again cribbed from wikipedia....
Dean Ashton - Premiership footballer playing for West Ham United. Born in Swindon.
Ralph Bates - Writer.
Jon Bourgerie - Presenter of The Late Show London [1] was born in Swindon
Mark A. Brennan - Canadian Landscape Painter, Born in Swindon, 1968.
Julian Clary - Comedian, formerly a resident of Rodbourne. His family still lives in the area.
Jamie Cox - Boxer. ABA light-welterweight champion. Won a gold medal for the England team at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia.
Rick Davies - Founder and member of the band Supertramp.
Diana Dors - Actress.
John Francome - Novelist, sports commentator and former jockey.
Justin Hayward - Lead guitarist (and one of the composers) for the rock band The Moody Blues.
Jason Martin - Radio DJ
David Hempleman-Adams - Explorer.
David Howell - Ryder Cup golfer. Ranked 10th in the world[2]. Highest ranked English golfer, and also the highest ranked British golfer.
Richard Jefferies - Victorian nature writer born at Coate.
Mark Lamarr - TV presenter, comedian, and radio DJ. Grew up in Park South.
Jon Lewis - England and Gloucestershire cricketer.
Angel Long - Adult Movie actress.
Melinda Messenger - Former glamour model and television presenter. Born in Swindon.
Antony Micallef - Artist.
Matthew Mills - Manchester City FC & England U-21 Defender.
Desmond Morris - Anthropologist.
Tom New - Leicestershire cricketer.
Orange n Blue - DJ from the 90s Drum & Bass Scene. Now part of Cintamani records
Gilbert O'Sullivan - Irish born, Swindon raised, singer/songwriter.
Billie Piper - Actress and former pop singer, who played Rose in the 2005/2006 seasons of BBC Sci-Fi TV programme Doctor Who.
Laurie Pycroft - Political campaginer who founded the pro-animal research group Pro-Test
Jon Richardson - comedian
Rachel Shelley - Actress, born in Swindon.
Tim Smith - Radio 2 Broadcaster and co-presenter of Radio 2's "Steve Wright in the Afternoon" Show.
Ben Thatcher - Football player in the FA Premier League with Manchester City FC.
Ken White - Artist, best known for his association with Richard Branson's Virgin Companies.
XTC, pop rock band from Swindon.
Dave Gregory - Lead guitarist from 1979 to 1999. Born in Swindon.
Colin Moulding - Founding member, second songwriter, vocalist, and bassist for the band. Born in Swindon.
Andy Partridge - Founding member, guitarist and chief songwriter. Born in Malta. Raised in Swindon, where he lives.
Thaila Zucchi - Big Brother 8 personality
Saturday 29 September 2007
ideas for swindon film festival
im just collecting the material and dont want to influence its outcome,..... but ive been looking up facts about swindon (well looked it up on wikipedia, so i can get a few ideas about the city).
its got some good claims to fame.....ive copy and pasted them down below. sorry if i have left any glaring ommissions...
It is referred to in the Domesday Book as Suindune, a name believed to be derived from the Anglo-Saxon words swine and dun meaning 'pig hill', or possibly 'Sweyn's hill' where Sweyn would be the local landlord.
In 1840, Isambard Kingdom Brunel chose Swindon as the site for the large Swindon railway works he planned for the Great Western Railway.
From 1871, GWR workers each week had a small amount deducted from their pay and put into a fund – its doctors could prescribe them or their family members free medicines or send them for medical treatments. ,From the opening in 1892 of the Health Centre, a doctor could also prescribe a hair cut – and even a bath – for a patient. The cradle-to-grave extent of this service was later used as a blueprint for the NHS.
In 1997 Swindon was named the fastest growing settlement in the world.
The town itself has a total area of approximately 40 km²
It offered the aspiring poor the UK's first lending library, and a range of improving lectures, access to a theatre and worthy pastimes from ambulance classes to xylophone lessons.
Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Swindon include - Coate Water, Great Quarry, Haydon Meadow, Okus Quarry and Old Town Railway Cutting.
More people have joined the Hare Krishna movement in Swindon than in any other English town.
Swindon is considered to be an almost exact microcosm of the whole United Kingdom in its demographic make-up, to the extent that it has been used for market research purposes and trials of new products and services. One example was the ill-fated Mondex electronic money.
In May 2007, 65.3% of households in Swindon had broadband Internet access, the highest in the UK
A 2007 report by Endsleigh Insurance concluded that the town was the second safest place to live in the UK,
Major employers include the Honda , BMW/Mini,Motorola, Dolby Labs and retailer W H Smith, Intel has its European head office on the south side of the town and Lucent Technologies head office is on the west side. Nationwide Building Society and Zurich Financial Services, and pharmaceutical companies such as Canada's Patheon and the US-based Cardinal Health's . Several of the UK's Science Research Councils have their head office here. Swindon is also the location of two Tyco Electronics sites. Also household products division of consumer goods supplier Reckitt Benckiser – best known for dishwasher detergents, disinfectants and cold remedies.
The town is notable for its roundabouts, to the extent of selling yearly calendars featuring a different roundabout for each month] The best known roundabout is the 'Magic Roundabout' at the junction of Drove Road, Queens Drive and Fleming Way near the County Ground.
Between 1973 and June 2000 Swindon had its own cable television channel. At first, it was Swindon Viewpoint – a community television project run mainly by enthusiasts from the basement of a Radio Rentals branch on Victoria Road
Museum of Computing Oakfield Campus, University of Bath in Swindon, Marlowe Avenue.
swindon is twinned with Salzgitter, Germany (1975),Ocotal, Nicaragua (1990),ToruĊ, Poland (2006),Chattanooga, USA (2006)
TV detective series A Touch of Frost starring David Jason is often set in or around Swindon (called "Denton" in the series)
Noel Gallagher, the lead singer of the rock band Oasis chose the name of his band after visiting Swindon's Oasis swimming pool and leisure centre in 1993
The rock band XTC, the notable rock-pop group formed in 1977, are from Swindon. Also members of related act Shriekback. XTC's co-founder guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and graphic artist Andy Partridge still lives in the town.
Supertramp keyboard player and singer Rick Davies comes from Swindon. The sleeve art for Breakfast in America shows the band's members in an American diner reading their hometowns' newspapers, Davies is reading Swindon's Evening Advertiser (since renamed as the Swindon Advertiser).
Moody Blues' vocalist, lead guitarist and songwriter Justin Hayward is from Swindon. He wrote their signature song Nights in White Satin.
Electronic music outfit Meat Beat Manifesto, were formed in Swindon in 1987.
.........i already knew diana dors (or fluck as was her real name ) came from here, shes me favourite film star. i highly recommend her autobiography to any one, tis callled dors by diana....you can get it off ebay intermitantly. its a fantastic story, a proper greek tragidy full of characters,and realy seedy.....but in a good beating the odds type way. and she abosoluty refuses she could have been wrong at any stage.
desmond morris i knew about too. he appears in the diana dors book (and the other ,more trashier a-z guides...believe me when i say i know a lot about the dors....i also reccomend never on a sunday, but only if you have read dors by diana, and are prepared to use it as a factual guide to wether diana was telling the truth or not)...any way this is about desmond....
hes done a lot to bring us down to the level of the ape...which is a good thing......but thats all i know....
xtc i knew,tho never realy listened to a lot of their music, it is one of those bands (english psycedilia..ive been told)..ive been meaning to...could only name senses working over time,or making plans for nigel...and i know they've made about 100 albums with loads of bamds offshoots like the kings of the statusphere(???)....dave loves em and thats good enough for me.....i didnt know about justin hayworth out of the moody blues....tho i love his work on War of the Worlds....but Knights in white satin (which he wrote) is my least favourate piece of music ...it actualy makes me feel sick..it abosulutly terrorises me...that bit where it goes ..cos i love you (yahh ahhh)..horrible...
railways i sort of knew about...if i was asked about swindon i probly would use my knowlegde of the industrial revolution to half offer the fact it was a railway town.......
roundabouts...i saw a postcard with that roundabout in it.....
its got some good claims to fame.....ive copy and pasted them down below. sorry if i have left any glaring ommissions...
It is referred to in the Domesday Book as Suindune, a name believed to be derived from the Anglo-Saxon words swine and dun meaning 'pig hill', or possibly 'Sweyn's hill' where Sweyn would be the local landlord.
In 1840, Isambard Kingdom Brunel chose Swindon as the site for the large Swindon railway works he planned for the Great Western Railway.
From 1871, GWR workers each week had a small amount deducted from their pay and put into a fund – its doctors could prescribe them or their family members free medicines or send them for medical treatments. ,From the opening in 1892 of the Health Centre, a doctor could also prescribe a hair cut – and even a bath – for a patient. The cradle-to-grave extent of this service was later used as a blueprint for the NHS.
In 1997 Swindon was named the fastest growing settlement in the world.
The town itself has a total area of approximately 40 km²
It offered the aspiring poor the UK's first lending library, and a range of improving lectures, access to a theatre and worthy pastimes from ambulance classes to xylophone lessons.
Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Swindon include - Coate Water, Great Quarry, Haydon Meadow, Okus Quarry and Old Town Railway Cutting.
More people have joined the Hare Krishna movement in Swindon than in any other English town.
Swindon is considered to be an almost exact microcosm of the whole United Kingdom in its demographic make-up, to the extent that it has been used for market research purposes and trials of new products and services. One example was the ill-fated Mondex electronic money.
In May 2007, 65.3% of households in Swindon had broadband Internet access, the highest in the UK
A 2007 report by Endsleigh Insurance concluded that the town was the second safest place to live in the UK,
Major employers include the Honda , BMW/Mini,Motorola, Dolby Labs and retailer W H Smith, Intel has its European head office on the south side of the town and Lucent Technologies head office is on the west side. Nationwide Building Society and Zurich Financial Services, and pharmaceutical companies such as Canada's Patheon and the US-based Cardinal Health's . Several of the UK's Science Research Councils have their head office here. Swindon is also the location of two Tyco Electronics sites. Also household products division of consumer goods supplier Reckitt Benckiser – best known for dishwasher detergents, disinfectants and cold remedies.
The town is notable for its roundabouts, to the extent of selling yearly calendars featuring a different roundabout for each month] The best known roundabout is the 'Magic Roundabout' at the junction of Drove Road, Queens Drive and Fleming Way near the County Ground.
Between 1973 and June 2000 Swindon had its own cable television channel. At first, it was Swindon Viewpoint – a community television project run mainly by enthusiasts from the basement of a Radio Rentals branch on Victoria Road
Museum of Computing Oakfield Campus, University of Bath in Swindon, Marlowe Avenue.
swindon is twinned with Salzgitter, Germany (1975),Ocotal, Nicaragua (1990),ToruĊ, Poland (2006),Chattanooga, USA (2006)
TV detective series A Touch of Frost starring David Jason is often set in or around Swindon (called "Denton" in the series)
Noel Gallagher, the lead singer of the rock band Oasis chose the name of his band after visiting Swindon's Oasis swimming pool and leisure centre in 1993
The rock band XTC, the notable rock-pop group formed in 1977, are from Swindon. Also members of related act Shriekback. XTC's co-founder guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and graphic artist Andy Partridge still lives in the town.
Supertramp keyboard player and singer Rick Davies comes from Swindon. The sleeve art for Breakfast in America shows the band's members in an American diner reading their hometowns' newspapers, Davies is reading Swindon's Evening Advertiser (since renamed as the Swindon Advertiser).
Moody Blues' vocalist, lead guitarist and songwriter Justin Hayward is from Swindon. He wrote their signature song Nights in White Satin.
Electronic music outfit Meat Beat Manifesto, were formed in Swindon in 1987.
.........i already knew diana dors (or fluck as was her real name ) came from here, shes me favourite film star. i highly recommend her autobiography to any one, tis callled dors by diana....you can get it off ebay intermitantly. its a fantastic story, a proper greek tragidy full of characters,and realy seedy.....but in a good beating the odds type way. and she abosoluty refuses she could have been wrong at any stage.
desmond morris i knew about too. he appears in the diana dors book (and the other ,more trashier a-z guides...believe me when i say i know a lot about the dors....i also reccomend never on a sunday, but only if you have read dors by diana, and are prepared to use it as a factual guide to wether diana was telling the truth or not)...any way this is about desmond....
hes done a lot to bring us down to the level of the ape...which is a good thing......but thats all i know....
xtc i knew,tho never realy listened to a lot of their music, it is one of those bands (english psycedilia..ive been told)..ive been meaning to...could only name senses working over time,or making plans for nigel...and i know they've made about 100 albums with loads of bamds offshoots like the kings of the statusphere(???)....dave loves em and thats good enough for me.....i didnt know about justin hayworth out of the moody blues....tho i love his work on War of the Worlds....but Knights in white satin (which he wrote) is my least favourate piece of music ...it actualy makes me feel sick..it abosulutly terrorises me...that bit where it goes ..cos i love you (yahh ahhh)..horrible...
railways i sort of knew about...if i was asked about swindon i probly would use my knowlegde of the industrial revolution to half offer the fact it was a railway town.......
roundabouts...i saw a postcard with that roundabout in it.....
Friday 28 September 2007
Jungulator plays after Basil brush
Yes...at the Wyvern theatre, only hours before the jungulator performance, you can catch basil brush on his basil of the caribbean stage show. I'm realy looking forward to being just in the building with basil. I should get the larger dressing room.....
Arts Afternoon 29th September
theres an open day at the institute of Contemporary Interdisciplinary Arts,University of Bath
saturday afternoon from 2.30 till 4.30
heres a link to a map
i'll be explaining what we're hoping to do, and demostrating the software....you might be interested....
Software for workshops
got a couple bit of software here, a movie recorder/editor, and a sound recorder/editor
im going to update em soon, and i've got another couple of bits to put up..but ive got to finish em first....
anyway they're up there and free..both pc and mac.....they'll let youdo anything quicktime can do......and theyre free dammit....
they're on a page with loads of other bits and peices,which i wont go into here (tho have a go at em)...at the bottom of the page
start your downloading here....
Culture Crunch online
heres another application that create a live selfgenerative audio/visual mix. and can be a bit skittish on wireless conections..plug yer machine back into the wall...
download it here.....
Self generative radio show
here you go download this and you get a little radio application ,a selfgenrative radio show with its own robotic annoucer....
Examples of self generative media
i 'll go more in depth about self generative media later,but for now heres some links to some self generative examples.
Culture crunch
this is an example of a selfgenerative video mix of ziegist tv moments
The road ahead
a selfgenerative road movie
Self generative community portrait of kids in Lawrence Weston,Bristol.
its got an introduction of how my colleges and i went about the process
for more examples of the whole community protrait program have a look here
all about i am the mighty jungulator
i am the mighty jungulator is the name of a band i'm in and also a piece of software i have written.
i could go on about it here but we've got a website where you can check it out.
for general band info go to here
for information about the software go here
i'll put up some links later for specifics, but the webite is a good resource. Loads of free bits of audio/visual software, examples of video work and free music
How can i get involved in the workshops/donate some media
Two workshops will be held before the performance to introduced the ideas and software to participant, also to start collecting
media.
if you want to take part in either or both workshops email
info@swindonfilmfestival.co.uk
at the moment i have no hard facts about the workshops but i think theyre taking place on october 25 and october 30
if you're coming along bring with you ideas about swindon,and something to capture your media on.
it could be a digital camera,a minidisc recorder or best of all your mobile phone, sounds and images captured on yer mobile would be perfect.
if you cant make the workshops dont worry, give me an email at
matthew@robotmonkeytank.free-online.co.uk
and i can arrange for you to send me your contributions electronicaly over the internet innit.....
What is an audio/visual self-generative mix?
The project will create a quadraphonic sound-scape with an accomplying film, made from sounds and visuals (in the form of pictures and video clips) donated by members of the public.
The audio visual clips supplied will then be processed and mixed by a peice of software i have developed called, i am the mighty jungulator. The jugulator software makes decisions of how the media is processed and evolves a presentation and narrative, that can either be guided through human interation,or be left to create its own feelings and interpitation.
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