Weirdly, I never much enjoyed writing at school. I had ideas – too many ideas – but I’d hurry to get them down on paper. I’d skip words, or write in an illegible scrawl.
Once I became a writer by trade, stopped having to use a pen or pencil, and got better at writ...
2022-08-18 20:08:18 +0000 UTC View PostHello again, you lot. So... I'm not sure we're going to get a Digi out this week. As I think I said yesterday, we've got Sanja's brother and his girlfriend staying, which has further squeezed our already squeezed life, at least for the next week. And we're keeping an eye on my mum for two days fr...
2022-08-16 19:51:27 +0000 UTC View PostAs many have said already, Cheapshow Live was great on Saturday night. It was exactly what we both needed. I hadn’t expected there to be quite such a pro-Digi crowd. I’m always a little bit wary of Cheapshow’s audience, given that Paul and Eli are very beloved, and the fact that I’m not s...
2022-08-15 12:25:24 +0000 UTC View PostHello, all.
Hot innit? Well, it is if you're in England or Wales. We're in the middle of another heatwave, and I can't staaaaaaand it.
Just to say, I think we're going to skip a week of BYAMPOD. With the ongoing mum and dad stuff something needs to give somewhere along the...
2022-08-12 14:57:11 +0000 UTC View Post
Yes... it was under the sofa, just as I thought. Which meant I could finish off compiling the Curtis/Dorothy love letters outtakes. And here they are: a truly bumper selection of deleted footage, longer than the episode itself.
I'll see some of you on Zoom at 7.30pm.
2022-08-11 17:40:45 +0000 UTC View Post
Behold: even more holes, arguing, and terrible sportsmanship!
I do believe we're scheduled to do a Biffo's Brain Zoom tonight at 7.30pm. If people are still up for that, despite the hellish heat that's rolling in, I'll get you a link this afternoon.
2022-08-11 09:18:37 +0000 UTC View Post
New Digi vid! And the first with both the Cheapshow boys since last Christmas.
Yes: it's crazy minigolf meets dinosaurs in this special tournament, featuring me and Sanja versus Paul and Eli from Cheapshow! It's 18 holes of cheating, bad language, bad sportsmanship, ill-co...
2022-08-10 16:50:57 +0000 UTC View PostMorning all.
Apologies to the upper tiers for not yet getting you the outtakes from the letters ep. Annoyingly, my hard drive containing them has been… uh… well, I don’t know where it is. It’ll turn up though, and I’ll get you them. We’ll hopefully get you something else exclusi...
2022-08-08 09:10:28 +0000 UTC View Post
Here's one of the letters I don't think we read out on this week's ep. I've not scanned the slighter more risqué one yet, but I'll try and get around to it next week, along with some of the others.
This is, I believe, the most 'recent' (and therefore final) letter we have from Curtis...
2022-08-04 20:37:33 +0000 UTC View Post
In this Patreon-only exclusive, we're talking about the 2011 Marillion Weekend, which not only featured probably the longest Marillion gigs of all time... but played a key role in mine and Sanja's relationship...
2022-08-04 14:47:56 +0000 UTC View Post
In this new BYAMPOD, we're mopping up the last drips of Somewhere Else in the shape of the b-sides; Circular Ride and Say The Word. This takes us into a discussion about whether Marillion are more prog pop than prog rock, Steve Hogarth's Musical Boobs, and the under appreciated genius of producer...
2022-08-04 14:37:30 +0000 UTC View PostHello, you lovely lot.
As you’ll have gathered, it has been a challenging couple of weeks, emotionally obviously, but just on a kind of physical and energetic level. With my dad in hospital – who a month ago was still going to supermarkets and driving – my mum is on her own, and more ...
2022-08-04 06:52:47 +0000 UTC View Post
Ohhh... I'm proud of this one. It's one of the best (and longest) edit jobs I've done. You won't even realise, because it's not anything particularly flashy. The original footage was over 90 minutes long, and I managed to get it down to around half an hour, almost seamlessly. I don't expect anyon...
2022-08-01 21:09:36 +0000 UTC View Post
In our final trawl through the tracks on Marillion's Somewhere Else - The Wound, Last Century For Man, and Faith - we get buzzed by helicopters, make some unflattering comparisons, and discuss which band member would assault you with a fluffy slipper.
Next week, we're hoping to have a bonus...
2022-07-29 14:08:02 +0000 UTC View PostBefore you all tell me... yes I know I just sent that BIFFO'S BRAIN Zoom link to everyone! It's okay. Look upon it as a freebie - you can see what we get up to, if you ever fancy signing up.
The actual BIFFO'S BRAIN people... speak to you in a couple of weeks for another session!
2022-07-28 20:11:58 +0000 UTC View Post
Good turn out tonight, and a lovely vibe! It was just what we needed. Thank you, gang. And thanks to Kathy for reminding me to press record 20 minutes in... Sorry to everyone else for missing the start.
Also: ht...
2022-07-28 20:10:13 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello, lovely lot. We're going to get you this week's full-flavour Digi on time due to things. But get this: we did film an ep today, and we also recorded a 20 minute video just for you lot.
Promise: this is a whinge-free zone (mostly)...
Also: new haircut!
2022-07-27 20:17:03 +0000 UTC View Post
As promised, here's another 20 minutes or so of us figuring out our brand...
2022-07-25 19:14:41 +0000 UTC View PostHello, gang.
Plans for this week… we’ve got some outtakes on the way for the upper tiers, which are imminent once they’re uploaded, then hopefully the usual Digi and BYAMPOD.
Seems all I do at the minute is tell you depressing stuff, but everything is going to have to be somewha...
2022-07-25 08:57:47 +0000 UTC View Post
We've reached our ninetieth episode! And what better way to mark the occasion than with the third part of our retrospective on Marillion's least-loved album, captured on the hottest day in recorded British history? Suffice to say, Paul is grumpy, Sanja's in her bra, and there's some serious Devil...
2022-07-20 10:05:46 +0000 UTC View Post
New Digi video time...! This week, we're exploring the world of branding, and investigate ways to re-brand the Digitiser YouTube channel - using online tools to generate slogans, a new brand name... and even new versions of ourselves...
Oh, and I take you on a tour of where I grew up, inclu...
2022-07-19 18:43:30 +0000 UTC View PostHello, you lot.
This week... providing we don't all spontaneously burst into flames over the next two days... will be a busy one.
Currently, I'm editing this week's Digi which should be with you tomorrow. They seem to keep getting more complicated and involved, but it's working ...
2022-07-18 10:51:43 +0000 UTC View Post
In this ep of BYAMPOD we kick off with our take on the Marillion Weekend 2023 news, before getting stuck into the first clutch of songs on Somewhere Else: The Other Half, See It Like A Baby, Thankyou Whoever You Are... and the notorious Most Toys...
Have a good weekend, everyone. Talk to yo...
2022-07-15 20:42:45 +0000 UTC View PostThought I’d give you all an update on how our week has gone after the other day. I’m sharing this with everyone, as the previous blog was just for upper tiers, but I know some of you were concerned after I did a bit of an emotion-dump on Twitter yesterday.
So, the short of it is, ...
2022-07-15 11:52:50 +0000 UTC View Post
We're not putting out a main video for everyone this week, as we're doing one that's somewhat more involved... but you lovely Patrons still get this, in which we fill you in on... well, everything really. While trying not to sweat to death.
2022-07-13 14:32:56 +0000 UTC View PostHello, you lot.
Digi will be late again this week. Sorry. I had a hospital appointment yesterday, which - once again - meant we didn't get to film when we wanted. Plus, my parents have had Covid this past week (they now seem to be on the mend, as old and frail as they both are), which meant...
2022-07-13 09:38:41 +0000 UTC View Post
Thank you for all the lovely comments on my post from yesterday. A lot of you even upped your Patreon pledge, which I really hadn't expected. And a couple made some ludicrously generous offers to help us over this hump. You know who you are. And I hope you know how much Sanja and I appreciate it....
2022-07-12 12:29:12 +0000 UTC View PostI’m going to apologise for this in advance. It’s probably going to be a long post. It’s not going to be a particularly jolly one. I hope – I really hope – it doesn’t come across as self-pitying, but it might.
Regardless, I reserve the right to embrace self-pity on my own P...
2022-07-11 20:02:04 +0000 UTC View Post
Apologies that the main ep wasn't playable earlier - it's fixed now (it's also up on all the usual podcast platforms). To make up for it being late... here's a bonus episode in which we discuss the possibility of the band listening to BYAMPOD... and how that would be The Worst Thing Ever! 2022-07-11 16:43:21 +0000 UTC View Post
Sorry this is late! We've got a bonus ep on the way to make it up to you.
We're finally at the point of talking about Somewhere Else - Marillion's 2007 follow-up to Marbles. It's an album that has something of a mixed legacy, and in this episode we argue that it's a record that deserves bet...
2022-07-11 14:56:25 +0000 UTC View Post