TV Spring at Night

I've just had the disconcerting experience of being interviewed for TV in the middle of the Royal Botanic Gardens lit up like a spotlighted rabbit, with an earphone in my slightly deaf ear (the right one) and the 7-second delay on my voice feeding back into the same earphone.

I could hear the questions, just, and miscellaneous night noices and what I took to be some audience participation (i.e. I think they laughed occasionally). So I said my piece, about the need for an early spring and an extra season, and with relief my goodbyes when we seemed to have reached the end of the questions.

Odd and not very pleasant. Depressed, I made my way home determined to never do a TV interview at night, put the earphone in my left ear the next time, and try and work out a way to stare down the camera at the same time as remembering all those witty things I was going to say.

My family very kindly taped it for me, so with some trepidation I thought I should watch it so I could improve for next time. Ah, the magic of television. Somehow, and I don't know how, it actually looked and sounded like I knew what was going on and was in some kind of control. Amazing.

If you are not a regular watcher of the '7 PM Project' on Channel 10, you have the opportunity to review my performance on the web (it might not be up yet, but perhaps in the morning). Just remember that I'm still recovering from the experience...

For a slightly more coherent line of argument, see the ABC Online report. For some sometimes very passionate responses to my ideas, read the comments below. It's funny how this topic divides people into two main groups: the first want to know why I don't have something better to do with my time, the second have been thinking much the same thing but usually with slight adjustments.

I think it's a fascinating topic and quite pertinent to how we observe and respond the world around us. But then you know that.