Popularity

We hear a lot of certain things "going viral" , but I was wondering what makes something popular these days. Most of the posts on this blog get around 50 hits. The highest ones are between 1-2K and some have none. I don't know how many are robots and know that two or three friends read regularly. Though I seldom get any comments on here which makes me think maybe 90 % are robots. I think I've had maybe for or five comments since the blog started.

Recently I heard of some work experience person going viral on Southern Rail. I read his tweets and to be quite honest they were nothing special, but the public seemed to love it. Remember this is someone on work experience at a company that treats it's customers like cattle and yet those customers like X-Factor viewers just take whatever they are fed my their media choice.

So I haven't a clue what makes something popular. A huge media presence helps, talent and ability and fitness for purpose less so. Remember VHS smashed Betamax despite the latter being the better format.

The Internet and modern communications mean that any idea can become viral and therefore popular. I believe the Daily Mail has the most visited media website going, showing the amount of small minded people who are spoonfed the hate and drivel.

I'm sorry this has rambled in no particular direction, but one thing technology has given us is a chance to deal with the media dominated order. Any can become a star , they just need to be in the right place at the right time and have things drop for them. This may sound cynical but it really is just the way things are.

Anyway I hope I have made you think a bit.

I should include a song but what else should I choose but David Bowie's "Fame" . There was a man who worked hard through many failures to achieve his niche in the modern psyche. He went through name changes , images changes , a perpetual cultural and visual chameleon.

Not Getting Art and Music

I can't believe it's a week since my last post, it's amazing how time can just fly away. I had my annual diabetic review on Monday thinking I had done OK having lost 6Kg , reduced my insulin intake by 30% and improved my three month blood sugar reading (H1C ? ) , the consultant was unusual in that they seemed to want to find something to berate me so told me I was still overweight and if I hadn't reduced my nsulin the my H1C might have been better. How motiovational is that?

Part of the reason for the improvement is my Million Step Challenge , and general walking . I'm at 850K so am going to hit my target, and when I've completed it I will set a target of 350K a month for the future.

I've also got problems with drains so that may be an insurance claims as it may be a rogue tree root that's the cause of the problem. Again that takes time out of your day to sort out.

Yesterday morning on my walk to work the music that came on was Van Der Graaf Generator "Mr Sands" and "Splinter" , plus Peter Hamill's "Gaia" and Genesis' "Harlequin" not exactly inspirational listening but better that Radio One and it wasn't exactly lifting my mood, then walking down Barrack Road Half Man Half Biscuit's "Eno Collaboration" from "Voyage To The Bottom of the Road"came on. That did lift my mood and really set me up for the day.

Fur lunch I sampled some Thai Potato at Wildflower and I am really tempted to to have it again today. The day went well.

After work I visited "You’re Reading Into It: Queering Contemporary Minimalism"at Art Event at VANE which I didn't even know existed, curated by Oliver Doe , a really nice guy wearing a totally amazing suit. I was speaking to a girl who came in because she'd finished work and was also a fan of Wildflower, but said she didn't get  Art. I said my opinion was that if it had an effect the Art worked, that was the point of it. I took a couple of instagram videos which you can see here, but I suggest you get along and visit. It's a brilliant Art space and this is an excellent exhibitions.

So the song that set up my day is the one you get.

Have a good Thursday everyone.

Losing It

It's weird, you lose something, you go through all the scenarios of where and how you could have lost it, eventually give up and know that it's just lost, think about replacing it, but it isn't a life or death thing, so it slowly slips from your mind and thoughts. Then your friend Lynn texts you to ask if you are going to see The Coyotemen tomorrow night at The Doll at The Black Bull (They're supporting CBGBs royalty The FleshTones , you pull on your "Lawyers, Guns and Money" T-Shirt , grab the black denim jacket for a change, there's something heavy in the pocket, well heavier that normal , you fumble in your pocket and there is your lost camera complete with Pirate Ship video from Whitby.

The night got better, I met my mate Tom and we talked proper computing with testing, and nailing down specifications while dissing "Agile" "RAD" and "OO" before spilling my coke by placing it on a cunningly sloped table and finding out I'd missed a Garage Band festival in Leith by about fifty yards.

Anyway I hadn't written for a bit but thought it's never a good idea to give up hope, even when you've forgotten about what you had given up hope on. On Monday I hit my annual diabetic review having reduced my daily insulin intake by more than 50% basically thanks to walking, hopefully they will send me away with a gold star. I am 80% complete on the Million Step Challenge and when that is complete I intend to keep up at least 10K steps a day.

I was wondering if I could write 100 words tonight. I think I have, though not been too active in July, but we are only seven days in.

Tees With Stripes

I'm feeling like I'm about to drop and, it's funny how a post from your neighbour can remind you of something. Basically just a post about striped T-Shirts that reminded me of my favourite striped t-shirt wearer, Alex Harvey , Glaswegian Master Showman and rocker, who I saw maybe five times before he died (he was a lot younger than I am now, and the band still tour with a stand in for Alex and Zal Cleminson gets scarier as he ages disgracefully , as one should). So you get their excellent "Boston Tea Party".

I'm just back from Edinburgh and despite it being a joint capital, it is a remarkably pleasant place for just walking round, although it is veritably infested with suitcase pullers, at all times of day and night.

I wanted to visit some of the many record shops, and while I found at least five, And did nip into FOPP , the only one I got into was "Unknown Pleasures" on Canongate (which goes into the Royal Mile). It's chock full of vinyl and T-Shirts and I got myself a bit of vinyl. The guys who work there are great, really helpful and knowledgeable and here's my Instagram visit.

I don't know if I am suffering from the distances I walked in Edinburgh , or I am just decrepit and completely unfit for any kind of physical exertion, but we shall see.

OK Time for bed methinks.

Forever

I have some contact lens fluid. A couple of weeks ago it was virtually finished so I bought some more. Each day I use it and each it seeps like it's going to run out, but doesn't, I feel that it's going to go on forever. It's funny how that happens with some things , you think they are finished but they keep going on (like a Take That record or Peter Jackson's take on Tolkein's The Return of The King)

I can't see an end to my medication (until I shuffle off my mortal coil), but my walking is helping a slight weight loss which in turn has allowed me to reduce my insulin intake by 30% (and that in turn will help me lose more weight) but I am still a massive 30Kg overweight and morbidly obese and I know if you asked me to carry 30Kg any distance I would know I had been carrying something.

Still enjoying Rob Young's Electric Eden and found a sort of sad coincidence that resulted in the gestation of two amazing albums, Fairport Convention's "Liege and Lief" and The Band's "Music From Big Pink". Fairport's album was the band's recovery after a horrific crash resulting in the death of drummer Martin Lamble, which affected the band but they spent a summer in a country retreat which gave us the album that was the flagship genesis of English Folk Rock.

The Band had been backing Bob Dylan who was involved in a serious motorcycle accident so the band retreated to a secluded pink house (hence the title to produce an album of seminal Americana by a band led by a Canadian).

However the song I am going to include is Roy Harper's "Forever" as that was the thought that inspired this post, and he is a major figure in English Folk Rock. Have a wonderful Tuesday everybody.

Where Did That Weekend Go?

It's ten o' clock Sunday Night and another weekend where I feel like I've done nothing when I should have done stuff. Friends have been at Glastonbury, and I've just been here. I watched some of the Glastonbury footage on TV.

On Saturday I hardly did much walking , a mere 7.5K steps so I feel incredibly lazy.... and it's work tomorrow.

But yesterday I mowed the lawn and cut back a tree in the garden (still need to dispose of that). I managed to get my recording stuff working using Audacity and my Digitech guitar processor. Then my old laptop died, so I had to kill it properly with a lump hammer before ordering a replacement and setting that up.

Today I did of 15K steps and am now 40K steps ahead of the game almost 2/3 complete on the Million Step Challenge, taking in some video from Cow Hill (where there a lot of Cows , and I could see the full extent of the Hoppings, so Instagram stuff here)

Then my catch up TV included "Lemmy", "American Gods", "Doctor Who", documentaries on Heavy Metal and David Bowie, "Ripper Street" and The Jo Cox "Last Leg Special" which was incredibly uplifting with even Tony Blair and David Cameron being OK ...

So all though I've been pretty anti social (as usual) I have actually done quite a lot this weekend. So maybe I am being a little hard on myself.

While I was walking today Half Man Half Biscuit's "Asparagus Next Left" came on and was followed by another song , which I though was them again, but was actually David Bowie's "Dancing Out In Space" from "The Next Day". Two great songs, so I'll include both of them.

Sleep well my friends

Wooden Heresy

Reading Rob Young's "Electric Eden" I'm discovering a lot of interesting things.

Christian rituals apparently don't allow the use of wooden vessels as it is too close to the "pagan" rituals from which they were appropriated. Wood was seen as a vital living spiritual essential in pre Christian Britain. It provided fire , material for weapons, homes , utensils, and was alive and grew and was all around. Omnipresent ... remind you of anything?

Then it got on to human sacrifice, in early times the top dog / king / leader was sacrificed to the gods to ensure a good harvest. So being to leader of the tribe was not exactly a career move with a future. As time progressed slaves / captors were substituted (obviously someone didn't fancy being offed themselves) and when the Romans came human sacrifice was outlawed and animals replaced humans under the sacrificial knife.

Today this has become to Sunday Christian Ritual and Harvest Festival but it's roots are in the human sacrifice practiced by people who came up with the idea that killing the top dog might be beneficial to the community. While I'm not an advocate of extremes putting the Prime Minister out to pasture would be a great idea at the moment, but she's hardly an inspirational or even competent leader, the gods would not be happy with her.

And I suppose this is all leading up to talking about faith which can be very dangerous. Actions being based on arbitrary directions from an unproven source.

I have faith that the sun will rise, that a light will come on when I press a switch, that a letter will appear on my screen when I touch that letter on my keyboard, that my bus will turn up on time (sometimes), because I know there are mechanisms behind it that will cause it to happen. But as for God (well I follow him on Facebook and Instagram) but I have not seen any evidence of God's existence. God may exist but God's existence for me is decidedly unproven, but I am agnostic.

Anyway the song has to be George Michael's "Faith". It's Friday, the weekend is here, and Glastonbury is going to be all over the BBC this weekend and there are some good bands on, and you can watch them on your big telly.