Hi Folks
So glad to have some blog response. To George (we’ve met so many times, George and it’s nice to talk again) I fully take on board your request…send it in to the prog too so my producer sees it too!
I hadn’t realised I was going head to head with Gorgeous George Galloway on a Friday night. What a prospect! So glad George remembers me as fondly as I recall times with him. George and I once travelled to Edinburgh to join in a rally to support the call for a Scottish Parliament. The rally was organised by a very disparate group of people who, if not fully paid up members of the club called “Hippy”, had certainly considered membership. By the time Lorraine and I arrived on Calton Hill Gorgeous had sussed out that the occasion wasn’t going to threaten anyone’s memory of Martin Luther King’s march on Washington. There were around twenty people there and a couple of dogs. The “organiser” had informed George G that there was no formal plan and that speakers should make use of the “open mike situation.” As George informed us of this conversation he shook his mane sadly,”I told him,” he said “that this, in my experience leads to an open space situation.” He wasn’t wrong.
Hey Ricky,
I’m lucky enough to have my own George Galloway story!
I attended An Audience With…Galloway, in Belfast in late ’05 just before his Big Brother appearance. In the open mike segment of the show I thanked him for his performance at the US Senate, letting him know he was speaking for millions here in the UK (generous applause in the packed hall and the Gorgeous ego suitably massaged). I couldn’t resist then asking him to confirm Sean Penn was to make a movie of his life…with Danny DeVeto in the starring role..! (Raucous laughter in the packed hall). He called it “The unkindest cut of all”, but took it in good heart and shook my hand after the show.
Mr.Galloway is high among my few political heroes along with Tony Benn, Bill Clinton, Senator George Mitchell, and Mo Mowlam.
Regards,
George.
N.Ireland.
I think i met George too in the queue for the concert live cds after the gig in Birmingham Symphony Hall last November? You can hear him on the recording too 🙂
Wasnae me Dougie – only made it to the first Glasgow gig in November…
Was at both nights in Glasgow too!
btw Ricky there is a photo of DH Smith from Edinburgh on Iain Anderson’s page under the 5th anniversary section… they chose the 2 from me, 2 from you tracks on Tuesday i think it was…
I wish we in the U.S. would have politicians with the guts and panache of George Galloway and Tony Benn. I would assign Dennis Kucinich to that rank; however, the mainstream media has consigned him to the fringes.
Ricky, when I heard that Iain and his crew were taking a six-week hiatus, I considered asking an anesthesiologist to put me into an induced coma for that seemingly interminable period of time. But after listening to your first show, my spirits were revived and I decided to remain fully conscious (or a reasonable facsimile thereof) while the Hesperus is in dry-dock. I enjoy partaking of your musical sensibility and your considerable skills as a raconteur (as opposed to a racketeer?).
Cheers to Radio Scotland!
Calvin
St. Louis, Missouri
glad your happy with the responses.
great show you earned them.
great show
love the audiance participation with this blog thing. i love this interaction thing.
i have had to back date a few as although i was listening my computer was not playing by the rules.