The News1130 Morning Show marks the summer solstice

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – It is the longest day of the year, with the summer solstice at 4:09 p.m. today, and if you’re up with us, you get to see the horizon getting light well before 4 a.m.

News1130 is taking a look at how Vancouver’s earliest morning show gets started before going to air with a smile at 5 a.m.

When is bedtime the night before?

Morning Anchor Reaon Ford: “If I want to be responsible, refreshed and well rested for my morning show gig, I get to bed somewhere around 6:30 at night. I’m pretty regimented about because if I don’t get my full eight hours, I’m going to really regret it in the morning. As much as it pains me to go to bed while the sun is still shining and normal people are just sitting down to dinner, you kinda gotta do it.”

Reporter John Ackermann: “Actually I have two bedtimes. When I get home from work, I try to have a nap by 2 p.m. and then I try to get bed again by 8 p.m. So, not only do I have the bedtime of a seven-year-old, I also have the bedtime of an 18-month-old.”

Traffic Reporter Sabeen Habib: “I tell myself I have to be in bed by 9 p.m. but I don’t usually do it until 10:30 or 11 p.m. Then I just pretend I’ve slept for a bit and act like a zombie for the rest of the day.”

Web Editor Denise Wong: “I usually take a nap in the afternoon. I’m a big fan of dozing off on the couch for a power nap. Then I get a measly three hours of sleep that night.”

Looking around the table at the morning editorial meeting, breakfast ranges from last night’s leftovers to fruit and granola to a fully loaded fast food burger and fries. But how much do you rely on coffee to fuel your morning?

Ackermann: “I don’t drink coffee. I delude myself into thinking orange juice has caffeine in it.”

Ford: “I can’t drink coffee. I just don’t like it. You’d think that would be death in morning radio but you just have to find another delivery method for your caffeine. I go with a big cup of diet cola.”

Habib: “Not a lot. I just have one latte or one cup of coffee a day. Not bad. That’s all I need.”

Wong: “I make cinnamon-flavoured coffee at home. If I forget or I don’t have time, I really miss it and I get kind of grumpy.”

Sports Reporter Rick Dhaliwal: “Coffee, absolutely! Two to three cups a morning, depending on anyone making fresh coffee. Otherwise I just drink the bad stuff. It’s the only thing that gets me through. But no sugar, no sugar, no sugar! ‘Cause you know me: With sugar, it’s a bad scene.” (Yeah, we wouldn’t want Rick to get all loud and hyper)

Amanda down the hall at SONiC FM: “I do rely on it. I have a cup before I leave the house in the morning and then I bring a mug with me. But that’s probably good for the day.”

Who’s your favourite Breakfast Club character?

Ford: “I don’t remember their characters’ names but  Molly Ringwald and Ally Sheedy were both pretty hot in those days.”

Wong: “Molly Ringwald or Emilio Estevez. They’re the only actors from that movie I can remember!”

Ackermann: “Uh… what does that have to do with anything?”

Habib: “I don’t remember their names!”

Dhaliwal: “Breakfast Club? That was 30 frickin’ years ago Lloyd, ya freak show!!”
    
Amanda: “What’s a Breakfast Club? Oh, wait… the redheaded one!”