Category: emigration

Old Keane, New James

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Wow. It’s like the 1990s and the early 2000s never went away, because:

I dunno. But lying on a tropical beach overlooking the Indian Ocean took me back – way back – to our honeymoon several (or more) years ago. And I’d just got my first ever iPod, brought over from the UK by one of the wedding party. Sadly though, there wasn’t the time, the knowledge or the bandwidth to get much on there before we headed off to Mozambique, and so I ended up listening to Keane’s Hopes And Fears on repeat.

That sort of thing could drive a man mad, but a) I was so chuffed to have an iPod, b) I was so chuffed to just have married the girl of my dreams, and c) it’s actually a rather good album.

In fact, they toured it on its twentieth anniversary last year.

And so, I downloaded it while I was away in Mauritius last week (the resort wifi was incredible) and did it all over again. It’s still very good.

In fact, I need to re-revisit it because it may actually be one of those very rare albums with no bad tracks at all (I can only think of three off the top of my head).

Watch this space.

And…

James have a new album out tomorrow. It’s a greatest hits with a couple of new additions and a live version one. I heard one of the new additions – Hallelujah Anyhow – this morning on 6Music and it was really decent stuff.

Always enjoyed a bit of James. I even went to see them back in 2018. Yeah, that’s less of a concert review and more of a social commentary the likes of which you might well have noted on other 6000 miles… posts about concerts. Sorry about that.

But I digress. Often.

Looking forward to the new album. Might review it.

Watch this space.

UPDATED! How to listen to BBC 6Music (and all the other BBC radio stations) if you are outside the UK

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I wrote a post on how to do this back in July. But things have changed.

First off: Yes, you can still listen live to 6Music with no issues and no restrictions here.
For other BBC radio stations, see here (scroll down for the list of links).

But if you want to use the BBC Sounds app, then a simple VPN connection will no longer suffice. And so here is a new post with a better method of doing things.

To rewind, listen back or use any of the other benefits that overseas users used to have, then you will have to open the BBC Sounds app, at which point you will be faced with the dreaded “The BBC Sounds app is closed for users outside the UK” screen.

Which is why you are here.

Thankfully, there’s a four stage process to get around this.

1. First, you’ll need an email address registered in the UK: one with a .co.uk suffix. If you don’t have one of those, you can get one free at mail.co.uk (you’ll need a UK cellphone number to register your account) or GMX mail (no UK cellphone number required).

2. Once you’re set up there (it’s a 5 minute process), use your new .co.uk email address to set a BBC Account registered in the UK here. You’ll need to enter a UK postcode to complete your registration. If you don’t have one of those, you could generate one here.

3. Thirdly, you will need a VPN, set to the UK. I use Nord and it works very well. If you also want to use Nord (because it works very well), please consider using my affiliate code to get a few extra months free for both of us.

4. Finally, go to the BBC Sounds app on your phone and CLEAR ALL DATA – DO NOT DELETE THE APP!

Set your VPN to the UK, open the BBC Sounds app, login with your new UK-based account and it’s like the good times never went away.

Remember to refresh your UK VPN server occasionally, and if you are using split tunnelling (if you don’t know what this is, you’re not using it) also make sure that the BBC Sounds app is not on your VPN app’s excluded list.

The fine print: I take no responsibility for anything, as ever. I’m merely documenting a process which allows me to use the BBC Sounds app. This method works for me, and I don’t feel too bad about using it as (really weirdly) my non-UK based smart speaker still allows me to do all the BBC Sounds things without any account changes, VPNs or postcodes. No. I have no idea why either.

Happy listening, Music Lover.

A FURTHER UPDATE!

If you find yourself suddenly staring at the dreaded “The BBC Sounds app is closed for users outside the UK” screen out of the blue, then close the app, clear all data, log back in with your .co.uk email address (while using a UK-based VPN location), and all will be right once again.

Not moving to Gloucestershire

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I have no real desire to move full-stop, but certainly not to Gloucestershire.

Although, this place seems pretty affordable.

A 1 bedroom place in the countryside – it definitely needs some TLC – but at “just” £135,000, it seems nice enough: and it’s full of potential.

DSB Estate Agents are pleased to bring to the market this one bedroom detached cottage nestled away in the Cotswolds.
To the ground floor this property comprises of an entrance porch, an open-plan lounge diner, a fitted kitchen, a utility room and a bathroom along with a conservatory overlooking the garden, a cloakroom and a coal shed.
On the first floor you will find the master bedroom which boasts an en-suite. The second floor offers fantastic views from the loft.
As we head outside, prepare to be blown away by the beautiful (and rather sizeable!) garden which mainly lies to the side of the property. There is also a double garage.

Sounds good.

I particularly like the floating blue pot in the back garden. Trippy.

I guess that the only downside here is the size of the place. One bedroom doesn’t really offer a lot of flexibilty, but look at the amount of space you have around you to extend your living… I’m sorry… what small print?

Those somewhat unremarkable two lines in the middle there?

You mean this rather disappointing one?

Please note: The property is subject to a restrictive covenant which prevents any extensions being added to the dwelling. 

And this frankly alarming one?

In addition, there are known sink holes present within the grounds.

Yeah, whatever you do as the estate agent, don’t make that sort of important information easy to find, will you? That might put off some buyers. You know: the ones who want a little more living space or those who just want to stay alive and not plunge to their death while mowing the lawn.

No. Not moving to Gloucestershire, and especially not moving to this place.

It’s probably ok

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You can’t judge a book by it’s cover (you can’t judge Lethal Weapon by Danny Glover), but you can look at a headline and think… hang on a second…

Hang on a second…

Nuclear Wasps were so far down my “Things We Need To Be Worried About” List for 2025 that they didn’t even make Page 3. And I think that’s a clear sign of just how horrific a state the planet is in, given that they’d definitely be in the Top 20 in most other years.

Apparently – “apparently” – it’s nothing to worry about:

The report said that the nest was on a post near a tank used to store nuclear waste and that it “was probing 100,000 dpm/100 cm2 beta/gamma.” This contamination level “is greater than 10 times the total contamination values” listed in federal regulations for areas that require contamination posting and monitoring, the report said. Still, it concluded that the radioactivity of the nest was considered to be from “onsite legacy radioactive contamination not related to a loss of contamination control.”

But you can’t help but think that no contaminated wasp nests would surely be a better situation for us to be in.

I mean, whatever next? Radioactive Shrimps?

Oh. Oh dear.

How to listen to BBC 6Music (and all the other BBC radio stations) if you are outside the UK

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Hey, Music Lover! I wrote this back in July 2025. It’s now November 2025 and if you want to use the BBC Sounds app from overseas, pop over to this new UPDATED post to find out how.

The original post continues below:

We knew it was coming.

The BBC Sounds app has closed for me and the other people living outside the UK. I’m sure that you could slip in the back door via a VPN, but the BBC are (allegedly) rather good at spotting those things and not allowing them to work.

The signs of trouble were there this morning when I was in the gym, as the app glitched onto Radio 4 Xtra, and gave me a bit of Steptoe & Son while also still playing Hit by The Sugarcubes on 6Music:

Sample lyrics:

I’ve been hit, with your charm.
How could you do this to me?
You dirty old man!

But mixed messages aside, just a couple of hours later, it really was gone:

Ironically, when I clicked through onto that new app, I found that Radio 4 was about to broadcast this show: 6. The Only Friend That Mattered.

Ouch. Way to rub it in, guys…

But don’t worry. Hakuna matata. Nem panikus.

There’s still a perfectly legal, perfectly straightforward route to listen live to your favourite BBC radio stations – including 6Music, wherever you are in the world: here are the details.

Let me save you some time: here’s the direct link for the 6Music feed through your internet browser. And it’s working for me.
Three dots in the top corner, save as shortcut to your home screen, Bob are your uncle. The logo even looks the same.

Sadly, there is no obvious route to listening on catch-up or for downloading shows for those of us outside the UK. Aside from trial and error with a VPN. And (allegedly again), that can often be rather hit and miss and somewhat tedious. Or so I’m told, etc etc.

I’ve also just tested whether I can still get 6Music on my smart speaker (IYKYK) and yes, even right down here in the far bottom corner of Africa, that’s still working fine. Whether that will continue (I actually don’t know from where it plays it, it just plays it), I just don’t know. Time will tell.

This hasn’t been a clean break: some of the links from the new feed pages don’t work, although the actual feeds are fine. If the site thinks you’re in the UK, it tries to take you to the app, but then the app doesn’t work. There are clearly some issues that need to be ironed out, and whether that will affect our ability to continue to listen from overseas remains to be seen.

Or… er… heard, I guess.