Archives for July 2006
The soldier - and the soldier's wife
The story of Steve Roberts - and the campaign of his wife Sam to know exactly how he died, has been a very unusual story for Breakfast.
Steve Roberts was the first British serviceman to die in action in the second Gulf War (for more information click here).
Usually, when covering news, we only come across people like the Roberts in the aftermath of a tragedy. But in their case, we knew all about them beforehand.
Bye bye Barry?
Every morning on Breakfast between now and the end of the transfer window, we'll be highlighting the best rumour in the morning's papers. You can listen in at 07.55 each morning.
Our rumour today was all about Gareth Barry .
If some of this morning's papers are to be believed, the Aston Villa captain is said to want away from the club, which is searching for a new manager and, of course, is still at the centre of takeover talk.
Portsmouth are believed to be favourites to sign Barry. The Daily Mail says Tottenham are also interested.
Beach boys - and girls
This is the idyllic scene of Polzeath beach in Cornwall. But on Breakfast we've been hearing how it's been invaded by hundreds of teenagers celebrating the end of term at various public schools.
We've heard tales of sun, sand and ...yes, you've guessed it.
Not only that - the weed on the beach wasn't all seaweed.
Our reporter was told more than 400 fake ID cards had been confiscated from under-age teens trying to buy booze and fags. You can see some of them in our pic.
Three (Tattooed) Lions on their Chest
The Breakfast Blog is proud to present a portion of the film I shot with my Handycam out at the World Cup in Germany.
This sequence, to the musical accompaniment of Ella Fitzgerald, shows a number of England fans on delightfully tip- top form. But are you one of them?
Were you unwittingly caught on camera? Perhaps you are the fan throwing a sickie in the Cologne shopping centre? Do you know him? If you do feature we would love to hear from you and I'm sure you'll enjoy these special memories. Click here to watch Nicky's film
You can email us at this address breakfast@bbc.co.uk or simply post a comment below.
The day the music died?
Gratuitous I know... but couldn't resist posting this picture of Nicky presenting Top of the Pops. Why? Because we were talking on the programme about the recording of the last ever edition. Any idea who the woman is (answer at the end of this entry)
Butt of jokes
Is it funny when a jockey headbutts a horse?
If you were the horse, probably not. For the jockey it's no laughing matter either because he could now face disciplinary action.
But it was hard to resist the temptation to see the funny side. So we didn't. Nicky asked listeners what - in a post Zizou at the World Cup kind of world, the horse might have said to the jockey to provoke this act of violence.
A forgotten war
Sometimes statistics just take your breath away.
Four million people killed in eight years of fighting.
More people dying every six months than in the Asian tsunami.
This is the reality of a forgotten war that has been raging in Congo. Martin Bell has written about it for UNICEF
Pushing for peace?
She has been described as the most important woman in the world. But what do we know about Condoleezza Rice? You can find out a lot more about here here .
Over the next few days she's going to be making lots of headlines as she talks to the various parties in the Middle East - and many people hope Ms Rice will be able to move the warring factions towards a ceasefire.
Some people think she could be a candidate for the White House - if so she'd break two barriers - the first woman and the first black person to occupy the Oval Office.
Move Over Tiger
Trying to hide amongst some young golf fans at the Open at Hoylake is our own Shelagh. And, as he prowled the course on Friday, taming even the toughest holes, Tiger Woods might not have realised the presence of another golfing great.
For Shelagh, who's greener when it comes to golf than the lushest bit of turf at the Royal Liverpool course, took a quick lesson. And lo and behold, her first time putt - from a terrifying five feet - went straight into the hole. The woman's a natural.
Quick as a flash the texters had a name for her putt. A nasty little five footer? Dennis Wise.
The hardest sport in the world?
Is apparently, golf. Who says so? Paul Broadhurst.
He was one of Shelagh's guests as Breakfast came live from the Open Golf Championship in Liverpool.
Sky's the limit
by Andrew Verity
How many fans of the Grateful Dead are there who have £650 million pounds to splash out and are willing to tell you all about it? Well we had one on the Breakfast programme this morning. James Murdoch reportedly spent some of his early youth following the cult hippy band around the United States from gig to gig.
With high-flying elder siblings Lachlan and Elizabeth to compete with, he was once regarded by observers of the Murdoch dynasty as the bright but rebellious younger son who preferred play to work. He even dropped out of Harvard University.
Cool Campbell makes a splash
On what is expected to be a record-breakingly boiling day, we decided to try and cool off at Europe's biggest open-air pool - the Tooting Bec Lido in South London - and here are some pictures to prove it. So with weather experts predicting temperatures of around 36ºC and maybe even higher today - what can you do to avoid the heat?
Who gives a @X&! about swearing?
A conversation between two of the most powerful men in the world doesn't normally lead to us digging out the bleep machine. But what to do when the President of the United States, no less, in conversation with Tony Blair decides to use a four-letter word while they discuss the Middle East? (you can get the transcript by clicking here ).
Should we play the word un-bleeped? It's not us saying it after all. It's George W who needs to mind his Ps and Qs(and S's, H's, I's and T's).
Who are Hezbollah?
As the trouble in the Middle East between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah continues, we are constantly trying to find the best way to explain the complex and ever-changing situation on Breakfast - with our guests and correspondents, and the audio we use.
This morning we are looking at the history of Hezbollah. Who are they? Why were they formed? What are their aims? The BBC News website has a go at answering some of those questions here. BBC News Online also has a section dedicated to the Middle East Crisis, and you can find that here.
Police in the dock?
This morning on Breakfast we’re looking at the investigation into the death of Jean Charles De Menezes, who was shot dead by police at Stockwell Underground Station in London, almost a year ago, after being mistaken for a suicide bomber. Today, the Crown Prosecution Service will decide whether three Metropolitan Police officers should face charges for his death. Some newspapers claim to have seen leaks of the report and reckon that the officers involved will not face charges, but the official announcement will made later today.
You can find a profile of Jean Charles De Menezes on the BBC News website here and a guide to exactly what happened on the day here
The Middle East explained
There's loads of coverage at the moment about the crisis in the Middle East. Yet, how much do any of us understand about the background - and what the various groups stand for? On Breakfast this morning we tried to explain the background. Have a listen here (you'll need RealPlayer installed to listen) ....and let us know if you found it useful.
Family secrets
by Andrew Verity
One of the pleasures of broadcasting on a live radio programme is the sheer unpredictability of it. You can think you’re sitting in the studio to talk about oil prices or the housing market. And suddenly there you are, live on air, saying things which are going to get you in trouble. Which is why I’m fortunate to have a very understanding sister.
This morning it was Shelagh who started it, with a spontaneous chat about wedding snubs. Her point was that people shouldn’t so so petty about weddings and whether they’re invited or not.
Into my head, unwelcome but vivid, popped the memory of my sister turning up half an hour late for my wedding. Suddenly the distance between brain and mouth closed to nothing and I blurted it out.
My sister may have been distracted getting breakfast ready for her children, or even, perish the thought, not listening to the radio at all. But if she did hear it I hope she’ll forgive me, just as she forgave the time when I told two and half million listeners one of her confidential anecdotes about her time as a medical student. A well-meaning guest was making a point about how we should not be reluctant to pledge our bodies to medical research after our death – and people should overcome their reluctance to allow medical students to examine their organs. Into my head came a story my sister told me about her first encounter with cadavers (known outside the medical profession as dead bodies). The students had overcome their squeamishness by larking around with the larger intestine, some of them even using it as a skipping rope. Suddenly out came the story, shocking the presenters and scandalising the guest.
My sister didn’t mention it, which may only be a sign that my attempts to persuade her to listen to Five Live Breakfast have so far been unsuccessful. Maybe soon she’ll be convinced she must, if only to protect herself from slander
Bowled over
by Colin Patterson
Working on Breakfast means you get to see the sun rise in some glamorous places. As sports producer, I've been lucky enough to see the sun come up in Spain, Italy and various bits of Germany in the last few months.
This morning was closer to home - but no less special. It's one of the perks of this job to go behind the scenes at major sports venues, and it was quite something to be at Lords, the home of cricket, at 4.30am. The place had a buzz as the sun rose, a real air of anticipation. And although there weren't that many people about, the sight of security guards, groundstaff and delivery drivers reminded me that Matt Williams and I weren't the only people who had to get up so ridiculously early!
Cafes, car-parks and campsites
.....three of the places Breakfast have broadcast the programme from over the years. And a prison - and a club for teenage mums, a grammar school and a "fat camp". But we're always on the lookout for other places that might be good for a Breakfast Outside Broadcast.
Basically we need places where there is something happening first thing in the morning, where there are people to talk to (and willing to talk) and some interesting things to chat about.
We're always open to good ideas...so if you think you know of the perfect place, let us know.
The trophy cabinet is creaking....
...well, it would be if we had one.
On Breakfast we like to eschew the normal baubles and trinkets of the glitterati of the radio world. For us the appreciation and respect of our audience is far more important. Yeh, right. At the end of our desk sits a rather battered collection of Gongs the programme has won over the years. There are the Sony Gold Awards from 1996 and 1999 (actually in mint condition apart from a bit of dust) and the 1998 and 1999 Tric Awards for radio programme of the year (TRIC stands for the Television and Radio Industries Club). Both are impressive objets d'art with striking spires rising from a solid wooden base. Except both have snapped off about five inches up. Oops. And then there's the UK Radio Industry Award for Newshound of the Year in 2003.
Well, after a long wait and - like that very old joke about London buses - two come along at once. We are awaiting delivery for our latest trophy in the Radio News category in the Race in the Media Awards 2006 while our Money presenter Andy Verity has scooped the title best broadcast journalist awarded by the Association of Investment Trusts.
What did he say?
So the task of the Breakfast production team today is to find an Italian lip-reader. Can someone tell us what Marco Materazzi really said to Zinadine Zidane that sparked off that extraordinary attack in last night's World Cup final?
The texters already reckon they know - numerous suggestions this morning that it was that line from Monty Python and the Holy Grail "Your mother was a hamster and your father smells of elderberries".
Went on http://babelfish.altavista.com and it came out as "La vostra madre era un criceto ed i vostri odori del padre delle bacche di sambuco", which I then translated back and it came up as "Your mother was a criceto and yours she smells of the father of the berries of sambuco". Not sure he spat all that out - even with extra time.
The shame of naming
Who bombed London? On this morning's programme on the anniversary of the July 7th attacks, we included in our scripts the names of the suicide bombers. And this seemed to upset quite a number of our listeners, judging by the text response. Naming them gave them the profile they wanted, we were told - why name the killers and not all the victims, others asked.
We'd decided to do it because we felt it was important to give listeners as much information about the attacks as we could - where the explosions were and how many people died in each of the attacks.
Some people were also angry about how we described the culprits. Terrorists, murderers, suicide bombers - each term attracts criticism.
When Nicky interviewed Paul Stephenson ( the deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan police) they got into a discussion about how to describe the bombers. "Criminals" was the term used by the policeman. Did that go far enough? Did it adequately portray the horror of what they did? Or does such an ordinary term help the police get across the idea that these were not warriors fighting for a cause.
The deputy commissioner sought to clarify his position "Criminals is a pretty strong term dealing with the most appalling murderers. These are appalling atrocities - of course they are terrorists, but these are appalling criminal acts".
Why I won't support the French
Of course I'm wrong. We should be celebrating the fact that a team that no-one gave any hope for the World Cup has made it to the final. We should be cheering that Zinedine Zidane - one of the best players I've ever watched from the stands - is bowing out of football in the biggest showpiece in sport.
But I'm not. I will be firmly behind the Azzurri come Sunday night.
The reason has nothing to do with the team that will play in Berlin. It's entirely down to my own blinkered view. I just don't believe that a team whose country don't appear to give a monkey's about the World Cup til they're in the last four deserve to win the biggest trophy in sport.
I don't care how many French fans are out on the Champs Elysees waving the tricolore on Sunday. Where were you when you were drawing with South Korea and struggling to beat Togo?
Reports from my colleagues in France tell me there was hardly any sign a World Cup was taking place in the build-up to the tournament. I seem to remember it being a similar situation when they were hosting the event back in 1998.
Real football fans have a word for this - but I'm not going to repeat it here. There's a French one which works instead. "Arrivistes".
A long way from home
My work on Breakfast involves planning how we cover big events and news stories.
Over the last few weeks we've been thinking about how best to mark the first anniversary of the July 7th bombings in London. I wasn't in Britain for six months of last year. I was fortunate to be in the sticky heat and humidity of Washington DC where the BBC has a bureau, but when the bombs went off in London I've never felt so far away from home.
I did watch TV, and listened voraciously to 5live online and to the World Service, but over the last month I've learned so much more about the experience and the effect as we've met and interviewed people who were closely involved in the events of that day.
We are currently editing the extraordinary recordings we've made - there's a woman learning to live without her arm, who passes the site of the bomb which deprived her of it every time she goes to work; a man who every day relives the last 'phone conversation he was having with his girlfriend when the bomb exploded on her bus; another who released helium balloons on what would have been his sister's 30th birthday, only to have them fall back to earth because of the rain - "she'd have found that very funny" he comments; rescue workers who have no qualms about saying that they still have awful flashbacks and the woman in charge of the NHS response who says the sound of multiple sirens takes her straight back to that day.
Our difficulty is having to edit them. Each person's story is unique and demands time to tell it well. We have time constraints on Breakfast but we also feel a huge responsibility to those who've spoken to us.
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