One of the best perks of my job as a breakfast radio announcer is I have
time during the day to speak at service clubs. At least once a week
you’ll find me addressing a Probus or National Seniors' Club, telling
behind the scenes tales from my twenty-odd years at the ABC. My
favourite part is the question and answer time at the end, which has
proven to be the best and most direct way to receive feedback from
listeners, and we do take notice of what they have to say. But these
talks are also a great source of story material for my breakfast show.
Here are a couple of recent examples: At Cleveland
National Seniors, a woman handed me a nude 2014 calendar! It turned out
her retirement village had produced it as a fundraiser for Look Good
Feel Better, which helps women manage the appearance-related side
effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. I flicked through the
hilarious and very cheeky photos and who should I find playing piano in
the all-together? None other than the first man on Queensland
television, Hugh Cornish! What a great yarn! (Yes, the calendars are
available – call Renaissance on 3820 7700).
Then just last week, after giving a talk at the Mt Gravatt Men’s
Shed, I noticed the members were putting together 300 flat-pack timber
cubby houses. Apparently a large department store imported them, then
realised they didn’t meet Australian design standards. So they’ve all
been handed over to the Men’s Shed, where the blokes are assembling and
fixing each one – mainly reinforcing the verandah railings. It’s a great
little earner for the Men’s Shed and will set them up handsomely for
2014 but they’re running out of storage space! So if you know any
children who would appreciate a cubby house for Christmas, please call
the Mt Gravatt Men’s Shed on 3343 2216. They’re $495. If you’d like me
to speak at your service club in 2014, shoot me an email.
In what’s been a very busy couple
of weeks, I also wrote and performed “A letter to the woman who changed
my life” at an event called Men of Letters. I wrote my letter to the
whole of Australia. As I hinted in the last bmag, there was a bombshell.
Here’s an abridged version:
“My dear Australia, I’ve been disrespectful
towards you. You educated me (even if that did mean sitting me next to
Kyle Sandilands at Manly State School), you introduced me to my wife,
you employed me (including that dream uni job as mystery shopper at
McDonalds! How can I ever forget sitting in the loo at Maccas shoving a
thermometer into french fries?), and you embraced me as a breakfast
radio presenter on your national broadcaster. Yet for all of these 32
years, I have continued to think of another as my motherland. It has
taken me
all this time, but I finally see how this must hurt and confuse you. So I
am writing to ask – dear Australia, please can we formalise our
relationship? Australia, I have loved you for a long, long time. Will
you have me as one of your own? PS: I may still support England in the
Ashes. Can I let you know after the Second Test?”
I guess the surprise
is more that I’m not already an Aussie rather than the fact I’ve finally
applied. I’ll let you know when Australia (i.e. the Immigration
Department) replies.
This Saturday (23rd) marks the 50th
anniversary of Dr Who. TV stations around the world are broadcasting the
special episode The Day of the Doctor simultaneously – there is no
better way to crush TV piracy than to broadcast programmes at the same
time everywhere. ABC Radio is launching a pop-up Doctor Who channel from
24 to 30 November. Look for ABC Extra on your digital radio or radio
app (eg Tune In Radio). I’m presenting a two-hour special on the channel
which will have rolling 24/7 interviews and discussion about Doctor
Who.
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