Sidepodcast

Sunday Afternoon Giggles

Since Christmas, we have stepped back from live streaming the podcast recordings on a Sunday night. Most of the issues are down to server and technical bits and pieces, but it also takes the pressure off us on a weekend. We want to make the live streaming as good as it can be, and putting a halt to proceedings is the easiest way to evaluate what we're doing.

To keep you all in the loop, we're not planning to bring back live streaming over the next few weeks, but it is our aim to return to the world of live before the season gets underway. Either way, we'll definitely be back for the first race.

You're not missing anything, as when we do off-line shows, it isn't half as much fun as it is when we're watching the comments. I do promise to keep finding the outtakes for you, though, because it's only fair you get to see us mess up, even if we're not streaming the process.

But wait! It's not all bad news. We do have some live streaming to bring to you. Parade Lap host Alex Andronov managed to acquire a PRS licence and began a weekend radio show, bringing a couple of hours of music, live streamed into your ears. Proper music as well! It's brilliant.

As our first ever guest broadcast, one in which we are not involved at all, we are opening up a thread for the Giggles Radio phenomenon, allowing listeners to watch and comment right here on Sidepodcast. The show isn't really F1 related, other than the fact that, erm, Giggles is an F1 fan, and sometimes he plays songs that mention cars. I think that is tenuous enough for us.

Giggles Radio takes a different letter of the alphabet each episode, and plays songs surrounding that letter. We've already seen A, B and C, and in case you missed them, we have posted the replays in a dedicated category. You can find them here:

• Giggles Radio - A
• Giggles Radio - B
• Giggles Radio - C

I've also entered the latest Giggles Radio show into the Calendar, and it just so happens it will take place today, starting at 4pm UK time. Alex is much better at sticking to a schedule than we are here at Sidepodcast, so make sure you checkout the Giggles Radio thread later this afternoon.

Live: Giggles Radio - C

Can't concentrate? Caustic cacophony clogging your ears? Choose Giggles Radio.

It's Giggles Radio episode C! Each show we play 2 hours of music themed by starting letter. This week we see the letter C, but also 'cos I'd been by the Sea and Sea sounds like C there was a maritime quality to the collection.

Part 1

Part 2

Playlist

• Ash - Girl from Mars
• Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band - Canyons Of Your Mind
• Mamas And The Papas, The - California Dreaming
• Carrie - California Screamin'
• Christina Aguilera - Candyman
• Gary Numan - Cars
• Fleetwood Mac - The Chain
• The Breeders - Cannonball
• T.Rex - Children Of The Revolution
• Eric Clapton - Cocaine
• J. Geils Band, The - Centerfold
• Wham! - Club Tropicana
• Charles Trénet - La Mer
• Belinda Carlisle - Circle In the Sand
• Stranglers - Peaches
• The Presidents of the United States - Peaches
• The Housemartins - Caravan Of Love
• Morrissey - Come Back To Camden
• Dexy's Midnight Runners - Come On Eileen
• Simon & Garfunkel - Cecilia
• T'Pau - China In Your Hand
• David Bowie - Changes
• Smashing Pumpkins - Cherub Rock
• Scissor Sisters - Comfortably Numb
• Pulp - Common People
• Barry Manilow - Copacabana
• Queen - Seven Seas Of Rhye
• Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band - Cool Britannia

Sea you next time!

Daily: 30th January 2010

Today is Saturday, the penultimate day of January and the start of the weekend. Most importantly this means we can sleep. Both halves of Sidepodcast are officially under the weather today, and the lovely Christine is suffering the most.

Despite us working at less than full capacity on Friday, there were plenty of events to discuss both inside and outside of the F1 scene.

• Kimi got his full time rallying career off the ground on Friday, and we're committing to covering his progress this year, starting with a dedicated Arctic Rally thread. It's a new and confusing category of motor sport for us to fathom, and Räikkönen appears to have much to learn too.
• Yesterday's Friday Fun topic got everybody reminiscing on classic Formula 1 launch parties in year's gone by. I'll happily go on record and say things certainly seemed more exciting back in my day.
• The McLaren team threw back the covers on their 2010 challenger the MP4-25 less than 24 hours ago, but an early leak of press images via Dank on Twitter took the edge off the silver machine's unveiling. That said, the rest of the event in Newbury went off without a hitch, with the live stream offering far more useful coverage than Ferrari's pathetic efforts the previous day.
• If you haven't already, please take a look at Adie's write-up from a day inside Vodafone HQ. It's commendable that McLaren took the initiative to open doors and recognise bloggers efforts to break into mainstream F1 journalism. Although it has been noted that the team from Woking happily opened someone else's factory doors, rather than their own.
• As a final word on launches, I recommend reading Joe's thoughts on viewing from the comfort of one's armchair. With zero hope of an exclusive, why would professional journalists travel from far and wide to experience the same thing as those watching at home (or even less if you factor in the leaked photographs)? There's plenty more to be discussed on this subject, do watch for more posts later today.

Apologies to anyone waiting on F1 Minute or F1 Big Picture, I may be trusted to handle a stand-in daily post, but my talents only stretch so far (plus I charge by the hour, don't ya know?). Here's wishing Christine a speedy recovery.

McLaren Reveal 2010 Chassis and Livery

Friday saw the McLaren team launch their 2010 F1 challenger during a ceremony at the Vodafone Headquarters in Newbury, UK. The covers were pulled back on the MP4-25 by drivers Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton.

Credit: mclaren.com

A side view of McLaren's elongated 2010 silver machine, the MP4-25.

The event began at 11:00 GMT and was successfully broadcast live to the internet in its entirety. The car again featured a silver livery not wildly differing from last year, while the chassis was notable for its extended 'shark-fin' engine cover. The underside of the nose features an unusual arrangement of turning vanes that should help direct airflow to the tightly packaged sidepod intakes.

The team's official press release described the revised bodywork as a "radical aerodynamic overhaul" and was keen to stress the importance of the ongoing relationship with engine partners, and now on track rivals, Mercedes.

Horsepower once again comes from our friends in Stuttgart. Mercedes-Benz's FO 108X V8 subtly improves upon an engine which has become the benchmark in Formula 1, winning the last two drivers' world championships.

Credit: mclaren.com

The MP4-25 front and center, featuring Jenson Button's number one atop the nose.

New team member, Jenson Button was ecstatic to see his world champion's number one displayed on the nosecone for the first time.

"I’m incredibly proud to be standing here today knowing I'll be carrying the number one for the whole season: that's a great responsibility but also a great honour. It's something I’m relishing. It looks so cool too!"

"I've got a great team around me, and I already feel very at home here. I just can't wait to get in the car and start driving again. It really can’t come soon enough!"

Meanwhile, team mate Lewis Hamilton spoke of his faith in the team's strength in depth.

"We have a tremendous engineering team – people who have been here for many, many years and who have worked with some of the sport’s greatest champions and helped design and build some of Formula 1's most iconic cars. They really want to deliver another fantastic car for the 2010 season."

The car will run for the first time during testing in Valencia on Monday.

Live: Giggles Radio - B

Problems with the live show barely broadcasting between buffering? Blistering Barnacles! Listen to this repeat because B brought better quality than the rest of A-C put together.

This is the second show of Giggles Radio on the subject of the letter B. It's a two hour radio show of music, banter and beer. Not every song began with the letter B, because I'm fickle like that, but quite a lot did.

Playlist

• 10 C.C. - Dreadlock holiday
• Beatles, The - The Ballad Of John And Yoko
• Barenaked Ladies - Be My Yoko Ono
• Bellatrix - Jediwannabe
• Move, The - Brontosaurus
• White Stripes - Fell In Love With A Girl
• Morrison, Van - Brown Eyed Girl
• Take That - Back For Good
• Creedence Clearwater Revival - Bad Moon Rising
• Madness - Baggy Trousers
• They Might Be Giants - Birdhouse In Your Soul
• Michael Jackson - Billie Jean
• Paul Anka - Black Hole Sun
• The Verve - Bitter Sweet Symphony
• Led Zeppelin - Black Dog
• Warren Zevon - Boom Boom Mancini
• New Order - Blue Monday
• Cornershop - Brimful Of Asha
• Belle & Sebastian - The Boy With The Arab Strap
• Pixie Lott - Boys and Girls
• The Spinto Band - Brown Boxes
• Mary Chapin Carpenter - The Bug
• The Wannadies - Bumble Bee Boy
• CAKE - The Distance
• Mott The Hoople - All The Young Dudes
• Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
• Morecambe & Wise - Bring Me Sunshine

Make sure you blast up the volume, and with the music blaring out your speakers you'll be bouncing along. Bye!

Live: After Eight

We have arrived at the last live show of the year and we intend to make it a good one. Yesterday we covered all the F1 news to leave this show free to be our end of year Sidepodparty.

We've got awards to be handed out, Christmas music to be played, alcohol to be consumed and festive treats to enjoy. We'll also be attempting to follow last year's Sidepodchristmas Carol, so start warming your voices up!

We'll hopefully be going live at 8pm GMT, so stick around and join us as we celebrate the year that was 2009.

The Sidepodcast House Party 2009

Credit: F1 Lou

The best Christmas card... in the world.

Last weekend we attended the first ever real life Sidepodparty, and it was a resounding success. The two of us gathered at Alex and Kat's house in London, along with Lou, Emily, Bassano, Pat, Chris and Fourstar, but we also managed to invite those who couldn't attend via a dedicated comment thread.

Additionally, we live streamed video from several cameras while a Skype conference call was set up to bring the farthest reaches of the globe into London to join the party.

Alex has spent the whole of this month entertaining us with the Giggle's Advent Calendar and he kindly invited us all to take part in one of the episodes. The finished product came out really well, and was a nice surprise to those who hadn't attended.

During the recording we did manage to sneak some behind-the-scenes footage of the recording in action (there really were a lot of cameras). Here's the reverse angle of the same scene:

It wasn't all work, work, work though. We managed to get through a fair amount of pizza, hot sausage rolls and some lovely cookies made by Lou's mum. There may have been a small quantity of alcohol consumed too. The house was a sight to behold at times, with up to six screens running live comments, including a rather large TV communicating via Wii-Wi-Fi.

It was without a doubt the geekiest party we have ever been to and it was brilliant. We must give special shout out to Pat for turning in an official Sidepodcast T-shirt. The message as annoyingly relevant today as the day it was introduced.

Credit: Christine Blachford

Pat W and Mr.C sporting Sidepodcast tees.

If you're interested in seeing more streaming party goodness, take a look at the following videos:

• Early party scenes
• iPhone chest cam
• Late night F1 gaming action

Thank you to everybody who made the day so wonderful. Can we do it again soon please?

Live: Saturday Night Live

Surprise! Here we are with a show on a Saturday, and it all feels very odd and out of place. Hopefully the show won't be like that, as we have lots of news to get through, and plenty of Formula 1 stuff to talk about.

Who would have thought December could be quite so busy? We're hoping to go live at 8pm GMT so I hope you can join us for a quick nip through all the news you need to know.

Let's Get the Party Started

Today is the day. It is Sidepodcast's IRL party. No, no, we're not switching allegiances... yet. We're meeting at the one and only Alex Andronov's house for a Sidepodparty - details are on the wiki.

It started out as a regular pub meetup but turned into a party with plenty of alcohol and sausage rolls. We know that not everyone is able to make it to Alex's house on such short notice, so you can follow along here, in this very thread. Equally, if you can't stand the party nonsense, the daily is your friend.

Firstly, we imagine there will be plenty of live streaming going on. We'll embed Alex's U-Stream content here, but keep an eye on the playground for other people's streams.

There should also be plenty of photos taken, so drop.io is the place to watch. We'll try and embed as many as we can into the thread. I think I'm in charge of the comments - I'll be your Sidepodparty correspondent for the day. Let us know if you have any questions, requests, suggestions, and most of all, enjoy the day!

Live: As Happy As Disco Dan

Hello again! It has been two long weeks and there has been plenty of F1 news whilst we've been busy behind the scenes of Sidepodcast. Never fear, though, we are back to cover it all - from team takeovers to the young driver testing in Jerez. It's all on the agenda for this week's F1 Debrief.

We are hoping to go live at 8pm GMT, but that is at the discretion of any unforseen technical issues, obviously. Meanwhile, make yourselves at home, get comfortable, and we'll be with you shortly.