AMP: Artists' Meeting Place and Resource Collective

It's a Thursday night, which means that I'm prepping for an early 'Breakfast'... that's The English Breakfast, the radio show I've been working on for a couple of years now.. or nearly!

It all began one EARLY spring morning – a Friday - when a friend, the irrepressible Jimmy 'sausage legs' McHardy, invited me onto his newly formed radio show. He and his co-host, Mike Berry another Kiwi rugby player and radio roustabout, needed a guest... and funnily enough, Jimmy was pretty sure I wouldn't be backwards in coming forwards with an opinion or two.

Suffice it to say, I had a good face for radio and was awake enough and 'quarter past silly' to be entertaining... thank goodness, as that bunch of babbling load of laughter garnered me an invitation to be a regular on the Friday morning show. It was more fun that I'd ever imagined, and I quickly became addicted to the format and frolics every Friday morning. So much so, that I volunteered to take on my own show on Monday mornings – even though I'm a technical luddite and had never run a sound board, let alone a show before.

One manic Monday I found myself faced with rows of 'sliders and lighty-things' – sad, isn't it? I faced the race to get on by 07:00 – by which time I'd been up three hours to write the news and get the music together... oh no... and I have to be entertaining too... argh!
I 'double-dayed' for a year before realizing that 'back-to-backing' my weekends was killing my social life, among other things... so back to being the Friday news and entertainment gal – I was, and am, amazingly lucky to have a phenomenal team of 'Breakfast-ers' to work and play with! This year we were hugely pleased – and surprised – to become double winners at the 2007 Salto Awards where we won both the Best Radio Show of the Year award and the Peoples Choice Award!

Around the same time my life took a turn towards travel and I realized I wouldn't be able to be a weekly contributor any longer – it was an incredibly difficult decision to make, as I love the show immensely. It is no exaggeration to say that Friday mornings will never be the same for me, and I can't imagine them ever being that much fun!

Let's be honest, some of the most fun I get in my job is meeting the people I have a chance to encounter... the magazine and newspaper have got me to Ms. Albright, Messrs. Wolfe, Irving, etc... but the radio... that's brought me to some fantastic finds such as the ever rocking Buckcherry and terrificly talented Brett Mikels to name but a few... of course the pass partout to the legendary Melkweg wasn't a bad perk either! Much fun has been had indeed!

I've been on a break since mid-December, and I have to say that my body clock is out of practice... it's already revolting against the alarm clock waiting to ring... sigh! Even so, I am tingling with anticipation... I've missed the morning banter and listening in, though much fun, just isn't the same!

So now, each month, I come in and tell them 'stories' about what I've been up to. This month I'm going to tell the tale of my recent 'night train, nightmare journey to Switzerland to interview F.W. De Klerk... how to explain how strange it was to find myself sitting three feet away from him, mixed feelings abounding, as I gave him my throat lozenges to ease his itchy throat – if I hadn't been there, I wouldn't believe it myself. Well, I guess I'm now only one 'Kevin Bacon' away from Nelson Mandela!

If you're interested, you can listen in live at www.englishbreakfast.nl or later at http://englishbreakfast.podbean.com