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Last broadcast on Sat, 31 Jul 2010, 09:00 on BBC Radio 4.
Synopsis
Fi Glover is joined by the lyricist Sir Tim Rice and poet Kate Fox. We hear from a woman who feels constantly seasick even on land, and from an air traffic controller who requires more than a steady hand in a highly stressful job. Plus, why the sound of a vespa means so much for one listener and the inheritance tracks of Laurie Anderson.
The producer is JP Devlin.
STUDIO GUEST :: SIR TIM RICE
AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER
Fran Slater's job is to manage the airspace around Gatwick and Heathrow.
MAL DE DEBARQUEMENT SYNDROME
Jane Houghton suffers from Mal de Debarquement Syndrome which causes her to feel constantly seasick.
SOUND SCULPTURE :: VESPA
Alexandra Stopford tells what the sound of a Vespa means to her.
INHERITANCE TRACKS :: LAURIE ANDERSON
Artist and musician Laurie Anderson choses 'Strange Fruit' by Billie Holiday and Part 1 of 'Music in Twelve Parts' by Philip Glass.
POET :: KATE FOX
POEMS
Rent a bike
--
Rent a bike
be like Boris,
feel the wind in your hair
while reciting odes from Horace,
escape jealous husbands,
or the press,
get fit, reduce stress,
get on your bike
to get a job,
see London’s sights,
beat traffic lights,
hail Boris well met,
don’t forget your helmet.
-----------------------
Shy and retiring
--
Happy Birthday you’re still alive,
now shove off cos you’re sixty five.
You can’t get your cards like that any more,
just cos you’re a day over sixty four
the government will still need you,
but it might not still feed you
when you’re sixty five.
Just think; the Archers would only have had six more years
before putting out the cows to grass and hanging up their shears.
Tim Rice would have been stopped a year ago,
no more Circus, no more Show,
nothing else to do
but sell potting plants in B and Q
Age isn’t about box ticking,
Arlene Philips is still high kicking
even Bruce Forsyth has a part toupee
I mean to play.
At sixty five, Diane Athill and Mary Wesley,
were just getting started
Tom Jones is seventy,
and he’s top ten charted
imagine the jumpsuits of Elvis Presley
if he’d still been alive
at seventy five.
I will not now have to count down the days,
Ten thousand eight hundred and ninety six
until I might have been obliged to pick up old tricks,
though I should mention
being on a pension
’s not dissimilar to the life of a freelance writer,
lie ins, Sanatogen, waistband getting tighter,
daytime viewing of David Dickinson’s Real Deal, a falling wage
knowing antiques gain value as they age.
Broadcast
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Sat 31 Jul 201009:00
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