Archives for September 2011

I was quite cute in my early days

In the hope it wasn't some dreadful omen I decided I would venture out into the open. I avoided walking under a bus and survived the day which happily culminated in a rather nice party with family and friends.

However the stopped watch did get me thinking. If I were to keel over tomorrow had I notched up "50 things to do before you die?"

Well after more than a quarter of a century in broadcasting my rather privileged position means I can indeed draw up a full list....

In no particular order:

A good ducking at the Alnwick Fair

Sailed a tall ship

Jumped out of a plane

Sang on stage at London's South Bank

Been ducked in a ducking stool

Taught English abroad

Rode out a hurricane in New Orleans

Leant Prince Charles a fountain pen

Attended a voodoo ceremony

Circumnavigated the globe in one direction

Lived in a haunted house

Camped out in the Australian outback

Fell in love

Seen abject poverty at first hand

Been down underground as deep as anyone can go in the UK

Presented my own show on BBC1 (Inside Out of course!)

Playing Top Gun at RAF Leeming

Been on board an aircraft carrier at sea

Drifted over the Tyne Bridge in a hot air balloon

Walked over the top of the Syndey Harbour Bridge

Have swung Newcastle's Swing Bridge

First non-worker to cross Gateshead's Millennium Bridge

Appeared as a panto dame

Have stood on top of the World Trade Center, New York

Flown in a helicopter

Fronted Look North (with Carol Malia)

Gone white water rafting

Swam naked in a waterfall in Hawaii

Taken in cats from a rescue shelter

Was in a plane with hijackers

Had a humpback whale swim underneath me

Skied down a black run

Got served in a pub under age

Canoed on a turquoise lake in the Rockies

Fled Transylvania on a midnight train

Scuba dived

Water skied on a Scottish Loch

Was given six-of-the-best at school (unfairly!)

Have been questioned by a judge in court

Travelled the Eastern Bloc before the Iron Curtain fell

Entered several countries illegally

Been flown to a private island by an arab sheik

Seen a volcano erupt

Seen black bears up close in the wild

Some of my work has been catalogued in the Library of Congress, Washington D.C.

Watched the sun rise over Ayer's Rock (Uluru)

Watched an open heart surgery operation

Watching open heart surgery at the Freeman Hospital

Appeared naked on TV

Lost my eyesight for several months (not recommended)

Helped launch a radio station

Have voted in every election

But most importantly.... I have been able to change someone's life.

I really have been incredibly fortunate!

Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister, protestors were starting to gather at Greenham Common, the first ever space shuttle ventured beyond our atmosphere.

This was 1981.

I mention it because it was the same year that a Tyneside photography enthusiast embarked on a summer project that thirty years on has come back to the fore.

Montage of the Elswick self portraits

Chris Mearns set up a makeshift photo booth in Newcastle's West End and all sorts of likely lads and lasses came in to pose for their own self portrait.

It is a remarkable snapshot of the times. When we look back each one of us can probably find something different in the 100 faces. Chris now works in the NHS and a fellow health worker noted how virtually none of the children are overweight - something unlikely to be replicated in a similar photo session today.

But he is hoping to repeat the project - if only he can find his original 100 and get them together. Not only would the faces have another 30 years of life etched on to them but there would be the fascinating stories of what has happened in their lives in between 1981 and 2011.

I made a film about his quest for yesterday's Look North (Thursday 08 September 2011) and if he can trace enough of the participants it would be a really interesting event.

You can see the whole gallery at tyneside.org.uk/elswick so if you spot yourself or someone you know he'd love you to get in touch.

The title of the blog is the opening lyric to the TV theme tune for The Likely Lads. It goes on to ask "What became of the people we used to be?" It's a great question.

Rodney Bewes and James Bolam as The Likely Lads

If you're not amongst the self portraits immerse yourself in more distant memories of 1981. Dolly Parton released "9 to 5", "Chariots of Fire" was the box office hit of the year, oh and there was the small matter of Lady Di and Prince Charles getting hitched.

A lot has happened in three decades.

I'm 50 next week...and after writing this all I can think about is when I was 20. I may have to find a quiet corner and have bit of a sulk.