THINGS TO COME

New Zealand Listener, Volume 3, Issue 74, 22 November 1940, Page 6

THINGS TO COME

A Run Through The Programmes

_ FEATURE by now well known to Auckland listeners will -be resumed by 1YA on Friday of this week. From 740 pm. to 8 pm. Professor Sewell will give the first of a series of verse readings. This one will cover Elizabethan lyrics. The next, on November 29, will include the works of Blake, Shelley, and Keats, and Professor Sewell’s historical journey through English poetry will carry on through Tennyson, Arnold and Hopkins on December 6, to the moderns. The NBS plans to begin a_ similar regular feature at 2YA shortly, on the same evening, but at an hour which will not clash with the Auckland readings. Remembering Denmark The Nazis’ bloodless victory over Denmark is a memory which has been obscured somewhat by the _ spectacular events which followed, but every now and then the peaceful little Scandinavian democracy reappears in the news. There are signs of anti-Nazi disorders; the Germans are draining the country of. its foodstuffs; barrage balloons, torn by storms from their moorings in London, have caused power failures and disorganised traffic in Copenhagen. A small

tribute to Denmark will be paid by 1ZB at 9.45 p.m. on Sunday, November 24, when, in collaboration with C. Langkilde, a visitor from Denmark, a special Danish programme will be presented. Mr. Langkilde has an unusual collection of records made by Danish operaticssingers, and the programme promises to bé a musical treat. How it Began Hundreds of years back, long before we became properly civilised, men used to carry weapons concealed in their clothing, and such was the distrust of man for man that two people meeting in the street would extend their right hands to show that there was nothing up their sleeves in the nature of a dagger or something like that. Thus, according to some

authorities, arose the custom of shaking hands, and it was actually some time before man conceived the plan of carrying a dagger up the left sleeve. The custom of saluting is not quite as old, but it, too, has a romantic origin. It is said that soldiers parading before Queen Elizabeth were commanded to raise their right hands before their eyes, the idea being that she was much too beautiful for common rough soldiery to look upon. (If this information tends to an increase of vanity among officers, we are sorry). However, if you want to hear more about this custom, Major Lampen will be talking on "Just Saluting" from 4YA next Friday at 7.10 p.m. Spending Time With hours of work shortening — at any rate in normal times -the problem of leisure is becoming more and more important. What use shall we make of our leisure time? To what extent should it be organised? The problem will be considered at 1YA shortly in the last group in that station’s series of Winter Course Talks. A. B. Thompson, who is Lecturer in Education at Auckland University Col- | lege, and is an experienced broadcaster, is now to interview various types of citizens and prospective citizens — a schoolboy, a boy who has gone to work, married women with families, a farmer, and a professional man. The series is to close with a discussion between Professor Belshaw (Economics) and _ Professor Sewell (English). The first talk was on November 14, and the last will be on December 12. What's in a Name? Two talks about names, one about Wellington’s which is 100 years old this

month, will be broadcast shortly. In November, 1840, residents of the settlement on Port Nicholson learned that the name was to be changed from "Britannia" to "Wellington." Station 2YA will mark this centennial of naming with a talk on Sunday, November 24, at 3 p.m. The story of the change will be told, and some morals will be drawn from the connection between New Zealand’s capital and the Irishman who was one of the greatest Englishmen. Then, at 4YA on November 27, names will again be the topic, when George Joseph’s lively talk on English names will be repeated at 7.17 p.m. It is based on the BBC handbook about the pronunciation of English proper names. Listeners will be able to take their choice among the nine methods of addressing a Featherstonehaugh.

This Printing Business There is a good deal about printing in this issue, although readers might think that a radio magazine would be tactful enough to keep quiet about the written word when the spoken word apparently requires so much boosting. A contributor strikes an historical note, and the editor has managed to be considerably philosophical about printing’s fifth centennial and Homo Sapiens in general. But listeners are not to be let off as lightly as that, by any means. Our staff of paragraph writers insists on having something to do with the celebrations,

and the artist fellow had to be in with the rest. Hence this drawing, which depicts forced child labour in the early printing business, or something equally horrific, and hence this paragraph, which is intended, with the very best wishes, to call attention to a talk by J. H. E. Schroder, from 3YA, at 7.10 p.m. on Tuesday, November 26, on " Printing Yesterday and Today." As Mr. Schroder probably prepared his script to the tune of a big rotary press in action, it should be well up to his usual standard. From Behind the Scenes It’s foolish to think, as some listeners undoubtedly do, that the staff of a radio station consists almost entirely of announcers and bright people who conduct special sessions for young mothers and brides-to-be. If you were permitted to peer behind the scenes you’d find all sorts of hard-working folk, from the station director, who steers the ship, as it were, to the office boy who posts the letters. These are seldom if ever heard over the air, but this does not mean that they are not talented people in their

own right. It is for the express purpose of proving this that 2ZB will present, at 7.15 p.m. on Sunday, November 24, a programme by non-broadcasting members of the staff. Listeners will discover, to their pleasure it is hoped, that schedule clerk Bill Hoffmeister is an expert player of the steel guitar; that accounts clerk, Gordon Hall, can yodel; and that typiste Ella Thompson has a pleasing soprano voice. " Guest Night " Some folk are inclined to look down their noses at local variety talent, but it’s well to remember that in addition to producing an operatic basso of the class of Oscar Natzke, New Zealand has also produced redoubtable performers on such humble instruments as the mouth organ and the Jew’s harp. Some clever Wellington instrumentalists and vocalists will be heard in a special 40 minute " guest night" programme from 2YA on November 28, and a lively evening’s entertainment is promised. A feature will be a swing band which has been built up from the band used in the "Funzapoppin" session, and several of the artists have already been heard in 2YA’s "Hometown Variety" session on Wednesday nights. Inspector Hornleigh will also be there. " Hometown Variety," incidentally has been replaced by " The Hometown Concert Party,’ but there will still be plenty of opportunity for local talent.