Not so long ago we discovered the online music recommendation site last.fm had introduced the ability to create “groups”, or areas on the site for like minded individuals to share musical tastes and ideas.
Given that we’re prone to signing up to anything with a login button, we created a Sidepodcast Music Group, admittedly with no real clue as to what use it might serve.
A very, very long time ago, eons ago in fact, we introduced the idea of ‘free F1 content for your website’. Essentially this was an embeddable audio player containing news in the form of F1 Minute. That generic player has done remarkably well for us, and we have seen it appear in the most unexpected of places and there have been many more downloads of the daily minute as result. Now we’re taking the concept to the next level.
Much as we did with Sidepodcast’s Partner TV Player, we’re offering a branded version, tailored with a custom image and audio introduction, to anyone who’s interested in including it on their site. For the past month or so we’ve been trialling the idea in two places – Pitlane Fanatic and Racing Bulls. If you haven’t already seen them in action we recommend you go check them out now, but here’s a heads-up for the uninitiated.
Jackie and Jolly from Pitlane Fanatic were on the show a couple of days ago, and you might’ve got the impression Jolly is something of a fan of Christine’s daily minute. We’re just as big fans of them too though, and we love the look and feel of the site. The F1 Minute player fits snugly into the silver design.
Check out pitlanefanatic.com for more information.
During a recent live recording of F1 Debrief, the Sidepodcommunity managed to butcher the 12 Days of Christmas like never before.
The end result was so spectacular it really does deserve of a post of it’s own. So we’ve created a 7″ single version for your listening pleasure / pain.
The full history of how this came about, can be found on the on the Wiki, but the full rundown went something along these lines:
A little while ago, actually a long while ago now I come to think of it, Rich sent us an email containing his personal 2008 season review in audio. At first we figured we’d slot it into F1 Debrief along with other voicemails, but it was a long review, weighing in at nearly 15 minutes, and we didn’t want to lose any of the insight. Thus the idea of an end-of-season megamix was born.
We’ve already discussed this plan on the past two shows, but I promised to go into the idea in more detail as well as put up a reminder, plus Dom’s threatened to keep hassling me until I do.
Those who’ve followed Sidepodcast for a while, may remember back at the start of the year we requested listeners to call in with their predictions for the outcome of Melbourne Grand Prix. The results were compiled into a dazzling montage that set up the season nicely. It seems only correct that we should close the year with something similar.
Therefore what we’re after is yet more contributions from your good selves. We promise this will be the last thing we ever ask of you, this year… probably. What we’d really like is for anyone and everyone to let us know what you loved, hated, supported or derided between the months January to December 2008. What made you cheer and and what made you jeer? Can you name the moments you’d watch again and again, and the ones you’d sooner forget?
12 months is a long time though, so just in case you’ve forgotten, here’s a potted history of F1 in 2008 to help dust off the cobwebs:
Written on December 11th, 2008 at 10:36 pm by me.
At the beginning of the month we asked for ideas and feedback relating to things that need improving on the site for next year. We received tonnes of useful comments and we’ve collated that information into all manner of updates scheduled for sometime in January.
Because we’re needy, high maintenance people the next thing we’re after is criticism on our audio podcasts, video podcasts and live shows. Last year we picked up some excellent constructive feedback from both doctorvee and BlogF1 on ways in which we could improve in 2008, and the result of those suggestions led to the creation of F1 Digest.
In order to figure out how Sidepodcast 3.0 will look and sound, we’re really keen to find out what you like and dislike, the shows you can’t live without and the bits you’d never listen to again, even if we paid you.
Aside from the change of name, F1 Debrief has remained pretty consistent throughout the year. The changes made in January have stood the test of time, but we’ve had complaints regarding the show’s length, and that sometimes we don’t give all the driver’s enough coverage. What can we improve on, drop or add to make Debrief better in ‘09?
F1 Digest was new this year, but how does it stack up against other podcasts? Do you listen to all the weekends coverage and does it give you enough / too much detail? Tell us what you think is needed for next year.
If you’ve ever glanced at our Last.fm playlist, then you’ll know our taste in music is eclectic and probably not up to anyone’s standards. Some would even go so far as to say we have bad taste in music, and I would argue… no, actually, that’s probably fair.
If you’re a last.fm user and haven’t added us as a friend please feel free to do so. We frequently find cool and interesting music to listen to just by peeking at what others are playing. As podcasters, the site also provides some cool insight for us – did you know for example, that people who listen to Sidepodcast also check out Maurice Hamilton’s show and the Renault podcast too? Okay, maybe not that insightful then.
Quite honestly, you couldn’t have scripted it better.
I’m not sure how it happened, maybe the stars are all aligned or something, but Tuesday 7th October, marks the one year anniversary of F1 Minute, which by some freaky coincidence also happens to tie in with the 300th episode of the show.
Written on October 7th, 2008 at 10:36 pm by me.
It was little more than a week ago that Stuart issued the Bob Constanduros Challenge, where we were encouraged to try and exceed the track commentator’s infamous 28 second “champaaagne” shout.
We had an unexpectedly high number of entrants, so much so that we didn’t get through them all during the hour long Parade Lap and bounced a couple onto F1 Debrief later in the day. Sadly, Bob wasn’t around at 23:40 when that one finished (the lightweight), so instead the shouts were judged and plaudits awarded on length alone.
For convenience, neatness and posterity here are all the entrants, arranged from best to worst longest to shortest.
The winning entrant, with a champagne time of 25 seconds was Lou from F1 Break. It took many of us a considerable part of the day to encourage the girl to make that call, but the result was absolutely worth it. 3 seconds shy of the legend’s best ever time is nothing to be sniffed at.
Champagne Time: 25 seconds.
Written on September 19th, 2008 at 02:29 pm by me.
The second week in a row in which we feature a guest, and this time there’s some insight into turning old technologies into the future.
There’s this new idea about gathering together news stories and separating them into those that have been good and those that have been bad. Where have we heard that before?
Good week for Ferrari and Takuma Sato as they’re both sorting out their drives for next year, but a bad week for Nurburgring and Valencia as the organisers have some work to do.
A quick catchup of testing this week at Monza, which Renault’s determination to go slowly whatever the costs, and Force India possibly evaluating their drivers. We talk to Scott Woodwiss about his thoughts on this season compared to others, the regulation changes, and how F1 can get back to America.
Written on September 1st, 2008 at 02:58 am by Christine.
It’s no secret that Valencia wasn’t what we were hoping for, and yet it still seems to have created the talking point of the season.
I said it would never happen, but we go live once again.
Good week for safety and for returning to the sporting action, but a bad week for thefts and for Force India’s morale.
Renault are still circling way too slowly for our liking, and it’s not as though they were taking in the scenery. Did Ferrari get to choose which end of the pitlane they were at? Also what is up with Valencian security, because there was litter and a man or two on the track. Oh, and Trulli was awesome.
Written on August 26th, 2008 at 02:19 am by Christine.
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