Getting Better Acquainted

GBA 52 : To the Heart of It

This is a special episode of GBA which mixes true stories that I told live at Spark London with family conversations and a new song to explore how my dad’s heart attack and quadruple heart bypass touched both me and my family.

I talk to:

Jo http://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/gba-52-jo

Sonia http://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/gba-51-sonia

Tony http://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/gba-35-tony

and my Dad http://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/sets/the-dad-episodes/

about some big moments in our family history, getting different perspectives and shining a light on the way we interact as a family group.

This episode is about how families create myths, how memories of events contradict, change and fade, how families interact and how the idea of a parent’s mortality can shape your life.

CREDITS

The song "Talk to your Parents" will eventually be on the upcoming album "Bouncy, Poppy Songs About Death" from The Reactionaries: http://soundcloud.com/thereactionaries

Hayley is the other member of this alt-pop duo, you can hear her playing fiddle on the track: http://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/gba-9-hayley

The mixes you hear were thrown together at very short notice by the magnificent silent member of our duo, our producer George: http://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/gba-6-george

The two stories you hear me perform were told at Spark London nights: http://www.sparklondon.com/

One at the open mic they run at the Ritzy Cinema in Brixton and the other at the curated nights they put on at the Canal Cafe Theatre in Little Venice.

I've been actively involved with Spark London for a couple of years and have told quite a few true stories there and even produced some of their episodes. As a result of this one strand of GBA is conversations with Spark London true storytellers: http://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/sets/spark-londoners/

CAST LIST:

In the interests of clarity this is how my family works:

Dad's 1st Marriage = Dad + Sheila

Two daughters from this marriage: Jo and Rebecca (http://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/gba-28-rebecca)

Sonia is Jo's daughter.

Dad's 2nd Marriage = Dad + June/My Mum (http://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/sets/the-mum-episodes-1)

Two sons from this marriage: Tony and Me

Mum's 2nd Marriage = Mum + Mervyn

One daughter from this marriage: Rosie

The two friends who are mentioned in my story are:

Owain: http://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/gba-16-owain

and Steve (who I haven't managed to do a full GBA with yet but who appears in this GBA Special: http://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/gba-17-cardiff )

Jen is my girlfriend (who appeared in the Christmas Special and will have at least one proper episode coming out in the future.)

Liz makes a cameo in this episode as she was my outside ear and shaped the way that the episode was narrated. She talks about some of the things discussed in this episode in her GBA episode: http://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/gba-4-liz

This is the playlist of all of the family episodes that have aired so far: http://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/sets/family

You can hear Getting Better Acquainted on Stitcher SmartRadio, Stitcher allows you to listen to your favourite shows directly from your iPhone, Android Phone, Kindle Fire and beyond.

On-demand and on the go!

Don’t have Stitcher? Download it for free today at http://www.stitcher.com or in the app stores.

Help more people get better acquainted. If you like what you hear why not write an iTunes review?

Follow @GBApodcast on Twitter. Like Getting Better Acquainted on facebook. Tell your friends. Spread the word!

In GBA 52 we get better acquainted with my sister, Jo. She talks about being part of the Leytonstone community, teaching in inner-city schools, doing studies of single sex schooling, changing attitudes to gender within her lifetime, gardening as religion & more!

We also find ourselves wondering about the specifics of family events. These questions inspired me to make GBA Special coming out this Friday. In "To the Heart of It" I talk to Jo, last week’s guest Sonia, previous guests Tony, and my Dad, about some big moments in our family history, getting different perspectives and shining a light on the way we interact as a family group. I also explore my own relation with my father’s mortality and debut a new song from The Reactionaries.

Jo Plugs:

Allotments and great teachers.

"If you want to be happy for an hour get drunk, for a year get married, or for life be a gardener."

You can hear Getting Better Acquainted on Stitcher SmartRadio, Stitcher allows you to listen to your favourite shows directly from your iPhone, Android Phone, Kindle Fire and beyond.

On-demand and on the go!

Don’t have Stitcher? Download it for free today at http://www.stitcher.com or in the app stores.

Help more people get better acquainted. If you like what you hear why not write an iTunes review?

Follow @GBApodcast on Twitter. Like Getting Better Acquainted on facebook. Tell your friends. Spread the word!

In GBA 52 we get better acquainted with my sister, Jo. She talks about being part of the Leytonstone community, teaching in inner-city schools, doing studies of single sex schooling, changing attitudes to gender within her lifetime, gardening as religion & more!

We also find ourselves wondering about the specifics of family events. These questions inspired me to make GBA Special coming out this Friday. In "To the Heart of It" I talk to Jo, last week’s guest Sonia, previous guests Tony, and my Dad, about some big moments in our family history, getting different perspectives and shining a light on the way we interact as a family group. I also explore my own relation with my father’s mortality and debut a new song from The Reactionaries.

Jo Plugs:

Allotments and great teachers.

"If you want to be happy for an hour get drunk, for a year get married, or for life be a gardener."

You can hear Getting Better Acquainted on Stitcher SmartRadio, Stitcher allows you to listen to your favourite shows directly from your iPhone, Android Phone, Kindle Fire and beyond.

On-demand and on the go!

Don’t have Stitcher? Download it for free today at http://www.stitcher.com or in the app stores.

Help more people get better acquainted. If you like what you hear why not write an iTunes review?

Follow @GBApodcast on Twitter. Like Getting Better Acquainted on facebook. Tell your friends. Spread the word!

In GBA 52 we get better acquainted with my sister, Jo. She talks about being part of the Leytonstone community, teaching in inner-city schools, doing studies of single sex schooling, changing attitudes to gender within her lifetime, gardening as religion & more!

We also find ourselves wondering about the specifics of family events. These questions inspired me to make GBA Special coming out this Friday. In "To the Heart of It" I talk to Jo, last week’s guest Sonia, previous guests Tony, and my Dad, about some big moments in our family history, getting different perspectives and shining a light on the way we interact as a family group. I also explore my own relation with my father’s mortality and debut a new song from The Reactionaries.

Jo Plugs:

Allotments and great teachers.

"If you want to be happy for an hour get drunk, for a year get married, or for life be a gardener."

You can hear Getting Better Acquainted on Stitcher SmartRadio, Stitcher allows you to listen to your favourite shows directly from your iPhone, Android Phone, Kindle Fire and beyond.

On-demand and on the go!

Don’t have Stitcher? Download it for free today at http://www.stitcher.com or in the app stores.

Help more people get better acquainted. If you like what you hear why not write an iTunes review?

Follow @GBApodcast on Twitter. Like Getting Better Acquainted on facebook. Tell your friends. Spread the word!

This is my submission to the Third Coast International Audio Festival ShortDocs Challenge 2012

http://www.thirdcoastfestival.org/competitions/shortdocs/2012

The challenge was to:

"Produce a short audio story (2 -3 minutes) that features at least two of your neighbors, includes a color in the title, and contains three consecutive seconds of narrative silence. Stories of all styles are welcome – from documentary to drama - and everything in between."

One sentence summary:

This piece is called Grey Areas and it's about how close I am to my dad, in a literal sense, it's also a tribute to the the neighbour we buried in his back garden.

85 word Bio:

Dave Pickering is 30 years old and lives in East London.

He wrote both series of a podcast drama called Numbers which was nominated for The Internet Programme Award at The Sony Radio Academy Awards 2009.

He’s produced podcasts for the London true story telling night Spark London. Spark London was voted Best of Mixcloud 2010.

He runs a variety style night called Stand Up Tragedy at the Leicester Square Theatre and produces a weekly conversation/interview show called Getting Better Acquainted.

This is my submission to the Third Coast International Audio Festival ShortDocs Challenge 2012

http://www.thirdcoastfestival.org/competitions/shortdocs/2012

The challenge was to:

"Produce a short audio story (2 -3 minutes) that features at least two of your neighbors, includes a color in the title, and contains three consecutive seconds of narrative silence. Stories of all styles are welcome – from documentary to drama - and everything in between."

One sentence summary:

This piece is called Grey Areas and it's about how close I am to my dad, in a literal sense, it's also a tribute to the the neighbour we buried in his back garden.

85 word Bio:

Dave Pickering is 30 years old and lives in East London.

He wrote both series of a podcast drama called Numbers which was nominated for The Internet Programme Award at The Sony Radio Academy Awards 2009.

He’s produced podcasts for the London true story telling night Spark London. Spark London was voted Best of Mixcloud 2010.

He runs a variety style night called Stand Up Tragedy at the Leicester Square Theatre and produces a weekly conversation/interview show called Getting Better Acquainted.

This is my submission to the Third Coast International Audio Festival ShortDocs Challenge 2012

http://www.thirdcoastfestival.org/competitions/shortdocs/2012

The challenge was to:

"Produce a short audio story (2 -3 minutes) that features at least two of your neighbors, includes a color in the title, and contains three consecutive seconds of narrative silence. Stories of all styles are welcome – from documentary to drama - and everything in between."

One sentence summary:

This piece is called Grey Areas and it's about how close I am to my dad, in a literal sense, it's also a tribute to the the neighbour we buried in his back garden.

85 word Bio:

Dave Pickering is 30 years old and lives in East London.

He wrote both series of a podcast drama called Numbers which was nominated for The Internet Programme Award at The Sony Radio Academy Awards 2009.

He’s produced podcasts for the London true story telling night Spark London. Spark London was voted Best of Mixcloud 2010.

He runs a variety style night called Stand Up Tragedy at the Leicester Square Theatre and produces a weekly conversation/interview show called Getting Better Acquainted.

This is my submission to the Third Coast International Audio Festival ShortDocs Challenge 2012

http://www.thirdcoastfestival.org/competitions/shortdocs/2012

The challenge was to:

"Produce a short audio story (2 -3 minutes) that features at least two of your neighbors, includes a color in the title, and contains three consecutive seconds of narrative silence. Stories of all styles are welcome – from documentary to drama - and everything in between."

One sentence summary:

This piece is called Grey Areas and it's about how close I am to my dad, in a literal sense, it's also a tribute to the the neighbour we buried in his back garden.

85 word Bio:

Dave Pickering is 30 years old and lives in East London.

He wrote both series of a podcast drama called Numbers which was nominated for The Internet Programme Award at The Sony Radio Academy Awards 2009.

He’s produced podcasts for the London true story telling night Spark London. Spark London was voted Best of Mixcloud 2010.

He runs a variety style night called Stand Up Tragedy at the Leicester Square Theatre and produces a weekly conversation/interview show called Getting Better Acquainted.

In GBA 51 we get better acquainted with my niece, Sonia. She talks about giving birth to her two children which were very different experiences to each other, her feelings about motherhood, having a strong friendship group, smiling at strangers, experiences of Australia, the desire to work with her hands and lot's more.

We touch on becoming like our parents, what that means and how it can be embraced. I'm also revealed to be a Buncle, uncover her hatred for Chickens and discuss her influence on me when I was growing up.

It’s a really open and wide ranging conversation that was a joy to record.

Sonia Plugs:

Romance, reality and positivity!

At the start of the episode I suggest people who like this one might like:

http://longestshortesttime.com/ (also available on iTunes)

http://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/gba-18-sam

You can hear Getting Better Acquainted on Stitcher SmartRadio, Stitcher allows you to listen to your favourite shows directly from your iPhone, Android Phone, Kindle Fire and beyond.

On-demand and on the go!

Don’t have Stitcher? Download it for free today at http://www.stitcher.com or in the app stores.

Help more people get better acquainted. If you like what you hear why not write an iTunes review?

Follow @GBApodcast on Twitter. Like Getting Better Acquainted on facebook. Tell your friends. Spread the word!

In GBA 51 we get better acquainted with my niece, Sonia. She talks about giving birth to her two children which were very different experiences to each other, her feelings about motherhood, having a strong friendship group, smiling at strangers, experiences of Australia, the desire to work with her hands and lot's more.

We touch on becoming like our parents, what that means and how it can be embraced. I'm also revealed to be a Buncle, uncover her hatred for Chickens and discuss her influence on me when I was growing up.

It’s a really open and wide ranging conversation that was a joy to record.

Sonia Plugs:

Romance, reality and positivity!

At the start of the episode I suggest people who like this one might like:

http://longestshortesttime.com/ (also available on iTunes)

http://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/gba-18-sam

You can hear Getting Better Acquainted on Stitcher SmartRadio, Stitcher allows you to listen to your favourite shows directly from your iPhone, Android Phone, Kindle Fire and beyond.

On-demand and on the go!

Don’t have Stitcher? Download it for free today at http://www.stitcher.com or in the app stores.

Help more people get better acquainted. If you like what you hear why not write an iTunes review?

Follow @GBApodcast on Twitter. Like Getting Better Acquainted on facebook. Tell your friends. Spread the word!