long, so we move onto the Kickstarter project to create an open score for Bach’s Goldberg Variations.

We raise our issues with Comic Relief, discuss Prince Philip, and then spend a good long while proving some very silly factoids wrong.

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[audio: http://rumdoings.jellycast.com/files/audio/rumdoings_e65.mp3]

Yay salt for my chips! Welcome to Rum Doings Episode 64, a very special episode scripted by former Doctor Who helmsmen, Russell “T” Davies.

As part of their multiracial, intrasexual, post-masculinism relationship, Nick and John discuss the lameness of John’s name, the tendency for Victorians to not die properly, and how we actually recorded this episode before the Ben Goldacre one.

Our Welsh accents make another appearance, we discuss Old Man Murray, and John explains the full glory of the Cat Moustache puzzle from Gabriel Knight 3. THAT HE NOTICED FIRST.

See behind the scenes for how we come up with our topics to not discuss. Then we moisten our palates with a mixed fruit cider. And then wedding cakes. We continue our hatred of the blind, ponder Brian Blessed’s continued existence, and the collapse of Leslie Nielson’s career. Especially of late.

Our CGI voices will dazzle you. And we finish by discussing those naughty hat websites, and enacting modem noises. (Nick’s are incredible.)

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[audio: http://rumdoings.jellycast.com/files/audio/rumdoings_e64.mp3]

We’re very pleased to say that in episode 40, 50, 60 and 63 of Rum Doings (a four-way simulcast, and double-length), we are joined by very special guest, Dr. Ben Goldacre. The man behind the Bad Science blog and Guardian column, and the book of the same name, allows us into his London studio to discuss the subjects about which he and we are passionate. We think this was a unique opportunity for the subjects to be discussed with enough space to consider them properly, and for the good doctor to speak in a way that five minute radio interviews cannot.

In a sweary episode, we begin by talking about the peculiarities of those who threaten to sue Goldacre for libel, and the way quacks will create misleading statistics. Then via Nick’s desire for robot doctors, we discuss whether doctors are obliged to tell the truth to their patients, how new technology may change the role of doctors in diagnosis, and the potential for conflicts of interest depending upon how doctors are paid. And Nick lets John speak after the first half hour.

We ponder the potential privatisation of the NHS, and the impact that may have on patients and doctors, what happens when you privatise blood donation, and in turn, the nature of an altruistic act. We ask what doctors should be doing with drugs they know don’t perform better than placebo, even if they appear to help patients.

Dr Ben puts out the interesting idea that doctors should not be the final gatekeeper to a patient’s access to drugs, and indeed whether there should be legitimate access to outlawed drugs. There’s chat about how we should react when we see the vulnerable being tricked by quacks, how much John gets paid for writing in The Cat Magazine, how we can encourage big pharma to get out of their patenting model, and Nick’s LBC caller gets a good few outings.

All three of us express our concerns with the Comic Relief Walkers Crisps campaign, we hear Ben’s “Everything In This Box Is Bollocks” suggestion for letting adverts lie as much as they want, and Nick trots out his Trotsky theories. The idiocy of DRM rears its head, then Nick and John leap on Ben when they see a glimmer of an opportunity to evangelise free software models. And then a last second chat about Richard Stallman brings us to an end.

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[audio: http://rumdoings.jellycast.com/files/audio/rumdoings_e63.mp3]

We’re really sorry that this is a clicky episode. We have no idea what causes it, and there’s nothing we can do to fix it. It’s really not that big of a deal.

In episode 62, Nick’s broken voice becomes the first point of discussion, once we’ve established we won’t be talking about whether the English have forgotten how to make a good cuppa. We then move on to talking about Nick’s wife’s breast milk ice cream, Nick introduces a new indication law, and John tells the story of the crazy Welsh ex-policeman at his door.

We have a discussion of Sweden, talk about why John’s risking becoming a rapist by playing Bulletstorm, and then chat about violent videogames.

Make sure to tune in to next week’s too, when we’ll be releasing episodes 40, 50, 60 and 63 all in one episode, with a truly excellent celebrity guest.

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[audio: http://rumdoings.jellycast.com/files/audio/rumdoings_e62.mp3]

This episode almost died. Audacity, for the second time in Rum Doing’s history, crashed at the end of the recording before it could be saved. Last time it meant we lost the episode forever. This time the remaining fragments could be recompiled by our super-computer, and the entire thing is saved!

As you know we can no longer post round-numbered podcasts, so this episode 61 follows on directly from 59. There is a reason for this – an episode 40, 50, 60 is going to happen next month, for definite-sure.

This week we don’t discuss whether we have any use for the British library. And in order not to have to talk about the Big Society, John mentions that we’re drinking Italian beer. Which is like rum, in so much as it’s a liquid. There then comes some analysis of how Nick and John constantly fight online, which is clearly always Nick’s fault.

Stephen Green gets a belated discussion, Behold The Man gets an ever belatedier discussion, and then Stephen Green gets even more chat. And then: death, robots, and quantum physics. Which is one of our favourite chats we’ve had. Is it irrational to fear not existing? Can arrows hit targets? And what are photons up to?

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[audio: http://rumdoings.jellycast.com/files/audio/rumdoings_e61.mp3]

Welcome to Rum Doings Talk Radio, edition 59.

I’m far too busy to tell you what’s in this episode. We’ve recorded a couple in advance – this week’s and next week’s. Amazingly Nick has been told by the doctor he must not speak for two weeks. At all. That’s how come you’ve heard those angels singing. So I imagine we probably talked about some drink, radio, probably wittered on about TV at length, and Nick probably accused John of being something terrible. You know how it goes. Very entertainingly. That’s how.

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[audio: http://rumdoings.jellycast.com/files/audio/rumdoings_e59.mp3]

Welcome to a leathery 58th edition of Rum Doings, where we don’t discuss what we are doing to protect our English cricket greens. But we do instead discuss celebratory Welch’s grape soda. What are we celebrating? Well, it seems that John has proposed to a woman. And not curtains.

So there’s much discussion of that, as you might imagine, with the full story of how it all happened so John can point people to listen to this rather than have to tell everyone who asks. We explain the necessity to avoid diamonds, and the means by which a lady will agree to marriage.

Then there’s some familiar ranting about the Liberal Democrats, discussions of the death of the NHS, and Nick takes on some sacred cows of classic radio comedy. We ponder the Two Ronnies, Sorry!, and then misery of 70s and 80s sitcoms. And there’s an explanation of how to write like your favourite RPSer. And then after a bit we stop.

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[audio: http://rumdoings.jellycast.com/files/audio/rumdoings_e58.mp3]

Episode 57 begins with a discussion of the number 56. You can’t pin us down. And we’re not discussing for how much longer we shall have to put up with the SCOURGE of HOMMOsexual adoption.

Then we take leave of our senses and attempt an alcohol free beer. We attempt a few one or two-word impressions. Then we discuss the poly-attractive nature of Susan Kennedy. At length.

And finally, after mentioning it a hundred times, we explain what a BEMLi are. Which takes us onto discussing the sad collapse of Chris Morris, and the rise of Charlie Brooker. Nick angrily points out why John’s job is stupid, and then attempts to get himself – and himself alone – sued. John painfully attempts to explain why it’s bad business to be a corrupt games magazine, and Nick explains that it’s Stockholm Syndrome. The attacks on John continue as Nick tries to uncover corruption in his past, and John wants to cry. Then we discuss Kieron Gillen’s riches, and RPS slash fiction.

Tweet it, Facebook it, ask strangers on Formspring about it. We really do need you to do this. And there’s a small group of you who faithfully do. But the rest of your are lazy scabbers – give something back in return for the unbridled joy we bring you. And writing a review on iTunes brings us more attention.

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[audio: http://rumdoings.jellycast.com/files/audio/rumdoings_e57.mp3]

Heavens to Betsy, we’re back. After a very well earned and enjoyable break, Rum Doings returns with a fifty-sixth episode.

We discover the reasons behind little finger etiquette, recall Christmas, irritating anachronisms, and flu vaccines. John’s hatred of chickens is exposed, Nick proves he’s the same as Naomi Wolf, and Jesus sends John to hell. We introduce a new law, and then go on something of an extended rant about train-based digital displays. And Argos.

Tweet it, Facebook it, ask strangers on Formspring about it. And please really do. If we don’t get a million listeners in this episode, I’m going to kill Nick. And writing a review on iTunes brings us more attention.

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[audio: http://rumdoings.jellycast.com/files/audio/rumdoings_e56.mp3]