Ryan's Angel

TUESDAY 4 MARCH

ER...
Hello.

I’ve been reading and re-reading your comments over the last week or so - since the Seventieth Posting, in fact. I actually printed them all off to give myself some bedtime reading but they kept me awake - all 48 pages of them! I’m not kidding - they’re AWESOME. Naturally, there are way too many points made, stories told, memories recalled, jokes, inside information, puzzles and games, questions and answers for me to respond to; suffice to say that there wasn’t enough margin left on the paper for me to scribble my notes on.

Your comments on the last blog were just the same - including the useful recipe Gilly has given us for Mud Pies. And all because of a US State Congressman who couldn’t possibly ever have imagined where his annual marigold proposal would end up!

I think there are two lessons to be learned from your comments subsequent to 15 February.

Firstly, drafting a posting for the blog will be on the same basis as making comments on it is now - it will always be entirely voluntary (except, of course, for my shameless invitation to The Ratmaster to get the ball rolling). No-one will EVER be ‘put on the spot’ to make a contribution if they don’t want to, or feel they can’t. Nor will they EVER be criticised for the decision they make.

So relax, Maureen. You will be as dear to our hearts in the future as you are now - whatever you decide.

And to those who’ve already decided to give blogpost-drafting a whirl, remember - we aren’t a critical bunch anyway. All I’ve ever noticed pass between you all is warmth and welcome.

Secondly, I found your comments about time constraints interesting. I’m sorry to ‘harp on’ about it ( - why ‘harp on’? - ) but The Nightshift has no separate researcher, producer, writer and presenter. They’re all li’l ol’ me. At times, I have to admit that the blog has threatened to take over whole days of reading and responding. So I’m glad that you, too, are beginning to see how the good company - the wit, wisdom and fellowship - can easily start to encroach on time that should be spent elsewhere doing other things!!

I’m not complaining. I’m just ‘relieved’.

So please keep the ball rolling in whichever direction you like. I love it. But please remember to keep me informed so I can join in! In the meantime, this blog will continue to appear with - starting on Thursday - occasional contributions from truckshunters.

Yes, Lawrence, I’ve received your draft. Be prepared, everybody - and be sure to set aside plenty of reading and responding time on Thursday!

One final point. I know perfectly well that a lot more truckshunters than the Magnificent Seven have been enthralled by recent developments on the blog. So who are you? Where are you? Speak a little LOUDER. We want to hear from you!

Speaking of which.....

RYAN
I’ve had an email from Ryan, who popped up on the blog last week. Remember him? He’s the guy who’s moving to Alton (in Hampshire) in a few days time. I hope he doesn’t mind if I reproduce some of it here.

'I thought I'd drop you a quick email with a pic attached, as I seem to remember you were interested in seeing pics we, the listeners, had taken. Anyway, despite lots of dramatic pictures available of the Angel of the North, I managed to bag myself a wonderful snap of the angel, just as the northeast was being enveloped in the soft white mitten of a snowstorm. You can barely see the ginger-cake colour of the angel, as the storm picks up.

I have been meaning to email to thank you for your wonderful Christmas Day show. I hadn't had a very good 2007, and was simply going through the motions of Christmas, without really enjoying any part of it. I tuned in to BBC Radio Newcastle on Christmas Day, which is what I do most days, as I love the station ever since I lived in Newcastle. It's a reminder of happier times, and a great comfort on occasions. And of course, when I tuned in, your show was about to start. I spent the following hours, doing very little other than drinking tea and smiling, as you and the people up there, lifted my spirits and gave me a great start to the day.

I spent the rest of the day at my sister’s, with her loving family surrounding me, and I enjoyed every moment of it. The best Christmas for a very long time.'

Aren’t ‘the soft white mitten of a snowstorm’ and ‘the ginger-cake colour of the Angel’ lovely images? And isn’t the picture itself a stunner, too?!

CONTACT ME
Post comments on this blog or contact me in any one (or more) of these ways....
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

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