MONDAY 17 MARCH
SECRETS OF THE SEA
My dear listeners and friends - you have excelled yourselves. You have achieved something which ( - and I must be honest here - ) I thought was utterly impossible. Between you, you have written what I am claiming as the world’s very first communal, collective Romantic short story. You have contained, developed and concluded the narrative in a deeply satisfying way. You have shown startling originality, wit, turn of phrase and story-telling ability......
Singling out individual contributions would be unfair - in fact, it would be impossible. I loved all of it - from letters falling repeatedly to the floor (along with several of the story's protagonists) through the ingenious in-character dialogue, the carefully-wrought descriptions of rugs and dresses, the appalling double-entendres and the lightning-strike plot twists to the final breathtaking denouement.
Hey - what can I say? You’ve stunned me into awed silence yet again. You are truly capable of anything; there’s nothing that truckshunters can’t do. No, really. You’d better believe it.
As you can imagine, I thought about you often while I was on holiday in Hereford ( - and, yes, Maureen, we’ll be hearing from Sue again very soon). I wondered how, as a group, you would react to my opening chapter of Secrets and how your different personalities and world-views could possibly be reflected in any story you tried to write as a group; a group, moreover, whose members - as far as I know - have never met except as blogsters.
The result is awesome. My head and heart are positively bursting with pride. I know I’ve said it before but I want you to know how privileged I feel to be broadcasting to such a disparate, problematic, funny and intensely affectionate audience.
After the infamous Seventieth Posting I wanted to shout your achievements from the rooftops of the Pink Palace. This time I’m going to. If you can, listen in to Wednesday and Thursday morning’s Nightshifts for news of exactly what I intend to do.
I’ll be telling you about my lovely Herefordshire holiday tomorrow. Right now, I think I’d better shut up before you all start feeling big-headed - or before you begin to suspect that I doth protest your wonderfulness too much!
Well done - all of you.
ST CUTHBERT'S DAY
Yes, I know I got it wrong when I announced that today is St Patrick's Day. Apparently, it was moved forward to last Saturday so as not to clash with Holy Week. However, despite what the Church hierarchy might say, I hereby declare that Thursday, 20 March, really is St Cuthbert's Day, Holy Week or no Holy Week. If you have any thoughts for the Big Day - or any special requests - please get in touch.
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.
22 comments:
Oh dear! what have we done now? Honestly Ian, we were just having FUN! As I said before thanks for giving us a shove! We are as surprised as you. Have you read the previous blog? We had as much fun on there, thanks to Miss Be Hayve who kept us in check during your absence.
Thanks for giving good old 'incorruptable Cuthbert' a mention, I'll give it a bit of thought.
PS Hadn't heard of St. Patricks day being moved, didn't think that was allowed!... Thought it was St. Cuthbert that kept being moved! Anyway, Google are claiming today as St Patricks, so you are not alone.
Ahhh! He liked it! That's all that matters really.
hiya everyone..
miss b hayve back on the late shift..
aaaww wasnt ians posting just lovely jubbly.
i filled up then laughed then filled up again and i,ll probably stay like that..
bye
have you done your homework?
sids gotta pay for the headmasters window
or... stick it up with his cabbage leaves..
Welcome back Ian,
I have to say I sat back in the main and let the real experts get on with it, but my only contribution was so perfectly invited by Gilly's offering I had to jump in... as did Crockford.
You know Ian, and this might sound daft but I'll say it anyway, it never occured to me that we 7 blogsters don't actually know each other.... we've never met yet it hadn't struck me as when we're on here it's like a crowd of old mates getting together for a natter.
How odd.... we know each other so very well.... ain't it grand!
Lawrence .... Oh Grosvenor send his kind regards to all.
Lawrence, somewhere in the deep depths of the Thursday March 6th. blog, I left a message for you. If you were ever in Ashington, when Ian was broadcasting there, would you try and search it out? I keep thinking that our paths may have fleetingly crossed. I may well be wrong about it, but I am nevertheless curious to know.
Hi Hildie,
Sorry I missed thay posting, must go to Specsavers.
Ummm... no I wasn't in Ashington when Ian was broadcasting from there so it wouldn't have been me.
I was perilously close to Ian on a rather large horse at the Keelman pub and brewery in Newburn one hot summer's day when I was sat at an outside table enjoying a pint.... then the horse came.... with Ian perched on its back.
I also saw Ian when he was at Heaton Manor School as it was the same morning we were doing a Speedway presentation in their school assmebly. I popped to the bus in my Shania Twain tee shirt to be greeted by Ian saying "My Shania, how you've changed!"
I used to live in Ashington though... up the High Market for 7 years.
Cheers
Lawrence
ians just said he,s getting in touch with melvyn bragg, oopps,
sid predicted this, said ian would turn the tables.
ian also said we could carry on with the story if we wished, i jumped out of bed to do this very thing then calmed meself down,
i think we,ve come to a perfect and fitting conclusion ..
but i did say id like to stick the chestnut brown shire horse in cos otherwise he,ll be left by himself in the draughty stable .. so i might just do that...
OK, Maureen.
When the next occasion arises (note the 'when' not 'if') I will try to do my share. But I'm making no promises.
Now if Ian can concoct something based on numbers then that's a different ball game....
Hello everybody, what a lovely day.
I'm a bit busy at the moment,but will be back later. Ian was impressed wasn't he?
Gilly the way I feel at the moment I could replace all the school windows. Take care of yourselves now.
hiya everyone...
sid ? lovely day?
are you in the south of france? its colder than a witches snitch here.
i looked out from upstairs cathedral in the distance,
daffs blooming in the park, all the trees are out in may blossom, lovely, but still cold ,
snows on its way..
sorry to be the portender of weather doom.
.....
kev? itd be lovely if youd join in the next story,
a few lines will do but if you can,t please don,t feel under pressure..
just pop in anyway with your anagrams and puzzles,
(i could do with a few as if lifes not puzzling enough.)
you can stick numbers in a story,
a dotty professor..mathmetician, you do have a very good head for such things,
look at me i cant join in when its anagrams, we cant all be good at everything. we all have our weaknesses.
im like one of those clangers on tv the whistlers,
i dont speak much so i write.
bye youve all got the day off if you like... half term holiday
im on a refresher course..
miss b hayve..x at your peril..
sid.? im glad you feel you can replace all the school windows thats good.. this is what happens when nice things are said by nice people...headmaster i presume..!
your miss b hayve..ps those refresher sweets were nice as were sugar mice and rainbow sherburt..
and if you replace the windows we neednt dip into the school funds,
we can spend it on summat frivolous for the school..like ??
ps forgot, miss b hayve stepping down till i,m needed or next time..
low profile now.
don,t want to hijack things. perish the thought.
but i do suffer with exuberance its sometimes very painfull esp when i see myself a lot on here..
i just wanted to add bits about ians return
gotta be busy too..
house going to rack and ruin..
and i came on to say i laughed
in the middle of the night,
when ian said he pre recorded the prog before he went away and felt weird saying "its nice to be back" when he hadnt even been away.. i knew all this already.
womens intuition.
Loz, thanks, at least I know. Friendly people up there in Ashington though. When you saw Ian on the horse it might have been when they were doing the Coast to Coast Summer Holiday. I seem to remember that they travelled from place to place by a different means of transport each day, one of the days it was motorbike and side-car I'm sure!
Maureen and Gilly, you know when you were sending in the poems? I have miraculously come across the one that I sent in at the time. I didn't win the competition, did you?
Paul's in the studio,
Ian's on the bus,
It makes great radio
For all of us.
Nothing ever goes to plan,
They're often in a tizz,
They have us doing the anagram
And entering the quiz.
Give Ian a fried egg sandwich,
Or text Paul some jokes.
The prizes are amazing,
And they're really lovely blokes!
A mention for Steve Drayton,
(Who's sometimes on the telly!)
He's their warm-up man, you know,
And really gives it welly!
hildie..? such a great poem.
i,m trying to think if i ever heard you and maureen mentioned as i never missed a prog.
the poem i wrote begins.
mistreth gillian and master ians virtual durham picnic.
this is one of the verses.there are 8 pages.
you stood resplendant on Framwellgate Bridge,
in admrals hat and blonde curly wig, master of disguise so folk wouldnt twig,
these secret assignations could be miscrued,
and rather than you deny and me feel used,
we,ll leave folk bemused about the colorful stranger who,d travelled in to Durham on a wonky donky dressed quite funky yet posing no danger..
you,d travelled through fields of golden corn over the bonny Tyne Bridge then up the old a1,
over dykes and ditches and paths well worn,
by hook nosed witches that could cast a spell, swapping old mens britches for warts on their snitches........its endless..
inspired to write by listening to the travels of the bus..
ps the bus appears at the end..
iv stuffed it in the drawer cos of course its dated now..
but i enjoyed it. writing it.
just passes some time.
Hello chums, Gilly, you were right this morning, it was cold. I had penned a few words before sticking my nose out the door.
This morning I heard Ian read out an e-mail from Lorraine in Kuala Lumpur. Please Lorraine, if you read this, then drop us a line. It would mean we could then be the magnificent eight. We're a canny bunch here, you would be warmly welcomed.
Gilly, something frivelous for school, how about a box of coloured chalk.
I went to St Peters school in Byker, one classroom had a coal fire in it, always lit during the cold months. Of course it had a fire guard...but could you imagine any school getting away with that now. To my knowledge no child was ever harmed.
hiya everyone...
sid ? yes, colored chalk good idea, when you mentioned it i got a picture in me head of that scottish rock, i said that cos i couldnt spell edinb... thingy.
at junior school we had an open fire in the class room too,
big fire gaurd round,
our woollie hats n mitts draped over, steaming,
wellies stood by the side of the hearth, melting,,like the wicked witch of the west,
we were asleep by ten in the winter, it was so hot, lovely,
you are right it wouldnt be allowed now, health and safety and all that mumbo jumbo.
( allegedly i say gaurdidly for fear of libel)
you darent say anything anymore either. the worlds gone to pot.
our local bakers sell lovely greenhouse tomato,s can,t beat home grown.
last year i tried to grow a cucumber. no joy and i looked after it,..
fancy trying to grow a big pumpkin this year and plant a sunflower seed,
see how high i can grow it,
then i,ll enter the competition where the fella calls with his ladder to measure it.
sid .. ive just noticed a picture.. how blooming lovely.
are they your tomato,s ? is polly in the tunnel.? eehh im excited..
sid..? funnily enough i was gonna post a pic of our cabbages we grew one year, then post a different pic every day..
Gilly, the photo was taken by my grandson. I had been showing him how to get a primus stove lit.... and then we made the coffee. With a Kit Kat each, of course.
how lovely sid, double chunky kitkat? hope it wasnt a windy day.
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