Archives for October 2009

Read this...then scroll down to the fun stuff...

Blog comments are currently unavailable. Find out more.

Greg James|16:44 UK time, Friday, 30 October 2009

Hi there, early next week, there will be a change to how you leave comments on this blog - the BBC bigwigs are upgrading the current registration system to a new and improved one.

When you log in to the new system, you will be prompted to upgrade your existing account, and you should be able to do that with a minimum of fuss. More details on this can be found on the BBC Internet Blog.

Lazlow

Blog comments are currently unavailable. Find out more.

Greg James|11:42 UK time, Friday, 30 October 2009

He is best known for his part in the legendary video game series 'Grand Theft Auto'. I'm not the world's biggest gamer, but the one game I have been addicted to from a very early age is this one.

I have most of the editions, including the early GTA:London one based in the '60s for my PC. Love it.

Lazlow came into Radio 1 last week and showed me the new GTA: Episodes from Liberty City.

This series of games is a huge deal. The last edition of the game sold 6 million copies, making around $500 million. Not bad eh?

091026greglazlow_300.JPG

Shiny head.

In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions

A load of videos...in one simple place

Blog comments are currently unavailable. Find out more.

Greg James|12:01 UK time, Thursday, 29 October 2009

There's been a few little videos made recently which you may enjoy.

The first being of my trip to play tennis with Andy Murray:

And then as this week at Radio is all about computer games, Comedy Dave, Fearne and I created a band - "Wrong Jovi" on XBox's 'Rockband':

Aaaaand finally, I went for a little evening out to the arcade with my show's gaming girl, Alex Sim-Wise:

Thank you as ever for reading this little blog. It is much appreciated. Feel free to leave your thoughts on stuff you like/dislike on the comments below - after all, it is all for YOU!

Awkward photo alert...

Blog comments are currently unavailable. Find out more.

Greg James|14:17 UK time, Tuesday, 27 October 2009

Jonathan Blake meets Jay-Z!

Newsbeat's US reporter spent the afternoon, well, 3 mins with the king of hip hop.

jayzjonathan400.JPG

Oh dear...

Blog comments are currently unavailable. Find out more.

Greg James|11:57 UK time, Tuesday, 27 October 2009

Amy Winehouse was supposed to give an award out at the Q Awards last night. She missed her cue.

The weekend, trains and video games...

Blog comments are currently unavailable. Find out more.

Greg James|11:27 UK time, Monday, 26 October 2009

A lovely but busy weekend...Was djing in Birmingham on Friday night and Lincoln on Saturday. I had a very special guest with me on Friday - Peter Dickson aka 'Voiceover Man' (from X-Factor and E4) joined me on stage doing live shout outs. Ridiculous. He went down a storm and was mobbed for photos.

I saw this chap sleeping on the train:

(his hair and eyes have been altered to avoid recognition)

Thumbnail image for trainsleeper.jpg

Oh, and have a look at this very nifty Radio 1 video game

Gigs aplenty...

Blog comments are currently unavailable. Find out more.

Greg James|10:48 UK time, Thursday, 22 October 2009

Tuesday night at the Robbie Williams' Electric Proms performance was superb. He packed out the Roundhouse which is a beautiful venue. Look:

roundhouse.jpg

He played loads of his old hits and some of the stuff off his new album - personal favourite being 'No Regrets'. I'd forgotten what a great pop song that is.

Have a look at all things Robbie

Last night, I went off to see Editors at Hammersmith Apollo. I've loved this lot since they came on the scene when I was at Uni. I got a bit emotional when they finished with 'Fingers in The Factories' came on at the very end. A forgotten gem from their first album.

I saw some 'gig rage' during the first song, which was a nice surprise. Not for the guy on the recieving end, though. Some bloke was trying to find his seat and was getting in everyone's way. Another bloke got up and pushed his head out of the way. I kept quiet.

Here is a traditionally poor photo of the gig last night:

poorphoto2.jpg

Mind your step...

Blog comments are currently unavailable. Find out more.

Greg James|11:05 UK time, Tuesday, 20 October 2009

I was at Sheffield Uni last night playing a few CDs, so got the early train back this morning and saw this at King's Cross station at the foot of the escalator. Is there any need for the graphic image of 'tumbling old man'?

fall.jpg

Tony Almeida...

Blog comments are currently unavailable. Find out more.

Greg James|16:32 UK time, Friday, 16 October 2009

Today was the day then. The very cool Carlos Bernard aka Tony Almeida from massive US TV series '24' was on the show. He was a great bloke, very friendly but due to his recent escapades on season 7, I wasn't sure if I could trust him...

In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions

greg_2.JPG

Cool guy. Not sure on the hat though?

My mate Johnny's love life...

Blog comments are currently unavailable. Find out more.

Greg James|12:26 UK time, Friday, 16 October 2009

We've been mates for many years and he's never had a lot of luck with the ladies, but he's finally found someone to tolerate him. We're tracking his progress on air as he starts his new relationship.

In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions

This week he talks about his latest night out with the lady and wonders when he should stop paying for everything. Tonight he's off to see Disney Pixar's incredible new film - 'Up'.

People have pointed out to him that he doesn't look dissimilar to one of the main characters . What do you think?

johnny.JPG

dqhxfr.jpgHave a look at the official 'Up' site

Fridays and smoke machines...

Blog comments are currently unavailable. Find out more.

Greg James|11:01 UK time, Friday, 16 October 2009

Yes, yes, oh, yay.

Looking forward to today's show as ever - Carlos Bernard aka Tony Almeida is popping in just after 2pm to have a chat about all things '24'.

I was at a club in London doing a little dj set. The dj booth had an incredibly hi-tech lighting desk. There was a big button to power up the smoke machine. I pressed it too much until no one could see in front of them. The security ran up the booth waving the smoke from their faces shouting at me to turn it off. Reluctantly, I did.

Here's a BBC archive photo that appeared when I searched for 'smoke'.

smoke.jpg

Busy old show (as ever) from 1pm - feel free to join me.

Want to see a newsreader dance to Sean Kingston?

Blog comments are currently unavailable. Find out more.

Greg James|13:05 UK time, Wednesday, 14 October 2009

Feast your eyes on Newsbeat's very own Chi Chi Izundu:

"Tonaaaaay!!!"

Blog comments are currently unavailable. Find out more.

Greg James|11:46 UK time, Wednesday, 14 October 2009

I announced some big news on the big show yesterday. A load of big things going on. Carlos Bernard who plays Tony Almeida in incredible TV series '24' is coming in on Friday's show - LIVE.

carlos.jpg

Anything you've ever wanted to ask him? I'm going to pick the best question from below...

'Welcome along' hits the net...

Blog comments are currently unavailable. Find out more.

Greg James|11:46 UK time, Friday, 9 October 2009

Thank you to Pete Taylor who has emailed me this:

He said that he spotted this website that uses the well known phrase 'Welcome Along' on its homepage...

If you spot it anywhere else, and I mean - ANYWHERE - email me anytime - welcome.along@bbc.co.uk

That is all.

The 3rd guest on the Big Afternoon Show...

Blog comments are currently unavailable. Find out more.

Greg James|14:55 UK time, Thursday, 8 October 2009

This chap:

091008_richardbaconblog_400.JPG

Richard Bacon was trying to get on every national FM radio network today. He hosted a show on Radio 2, was in a sketch show on Radio 4, is doing his show tonight on 5Live and I got him a spot on 1Xtra also. Have a listen to the evidence on his show tonight at 10pm here if you're interested to see how he gets on.

A random interlude on the Big Show, but a very welcome one.

An idea...

Blog comments are currently unavailable. Find out more.

Greg James|11:17 UK time, Thursday, 8 October 2009

In these difficult financial times, we all need as much help as we can to make ourselves feel better off. I have come up with a potentially genius idea:

1pundnote.jpg

BRING BACK THE £1 NOTE!

Whenever you look in your wallet or purse and you see a load of notes, you think - 'ahhh yes, I've got a load of money'. If you look in, and you've got a few 50 pences and a couple of pound notes, you get depressed.

Imagine - you're buying a newspaper and some crisps, it comes to 76p...you whip out a £1 note to pay for it. You'll feel like a million dollers. Well, you'll feel like a £1 note.

The £1 note used to be around in the 80s. Why did it go?!

Sign below (leave a comment) to get it back!

A few bits on my mind...

Blog comments are currently unavailable. Find out more.

Greg James|11:00 UK time, Wednesday, 7 October 2009

Ohhh, it's not an easy task starting up a new radio show from scratch and it's been a very busy but incredible couple of weeks. It's getting much more normal now - am slowly working out what I can do with my evenings and am loving the fact that so many more people are able to hear my shows everyday. It always amazes me when people quote stuff back to me that I've said on air. 

In other news, I watched episode 2 of FlashForward last night. This show just gets better and better. If you haven't watched it yet, I suggest you get into it. You can catch up with it online.

Saw this on the way into work today:

bones.JPG

I wonder how many people will be pleasantly suprised today walking past going "ooh, I needed some bones actually".

Also, this sign was on the door of the fridge in the office:

greekfood.JPG

They take their comedy very seriously.

Mumford and Sons and other farmyard animals...

Blog comments are currently unavailable. Find out more.

Greg James|11:55 UK time, Tuesday, 6 October 2009

I spent a fantastic evening in a barn last night. Mumford and Sons launched their debut on a farm in Hertfordshire. I thought this was a great idea, so couldn't wait to go along. At the end of a dirt track, as the trees peeled back, a bustling barn was revealed, barbeque going in the corner, make shift bar and strings of lights. It was a proper home coming for this band who had been on tour for a while and were looking forward to having a bit celebration with their mates and 500 of their biggest fans.

mumford2.JPG

mumford1.JPG

The gig itself was superb - importantly, they have fun on stage. As you can tell, I am a big fan. I've never seen a bunch of mates enjoy themselves so much doing what they love doing. If you are after an album that accompanies the wintery, dark, cosy nights that are drawing in and you want something that will let you escape everything for a bit, then this is it. The new album 'Sigh No More' is out now and I can't recommend it enough. I'm in love.

The weekend that was...

Blog comments are currently unavailable. Find out more.

Greg James|11:09 UK time, Monday, 5 October 2009

It was a full on weekend yet again, which is the way I like it. Wouldn't have minded a bit more time with mates/girlfriend but that's not a moan...it was a very fun weekend.

I was in Leicester and Derby on Friday night and met some rather lovely people...Then zoomed across the country to Swansea on a rail replacement bus service which took an age. However, I did get chance to finish off season 7 of 24. Excellent news and a predictably massive cliffhanger ending.

Saturday night, I was on at Swansea University at their Fresher's Ball. Dr. Karl from Neighbours was on with his band. He has achieved legendary status due to his 15 years in the soap. Here he is:

drkarl.JPG

Yesterday was a day of rest and coming up with a few bits for the show. I did try and buy a new keyboard for my computer but the well known huge global computer company which has a massive store in London ran out of them. Well done everyone.

I also closed the curtains, locked the doors and turned my phone off and got involved in new show 'FlashForward'. My goodness, this show has the potential to take over my life. Thank god its only on once a week.

My weekend, in a nutshell.

Here is Dr. Karl - aka Alan Fletcher when he was on Jo Whiley's show a little while back:

Ricky.

Blog comments are currently unavailable. Find out more.

Greg James|13:10 UK time, Friday, 2 October 2009

On Monday, one of my comedy idols popped in for a chat. Here he is:

090928_gregrickyforblog.jpg

The interview was ridiculous but very funny. He got quite serious in the end, which was great and very informative for hardcore fans. He started off by trying to find alternative words for rude ones. He called me a wangler. I had a brilliant time. Have a look at Ricky's excellent blog here.

In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions

Cycling The Americas...

Blog comments are currently unavailable. Find out more.

Greg James|14:10 UK time, Thursday, 1 October 2009

This is Mark's blog - have a look, it's rather interesting.

mark1.jpg

mark2.jpg

I'm looking for a new flat...

Blog comments are currently unavailable. Find out more.

Greg James|12:48 UK time, Thursday, 1 October 2009

...how about this one?

Perhaps not.