Hello and happy Halloween from the newest media luvvie in town. Yes the world has finally discovered 'me' ... or rather the people who tuned-in in Leeds and, as part of a six-month trial, in Sheffield and York heard me on BBC Radio Leeds on Friday.
You can listen to it yourself for a few days more by clicking on this link: -
Just as I turned round to Kim a male voice boomed out of the booth asking "What's her surname?" The other lovely lady in the production suite, Jo, replied "Seth, it's Jackson". Seth?
"Liz has had to go to a funeral sadly so Seth is standing in. He's really good too" said Kim.
Seth was closing a feature on 'first dances at weddings' and some guy (Tom I think) had just phoned in to say his was 'Smoke On the Water' by Deep Purple. Ooooooo-kay then.
An attractive young woman with a lollipop stuck in her mouth glided past and smiled, disappearing into booth 4 to read the news (without the lollipop in her mouth); she looked fresh out of University (am I getting THAT old??) and then I was swept into the booth to meet Seth.
Seth smiled warmly and we chatted a little bit as the news, travel and sport were read; Seth intro'd them seamlessly from his control desk ... and then we were on. I tried to get as many of the 10 charities I'm supporting mentioned, I mentioned the organisers charitychallenge.com twice, Bartfields the accountants once and Iveridge Hall once as well. Not sure their client numbers will go through the roof but hey 'every little helps'. You know I'm sure that's a great catchphrase for SOMEBODY to use.
And so the hour simply flew. Soon it was a final photo shoot and time to depart. I looked back at the glistening building and smiled as I'd clearly managed to sneak out before the paparazzi arrived to grab the photos of me for next months 'Hello' magazine.
My greatest fan and harshest critic (my Mum) rang that evening to ask why I hadn't told her I was on and then promptly said she'd heard it and thought I was great. My brother in California is going to listen to it but will probably give me some grief for complaining about his incessant talking through Match of the Day ... but he does.
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As I type this attempt at a humorous blog entry, I have to remember that there are people out there suffering daily issues due to one of the dreadful diseases we need to find a cure for, like my Twitter friend Sarah who suffers with MS. Tonight her first tweet simply said "I can't cope with this much longer".
She went on to explain she'd had a relapse due to a chronic infection; the relapse was affecting her breathing (described as "... right now it's proper pants") and due to lack of sleep the previous night she doesn't feel well enough to do the exercises which would help her get temporarily better.
And so, whilst I started to create this blog, while many people out there were tweeting about the 'X Factor' show that was on tonight, of making impressive salads and drinking too many cups of tea today, and about wanting to get so drunk tonight in Blackpool that they can't move, Sarah was having a shit night. One of many she may face.
It wipes the smile off my face, and so it should.
RIP Sir Jimmy Savile, sleep well tonight Sarah and now I need my beauty sleep too. According to a friend (Lesley) I have the ideal face for radio so maybe even the extra hour won't do me any good.
One can always hope zzzzzzzzzzzz
You can listen to it yourself for a few days more by clicking on this link: -
But hold on, I'm jumping ahead of myself so I'll start at the very beginning, which is a very good place to start .. yeah I know, hardly Julie Andrews huh.
Clare Young (of 'The Apprentice' fame) sent a tweet to Liz Green suggesting she features me on her 'One on One' slot; an hour talking with the 'great and the good' of Yorkshire (apparently) and lo and behold I got the invite.
The producer Kim (photo below) and I swapped a few emails and it was done, although I have to say I think she let me down over the promised changing room with flowers, space for my entourage of 14 and the fresh Alaskan water I've now started demanding. I mean it's not as if they've created a monster out of me is it?
Oh and before you answer that rhetorical question, just remember I know how to 'tweet' Max Clifford so watch your answer buddy or there'll be lawsuits and counter-claims about your sex-life with Freddie Starr's hamster !! We fledgling celebrities have rights you know.
Anyhow, back to the plot; I duly replied to their questionnaire, selecting 10 songs and exposing the minor highs and some of the significant lows of my life and suddenly the day was upon us.
I tried to recruit a hairstylist called Gaston afor the event and a Feng Shui guru called Miss Teek-Anong-Patayatu (evidently her real name is Shirley Hegginbottam but she found it tough to get gigs what with the name and the floral stripey wallpaper in the background of her Facebook photo). If they had been available along with a rent-a-PA I found on Yellow Pages and the trio of bald bodyguards called the Cannonballs, my entourage just needed a few hanger-oner's and groupie's and we were there, but no, all busy 'washing their hair' that day, including the Cannonballs.
I tried to recruit a hairstylist called Gaston afor the event and a Feng Shui guru called Miss Teek-Anong-Patayatu (evidently her real name is Shirley Hegginbottam but she found it tough to get gigs what with the name and the floral stripey wallpaper in the background of her Facebook photo). If they had been available along with a rent-a-PA I found on Yellow Pages and the trio of bald bodyguards called the Cannonballs, my entourage just needed a few hanger-oner's and groupie's and we were there, but no, all busy 'washing their hair' that day, including the Cannonballs.
My travel plans were fraught too. Evidently there is no such thing as a 1st Class Day Rover with the local bus company, something to secure a seat next to the window, so I decided to use my car instead only to find that NCP don't do valet parking!
I finally arrived at the door to fame some 25 minutes later ....
.... only to find them locked.
Fortunately a lovely lady behind reception caught my eye and pointed me to an open door. Asked to sign-in I spotted a huge bouquet of flowers on the reception desk and, naturally, assumed someone had simply forgotten to take them up to my changing room. The lovely lady saw me looking at them and said "Oh do you know Agnes from the dining team? She's leaving today and is really well thought of; they're hers".
Ok first Gaston and the Cannonballs were a disappointment and now these weren't my flowers? Thank goodness I had brought my own bottle of Alaskan water with me, fresh from the 3000-year old ice glaciers and bottled without touching human sk ........... oh yes you're right, you CAN see the Nestle label. Err I must have picked up the wrong bottle in my haste.
Kim arrived in reception all smiles and energy and enthusiasm, and whisked me upstairs into the production suite. A short chat and words of advice before I would be invited into the studio, as soon as the news bulletin started. I glanced inside the hosts booth and recoiled in horror - my god Liz Green looked butch !!!
Just as I turned round to Kim a male voice boomed out of the booth asking "What's her surname?" The other lovely lady in the production suite, Jo, replied "Seth, it's Jackson". Seth?
"Liz has had to go to a funeral sadly so Seth is standing in. He's really good too" said Kim.
Seth was closing a feature on 'first dances at weddings' and some guy (Tom I think) had just phoned in to say his was 'Smoke On the Water' by Deep Purple. Ooooooo-kay then.
An attractive young woman with a lollipop stuck in her mouth glided past and smiled, disappearing into booth 4 to read the news (without the lollipop in her mouth); she looked fresh out of University (am I getting THAT old??) and then I was swept into the booth to meet Seth.
Seth smiled warmly and we chatted a little bit as the news, travel and sport were read; Seth intro'd them seamlessly from his control desk ... and then we were on. I tried to get as many of the 10 charities I'm supporting mentioned, I mentioned the organisers charitychallenge.com twice, Bartfields the accountants once and Iveridge Hall once as well. Not sure their client numbers will go through the roof but hey 'every little helps'. You know I'm sure that's a great catchphrase for SOMEBODY to use.
And so the hour simply flew. Soon it was a final photo shoot and time to depart. I looked back at the glistening building and smiled as I'd clearly managed to sneak out before the paparazzi arrived to grab the photos of me for next months 'Hello' magazine.
My greatest fan and harshest critic (my Mum) rang that evening to ask why I hadn't told her I was on and then promptly said she'd heard it and thought I was great. My brother in California is going to listen to it but will probably give me some grief for complaining about his incessant talking through Match of the Day ... but he does.
******************************************
As I type this attempt at a humorous blog entry, I have to remember that there are people out there suffering daily issues due to one of the dreadful diseases we need to find a cure for, like my Twitter friend Sarah who suffers with MS. Tonight her first tweet simply said "I can't cope with this much longer".
She went on to explain she'd had a relapse due to a chronic infection; the relapse was affecting her breathing (described as "... right now it's proper pants") and due to lack of sleep the previous night she doesn't feel well enough to do the exercises which would help her get temporarily better.
And so, whilst I started to create this blog, while many people out there were tweeting about the 'X Factor' show that was on tonight, of making impressive salads and drinking too many cups of tea today, and about wanting to get so drunk tonight in Blackpool that they can't move, Sarah was having a shit night. One of many she may face.
It wipes the smile off my face, and so it should.
RIP Sir Jimmy Savile, sleep well tonight Sarah and now I need my beauty sleep too. According to a friend (Lesley) I have the ideal face for radio so maybe even the extra hour won't do me any good.
One can always hope zzzzzzzzzzzz
Can't believe I missed you on the BBC! Have you got it recorded (the listen later only lasts a week)? Very humorous post btw :-)
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