The Silence of the Cinema

So, by the time you read this, the prizes from our World Book Night draw will be in the postal system and thereafter winging their way to the lucky people whose names we pulled out of the hat. Finally. Sorry about the wait, folks.

However.
As you may have gathered from various posts and the few videos we have managed to share with you, Gem does have a tendency of begetting Gem. Thus it was that, while I was trying to set the camera up for making the video of the actual draw that I suddenly found myself in the situation of having to hastily scribble something down. You see, after I had the focus and framing to be of semi-acceptable standard, I had Julie sit in her chair and then hit the button to begin recording. As I prepared to move around to sit next to my wife, I waved my hands at her, trying to get her to begin talking, rather than just sit there, watching and waiting for me to sit next to her. Unfortunately, it appeared that my hand-waving was not too clear, and Julie didn't have a clue what I was trying to convey.
Oh well.
I sighed, went back the camera, switched it off, and then explained to her what was needed. "We don't want any 'dead air', as radio parlance has it," I said.
"Oh!" Julie exclaimed, "I get you now. You could have said that before, you know, instead of just waving your hands as me and hoping I'll understand it."
This was very true, and I admitted as much. But then Julie continued, and totally shot herself in the foot.

It's difficult to write when you're simultaneously facepalming, you know.