The Robert Lane club

3 more people called Robert Lane join the club. This is starting to take over the entire blog...

#8 Fishy Robert Lane ("My lady and me are going to eat well tonight"












#9 Stoner rock Robert Lane (" da da da da da da da bowwowwowowwow")



















#10 Wrestler Robert Lane ("do you like my belt?")

One more

Just one more of my namesakes because I just found this one, and LITERALLY wet myself laughing.
#7: Dancing Robert Lane ("La la la la la la la la la la cha cha cha")

More of us

I think it's time for a few more of my namesakes:

#4. Teenage Robert Lane ("I'll see you at the crossroads, crossroads, crossroads..."



















#5. Clever looking Robert Lane ("Come over to mine and we can discuss Bronte...")













#6. Beardy Robert Lane ("Would you like to see my fancy dress wardrobe?")

Addendum

I've been told off, and quite rightly, possibly, maybe. I was told I missed my own point in my last post, and I'm beginning to agree and think I misquoted myself. Maybe I've been talked round, but I think I'm talking myself round, if you see what I mean.

So what did I mean? Well, possibly that I have a desire to be a good journalist, but less desire to work nationally and schmooze with media darlings. Is that what I mean? Probably not, I love schmoozing and have been perfecting my schmooze of late.

I don't know, it's late (you'll have to take my work for it, since times of blogs seem to be as predictable as a pregnant David Lynch film on acid (is that a better analogy?)), and I'm too busy looking for my missing public admin notes.

Anyway, the conclusion is don't take the last post as gospel. Use Matthew, Mark, Luke and John for that.

Nearly, but not quite.

I've got lazy of late in my blogging, maybe I'd be more keen if someone was paying me. Or, maybe not. Anyway, yesterday we had the pleasure of a Q&A with Alex Thompson, who did two things: firstly, he reminded me that a good deal of journalism is confidence. And secondly, he made me feel guilty for my lack of ambition.

On the confidence front, while he seems to be able to naturally control an interview, for me it's something that comes and goes depending on what kind of mood I'm in, how hungry I am and what the weather's like. Maybe it's something AT has worked on, but I suspect not. Perhaps that's what separates the great from the good. He seems to have natural confidence all the time, whereas mine is as predictable as a heavily pregnant woman.

I feel I should also say that AT weakened the theory I've heard that the people at the top are there through thinking they're good rather than being good. He clearly understands the industry and his audience far more than most journalists. Incidentally, Alex Thompson will be marking my work later in the year, so being a sycophant is my duty and joy.

As regards ambition, I found myself slumping down and hiding in my chair with embaressment as he began to talk about finding your focus and going for it. I think he envisaged us all going for his job, or something similar.

My current ambition is to find a nice job at a nice radio station in a nice part of the country with nice people. Once I get bored of that I plan to slide into production, or a press office or something similar and live as normal a life as I can manage in journalism.

Alex Thompson made me lust for a working week where I interview a hard-assed cabinet minister on Monday, dodge bullets in Basra on Tuesday and then trek across Uzbekistan for four days to get a story for the weekend. But then reality returned and I realised I don't much like London and I don't really want to be shot at.

So my plans haven't changed yet, but Alex Thompson's rousing speech was the closest thing yet to making me change my mind and set my ambitions on being Editor of Newsnight, rather than being a reporter at BBC Somewhere.