It’s Friday night and that can only mean one thing: Terri Baker on the radio for ‘the Friday show’, a two hour broadcast of music with an international flavour and local news, in English. I’m going to note what takes place during the first hour. I am sitting at home with the TV on and the sound down – a strange thing maybe, but that’s how I like to listen to music. I have the Star channel on and the evening news is playing as the first track hits the airwaves. After this there is an announcement from our DJ: a lady has left some documents in the village and they have been handed in to the police station, if anyone knows her please pass on the news.
Shirley Bassey is up next (on the radio – I’ll let you know when it’s a news item I am talking about otherwise assume radio) and the cat comes home. My godfather used to alter Shirley’s dresses way back when – before and after she was a star – and she used to live in his house as a lodger before she got well known, so I feel I am in some way, almost, related to her – six degrees of separation and all that. The song is ‘where is the love’ and the cat is asking the same thing as I ignore him and don’t let him on the sofa with me. He sleeps against my feet instead. Both my foot and he are moving in time to the music as I glance at the Symi Visitor crossword and contemplate four across. A Brazilian song follows as the news cuts its stories in with cartoons for some reason, Wiley Coyote gets a bang on the head after a politician has been interviewed – I love the Star news show it’s so surreal and there’s hardly any news in it.
It’s the sixth month anniversary of the Friday show tonight, I am told, it started on 6th December 2006 and is/was the first non-Greek language show on Symi Radio. It goes out to the other islands nearby as well. An African born singer (didn’t catch the name) who moved to Paris and then was brought up in New York – or something – is now singing a cover of a Jimi Hendrix track and I’m stuck on four across. There is a report on the news about a boy in a wheelchair being pushed 6.5 kilometres down a road by a truck. It could happen only in the USA – the boy was unharmed and Paris Hilton has opted to use her ‘get out of gaol free’ card after only 72 hours. Poor thing had a cold or something. Or as Shrek would say, ‘oh for the love of Pete!’
We are in classical mode now as Rhapsody in Blue is performed by Gershwin himself. I note two things on hearing this. 1) It’s my recording that Terri is playing and 2) I used to be able to play that piece myself many years go – now I can only play it on the CD machine. I hear it as I feed the now hungry cat his food which stinks out the whole house and I pour a glass of wine.
On the TV there are several girls in bikinis and some cartoon lobsters – you work it out. It’s a scandal of some sort involving ‘Tzoulia’ – ‘women of loose morals’ I think. Radio announces hydrofoil news: those folk who went to Rhodes on it today are stuck in Rhodes for the night, it’s either too windy or it’s broken down again. Oh dear, but not to worry, they can find a radio and listen to Doris Day while they look across the sea to where they can’t get to. Now then, I can’t recall the Doris Day song but she may not be funny but at least she’s quick – it’s over almost before it starts. Meanwhile that cute ‘n’ camp Eurovision boy is on the TV. Yasou Maria… Jack cat is not impressed and wants out; he has an appointment with a spider or something else that needs killing in the garden at dusk.
Neil texts: shop news just in: It’s windy outside. How interesting. I am more interested in the Star news item that has just come back – more girls in bikinis. Why? ‘Moments and Whatnots’ are playing now, a number from 1975 followed by a dedication to Amanda and Dee who are back on the island. Gladys Knight and the Pips accompany TV catastrophes and an item abut a Japanese woman who can stamp 100 Giros in under ten seconds. Is this news? No but it’s fun and makes a welcome change from BBC World and the running total of fatalities in the Middle East that the BBC seem to be obsessed with.
On the TV there then follows more Paris Hilton updates (she’s still out of gaol) and a man with a Chiwawa accompanied by the Shangri-Las singing ‘give him a great big kiss’ – I assume they mean the dog. More wine for me! I can’t cope otherwise. (Four across forgotten now.) Tom Jones – previously Tom Woodward apparently – had his birthday yesterday, so Terri informs us and gets the 1988 ‘Kiss’ with the Art of Noise as a gift from Symi. Strangely the man on the TV is kissing his Chiwawa while the song plays and I feel like I am slipping quickly into a different reality. Similarly Paris H. is back and I can only assume she too did some kissing to get out of gaol – several butts probably.
Oh good – there is a ‘so you think you can dance’ update on the TV news. Another cute ‘n’ camp young thing has been ejected from the ‘reality’ ‘talent’ show. Many tears are being shed. Yawn.
Sixpence None The Richer is up next on the radio and it’s 7.38 pm. A nice song but the last of the kissing themed pieces for the time being. It is getting dark outside as on the news a choreographer is putting the ‘Playmates’ through their paces in preparation for some other ‘reality’ programme that will be cheap to make and totally banal. Now an overweight man the shape of a potato is ironically reading the Athletics news from his couch. There’s updates on football then… football… oh, and after that, just for a change, we have… football and the song changes to Prince (the artist formally known as malaka) who was 49 yesterday.
Prince accompanies the adverts on the TV. During this news break we are being sold the following: a sailing holiday, shampoo, the TIM mobile phone network, cream, the Frog mobile phone network, coffee, a Greek film for tomorrow featuring women in bikinis, (I am not making this up), the MAD TV music channel’s mobile phone downloads, a free DVD of a Greek film not involving bikinis free with the TV guide, the Cosmote mobile phone network, Germanos – a shop where you can buy mobile phones, a newspaper with free DVDs (Prince is still squawking in the background), Wind – the new name for the TIM mobile phone network, feta cheese, Cosmote mobile phone… again, (Prince fades out, I know how he feels, Simply Red take over), a car… and finally back to the news. For about 30 seconds as the anchorman tells us that a film is about to start and says goodnight. The adverts start again: A music CD, the Sunday papers, a Magazine, the TIM mobile phone network, oh – the Weather interrupts the adverts: I can’t see the Dodecanese, we don’t count as far as Star is concerned as the bubbly, bland presenter stands over us – oh well, we shan’t have weather tomorrow we shall have a black mini skirt pulled too tight over us all day.
Terri on the radio is now playing a very interesting if obscure piece of music and I’ve had enough. It’s all got far too out of hand for me. It’s nine o’clock and I’m just heading out to help the cat kill things in the garden as the Tim mobile network is being advertised by a woman in a bikini holding a Chiwawa that was recently released early from gaol… |
