P123-ChunkyFringe2023Blog.tti

DE,Chunky Fringe 2023 blog
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OL,5,CI honestly thought I'd lost my chance  
OL,6,Cto be involved with the teletext       
OL,7,Ccommunity.GA few years ago, I found a  
OL,8, random reference to a one-off teletext 
OL,9, get-together that had happened even    
OL,10, more years prior, where updates had    
OL,11, been beamed to a few venues using      
OL,12, TVs which had been adapted to receive  
OL,13, teletext via the internet.             
OL,15, "That's so cool," I thought, "I didn't 
OL,16, know you could even do that!"          
OL,18, And so began a journey down a rabbit   
OL,19, hole of nostalgia. There were VBITs and
OL,20, inserters and packet data andCteletext 
OL,21,Crecovery from VHS?!                    
OL,22,E`````````````````````````````````` 1/25
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OL,5,CI wanted in!GI grew up with teletext - 
OL,6, sort-of. You see, during my childhood, 
OL,7, we had a black-and-white TV for a long 
OL,8, time. The B&W TV licence was (and still
OL,9, is) significantly cheaper than its     
OL,10, colour counterpart, but I don't know of
OL,11, any B&W teletext TVs. Our family set   
OL,12, was a Rediffusion which had a converter
OL,13, box so that it could receive UHF TV.   
OL,14, Watching snooker was a challenge if the
OL,15, balls strayed too far from their usual 
OL,16, spots. I'd have to imagine what the    
OL,17, colours were supposed to be for several
OL,18, programmes - at least where it wasn't  
OL,19, obvious - based on glimpses of those   
OL,20, programmes on TVs in other people's    
OL,21, houses, or in shop windows.            
OL,22,E`````````````````````````````````` 2/25
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OL,5,GOn the plus side, the lack of teletext 
OL,6, at home meant it never ever became run-
OL,7, of-the-mill. It, like colour TV, was a 
OL,8, source of excitement, a rare treat.    
OL,10, Naturally, Bamboozle was the first port
OL,11, of call. But I do have memories of the 
OL,12, world clock, and I definitely read     
OL,13, Digitiser at some point (merely because
OL,14, it sounded digital and technological). 
OL,16, This is what's weird, though. I don't  
OL,17, seem to have any specific memories of  
OL,18, it, unlike the people who turned up in 
OL,19, great numbers to see Digitiser Live for
OL,20, the 30th anniversary of the teletext   
OL,21, magazine. And that makes me sad.       
OL,22,E`````````````````````````````````` 3/25
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OL,5,GI seem to have reached a stage of      
OL,6, nostalgia where, rather than actually  
OL,7, remembering my youth, I'm starting only
OL,8, to remember remembering it?            
OL,10, Take a tweet that I saw, where someone 
OL,11, managed to get a photo with the one and
OL,12, only Violet Berlin.C"Violet Berlin was 
OL,13,Cthere?!"GI exclaim, before it occurs to
OL,14, me that I just know the name, and I    
OL,15, know the name meant something very     
OL,16, significant, but I didn't know exactly 
OL,17, what it was. I had to set off home     
OL,18, before Digi Live started, but Violet   
OL,19, could have been there for all of Chunky
OL,20, Fringe, and I could have walked past   
OL,21, her loads of times throughout the day. 
OL,22,E`````````````````````````````````` 4/25
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OL,5,GIt took research after I got home to   
OL,6, remind myself of the kids TV show Bad  
OL,7, Influence, and disappearing down this  
OL,8, rabbit hole, discovering a selection of
OL,9, episodes via The Internet Archive, to  
OL,10, refresh my memory.C"Gosh, I used to    
OL,11,Cwatch this all the time! I used to want
OL,12,Cto be on it as a contestant!"          
OL,13,C                                       
OL,14, I know the name Mr. Biffo. I know the  
OL,15, name Turner The Worm. But in finding   
OL,16, this Teletext community, I'm re-finding
OL,17, parts of myself that I didn't know were
OL,18, missing, until now.                    
OL,20, Not much of this blog has been about   
OL,21, the actual event, has it?!             
OL,22,E`````````````````````````````````` 5/25
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OL,5,GI wanted to get across, and perhaps    
OL,6, explain to myself, why it meant so much
OL,7, to be here. When I found out about it  
OL,8, for the first time, years ago, it felt 
OL,9, like I was already too late. I'd missed
OL,10, the boat. These events happened years  
OL,11,Gago, and there didn't seem to have been
OL,12,Gmuch going on in the years since.CDash.
OL,13,C                                       
OL,14, And this was before lockdown. So, the  
OL,15, last thing I expected to see once      
OL,16, restrictions were beginning to lift,   
OL,17, wasGthe return of Chunky Fringe!       
OL,19,CBut I couldn't go,Gas I was not only   
OL,20, working full-time, but also finishing a
OL,21, work-based university course.CDash.    
OL,22,E`````````````````````````````````` 6/25
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OL,5,GSo I was determined, no matter what, to
OL,6, make it to the next one.               
OL,8, Mind you, even with all of the advance 
OL,9, notice, I couldn't have left it more   
OL,10, last-minute to book the accommodation. 
OL,11,GI keep saying that mum is so good at   
OL,12, finding lovely places to stay, that she
OL,13,Gshould do it as a full-time gig. Our   
OL,14, accommodation was The Tudor Lodge Hotel
OL,15, in Pinner, a stone's throw from the    
OL,16, Harrow Arts Centre.                    
OL,18, I was anxious about the drive, as it   
OL,19,Gwould be my longest to date (mum can't 
OL,20, drive; my dad and sister can, but they 
OL,21, weren't coming along). But I did it!   
OL,22,E`````````````````````````````````` 7/25
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OL,5,GThe accommodation was lovely, and with 
OL,6, all of the mod-cons you needed whilst  
OL,7, staying sympathetic to the obviously-  
OL,8, historic building. We later discovered 
OL,9, that it had originally been built as a 
OL,10, World War I hospital for returning     
OL,11,Gsoldiers.                              
OL,13,GI spent a little bit of time adding a  
OL,14, few things to the streaming PC, but not
OL,15, too long. It was always going to be a  
OL,16, tradeoff between predicting every      
OL,17, eventuality, and getting enough sleep  
OL,18, to deal with things on the fly the next
OL,19,Gday. Too much of the former would have 
OL,20, led to diminishing returns for the     
OL,21, latter.                                
OL,22,E`````````````````````````````````` 8/25
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OL,5,GThe drive to Harrow Arts Centre the    
OL,6, next morning was smooth and short. But 
OL,7, it turned out to be the right call, not
OL,8, losing too much sleep over preparation.
OL,9, Everyone needed to wait for equipment  
OL,10, to be PAT tested for electrical safety 
OL,11,Gbefore we could do a full setup.       
OL,13,GAnd those of us who were aiming to set 
OL,14, up in the Boiler House, which included 
OL,15, me, would have to wait a while longer, 
OL,16, as it wasn't yet open.                 
OL,18, On the plus side, it did give me and   
OL,19,Gmum plenty of time for a cuppa, and to 
OL,20, meet everyone, while watching exhibits 
OL,21, being set up in the Hatch End Suite.   
OL,22,E`````````````````````````````````` 9/25
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OL,5,GWe were both made to feel so welcome,  
OL,6, and within minutes, it was as if we'd  
OL,7, known these people for years.          
OL,9, David Walford, the organiser, saw us on
OL,10, the way in, and gave us the lay of the 
OL,11,Gland. His dad made us both a cuppa, and
OL,12, then I heard Alistair Cree (@ZXGuesser)
OL,13,Gfrom the other end of the room: "that's
OL,14, a familiar voice!"                     
OL,16,CAlistair has popped in to a few of my  
OL,17,Clivestreams on Twitch, and has created 
OL,18,Csome fantastic Teletext resources at   
OL,19,Fwww.zxnet.co.uk                        
OL,21, I still couldn't believe I was here!   
OL,22,E````````````````````````````````` 10/25
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OL,5,GCarl Attrill said hello next, as he set
OL,6, up a Game Boy Camera. As if the event  
OL,7, wasn't nostalgic enough! It fitted in  
OL,8, perfectly with the theme of Carl's     
OL,9, pixel art (seeF@teletextRGon Twitter). 
OL,11,GMy introduction to Peter Kwan was while
OL,12, he blew up an inflatable palm tree for 
OL,13,Ghis stall.CPeter worked on Ceefax - the
OL,14,Cworld's first teletext service - until 
OL,15,Cit was shut down.GHe has now created a 
OL,16,Gplethora of tools for keeping teletext 
OL,17,Galive and generating/displaying it on  
OL,18,Gvarious devices, as well as his own    
OL,19,GserviceCTeefax.GOn his stall, he was   
OL,20, demonstrating how laptops destined for 
OL,21, the skip were perfect for teletext.    
OL,22,E````````````````````````````````` 11/25
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OL,5,GBefore I had much of a chance to talk  
OL,6, to anyone else, the Boiler House was   
OL,7, open! I tried to set up as much as I   
OL,8, could, but it was becoming clear that  
OL,9, a live stream at 12pm (in time for the 
OL,10, Teletext Sofa Club) would be a push at 
OL,11,Gbest. It was coming up to 10:30am, and 
OL,12, there was plenty of other equipment to 
OL,13,Gbe tested before mine. In fairness, the
OL,14, electrician was working at a rate of   
OL,15, knots, but there was a lot to do, and  
OL,16,Gnot enough time to do it in.           
OL,17,G                                       
OL,18,GStill, we ploughed on, and I chatted to
OL,19,GAsh (from the Under Consoletation      
OL,20, podcast) about all sorts of things,    
OL,21, from webcams to my mini monitors.      
OL,22,E````````````````````````````````` 12/25
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OL,5,GAsh had kindly offered us all sorts of 
OL,6, tech to help with the live stream. My  
OL,7, worry was that it would be information 
OL,8, overload, but that it would be a good  
OL,9, shout to set up the Mevo cameras as an 
OL,10, insurance policy. And are we glad that 
OL,11,Ghe did, as the rest of mine and another
OL,12, person's kit had only just returned    
OL,13,Gfrom PAT testing, with mere minutes to 
OL,14, spare. The Mevos weren't going to be a 
OL,15, "just in case" plan any longer, but the
OL,16,Gprimary method of capturing footage.   
OL,17,G                                       
OL,18,GThe other person who just got their kit
OL,19,Gback was Nathan Dane, who was in charge
OL,20, of the video feed that would let talks 
OL,21, be seen/heard in the other room.       
OL,22,E````````````````````````````````` 13/25
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OL,5,GLuckily, being analogue, this was a    
OL,6, simpler affair, although by no means   
OL,7, trivial. A microwave link took the PAL 
OL,8, TV signal between the Boiler House and 
OL,9, the Hatch End Suite. But the audio was 
OL,10, not getting across the same way. With  
OL,11,Glots of perseverance, however, it began
OL,12, to work in time for Carl to co-host the
OL,13, Teletext Sofa Club with Dan Farrimond, 
OL,14, who was joining us remotely.           
OL,16,GIn my head, I'd already decided my new 
OL,17,Grevised target was 3pm, in time for the
OL,18,Gsecond show, but that I'd still try to 
OL,19,Gget things running if I could. My kit  
OL,20, was powered up and ready at 12:15pm, so
OL,21, I went for it. And...nothing.          
OL,22,E````````````````````````````````` 14/25
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OL,5,GThe bane of any streamer is a poor     
OL,6, internet connection - and I was warned 
OL,7, it could be patchy, there - but this   
OL,8, was an unusual way for it to fail. At  
OL,9, times, it would be a stable 20 Mbps -  
OL,10, more than enough to stream stably, and 
OL,11,Git would, for about two minutes maximum
OL,12, before it flatlined to zero, and would 
OL,13, refuse to do anything for another five 
OL,14, minutes or so. I started making fine   
OL,15, adjustments to the antennae on my fancy
OL,16,GWiFi adapter as if they were the bunny-
OL,17,Gears on an analogue TV, thinking I was 
OL,18,Gon to something, but I wasn't really.  
OL,19,G                                       
OL,20, So I kicked back and enjoyed the show, 
OL,21, knowing I'd done all I could.COr had I?
OL,22,E````````````````````````````````` 15/25
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OL,5,GAsh (from the Under Consoletation      
OL,6, podcast) first offered up his mobile   
OL,7, for a 5G tether, but his data rate was 
OL,8, even slower than mine. I was offered a 
OL,9, different phone to use, but there were 
OL,10, other issues I needed to sort (due to  
OL,11,Gfudging with settings), so myself and  
OL,12, mum took a break after the Teletext    
OL,13, Sofa Club to get a bite to eat.        
OL,15, And the organisers of Chunky Fringe    
OL,16,Gweren't lying about how close the venue
OL,17,Gwas to Morrisons! Their cafes close to 
OL,18,Ghome have all been fine, but this one? 
OL,19,GThe fish was enormous, and delicious,  
OL,20, so no complaints there. A much needed  
OL,21, recharge before we headed back.        
OL,22,E````````````````````````````````` 16/25
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OL,5,GWhat I hadn't realised, but mum had,   
OL,6, was that - whilst we also needed food -
OL,7, there were several people gathering to 
OL,8, try and plan a surprise element for the
OL,9, Digitiser Live show that evening. So it
OL,10, made sense to get out of earshot, out  
OL,11,Gof politeness.                         
OL,13, By this point, I asked Cliff Foster if 
OL,14, I could take him up on his offer of the
OL,15, reliable 5G unlimited data tether. And 
OL,16,Gwe got most of 'The 32X Factor' out to 
OL,17,Gthe wider world, before the gremlins   
OL,18,Gstruck again, and suddenly the WiFi was
OL,19,Gworking when the 5G had given up!      
OL,21, I'd given up, too, but I still enjoyed!
OL,22,E````````````````````````````````` 17/25
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OL,5, As the talks finished, and the audience
OL,6, left the Boiler House, I decided to go 
OL,7, for it. One last hurrah. A quick piece 
OL,8, to camera about how the day had gone,  
OL,9, which attracted the attention of the   
OL,10, enthusiasts, and evolved organically   
OL,11, into an amazing interview, interrupted 
OL,12, only by the Windows disconnect sound as
OL,13, the WiFi once again fell over...       
OL,15, But the interview really was great! You
OL,16, can watch/listen to it over on YouTube.
OL,18,Fyoutube.com/jamienemethG- search for:  
OL,19,C'Chunky Fringe 2023: Celebrating       
OL,20,C Teletext (and 30 years of Digitiser)  
OL,21,C at Harrow Arts Centre'                
OL,22,E````````````````````````````````` 18/25
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OL,5, The success of that interview - with   
OL,6, Carl, Cliff, Nathan, and an appearance 
OL,7, of David with an illuminated bin -     
OL,8, spurred me on to do another interview  
OL,9, with Peter Kwan, using my brand-new    
OL,10, wireless lapel mics.                   
OL,12, My brand-new,CuntestedGwireless lapel  
OL,13, mics. I'm sure you can see where this  
OL,14, is heading. Or maybe not quite.        
OL,16, First, I began the interview by calling
OL,17, him Alistair Cree...to which Peter, who
OL,18, I KNEW was Peter, extremely politely   
OL,19, and gently corrected me.               
OL,21, Actual Alistair was mere feet away!    
OL,22,E````````````````````````````````` 19/25
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OL,5, But the conversation with Peter - this 
OL,6, time called Peter - went from strength 
OL,7, to strength, winding through so much   
OL,8, history and nostalgia, which would've  
OL,9, made for a truly fascinating listen, if
OL,10, the microphones had been switched on...
OL,12, I think they must have run out of      
OL,13, charge, as one of the things that fell 
OL,14, by the wayside earlier on in the day   
OL,15, was me setting up a charging station   
OL,16, for myself. I just didn't have the free
OL,17, time or the free hands. And so I must  
OL,18, have picked the mic set with the least 
OL,19, charge, and it must have turned itself 
OL,20, off within seconds. An approximately 15
OL,21, minute interview. Total silence.CDash. 
OL,22,E````````````````````````````````` 20/25
OL,24,A'Zine 1   BNemboozle!   CTwitch   FGigs
FL,110,152,200,616,8ff,100
PN,12321
SC,0021
PS,8000
CT,30,T
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OL,3,Uz*uju5zFHarrow Arts Centre           
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OL,5, It was a definite sign that it was time
OL,6, for me to go home...that is, if I could
OL,7, still remember how to drive my own car,
OL,8, given my failure to be able to drive my
OL,9, own audio tech...                      
OL,11, In fairness, I was very much encouraged
OL,12, to stay for the evening's festivities, 
OL,13, but I'd already planned to leave after 
OL,14, the Chunky Fringe event and before the 
OL,15, Digitiser Live show in the theatre.    
OL,16, I didn't have accommodation anyway, and
OL,17, I had an early start the next day.     
OL,19, But I could feel the electricity in the
OL,20, air as crowds gathered for the epic    
OL,21, phenomenon I'd been told it would be.  
OL,22,E````````````````````````````````` 21/25
OL,24,A'Zine 1   BNemboozle!   CTwitch   FGigs
FL,110,152,200,616,8ff,100
PN,12322
SC,0022
PS,8000
CT,30,T
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OL,5, I whizzed back and fore to the car with
OL,6, the rest of my stuff. Knowing my luck, 
OL,7, I probably walked straight past Violet 
OL,8, Berlin several times. She might even   
OL,9, have been one of the people with whom I
OL,10, shared a polite smile as I said "excuse
OL,11, me" on the way to opening my car boot. 
OL,13, Although it's probably a good thing I  
OL,14, didn't twig. If Violet'd been willing, 
OL,15, it'd have been another "brilliant"     
OL,16, silent interview!                      
OL,18, I closed the car boot and took one more
OL,19, slow look around, and smiled to myself.
OL,20, "I made it to Chunky Fringe." And there
OL,21, was pizza to finish, too. What a day!  
OL,22,E````````````````````````````````` 22/25
OL,24,A'Zine 1   BNemboozle!   CTwitch   FGigs
FL,110,152,200,616,8ff,100
PN,12323
SC,0023
PS,8000
CT,30,T
RE,0
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OL,5, I briefly bumped into Paul (Mr. Biffo) 
OL,6, and Sanya on my last whizz-through.    
OL,7, They seemed friendly, if a bit blurry  
OL,8, given the speed I was going at!        
OL,10, I slowed to look at some attractive    
OL,11, Digitiser T-shirts. I would have bought
OL,12, one as a souvenir of the day, but they 
OL,13, had all been pre-ordered. Still, it was
OL,14, nice to have the excuse to say hello,  
OL,15, and also give my apologies for heading 
OL,16, off before their show...even if I was a
OL,17, complete stranger to them and they may 
OL,18, well have wondered what on earth was   
OL,19, going on. I was buzzing in all senses  
OL,20, of the word, rushing and excited, and  
OL,21, savouring my last few minutes there.   
OL,22,E````````````````````````````````` 23/25
OL,24,A'Zine 1   BNemboozle!   CTwitch   FGigs
FL,110,152,200,616,8ff,100
PN,12324
SC,0024
PS,8000
CT,30,T
RE,0
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OL,5, It's not that in life I'veCneverGfound 
OL,6, my tribe. I've found lots of tribes.   
OL,8, But I don't think I've ever so quickly 
OL,9, realised that aCgroup of complete and  
OL,10,Cutter strangersGare my tribe.          
OL,12,F"There are no strangers here, only     
OL,13,F friends you haven't yet met."         
OL,15, We came from so many different walks of
OL,16, life, yet we bonded with such ease. The
OL,17, closest experience I can think of is a 
OL,18, festival. I'd called Chunky Fringe a   
OL,19, "Teletext festival" as shorthand all   
OL,20, along, thinking it erroneous, but maybe
OL,21, it was accurate all along?             
OL,22,E````````````````````````````````` 24/25
OL,24,A'Zine 1   BNemboozle!   CTwitch   FGigs
FL,110,152,200,616,8ff,100
PN,12325
SC,0025
PS,8000
CT,30,T
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OL,5, There was certainly a festival spirit  
OL,6, building up to the evening show.       
OL,8, Some were in the backstage theatre bar,
OL,9, sat around tables, enthusiastically    
OL,10, chatting. Some were in the car park,   
OL,11, cans of beer in hand, groups of people 
OL,12, seeing each other for the first time in
OL,13, a while, excited as much for that as   
OL,14, for the show itself.                   
OL,16, It did feel a shame to be going, but as
OL,17, my energy levels started falling away, 
OL,18, I knew it was the right call for me.   
OL,20, Me and mum were treated to a long,     
OL,21, glorious sunset on the drive home, too.
OL,22,E````````````````````````````````` 25/25
OL,24,A'Zine 1   BNemboozle!   CTwitch   FGigs
FL,110,152,200,616,8ff,100