News
Happy birthday to me.
Yesterday marked my one-year anniversary deputising for Mark Kermode on News 24 (which is no longer called News 24, it's just BBC News, but, like Word magazine and Opal Fruits and the Hammersmith Odeon, its old name will linger in popular memory). It is very helpful of the BBC to log my appearances, all ten of them since August 2007: so many different seating arrangements, so many different news anchors (Julian Worricker the most frequent), so many floor managers, so many "floats"* and incorrectly loaded clips and stills, so much foundation powder-puffed on to stop my forehead from shining. It's cool to hang out at BBC News, which, of course, is like a duck: calm on the surface, but paddling away like mad under the water. Even though I have a BBC pass it does not grant me access to the hallowed newsroom, so I have to call somebody and hang around outside to be let in; this puts me in my place. Yesterday, they were all watching the John McCain/Sarah Palin speeches. I even saw John Simpson wander by. I'm just a small cog in their 24-hour world - one who has to borrow a producer or assistant's pass in order to go to the toilet - but they let me log on and loiter, and the Film 24 slot (still called despite the re-branding), which goes out at 5.45 on a Friday, had to be pushed back to 6.45 due to the Republican convention yesterday, so I had even longer to hang around in my suit and red shirt. Long may Mark Kermode take occasional holidays. And you can download me pretending to be him with Simon Mayo on 5 Live here.
* A "float" is a clip that plays under what I'm saying, rather than a clip that I stop talking for.
posted by Andrew Collins @ 11:58 AM
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9 Comments:
I like the Collins deputising for Kermode, but my heart sinks when Simon Mayo is on holiday and that laddish, Chris Moyles-type guy's in his place. Colin Murray is perfectly fine, though.
The Wackness (above)looks pretty groovy/awful. From the trailer it looks like a cross between Coppola's One From The Heart and... some sort of hip hop film.
"...one who has to borrow a producer or assistant's pass in order to go to the toilet - but they let me log on and loiter..."
Log on and loiter? Is that a euphemism for using the lavatory?
I've just enjoyed watching your latest outing on the beeb. I must say you looked much less startled than on earlier broadcasts! :-)
Sorry that those damn Republicans made you wait around longer than you needed to old boy, bloody cheek.
Andrew, those last two photos of you bring to mind those scenes from hollywood cop movies whereby the hero is trying to talk an unhinged character into lowering the gun..."c'mon chad, you don't wanna do somethin' stupid...c'mon" nice.
Not about this blog entry at all, but have been meaning to tell you for a while, since you talked about pigeons in the podcast... At Bletchley Park there is (or was this May anyway) a section about pigeons' contribution to the war effort - their general bravery and endurance etc. Some got decorated for it. Sounds Python-er than Python but was actually very moving - little tear in the eye etc.
I think you would like it.
I've often thought that reviewing movies would be fun to do as a job. However, apart from getting into the movie for free there's the problem of being forced to watch something that you would normally avoid like the plague in 'real life' and then have to talk about it/write about it. A few weeks ago you went to see 'The Wackness' -- from the name alone the movie sounds woeful which sucks because it's got Don Logan in.
Err, when did the Hammersmith Odeon change it's name?
It would appear to be the case that above a certain age it gets harder to assimilate name changes. I still refer to the 'Post Office Tower' in London, even though it became BT Tower about 25 years ago. Ditto the Pan Am building in New York (Now the Met Life building, if you're interested..)
Enjoyed the 5 Live work, which I heard while driving home on Friday afternoon. Well done on mentioning both Grass and ELO in the opening ten minutes...
"It's cool to hang out at BBC News, which, of course, is like a duck"
You want to be kissed by BBC News now, too?
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