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From Carolyn Quinn
It was my husband who first spotted it. Brandishing a copy of the Times, and pointing excitedly to the pullout section giving details of the latest "Who's Who " in broadcasting, he said: "Your editor on the Today programme likes lute music!" Just like that. Now I have nothing against lute playing, though I prefer spending it. (Yes, yes, yes I know, feeble joke). But I wonder when Kevin Marsh finds time to indulge (he also cited rugby and theology) in between marking the piles of homework in his study and generally being a splendid human being.
You may have spotted a slight obsequious note. Isn't that par for the course for the latest Today recruit? As "with child " Sarah Montague takes a rest after her acting triumph in the nativity play, I'm filling some of her presenting shifts over the coming weeks. At last I have solved the mystery of the nibbled polystyrene cups in Studio S1 in Television Centre, the throbbing action centre for Today, the World at One, PM and the World Tonight. For several years now I've been presenting the PM programme during part of the week with the inimitable Eddie Mair. Often we'd go into the studio and there they would be - polystyrene cups, nibbled around the edges, with just a hint of cold coffee left swilling around in the bottom. Oh how we laughed as that coffee spilled over the desk, and over us.
As part of my preparatory project before my first presentation shift , I sat in the studio and watched the whole Today programme going out just before Christmas. And I have now uncovered the culprit. Now, if this was the Daily Mirror, I would of course reveal all in these paragraphs. "This particular phase in my life is the most dangerous, as XXXXXXXXXXXXXX is preparing to leave yet another half drunk, nibbled coffee cup on my desk." Far be it from me to issue threats, but I shall reveal his or her name to everyone unless he or she is particularly kind and welcoming during my shifts on the programme. (Coffee, milk, no sugar please).
I am having to get into a new groove - learning how to wake up at 3am. Until now, spending much of my time at Westminster I have been a late animal. On the night before my first shift on Thursday I set the alarm for 2.55 a.m. And of course I woke up every hour before the alarm went off. C'est la vie. On PM we'd have the day to sit in on editorial meetings, to throw ideas into the mix, to chat and think about the items we were covering. Now I'm having to learn to compress that seven hour experience into just two and a bit hours before TX at 6am. It's what they call a sleep learning curve.
Jim and Ed have been lovely, offering words of encouragement and advice.
Top tips:
Don't stay out drinking until three in the morning. If you do stay out drinking until three in the morning, don't go to bed afterwards. Remember to come straight to work.
Always remember to replace the top on your biro before sucking it, in contemplation, during that key interview.
I've come across my first Today quirk. On PM when it came to time checks, I could simply look at the digital clock on the desk in front of me and happily chirp "It's 5.33" or "It's 5.47"... you get the idea. But at Today we must say " It's nineteen minutes to 7/8/9" which sounds straightforward but of course requires furious backtiming in an already over-exercised brain. I slipped up a few times on Thursday morning - the headmaster noticed my controversial reference to "7.47". I have spent the last 24 hours trying to improve my game. I might just slip a few more in though, to see if the boss is awake.
I'm very disappointed not to have been working during a week in which the interviewees included a cocktail shaker and the world whistling champion. Last Tuesday we heard how, until recently, Silbo, the ancient Whistling language of La Gomera island in the Canary Islands was in danger of becoming extinct. Cue the World Whistling Champion David Morris, fresh from his triumph at the annual championships in North Carolina.
Listen again:
Whistling one
Whistling two
A chirpy chappy he was indeed. "You don't hear whistling very much these days" he said. "It's impossible to whistle if you are feeling unhappy". I think we ought to put that to the test. Come along then everybody - pucker up, frown and see if any noise comes out.
All the best,
Carolyn
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