CAIRO - This is very embarrassing. Just like Britney Spears said, “Oops I Did It Again”. This is not my first time to make the same mistake. Despite a slight difference, the result is the same. The first incident was when I was interviewing someone over the phone and I recorded the interview of course. After one hour, the cal was disconnected, so I dialled the number again, resumed the interview, but… forgot to press “record”. So of course the second half of the interview was not recorded. Now for the second time, which was a face to face interview… I have two cell phones and one of them is easier to use, so naturally I use it more especially in recording interviews. In the middle of our conversation, the battery died! I thought to myself “no problem. I'll just use the other phone” and I did. Days later, as I was working, I realised that the second part of the interview wasn't recorded on the other phone. So here I am feeling really bad not knowing what to say to the person I interviewed. I guess I will call and explain later, ask for forgiveness and schedule another meeting to finish the interview. I will explain what a fool I was. This reminds me of the Doobie Brothers' “What a Fool Believes”, which was a number one song in the United States back in days of yore… I've always wondered about that expression “days of yore”. It sounds very British to me. Would you like to have your five o'clock tea at two or at four o'clock? Who cares? Time is nothing but a number and maybe that is why I tend to keep missing my deadline all the time. From now on I'll try to send them tea on time. Back to the Doobie Brothers, who sang “but what a fool believes, he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away what seems to be is always better than nothing and nothing at all keeps sending him”. In that case, the “fool” is the one who did not record part of the interview and ended up with “nothing and nothing at all”. Of course this “keeps sending him” back to the artist to beg for mercy… and the rest of the story. Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees had a few solo albums and some hit singles as well. One of them was hugely successful in Egypt in the days of bore… What? I didn't say “yore”, just to prove that I'm not repeating myself. That Robin song is “Like a Fool”. In my case there shouldn't be “like”, it should just be “a fool”. Probably I will never find a better song to describe the state I'm in now… and it is not the State of California so don't make any jokes please. Robin said many things that suit my situation. I'll start with “I'm so afraid without you”, which is what I should tell the artist and then maybe he will sympathise with me. Or would it be better to say “Will I survive without you? Like a fool I was waiting, like a fool for you to come back, like a fool I was standing alone in the rain? “I guess rain in July would not make sense. Maybe the bars “streets without pity, I search for a sign, I keep running into the night but I'm still lost without you” will work. A sign, an interview, anything! In days of Thor, Frankie Lymon asked a very interesting question, which was later asked by a few artists including Diana Ross. The question was “to be or not to be”. You have probably read this before in one of my very famous plays called “Omelet”. What? You don't read menus? It's your loss. But don't say I didn't tell you “if omelet be the food of stomach eat on”. I think Frankie's question was slightly different… he asked “Why Do Fools Fall in Love?” and the answer is quite simple but being the fool I am, I can't answer it myself. You can go ask Elvis Presley's friends. He said “wise men say only fools rush in” on his epic “Can't Help Falling in Love with You”. These wise men know a lot and that includes interview recording methods on cell phones. I'm sure they are also IT mangers somewhere. Ladies and gentlemen, Elvis has left the building… but the Beatles are here. I guess no-one will leave now. The must be here to sing “Fool on the Hill”. Thank you. So I was serenaded by the Beatles. They must have been talking about me when they said “but nobody wants to know him, they can see that he's just a fool and he never gives an answer”. What kind of answer do you need? I just didn't record it! Happy? George Michael went to the extreme and told us about “Kissing a Fool”, but I guess the artist wouldn't consider that and… bearing in mind that he's a male artist I think I'd rather pass, thank you very much. Have I mentioned the Bee Gees? Only Robin? That is one out of three so it doesn't count. I'll make it up to you by throwing in the young brother Andy Gibb, who had a song called “Fool for a Night”. I wish I were a fool for just one night, but as the song goes, “And if you run away you can't escape from the price you pay, oh no and when you realize nobody else will care”. This is very true… no matter how I try to run away, there is a price I have to pay and still some will care about the article… including the Egyptian Mail staff! Anyway… It's time for me to leave before I forget to or something. I'm not good at anything. I'll just go drown in my tears. Send me voice recorders to: [email protected]
