Radio ga ga

Well, that was a fizzer! The whole thing seemed to really underscore my perception that no one gives a tinkers cuss about the struggling choristers of this land!

I rushed from a prior arrangement (playing guitar at church) to arrive early for our arranged 12:30 - 1pm slot, anticipating that we could possibly meet and talk before we went on-air... to no avail! The guy was with another guest, an interesting sounding young Scottish woman (fab accent!) who, it became apparent, had been working for the radio station and was just preparing to leave them. It dragged on until some other co-worker (I presume) arrived about 12:45 to present her with a greenstone pendant. It was lovely and, I'm sure, appropriate but it did leaving me feeling as though my time was less than valued... when I was finally ushered into the hot seat it was to listen to 8 minutes of detailed national news (it was 1pm by now) before ripping into the interview with very little time to talk about the direction the discussion was likely to take... or anything really.

The conversation meandered all over the place including the full names of my parents and the interviewers line of enquiry leading to the romantic hope that my family sang together at public engagements. I replied No... we're not the von Trapp family!
Does that sound rude? Could that be considered as controversial? A large percentage of me hopes it is- is that wrong!?!
I also was amused by Mel's introduction. Something along the lines of "While other young people we hear about in the news are doing wheelies in their cars and downloading music for their ipod's it is refreshing to know that there are some who care about and participate in The Arts through the medium of music, specifically the Human Voice in the Choral context" If you think that sounds over-the-top you must add the fact that he has a deep, boomy voice that he obviously knows is a "perfect radio voice" and he used it with variation of pitch and speed to further accentuate point and air of intelligence. God bless the volunteers of free-to-air local community radio!

Another point in proceedings that springs to mind is when Bruce, the technician/producer guy, broke in when we were on the subject of fundraising for my trip with the choir. "I have to ask, are you doing any busking?" ...to which I replied "Ah, no. No. While I can sing I haven't quite mastered the art of singing multiple parts in harmony with one another."
What a cheeky little chorister!
The technician played an ad halfway through Mendelssohn's "Ehre Sei Gott" to cut it short. He ejected the CD, passed it to me and bid me farewell as the host ushered in the next important guests, whom they wanted to start on time with, some local active retirees, starting a new Probus club.
I put in my ears buds and selected shuffle as spun a donut in the car park.

Keep your ears to the waves...

Exciting news! I am going to be appearing as a guest on Mel Driscolls' "Cosmopolitan News and Views" on Community Radio Hamilton AM1206 & FM106.7 tomorrow (Sunday 27th May) at 12:30pm as a special guest from the community. Click on the big button marked "LISTEN ONLINE" for the interview streamed live.

It seems their guests are a "suprise" from week to week so while the listeners have no idea that I am the special guest awaiting the microphone this particular week, they will be expecting some colourful, controversial, committed characters who make our community richer for the sharing of their experiences.

Here's hope I take enough colour, controversy and commitment with me!

Will feed back with how it goes and any links to a audio download after the event. Jolly exciting!