The seed

I thought of this while walking Katie in this lovely sunshine We have today in Melbourne.

When I was in Grade five at Primary School, Our Teacher, Mr Regan, Who I remember had a big, dark handlebar moustache as it was the 70's and He loved his cricket. Asked a few of us boys to help him with something.

On His desk was one of those primitive old cassette decks, like that one seen in "Life on Mars" [UK Version], and He wanted us to read something from a sheet of paper, in the voice of an ABC Announcer.

Now in those days, The typical ABC voice was very plumby and English. Australians still had a problem with seeing themselves as they were, and in a way I think that continues as many try to imitate the American voice these days.

However I'm not against "speaking proper" on the radio.

It may be hard to imagine today, as for the most part, the radio signal is clean and crisp, at least in city areas.

But in years gone by, and I'm thinking of the World War II era, Radio was often fairly poor. So if you were an announcer, you had to speak as perfectly as you could so that people way out in the county who may be pressing their ear up against the radio trying to hear you, could get the latest news.

Anyway, there were a line of boys waiting to try their luck, but each one tried and failed.

Then it was My turn.

At that age, I didn't know much about the world, but I did know how ABC announcers spoke, and was, to My Teacher's delight, able to do a reasonable job of imitation.

That may have been one of the first things I ever did "right" at school, and seeing the Teacher's big smile may have been the catalyst which made me want to be on Radio years later.

I did originally dream of being a TV Cameraman, but then I thought that I might get stuck filming hours of sports, which I find incredibly dull, instead of fun programs like The Curiosity Show or Cartoon Corner [Later "Hey Hey it's Saturday].

Though I still love photography and video, and am always weighted down with at least one camera when I go out.

While filming our Doco, Marko called me a "Media Sl**" and I laughed, I suppose I am at that.

Wolfie!

BTW: Have a Wonderful Christmas, and a Safe and Happy New Year.