The Proclaimers

October 2009
My Weekend: Charlie Reid

THIS weekend I'll be working, as we're playing in Nottingham, then Southampton tomorrow and Exeter on Sunday.
When we're around the country I will see what's going on. Maybe have a stroll around a local castle or a stately home or see a football match – just something that breaks up the day, so I can say that I did something while I was there.
When I'm not touring, my Friday night will start with a dinner around the table with my family.
I really like just sitting around the dining table and talking for a couple of hours. I believe in it. Obviously, after three-quarters of an hour, the kids disappear to their computers and you don't see them for the rest of the evening but at least you make the effort to engage them in conversation.
They don't watch much TV, apart from football or maybe the X-Factor. It's generally the computer and I think it's killing TV.
I have three kids. My eldest boy lives in Inverness and he's in his last year at university.
The youngest is still at school and the other is in his lead-up year to university, where he'll be doing engineering.
We'd also get my mother round to the house on Friday night or go and see her.
My dad died about a dozen years ago now and she's on her own but she keeps pretty good.
Then I'll maybe take the dogs out for a walk.
On Saturday morning, I'll go for a run. I try to get out three or four times a week and run three or four miles. The knees and the ankles play up if I do it every day. With the type of job I do, it's not like an athletic level of fitness you need but you do need a lot of puff when you do a performance. And running is best for that.
I'll also take my youngest boy to judo. We go to the occasional gig because he's really into his music. The older two are more into football and we'll go and watch Hibernian. We all have season tickets but I tend not to use mine so much because I'm never there.
Saturday night we'll go out for a meal or watch the TV or a DVD. I like good comedy, like Phoenix Nights or The Office, or a good drama. I do watch the news channels and I'll keep them on whether I'm at home or in a hotel somewhere.
In America, I watch Fox News just for the entertainment value – it's so far to the right. There's that guy Glenn Beck, he's like some crazed preacher. You laugh and then realise some people actually watch it as a news programme.
It's like watching Star Trek as a science programme.