The domain registration run out for bigdaddymerk.co.uk last week and I wasn’t sure about renewing it, thing is I’ve had this domain for such a long time now it would be like losing an old friend.
When I first registered the domain it was through some random free domain company and it was my first attempt at html coding and even my first major foray into the world of the internet – it was via dial up at my mums house, on my first proper pc which I paid £1200 cash for at Tiny. My (or rather my Mums) first dial up bill was about 300 quid!
I made this really shit site which entertained the idea that BigDaddyMerk himself was some sort of celebrity hit-man, offering varied levels of violence towards people like Robbie Williams, Will Smith etc. it had animated gif horizontal rules of dripping blood and an animated Terminator saying something very shit like “Tell me which celeb you wish to be terminated‘ – Frankly it was dreadful and very embarrassing.
If I could go back 11 years and tell myself not to do something this would probably be quite high on the list, alas I can’t and I must tell you that at no time did I ever do a ‘hit‘ on anyone, celebrity or otherwise.
At the time I’d just started college near Birmingham I was doing Audio Visual Design, which is a posh name for titting around in a recording studio – I took this course because at school I spent a lot of time doing sound and light work for the theatre productions and this was what I wanted to do. The school wouldn’t run a dedicated technical course (ironic given their whole City Technical College thingy) so I headed over to Smethwick 4 times a week to do sound.
While I was there I realised I wasn’t really interested in sound engineering in a studio environment because most musicians I met during the process, while very talented, where mostly a bunch of arseholes!
Part of the course was Radio Production, something I’d really gotten into and with the influence of the excellent Mark & Lard, Chris Evans and a fast emerging Chris Moyles (although I’d rather cut my ears off than listen to him now). I met a good friend who I ended up doing a radio programme on Wolverhampton Campus Radio – a long term RSL on AM broadcasting to Wolverhampton College, it was fun. Lots of fun.
I decided to head to University, the place that offered the best course was in Warrington – a place I will never miss. I spent most of my study/work time helping set up a student radio station which last time I checked is still going. I only lasted a year, before deciding it wasn’t for me.
I headed back home and within a year I’d got a full time job with Wolverhampton Campus Radio, while I learned much more about radio, radio production and management. Just before I left WCR I started working with a place called The Public in West Bromwich and we successfully applied for a radio licence, a 5 year FM licence to broadcast community oriented radio. All went well until the The Public’s much publicised demise, the administrators were called in and the first thing to go was their support my company that would eventually run the station. Bad times.
During this time I was working in technical support for an ISP, a boring unsatisfying job – but it paid a half decent wage, so I stuck it out, after about a year or so I was given the opportunity to move into the Network Operations Team which is where I still am to this day. My computer/networking knowledge has grown tenfold and I am still learning every day, it’s sometimes fun, sometimes challenging, sometimes downright annoying.
So here we are, why am I writing this? I have no idea, I just sat here and out it came. Thinking about what I’ve just written I’m pleased my IT knowledge has grown but I’m still pretty sure it’s not what I want to do for the rest of my working life.
I have been asked to get involved with some old radio friends to help set up an Restricted Service Radio Licence somewhere in Shropshire next year, I’m so up for helping out – I just hope I can fit it around my job. I’m still desperate to work in theatre sound & light and perhaps radio again but I’m worried it might be too late – am I destined to spend a life in IT?
Only time will tell huh?
2 Comments
I remember that first website. I remember loging on whilst at Uni and laughing at the price of giving someone a “dry slap”.
I still dont know what a dry slap is, but I do know that this was back in 99/2000.
I had no idea you had a passion for theatre lights and sound, you should get yourself down London town for that line of work but best way to get a toe in is as a casual and then impress from there.