THURSDAY 1 NOVEMBER 2007
THE FIRST 'PROPER' POSTING!

Welcome to the TRUCKSHUNTERS blog. I hope you find your visit rewarding, amusing, and interesting - or, if I'm particularly lucky - all three.
My name is IAN ROBINSON and I research, produce and present the overnight programme on BBC Radio Newcastle; it's called The Nightshift and I think of it as a mixture of music, offbeat news and trivia, questioning scepticism and straightforward whimsy! I would be interested to know how you think of it!

WHAT'S IN IT
There are regular features like The Nightshift Newsreel (odd, weird, inexplicable, foolish and even ludicrous news items from around the globe), Today...... (birthdays of the great and the good, saints' days and other commemorative trivia - such as today being the National Day of Algeria) and a Know Your North-East question. There's also a specialist music slot at about 0445.
As for the rest......well, today's programme illustrates The Nightshift's content quite well. There were items about 'unparliamentary' language (the words and phrases MPs are not allowed to use about each other).......obituaries for a super-intelligent 31-year-old parrot and a man who ate light-bulbs......some inexplicable American laws (sent in by Loz, a Truckshunter).....a spooky local folktale called The Simonside Brag (for All Hallows Night).....and the happy story of an Edinburgh teenager who has become a millionaire by making jam.
Today's special music slot - also for All Hallows Night - was Danse Macabre (by Saint-Saens). It was adapted by the BBC as the theme music for the 'comedy-detective' series Jonathan Creek.

WHO DECIDES WHAT'S IN IT
I do - so there's no-one else to blame but me.

HOW THE PROGRAMMES ARE MADE
Except for the final 30 minutes of the Monday to Friday programmes, each edition of The Nightshift is pre-recorded, usually the day before. Although this arrangement is not perfect, it is the best that can be done at present. Sorry!
On 'Clocks Back Night' (last Sunday morning) I did present the programme 'live' between 2400 and 0300 and was amazed (and flattered) to receive so many emails, texts and calls. I promise I will try and do it again sometime soon.

WHO THE TRUCKSHUNTERS ARE
You. For fairly complex and utterly unimportant reasons, I decided that The Nightshift's listeners and enthusiasts deserved a name as daft as this one is (although Kev's suggestion of Robinson's O Crew is 'twisted' enough to deserve an very honourable mention). I would like to make the Truckshunters into a kind of informal 'club' with membership numbers and certificates - but I can't do that all on my own. Any help you can offer or suggest would be greatly appreciated.

THIS BLOG.....
- will appear by about 1200 British time on the day of the programme to which it links BUT NOT on Saturdays or Sundays, or when I am on leave;
- is very open to comment and suggestion. I would like to hear what you have to say about the content and style of the programme AND this blog, as well as any suggestions you may have about the ground either, or both, of them should cover.

AND FINALLY FOR NOW......
A BIG thankyou to everyone who responded this morning to the new name, especially......
- Kev, who sent me a kind of potted biography (in which he said he was 'warped, twisted and weird enough' (with a 'heightened sense of the ridiculous') to enjoy The Nightshift - an ideal Truckshunter, in fact.....anyone want to do the same?
- Loz, whose daft US laws have become a Nightshift staple.......
- Gilly, who doesn't really need to send an autobiography because I feel I know it already!....
- Chris and Jojo in New Zealand, who have already inspired quite a few features on the programme.....
- Jim, who listens to the programme in Christina Lake (in British Columbia) because his daughter Anna is at Newcastle University and he misses her (-awwwwwww)......
- Vivienne, who suggested REO Speedwagon as honorary Truckshunters (geddit??) - - any other suggestions for honorary membership would be welcomed - - how about an honorary President? Eddie Stobart? Bob Crowe?......
- Margaret (in Haltwhistle), who compliments me - then asks me searching questions (which I will do my best to answer)!
- all the regular (and irregular) callers to the programme - like Tom, Stanley Elvis, Charlie (in Benton), John (in Jarrow), Dave (in Washington) and many. many others.

Thankyou ALL for making me feel so welcome on The Nightshift.

BBC RADIO NEWCASTLE
You can get details of BBC Radio Newcastle's other programmes on the BBC's website - bbc.co.uk/tyne (or /wear). You can also listen to The Nightshift online there.

CONTACT ME
Post comments on this blog or contact me in any one (or more) of these ways....
email ian.robinson@bbc.co.uk
text 07786 200954 (while the programme is on-air)
call (between about 0545 and 0630 Monday to Friday) 0191 232 6565
Ian Robinson, The Nightshift, BBC Radio Newcastle, Spital Tongues, Newcastle-upon-Tyne NE99 1RN, England

NOTE
Please bear in mind that the views expressed in this blog are my own and NOT the views of the BBC.