So, a Bank Holiday weekend – what will you do with it asks Beacon blogger James Carpenter?

If you’re at a loose ebb on Sunday and Monday, the Sandwell Community Show is taking place at Sandwell Valley Showground and admission is completely free.

It’s my first year being involved with it as the host on the Beacon stage, but something that I’m looking forward to doing because some excellent local live music has been lined up to play for you, including Paperdoll and Shatter Effect.

Whilst on the theme of live music, I interviewed Black Country band ‘Isolated Atoms’ the other day, they’ve just come back from LA having played at the legendary Whiskey A Go-Go – a venue that boasts bands such as The Doors, Janis Joplin, and Led Zeppelin on their bill.

The guys were talking about seeing stars such as David Duchovny and Sly Stone. I won’t spoil what they had to say but you can hear the interview on Tuesday night at 6:30pm on Beacon.

Sly & the Family Stone had a great hit with ‘Dance to the Music’ but have a listen to this classic and tell me which 90s band sampled it…

Have you ever wondered what would your world be like if you said ‘YES’ to every question ever asked of you?

That was the premise behind Danny Wallace’s ‘Yes Man’, which if you haven’t read it, well do so because it’s brilliant. So much better than the movie, but aren’t they always?

In a nutshell, Danny has split up with his girlfriend, is staying in more and not doing much with his life until he meets a wise old man on a bus who tells him just to say “yes” more to get more out of life.

I tell you this because I’m having a go at it, although not as intense as Wallace did – I’m only doing it for events and things that I wouldn’t normally do!

The people that you meet and the experiences you gain are amazing. So it was a ‘yes’ to the Sandwell show and I’ve also agreed to host Ladies Day at Wolverhampton Racecourse on 3rd September. You can find out more about this here.

And for those of you who had heard that I’d been arrested yesterday, I was set-up by staff at Beacon to raise awareness for Beacon Centre for the Blind, a charity who have a fundraising event happening this October. So, thankfully, it wasn’t a real arrest!

Have a great weekend,

James