https://nontonwae.pages.dev/radioscotland/blogs/jzdiary/ Head of BBC Radio Scotland, Jeff Zycinski, with a sneak preview of programme plans and a behind-the-scenes glimpse of his life at the helm. en-gb Copyright 2008, British Broadcasting Corporation https://nontonwae.pages.dev/radioscotland/blogs/jzdiary//images/jeff_zycinski.jpg https://nontonwae.pages.dev/radioscotland/blogs/jzdiary/ Head of BBC Radio Scotland, Jeff Zycinski, with a sneak preview of programme plans and a behind-the-scenes glimpse of his life at the helm. https://nontonwae.pages.dev/radioscotland/blogs/jzdiary/0000012827.shtml https://nontonwae.pages.dev/radioscotland/blogs/jzdiary/0000012827.shtml#comments BBC Radio Scotland website.

Click here]]> Jeff Zycinski 2008-06-19 Thu, 19 Jun 2008 22:00:03 +0100 2008-06-19T21:00:03 https://nontonwae.pages.dev/radioscotland/blogs/jzdiary/0000012815.shtml https://nontonwae.pages.dev/radioscotland/blogs/jzdiary/0000012815.shtml#comments
This morning I was attending the meeting of the Scottish Religious Advisory Committee. This is one one of the five advisory groups who offer feedback and advice to BBC Scotland programme-makers. SRAC includes representatives from various faiths and religions and is chaired by Mona Siddiqui.

As we reached the point in the agenda where I was invited to speak, I thought it prudent to issue a warning about my winking eye. I didn't want anyone in the room to think I was being insincere or that I was trying to win favour with particular individuals.

I think I got away with it, but later in the staff canteen I ordered a small tea and told the girl behind the counter that I didn't want any scones or biscuits because I was watching my weight.

Wink, wink.

That's how I ended up stuffing my face with a huge slab of chocolate fudge cake.

Honestly.

Wink, wink. ]]> Jeff Zycinski 2008-06-17 Tue, 17 Jun 2008 23:29:08 +0100 2008-06-17T22:29:08 https://nontonwae.pages.dev/radioscotland/blogs/jzdiary/0000012807.shtml https://nontonwae.pages.dev/radioscotland/blogs/jzdiary/0000012807.shtml#comments Pure Agony, Joan McFadden talk to four famous agony aunts and uncles and ask them the questions you've always wanted answered. Do they, for example, ever make up any of the letters? Do they have a good laugh in the office about people's problems? Have they ever given advice they now realise was a mistake?

Joan has also written this article about the series for today's Daily Record. That paper's agony aunt, Joan Burnie, also features in one of the programmes.

I always think these agony columns service a dual purpose. Yes they offer advice to people in need, but they also make the rest of us realise that other people are worse off than us.

Or that we lead really dull lives.



]]> Jeff Zycinski 2008-06-17 Tue, 17 Jun 2008 13:14:39 +0100 2008-06-17T12:14:39 https://nontonwae.pages.dev/radioscotland/blogs/jzdiary/0000012804.shtml https://nontonwae.pages.dev/radioscotland/blogs/jzdiary/0000012804.shtml#comments John Cavanagh walking towards my desk this afternoon and I began to mention today's Daily Record article about his latest Songlines programme. But then I saw his face and suddently remembered the e-mail he had sent me. He's caught Chicken Pox. It's the sort of ailement you're supposed to get over and done with in childhood, but John seems to have missed out on that particular episode.

I offered to take his photograph for this blog, but then we both decided that would be a bad idea. It would become one of those photos that travels the internet and would be used to illustrate everything from medical websites to Halloween make-up suggestions.

"Never mind, " I said, "at least you're getting a lot of attention today."

That didn't seem to cheer him up. ]]> Jeff Zycinski 2008-06-16 Mon, 16 Jun 2008 21:42:48 +0100 2008-06-16T20:42:48 https://nontonwae.pages.dev/radioscotland/blogs/jzdiary/0000012771.shtml https://nontonwae.pages.dev/radioscotland/blogs/jzdiary/0000012771.shtml#comments Boo Radley.

I phoned the doctor and she phoned me back. They try not to give you actual surgery appointments these days. She recommended an over-the-counter ointment which came in a little tube. I had to squeeze this into my eye every four hours. It was like smearing grease over a camera lens. Suddenly the whole world was either foggy or in soft focus. It was like being trapped inside an old Noel Coward movie.

But now tonight the pain is gone and you can see the white of my eye once more.

I'm heading towards the light.]]> Jeff Zycinski 2008-06-11 Wed, 11 Jun 2008 22:16:32 +0100 2008-06-11T21:16:32 https://nontonwae.pages.dev/radioscotland/blogs/jzdiary/0000012735.shtml https://nontonwae.pages.dev/radioscotland/blogs/jzdiary/0000012735.shtml#comments heading back to Poland where a pound will only buy you four Zloty. That could be bad news for the Inverness economy, but not a worry this weekend because the population has expanded to include the thousands of music fans who have arrived for RockNess.

We live a good couple of miles away from the festival site at Loch Ness but we can hear the boom boom of drums. The yellow road signs are back, advising drivers to head to Dores by way of the southern distributor road, thus avoiding the city centre. Despite that, local supermarkets seem to be doing a roaring trade.

Mrs Z. came back from a shopping trip with some inside information from one of checkout cashiers.

"All they're buying," she said, "is beer and condoms."

That would seem to rule out a population boom next March.]]> Jeff Zycinski 2008-06-07 Sat, 07 Jun 2008 20:57:45 +0100 2008-06-07T19:57:45 https://nontonwae.pages.dev/radioscotland/blogs/jzdiary/0000012708.shtml https://nontonwae.pages.dev/radioscotland/blogs/jzdiary/0000012708.shtml#comments

I could really murder those kids at Baldragon Academy. Some of them are only thirteen and yet they have already published a book. Jealous? Me? You bet!

Our SoundTown producer, Becca Smith, handed me a fresh-off-the-press copy of the paperback anthology yesterday afternoon. It all started with BBC Radio Scotland’s crime season earlier this year and our annual Write Here, Right Now campaign. The pupils at Baldragon Academy in Dundee (this year’s SoundTown school) decided to write their own crime stories. They got advice from top authors such as Christopher Brookmyre who visited the school and, indeed, has written an introduction to the book.

Becca explained how the pupils had been involved in the different stages of the publishing process, including proof-reading, legal checks and graphic design.

And now twelve of them have become published authors.

As I say, I could murder those kids. But only as a plot device.


]]> Jeff Zycinski 2008-06-05 Thu, 05 Jun 2008 00:13:59 +0100 2008-06-04T23:13:59 https://nontonwae.pages.dev/radioscotland/blogs/jzdiary/0000012685.shtml https://nontonwae.pages.dev/radioscotland/blogs/jzdiary/0000012685.shtml#comments

An old chum from college days came in to meet me at Pacific Quay tonight. We headed for the rooftop restaurant and, in the words of Paul Simon, "we talked about some old times and we drank ourselves some beers". Well, a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon, actually. That’s what happens when you grow up and become all sophisticated.

In 1986 Kate Caskie was the Editor of our college magazine. She used to amaze me with her ability to sit down at a typewriter for an hour and churn out thousand word articles on any subject under the sun. I, on the other hand, would take days to write almost amusing columns about student psychology or college romance. Kate always had a more serious approach and was also passionate about politics. Of the two of us, I always thought she would be the one to pursue a career in journalism.

Instead she chose to do useful things with her life. She worked for Shelter, The Big Issue and now is Operational Manager at Victim Support Scotland.

We exchanged stories about our families. She told me I looked “comfortable in my skin” but wasn’t cruel enough to point out that I now had twice as much of it.

Then we got to talking about how many of our old contemporaries are now in the Scottish Parliament…either as Government Ministers or Opposition politicians. I couldn't remember most of the people she mentioned.

Talk about feeling old! No wonder we needed a second glass.




]]> Jeff Zycinski 2008-06-03 Tue, 03 Jun 2008 00:01:50 +0100 2008-06-02T23:01:50 https://nontonwae.pages.dev/radioscotland/blogs/jzdiary/0000012684.shtml https://nontonwae.pages.dev/radioscotland/blogs/jzdiary/0000012684.shtml#comments
All this happened at nine o'clock this morning in London just after I had boarded the Gatwick Express and was waiting for it to set off for Victoria Station. Deprived of my usual Scotman, Herald or P&J, I had bought a copy of The Guardian and was deeply engrossed in the front page story about terror suspects. The story suggested that the Americans are quizzing alleged bad guys and then detaining them on their warships.

I had been thinking about terrorism and airport security after seeing four armed police officers standing in line just outside the entrance to the train station. They looked quite intimidating, despite their jaunty 'Sussex Police' baseball caps. I had even tried to sneak a quick photograph of them for this blog, but abandoned the attempt when I realised this might make me a target for their suspicions.

And maybe it did.

Or maybe I just got caught up in a routine patrol as the armed officers made their way along the train carriages with a sniffer dog in front. I'm not sure why the beast stopped at my bag. I admit to having concealed giant slabs of chocolate in there from time to time, but that's mainly because Mrs Z. takes a dim view of my confectionery addiction. Other than that, I had nothing to hide.

But the dog paused, I lurched and the policeman brought the mutt back for a closer look. Then it moved on and I was in the clear.

It could have been worse. A family friend tells the story of her experience at Canadian Immigration when she was accused of trying to smuggle fruit and vegetables into the country. Again it was a sniffer dog that pointed the finger (or rather, paw) of suspicion.

No matter how many times she told the Immigartion Officer that she had not now, nor had she ever, enaged in the illicit transport of apples or spuds, the man simply gave her a blank, uncaring look and said, "the dog is never wrong" over and over again. This made her angrier and angrier until she probably began to look like a desperate woman capable of anything.

"I have a turnip in my bag and I'm not afraid to use it!" she might have screamed, but didn't.

Otherwise she might now be enjoying life on an American warship..

]]> Jeff Zycinski 2008-06-02 Mon, 02 Jun 2008 12:57:00 +0100 2008-06-02T11:57:00 https://nontonwae.pages.dev/radioscotland/blogs/jzdiary/0000012660.shtml https://nontonwae.pages.dev/radioscotland/blogs/jzdiary/0000012660.shtml#comments


On Inverness High Street this afternoon I noticed that a former bookshop is being transformed into a bank. There are wooden hoardings which proclaim this to be a matter of great excitement.

But tell me...other than when they were being blown to smithereens in old cowboy movies...when did banks merit the use of the word "exciting"?

Perhaps this one will be different. Maybe the cashiers will also be trained acrobats. Maybe the display unit on the cash machine will play music videos.
Perhaps the procedure for getting a personal loan will involve a roulette wheel.

Or maybe the bookshop was more exciting than all of this.
]]> Jeff Zycinski 2008-05-30 Fri, 30 May 2008 14:09:51 +0100 2008-05-30T13:09:51