I have a nice but old Samsung laptop (circa 2005) with a good screen, camera and speakers which is trapped running Windows Vista. I’m wondering how one installs Linux or similar to give it a new lease of life. A little lockdown project. Any advice gratefully received!

Hitchin Folk Club has basically had anyone who is anyone in the folk world on their stage over the years, and the always impeccable sound, mixed by Kieron, has also been recorded. He is opening up this treasure trove (with artist approval) so that you can buy live sets for a fiver and he will send the money direct to the artist and send you the audio. It’s delightfully folky and a bit hand made which I like even more. See communiqué below and fill your boots!

HITCHIN FOLKUS DOWNLOAD A CONCERT FOR £5   Hi Folks Times are certainly hard for all of us now, with the self-employed probably facing more uncertainly than most.  With all venues now shut down all the wonderful singers who have entertained us for so long have had their income cut to nothing at a stroke.  It has struck us that there may be a little we can do to help.  Since the late 80’s I have been recording concerts at Hitchin Folk Club, originally on cassette, then mini disc, next digital recorder and now directly onto iPad.  If we were to offer whole concerts to download for £5 it could take a meal » Continue Reading.

Utterly irrelevant in these serious days but walking back from town I was moved to ask, which is your favourite Gerry Anderson? Are you a civilian Thunderbirds person? A grumpy Fireball XL 5 then it was downhill all the way? A moderne Captain Scarlett? Surely not a Joe 90? I’m a lifelong Stingray guy. I love that it’s such a historical snapshot. Anything strange they spot, off with a Sting missile. WASP was never better named. It had the best music. Plus it had Marina.

Over to you.

Twang Jr has acquired a Guitar Hero controller but can’t get the game working – on the PC rather than the xBox. Any tips?

I have tickets to see Ben Watt in London but I have to say the creeping paranoia of the week is getting to me. Going into London on the train then the tube then mixing with herds of people has, shall we say, limited appeal. Thoughts?

They say little pickers wear big knickers. I say pah. Me, I can’t resist a slice of mature cheddar (or if we have it, red Leicester) and if there’s Jarlsberg in the fridge, half a slab. With an apple if really hungry. A pint isn’t a pint without a dry roasted peanut – KP or Nobby’s preferred. A new discovery chez us is a bag of Burt’s Lentil Waves, especially with a Crofts Original straight from the fridge. Don’t let me anywhere near Pringles, especially the paprika ones, and Chocolate Hobnobs with a cup of tea late afternoon are a human right, aren’t they?

What’s your “go to” nib?

I am sure there are good uses for so called big data in looking at trends etc, but for the sort of micro targeting people get bent out of shape about, I suggest it’s almost worthless. The “targeted” advertising I get is never, ever, anything I’m interested in, and even Amazon, who ought to have a better idea than most, only suggest I buy something I just bought (50 bin liners bought last week Sir? No, I won’t need any for months). There are plenty of things I am probably susceptible to but none of them ever get suggested. Big data – big load of toss.

Discuss.

For some reason I was moved to make a playlist of the soft sweet soul music I hated as a grim faced, long haired blues boy in the 70s but came round to in the 80s. We’re talking spine tingling vocals (probably with falsetto), strings will be in evidence, bass will probably be played on an analogue synth and any guitar will be gently wah wah’d rather than widdled.

What should I add?

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5ZzbtrGV7y00VOexQYNsTV?si=DsuN-kZoQfaSYyVsqAvRxQ

The new and final series of”Homeland” is back on Sunday evening. The last series was a cracker and left Carrie in dreadful state so I’m really looking forward to this. It’s the last series ever, apparently, and has moved a long way from Nicholas Brody. This series apparently pulls it all together for the finale. Can’t wait!

Someone posted a performance I’ve wanted to hear for years on a Facebook group – Julianne Regan (she of All About Eve) singing “Who knows where the time goes” with Fairport at Cropredy. I think we can agree this is a tough gig, and to my ears Julianne nails it. (It’s only available on a few obscure Fairport compilations and turned up on the Spotify version of the Dave Pegg comp troublingly titled “A box of Pegg’s”).

Anyway, other examples of someone stepping into unfillable shoes and pulling it off? Or falling flat on their face?

A few stats on the podcast! We have made 22 episodes, so almost hitting one every two weeks, on topics ranging from specific discussions (reggae, James Bond, music biogs, critics, post punk, Half Man Half Biscuit, Bruce Springsteen, Joni Mitchell, Miles Davis, Van Morrison) to general rambles, the launch of the 121 discussions, year end reviews, Beatles reissues, special guests (Mike Vernon, David Hepworth, Kathryn Williams). 27 guests have shambled into the pod, some more than once. A few even started without 15 minutes debugging Skype, phoning/texting/PMing missing guests. Phew, I feel exhausted thinking about it.

So…for the New Year, what topics should we tackle? Ideas welcome! Everyone is obviously welcome so PM if you fancy being on or in a 121 – most people start by insisting they couldn’t meaningfully string three words together then quickly realise it’s basically a chat with mates and settle in to talk for England. The more the merrier!

Also we should hit number 100 this year – so ideas to mark this auspicious ever welcome!

Netflix have published their top 10 shows but although I watch it regularly, I’ve haven’t seen any of them other than the McCann one. Any fans of the others here?

Netflix’s top 10 most popular releases of 2019 in the UK

1. The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann 2. 6 Underground 3. Murder Mystery 4. The Witcher 5. The Irishman 6. After Life 7. Stranger Things 3 8. Our Planet 9. Sex Education 10. Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes: Limited Series