A good friend, let’s call her Maria (for that is her name), advises me to “get out of the comfort zone” every week. A recent text-message suggestion from her was that I paint the landing in the nude. I did not act on this one as it would have frightened the plumber who was fixing the bathroom tap at the time.
She then arranged for us to go and see a show called the “Oh F**k moment” as part of Bristol Mayfest. The “Oh F**k moment” is a show that originates from last year’s Edinburgh Fringe. The hosts Hannah and Chris share personal catastrophes, and invite the audience to do the same. It took us all rather out of our comfort zones, but if it comes to a venue near you, do go see it. Very thought provoking.
So when invited on to local radio to talk about Unconventional Hydrocarbons, I had to accept the invitation as it would definitely take me out of the comfort zone this week. I am not an expert on oil and gas, just your average common or garden Greenpeace volunteer with an interest in global warming. So with heavy heart I agreed.
For radio and me have history. On a previous appearance on another station to talk about sea level rise, I was stymied by an unexpected first question to which I did not know the answer. I then suffered some sort of brain meltdown and forgot all the answers to the subsequent easy questions. My loyal husband, listening live, subsequently described my interviewee style as “choosing to randomly answer questions which had not been asked”.
The presenter, Nigel Dando (of Radio Bristol), was very polite but he was clearly thinking “where does the researcher find these numpties?" That was definitely one of life’s “Oh F**k” moments.
This time for Radio Ujima, Paul (calm and reliable) and I (less so) were a double act. Before heading out to the studio, I went out to sit by the pond for five minutes to settle my nerves. Looking at the tadpoles (who incidentally have huge heads and no legs yet?), I realized they didn’t care who made a numpty of themselves on the radio - that was strangely soothing.
Anyway, Paul and I survived the ½ hour with Paulette North. We got a proportion of our points across without too many ummms and errrrs. With Paul’s help, this was definitely an improvement on that previous radio appearance. We would both admit though that we’re unlikely to be invited onto Radio 4 anytime soon.
Thanks to Radio Ujima for having us.
Thanks to Paul for being so well informed.
And grudging thanks to Maria and the tadpoles for their encouragement.
http://listen-again.ujimaradio.com/
Outlook with Paulette, Thursday 6th June, 1pm-2pm, from 20 minutes in
Here is some further information for listeners to our Radio Ujima episode on Unconventional Hydrocarbons.
Tar sands photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/48798428@N02/sets/72157633951208797/
Links to further information on tar sands
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/03/canadian-oil-sands/essick-photography
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/climate-change/stop-the-tar-sands/
Links to further information on shale gas and fracking
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