Radio Times

This week, Jack and Emma's school was one of five in Dubai chosen (through a slightly corrupt voting system which clearly didn't prevent over-excited mothers voting several times) to host the presenters of the local radio station's (Dubai 92) breakfast show. The two British presenters, known in that irritating way that only makes sense to regular listeners and will just seem tragic to anyone else, as 'Catboy and Geordiebird' (CBGB for short - sigh...) presented their show on Wednesday from the school entrance foyer. They're 'irreverent' don't you know.

The kids seemed excited for a short while, and I guess it was something different, but it was all a bit of a let down to be honest. I was expecting large outside broadcast trucks, yards of cables, teams of producers. But we got the two presenters and one aide, who looked like she could have been one of the primary school teachers, each of them armed with a laptop, a couple of microphones, loads of free 'Dubai 92' branded t-shirts, and that was about it. And of course, being Dubai, it was trying to be something bigger and better than it actually was. Imagine the ego and sarcasm of Chris Moyles, filtered through several levels of political correctness, and about as cutting edge as the contents of a christmas cracker.

Meanwhile, and as if to emphasise the point, I recently discovered the excellent 'TuneIn Radio' app for my iphone, which is probably more exciting due to the fact that we don't live in the UK. It can pick up just about any radio station in the world and so, perhaps a little boringly, I've been glued to BBC Radio 2 this week, for no particular reason that to hear some genuine entertainment. Well,  compared with Dubai radio at least. It's all relative!

I could happily listen to Radio 2 all day. From Chris Evans, to Jeremy Vine (via Ken Bruce - admittedly the weaker link of the day), then Steve Wright and Simon Mayo. Most of whom I listened to 15-20 or so years ago on Radio 1. So there's an element of nostalgia to it I know, but it also (on occasions when my office mate is out) makes the days at work pass much faster, and more enjoyably.

Just a little piece of home that, when compared with its Dubai equivalent, reminds me of how great the UK can still be...