Paris On The Ness
At the tail end of a conference call this morning we were trying to come up with a name for our short season of European programmes. You'll hear them on air next month but coming up with a title is harder than you think. Anything prefixed with the word 'Euro' sounds like a convention of bureaucrats. A colleague in Glasgow suggested MacEurope - because the programmes are all about Scotland's relationship with Europe - but I thought that sounded too much like a cheeseburger. I wanted something that suggested a wonderful, exotic journey, a journey even more exciting than a trip along the M8. If such a thing is possible.
Best suggestion at the moment is '30 Days in Europe' although I concede it does sounds like one of those student Inter-Rail deals. Maybe you can suggest an alternative.
Meanwhile I was still in a continental frame of mind when I decided to eat my packed lunch on the banks of the Ness. The sun was shining and the sky was blue and, just for a moment, you could imagine you were in Paris. Was that St. Andrew's Cathedral or Notre Dame? Surely that crystal clear water was the Seine? Was that a frost-bitten Invernessian munching on a sausage roll, or a gay Parisian nibbling on a croque madame?
It was a sausage roll, of course, but imagination is a wonderful thing.
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~00~RS~)
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Season Sans Frontières
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'Continental Journey'
The trailer could borrow the tune from 'Sentimental Journey'
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Jeff,
I was at the City Halls in Glasgow last Sunday to see Michael Marra.
Michael reckons that 'Inverness' is an acronym.
It's
Never
Very
Exciting
Really.
Not
Even
Saturday
Sunday
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S-G
Yes, thought of continental, but that could be any continent. As for your acronym...some truth in that but that's why I love it. Calm. Peace.
Limited violence.
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I disagree Jeff ...in days gone by people always referred to Europe as 'The Continent'....when you took a continental holiday you were going to Spain or Italy ..not Russia! So I think 'Continental Connections' might be a good title ...and if you want to take it further ..set up future series of programmes in different continents with Scottish connections ..like Australia..the Americas... would be interesting. By the way as an ex Invernesian dweller I loved your snaps on the shores of the Ness ..and what I wouldn't give for a sausage roll or a buttery...
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Hey JZ you could also have asked every second pedestrian to widen your brain storming akin to the following or have you given up already? http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/jeffzycinski/2009/04/talking_to_strangers.shtml
Anyhow... here's my suggestion Palladiuscheck the history books if unsure
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#4, #5, #6
Certainly in the sixties and seventies I was taught that there was Great Britain, (referring to GB as the UK happened rarely, if ever), there was Continental Europe, (invariably dubbed The Continent), and these were separate entities.
The notion that the British had a European identity would never have occurred to my parents. We had more in common with people in Australia, New Zealand and North America than with anyone from France or Germany.
Everyone agreed, however, that in 1966 West Germany woz robbed!
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