The Low Light and Fishquay, North Shields
MONDAY 21 JANUARY
DISMAL DAYS
The word ‘dismal’ is descended from Church Latin dies mal, ‘bad day’! And apparently, today was the very dismallest in the calendar. The high spirits and indulgence of Christmas and the New Year seem like a distant memory; the nights are still long, cold and damp; no-one has any money and many of us haven’t been paid yet; the credit card bills - reflecting our recent overspending - are arriving; the next Bank Holiday is still weeks away and, for most of us, our summer hols are like a distant fantasy.
So how was it for you? Were the psychologists right? Did you succumb to misery and self-pity - which (let’s face it) can sometimes do you the world of good? Or did you not even notice that today was any worse than any other day? I have to admit that things went fairly smoothly for me today. It was quite something to see Mike Parr in full Scottish regalia, including, of course, the kilt - a garment close to my heart (as you know) as well as to other parts of my anatomy! Why menfolk feel hidebound to wear trousers when a liberating alternative like the kilt is available, I will never truly understand. OK sure, it’s a skirt for men. But so what? It seems to me that men are so protective of their perceived masculinity that the mere thought of wearing a kilt fills most of them with trepidation. Gentlemen - all you need to do is ask the ladies what they think. Then pluck up the courage and try it out. You’ll never be the same again.
For some people, I guess the snow which fell on Newcastle today must have seemed like the straw that broke the camel’s back. Not for me, though. I loved it. It seems like aeons since it really snowed. I’ve spent the whole day hoping it would ‘lie’ and that I might wake up to an old-fashioned white-out. Unfortunately, this seems unlikely.
Incidentally, ‘dismal days’ actually exist in the pastoral Church calendar. They are days of particularly bad omen. If you’d like to know more, look it up on Wikipedia. If you’re not sure what Wikipedia is, listen to tomorrow morning’s Nightshift!
NO SOONER A WORD.....
In my last posting I talked at some length about the ‘borrowed’ themes I’ve been using to introduce each morning’s Nightshift and made you all sorts of promises about them. No sooner a word than a deed.....These ‘recycled’ theme tunes will stop after tomorrow morning’s Nightshift. Keep listening if you’d like to know how you can become involved in a fiendish plot I’m hatching to replace them.
REQUESTS
Wherever I can, I ‘m happy to play any track you ask me to. When putting in your request, though, please make sure you indicate -within an hour or so - when you are likely to be listening. I wouldn’t want you to miss the track you’ve asked me to play simply because my timing was out!
CONTACT ME
Post comments on this blog or contact me in any one (or more) of these ways....
ian.robinson@bbc.co.uk
ianstuartrobinson@googlemail.com
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
NOTE
Please bear in mind that the views expressed in this blog are my own and NOT the views of the BBC.
DISMAL DAYS
The word ‘dismal’ is descended from Church Latin dies mal, ‘bad day’! And apparently, today was the very dismallest in the calendar. The high spirits and indulgence of Christmas and the New Year seem like a distant memory; the nights are still long, cold and damp; no-one has any money and many of us haven’t been paid yet; the credit card bills - reflecting our recent overspending - are arriving; the next Bank Holiday is still weeks away and, for most of us, our summer hols are like a distant fantasy.
So how was it for you? Were the psychologists right? Did you succumb to misery and self-pity - which (let’s face it) can sometimes do you the world of good? Or did you not even notice that today was any worse than any other day? I have to admit that things went fairly smoothly for me today. It was quite something to see Mike Parr in full Scottish regalia, including, of course, the kilt - a garment close to my heart (as you know) as well as to other parts of my anatomy! Why menfolk feel hidebound to wear trousers when a liberating alternative like the kilt is available, I will never truly understand. OK sure, it’s a skirt for men. But so what? It seems to me that men are so protective of their perceived masculinity that the mere thought of wearing a kilt fills most of them with trepidation. Gentlemen - all you need to do is ask the ladies what they think. Then pluck up the courage and try it out. You’ll never be the same again.
For some people, I guess the snow which fell on Newcastle today must have seemed like the straw that broke the camel’s back. Not for me, though. I loved it. It seems like aeons since it really snowed. I’ve spent the whole day hoping it would ‘lie’ and that I might wake up to an old-fashioned white-out. Unfortunately, this seems unlikely.
Incidentally, ‘dismal days’ actually exist in the pastoral Church calendar. They are days of particularly bad omen. If you’d like to know more, look it up on Wikipedia. If you’re not sure what Wikipedia is, listen to tomorrow morning’s Nightshift!
NO SOONER A WORD.....
In my last posting I talked at some length about the ‘borrowed’ themes I’ve been using to introduce each morning’s Nightshift and made you all sorts of promises about them. No sooner a word than a deed.....These ‘recycled’ theme tunes will stop after tomorrow morning’s Nightshift. Keep listening if you’d like to know how you can become involved in a fiendish plot I’m hatching to replace them.
REQUESTS
Wherever I can, I ‘m happy to play any track you ask me to. When putting in your request, though, please make sure you indicate -within an hour or so - when you are likely to be listening. I wouldn’t want you to miss the track you’ve asked me to play simply because my timing was out!
CONTACT ME
Post comments on this blog or contact me in any one (or more) of these ways....
ian.robinson@bbc.co.uk
ianstuartrobinson@googlemail.com
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
NOTE
Please bear in mind that the views expressed in this blog are my own and NOT the views of the BBC.
3 comments:
The 21st lived up to expectation: enthusiasm and joi-de-vivre was in abundance.
What else would you would expect when someone's job, some would even say vocation, is to impart higher mathematical knowledge to the younger generation, who sit with bated breath, whispering humbleness and fevered anticipation of the pearls of wisdom about to come their way?
The $64000 question is 'Am I serious or not?'
Answers on a postcard addressed to, well you know the address...
As each winter approaches I wonder just how much snow we are likely to get. I love to see the young (and not so young) out sledgeing. It reminds me when I was a young lad, and me and me pals would sledge down some of the steepest roads in Byker. Avondale Road used to be a favourite. I remember my wellies filling up with snow and ice as I tried to stop the sledge before hitting the main road at the bottom.
Todays Health and Safety Brigade would have had a fit, and no doubt all of us kids would have been the proud owner of an ASBO.I have been back to that area of Byker, and have shaken my head in disbelief. Sledgeing down there, I must have been barmy....or fearless!
Mind you it wasn't just an ordinary sledge, oh no. It was one of C.A.Parsons finest.Made during a couple of dinner hours, and er, smuggled out in bits.
Kev....do I detect a hint of sarcasm - nay, cynicism - in your observation?
Sid...if you don't mind, I'll read out your recollections on tomorrow's Nightshift. They're lovely!
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