Zagreb report, April 24 2002

Tuesday, 24 rd April

Hello there feature fans. Wednesday was a beautiful day here at the Feature stadium in Zagreb. Actually not so beautiful outside -- raining -- but inside the teams took the field and it turned out to be another exciting ball game.

In the morning after the workshops Richard Goll stepped to the plate and delivered to us several home run hits from the past; long hard drives into the ears, classics of the art of radio feature making. He began with two reindeer hunters arguing about whether a certain lake was in a certain place on a map which they had in their minds separately and could not agree upon. Obviously where Monty Python got their inspiration because this selection from a Finnish feature was funnier than the Norwegian Blue Parrot sketch. A good thing too, since at first you could look around the room and see faces of colleagues reflecting the effects of the party the night before at a restaurant opposite the Zagreb cathedral. Late into the night despite the cathedral's watchful gaze there had been no saints; we were sinners all. Thanks to our colleagues at Croatian Radio for treating us to such food, music and libation. But at 11 am in the morning thanks to the reindeer hunters who woke up our ears again. Richard then led us further on his daily tour of radio feature classics, but it would be stupid for me to try to describe them here in print for your eyes to read. We were listening to classics in the art of radio making, and it is your ears which had to be here. For the curious, I can let your eyes read that Richard's classic feature selections were taken from Mikko and Vaiski by Pertti Salomaar, Railway Station by Night by Bert Breit, Memorandum by Flor Stein, The Faithful Servant and His Master by Alfred Treiber, and Everyday Something Disappears by Edwin Brys and Luc Haekens.

Your ears had to be here, the listening was rich.

So I won't try to describe in words the listening sessions happening here in the afternoons either. Instead I will tell you that by Day Four of this gathering, two important experiences have occurred. At least they are important for me, and really perhaps they are the reasons why I am very glad that I came to this gathering. The two experiences I have been hoping for.

One is that in the afternoon listening sessions there have been a couple of times when my ears and mind have been quite transported by the powerful beauty of what they were hearing. Perhaps this is the kind of experience the religiously devout have in church. Since I have never been particularly religious I can't say, but maybe it is not so crazy to compare this experience to a kind of radio communion. The experience of art which lifts you and makes both a powerful mystery and a sudden clarity all at once.

The second key experinence that has happened -- for me -- has happened in the discussions after the listening sessions. It happens when I realise that one of my colleagues, listening to the same feature, has heard some elements with quite different ears. And suddenly I can hear it as he or she did. It is like a thunderclap. A recalibration of the ear that opens up new landscapes.

So that's the situation here on Day Four, fans. Tomorrow is the last inning, and the bases are loaded.

Chris Brooks
Battery Radio
Newfoundland, Canada