A story about a kid who had no filter with John Larkin

John Larkin joins us to talk about things that go wrong when we're doing author talks at schools.

Please review, rate, subscribe, follow and like the show. Your support will help us keep this podcast going.

To find out more about R.A. Spratt visit raspratt.com
To find out more about Jacqueline Harvey visit jacquelineharvey.com.au
To find out more about Tim Harris visit timharrisbooks.com

Transcript

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Rachel Spratt: hello and welcome to real stories with random writers. I'm RA. Spratt, and I'm here with Jacqueline Harvey and Tim Harris, and today's special guest is John Larkin.

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Jacqueline Harvey: Eat.

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Rachel Spratt: John is the author of the pause, spaghetti Legs, the Shadow Girl, Ghostbite Zombies versus the Illuminati, Brittany and Co. Take on Paris, and many more, and his most recent book is How to avoid being Eaten by sharks. But John doesn't just write for children. He also writes for adults, and he's got a book coming out later this year called

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Rachel Spratt: the Bogan Book Club. Welcome to the show, John.

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John Larkin: Thank you. Rachel.

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Rachel Spratt: Hey, it's great to have you. Alright. We're all book creators. Which means we're storytellers. Normally, we write our stories down. But for this, podcast, we're going to be telling them out loud instead. And today we're going to be telling tales about

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Rachel Spratt: horror school stories as as in school visits, as authors the things that have happened to us at schools. Okay, so let's get into it, Tim, you're up first.st

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Tim Harris: Okay, we're gonna start this story by saying I'm I'm very jealous of Jackie because Jackie has the right idea. She knows that Sydney can get very hot and humid in summer. She has a a house in a much cooler, temperate part of the world in New Zealand, and I'm I'm just very jealous, Jackie, cause you get to dodge those really sweaty days.

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Jacqueline Harvey: Oh, I haven't really dodged them this year, though I I did. I was in Sydney for most of February and March, and it was pretty hot and sweaty. But yes, I I do appreciate that, thought Tim, because I do get to, you know. Come back to the cooler climbs.

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Tim Harris: Cause. This horror story is a horror story about the worst possible speaking conditions that I've that I've ever had in terms of

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Tim Harris: room weather. If there's such a thing and you know, cause cause it's all about conditions. When when you're doing a talk, you wanna make sure that you know the technology is working well, and you wanna make sure the temperature is not too hot and not too cool, and and that everyone can hear you. And you know all this sort of stuff.

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Tim Harris: and I remember a few years ago saying yes to an end of year gig I think early December at quite a prestigious Sydney private school to do a keynote. Speak at the school award day, and I thought, Oh, that sounds pretty good. That's something that I'd like to, you know, like to have a crack at doing. And so I was really diligent and spent a long time

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Tim Harris: preparing a Powerpoint presentation that would, you know, give visual matches to the content of the speech, and I just wanted to be really enjoyable and smooth, and have a bit of light here, but also some poignant parts, because, hey, it's an end of the year you know, awards a at a prestigious school. I want us to do a really great job. And so I I left home

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Tim Harris: feeling very confident that this this is going to be a really really good speech.

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Tim Harris: I think I had 12 to 15 min. It wasn't a huge, huge one, but it was one that just had to, you know, pack a lot in

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Tim Harris: and so I suited up for the event something which I just really don't like. I I do not like wearing a suit. I I love T-shirts T-shirts, very comfortable, and I remember.

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Jacqueline Harvey: Weddings and funerals, aren't they, too? But.

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Tim Harris: That. Yeah, that's right. And so, you know, people often say to me, Why did you leave teaching me? Come around? And such? I just didn't like wearing a tie.

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John Larkin: Did you wear? Did you wear suit with your baseball cap?

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Tim Harris: I didn't. I went.

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John Larkin: No.

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Tim Harris: To this one I know right, John, and and so I'm wearing this, and I hadn't won a suit for a good 4 or 5 years. And yeah, it's found the whole thing very uncomfortable, anyway. So I'm in my suit cause that's a formal event.

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Tim Harris: And they take me into the speaking space, which is a, you know, big auditorium on side of the school except it was one of the 1st buildings, I think, built at the school, and so it was a little bit old school. Pardon the pun, and it didn't have air conditioning. And so I went in, and 1st thing I noticed was, Oh, there's no, there's no breeze at all, and I'm already it's a humid day. It's probably low thirties

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Tim Harris: but really really humid.

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Tim Harris: And then they turned on the stage lots. I had to sit on the stage next to the principal, the whole school during the build, up to the speech, and the second I flicked these lots, and it was like

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Tim Harris: the sun into the room, and I could I could feel already, and but I was a good boy, and I I packed a handkerchief and had it in in my pocket, and so I could sort of dab. You know, dab my phone cause I'm a big sweater. But Harris family.

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Rachel Spratt: Fan a hand fan like on Bridgeton. You.

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Tim Harris: Like. So I had the program. And I started.

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Rachel Spratt: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

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Tim Harris: And I'm looking at across the audience, and every single adult in the in the audience is banning themselves with with their programs or actual fans as well.

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Tim Harris: Wow! And so then I realized, this is very uncomfortable.

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Tim Harris: And even though I arrived feeling prepared and confident, suddenly I realized.

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Tim Harris: I've I'm sweating here, and that makes you a bit nervous. And so that that side of things kicked in. And so I'm becoming increasingly uncomfortable on the stage, I'm thinking, come on, just introduce me. When's it gonna be? I just, I just wanna get this speech done. Next. I can feel myself sort of getting stressed about about the environment. But night kept on going. And we're gonna have some. You know little words here, and we gotta do. You know all these other sort of formal proceedings.

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Tim Harris: Eventually it was time to dispatch. Well, I didn't realize that when you step from the seat under the lights to the

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Tim Harris: to to the the leg.

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Rachel Spratt: Soon.

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Tim Harris: That there's even hotter lights.

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Tim Harris: and so I'm by now, like I'm I'm pretty hot and sweaty, and it got to the point where I I had these pages printed out with notes for each slide, just so I could keep it going. I had a remote clicker as well, and the 1st thing I noticed when I read the 1st slide is that

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Tim Harris: there were drips of sweat on.

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Jacqueline Harvey: That no.

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Tim Harris: My notes, number one coming straight from my nose. And I was like, Okay.

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Tim Harris: all I can do is just mop now, and so I've got the hanky out. I'm starting to mop. Well, there comes a point when a handkerchief can only hold so.

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Rachel Spratt: Ring it out.

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Jacqueline Harvey: Yeah. Did you bring it out over the front row?

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Tim Harris: I should have done that. But it was. It was so so uncomfortable. And of course, because you're thinking that you know you you sort of turn onto the auto part with your presentation. We sort of hit this point where you know you do it enough times and.

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Rachel Spratt: You're in survival mode.

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Tim Harris: But the back of my brain was just absolutely, frantically panicking. I am just so sweaty right now. Well, in the end I actually sweated through the entire suit. It was. It was that hot and muggy, and no nothing. And I remember so going outside afterwards, and so feeling my shoulder. And it was. It was just wet, like they had sweat through the whole thing. And I

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Tim Harris: I remember just being so thirsty as well, and thinking myself, I never doing a formal speech at a school without air conditioning ever again in my life.

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Tim Harris: It was a horror, it was a.

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Rachel Spratt: And like cause I am eccentric person and lean into it is like, I've been at schools like quite nice schools, and I I get very hot when I'm talking I just announce halfway through. I'm taking my shoes off.

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Rachel Spratt: you know. I've taken my shoes off if I get too hot, because it's just horrible.

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Jacqueline Harvey: You.

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Rachel Spratt: Sweat runs down, and you feel like you've wet yourself.

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Jacqueline Harvey: Yeah, she just grows.

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Rachel Spratt: So sweaty. That's yeah.

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Tim Harris: And you know, in hindsight I know that I totally should have. I should have just done that, but I think because it was such a formal event, and because.

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Jacqueline Harvey: I don't exactly go, hey? It's menopause guys like I can do.

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Tim Harris: That's right, and the content. It was quite serious, like it was quite so small, serious content than the you know, the free flowing, you know, more comedic sort of general school presentation as well. And so all these. It was just a battle against all the elements. And yes, that was my horror story, and and I actually got home. And I swore to Hardy John, I said, That's it. I actually, I'm never doing these again. And I got offered another school the following year to do the keynote awards day, and I said, I'm sorry I'm I'm not doing.

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Jacqueline Harvey: So throw try to my way team, cause I did one last year, and I loved it, even though similarly no air conditioning. And I did sort of feel like I will die up here, and everybody's fanning themselves. But yeah, you know, it's yeah, I I quite like those events. But I can you just feel your pain.

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Rachel Spratt: Invest in a linen suit like.

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Jacqueline Harvey: Like, if you had.

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Rachel Spratt: Rest for it, like they say there's no such thing as

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Rachel Spratt: bad weather. Just the wrong clothes.

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Jacqueline Harvey: Yeah, I wore a linen dress. That's right.

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Rachel Spratt: I.

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Jacqueline Harvey: I wore a linen dress to the one that I did last year.

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Rachel Spratt: Get new clothes to Somerset, because it's so hot and on the topic of sweat. Once I was doing, I was in the main stage at Somerset, and the stage is quite high. It's like about one meter high or.

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Jacqueline Harvey: About it, mate, I am.

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Rachel Spratt: Yeah, it's very high. And they had the kids like right up to the stage. And it was high school kids. And it was so hot and sweaty, and that you know no air conditioning, and I'm sweating so much. But you know I was dressed for it. It was okay, but it was rolling down my face.

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Rachel Spratt: I was dripping, rolling down my holding the micrates rolling down my arm and dripping off my elbow, and at one stage. I was telling a story, and I enunciated. And all this water flew out of my mouth over the front row.

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Rachel Spratt: and they all went.

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Tim Harris: And I.

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Rachel Spratt: Down at these like year 7 boys. And I said, Don't worry, boys. That wasn't spit. That was sweat that had rolled off my face.

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Jacqueline Harvey: And on that note I think, John, are you.

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Rachel Spratt: Yeah, John, you tell us your horror story from.

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John Larkin: Okay.

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Rachel Spratt: Exits.

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John Larkin: I've been doing this since the early nineties, and I've got a look. We've all got the most wonderful stories. I've got quite a few horror ones. But I was thinking last night

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John Larkin: which one should I tell to open the batting? And I think it's a story that I now tell at the start of a school visit, and it was.

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John Larkin: it became kind of legendary, and up to the point. I'll go back to school, and

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John Larkin: students have heard before. Will you tell this story again? And so quite often? It's a so. What happened was I was talking at a I'll just say it's a rural school is a bit of a Redneck town. Even the mayor had a ceremonial mullet and flannel. That shirt

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John Larkin: I drive into this town, and I swear this is no way to lie. There was a Confederate flag strung across the main street of this town, obviously hoping for the restoration of slavery to Northern New South Wales. What I got myself into, and it was probably about 20 years ago. Now is Book Week, and I was talking to a year 5 and 6 group

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John Larkin: and

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John Larkin: used to like a I suppose, an a teenage audience, but they were a year 5 and 6 creep, and they were great, but 5, 5 or 6 min. Towards the end you throw open the questions and the questions come out, you know, like, how much money do you make? Are you married? Do you have any children? What are your pets? Names like really penetrating questions for us authors? It's like my cats call Mr. Fluffy. How does that help you? But then there was one boy, and he was doing the kind of oo thing. And I thought, this kid looks like trouble.

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John Larkin: This looks like he's come in with red frogs and coke. He's ready to go.

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John Larkin: and it finally ran out of questions, and so I pointed into it was like one of the 8 creatures of the Andes. I said, Yes, what's your question? And he goes. He look for? He look contemplative for a moment, and he said, hmm! Have you ever wondered what would happen if they cross the rooster with an octopus?

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John Larkin: Was kind of like what the heck are you on? And

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John Larkin: but I looked at the back of the room, and the principal was kinda cringing, and afterwards he came up to me cause I said to the boy, I said. Look, I've never wondered about that in my life, but now it'll be on my mind for the rest of my life. And so the principal account, says John.

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John Larkin: I'm so sorry about that. So it's not your fault goes. Actually, it is. We should have warned you, he said. You just picked on the kid with the unfiltered mind. If this kid thinks is something, he just blurts it out. He doesn't have those filters that allow the rest of us to operate in society, and so the principal took me for a cup of coffee in his office, and he proceeded to tell me some stories about this boy, and there weren't so much horror stories that were like

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John Larkin: i i i spend the journey driving home. I think I I never laugh so much in my life. I had to sort of pull out into a parking by and sort of reach across the sea. Leading it. I I was, I thought so temporary brain damage. I was laughing. So this boy you're thinking about this boy. You've got these unfiltered mind like if you walk in over the crossing after school, and some bike he'll pull up, you know, with a with a you know, neck tattoo, you know, poorly spelt neck tattoos, and see

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John Larkin: issues, and this board will say you're ugly, and then sort of keep on walking, the guys going what's up? And so

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John Larkin: he said to tell me a couple of stories about this boy, and I slowly broke me, and he said, Look, I'll tell you that the boy's name was Chappie. I know that was his real name, too. I think Chappy now lives in a tree with an odd vac and a shopping truck.

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John Larkin: He! He persisted. Some of these stories, and the 1st one was there was a guy one lunchtime going past the school perimeter fence, and he was in a wheelchair. So he's doing the push thing well, chappie saw him, and his eyes lit up, and he went springing up to the fence. Because he has all these questions, and they're great questions. But well most of the time their thoughts when they should be left in his head, but he puts them out there.

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John Larkin: and so he said to the guy in the wheelchair, he said. Can I ask you a question? I think the guy said, what about? Because your wheelchair goes? Go on ahead. I go ahead. He goes. I've always wondered, do you get dog? Poo on your hands when you go through?

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John Larkin: The guy is up the street to get away from me a couple of weeks later I figured there must have been a rehabilitation center down the road, because another guy went past the school and he was

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John Larkin: I don't know what the correct languages, but he only had one leg so, and that was correct as well. Shark whatever. But he he was doing the crutch thing past the school, you know, crutching preamble, adding, hopping, whatever the correct verbiage. Well, Chappie saw him in his eyes, lit up to the fence. Now, can I ask you a question? What about your shoes?

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John Larkin: Or rather your shoe? And I didn't go on late. So he goes. Okay, go ahead, he goes. I've always wondered, how does someone like you buy shoes?

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John Larkin: And he said, what I guess. How do you buy shoes? I go to a shoe shop like anyone else, because no, you don't understand. Do you buy 2 shoes and throw one away? Because let's face it. There's a bit of redundancy would redundancy, he said, or do you buy one at a discount? I'm figuring 50%. Or and this was the one that broke me, he said. Or do you team up with another one like

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John Larkin: Guy hopped up the road, but the best one was the one that killed me. He said.

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John Larkin: Jackie had been like scoot a few weeks before my visit, because on the walk to school on the side of the road, because he, Chappy, lived in this kind of semi rural area, Jack. He had found a big bag of toilet rolls that apparently form off the back of a truck, and he saw his toilet rolls, and he dragged him into a nearby field, and he spent the entire day throwing them over high voltage power lines and mummified. Apparently the story goes. He completely mummified 5 cows in the middle of the field, so only their eyes were visible.

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John Larkin: And so, anyway, you eventually made it to school.

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John Larkin: And they said, chappie, have you been at 2 o'clock? It's almost you guys, will. I found the big bag of toilet roll. He thought it was about excuse. I found a big bag of toilet rolls on the side of the road. Well, Chappie got put on detention by the principal and the principal you know. Chappie went off to the detention, but he wasn't happy, was grumbling the entire time. But then.

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John Larkin: he said, a little while later he packed up his office. More caps the car park and there was his car completely wrapped up.

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John Larkin: I know it started off as a horror story for me, but it became this.

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John Larkin: Thing that sort of grew and became organic. And i i i love chappie to this day. It was just such a great.

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Rachel Spratt: It's it's awesome, isn't it? When, like you try and explain to people what it's like to do a school visit. But you'll look out at a sea of faces, and it might be 200 400, even 600. And you will look out, and it takes you about 15 seconds to see the evil child that's gonna cause you all the trouble.

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John Larkin: Yeah.

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Rachel Spratt: There's no trouble you always. It doesn't. They're just there and you can. They're all normal kids. But you can just see from their eyes.

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John Larkin: That.

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Rachel Spratt: You are going to be.

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John Larkin: You're going down.

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John Larkin: and then not necessarily.

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Rachel Spratt: Bad. They're just they're gonna be high maintenance. There.

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John Larkin: Yeah, yeah, yeah. But this is their turf, you know. You're coming into my turf. Bring it on.

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Rachel Spratt: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, it's worse when it's a girls school. And you just see 500 mean girls looking at you. And it's like cause. They they almost like plan in advance how they're gonna

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Rachel Spratt: and they have way.

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John Larkin: You're sick. It's like.

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Rachel Spratt: Monash having a battle in 1st World War, where it's like they have a strategy that's going to come in waves. And you think it's going to come over here. But meanwhile, yeah, anyway.

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John Larkin: Yeah.

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Jacqueline Harvey: We all have strategies how to deal with them right?

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Rachel Spratt: Yes, yes, sometimes this strategies collapse, though. Alright. So I my story. Excuse me, I'm just gonna get my coffee out of the way

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Rachel Spratt: been struggling a bit with asthma. So just excuse me for that. Okay? So

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Rachel Spratt: I was thinking about horror stories. And I was thinking, well, what upsets me the most like really, legitimately upsets me the most cause, like the kids like they do strange things. But it's kind of fun like I'll ring Jackie, when I get home of like what this kid did today. And you know one of them had tourettes, and they didn't warn me.

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Jacqueline Harvey: Yeah, it was so fun. I've had that, too. Rachel.

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Rachel Spratt: Yeah. And and you have the autistic kids that stage rush you and all that sort of stuff. But the thing but that's all fine. It's actually kind of fun, cause it means that you know the the visit is memorable, the things that I find upsetting I usually, when the adults say something to you, and

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Rachel Spratt: I had a visit last year where it was at a school that was a religious school, and

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Rachel Spratt: they they, before I was even there. They were writing to me all the time about what what I could say and what I couldn't say, and what books they wanted me to talk about what they couldn't talk about, and it just really got up in my head. And so that was upsetting

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Rachel Spratt: and I think people don't realize that when you do, author visits because we don't talk about religion in society very much. But a lot of schools are religious schools. So it's a reality for us that we deal with every book season in term 3, that you're going around a bunch of different religious schools and dealing with people of different religions in a way that probably no one else in society does like. One of the 1st schools I ever visited. I think it's Masada in Sydney, the

432
00:35:13.470 --> 00:35:33.069
Rachel Spratt: Jewish school, and at those schools they they go through like because I have a presentation suitcase because they have such security problems. They'll go through a suitcase to check that. There's nothing in there that shouldn't be in there, and and I got in there, and at that stage I hadn't been going very long, and my standard reading that I did was Nanny Pig, and saves Christmas. And so I get in there, and I'm like.

433
00:35:33.070 --> 00:36:00.289
Rachel Spratt: and they I literally had to wait for them to come out of prayers. And I could hear them all praying, and then they came into the author talk, and I said, Well, K. Kids and I talked to all about myself. And I said, Now, normally I do reading, but I always do about Christmas, and I realize that you know that that's not part of your religion. And I said so. I've got 3 stories, and you can vote what you have. But they all voted for Christmas. And I said, Is that okay to the teacher? And the teacher said, No, that's good, because we wanna learn about other cultures. And this is an opportunity for them. So that was really nice and everything.

434
00:36:01.283 --> 00:36:27.590
Rachel Spratt: I think it was last year. Yeah. So last year in bookweak, I I go out and I let the kids vote about what I'm gonna talk about like, I put up all my books and I let them vote. And they picked they wanted the book about my podcast. And I'm like, okay. So then I've got these set stories. I go into about the podcast. So i'm, like, okay, I'll go into this. So I start telling the story of how I came up with a podcast. And the 1st story I ever wrote for the podcast.

435
00:36:27.590 --> 00:36:52.999
Rachel Spratt: And I start talking about how the 1st one I ever wrote was for my own children. We were away on holiday. I've forgotten to take a book. So I started to tell them a classic fairy tale, but I adjusted the story because I started to tell them. Rapunzel and all the people in my family have dark hair. So I thought, I'm not telling it about blonde person. But then I thought, it doesn't really make make much sense with a brunette like Brunette's, you know, who cares like? Who's gonna fall in love with someone because they got brown hair. So then I started to think.

436
00:36:53.340 --> 00:37:20.610
Rachel Spratt: what type of hair. Would a man fall instantly in love with? And then I thought bacon hair because I love bacon. Even when I was a vegetarian on my birthday every year I would eat a bacon sandwich because bacon just smells so good. So anyway, I'm telling the kids this story and I launch into it. I do this whole big lead up, and as soon I get to this point, and I'm like, and then, you know, of course, what would they fall in love with a woman with bacon hair, and I look out at the kids, and I just have this moment where

437
00:37:20.800 --> 00:37:21.580
Rachel Spratt: oh, no!

438
00:37:22.000 --> 00:37:24.469
Rachel Spratt: So realize I'm at a Muslim school.

439
00:37:24.470 --> 00:37:25.890
Tim Harris: Like anything.

440
00:37:25.890 --> 00:37:36.979
Rachel Spratt: The kids have ever eaten bacon, and so I have this moment. Where I think, what do I do? Do I plow on with this like 15 min story that.

441
00:37:36.980 --> 00:37:37.570
Tim Harris: Does not make.

442
00:37:37.570 --> 00:37:41.599
Rachel Spratt: Any sense to them? Or do I apologize? Bail out.

443
00:37:41.830 --> 00:37:52.689
Rachel Spratt: and I'm already 10 min in, you know, telling all this animated stuff, and I've seen the prints, and like I'm so hungry riding through the forest and all this stuff. And I've had all this lead up to this point, and it's like

444
00:37:53.110 --> 00:38:03.242
Rachel Spratt: I was like, stuff it. They're gonna hear a story about bacon hat. So I was like, my kids, baking is something the people in other cultures eat. That's delicious. Go with me.

445
00:38:03.550 --> 00:38:04.030
Tim Harris: Yeah.

446
00:38:04.682 --> 00:38:11.210
Rachel Spratt: But they were sweet, and they just looked at me slightly baffled, and it didn't do quite as well, and we moved on as quickly as possible. So that's my horror story. It's like.

447
00:38:11.210 --> 00:38:13.300
Jacqueline Harvey: Did did the teachers say anything to you afterwards?

448
00:38:13.300 --> 00:38:26.530
Rachel Spratt: No, they were fine, but the teach. Some of the teach like it was that the teachers were were more Anglo, and they were just laughing at me, and it was fine, and, as you say, it's part of the thing is, you know, you get authors in, and it's all multicultural experience.

449
00:38:26.780 --> 00:38:29.979
Jacqueline Harvey: Exactly. We live in a multicultural country. So you know, you gotta go. Yeah.

450
00:38:29.980 --> 00:38:36.335
Rachel Spratt: Yeah, there is always a lot of that in Book week. You you dealing with the issues that probably people don't think about.

451
00:38:36.600 --> 00:38:37.100
Jacqueline Harvey: Absolutely.

452
00:38:37.100 --> 00:38:40.390
Rachel Spratt: That was my like my moment of horror. Last year.

453
00:38:40.390 --> 00:38:55.659
Jacqueline Harvey: Oh, I I've I may I jump in now? And until I I've been thinking I have an a number of stories I could tell. It. Tim was prompting me into some really good memories of school visits in Singapore.

454
00:38:56.009 --> 00:39:13.659
Jacqueline Harvey: where, basically, you have you know sweat running down your back before you even start to talk, cause you have to do it. In fact, I'll tell you. I'll just tell you a funny anecdote about Singapore before I launch into my proper story. I was in this school, and it was we had 1,500 girls

455
00:39:13.660 --> 00:39:26.849
Jacqueline Harvey: in an undercover outdoor area, and it was no air conditioning. Just had these huge fans like the biggest fans I had ever seen in my life. And the librarian was this gorgeous, very prim and proper lady called Mrs. Tan.

456
00:39:27.160 --> 00:39:52.609
Jacqueline Harvey: and I was there with my bookseller, friend. And I, I said to Mrs. Tan, I said, dad, that's the biggest fan I've ever seen in my life, and she goes. Yes, Miss Harvey, they are big ass fans, and I said, they are big ass fans, and I'm thinking, like, you know, big ir fans. Anyway, I don't look at the fan, and that's the brand of the fan.

457
00:39:52.610 --> 00:39:54.000
Tim Harris: Big sway.

458
00:39:54.283 --> 00:40:04.480
Jacqueline Harvey: And they made it Australia, and obviously the Australians are having a really, you know, good joke at the rest of the world expense. But she had no clue that that could even be remotely funny.

459
00:40:04.801 --> 00:40:06.729
Rachel Spratt: I don't want to stop my.

460
00:40:06.730 --> 00:40:09.899
Jacqueline Harvey: It there. So that's not a horror story. This is a funny story. That's just.

461
00:40:09.900 --> 00:40:10.930
Rachel Spratt: Legendary.

462
00:40:10.930 --> 00:40:15.679
Jacqueline Harvey: I am okay. So I'm on tour in let's just say we're in the

463
00:40:15.760 --> 00:40:22.270
Jacqueline Harvey: somewhere on the Sunshine Coast. I'm with our wonderful Zoe, who used to look after us, Rach and.

464
00:40:22.270 --> 00:40:24.420
Rachel Spratt: Now she's the big cheese in charge of us.

465
00:40:24.420 --> 00:40:27.640
Jacqueline Harvey: Jeez, anyway. So Zoe and I've gone to this school, and

466
00:40:27.700 --> 00:40:34.110
Jacqueline Harvey: anyway, I knew it was going to be an interesting visit from the minute that I met the principal because she came out and she looked at me and she goes.

467
00:40:34.605 --> 00:40:38.844
Jacqueline Harvey: could you not? She goes. I Googled you last night. You're like a really big deal.

468
00:40:40.211 --> 00:40:54.480
Jacqueline Harvey: Well, thanks for the preparation, anyway. So I go into the school hall, and there's this teacher who he's the 3rd grade teacher. And there, this year, 3 to 6 kids are coming to the talk. So the whole of the primary school. It's yeah packs a hall.

469
00:40:54.620 --> 00:41:03.130
Jacqueline Harvey: anyway. This guy says to me, I'll I'll sit up here and look after your technology. And I said, No, no, it's no need. I've got a clicker. I'm all good. Everything's set up ready to go.

470
00:41:03.130 --> 00:41:25.589
Jacqueline Harvey: And he says, Oh, no, no. I'll stay up here just in case. And I thought, Yeah, you're just gonna stay up here just in case you need to plan me fine or look at something else, cause he wasn't remotely interested in the kids. So anyway, his class walks in. And these these 2 little boys that walk in together. And you know, Rachel, you said it before you know the kid who is gonna like take you on. Well, there was 2 of them.

471
00:41:25.590 --> 00:41:27.280
Jacqueline Harvey: and so these 2 little boys

472
00:41:27.490 --> 00:41:39.904
Jacqueline Harvey: and I look at them, and I say to them, because you know I am a veteran teacher myself. And I say, Okay, you boys, is it gonna be a good idea for you guys to sit together? And they looked at, and they went.

473
00:41:40.620 --> 00:41:46.189
Jacqueline Harvey: thank you for recognizing that. How about you? Sit here and you sit here. So I separated them about, you know, 4 kids apart.

474
00:41:46.630 --> 00:42:06.409
Jacqueline Harvey: anyway. So I get into my talk. And within about a minute these 2 like little wriggling pythons, they're back together again. And now they're built to each other, and I said, Right, I stop right. You and you boys, I said, what did we say? You know? And I said, You can sit there, and you can sit there so move them apart. That's fine, anyway.

475
00:42:06.410 --> 00:42:20.609
Jacqueline Harvey: Another 5 min goes on. They're back wriggling snakes again, and I'm starting to lose my patience, not necessarily with the kids, but with the teacher. He was sitting out back clearly now, playing on his phone, not remotely, just in what I'm doing

476
00:42:20.770 --> 00:42:22.869
Jacqueline Harvey: so, anyway, I separate them again

477
00:42:22.970 --> 00:42:28.779
Jacqueline Harvey: the 3rd time I lose it completely. I say, right, you and you get up! Get out!

478
00:42:30.510 --> 00:42:54.520
Jacqueline Harvey: I was like, Oh, gosh, I might pay for that later. But anyway, anyway, the librarian is at the back of the hall, and she goes, and I'm thinking, is she gonna have to go me, or what's she gonna say? And she said, well, was disgusting. See our guest having to tell you to off so she said, you can get out. And I said, Boys, I'll be out to talk to you at the end, anyway.

479
00:42:54.600 --> 00:42:57.919
Jacqueline Harvey: That was it, you know, happy days. The rest of the presentation was terrific.

480
00:42:58.170 --> 00:43:13.260
Jacqueline Harvey: and I walk out to see them afterwards and their teacher. I'm hoping that he is really embarrassed, because really it's his fault. Not that, you know. I mean they shouldn't behave badly, but he should have been supervising. So anyway, I look at the pair of them, and I said, right, boys, why did I send you out?

481
00:43:13.300 --> 00:43:14.609
Jacqueline Harvey: And I said.

482
00:43:14.750 --> 00:43:20.639
Jacqueline Harvey: because we were being stupid? No arguments for me.

483
00:43:20.690 --> 00:43:29.720
Jacqueline Harvey: And I said, but some, you know, we tell me how you're gonna behave when it also comes to school next time. We won't do that, anyway. All I could think of was, Well, you know what

484
00:43:29.760 --> 00:43:33.313
Jacqueline Harvey: I. They may never read my of my books, but they're never gonna forget me.

485
00:43:33.550 --> 00:43:34.270
Rachel Spratt: Yes.

486
00:43:34.270 --> 00:43:40.880
Jacqueline Harvey: So. So that was one of my stories. I have many more, not where I've sent kids out, but I have a I have a couple of other questions.

487
00:43:40.880 --> 00:43:55.669
Rachel Spratt: You should have sent them to sit with the teacher. That's what I did, a Western Sydney bus tour with the Sydney Rice festival, and that was my strategy, because there was some rough kids, and I would just my, I had 2 strategies, one learn the name of chappie. You know the chappy in the.

488
00:43:55.844 --> 00:43:56.540
Jacqueline Harvey: Get the kid. Yeah.

489
00:43:56.540 --> 00:44:02.459
Rachel Spratt: Learn his name like be while they're coming in like you pick who it is and say, Whatsa's kid's name.

490
00:44:02.460 --> 00:44:06.342
Jacqueline Harvey: Or you say to them, What's your name, mate? And then they suddenly go.

491
00:44:06.620 --> 00:44:06.990
Rachel Spratt: But.

492
00:44:07.200 --> 00:44:07.620
Jacqueline Harvey: My name.

493
00:44:07.620 --> 00:44:19.629
Rachel Spratt: No, it's even better if you know it be, and they don't realize how you know it knew it. And then, as soon as they cause trouble. I used because I used to be a standup, and I I used to do this with drunks, and you just you lock eyes with them and say.

494
00:44:19.640 --> 00:44:20.650
Rachel Spratt: Michael.

495
00:44:20.750 --> 00:44:36.259
Rachel Spratt: no one here is interested in anything you have to say. You are boring people, and you are ruining this experience for them. Please be quiet. It really works on drunks as well as children. So I recommend that. But sometimes they cry with children. So, yeah.

496
00:44:36.260 --> 00:45:05.069
Jacqueline Harvey: You've got. You have got to be a bit careful, because sometimes you don't want to make children cry. I mean one of our one of our peas tells a great story about how he he accidentally didn't realize that the microphone was still on when he was in he done a big festival, and he he tells a story about how he he says a swear word and and he doesn't realize the microphone is still attached to him, and the bus driver at the back apparently burst out laughing. Sales of funnies that you never seen.

497
00:45:05.070 --> 00:45:05.850
Tim Harris: Get along!

498
00:45:06.573 --> 00:45:12.240
Jacqueline Harvey: Because our friend who will remain unnamed is it was dying of embarrassment at the time.

499
00:45:12.840 --> 00:45:13.799
Jacqueline Harvey: Yeah, but sometimes they.

500
00:45:13.800 --> 00:45:14.590
Rachel Spratt: Well, wasn't it.

501
00:45:14.590 --> 00:45:15.880
Jacqueline Harvey: Don't know it wasn't

502
00:45:17.100 --> 00:45:21.290
Jacqueline Harvey: was not pulled into rural. But no, there's some. I mean, there's always

503
00:45:21.330 --> 00:45:26.359
Jacqueline Harvey: yeah things that go on that you wish you could change. I my, actually my most

504
00:45:26.540 --> 00:45:51.187
Jacqueline Harvey: memorable, for all the wrong reasons. End of Book week, you know. Book wakes a big, long week. Everybody's exhausted by the end of it, and I was at this school, and I'm reading to the kids. And it was the end of the day, and I had quite a small group, and this little girl looks at me. She goes and I look at her, and I think why she, the color of that sheet of paper. And I said, Are you feeling okay, sweetheart? And she went in my shoes.

505
00:45:51.450 --> 00:45:52.720
Tim Harris: Oh no!

506
00:45:52.972 --> 00:45:57.260
Rachel Spratt: Have you ever like? We've talked about this in previous podcasts. Have you ever got in trouble

507
00:45:57.350 --> 00:45:59.979
Rachel Spratt: with a school or a teacher at a school? Do.

508
00:45:59.980 --> 00:46:00.860
John Larkin: He's in.

509
00:46:01.870 --> 00:46:07.549
John Larkin: There was an interesting one last year for Book week. It was. It was a tough school to the point where

510
00:46:07.660 --> 00:46:10.300
John Larkin: you pretty much double your fee for going to this school.

511
00:46:10.300 --> 00:46:10.910
Rachel Spratt: Yeah, yeah.

512
00:46:10.910 --> 00:46:11.760
John Larkin: What's that?

513
00:46:11.760 --> 00:46:13.240
Jacqueline Harvey: Money. Danger. Money. Yeah.

514
00:46:13.240 --> 00:46:28.290
John Larkin: Pretty much danger money, and on the on the train journey home I actually find my agent. I said you got me a good fee for that, but next time I would need 10 times that to do that still. And what you, Rachel, I also have a stand up background. But I was. I had you sevens first.st

515
00:46:28.430 --> 00:46:51.860
John Larkin: Did quite well. Yeah, I very well. But then one of the English stuff said to me, you think 7 nights were tough. You what? You get 9 and 10 together. What is stupid thing to say so, anyway? What I did. They brought them in after lunch. Windy day. Friday. Are you killing me? Are you kidding me? So? And they sat. For some reason they sat. The would be gangsters the year 10 gangsters. Then

516
00:46:52.590 --> 00:46:57.059
John Larkin: I'm like they're they're the homes, you know. They're doing all the signals. They think they're from the hood. They're all yeah.

517
00:46:57.060 --> 00:46:58.170
Jacqueline Harvey: Very mute.

518
00:46:58.170 --> 00:47:11.008
John Larkin: I go, hey, brah! How are you doing that kind of thing? And so but I was doing a talk, and I was actually going really well, but the teachers could not give a rats. They were all around the room, all on their laptops, probably looking for other jobs

519
00:47:13.040 --> 00:47:26.687
John Larkin: just unlike the year 10 boys. They started trying to riff with me, and I said, Listen, boys, I've been doing this a long time, and I've got a microphone, and I'm really eloquent who's gonna win this one? And they sort of quiet down. But then I started taking questions. And

520
00:47:27.080 --> 00:47:33.930
John Larkin: the little gangster says, Yeah, buddy a book at a Christian. So I went over team with a mic. You know I'm trying to slow down time by moving around with a mic.

521
00:47:34.390 --> 00:47:35.270
Rachel Spratt: Yeah, yeah.

522
00:47:35.750 --> 00:47:45.579
John Larkin: Yeah. And I went to actually goes, you, you mate, are you? Gonna put me in a book? And he was like looking around for cheers, and he got a couple of claps, and I said, No, my, I don't write horror.

523
00:47:46.230 --> 00:47:47.530
Rachel Spratt: I'll hold.

524
00:47:47.970 --> 00:47:48.799
Jacqueline Harvey: And I did like.

525
00:47:48.800 --> 00:47:49.640
John Larkin: I had them on my.

526
00:47:49.640 --> 00:47:50.230
Tim Harris: On!

527
00:47:50.230 --> 00:48:00.369
John Larkin: But then he said, You guys, what did you say? I said, I think you need to go to see the school nurse. He goes. Why, I said, you need some aloe vera cream, because I just burned you in front of the entire school.

528
00:48:01.450 --> 00:48:01.609
Rachel Spratt: Yeah.

529
00:48:01.934 --> 00:48:04.855
John Larkin: Route lifted off, so I had them. But then

530
00:48:05.420 --> 00:48:13.970
John Larkin: This English teacher said to me afterwards, Do you think that was appropriate? I said, well, given the fact that all the staff were all on their laptops, I had to control 300

531
00:48:14.140 --> 00:48:27.187
John Larkin: hormonely, enraged year 9 and 10 students, all of whom were looking to become gangsters. Then I think it was highly appropriate, and I said, I won't be coming back to this school. She was like, Hmm!

532
00:48:27.910 --> 00:48:28.460
John Larkin: So.

533
00:48:28.460 --> 00:48:28.960
Jacqueline Harvey: Yeah.

534
00:48:28.960 --> 00:48:51.910
John Larkin: I really like since that cause I'm 61 now. And I thought, Do I want to do that anymore? Do I want to go into the schools, because that's how I cut my teeth like as a as a speaker for the in the tough schools for the for the tough boys cause. That's kind of the school I came from, too, and I spoke to my agent about this because I was in Melbourne for Bookwick a few years ago I I used to regularly go down there.

535
00:48:51.920 --> 00:49:08.450
John Larkin: and I was getting all the tough Western suburbs high schools again. But all these younger officers just on the scene. They're off to Melbourne girls, Grandma Finton, why are I getting these schools? Oh, because you've got a good reputation. Yeah, going out to schools where they'll never buy your books. That's for.

536
00:49:08.450 --> 00:49:09.670
Rachel Spratt: Ha! Ha! Ha! Yeah.

537
00:49:09.670 --> 00:49:13.314
John Larkin: No, you think I've done my time. Send.

538
00:49:13.770 --> 00:49:29.521
Jacqueline Harvey: It's like you. You've you've done your yeah, you've done the time exactly. You you just reminded me of, you know. I. I was in a school in Singapore years ago, another big school similar to the other one. But but I'm much rowdy a group, and

539
00:49:30.142 --> 00:49:35.279
Jacqueline Harvey: anyway, the the kids were fine. They were sitting there, but the teachers were talking. There was

540
00:49:35.780 --> 00:49:40.560
Jacqueline Harvey: standing up talking in the middle of this huge crowd of kids. And so I just stopped.

541
00:49:40.880 --> 00:50:07.065
Jacqueline Harvey: And I looked at them. And eventually they looked at me. And I said, Could you please take that outside because it's really hard to concentrate. And it's really hard to, you know. Do what I'm I need to do. So eventually they got, you know, they went. But the kids were really a really difficult crowd, and at the end of my talk I said to the library, and I said, Well, you guys just earned yourselves with dubious honor, and she said, Oh, what's that? I said, these are the worst behaved kids I have ever come across in the world.

542
00:50:07.320 --> 00:50:09.070
Tim Harris: And she looked at me. She went.

543
00:50:09.070 --> 00:50:12.240
Jacqueline Harvey: Oh, no! And so suffice to say, I'll never go back there either.

544
00:50:12.240 --> 00:50:13.369
John Larkin: That Singapore Jackie.

545
00:50:13.370 --> 00:50:14.620
Jacqueline Harvey: In Singapore, in the middle.

546
00:50:14.620 --> 00:50:15.310
John Larkin: Missing, a.

547
00:50:15.310 --> 00:50:19.852
Jacqueline Harvey: Yep, yep, you know this is the thing we have these real like. We have sort of

548
00:50:20.230 --> 00:50:33.419
Jacqueline Harvey: misnomers about places that I remember some of the rowdiest kids I ever came across years and years beforehand were actually kids in Japan. And then I've done school talks in China, and the kids have been quite badly behaved, too. So it's not necessarily.

549
00:50:33.420 --> 00:50:33.790
Rachel Spratt: Yeah.

550
00:50:33.790 --> 00:50:34.900
Jacqueline Harvey: But we think it is.

551
00:50:34.900 --> 00:51:01.354
Rachel Spratt: It's funny with teachers, too, like when they they miss like I swore a vow, cause I you know I used to do. Stand up. I can shut anything down, and I can. I can get an audience, but it's not necessarily pretty. And I I was touring with Belinda, and she's so much more grace gracious than I am. And I was touring with you, too, Tim, and I just thought I just gotta stop doing this because it's not helping me sell books, so I swore a vow that I would not be

552
00:51:01.960 --> 00:51:03.135
Rachel Spratt: I would not like

553
00:51:03.620 --> 00:51:11.060
Rachel Spratt: have a go at kids anymore. I'd stop sending them to sit with the teacher. I would just ignore things and try and win them over that way and everything

554
00:51:11.120 --> 00:51:15.219
Rachel Spratt: but so, my new. But I said, but teachers, when they talk

555
00:51:15.410 --> 00:51:17.659
Rachel Spratt: drives me up the wall, it just.

556
00:51:17.660 --> 00:51:18.040
John Larkin: To, my.

557
00:51:18.040 --> 00:51:45.709
Rachel Spratt: Drives me up the wall. It drives me up the wall when they shush the kids like they're on their laptop. They're not listening, and I'm cause I have a very. I tend to have a very rip. I read the kids up. I get them all they get over excited. They get. They're calling out, but I'm in control, and then I start to tell a story, and I wind them down, and I'll have them hanging on my every word. I'm in control the whole time, but the teachers are on their laptops, and they can just hear all the blabber of talking. So they're on their laptops, and they just go.

558
00:51:46.821 --> 00:51:50.118
Rachel Spratt: I've just lost my headphones and

559
00:51:50.880 --> 00:52:04.660
Rachel Spratt: and I I sometimes on someone, say, you do realize that is as loud as the talking and justice is tracking. But so my new strategy, when teachers talk throughout my presentation is, I stop the presentation.

560
00:52:04.680 --> 00:52:08.430
Rachel Spratt: and I acts like I think there's an emergency going on. And I'm like.

561
00:52:08.450 --> 00:52:10.179
Rachel Spratt: is everything all right?

562
00:52:10.350 --> 00:52:11.940
Rachel Spratt: Do we need to stop?

563
00:52:12.030 --> 00:52:18.664
Rachel Spratt: Do we need to call the front office? Is there some? Is there an is there a medical emergency going on?

564
00:52:19.380 --> 00:52:23.260
Jacqueline Harvey: And then, Rachel, you'll wonder why you never get booked for that school.

565
00:52:23.260 --> 00:52:27.940
Rachel Spratt: Yeah, I think I get more complaints than most authors, because I just make people uncomfortable.

566
00:52:28.630 --> 00:52:32.278
Jacqueline Harvey: Yeah, I think teachers shouldn't be like that, though they should.

567
00:52:32.610 --> 00:52:35.559
Rachel Spratt: About my personality. I rub people up in Hawaii.

568
00:52:35.560 --> 00:52:39.569
Jacqueline Harvey: Or I always say, you know, it's a great professional development opportunity.

569
00:52:39.570 --> 00:52:40.689
John Larkin: What's 1 of these.

570
00:52:40.690 --> 00:52:47.189
Jacqueline Harvey: Then it is, and having been a teacher myself for a long time, you know you can learn so much from someone who comes to visit your school, so.

571
00:52:47.190 --> 00:52:48.630
John Larkin: You're friggin marking him.

572
00:52:49.110 --> 00:52:50.350
Rachel Spratt: Yeah, it's also.

573
00:52:50.350 --> 00:52:51.680
Jacqueline Harvey: Just like to you, my.

574
00:52:51.900 --> 00:52:52.300
John Larkin: Why should?

575
00:52:52.300 --> 00:53:07.189
Rachel Spratt: Is really good, like you'll get in a 50 min. Stand up, show like, just relax and enjoy it. You know you're not having to teach. You're not in the focus. Just relax, enjoy it. It's there's way, worse ways. You could spend 50 min.

576
00:53:08.030 --> 00:53:08.600
John Larkin: I mean.

577
00:53:08.600 --> 00:53:09.900
Tim Harris: But one of the 1st offices.

578
00:53:09.900 --> 00:53:13.689
John Larkin: Scary school. I'll tell you all off air okay. So not to go there.

579
00:53:13.960 --> 00:53:14.849
Jacqueline Harvey: I like.

580
00:53:14.850 --> 00:53:16.610
John Larkin: Do you gotta do it for 10 grand.

581
00:53:17.257 --> 00:53:18.552
Jacqueline Harvey: Okay. Okay.

582
00:53:19.200 --> 00:53:20.340
John Larkin: Year. I'll do it for that.

583
00:53:21.290 --> 00:53:23.583
John Larkin: I've done it. Been there, got the T-shirt.

584
00:53:24.490 --> 00:53:25.109
Jacqueline Harvey: Oh!

585
00:53:25.110 --> 00:53:28.420
Rachel Spratt: Wouldn't that be good if there were T-shirts, for, like the Horror schools

586
00:53:28.840 --> 00:53:29.229
Rachel Spratt: like a.

587
00:53:29.230 --> 00:53:29.710
John Larkin: Like it's.

588
00:53:29.710 --> 00:53:34.149
Rachel Spratt: Taylor Swift. Era's t-shirt like on the back. You know I survive.

589
00:53:35.810 --> 00:53:39.200
Jacqueline Harvey: Yeah, been there done that, and I so, and I'm still alive, you know. Been there done.

590
00:53:39.536 --> 00:53:41.219
Rachel Spratt: That asked to never return.

591
00:53:43.470 --> 00:53:44.510
Jacqueline Harvey: And on that note.

592
00:53:44.770 --> 00:53:46.560
Rachel Spratt: Sorry. Yeah. And you are.

593
00:53:46.560 --> 00:53:47.040
Jacqueline Harvey: Get rich.

594
00:53:47.040 --> 00:53:49.349
Rachel Spratt: Yeah, no, my asthma's just really been.

595
00:53:49.350 --> 00:53:49.749
Jacqueline Harvey: I was like.

596
00:53:49.750 --> 00:54:05.250
Rachel Spratt: I figured out how to use the mute button so hopefully that didn't affect things too much. Alright. Well, thank you so much, John, for joining us alright. Well, that's it for this week. If you want to find out any more about any of us, you can look at our websites. That's probably the best way. So I'm at Rapp, Com Jackie.

597
00:54:05.480 --> 00:54:07.860
Jacqueline Harvey: I'm at Jacqueline harvey.com that are you?

598
00:54:07.860 --> 00:54:08.890
Rachel Spratt: Tim work with.

599
00:54:08.890 --> 00:54:11.349
Tim Harris: Tim Tim Harris books.com.

600
00:54:11.350 --> 00:54:14.639
Rachel Spratt: Now, John, do you know your website? Do you have a website?

601
00:54:14.640 --> 00:54:20.445
John Larkin: I'm more your laid back under the radar kind of author, so you can.

602
00:54:20.860 --> 00:54:21.760
Rachel Spratt: Signals.

603
00:54:21.760 --> 00:54:24.029
John Larkin: Stoke me. No, don't stop me!

604
00:54:24.030 --> 00:54:24.830
Jacqueline Harvey: No.

605
00:54:25.250 --> 00:54:25.670
Rachel Spratt: Media.

606
00:54:25.670 --> 00:54:27.729
John Larkin: I tried. No, I know I

607
00:54:28.330 --> 00:54:31.399
John Larkin: really try to avoid contact with people.

608
00:54:32.291 --> 00:54:36.340
Tim Harris: So you can find me@www.big as books.com.

609
00:54:36.610 --> 00:54:38.459
Rachel Spratt: Write to your publisher. Maybe.

610
00:54:38.460 --> 00:54:42.680
John Larkin: Write to me via my publisher, and I will answer all letters via my publisher.

611
00:54:42.680 --> 00:54:46.260
Jacqueline Harvey: And your publishers lately are. Are you with Walker and with.

612
00:54:46.410 --> 00:54:46.860
John Larkin: Good and like.

613
00:54:46.860 --> 00:54:48.289
Jacqueline Harvey: American larvin hills.

614
00:54:48.290 --> 00:54:48.929
John Larkin: Second, yeah.

615
00:54:49.178 --> 00:54:53.650
Rachel Spratt: There you go! That's a funny thing about us. Authors is like there's different degrees of how much.

616
00:54:53.860 --> 00:54:54.780
Jacqueline Harvey: How much you.

617
00:54:54.780 --> 00:55:23.599
Rachel Spratt: You gotta understand that we get inundated with people trying to contact us all the time, and it's kinda hard to keep up with. And oftentimes we do wanna keep up with it. But when you get in Instagram messages, Facebook messages, emails, physical letters, things slip through, plus which is crazy, busy people. So if you do reach out to us and we don't get back to you, we apologize in advance. We're trying our best end of the day. What you want us to be doing is writing books. So if we focus on that that's what we should be doing.

618
00:55:23.600 --> 00:55:24.430
John Larkin: So alright! Well.

619
00:55:24.430 --> 00:55:28.020
Rachel Spratt: Well, that's it, for now until next time. Goodbye.

620
00:55:28.020 --> 00:55:28.920
Jacqueline Harvey: Bye.

621
00:55:28.920 --> 00:55:30.570
Rachel Spratt: Alright. Well, thank you so much.

622
00:55:30.570 --> 00:55:34.673
Jacqueline Harvey: Alright. Now now, John, you can tell us, cause we're even though we're still recording Rachel.

623
00:55:35.249 --> 00:55:38.119
Rachel Spratt: Recording, for I'll stop the recording so John can.

624
00:55:38.510 --> 00:55:39.540
Jacqueline Harvey: Tell us yours.

625
00:55:39.540 --> 00:55:39.899
Tim Harris: Out of the.