Various bits of writing on the interweb

Ski cross

My mate Dave is a big Hull City fan.  Last season he was at the Boleyn for the match which marked my return as the announcer. It was a brilliant night, I walked around shaking hands with everyone and was so happy to be  back. Especially when we won under lights to restart our season.  I think the Hull fans were a bit surprised when the West Ham announcer wandered

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Blue Peter

When I was a kid, Blue Peter was a top programme full of educational features. This week I have seen Dick and Dom making pancakes on Blue Peter, plus a song by the young pop combo who are so poor they have to share the single name of Jedward. I should point out that I only watched out of the corner of my eye and with the sound turned down,

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Assisted suicide

Earlier this week I was making a cup of tea in the BBC Nottingham kitchen, while a wild haired man with very red cheeks was holding court with a couple of producers.  He was Ray Gosling, a veteran TV presenter, well loved in the East Midlands. He has a great style and a fantastically  rich Nottingham accent. He was about to become well known throughout the country. That night a

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Union Jack

I’m greatly enjoying Chris Evans on breakfast on Radio 2. He’s quickly established the programme as a feelgood way to start the day that appeals to the whole family. Much as I loved Terry Wogan, he’d handed his show over to his contributors, and it had begun to show. One feature I particularly enjoy is the Wrong Bongs. To the sounds of the Bongs of Big Ben, Sally Traffic runs

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Male to Female

I was speaking at an event today in Central London, giving the one hour workshop version of my talk Putting the U in Humour. It’s aimed at people who speak from a podium who would like to use humor to put their message across more effectively. I was the main speaker in the afternoon, with the morning session headlined by Rikki Arundel. Rikki is a founder member of the Professional

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My day in court

Today I did something outside my comfort zone. I went to magistrate’s court to report on the Milan Mandaric case. I haven’t done any court reporting for over twenty years, since my early days in radio. I don’t remember having to put my bag through a security scanner to access the court in those days. Horsferry Road Magistrates Court was surrounded by snappers and camera crews for the all important

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Baby it’s cold outside

So this is day one of the new daily blog. I was always starting a diary as a child. Each year I’d receive a diary for Christmas and pledge to make an entry every day. I never made it beyond January. But here goes…… What better day to start a daily blog than Feb 10th. It’s very chilly in London at the moment. It has been for some time. I

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The Shark House

A luxury house was up for sale with a built in shark tank as a feature of the lounge. There were even two sharks thrown in. It caused quite a splash. Watch out for the names of the two sharks.

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The face of Elvis on a piece of Stilton cheese

When the face of Elvis was discovered on a piece of Stilton cheese nearly 30 years to the day after his death, the BBC knew they had to send their top reporter to cover the story. Sadly when I arrived, the cheese had already been cut up, because it was worth £70! I’m sure that would have easily been covered by the publicity value of having the world’s newsmedia rolling

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