Booyah! BYAMPOD: bang on schedule.
We're getting close to the end of Marillion's Happiness Is The Road Volume 2: The Hard Shoulder, as we mop up another three songs - Throw Me Out, Half The World, and... wait for it... Whatever Is Wrong With You.
One of these songs Sanja and I have a MAJOR disagreement about, and it's not the one you might expect...
Bonus ep recorded, and will be with you early next week. Have a great weekend, y'all.
2023-03-03 14:56:48 +0000 UTC
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Hey-loh! Here's a bumper crop of outtakes that I removed from this week's ep. Most of these were taken out as a result of not wanting to be too puerile (for once) due having a very special guest on, and the fact I've felt that recent vids have been a little bit too diarrhoea-y. Lucky you: you get to learn the full nature of the curse put on Keith The Librarian...
2023-03-03 12:07:09 +0000 UTC
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Hello, you lot. Just a quick one to say thank you for still being here. We dropped a few Patrons this month - first time in a while - so we're doubly grateful that so many of you are sticking around for whatever it is that we do, and helping to keep us ticking over.
It does feel like we've turned at least one corner after the relentless roughness of 2023. The last few weeks I've been much more back to my old self, and I've definitely got my creative mojo back, to the point I've got too ...
2023-03-02 11:23:24 +0000 UTC
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This week's Digi is a video I've wanted to make for aaaaaages, and it turned into a bit of an epic. Fighting Fantasy books were huge for me when I was growing up, and while we were planning for this ep it dawned on me that Sir Ian Livingstone - co-founder of Games Workshop, the man who brought Dungeons & Dragons to the UK, author of countless Fighting Fantasy books, the man who discovered Lara Croft - and I follow one another on Twitter.
So I asked him for an interview, and he said ...
2023-03-01 16:59:48 +0000 UTC
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We're back! At last! Sorry we didn't get you this sooner. We'll be back on schedule this week, so expect a bonus podcast and ep 114 before Friday.
In this ep, we set out with the intention of continuing our discussion about Marillion's The Hard Shoulder, the second volume of Happiness Is The Road.
We discuss the time we were trapped in a dinner party with Sophie Ellis Bextor's mother, the pick and mix and lewdly-named shower gel you can buy at Port Zelande, before we get onto Asyl...
2023-02-27 17:18:17 +0000 UTC
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Hello, you lot. So, big week coming up.
We're about to record the long overdue BYAMPOD, and we'll do a bonus episode too. And probably a Writer's Club episode.
My interview with the alien abductee last week has been moved to tonight. Let's hope he shows up this time... ahem.
Tomorrow I'm interviewing the legend that is Sir Ian Livingstone, which I'm very excited about.
Both these interviews will likely be truncated for the YouTube channel, but the upper Patreon tiers w...
2023-02-27 10:46:34 +0000 UTC
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Hi all. Just a quick apology for there not having been a BYAMPOD the past two weeks. Basically, the week before last Sanja was ill as you know. Then this week was an absolute grind for me. I entered the week knackered after having not had a chance to take off any time last weekend, then I had an insanely packed week with meetings and work. On top of that, I've been trying to get everything done through my second cold of the year. And we did a whole day of Digi filming on Tuesday, and a whole ...
2023-02-26 11:45:19 +0000 UTC
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Hola, lovely people. Here's a brand new and Patreon-only vid! It's a bit of a life update, plus we answer some questions left over from last year - including (oooooh!) the secret of having a successful relationship.
2023-02-23 12:04:20 +0000 UTC
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Sorry about that! Spotted a couple of errors in the previous version, including 10 seconds of blank screen.
Anyhow. Here it is. Barring the re-editing and re-uploading faff, his was a lot of fun to do.
Enjoy!
2023-02-22 22:14:44 +0000 UTC
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EDIT: GAH! Spotted the bit that was messed-up. Had to make it private temporarily. Will be back up again soon.
Phew! Got you this just in time. Sanja being poorly last week has put us behind with, well, everything, but we've a Patreon-exclusive video coming tomorrow to make up for it.
Plus, there are outtakes in the offing for Upper Tiers, BYAMPOD should be done tomorrow, along with - hopefully - a BYAMPOD Q&A Patreon exclusive. Also: tomorrow night there'll b...
2023-02-22 19:31:24 +0000 UTC
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...a light came on.
The last couple of weeks – since I wrote the blogs where I felt like I was struggling with a few things – have been decidedly different.
As I said in those, writing stuff down really, really helps me, and this time it looks as if it really did. Thoughts and feelings are sometimes too enormous to take in, and writing them down in a linear form is like taking a step back so I have a panoramic view. Rather than try to understand a mountain by pressing my face ...
2023-02-19 13:11:21 +0000 UTC
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Hello, gang.
Sorry for the quiet week. Sanja wasn't well, and I didn't have much to say for a change!
BYAMPOD is going to be a touch late alas. Sanja's finally starting to feel better, but whatever was up with her has been a difficult bugger to shift, and it has put us behind with the next bit of The Hard Shoulder. We'll get it to you as soon as we can.
Next week should be business as usual in terms of all things Digi and BYAMPOD, with a Biffo's Brain on Thursday Night for t...
2023-02-17 13:40:04 +0000 UTC
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Hello, gang. Not sure yet whether there'll be a Digi this week, as Sanja's a bit poorly. Without spelling it out (that's what BYAMPOD is for), she's had something up with her guts for a few weeks, and it isn't shifting. She keeps seeming to get better, and then goes downhill. We were due to record today, but she was up half the night, so I obviously don't expect her to want to be on camera today.
Likewise, this will also affect the possible Biffo's Brain Zoom on Thursday and next week's...
2023-02-14 09:37:45 +0000 UTC
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A tad later than planned... here's next week's BYAMPOD.
There's a Writer's Club podcast coming Monday (and apologies to those of you waiting on a Biffo's Brain this week - sorry, just got too busy, but hopefully next week).
In this ep, we're finally digging deep into Marillion's Happiness Is The Road Volume 2: The Hard Shoulder. We manage to cover Thunder Fly and The Man From Planet Marzipan - the latter of which manages to provoke some of the soul searching and strong emoti...
2023-02-10 21:42:32 +0000 UTC
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New Digi video! This 40 year-old Star Wars quiz book proves to be more than Mr Biffo bargained for - but before he can even answer any questions, he has everything he thought he knew about the Star Wars Saga turned on its head... Just what is a "Sour Earth"?
Enjoy!
2023-02-08 15:24:50 +0000 UTC
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I will try and reply to each of you individually, but I just want you to know that I read all your comments beneath my post at the weekend, and appreciated every single one of them.
I just want to let you know… I’m okay, and please don’t worry.
As I said on Saturday, when I write something like that it sort of helps me to process. I’m absolutely dogged when it comes to my feelings, and not letting them dominate me. There’s part of me that feels I shouldn’t share ...
2023-02-06 15:08:25 +0000 UTC
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The past week I've been feeling like a failure.
I’ve been lucky that for most of my life I felt like I was moving towards success. As a kid, I’d get told I was funny, or good at art, or creative, and that I’d do well in my life. Then I became a graphic designer, and was considered good at that – best in the business, one ex-boss described me at my leaving do. Then I did Digitiser, and it was, well, huge. We had celebrity fans. We made enemies, but we had people I respected who r...
2023-02-04 11:18:12 +0000 UTC
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Just a little bonus episode for you BYAMPOD-ers, in which we discuss our hopes for the upcoming Port Zealand Marillion Weekend.
Get this: it's the first podcast Sanja has edited (along with an imminent Writer's Club), which is why it sounds waaaaay better than the main BYAMPOD.
Guess who's going to be editing those from now on...
2023-02-03 14:26:33 +0000 UTC
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I've posted the message below in other Digi places, but I'm making sure you're all aware.
(And just to say, we would still like to do something special for Patrons over the weekend, but we want to make sure Friday is going ahead, as this will effect when and where it takes place).
Just to let you know, we're just under a quarter sold for the Friday night of the Digi Weekend. In some respe...
2023-02-02 17:05:53 +0000 UTC
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A particularly Marillion-y episode this week, as we address the potential setlist of the upcoming Marillion Weekends, the new Marillion YouTube show, which songs we'd choose to try and 'Marillion-ize' somebody, 'musical' concept albums versus suites of songs, and - most importantly - whether The Hard Shoulder harmed the overall reputation of Happiness Is The Road...
Also: Sanja has a Richard stomach.
Coming tomorrow: a bonus episode discussing our hopes for Port Zelande, and...
2023-02-02 15:24:33 +0000 UTC
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Look: it's this week's Digi! And it's early! And it's a big one! And it's a new Krapstarter! Hope you like it. And I hope you enjoy Sanja squirming at potentially sensitive topics...
Sanja must guess whether the failed Kickstarter campaigns are real or fake. Biffo presents her with everything from dog armour, to teddy bears with catheters, to offensive toilet paper!
Apologies to those of you who were waiting on a BYAMPOD this week. Simply put, we didn't get time yesterday, so we'v...
2023-01-31 17:31:16 +0000 UTC
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Hello, you lot. Brand new Digi video will be with you later today. In the meantime, here are some Piccalilli Willy outtakes. This features one of those crowd-pleasing attempts to start the video 50 different times in 50 different ways.
2023-01-31 14:02:28 +0000 UTC
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Hi y'all.
BYAMPOD will be with you a little late - it's likely to be Monday afternoon, and Tuesday for everyone else. There will be a bonus ep as well to make up for the delay.
Apologies. Just got a bit waylaid with work with this week. Somehow, I ended up having multiple meetings every single day - when usually it's enough having one Zoom a week to throw me off! That had a knock-on effect with everything else I intended to get done.
Have a great weekend, everyone.
...
2023-01-27 17:00:30 +0000 UTC
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Astonishingly... the flamboyant businessman Piccalilli Willy is back by popular demand. No: really. We're as surprised as you are.
He and Sanja taste and rank a number of different piccalillis - the disgusting yellow pickle. It's the content that YouTube was invented for!
There'll be some outtakes for upper tiers soon, and for Biffo's Brain tier... talk to you at 7.30pm.
2023-01-26 18:22:02 +0000 UTC
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There's a new Digi in the works - which I'm hurriedly editing to get out before the weekend. But to tide you Upper Tiers over, here are some outtakes from the V&A video. There aren't actually that many, but if you enjoy grumpy Biffo... here's some more.
See some of you for Biffo's Brain tonight.
2023-01-26 12:20:27 +0000 UTC
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Hello, you lot.
Sorry there’s been no Digi video yet this week. You’ll get one (plus there’ll hopefully be Writer’s Club, Biffo’s Brain, outtakes for upper tiers, BYAMPOD, and a BYAMPOD bonus) – we’re just running late, as I had some work stuff to finish up.
We’ve decided to slightly mix things up a bit behind-the-scenes on the channel. Nothing you’ll really notice on screen (though we’re experimenting with where and when the Patron names appear), but we’re g...
2023-01-24 17:52:57 +0000 UTC
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Can AI replace humans when it comes to Marillion lyrics? Specifically, can it replace Fish, Steve Hogarth and - yes - even John Helmer?! This week, we conduct a strictly scientific experiment to find out. Plus! Marillion news! Mr Men! And faffing!
Here's probably the best of the Death & Water AI album covers I mention in the episode...
2023-01-20 10:32:14 +0000 UTC
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Sorry to spam - just easier than messaging you individually. Just so you all know, we've checked... and if you think you've booked a front row seat to Digi Live, you HAVE booked a front row seat.
Turns out they'd not yet allocated our guest list seats yet anyway, and those will be back in Row Q, like the plebs they are.
2023-01-17 12:48:07 +0000 UTC
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Hello, you lot. We're asking why front row seats are coming out as Row D. We'll let you know accordingly whether there's been some mess-up there.
In the meantime, I won't be publicising the tickets until tomorrow, so this gives you lovely Patrons a 24 hour window to book yours before everyone gets on the bandwagon.
This is the FAQ that'll be going up on the website tomorrow.
<...
2023-01-17 12:39:07 +0000 UTC
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They're up! And you've got some time before I tell the rest of the world, if you want to get your tickets now.
Just to say, these nights will be two parts of a whole. Totally get if you can only afford/manage one or the other - and there's no requirement to come to both nights - but for the full, unbridled, experience... come to both! It's going to be very, very, very fun.
More details imminently...
NIGHT 1 TICKETS:
2023-01-17 10:29:41 +0000 UTC
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