TWO STEPS FORWARD AND ONE STEP BACKWARD:

MOOD:  Not sure:

Wow, I think I'm nearly falling off my chair.  Things are happening, but I have to admit in a somewhat different form to how I expected them to happen, and my head is spinning.  I'm seeing blues, cyans, whites, yellows, oranges, and reds, but hang on, I'm not hallucinating.  And I haven't taken drugs, so you can call off the police raid, I don't have LSD in the place. 

But tongue and cheek aside, my article has finally appeared in the St George Leader, and just the very fact that it has so, is why I'm very pleased.  The only disappointment is that it is giving the impression that I want a free ride, as in wanting all the license fees waved, why that is DEFINITELY NOT TRUE.  I wish journalists would get their facts right before publishing.

I've always noted that recording artists need income to live on, and for recording their music.  Instruments, recording studios, touring, music publishing, and distribution all cost money, and recording artists need money to do this.  I have no problem paying license fees and royalties.  This has to work though on a constructive model of percentage of revenue, rather then crazy minimal fees that people with disabilities cannot afford.  This also relates to ACMA (Australian Communications and Media Authority).

I've noted in my submission that with some give and take, that a Class H license can raise just as much, if not more money for both artists and the government.  This is if the Class H Broadcaster's station is given the space and flexibility to grow.  

If the station is only making $500 a year, it would only need to pay $50.  However if the station is generating $500,000 of revenue, then its total fees would be $50,000 annually.  Note in both cases the fees are 10%.  This is broken down equally between the copyright collection societies and the broadcast authority, which I've detailed more in my submission.  For the sake of this blog will keep it simple.

So if we really get successful, and make as much money as a fully blown commercial FM station, which as a rough guess is about $18 million per annum, then the total fees would be $1.8 million.

So as demonstrated with the fee structure above, it's a win win for both the artists and government, and for the person with disabilities.   This is whether it is a person on a disability with a few local sponsors, or a person successful enough to have major advertisers. 

Admitfully the mix-up in the article has grilled me off, but I'll wait until the morning before writing anything to the papers editors.  I don't appreciate being made out that I want a free ride.

Donna Summer - My favourite pop idol dead at 63.

 MOOD:  Sad

 Well with me, it's a case of going to bed every night and sleeping as heavy as a rock.  That's why when I awoke at 3:40 this morning, something was amiss. 

With my radio tuned to ABC Newsradio, they have the BBC on over night, which can get shit boring, but its better then any of the alternatives, but that's another story for another day.  I awoke to the music of Donna Summer's "I feel love", and I thought for a moment, Newsradio playing music overnight, that is different. 

Then it came, like someone throwing a rock into my head, "Donna Summer, the queen of disco has died at the age of 63".  Oh, my god!, what?  By the time I was fully awake, the BBC were carrying on about another sad case story from Africa, but then within 10 minutes, the full story came, and I couldn't believe it.

So I guess with this I would take this opportunity to share with you, what Donna Summer meant to me as a kid in the 70s early 80s.  My first memory of her music was "Love to love you baby".  I remember hearing this on a family trip down to the south coast around the spring of 1975.  I still remember the somewhat overcast September day, and wondering what the hell this music was.  All I knew as a six year old that it sounded awesome, but I don't even think that word was yet in my vocabulary,

Through 1976 I was often picked up by a taxi, for taking me off to Charmer's Road school for special needs children in Strathfield.  The taxi driver always had 2UW on, and the trip always took around an hour.  With this I remember hearing "Could it be magic" being played heaps, along side other tracks as Abba's "Fernando", Cliff Richard's "Devil Woman", Sherbet's "Howzat", and Harpo's "Movie Star".

By 1977 2UW played "I feel love" often, but 1978 saw me go to a new school, with a new taxi driver, and of course him listening to 2SM.  This was the year when I got a transistor radio, the time when Donna Summer's "Last dance" was played to death, but it would be 1979 that would be her first impacting year.

In March 1979 I started compiling my own top 40 music charts every week.  By June "Hot Stuff was at the top of my charts, followed by "Bad Girls" in September, and "Sunset people in November 1979.  Though not a single, "Our love" was so good I charted it in February 1980, it came from her "Bad Girls" album.  At this time I was going to Tempe Primary School, and in late May, "On the Radio" would be her next charting single.  This track topped my chart the week when Tempe Primary School opened up its entire new section.  I can still remember all the new bright green carpets, orange and yellow decor, and mainly the concept that a school from the 1870's had been turned into school from the future, everything looked so modern.  September 1980 saw the release of the Pete Bellotte produced album "The Wanderer"; the title cut got to #4 on my charts during this time. 

It was at this time when I was regularly watching Countdown, and remembering the great teaser of 1981; Molly Meldrum hinting that she was about to release a new album.  As we know in hindsight, the album was cancelled, and eventually released several years later.  On an edition of Countdown Friday in early July 1982 I was again amazed.  Her next big hit, well at least for me, "Love is in Control" reached #2 in my charts, only to be locked out of the #1 position by Charlene's "I've never been to me".  She had some pretty heavy competition at the time as Goombay Dance Band's "Seven tears", Bucks Fizz's "My camera never lies", Tight Fit's "Fantasy island", and Ray Parker Jr's "The other woman" were all fighting it out in the top 5 portion of my chart.  

For someone that could have been easily written off as a disco "has been", her musical punching power was still right up there.  She then followed with "The woman in me" in October 1982 reaching #1 in my chart in early November.  "State of independence" is just another one of those tracks with a strong fond memory.  The first time I heard it was the day I moved bedrooms on Sunday 10th April 1983, when it was played on Donnie Sutherland's Sounds Unlimited.  Again though not an official single, the Springsteen penned "Protection" was another great track that charted in my top 40, reaching #13 in early June 1983.

August 1983 was another exciting time; it was when my family and I went on holidays.  We were visiting my parent’s country of birth and father's side of the family in the Netherlands for just over a month.  The day before we left, I heard Donna Summers "She works hard for the money" for the first time.  It was played on 2UW's Wacka MaCartney evening show. 

Reaching #2 in late October, "Unconditional love" was her next big hit on my charts; it featured musical youth as backing vocals.  It was kept from #1 by Taco's "Dancing cheek to cheek", and was facing heavy competition from the likes of Michael Jackson's "Human Nature", Bucks Fizz's "The rules of the game", Michael Sembello's "Maniac", Tim Finn's "Made my day", and Australian Crawl's "Reckless".  Not a single, but also appearing on my charts was "Stop look and listen" in December 1983, and "Love has a mind of its own" in March 1984.

Late 1984 saw the release of "Cats without claws", which was an album that rapidly saw the great talents of Summer going down the hill.  The album was shockingly boring, and this is from a true fan.  "All systems go" was released sometime in late 1986, possibly 1987, but by this time, she was completely off my charts, and off the radar of mid 80's pop culture, it seemed at this time she was definitely finished. 

She would have another few surprises in store, when in August 1989 she released the album "Another place and time".  It gave her another #1 hit on my top 40, "This time I know it's for real", and "I don't want to get hurt" which reached #9 in late November.  The album including these two tracks was produced by Stock Aitken and Waterman.  As I confess to being an S A W fan, even the mixture of my favourite producers and artist could not unfortunately save the rest of this album from being very lack-luster. 

The last piece of musical brilliance came in February 1993, when she once again teamed up with her old producer, Giorgio Moroder with "Carry on".  It was a smash on my chart, reaching #1 for three weeks.  It was refreshing to hear that 80s disco sound, when early 90s alternative and hip-hop was destroying top 40 music.  

Sometime around late 1994, she released the moderately enjoyable "Melody of love", but it was at this time when Summer's talents were best looked upon as in retrospect, rather then a contemporary.  By this time, mid nineties dance like The Real McCoy, E-Rotic, JX, Jocelyn Brown, Motiv8, Gina G, Culture Beat, and similar sounding Euro-dance artists were filling my charts, and the 70s 80s disco sound was long retired.

So with a lifetime of memories and music behind her, I say "Rest in Piece" Donna Summer.  She was the inspiration that first got me into liking pop music in 1975.

Something is wrong, this is not normal!

MOOD:  Lost

As some of you out there might be aware, I've been running the "Save Sydney Radio" Campaign over the best part of two weeks, and rapidly heading for the third. 

Like anything, I've tried my best at getting the word out with the limited resources that I've got.  This has included several reminders on Facebook, but where does one draw the line.  One doesn't want to annoy his group of friends with repeated reminders; it could even be looked upon as spam.  With only one letter of support, it was apparent that I was doing something wrong at my end.  I e-mailed my two brothers, and asked them if they could please politely pass on the campaign e-mail to as many people as they know.

On Thursday 11th May, I had some journalists visit me from the St George Sutherland Leader, who seemed very interested in 2PR FM.  It was a great feeling knowing that I was going to get my message out; at least in the local paper anyway, this would have been a start. 

Eagerly I've checked both this week's editions of the leader, (Tuesdays and Thursdays).  With a fine toothcomb, every page was checked and there was not even a mention of my campaign or myself anywhere.

At the same time, I've also been trying to arrange meetings with Sen Steven Conroy, as noted in my earlier blogs, and of this week, have tried arranging some meetings with ACMA.

I also spoke to ABC's Ramp Up, which is a dedicated section to people with disabilities.  They noted that they could not publish anything about my endeavours, because it was a conflict of interest.  I guess when I think about it, it is fair to a degree, they don't want to be cannibalising their listeners by promoting another listening source.  Still though, this is ridiculous, these are my tax paying dollars going to the ABC, it is their responsibility to report disability issues.  

What has got me really worried and concerned is that aside from one support letter, (thank you Belinda), I've got no other e-mails, no phone calls, no letters, absolutely nothing.  All I know at the end of the day is that this is not normal.

In a last final ditch effort yesterday, I rang the Leader to find out how much a front page Advertisement would cost.  I was thinking around $500 to $1,000 for a community newspaper.  If this was the case, I might have been able to do it with the help of some friends.  Upon speaking to the salesman, I was immediately informed that it would cost $3,000, and that they have all their slots for the most part filled for the year.

So being very blunt and straight to the point, yes, I feel that I'm in a cocoon, and even with the sledge hammer that I've got, I can't seem to smash myself out of it.  It doesn't matter how hard I try.  Many people today for some reason dislike face-to-face meetings; it seems everything needs to be done via e-mail, by twitter, facebook, and sometime a phone call. 

If one has the time, I came across this page yesterday, and apparently the feelings I've got are very common with several other Asperger Syndrome Sufferers.  Yes, I did mention the work "Sufferers", I don't know what it will take to change this situation.

http://aspergeradults.ca/Blog/2009/05/does-the-social-isolation-of-aspergers-ever-push-you-to-despair/

At the end of the day, I feel like I'm being avoided like the bad husband that's beaten his wife, gambled the money away, or to a more severe nature, a child abuser.  I guess the question I want to pose is, has social etiquette become so finicky; one now has to learn a PhD in order of living a sane life-style?    

It's January in May

MOOD:  Yawning

It was a few days ago, when I unofficially got my lobbying campaign started off for 2PR FM.  Today was when everything kicked off officially, with new announcements going to air on 2PR from tomorrow, and press releases going out today to the ABC, Sydney Morning Herald, and only moments ago, to the St George Leader.

Running like an athlete it feels like everything is in full motion, but oh god, again, it's like something is missing, the absence of momentum, adrenalin, the reaction, it's just total silence. 

It feels like the first week of January, you know the kind when everybody is hung over from New Year's Eve, and no-one seems to be reachable.  It's the sense of trying so hard to do something, and it's almost like reaching out from the bottom of a long deep canyon.

Trying to get the message out, I also tried posting some material to the Asperger's Support Group, DTV Forums, and just for the hell of it, the Vogue forums.  I was unable to get through to none of them, two of which I think were already noting my material as spam. 

Yes, the key word "Spam", which is the word I'm speaking of today; it's used so easily, but maybe overwhelmingly too easily.   It's kind of difficult seeing that my efforts of lobbying for my radio station, are being compared to things like fake lottery wins, Nigerian scammers, and all the other rubbish associated with the word "Spam".

What I'm feeling again today relates directly to the blog I wrote in December 2010 titled "Out of mind, Out of sight".  It's the principle in which it doesn't matter how hard one tries; they'll never break through that cast iron psychological wall that society throws up at them.  Living with Asperger's Syndrome is a virtual prison. 

It was kind of funny today when I was going along doing my stuff.  I felt like the bank robber, but actually just trying to do something good.  Imagine the guards that go up protecting the bank teller in a flash, this image reappeared several times in my mind today. 

I just don't know what it is.  As enthusiastic as I am about something, I feel like I'm forever swimming in this strange kind of muddy swamp where it's just impossible to get anything done.  

I just can't emphasise enough how important it is to have contacts in the right area, without them, I feel like I'm pushing mud up a hill.

The Never-Ending Wall of Silence Continues.

MOOD:  DISPONDENT

2PR FM's lobbying page went live today, around about 2:00 in the after noon.  It was quite a good feeling, finally getting to that stage, it took about three full days to prepare the material, and publish it.

Just feeling somewhat boxed in though.  I'm trying to get the message out.  It feels like I'm screaming at the top of my lungs, but no-one is hearing me.  My facebook posts are going unanswered, and ringing the people I know results in answering machines.  This world seems so busy, busy, busy, ul well.

The Licensing Grind Continues!

MOOD: IMPATIENT

It's a brilliant bright and cheery day outside, pretty good for this time of year, blue skies, green trees, and 20 degree sunshine.  It's best described as heaven on a stick, but until I get 2PR FM on the air, it feels like another ground hog day. 

After brekky this morning, it was time to strike the powers of parliament with another letter, relating to the pressing need for change in the radio broadcasting acts.  When my submission was finished last year, one of the first people I fired it off to was Steven Conroy, who is the Minister for Broadband, Communications, Digital Economies, and blah blah blah, you get the jist.    That was sent around early November from memory; I would have to look up my records, but heard nothing back for weeks, which was promising in a way.  I thought for that time, they would actually be looking into it, taking my concerns seriously. but low and behold, two days before Christmas, just before the whole world shuts down for the month of January, I got one of the best "COP OUT" letters ever written.  It simply stated the Broadcasting Act, merely more to the point of just shoving it down my throat.  At this point I was somewhat perplexed on the reply, thinking that I had covered all angles of a submission the ACMA would have to consider for licensing a radio station.  The frustrating part was the reply had mentioned absolutely nothing, not even a hint that they received my Class H License submission. 

January was much swimming in the sun and exercise.  Early February came, time to re-fire the radio licensing thing for 2012.  During February, I continued digitising the 60s portion of my music collection.  When I became bobby socked out and somewhat sick of the 60s, by early April I started concentrating on the submission. 

Rather then looking into the issues of the music industry, I decided to look into the Australian Radio scene, of most relevance, what was happening in Sydney.  Browsing through much documentation, I soon learned that an organisation called Commercial Radio Australia (a lobby group that represents the commercial radio stations of Australia), was pushing hard to have legislation their way.  As in my last blog, this was in relation to an unethical moratorium, that blocks out any new competitors from getting a license in the Sydney region until May 2015.

Without rejigging all the points in my previous blog, the main issue of the letter I sent to Mr Conroy today, was to challenge the word "valuable" when talking about a full power analog license.  The word "valuable" is currently being interpreted as the geographic reach, amount of listeners in coverage area, and potential income such a license can raise through advertising.

I made it clear in the letter that value can not be based on music taste, as this is a purely subjective argument, but rather more on the true mess of the situation, which is six music FM stations, all rotating the same 300 songs over and over.  My point of argument being WHAT VALUE IS THE LISTENER GETTING?

When judging who is going to get a license, I would think that a listener would get much more of a listening value from a station that plays an array of music, from a playlist of over 20,000 tracks.  This is in comparison to the same 300 songs that get repeated and played over and over.  This is considering that the FM Spectrum is a very precious resource, and the current commercial stations using the spectrum are squandering it for their own benefits, and not the listener.  

The aim of the letter was to ask Mr Conroy for a meeting, as many of these concerns can not be simply ignored.  I'm on some forums that speak volumes on what a mess Sydney radio is, simply for the reasons mentioned above.  At the end of writing this blog, I checked my e-mail one more time, to see if there was a reply.  Amongst the scammers, viagra rubbish, and usual spam, again, there was absolutely nothing. 

LICENSE MORATORIUM: Protectionism gone mad in Australian Broadcast Legislation:

MOOD: Disillusioned

Well, here it is, already the end of April, 2012 is moving on pretty fast, a speed in which unfortunately my radio station's submission for an FM license is not.

Finally got a chance to meet up with one of the shadow ministers in the federal cabinet, and yes, have to say that he was gob smacked on the work that I had done, and the amount of research that I carried out.  However he seemed rather worried about my prospects on getting an FM license for the Sydney region.  He noted that these city wide licenses are quite valuable, but he didn't mention in what way.  As from the view point of a listener, I feel strongly that I'm getting no value at all from Sydney's FM stations. 

All six of the commercial FM licenses in Sydney are owned by three large networked companies, who like to serve up the same old music every day, from a playlist of no more then 200 tracks.  These monkeys who run these networks think they can serve up radio programs, like a yogurt factory rolls tubs off its production line.

These corporate networks research their music from these things apparently called focus groups (i've never been to one), which are already flawed, due to the fact that the music on offer has already been heavily filtered.  Like a tub of yogurt, these corporate networks research the foods colour, shape of the container, the exact kind of flavour the product should have, the exact texture and thickness, and ultimately serving it up in a kiosk environment were there is not too much on offer, because we don't want to distract the consumer from having too much choice.  Only this time in the form of radio, it has ended up bitter, sour, and very tasteless. 

This is what has happened to radio, where the research element has become so ridiculous and irrelavent that it's not telling the real truth on what listeners really want, just browse through a forum like mediaspy, and you'll see pages of complaints.

What has made the problem much worse is the reality that Commercial Radio Australia (the representative body for all of Australia's commercial radio stations) has arranged with the Australian Communications and Media Authority, a six year moratorium on new FM licenses.  Apparently the context of this moratorium is that existing commercial stations (such as the ones I'm talking about in Sydney) feel that any new stations entering the FM spectrum, will damage the business viability of the existing stations.

I honestly don't know how one of Australia's biggest representative bodies and one of Australia's largest regulation bodies can create such rubbish.  Within a few hours this morning on the internet, my search revealed an amount of documentation that could fire more holes through Commercial Radio Australia's arguments, than bullets John Rambo had fired in First Blood.

This is very hot material, as I said to my friend this morning, and is something for now I'll be keeping under wraps, but if I were to give a small hint, let's say Sydney's FM spectrum is like the busiest mall in the City.  There is room for only ten shops, and already eight of those premises have been filled.   There are still two premises vacant.  The eight shops form a group call the Shop Co-Op Group, like the commercial radio stations of Australia have formed the body Commercial Radio Australia.  They then say, ah look, we want a moratorium on letting new shops into the mall.  The council agrees with the Shop Co-Op group.

Now if you're still with me, imagine each of the eight shops make a turnover of about $20,000 a week.  All the shops pay their executives or shop manager, yep, $20,000 a week.  Okay, now what do you get when you take $20,000 away from $20,000?  You've guest it, you are left with nicks.  In such circumstances, of course one is going to say they're struggling, or that the business viability is vulnerable. 

Okay, second case scenario, the store manager is paid $1,000 a week, which leaves $19,000 remaining.  I would have to say in simplistic terms, that's a pretty hansom profit, and oh, by the way we are still struggling, or are we really just bullshitting to win sympathy.

With the documentation I've discovered this morning, there is a pretty huge flaw with this moratorium arrangement, and I'm surprised that no-one else hasn't picked it up.  But yes, I am the other shop who wants to enter that mall, or perhaps a radio station that wants to offer something very different.  I'm being locked out by legislation that has been purely based on some sympathetic dribble.

Unfortunately what I've expressed so far is all based on simple logic, but as we all know, logic and reality are two very different creatures.  The reality with such a moratorium is that their has most probably been some very greasy slimy hand shakes behind closed doors, and some very powerful movers and shakers within the industry, who have helped in establishing such corrupt legislation. 

This leads me to my next point, where I'm struggling with the realisation that my life-long dream may not become a reality.  When you have lived and breathed a dream for over 30 years, it's not so easy to just say that something may not happen and shut up shop.  

A dream is the very essence of ones existence that gives one hope and reason to live, and ultimately the motivation and will to live each day in all its glory.  This is very much like climbing the ladder of life, and climbing for what seems ages to get to the tip of Mt Everest.  So one may come up against some resistance, do we let go and turn back?  Do we listen to the doubters in our life, like some members of one's family, and pursue something completely different?  But if one cannot pursue one's true love, then we ask, what is the true meaning of life, if one cannot do and participate in something that utilises all a person's strengths, and allows them to give back to the community with vigor and vitality?

With such uncertainty also comes the emotional and psychological stuff that one has to work through everyday.  The most frustrating issue out of attempting something like this, is not being able to communicate properly with anyone of importance.  Getting through to any body results in talking to some receptionist, who often notes that the requested person is at an meeting?  In today’s society it seems to be demonstrably difficult to have a face to face meeting, or even a telephone conversation to explain why something would be beneficial.  In the end, the biggest killer is the "wall of silence" where one doesn't get any e-mails, phone calls, or correspondence, making one feel very inadequate and helpless. 

There are many days when I feel like I'm water off a ducks back, and just want to sleep the day away; this is the reality of living with Asperger's Syndrome.  This reality is that one could right the most fantastic novel, or book, but because the social network is not established and not firmed up, like it is in neurotypical circumstances, the world seems to be distant.  One often feels that it doesn't matter how hard one works, acknowledgement is never forthcoming.  In the end the indifference from society will kill ones mind, from the shear bordem of not being able to break out of the social cocoon, or more bluntly, the social hell-hole.

So all the proverbial is hitting the Labor fan.

Well, I would have to say that I'm not surprised, in particularly what a moral junkyard that Labor has become. Baby Gillard went jumping all around, misbehaving over the playpen back in June 2010, when she knifed Kevin Rudd in the back. Trying to step back for a moment of the entire left and right thingy, I guess it is only commonsense that when one dishes out a certain spite, that they can only expect it to come right back.

Over the last week, this is exactly what has happened. Though it is comfortable to say that this has been brewing for around 18 months, the rot was already deep seeded in the labor camp for the likes of Bill Shorten, Mark Arbib, Brendan O'Connor, and stunningly, a guy whose moral standing has been reduced to the size of a mouse; Wayne Swan. This was already back in late 2008 into early 2009, the initial period of Rudd's rule. For those with a longer memory then a baby pup, little Swan boy once represented the body of Australian Council of Social Services, a left leaning think tank that advised governments across Australia on social policy. Back then, Swan was an avid supporter for intelligent social policy. Now his presents is nothing more then a puppet whose entire philosophy is based on how his strings are pulled. With some of his more recent performances, he seems now to support the likes of Gillard, Shorten, Arbib, and O'Connor.

So now you're wondering I'm a supporter for Whitlam based policies that had Australia nearly bankrupt back in 1975, because I can write an entire essay on what a mess the Whitlam camp was too. What seems to be the main issue here is a failure of making both progressive and conservative policy work together. The problem with expressing any policy on either side is, mentioning a line of thought is enough to get one pigeon holed. For example, two great policies that Gillard has put out were the mining tax, and means testing for medicare eligibility.

With the huge profits made by the minors, particularly with the boom in Western Australia, I can't see the mining tax being a bad thing. This is considering they are sucking everything out of our earth, but please don't mistake me for one who loves hugging trees. With the mining tax in play, we now get scenarios such as Gina Rinehart purchasing media which in itself is a worry. Will we now have a press speaking the minor’s voice at the expense of social policy?

We saw how quickly programming changed at Network 10 when Lachlan Murdoch purchased a large amount of shares into the television network. Video Hits was scrapped in favour of the Bolt Report. I used to be a huge Video Hits Fan back in the 80s and 90s, when compiling my charts; the show was a great source for finding new music. On the other hand, I may have been lucky to watch a few shows of Video Hits over the last seven odd years; the music certainly leaves a lot to be desired. Whether one loves or hates Video Hits, the show would have been part of Ten's light entertainment quota. I would have thought removing it for the Bolt Report would be a concern. This would mean that Ten is showing much less light entertainment, and too much current affair material. Without getting bogged down into the workings of the television industry, this is an example on how Rinehart and Murdoch place their opinion first over what content a media outlet should be airing.

Secondly the means testing of Medicare is also not a bad thing, I would of thought anyone with some commonsense would realise that Medicare was there to support those who are on lower incomes. Though this would be easy for me to say, as I currently live off a disability support pension, I would swear whole heartedly that I would have no problem if the shoe was on the other foot.

But this is where Labor has got it awfully wrong, and I don't think anyone knows what the hell is happening. It is agreeable to note that boat arrivals into Australia have greatly increased since John Howard left office. Though I was not a supporter of John Howard, his stand on illegals was perfect, and his policy had sent a strong message through to those who smuggle the illegals through. What is annoying is that the money spent on these waste of times, could be spent on inclusive policies for people with Handicaps. As noted by this Telegraph article, it is astonishing how much money is drained on these losers.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/national/welcome-asylum-seekers-chris-bowen-and-julia-gillards-ship-of-fortune/story-e6freuzr-1226273201568

I guess being of European descent, I'm not saying that immigration is a bad thing, but there is something that needs to be understood in three specific tears; Migrants, Refugees, and Illegals. The phrase "Asylum seekers" doesn't exist in my vocabulary. I would view migrants is being valuable to the growth of Australia, people who come from overseas to contribute, such as starting a business or whatever. Refugees would be those in dire need, such as escapees from North Korea, or the escape from the torturess regimes of Syria and Zimbabwe. And illegals, simply put are economic tourists who want to take our jobs, and be a liability on our social security system. What is interesting when the illegals cry poor, is the inevitable follow up story revealing how they paid over 30 to 40 grand to the smugglers. To be honest, I've never seen that amount of money in my life, so in that context it is hard to believe their stories of pity.

So when coming back to how a government works, these are the issues that a leader should look into. I guess what would be interesting is if Rudd did win the ballot tomorrow. The greatest thing I would be looking forward to is seeing Shorten, Arbib, O'Connor, and particularly Swan crawling back into line with their tales between their legs. This would be a splendid sight to see. I can now sort of imagine the Wayne Swan line, "Ah look, it was all in the spirit of the moment, but I genuinely do not have any bad feelings toward Rudd at all". Truly this will be a real laugh to watch.

Resurrected from the grave of Myspace; My Blog

This is just a short note to say my blog is being re-resurrected from the grave of Myspace, or what is left of it. I've manage to get access to my 'Myspace" account again, after not being able to log into it for the last year or so. Myspace has changed a lot since it's inception back in 2006, and has become very buggy with a very cluttered interface. Thus, I'm taking the time to slowly migrate all my blog postings across from Myspace to Blogger, where this will be my new place of comments, updates, and well, anything I care to drop a line about. So stay tuned, this will also be the place where I'll post new developments to 2PR FM. Over the last two and a half years, 2PR has undergone massive changes, hense my lack of blog and posting activity.

NOT SEEN, NOT HEARD, OUT OF MIND, OUT OF SIGHT!

MOOD: NAUSEAS

I don't know where to begin, but this will be the most important blog entry I've ever written.  It's going to grab right at the heart of some issues I've been dying to say for many years. 

On Monday night, the 2PR FM article on wikipedia was nominated for deletion, which in short left a rather sickening feeling in my stomach.  After investing thousands of hours in to 2PR FM, you can imagine how one feels like heaving, when a wikipedia admin notes, "starting a web station is as simple as switching on a web cam". 

I deliberately didn't blog that night, as the things I wanted to vent were not pretty, and what was to be said was rather more emotional, rather then being factually constructive.  But with my mind in a much calmer state, it gives me an opportunity to reflect on the deletion in a different light, rather then the standard reaction of just attacking the wikipedia admin.

Though the typical point of view, when one sees their article nominated for deletion, is to say the process is flawed, the situation in which this came about unfortunately is much more to what meets the eyes.  

FIRST EXPLAINING THE WIKIPEDIA WAY:

The first thing to recognise is that articles are tagged for deletion on wikipedia, based on how notable a subject is.  Though the online encyclopedia does have criteria in writing on how a deletion is nominated, and if one would be appealed for saving an article, for the 2PR FM article it was the numbers game.

I've seen much stuff nominated for deletion, only for it to be appealed, and kept on wikipedia.  This is because either fans of the subject, or people who may know the person have been able to bat for that persons / things article during a deletion discussion.  So with that in mind, notability is not inherited via how much press the subject has received, how established, or how much work went into it, rather more on how much people care enough about it. 

Yes, exactly, how much people care about something!

This is because deletions are based on a pole, how many want the item deleted, and how many wish to keep it.  Unfortunately in my case, they were a number of admins who disliked my article.  Remembering that anyone can write on wikipedia, I would not be surprised if the nominated admins were from a radio station that felt threatened by my format.   This is only a possibility, as there is nothing that could prove this, but as I emphasise, a very possible scenario.

THE GUTS OF THE PROBLEM; THE DAMAGED SOCIAL TREE::

The main issue with Asperger's Syndrome is that it effects how one navigates in various social situations.  Because from case to case, the level of intuition may vary, the common attribute is one's difficulty in reading body language, such as facial expressions, tone of voice, verbal cues in conversations, and etc. 

Because the mind is differently wired to normal persons, there are also other issues such as sensory overload.  Lighting in a particular area that may not be a problem to one person, may be piercingly bright to the asperger sufferer.  A train coming along a platform may be bearable to many, but for the one having sensory issues, the noise can be blistering to the point of painful and agonising.

Thankfully I've been able to overcome many of the issues with taking interest in many things throughout my life.  These have included the successful completion of high-school, several Tafe courses, work experiences, and personal projects, resulting in meeting many people.  As much as one tries to interact and engage with others, the unavoidable truth is that an asperger person will always do something unintentionally different, which is key to this entire blog entry.

During a social engagement the asperger sufferer doesn't know what they are doing different, until they are told about it.  The damage has already been done, and in many cases it's TOO LATE to mend the situation.  Often the normal person will not comment either from the awkwardness or disgust, thus further exacerbating the damage to the relationship.

This may range from the socially normal being perplexed by the asperger person's action, through to being annoyed, through to ridicule, teasing, bullying, and ultimately being ignored.  Over time the asperger sufferer’s social skills deteriorates to such a point where they become invisible to society.  It's important to realise that this varies from person to person, as they are remote cases of people on the Autism spectrum that do well in life.

FROM A CHILD TO AN ADULT, THE ASPERGER"S INVISIBLY DISTRUCTIVE COMPANION:

The social isolation begins usually during school, when students and younger children are not able to comprehend the attributes of an asperger sufferer.  The person on the Autism Spectrum may be labeled as selfish, stubborn, rude, weird, or in many cases, mentally retarded.  As the asperger person grows and finds that they have few to no friends, abilities to socially engage becomes further hampered.  It is natural for children and teenagers to learn social etiquette, from observing their peers. 

With the asperger's person in many cases being isolated, they are not able to observe normal behaviours.  This means then any social skills they do learn are of an awkwardly ritual manner and unnatural.  When moving into late teenage hood, into adult years, the asperger sufferer will then find forming friendships, relationships, and professional business ties impossible.

NOT SEEN, NOT HEARD, OUT OF MIND, OUT OF SIGHT!

In the end, it doesn't matter how severe, or in my case, how mild the asperger's syndrome is, there is no escape from this isolation that completely ruins ones life. 

This is in the aspect of first knowing a trustworthy / caring group of people to stick around with.  This would be friends either met at school or at work.  Usually this would lead to growing a relationship with a girlfriend / boyfriend, wild being involved in worthwhile employment.  Eventually this would result in saving funds for taking out a mortgage for their own house.  In the end, when a person enjoys all the natural juices of what life has to offer, they usually (not in all cases) will be able to own a house, and be able to live life with a good sense of security.   Unfortunately in todays materialistic age, a good comfortable house is usually the cornerstone of a well established social circle.  This ranges from inviting friends over, holding gatherings, having drinks and parties, sleeping people over, and etc. 

In the normal realm of things as explained in the paragraph above, the person would normally be socialising every day.  They would be familiar to acquaintances in positions of authority, such as their boss, a company owner / directors / CEOs.  Thus it would be typical that all these persons would be aware of ones achievements and involvements.

Unfortunately, because the social structure, or as I would like to call it, the social tree has been damaged greatly at the school age, the asperger person does NOT have this social network to fall back on.

The normal response would be, go and join a sports club, get out and about and meet people, or go and get involved in a community group.  These suggestions do little to nothing, as the person dispensing the advice is totally unaware of the real issues as pointed out above.  

Not being able to carry out any of the above activities, the asperger syndrome sufferer in most cases does not want to wallow in pity, thus wanting to do something creative. Those on the asperger spectrum will do as many activities as possible, such as courses, volunteer placements, projects, and try to engage as much as possible. 

As the asperger person has matured, the immediate supervisor, or instructor may see what a wonderful person they are.  Because the broader social network structure is not there, there is no real recognition of the asperger's accomplishments.  As the asperger's persons true value is not seen, Invitations or offers of anything of value are not forthcoming.  When I refer to something of value, I'm talking about something with big opportunities of remuneration, and / or public acknowledgement.

IN MY CASE, MY RADIO STATION

As many of you reading this may know, I've been running my own radio station for the last ten years, unfortunately its only internet based.  Yet it is only my two friends down the south coast, and my instructor with his wife from my 2008 Tafe course who know how much effort I've placed into getting 2PR FM together.

Outside the circle of the few friends I do have, the opinion of what I've put into 2PR FM is very different, more to the point of very indifferent.  Many feel that setting up my station is very simple.  The misconception being that all I've done is simply installed some software, plugged in a microphone, and done it all within two minutes.   

THE BEDROOM JOE MENTALITY!

Welcome to the point where I now coin the phrase "THE "BEDROOM JOE" mentality.  This is where those who are in a position of authority think I'm just another Joe running my radio station from my bedroom.  As stated above, this is where it's imagined I've simply installed software, hooked up a microphone, and started my station in five minutes. 

Whether it is a wikipedia admin, bank manager, broadcast network CEO, this is the opinion they all seem to share.  The principle issue here is how to change this view-point, as in reality it seems to be a strongly held misconception.

It's the idea of communicating to any of these people that I have spent many hours toning, colouring, and formatting my website to fit a particular mood.  The testing, configuring and operations of the "Audio on Demand" program schedule that aired during 2001 to 2009.  The concept of designing brochures, flyers, posters, and material for promoting 2PR FM across Sydney.  The reality of traveling to different places, walking the streets, and dropping material at different locations for distribution, most of which was done from 2003 to 2006.  The production of radio shows, station promos, and on air IDs done on professional Sony software.  The compiling, production, printing, archiving, and research of many different music charts.

During 2007 the internet was rapidly evolving into the broadband era, which allowed 2PR FM to move from "Audio on Demand" to live broadcasting.  Though initially just streaming over the net, a live environment meant that terrestrial broadcasting is a potential possibility. 

From 2008 onwards, I've been digitising my entire CD and vinyl library to TM Century Standards.  This means aside from having each track transferred cleanly from its source to hard-drive, every individual song needed to be processed.  This is in the volume of each song being normalised, so the output level is consistent throughout my entire broadcast schedule. 

So that every thing starts on que when going to air, every individual track needed to be trimmed at the start and end.  Though this is work that could automatically be done by software, I've chosen to do all this manually, so I know that each song has been processed properly.  When finished, I will have one of the cleanest sounding and most comprehensive music library of any radio station in the world. 

With such a large music library, they are storage logistics to consider.  A single back up method will not do, as a disc failure will mean the end of several years work.  This means that several back ups in different formats has to always be considered, which also takes up much room.  In light of this, the best media brands have to be used, as a back up is only as useful if it can only be retrieved.

So in light of what I've just mentioned, this is only the tip of the iceberg, and not considering the paper work, and submissions I'm currently compiling to get 2PR FM a terrestrial license.   A simple submission for getting a new broadcast license is as thick as a phone book; everything you note within a submission has to have documented sourcing. 

This is what a real radio station is about.  Unfortunately the BEDROOM JOE who wants to open a mike, and talk away, is the impression many still have of 2PR FM in the corporate and administrative world.

I guess my next challenge for 2011 will be looking into ways I can change this, it's not going to be easy.  I guess if the Max Moore-Wiltons's of this world, (chairman of the Southern Cross's) can come into my premises, and spare an hour of their time, they can come, and appreciate that there is a whole new radio experience at birth right here in Southern Sydney. 

2PR FM Second Test Broadcast, A Blaring Success!

MOOD:  BLARRY EYED

Well, here it is, a steaming Monday morning around 11:00, and I guess recovering from perhaps one of the latest nights I've had in a while.  It was off to bed round 5:00 am this morning, after what has been a tremendously successful broadcast. 

Unofficially we fired off the transmitter (we wish), webcast at 7:15 Monday morning 28th December 2009 with Donna Summer's Hot Stuff.  From there it was making sure everything from our broadcast software, playlist automation, music selection, through to the audio stream was going fine.  Then from Midday Thursday 31st December the studio was alight, the retro was in full wind-back mode, and the microphone sizzling.  

Along the way we fired off an extensive test broadcast awareness campaign, with press releases off to several local rags, and Sydney's main spread-sheets.   A week later we received coverage from the St George Leader, with some paper journalists interviewing us from our premises.  The article you can read here.

http://www.webcitation.org/5uoidx6j8

Also at the same time, we were excited that the station became wikipediarised:

EDIT: Due to article deletion, 

this link has been revised to an archived sample of the article. 
http://www.webcitation.org/5uoidx6j8

They were also many new shows appearing during our second test.  This included Sunday Night 70s, which aired for the first time on the evening of Sunday 3rd January at 6:00 pm.  Unlike the average 70s shows you hear on commercial radio, this will allow me to air my entire back archive of all the 70s hits I have in my vast music collection.  At this stage, I've digitised just over 2,000 70s tracks, with another 1,500 on the way in the not too distant future.  Most excitingly though, we bought the New Year in with the debut of our all new party show retropartymix.com.  Sending out the party vibe, the program is dedicated to playing original extended 12 inch mixes from the 70s 80s and 90s. 

There was a small hiccup with the newspaper getting our end of broadcast date wrong, but considering what a brilliant test this has been, nothing to get hung about.

As we sign off, I'm glad to say on a personal note that it also has been a rewarding experience.  Due to my asperger's syndrome, the Christmas / New Year period is often a struggle, but the events of the second test have kept these struggles a good distance from my mind.  The summer of 2009 to 2010 will be remembered as a good one.

I hope to get the next test up by late April; this all depends on how my digitising project is going.  I'm still working through my entire CD and record library, which is definitely one of the biggest tasks I've taken on in my life.  One thing that is for certain, every test that we do, the playlist will grow much bigger with many more selections in the mix.  

2PR FM NOW BROADCASTING LIVE - Second Test Broadcast

CURRENT MOOD: Excited

Ah, well, the blood is pumping, I'm awake, and what? Its happening, it's happening. A stream is coming out of LoudCIty, and it seems to be the sound of 2PR warming up for its second test broadcast.

My head is spinning, and my feet feel like they have been sucked down to the mantle of the earth, but it's all been worth it. When that WIMAMP stream was pumping through my computer, and outputting to my Philips D8514 boombox, it was a great reminder that after hours of hard work, the result is worth every bit of it.

3:00 yesterday afternoon, I processed the payment, and within five minutes, my LoudCity account was set up. After a bit of playing around, I finally found how to configure the station page setup, and after an hour or so, it all started taking shape.

The next part was now configuring the radio station software, so that it would communicate to loudCity. This meant the inputting of several config screens. At first, it all seemed quite simple, when it was just a simple copy from LoudCity's webpage, direct into my software. After another two hours, it was obvious that I was doing something wrong, so it was a dash through yahoo, google, and some of the radio forums to find some info why my stream was dead.

After further problem elimination, it was down to LoudCity giving me an incorrect password. They were apologetic about it, and finally at 5:30 this morning, the stream was up and running.

It was now time to get a heap of press-releases out to the newspapers, and some notable websites. Now it is 7:10, and after being up for an odd 23 hours straight, it's time for me to get a few hours nap.

In the end, I'm glad to say that our second test broadcast is up and running. :)

Major changes for 2PR FM ahead

CURRENT MOOD: Nauseated

2PR FM has been a quite achiever over the last ten odd years, growing and changing through the years, through thick and thin. What started as a two page album review yahoo site in 2000, has now developed into a fully live station.

A lot of stuff has been happening behind the scenes this year, which mainly has been the migration of the radio station from a pre-recorded program website, into a fully live web broadcaster.

This has included encoding several hundred of my CDs, and still several thousand still to be done, the purchase of a new computer, new software, and wait for it... finally the transmitter, or as they say in internet radio...... the full live stream. Yes, it is not too far away, but before that, it's the reality of making sure we broadcast legally, and with that, checking what we can, and what we can't do.

We have finally come across a streaming service that will let 2PR FM legally broadcast. The provider we have in mind, has a rather simple system for copyright per listener payments, and unlike other streaming servers, has an easy to understand page of rules and regulations.

This unfortunately is why this morning is what you could say a rather bitter-sweet experience has happened. With much reluctancy, and almost ten years of programming, I've had to close down 2PR FM's entire "audio on demand" schedual, the low band, broadband, and podcasting sections. Upon deleting all the shows, I felt my stomach drop, like I swallowed a ten pin bowling ball. It was such an empty feeling, but in my true tradition, I never brew on these things, as it is in deed for the better.

I am very glad to say, that this is definitely NOT the end of 2PR, as in 2010 I'm planning a number of test broadcasts.

Stay tuned to this channel for more to come soon.

The Government DEN Service (disordered employment network)

CURRENT MOOD: annoyed

It was a mild Wednesday night on October 14th when suddenly the voice of Centrelink CEO Hank Jongen came on the radio. Speaking with Tony Delroy, he spoke about the assistance they are providing for the unemployed.

I thought with a nationwide audience, this would be the perfect opportunity to get through, and note the difficulties a person with Asperger Syndrome faces.

I bought his attention to the repeated frustrations I've encountered with the various Disability Employment Network agencies. This is how they all sign me up the same way, and then don't bother producing any meetings or interviews with potential employers.

This is in the light of my successful completion of several courses and work experiences since leaving school, and operating my own internet radio station.

The main issue I bought up was that I was with Mission Employment, Job Skills, Skill Share, Nova Employment, Salvo's Employment plus, and 121 Employment. This also included my second stint with Nova Employement; and how not one of them has offered or found me a job interview.

My call comes 19 minutes and 40 seconds into the program.

http://www.2prfm.com/sources/20091014tonydelroyhankjongen56k.mp3

Boyzone vocalist dead at 33

Though not a high impacting group musically, Boyzone still had moderate success on my top 40 charts during the 1990's. There biggest three hits were "Father and son" in May 1996, another cover version, "Words" in December of the same year, and their last big hit "no matter what" in October 1998. Their first hit was "Love me for a reason", which reached a modest #19 in late March 1995.

With a few more minor hits in 1997 and 1998, Stephen Gatley and fellow vocalist Ronan Keating made their small mark on nineties contemporary pop. Their hits charted along side fellow boy-groups such as West Life, The Backstreet Boys, and Take that, who had all charted with stronger hit runs. Despite this, it is somewhat sad that we note the death of Stephen Gatley at age 33. He was found dead in his apartment on the 10th of October.

Let's remember Boyzone with their biggest hit, "Words".