Abi Nathan’s Daughter improving after Rowing Accident

The condition of 20-year-old academic rowing champion Jasmine Finegold, who was seriously injured when her boat flipped in the Yarkon River in north Tel Aviv on Monday, has stabilized and she is no longer in danger, doctors at Sourasky Medical Center (Ichilov) in Tel Aviv said on Tuesday.

Finegold, who remains unconscious and in intensive care, has been visited by several of her friends at the Yarkon Rowing Club, and her rowing coach, Danny Rutenberg, has remained at her bedside together with Jasmine's mother, Elizabeth. Finegold is the daughter of Abie Natan, the peace activist and founder of the Voice of Peace offshore radio station, which broadcast to the region from a boat in the Mediterranean from 1973 to 1993.

Natan, who died last year, refused at first to recognize Finegold as his daughter, until Elizabeth, who had previously been Natan's secretary aboard the Voice of Peace, launched legal action to force him to recognize her as his daughter in 1989. As doctors continue to work to bring about further improvement in Finegold's condition, her friends at the Yarkon Rowing Club are asking themselves how the near-tragic accident took place.

"We don't know why this accident happened," Yarkon Rowing Club member and friend of Finegold, Tal Shalif, told The Jerusalem Post. Shalif said the kind of boat Finegold was in had a pair of shoes attached to the vessel. Academic rowers remove their own shoes and place their feet in the boat's shoes before setting off, he said. A single velcro strap stretched loosely across both shoes secures the rower's feet to the boat, Shalif added. "The strap is not tight. There shouldn't be any problems for rowers to extricate themselves," he said. "If the rower has flipped over and begins struggling, a pull of the feet should release the shoes."

Yarkon police have launched an investigation into the accident. Rowing Club members are also asking, however, why a number of bystanders failed to dive in to rescue Finegold after her boat flipped. Only the intervention of 62-year-old jogger Avi Toivin, who arrived on the scene and dived into the water of the Yarkon - a river many consider to be highly polluted and toxic - saved Finegold's life, dragging her and the boat to shore. "I don't know why people didn't dive in sooner. It could be a lack of initiative. What makes me angry is the thought that people didn't help because they were scared of pollution," Shalif said. "These fears are based on ignorance. The Maccabia disaster happened 15 years ago.Today, there are birds and fish in the river. The water is not as polluted as people think," he said. "I'm also angry at the authorities who allow people to remain ignorant," he added. "If people wouldn't be so scared, maybe they would have jumped in."

Radio Caroline ready to rock with Scottish cable company

Legendary offshore station Radio Caroline has chosen to take to the airwaves with an Ayrshire cable company. It’s the first time Radio Caroline has been broadcast by an independent cable company, giving Smallworld Cable customers unrestricted access to the music and voices that revolutionised British radio. Radio Caroline shook the broadcasting establishment in Britain in the mid-60s by broadcasting its own mix of album-based rock and pop music from a ‘pirate’ ship moored just outside British legal jurisdiction in the North Sea. Its story is widely acknowledged to have inspired recently Richard Curtis-direct comedy movie The Boat That Rocked, which stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rhys Ifans, Nick Frost and Kenneth Branagh. Smallworld Cable managing director David Durnford said:” The link-up with Radio Caroline is a fantastic fit for us. We’re both independent operators who take pride in our individual approach to customers. We hope we can help Radio Caroline reach a new audience.” Radio Caroline was shipwrecked off the Kent coast in 1991, when the Mi Amigo was grounded during a storm. After that a new ship, the Ross Revenge, was fitted out. Caroline has continued on the airwaves in recent years while the ship is being overhauled at Tilbury Docks in Essex. Radio Caroline controller Peter Moore said:” It’s a breath of fresh air for us to link up with an independent cable company like this. We are the boat that still rocks and we’re delighted that Smallworld Cable is with us for the ride.”

Watch the film trailer for The Boat That Rocked here.

Jinglepakketten Veronica en 10 Gold op cd

Alle belangrijke jinglepakketten die het legendarische jinglebedrijf PAMS in Dallas heeft gemaakt voor Nederlandse radiostations staan vanaf nu op cd. Het ‘Genootschap radiojingles en -tunes’ heeft de cd ‘PAMS in Holland’ uitgebracht met daarop de complete jinglepakketten voor NCRV, TROS, Radio 10 Gold en Veronica. Het is voor het eerst dat de jingles op een schijfje verschijnen en te koop zijn. De makers hebben daarvoor de beschikking gekregen over de originele mastertapes. “PAMS in Holland is een cd die we al jaren wilden maken”, zeggen de twee oprichters van het Genootschap radiojingles en -tunes, Jelle Boonstra en Benno Roozen. “Er bestaat een gouden glans rond de naam PAMS. Elk station in de VS dat jingles kocht bij PAMS werd bijna automatisch nummer één in z’n radiomarkt. Daardoor werd ook de radiomarkt in Europa wakker. Luisteraars waren dol op die liedjes, die speciaal voor de radio waren geschreven.”

PAMS

Jinglebedrijf (1951-1977) was een begrip bij radiomakers in de hele wereld. Het was een ware jinglefabriek, waar in twee studio’s tegelijk jingles werden zongen voor duizenden stations over de hele wereld. In de jaren ‘60 en ‘70 waren de PAMS-jingles in Nederland illegaal te horen op Radio Veronica, Radio Noordzee, andere zeezenders en op Hilversum 3. Nederlandse radiomakers knipten de naam van het oorspronkelijke station er uit en vervingen die door een andere gezongen tekst. Zonder het te weten kent heel Nederland daardoor de beroemde jingles van PAMS.

Jaren werk

Op de cd ‘PAMS in Holland’ staan jingles van de NCRV en de TROS. Verder staan op het schijfje jingles die gemaakt zijn voor het Radio Veronica uit 1994 en Cable One, en alle jingles die het Nederlandse bedrijf Top Format in Haarlem in 1995 en 1996 geheel in PAMS-stijl produceerde voor Radio 10 Gold. Het cd-tekstboekje is in het Engels en bevat unieke foto’s van de mastertapes, zangsessies en het befaamde PAMS-studiogebouw aan 4141 Office Parkway in Dallas. Het kostte het Genootschap jaren om alle materiaal bij elkaar te krijgen en de rechten te krijgen. De cd ‘PAMS in Holland’ ligt niet in de winkel, maar is uitsluitend te koop via Jingleweb.nl, de website het Genootschap radiojingles en -tunes.

Zendschip Radio Waddenzee gaat op zee uitzenden

Terwijl we in Knokke-Heist zopas konden genieten van "The Boat that Rocked" wordt deze week opnieuw écht van op zee uitgezonden! Op woensdag 20 mei 0m 08.00 uur vertrekt het radiolichtschip Jenni Baynton van Radio Waddenzee uit de Nieuwe Willemshaven in het Nederlandse Harlingen. Het schip gaat in samenspan met de veerboot Terschellinger Bank van Waddenreder Fred Lakeman richting Griend. Veerboot en radioschip varen dus naast elkaar gekoppeld uit. De Jenni Baynton gaat nabij Griend voor anker. Van vrijdag 22 mei tot en met vrijdag 5 juni komen alle programma's 24 uur per dag live vanaf het schip via de boordzender. Hiermee is het enige nog operationele radioschip ter wereld twee weken volop in bedrijf. Luisteren kan via 1602 AM (middengolf).

Weymouth Rowing Club in ‘Radio Caroline’ movie

In the UK the Isles of Scilly are returning to normal after the 20th World Pilot Gig Championships. Nearly 120 teams took part in this year's event over the bank holiday weekend, making it the biggest event to date with the island's population soaring from 2,500 to 5,000. Weather conditions were perfect throughout the tournament with a challenging swell to test the teams' stamina and rowing skills. Among teams participating was Weymouth Rowing Club. The team recently became stars of the big screen in the film The Boat That Rocked. The film is based on the 1960s pirate station Radio Caroline, written and directed by Richard Curtis. Scenes were shot in Portland Harbour and Weymouth Bay and called for a flotilla of boats to gather around the Radio Caroline vessel. The Weymouth Club was approached because of their colourful gig Penny, brightly painted in green, yellow and red. Carol Craft, 24, a teaching assistant, said: "For the aerial shots, we had to spend nine hours on the water. Richard Curtis said he was amazed we were able to last that long and said we made him feel very humble. The fee we received has helped us pay towards another gig."

Oranje lintje voor voormalig Veronica en Noordzee dj

Bij onze noorderburen is Jan van Veen koninklijk onderscheiden en benoemd tot Lid in de Orde van Oranje-Nassau. De onderscheiding aan Jan van Veen wordt verstrekt omdat hij behoort tot 'mensen die voor de bijzondere wijze waarop zij aan hun activiteiten inhoud hebben gegeven, waardering en erkenning verdienen vanuit de samenleving'. Van Veen maakte van september 1964 programma bij de zeezender Veronica. Begin 1971 werd hij bij Radio Noordzee Internationaal binnengehaald door programmaleider Willem van Kooten die van Veen kende uit z’n diensttijd. Daarna ging Van Veen voor het bestel werken. De stem van Van Veen was verder ook vaak te horen in reclamespots en als voice-over op grammofoonplaten. Zo nam hij in 1978 een Nederlandstalige versie op van Jeff Wayne’s ‘War of the Worlds’. Jan van Veen maakt op dit moment nog steeds zijn programma Candlelight voor Radio 100% nl. Eerder ontvingen voormalig Radio Veronica DJ's Will Luikinga en Willem van Kooten ook al een koninklijk lintje.