Update 38
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I’m pretty stable at the moment though in last week’s update I failed to mention a worrying episode: one evening I became aware that my lower jaw was vibrating and in the process making a mess of the inside of my lower lip. I rolled up my handkerchief and jammed it between my teeth which eventually stopped moving. On Tuesday I dropped my steroid dose to 1.5 micrograms so watch out for reports of any changes in my symptoms.
Politically this is looking to be a better week than most. I must apologise for my initial doubts about Sunak’s potential as a leader. As of Wednesday he’s showing wisdom and backbone especially in respect of Northern Ireland. There have been some fascinating commentaries about how his apparent breakthroughs have been achieved. In my view, earlier progress had been impossible because quite simply, the EU did not trust anything that Johnson was saying whereas Sunak is not only looking like a man of his word, but is also a man who appears to read his briefing papers and retain most of the detail. It begins to look as if we, and especially those of us in NI, will be the beneficiaries - perhaps at last the Conservative Party is finding its way back to some kind of normality. It’s been nice not hearing quite so much from the Tory loony fringe, and as for Steve Baker even showing signs of satisfaction with the progress…….
It was fascinating to hear Rishi raving (in front of all those coke cans) about Northern Ireland’s unique and privileged position in having open access to both the UK and EU markets. I don’t want to keep looking backwards but there was a time when those advantages applied to the whole of the UK. Why did we give them up? Oh yes, for our sovereignty.
Encouraged by this progress we’re planning a few more days at the converted chapel in Bampton to be followed closely by another of chef Bryan Webb’s special dinners at Tyddyn Llan - Igor will introduce each of the wines he’s chosen so there’ll be a bit of cabaret as well.
A few of you asked about availability of my books. The 200 songs is in the final stages of completion but may never achieve that goal. Because of the printing cost, my memoir ‘A Little Bit Famous’ (sorry about that) was printed in a very limited run, but if there was anything resembling significant interest I’d consider a second run. It’s a hard back of 250 pages with quite a few colour photographs.
I can’t ignore the amount of coverage given to the latest departure from Radio Two’s presenter line up. Ken Bruce has been a hugely successful part of the station’s output including the ‘Popmaster’ quiz which was created by Ken and his longtime producer Phil ‘The Collector’ Swern who will continue to work with Ken at Greatest Hits Radio. From where I listen, I think the incident has been a mishandling by the network. Radio Two is trying to move its listener age profile down a bit and that would naturally involve changing some presenters. Perhaps they didn’t think through Ken’s position carefully enough. The matter of his leaving date should have been considered much more carefully because this is not the first time such mistakes have been made. I was never an on air presence but when I resigned as Capital Radio’s Head of Programmes I had assumed I would have to work my notice, only to be told a few days in advance of its term end that they wanted me to clear my office early. Such an insensitive action hurts the individual concerned and can cause significant inconvenience. I have no doubt Ken was hurt, especially after 32 years on the same team.
If you visit my website, timblackmore.com, among other things you’ll find an interview with Ken. I conducted it several years ago so it won’t illuminate today’s story, but it will let you hear Ken talk about how he built his brilliant career. Good luck to you Ken for all that comes next. I suspect quite a few R2 listeners are going to be hearing radio ads for the first time!
I want to spare a word for my younger sister Glynis, who several months ago had major surgery involving removal of a kidney which as well as having a Cancer attached also involved losing one of her adrenal glands. This week a few random cancerous bits and her remaining adrenal gland were removed. Getting old is not all that some might have you believe.
I’ve signed up for the Jancis Robinson wine course in the BBC’s Maestro project. It’s very good and the last time I looked, it was being heavily discounted from its original price of £80.00.
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