Hello our little hibernating bunny rabbits! We hope this week’s show finds you warm and cosy. Well, this week Stuart (wearing his man-pants) is back with us after his travels to northern Germany, and yes he has indeed been suffering from a hangover due to his consumption of shots. He claims some mornings he cannot lift his head, however, we think he is just lazy. Once we get Stuart in an upright position it’s time to kick off with the show. Jan and Óran are, to put it mildly, disappointed with the FIFA chairman and his recent comments during the current World Cup. Basically, he’s a spanner!! Have you been watching the new series of The Crown? What do you think? Stuart and Óran are less impressed with this series and especially with the lack of aristocratic-ness of the characters. Óran feels they are not posh enough while Stuart is largely unimpressed with the storylines. However, they have no such comments when it comes to their favourite audio describer Veronika Hyks. As usual she is doing a wonderful job in this series and Stuart is still very much in love. Have you started Tootin’? The Blind Guys are wondering if it is time to kick Twitter to touch in light of Mr Elon Musk’s shenanigans - escape the dark side and defect to Mastodon. Do you have a Mastodon account? Do you know much about how it works? In other words, the Blind Guys haven’t a clue and are looking for advice and user experiences of the social media client. We have actually set up a Mastodon account – it’s @[email protected]. Friend/follow/Toot us! Clodagh has received an email from Ms Panty Bliss who has with a very strange question for Stuart. It has something to do with boobage, so stay tuned for that one. So, take a break from decorating the Christmas tree, strip down to your “I heart Mrs Claus” briefs, and listen to the number one podcast, hosted by those most likely to fart in a space suit: Blind Guys Chat!

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It’s time for your favourite podcast again folks. We have a small change to the starting panel as Stuart has gone to Germany searching for gas to heat his massive penthouse in the sleepy suburbs of Kathmandu. So, wearing one of Stuart’s off the shoulder numbers is the wonderful Clodagh. Ooh la la… We kick off this week with Jan and his new video doorbell. Yes, it appears Jan’s wife is getting a bit sick and tired of Larry bursting through the front door for playtime with Sjef. So the Bloem household now features a First Security video doorbell which Jan thinks is the business. The great news is that it is not a subscription service but rather has an SD card for recording locally instead of on the cloud, like Ring doorbells. Check it out here: www.firstsecurityserviceinc.com/video-doorbell.html Now that the security is sorted, it’s time to move onto a great discussion on mental health. Clodagh is joined by Peter O’Toole, Head of Counselling, Wellbeing & Emotional Support with NCBI; Kathryn Sinnott, Senior Fundraising Executive and Insight Counselling Service Insight Groups Coordinator in Fighting Blindness; and Ken Walsh, who is visually impaired and is a guide dog owner. The panel talk about how to recognise when you might benefit from some support with your mental health, what support groups are available, and the difference between counselling and support groups, and much more besides. We have compiled a list of supports available from Fighting Blindness and NCBI which you can access here: tinyurl.com/BGCsupports. We will add to this list as time goes on. If you would like to add information about these kinds of services from your country, please send the info to [email protected]. So, throw caution to the wind, throw frisbees to the dog, and settle in for the number 1 podcast as voted by COP27 delegates: Blind Guys Chat. 27 out of 27 attendees prefer it to overpriced sandwiches and desalinated water.

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Hello dear listeners and welcome to episode 56 of BGC. This week we get straight into chatting with our special guest who has won the hearts and minds of all the Blind Guys, even Sjef & Larry. Yes it’s a huge welcome back to Veronika Hyks, audio describer extraordinaire!! We get the low-down on some of the storylines from the new series of The Crown which will be available from November 9. We also talk to Veronika about the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, the state of politics in the UK, and the work she has been doing updating the way in which audio description should be written and more importantly, the Who, What, Where & Why of AD. It’s a fantastic interview and we are so grateful that Veronika took the time to speak with us. We also have emails from Clodagh, where we hear about Blind Gordon’s Excel sheet of shortcut key commands, hmmmm… could the Blind Guys pass this off as their own?!! and an email from Fiona commenting on the discrepancy between the cost of a digital stamp compared to a real stamp. So, loosen your suspenders, stick on a pot of coffee, light up those remaining fireworks, and get ready for the number 1 audio described podcast this side of an articulated truck … Blind Guys Chat! 16 out of 21 koala bears prefer it to returning boomerangs.

Support Blind Guys Chat by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/blind-guys-chat

Quack Quack Quack listeners (hello, in duck language) and welcome to another episode of the best podcast in the world. It’s a funny auld show this week as we experienced some technical difficulties - more about this later. We begin this week with Stuart having just come back from yet another holiday, is this his sixth of the year? He has been living it up in Lanzarote. Well at least living it up to his knees in the sea! But we are glad to have him back in the BGC office, …. Well, someone needs to make the tea. Jan is looking for some help from you lovely people. He wants to get a doorbell camera system something like the “Ring doorbell” so he doesn’t have to go to the door each time it rings. Is Jan just being lazy? Maybe. Oh, and he doesn’t want to pay any subscription for a cloudy hosting service either. Yep, he’s too cheap as well. Do you have any ideas for him? Send your thoughts into [email protected]. Óran is on another rant. (When will he stop?) This time it’s about the Irish postal service introducing a new digital stamp which uses a code you write on the envelope. While we all agree this is a great idea, how are we blindies meant to write down the code? Is this a potential breach of the European Accessibility Act? Well, Óran seems to think so. We have no guest this week, but we do have emails from Blind Gordon and Derry Lawlor, and that is where we had the worst of our technical issues. We thought Jan had decided to leave early but actually we lost his recording late in the podcast. Perhaps it’s behind the couch? Apologies for the bad audio quality. We are hanging our heads in shame over here. However, don’t worry, our chief technicians guide dogs Sjef and Larry are on the case and hope to have all sorted for episode 56. 🤞 So dry out your soaking wet underpants (cos it’s raining! We’re not suggesting you’re incontinent!), shake yourself dry like a wet dog, and settle down to listen to the most brilliantist and bigglyist podcast this side of an iceberg - Blind Guys Chat!

Support Blind Guys Chat by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/blind-guys-chat

Hello our little petit filous. We hope you are well and are looking forward to this week’s show. It’s a bit of a strange one again because for the second time in as many shows Jan decides to walk away from recording without a whisper to anyone and Stuart and Óran are left home alone to host the show for a while. However, things do get back on track when Jan returns and we get down to important topics such as: the weather, Santa’s latest invoice, IOS 16 (again!), and our increasing energy bills. Óran is wondering if it is possible to submit his electricity bill to BGC accounts as an expense. Hmmm… Our guest this week is that well renowned Scottish royal family fan, Gordon Anthony, more commonly known on the show as Blind Gordon. The Blind Guys were not previously aware that Gordon has written more than 20 novels and has won the Booker Prize 16 times, and the Nobel Peace Prize twice. We may have fabricated some of those details, but that shouldn’t stop you heading over to Amazon and purchasing one of his fantastic books. Clodagh is looking for listeners to participate in a recording for Blind Guys Chat on the evening of October 17 or 18. She is doing a piece on mental health and would love if one or two listeners could come on and discuss this important topic. This will be a group discussion with a mental health professional and other people who provide support services. If you are comfortable sharing your thoughts and experiences of mental health on the show, please send Clodagh an email to [email protected], and include your phone number and your preferred date to record. So, strip down to your flampers, chuck your wet guide dog into the tumble dryer, air out your pipe tobacco, and get ready for the most giggle-inducing podcast in the world - Blind Guys Chat. 12 and a half children prefer it to jigsaws!

Support Blind Guys Chat by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/blind-guys-chat

Hello lovely Blind Guys Chatters! We begin this show with some very sad news. It appears that our subjects don’t love us as much as we thought, and as a result, did not see fit to adorn us with lavish jewels and votes for listener’s choice podcast of the year. Sjef and Larry are beside themselves with disappointment. We will just have to regroup and do better next time. Jan, yet again has been on more travels, this time to Warsaw for work. Of course, Stuart has been to Warsaw to drink the place dry and eat the town out of crisps (potato chips). Our guest on this show is Aaron Spelker from Boston. Aaron only recently lost his sight and as someone who likes to play electronic games, he wonders why there was very little information out there about accessible games for blind and vision impaired people. So, he decided to set up a Facebook group which shares information on accessible games for IOS. It's called “Mobile accessible games (for the Blind)” and here is the link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/492714638815312. Aaron is here to tell us about the Facebook group, and a little about his life. Have you upgraded to IOS 16 yet? Well, Jan and Stuart have, and Óran thinks he might wait a little longer because neither of the guys are very impressed with this latest update. It appears that Eloquence on IOS is not that great and Jan is not fond of the new Siri sound. What do you think? Give us your views by emailing [email protected]. Talking about emails, Clodagh has a lovely long one from Mr Dave Nason. It is very welcome as Dave sheds some light on Sky Go on Apple TV and also Sky Glass. Clodagh wants to get in touch with King Charles the third; apparently, he has a problem with his fountain pen and Clodagh has a solution for him. So, strip off your military clothing, put the gun carriage in the spare bedroom, tell your horse to go to bed, and settle in for the show that puts the greatest showman in his place - the number one podcast in the eastern hemisphere - Blind Guys Chat. 16 out of 51 corgis prefer it to chopped liver. Don’t forget: •       Please rate and review us on your chosen podcasting platform. •       We'd love to know what you'd like us to talk about in upcoming shows; send us your suggestions by email: [email protected] •       Don't forget you can send us your Blindie Tips and other thoughts by email also on [email protected] •       If you’d like to support the podcast, you can treat the Blind Guys to a coffee by clicking the link below.

Support Blind Guys Chat by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/blind-guys-chat

Did you know you only have a few days left to cast your vote for Blind Guys Chat as the listeners choice for “best podcast of the year”? You’ve got until 11:59pm on Sunday 11th September! Here’s how to vote for us (they don’t make it easy):

1.     Make yourself a cuppa or a stiff drink 2.     Go to www.theirishpodcastawards.ie/vote 3.     Search for Blind Guys Chat, and select it 4.     Enter your name and email address 5.     Tick the “I’m not a robot” thing, and the “I understand that Podcast Awards Ltd stores my information” thing too 6.     Then hit submit. No, you’re not finished yet! 7.     You’ll need to click the link in the email verification they send to your email – otherwise your vote won’t count - sheesh!

There’s only one vote per email address, so use all your addresses and please send this on to all your lovers – that’s the only way we’ll have a hope in hell of winning this thing! Each time you vote, 3 treats go to both Larry and Sjef; so you’re not just voting for BGC, but you are also keeping our 2 guide dogs alive. Thank you!

And now, back to our regularly scheduled program: On this week’s show, Stuart sees the podcast in a new light, because he has just got his new eyes. Yes, you heard us right, he got new eyes! It’s been 25 years since Stuart got his last set of prosthetic eyes, so he was overdue to go to the eye shop and organise some new ones. He tells us all about it and Jan and Óran have some great ideas for what he can do with the old ones.

Jan and family have recovered from COVID again, but who is to blame? Was it Sjef?

Ever wanted to try an escape room? Well, our guest this week is Matt Ater from Vispero, and he is here to tell us all about the Vispero escape room. Do you have what it takes to land a plane in less than an hour or find your way out of a casino?

In TV Corner, we are talking about ‘Capture’ on the BBC, and ‘Surface’ and ‘Bad Sisters’ on Apple. Also have you seen the ‘Meet the characters’ video for RTÉ’s new drama ‘North Sea Connection’ yet? Check it out here: tinyurl.com/RTEmeetTheCharacters

Clodagh has emails at last from Gary Hough-like-cough, who has been in hospital with some speaker trouble (-huh?) and the ever-entertaining Patty from the US. God but we love our listeners! 💕

So, strip down to your prosthetics, give your false teeth to the dog, turn up your hearing aid volume to 11, and get ready for the most comprehensive discussion on extraneous nonsense in the world - Blind Guys Chat!

Support Blind Guys Chat by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/blind-guys-chat

Have you cast your vote for Blind Guys Chat as the listeners choice for “best podcast of the year”? No? Well, here’s how to vote for us (they don’t make it easy):

·       Go to www.theirishpodcastawards.ie/vote ·       Search for Blind Guys Chat, and select it ·       Enter your name and email address ·       Tick the “I’m not a robot” thing, and the “I understand that Podcast Awards Ltd stores my information” thing too ·       Then hit submit. No, you’re not finished yet! ·       You’ll need to click the link in the email verification they send to your email – otherwise your vote won’t count - sheesh! You’ve got till Sunday 11th September 2022 at 23:59. There’s only one vote per email address, so use all your addresses and please send this on to all your lovers – that’s the only way we’ll have a hope in hell of winning this thing! Each time you vote, 3 treats go to both Larry and Sjef, so you’re not just voting for BGC, but you are also keeping our 2 guide dogs alive. Thank you! We begin the show this week listening to Jan pontificating about the wonders of his latest holiday. Yes, he schlepped up to one of his islands in the Netherlands to meet the peasants who work his land and give them a well-deserved bonus. Let’s hope a kiwi can be shared 11 ways! Stuart has borrowed / stolen his neighbours SkyGo account so he can watch Sky on his Apple TV. But is he happy with the result? We speak to the lovely Rachel Hurrell in Plymouth, who is doing her PhD in music and she needs your help. Rachel is researching how best to help blind and partially sighted musicians perform within a group like an orchestra, and also how to stop Stuart composing show tunes. Rachel’s survey can be found here: tinyurl.com/blindmusic. Go on, get involved, it’ll be gas craic! (Americans, please see this link to understand that we’re not talking about drugs!) Clodagh is here with emails and this week we have an audio demo from Blind Gordon on how to use the Spring twitter client. He is brilliant and a special thanks to Missus Blind Gordon for letting her hubby come out to play. So, soak up the last few rays of sunshine, tell the kids outside to stop shouting, stick on a pot of coffee and settle down to listen to the only podcast Amazon Music can’t afford to buy: Blind Guys Chat Don’t forget: •       Please rate and review us on your chosen podcasting platform. •       We'd love to know what you'd like us to talk about in upcoming shows; send us your suggestions by email: [email protected] •       Don't forget you can send us your Blindie Tips and other thoughts by email also on [email protected] •       If you’d like to support the podcast, you can treat the Blind Guys to a coffee by clicking the link below.

Support Blind Guys Chat by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/blind-guys-chat

Have you cast your vote for Blind Guys Chat as the listeners choice for “best podcast of the year”? No?

Well, here’s how to vote for us (They don’t make it easy): ·   Go to www.theirishpodcastawards.ie/vote ·   Search for Blind Guys Chat, and select it ·   Enter your name and email address ·   Tick the “I’m not a robot” thing, and the “I understand that Podcast Awards Ltd stores my information” thing too ·   Then hit submit. No, you’re not finished yet! ·   You’ll need to click the link in the email verification they send to your email – otherwise your vote won’t count - sheesh! You’ve got till Sunday 11th September 2022 at 23.59. There’s only one vote per email address, so use all your addresses and please send this on to all your lovers – that’s the only way we’ll have a hope in hell of winning this thing! Each time you vote, 3 treats go to both Larry and Sjef, so you’re not just voting for BGC but you are also keeping our 2 guide dogs alive. Thank you!

We have reached episode 50 of Blind Guys Chat and we thought it would be nice to reminisce and play some clips from our archive. However, as they are all brilliant, it looks like we will need to do a part 2 and maybe even a part 3.

So, what to look forward to in this episode? Hmmm…

Do you remember a certain someone promising they would do the ‘Body Coach’ but then he chickened out and felt super-guilty about it? Or how about Jenny Axler telling us she thought about becoming a nun? And how about Prof Luke O’Neill endorsing the Blind Guys as the best practitioners to administer the COVID-19 vaccine, even if it did fall off the back of a truck!

Then there was the time Stuart met Hector in HR for the first time, (put it this way, they are not best friends!); and our fantastic chat with Sabriye Tenberken from Braille without Borders. We couldn’t forget Clodagh’s chat with Jan and Blind Gordon’s partners - Óran hasn’t put down an iron since that one.

And we have so much more on this show. It’s more fun than a 5 year old’s birthday party.

So, fill up the paddling pool with rice krispie treats, stock up on ice cream and chocolate and get ready for the hottest day of the year - Blind Guys Chat publishing day! It’s fruitier than an Italian vineyard.

Don’t forget: •       Please rate and review us on your chosen podcasting platform. •       We'd love to know what you'd like us to talk about in upcoming shows; send us your suggestions by email: [email protected] •       Don't forget you can send us your Blindie Tips and other thoughts by email also on [email protected] •       If you’d like to support the podcast, you can treat the Blind Guys to a coffee by clicking the link below.

Support Blind Guys Chat by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/blind-guys-chat

Buongiorno you lovely people! Yes, it’s episode 49 of Blind Guys Chat - nearly time to buy a Ferrari and have an affair! First of all, we have amazing news: Blind Guys Chat has been nominated in the best entertainment category in the The Irish Podcast Awards 2022. There is also a listeners choice for “best podcast of the year” – so you, our dear listeners, have the chance to vote for Blind Guys Chat. Here’s how to vote for us (They don’t make it easy): ·        Go to www.theirishpodcastawards.ie/vote ·        Search for Blind Guys Chat, and select it ·        Enter your name and email address ·        Tick the ”I’m not a robot” thing, and the “I  understand that Podcast Awards Ltd stores my information” thing too ·        Then hit submit. No, you’re not finished yet! ·        You’ll need to click the link in the email verification they send to your email – otherwise your vote won’t count - sheesh! You’ve got till Sunday 11th September 2022 at 23:59. There’s only one vote per email address, so use all your addresses and please send this on to all your lovers – that’s the only way we’ll have a hope in hell of winning this thing! Each time you vote, 3 treats go to both Larry and Sjef, so you’re not just voting for BGC but you are also keeping our 2 guide dogs alive. So what’s on this week’s show? We have a magnificent show -  we kick off with the latest weather news, IT’S HOT BABY!!!! Jan is up there in The Netherlands trying to make snowballs in 40 degree heat while Stuart and Óran are looking for a Tangle Twister ice lolly. Turns out Sjef and Larry have bought them all. Stuart has ditched Netflix and the cast of Eastenders are with him on this one. Philippa Campsie is our guest this week. Philippa recently wrote a paper on Charles Barbier de la Serre who was the man who invented Braille. Yes folks, we said he invented Braille, not Mr Louis Braille! It is worth a listen as Philippa tells a great and comprehensive story. Are you familiar with ‘Remote Incident Manager’? Well they have recently redesigned their interface and now you can use it to remote into a PC even if that PC does not have a screen reader installed. This is great news, and Stuart has more info. getrim.app is where you can download this application. Let us know what you think. Michelle in makeup has been telling secrets to Clodagh, Stuart ain’t to happy about that. But he can’t do nothin’. Could it be that someone’s having an affair? Neither Clodagh nor Michelle will say. Changing the subject swiftly, Clodagh has an audio message from Derry Lawlor and emails from Saleem and Blind Gordon, and we even learn some Scottish, but Clodagh’s accent is rather lacking. So, with all that in this week’s show folks we think you need to stop your hot-desking, forget about those deadlines, run as far away from work as you can, hit your local coffee shop for a hot chocolate or cold gelato or warm beer, scoot the pigeons away from your favourite park bench, connect your Bluetooth speaker and crank up the volume for the Best Podcast this side of the Dead Sea: Blind Guys Chat. (Don’t forget your chance to make that official - www.theirishpodcastawards.ie/vote) Don’t forget: •       Please rate and review us on your chosen podcasting platform. •       We'd love to know what you'd like us to talk about in upcoming shows; send us your suggestions by email: [email protected] •       Don't forget you can send us your Blindie Tips and other thoughts by email also on [email protected] •       If you’d like to support the podcast, you can treat the Blind Guys to a coffee by clicking the link below.

Support Blind Guys Chat by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/blind-guys-chat