Contactless

Contactless Reciept

Pasties on Credit!!

Used my contactless card for the first time today in a McDonalds Drive Thru. It's far too easy and efficient . My god if a Charver got hold of it , he could have a field day , Gregg's , McDonalds Labrini - thi list is luckily limited.

Still worrying you don't have to even sign or PIN anything!!

Heart As Big As Liverpool

Just visited Liverpool for the first time in ten years ,and the place is looking very well , though suffering from a dearth of decent record shops.. Probe is still going in a natty location next to the Bluecoat Chambers. This has given me the excuse to include mine and John Peel's two favourite songs about the place. First up is Pete Wylie's "Heart As Big As Liverpool" , this excellent video would have met with Mr Ravenscrofts Approval I'm sure:
Watch it here
Another one:



2nd is Amsterdam's "Does This Train Stop On Merseyside" , and wonderful song and I've included Ian Prowse' solo rendition at The Anglican Cathedral followed by a documentary about the song. The album is well worth buying as is anything by his previous band Pele!!:



And Here's The Documentary:

Get The Picture?

Holiday Sunset

It's not that long ago that advances in photography , to me , was a 36 picture film reel , which I took my pictures on , hoped they'd turn out ok , then happily drop them into Boots or Jessops , or Max Spielman's and then wait a couple of weeks to see the results. Then you could also get them put onto CD which was really impressive. To get a digital camera that came anywhere near your common or garden film camera would set you back the best part of a grand.

Two Horses

Nowadays you can pick up very good digital cameras for around £50 and get the instannt gratification of seeing immediate results, and the luxury of discarding the rubbish. Last week I took 175 photographs and videos which took up a gigabyte of storage . i cand sift through and adjust , picking oout the best ones, or what I think are the best.





However I really don't know what I'm doing , it's a case of point and hope for the best. Professional photographers know what they are doing , and are able to guarantee the best results whereas I just hope for the best. Mark Johnson is and excelelnt example of someone who know's what he's doing and examples of  his work can be found on his website www.shineyblack.co.uk.

Ed Alleyne Johnson - Legend

I was in Chester today , thought I'd wander round and see if I could find an independent record shop. They have an HMV but so does everywhere else. Anyway, heard The Who's Baba O' Reilly playing , but it sounded different. Turns out it was a street violinist , and he was amazing . On closer inspection noticed he had a CD for sale , then noticed the name. Ed Alleyne Johnson of New Model Army fame , as well as a slew of amazing solo albums, Ultraviolet is part of my collection.

Ed Alleyne Johnson - Superb

Had a crack on with him , bought the new CD Arpeggio. then took the video below. There's a lot of his stuff on youtube, but if you get the chance see him, if not buy the albums, Enjoy!!

Mathew Street - L2

Yellow Submarine in Cavern Walks

Beatle Boots For Sale

In the middle of the Mathew Street redevelopment in Liverpool is the Cavern Walks shopping area , which is a lot better than I imagined , with some boutiques , eateries a couple of Yellow Submarines and a Beatles display naturally, I was expecting something quite horrible , but one of the cafes was even serving "scouse", which is good.

Gold Disc Wall

In Mathew (I sure it should have 2 "t"s) Street itself you have the new Cavern Club , the site of the old one , a Beatles shop , more displays and two very good wall installations. The first is a display of all the number ones achieved by Liverpool bands , in the form of gold discs , unfortunately though you get The Beatles and Frankie Goes To Hollywood , you also get Atomic Kitten!!

A section of the name Wall

The Beatles Bit

The second is a very simple idea , but still a brilliant installation , it's a wall and every brick is engraved with the name of a band that's played there , The Beatles themselves receiving individual name checks . A slight sour note on this , they have a gold plaque detail two acts who had their bricks removed , it would have been better to remove the bricks and say nothing. Well worth a visit for anyone with even a cursory interest in pop music history.

Is Ted Baker A Scouser?

Was Probe - Now Ted Baker

Ted Baker Customers aren't that bright

Just visited Liverpool for the first time in 30 years and was a little surprised to see the old Probe Records site was now a Ted Baker shop. This was on top of Littlewoods metamorphosing into Primark!! On further wanderings Ted Baker seemed to be everywhere , shops , concessions , advertising you name it , which begs the question is Ted Baker a scouser.

Obviously the clothes are de riguer for you average charver or scally,

The new Probe

Happily I found Probe were still thriving at a site next to the Bluecoat Chambers , so all was not lost.

Survival Sunday - Quite Incredible

An amazing last day in the Premiership, West Ham were deservedly relegated , nothing that Trevor Brooking could do this season , also Birmingham have gone down another club with dodgy overseas owner though I feel for Alex McLeish. Blackpool went as well , they've been a breath of fresh air but the Premiership doesnt deserve such an entertaining side.

Manchester City got third place after Arsenal self destructed.

Manchester United took their 19th Title as a precursor to next Saturday's Champions League final at Wembley against Barcelona. Roll on next season.....

Eurovision - Youre A Kidding

Suddenly it's Eurovision night again. In recent years we've lost Terry Wogan , due to the continued block voting of the Eastern Bloc countries , so have gained Graham Norton , which will be entertaining. Apparently voting has been changed to make results a little less predicatable , with France in with a good chance , and the UK represented by Blue.

The other thing that has made it less entertaining is the insistence of artists singing in English. What we want is singing in the native language , so we can laugh at the dodgy translations on teletext or whatever the new digital equivalent is!!

I somehow doubt we'll see a new Abba , but , hopefully it should be fun. Oh aye and Ireland have Jedward . I'd still rather have "My Lovely Horse"!!

Modern Music Is Rubbish

Or is it? I buy and listen to a lot of music and people tend to regard the stuff they get into between the ages of 14-18 as the classics. I've for the opinion that 95% is rubbish whenever you listen to music , and the 95% is usually the staple of local / commercial radio . However I was sort of surprised to see there's currently five albums released which I have to buy. Two of these are compilations , so I don't know whether they count , but what the hell.

Having said that we've already had "Let England Shake" by Polly Jean Harvey , and awesome album musing on war and it's consequences , then Noah and The Whale's "Last Night On Earth" a superlative album about coming out of the heartbreak of a break up , Wire's "Red Barked Tree" whic is , well classic Wire , purchased from the amazing Folk Devils in Whitby .I can't comment on the new albums but think that everyon in this list is worthy of your attention , all on the carousel at the top of this post. Listen and enjoy , and I reckon that music is still as vibrant as ever:

• Let England Shake - PJ Harvey
• Red Barked Tree - Wire
• Last Night On Earth - Noah and The Whale
• Catching A Tiger - Lissie (2010 but just found it )
• Rome - Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi
• Let Them Talk - Hugh Laurie
• Essential - Martin Carthy
• The Good The Bad and The Dread - Dreadzone

Money - that's What I Want

"If you want to know what God thinks of Money , look at the sort of people he gave it to" - Dorothy Parker




Another short post after just reading about money in general and how important it is to our society.
Also how the top money people are seemingly bulletproof against any outside organisation.
If you average man in the street ends up owing more than he can afford to pay , whether though outside forces or his own mismanagement - banks can take his house, goods whatever and he can even lose his job , which is his way of generating money.

A recent court case jailed a guy for insider trading , can't say I have a problem with that.

Yet with the banks through own , greed and mismanagement (selling mortgages to people who couldnt pay back the loans etc), effectively go bankrupt they are bailed out governments , as the financial system cant be jeopardised.

Then they have the gall to to award themselves bonusses and in the case of RBS / Halifax spend YOUR money on those atrocious adverts.

I don't know what I would have done , but if we own the banks cant we do something about it?

"Wealth is more desireable than poverty, if only for financial reasons"
- Woody Allen

The Times Rich List

What is it with lists and the obsession with peoples money. Most rich people have had the money given to them on a plate in one way or another , politicians, wide boy bankers , some royals and eastern bloc bankers spring to mind. There are a few multi millionaires I do respect though , who have got their riches by hard work and a big slice of luck . Luck does play a huge part in success, but hard work , planning , acumen have to be in there.

So the people I do have time for are Richard Branson and Chris Blackwell who started importing specialist records and kicked onwards and upward with their Virgin and Island imprints. Alan Sugar who made his fortune with Amstrad and is now a media personality , though I don't think the Apprentice represent the real Mr Sugar. The there's Felix Dennis , publisher and poet and finally George Soros who knows markets inside out and makes his money exploiting flaws in the system.

The Football Season Draws To A Close

Yesterday The Championship , Leagues One and Two and the rest completed their programmes. Preston were reelgated two weeks ago by a combination of bad luck , bad refereeing  in their last games on Phil Brown and bad management under Darren Ferguson . To be fair Darren cleared out the dross , gave youth a chance , brought in some good players and presided over one of the greatest nights in North End's history in the magnificent 6-4 defeat of Leeds . Would I give away that to stay up? My answer is no because that night will be etched in every North End fan's memory forever.

The other thing is , given who is coming down from the Premiership , West Ham and possibly Wolves , Wigan , Birmingham or Blackburn , the Championship will be even more difficult next season , so League One football give's Preston a chance to regroup , get back to winning ways and maybe even win League One.

The Premiership kicks off with Wolves against Adrian Chiles' beloved West Brom who are effectively though not mathematically safe from relegaton . That should be a hell of a black country derby!!  Arsenal then visit Stoke , with Aaron Ramsey set to play on the ground where his leg was broken. Arsenal could mathematically still be champions if Manchester United and Chelsea manage to screw up their run ins , and they meet  in the final match of the day , awin for United all but sealing their hold on the title , while a win for the Chelsea blows it wide open and will put them top. Arsene Wenger would probably prefer a draw , but he still has the menace of the visit to the britannia Stadium to contend with.....

Foo Connection

Was talking with a friend about the Foo Fighters and telling her how good they actually were , though sh aint a fan of Nirvana. Anyway just thought of how Learn To Fly and Wheels remeinded of Tom Petty's Learning to Fly . See what you think!!

Foo Fighters: Learn To Fly



Foo Fighters: Wheels



Tom Petty: Learning To Fly




Enjoy - I do!!

Kindle vs Paper - Round 1

This is a short post , basically a joke my mate Chris (the author of the Ape of Wrath blog) told me that he heard in a Comedy Club:

 

Suit on train platform with his attache case , laptop bag (on trolley) , answers his mobile phone and drops his Kindle which hits the platform edge on and shatters into a million pieces. Guy next to him drops his paperback copy of "Great Expectations" , bends down , pick it up dusts it off , and says "No Damage Done!!"

Sill not convinced , and still like my paperbacks

Royal Wedding = Tat Explosion

Today one of Charles' lads (think it's William)  gets married to Kate Middleton . The gutter press have been going on about the fact that she is a "commoner" and the rules should be changed so that her daughtes can be queen , gawd bless 'em, completely missing the point that monarchty is totally about privilege and putting a barrier between the godlike royals and us mere proles. I mean if you start changing the rules , it'll become a total media freak show like X-Factor or I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here. Then you look and the whole sorry state and realise that William and Kate probably have almost little or no say in the wedding, just like the contestants on X-Fact. Simon Cowell come on down .........

The other thing is the amazing amount of tat that these events generate , destined to fill remainder bins for the next ten years. Just hope Kate and William have a long and happy marraige just like a fairy tale , really do wish the well , although the alternative is another rewrite of "Candle In The Wind" and that we could definitley do without !!

However you could celebrate the day with this cruise available from Groupon , that does show some taste

Contactless Cup Cakes

Today has been quite interesting. Was wondering whether to buy a new "thing" , came out of the shop and heard an unmistakeable sound down Northumberland Street. The magnificent Baghdaddies had graced us with their presence outside the defunct Mi-Shake shop next to Burger King. Watched them for ages , trying to spot a break , but their songs have more fals finishes than "The Return of The King". Anyway eventally heard a break and found they had a new CD out and they let me have a copy (for a tenner) , the snappily named "Dancylvania"



After that I went round the corner to the appropriately named "Cake" . And purchased several cup cakes , then noticed they had a "contactless" card thing . I have three cards that are supposedlt kitted out for this technology , however the lovely young lady behind the counter didnt even know they had it , and we coudnt get it to work . So we did the chip and pin , but I intend to go in next week and get "contactless on their ass"!!

A Phone With A 3D Camera

The new LG Optimus has two cameras that allow you to take 3D images. This is a gimmick obviously , but they keep yammering on about the 5 megapixel Cameras and nothing about the lenses . It's the lense that makes the camera , had a 1.3 megapixel Kodak Camera that outperformed a 5 megapixel camera. It's all in the lens.

Nokia produce the best cameras in phones , followed by Sony, so if you have to have one go for a Nokia . Problem is the rest of the phones arent up to much!!!

National Record Shop Day - 2011

This Saturday is National Record Shop Day , where wall the independent record shops put on events , record signings , sell limited special edition records , usually on vinyl , and have a good time. In Newcastle we still have the following that are worth visiting on the day:

• RPM (back of the Old George off the bigg Market)
• Reflex (Nunn Street part of the Grainger Market Building)

From Reflex's Page:

"REFLEX is once again proud to be involved with Record Store Day. On Saturday 16th April, we will be throwing our doors open at 8am (brought forward an hour early by the organisers) and offering up hundreds of exclusive records, CDs and memorablia, only available over the counter in Indie Record Shops across the UK.  All releases are only available in the shop on the day, no mail-orders will be taken and no pre-orders/reservations can be made.
There will be entertainment on offer including Mod new boys The Master Colony and others TBA, with guest DJs and refreshments available. Come and join us for what will prove to be a great day and get your hands on as much exclusive product as you can carry!"

Also try out

• Beatdown (Ridley Place)
• JG Windows (The wonderful Central Arcade)

And while your at it check out the excelelnt Groupon and you might get a cheap meal out or some other bargain!!

How Big Can A Tribute Be?

Just seen a couple of tributes listed coming to thw O2 Academy in Newcastle , Cash (Johnny Cash) and The Rising (Bruce Springsteen). It's only a few years back I was seeing Benwell Floyd at the Archer in Sandyford , but now The Australian Pink Floyd Show (no relation) are teh biggest tribute band in the world , lugging along with them Pink Floyd's official light show adapted for the Antipodeans.

With bands like Limehouse Lizzy , Black Rose  , Maiden England and Powerage (AC/DC)  , I wonder how long before one of these outdo the band that they are paying tribute to!!!

Oddbins My Favourite Wine Emporium

Went into Odbins today and they didnt have my wine of choice , given the "current situation" . Was shocked to hear they were in administration. Oddbins have long been my shop of choice for alcohol as they know their stuff and you can usually get what you want. They are percieved as maybe being a bit snooty but they are anything but , being friendly , knowledgeable and the only place I know where you can get a decent bottle of wine for less than a fiver (admittedly this range is small but what do you expect).

The problem is that supermarkets and big brands do cut price deals that eventually force smaller traders out of business/ Due you really want  your only choice for everything to be between Tesco and Asda?

First Day Out

Today was the first time I've taken the Advent Vega out since I bought it. The tablet is great but I seem unable to connect to my mobile internet , and can't download from Android Marketplace. I'm sure these problems will be ironed out in the near future. Still think it is a wonderful piece of kit. It's fast , easy to use and does the job , which is quite good for something these days. Will  keep you posted on it's progrss.

Groupon - Everyone Seems To Like It

When I first heard of Groupon I thought the idea was awkward and flawed , having to pay for a voucher then use the voucher to pay for goods. I did'nt use it at forst , but noticed that there were some very good offers. The concept is that you pay upfront for goods or service and get a significant discount for this, such as £20 worth of food for a fiver at As You Like It.


The concept was featured on the Jeremt Vine show and got unanimous thumbs up from customers and merchats alike. I've now used it four or five times and saved a fortune , think you could do the same...

My New Toy

Just bought myself an Advent Vega. Impressed so far, very nice toy. Connnects via wifi , very fast , android based , full internet browser , 10" for those who like it bigger and significantly cheaper than even an iPad 1.

Having said that the screen is covered in my grubby greasy finger marks, but it's easy to use and I've hardly touched the thing. Will try it as an e Reader and with a couple of apps , so will report back sporadically on it

Me and My Content Delivery Device (A Short History of Me & Mobile Phones)

About ten years ago my daughter forced on me an old Pay as you go Motorola phone, and through the years I eventually got a contract , a bike , and then became employed by my present company who provide me with a phone and pay my bill.

When I started I saw article that one of the big cheeses in Orange had hoped for a 25% take up of mobile phones by the population - at that time it was around  130% (a number of people have multiple phones , personal and business). Apart from being able to make calls , you can communicate by text, take photographs , send pictures , browse the internet and interact with social networks as well as playing music and watching video. The latter option could bring some truth to the phrase "It'll Make You Go Blind!!" as watching films of a certain kind on such a small screen cannot be good for your eyes!!

Thr rise of smart phones (big hitters being Apple / iPhone and Google's Android) mean that phones can do anything bar teleportation.. Apples main failing is that you need a PC with iTunes on but they do the job , though the iPad is a big iPhone you cant make calls on!!.

Anyway here's my progression:

• Samsung Tocco - My first touch screen phone - generally very good apart from the fact if you had the number pad on and put it to your ear it started pressing keys and cut you off.
• Nokia X6 - Nokia have great cameras but a terrible operating system and it wmanaged to wipe my contacts twice so it went in exchange for ..
• LG Chocolate - A Gorgeous Looking phone , absolutely brilliant until you switch it on!! This went in exchange for
• LG 505 - Worse than the Chocolate and without the looks
• Orange San Francisco - Android Phone , processor to slow , camera rubbish , but dirt cheap and brilliat in every other department - I do love this phone despite it's few drawbacks . Still have it and can't see anything I want to upgrade it for. Bought myself a tiny Panasonic camera to make up for the picture shortfall

I still can't believe how far mobiile phones have moved on since thefirst ones came out....

How Many Silver Shiny Things?

This week I've bought one or two CDs , I am a fan of music and always looking for new albums and decent compilations. This is what I bought that I can remember (only spent £50-£60):

• Aerosmith - Pandora's Box - 4 CDs
• Miles Davis & John Coltrane - The Complete Columbia Recordings - 6 CDs
• The Great Scottish Songbook - 5 CDs
• Steve Hackett - The Genesis Files - 2CDs
• Glasvegas - Euphoric /// Heartbreak \\\ - 1 CD and 1 7" Orange single
• Syd Barret - Introduduction , Jim Jones Revue - Burning Down Your House, Black Angels - Phosp[hene Dream, Ellie Goulding , Lissie and a few others 10 CDs

 I know people with CD collection smaller than what I bought this week , but there's still more that I want. Some of the packages could not be done justice by iTunes and the like , so I'm still a huge fan of the format. And this is a precursor to National Record Shop Day coming up in two weeks time .

Listening to Ellie Goulding now , very good - much better than here "Your Song" interpretation.

More Kindling

Having just rekindled my love of fiction reading Philip Pulman's "Northern Lights", I found I'd mislaid the second volume "The Subtle Knife" so have ordered it online. If I had a Kindle I could have had it NOW!! One plus for e Book readers. Anyway I didn't I picked up "You're Entitled To An Opinion" by David Nolan - the biography of Anthony H Wilson - Factory Supremo, and it's got me hooked , loads of interstesting , funny and entertaining insights into that amazing man including the definite distinction between Salford and Manchester!! Until I picked up the book I never knew Salford was a city.

Anyway the e Book Reader , I think they are amazing pieces of kit but still feel they are a stepping stone to something else , I don't know what , but it means I won't be buying one in the near future , I stick with paper!!

Could I Kindle?

I keep seeing adverts for the Amazon Kindle and other e-book readers . Apparently there is an app for Android and iPhone , though it wouldn't let me download an e Book as I didn't have a Kindle registered.

The technology is great , a months battery life , electronic ink that doesn't use power once the page is rendered. Also you can carry around 3000 or more books in a package that weighs less than a paperback. My problem is that usually you only read books once , and they need a time investment, whereas music can be listened to over and over again and sometimes to can have songs that last less than two minutes so you don't need a big time frame.

Real books still suit my purpose for reading , but the Kindle is tempting , but is that because it's just another gadget like an iPad?

Watch this space

Tideswell - Almost Perfect

Griffin outside Natwest Tideswell

A Tideswell Cat

Well I can't think of anything wrong with the place. Three pubs , two chip shops , two cafes , a chemist , a butchers, a delicatessen, a piano shop and a bank with a cash machine. Oh and they have a Co Op as well.




The bank is slightly odd in that it has a Griffin at the door but it's a Natwest bank.

John The Baptist - Tideswell in The Fog

Tideswell is also home to a very impressive church , John The Baptist (not sure if he was a saint)  I believe and is known as the Cathedral of the Peak!!

Apple and Nintendo Silly Season again

Its that time of year again, Apple have released a new content delivery device (the iPad 2) and Nintendo release their 3D DS , which doesnt need special glasses, Now that does sound good.

The stupid thing is that people are queuing for days to be the first  to get these new , probably glitch ridden toys. Now I dont pretend to have grown up , but have better things to do with my time that to wait to pay for the privilege to be a beta tester for Apple and Nintendo!!!

World Book Night - How It Went

The Arrow is On The Train!

The Crew Stalked by Matt Damon

Last Night was the night , 50 copies of Northern Lights were picked up from the West End Library in Newcastle , given to me by a very pleasant lady librarian , in the middle of dealing with very rude and ungrateful eastern europeans.

 
 Luckily my friend Helen and here three children were up for the adventure which was originally planned as this:

• Start at Palmersville
• Then Tynemouth to distibute books
• Then to Wallsend
• Then back to the Airport via South Gosforth
• Then to Central Station, Newcastle
• Then Home

A Change of Plan Is Needed

This was shot down as soon as we got to Palmersville as there were no trains running between Tynemouth and Byker , so that meant Wallsend , with it's lovely Latin inscriptions was out!

So we changed plans and made for the airport via South Gosforth , and finally got there after dark. The kids were really excited , lugging to bags of books to distribute to an unsuspecting public. The first book went to a couple , with a large luggage trolley , and small child in a pushchair who'd just landed from Singapore who were happy to take the first book from us , but were obviously very tired!!

We noticed the airport was actually quite empty , very empty in fact. It turns out there was on flight going out that night and the few people who were waiting seemed to be obviously Jewish or Middle Eastern , so maybe not the best people people to try and give the books to , given it's religious overtones.

FRom The Airport To South Gosforth

We changed tack and decided to change to target the people behind the desks. First up was the guy at the Greggs outlet , who had the the other parts of the trilogy but not "Northern Lights" . He was very enhtusiastic and said we'd made his night!!

The Crew At Whitley Bay

Then it was back to South Gosforth , over the bridge and distributing more books , before catching a Metro to Monkseaton , then on to Tynemouth where we got back on the train and went back to Whitley Bay. Then we waited an age for another train before going back to Palmersville and distributing the last of the books along the way.

The timing and distances were a lot more that I'd originally thought they would be , and couldnt have done it withoput help from Helen , Oliver , Jessica and Eve - so a big thank you to all of them!!

What Does Advance Mean?

I've just spent twenty minutes in the Advance queue at Newcastle Station to purchase a Weekly ticket to start on Tuesday in advance. They said I cant buy it until Sunday!! I want it to start on the working day after next , the stations on the route all have ticket barriers so why the hell cant I have my ticlet today instead of having to rush on Tuesday morning?

Part of the problem may that the barriers are  open when there's no staff around . I thought the point of these things was to dispense with staff!!

It wouldnt have been too bad if I hadnt had to wait but I do value my time , but it does amaze me that I defend services like this and the Post Office and they continually show complete disdain for customers , but I suppose it's better having this that whatever the ConDems have in their plans.

This Integration

I always thought cars were for driving or getting  from A to B, so the important selling point was how good they were to drive. Apparently not . Increasingly it seems that is not so. They're advertising integrated iPod docks , integrated Blue Tooth , integrated Sat Nave.

While all of these things can enhance the driving experience , they hardly integral to it. What use is bluetooth if the brakes dont work? What use is Sat Nav if the steering is rubbish?

More and more required functionality is being replaced marketed must haves.

I have an old car and could fit all those if I wanted , but I choose to be me , and keep the car for what it is intended!!

'King Google

Google is ubiquitous , and it seems that everything can interact with everything else. There's the search engine, mail , sites , checkouts , adsenses , picassa , blogs (like this one) , and it seems to be growing exponentially.

One of the good things about this is that it empoweres people to create websites and the like and have complete control over them. Two such sites are Lovers Desires / Hidden Desires  and Keith's Custom Colours . I've been advising the creators , who want to sell stuff on the site. Imagine my surprise when the Google shopping cart cant be integrated a Google site. You have to use a site widget which is driven by a Google Document Spreadsheet . This took an age to work out.

Just surprised that one Google product is incompatible with another . Not only that the Shopping Cart Merchant page is integrated with the rest of the Google User  Account. Just amazing!!

Bless My Soul .....Danger Mouse

Apple have created and stunning looking mouse that , is almost completely unusable to the point where users end up in pain after a session with it. It seems to me this is anothers example of Apple's continual triumph of style over substance!!!! It's also amazingly flat!

Incidentally the Roman Catholic Church now have an endorsed iPhone app for hearing confessions!! BBC article here

Thatchers Victorian Values Back

When Thatcher was in power she kept spouting on about a return to "Victorian Values" . I assumed at the time she wanted an end to any kind of hedonistic pastimes , sex , drink , nudity etcetera , but we know in Victorian times the rich and priveliged indulged , while the poor carried the can.

I recently learned that what she was really after was the creation of a slave underclass that would service the rich and privileged for a doff of the cap and a handful of gruel.

Today Cameron and Clegg and pursuing that goal under the cry of "Austerity" (but not for them of course) , increasing tuition fees to price the the lower classes out education , dismantling and privatising the NHS to take healthcare away and the latest suggestion that the unemployed work for nothing from Ian Duncan Smith . Here's the article. Be amazed and very afraid . What next , taxing the air we breathe?

Well here's an appropriate video:

Why I Loathe X-Factor ....

..Britain's Got Talent , Strictly Come Dancing and the like.

You may think it's because of Simon Cowell or Louis "Child Catcher" Walsh . To be honest I think Simon Cowell is a media genius , manipulative , but he he knows his stuff inside out , Walsh though I find very creepy.

You may think it's because of the policy of riding on some one else's shirt tails , only using covers of recent successes , Alexandra Burke's lip-trembling sub Whitney performance of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" , which contains the appropriate line "You Don't Really Care for Music , Do Ya?" . The song song was poignantly coversed by John Cale for Shrek , then there's the Jeff Buckley version and of course the original , but hey we need to make a safe fast buck.

The you had Joe McElderry cover Miley Cyrus with The Climb , and the latest installment Matt Cardle's saccharined treatment of Biffy Clyro's "Many A Horror" renamed for the Christmas market as When We Collide.

No it's not this , it's the fact that all the shows focus primarily on failure . One person is voted out every week and made to feel that they are a failure , and the last man standing is the winner , but the shows focus on getting rid of people . Appropriate for the current goverment set up, who are relishing making as many people redundant as possible.

Talent shows in the past focussed on people winning and there would be a number of contestants , one winner and the ones who didnt win , as a whole went back to their day jobs , without any stigma, they just didnt cut it.

If X-Factor focussed on winning then I would have time for it , but until then I wont be watching.

(S)Elected

On March the 5th 2011 I've been selected to give away 50 copies of a book that I'm passionate about , in an attempt to create the largest ever book give away for World Book Night . A million in one night.

The one I selected was Philip Pullman's Northern Lights , the first part of the "His Dark Materials" trilogy. One that annoyed all the right wing Christian fundamentalists , which is a good enough reason in itself to push . I have a plan on how I'm going to do this , but I am currently in the planning stages.

Giving out culture on Tyneside on a Saturday night will be and most interesting challenge

Rail Companies to Solve Overcrowding By Price Hiking

Excuse me . This is the article about this idiotic piece of government profiteering here.

Normally when demand outstrips supply, any sensible organisation increases the supply , and therefore increases it's profits. There are a small number of markets where this doesnt apply (One off concerts , precious stones , etc) , but in the case of transport , running more frequent services and purchasing or hiring more rolling stock is a very viable option.

But no thos lazy feckers see it as another way of profiteering from the masses. So they price people out of living in the cities , increase fuel duty to price them out of driving to work , and now they're going to price people out of using public transport.

So Cameron how are those essential , but low paid maintenance staff going to get to work? Oh I forgot , it doesnt matter as you're going to make them all redundant and wait for the private sector to pick up the slack when you abolish the minimum wage.

Unbelievably idiotic.

Apple and Yahoo Encourage Stealing!!

A couple of months back my Yahoo Answers account was stopped because I'd transgressed their rules. They were unspecific , but said linking to my website forum was the problem. The part of the forum was the part which detailed the legal , loss leader MP3s that you can download for nothing , ie truly and legally free. I had also complained about the number of posters who advised using peer to peer services to download copyrighted music without paying for it , ie stealing . Yahoo still give space to these people while I have been permanently banned.

I was also thinking about the rise of the iPod and iPhone as the music player of choice for lots of people . It used to be that you would tape , or get an MP3 of an album and if you liked it , you would then purchase the said album. However now , because the album is on your music player of choice , there is no pressure to pay for the music. So that means that the artists lose out , while loads of kids grow up believing you dont have to pay for stuff. I don't know what the answer is , and the music industry is very resilient , but it is a very worrying trend.

25 Years Old - Now It's Banned In Canada!

25 Years after it's original release "Money For Nothing" has been banned from Canadian Radio because of a single complaint. Don't get me wrong , I detest the record , although like some Dire Straits , but it's like when Ronan Keating changed the words to "Fairytale of New York" to make it palatable for American TV.

It seems the moral minority get their way because they make a noise . It's just plain ridiculous . Here's part of an article about it:

"Classic Dire Straits track Money for Nothing has been banned from public broadcast in Canada – after receiving just one complaint 25 years after its release.

The global hit single came out on the band’s iconic fifth album, Brothers in Arms, in May 1985 and won a Grammy for best rock performance the following year.

But the original version included the word “faggot” referring to homosexuals, and although a cleaned-up edition was made available, Oz-FM in Newfoundland played the first edition in February last year.

The result was a single complaint – but the self-regulating Canadian Broadcast Standards Council has upheld it, and no outlet in the nation can now play Money for Nothing the way Dire Straits intended it to be heard."

The full article is here.

And here's the song in all it's 80's awful glory!!

Laptop Trolley?

I do a lot of travel by public transport and train , especially frequenting Newcastle Station. The bane of my life are luggage trolleys that seem to have a life of their own and are great at blocking walways especially when you get a couple of peaple on "business trips" who insist on walking side by side , on once they're on the train seem to love wandering up and down before blocking somewhere with their luggage.

I understand that large suitcases do neccessitate a trolley or wheels or whatever , but amazingly I say a guy towing behind him a luggage rack , containing only his laptop!! Pardon me!! Could he not carry the damned thing like the rest of us . obviously not , but he made him look a total numpty!!

Anyway I think these are the pedestrian equivalent of caravans and should only be allowed to be used when all sensible people are in bed or elsewhere

Twitter - It's Just For Lazy Verbal Exhibitionists!

This week Ryan Babel of Liverpool football club has been censured for twittering about Howard Webb's handling of their cup tie with Manchester United. To be honest I agree with Mr Babel , though the FA takes a different view.

Also we have Stephen Fry , Dara O' Briain and lots of other high profile tweeters or twitterers , posting their 140 character thoughts via their mobile devices. Babel's sin was compounded by the addition of an image of Howard Webb wearing a Manchester United shirt. What's that about? Twitter with pictures?? It's meant to be a limited text service.

It's like when there was talk of DAB services transmittting enhanced content such as images and video!! Isn't that television?

Anyway still think that Twitter is just for people who cant be bothered to properly socialise , as I say lazy verbal exhibitionists!! If you must tweet or twitter , here's a few devices that may feed your addiction !!!

HMV - Will They Still Be Here Next Christmas?

HMV and Next have reported major disappointing results because of the snow. One thing I cant understand is that they sell CDs for as little as £2.90 delivered . How do they make a profit on that? Yes it's great for the customer but you cannot have most of your sales being loss leaders.

It 1975 my Job Seekers allowance was £3.25 . I bought "Wish You Were Here" by Pink Floyd in its black shrink wrapped package for £3.25 . If we take job seekers allowance as a measure that would me that your average new CD should be around £60 !! So when a new album is £10 you shouldnt even think about not buying it.

Anyway Rhino do a series of Original Classic Albums for around £12 delivered that you can get from HMV here or from Amazon on the carousel above . If your not careful you'll only be able to buy the latest X Factor output from your local supermarket , be warned!!

Obituaries Already

Amazing bad start to the year for losing somme very talented people. First we lost the brilliant actor Pete Postlethwaite, then Gerry Rafferty and Mick Karn , bassist with Japan.

All three will be sadly missed:

Here's Rafferty with Stealers Wheel:



Mick Karn with Japan:



and Pete Postlethwaite:

Another Day - And Back To Work

Well first day back at work and my first surprise was the guy at the ticket machine trying to get his booking number from his 17" laptop. There may have been a good reason for this , but I reckon it was really because the guy was just a stupid arse.

Went to get my ticket , only to find a 10% increase in the fare and no plus bus option , meaning I would have to find some change before I got on the bus at the Darlington end.!! Things not exactly improving.

Finally my train journey was made very annoying by the Norman Collier announcement system and a monkey in the carraige.

Surely things can only get better!!

Here Come The Ads ... and Creme Eggs!!

Well Christmas and New Year have come and gone , and television is now drenched with advertisements for holidays as furniture such as the CSL one below:



If you want to get hold of the music check out my "Song of the Salesman" site here.

On the plus side the shops are now stocking Cadbury's wonderful Creme Eggs , which you can also get online from the Cadbury's site here. Here's a video the whet your appetite !! Mmmmmm

Happy New Year

Well posting has been sporadic , greatly due to facebook , and for the last couple of weeks due to some kind of 'flu. This meant I actually slept through New Year Celebrations , missed all the Christmas Parties , saw no one and was generally miserable , but on the sort of plus side ended up losing weight.

Anyway this morning is grey , rainy , miserable and I can't believe shops are open today!! Still pursuit of the greenbacks is all to some people.

One of the things that brightened my day is the "Rolling Stones Monopoly"!! They also have their own "Trivial Pursuit" as well!!. Just waiting for a "Cradle of Filth" edition now.....