Bog Roll

Do they think we're all stupid? Toilet roll is just the latest in a long line of products where the manufacturers clearly think we're blind, stupid or both... So I was renewing the Andrex and noticed a clear difference in size of the cardboard centre between the old and the new. I'm not quite such a pedant that I measured it but I'd estimate the difference in diameter was about 3mm. Not much really, but when you think of how thin toilet paper is I reckon your're looking at a reduction of at least 30 sheets. And guess what. You pay the same price.

This is an increasing trend - the price stays the same but the quantity you get for the price is reduced. This can be a decrease of more than 10% in some cases. Products which have done this range from your favourite bar of chocolate to your washing up liquid via tinned soup, loaves of bread and countless other products. In some cases the quantity is going down and the price going up at the same time!

Now, I have no major problem with increasing prices (well, we'd all prefer prices went down but that's not going to happen) - as long as they're justified. But why the subterfuge? Why not just keep the quantities the same as what everyone is used to and put the price up? It would seem the honest way of doing things. I know myself that I will tend to avoid products where this tactic has been used - I hope everyone else does the same!!

Heroes?

No, not another blog about Bowie!
Is it just me or is the constant tagging of normal mundane people as 'heroes' getting a bit much? I know what I think a hero is and it's not that difficult to define - people who, in the face of danger and adversity or from a position of weakness, display courage and the will for self sacrifice for some greater good. That is how a lot of people I know would also describe a hero.
So, working from that definition, how do we arrive at calling sportsmen heroes? After all, top sportsmen are simply there because they happen to have a talent in their sport. Yes, they probably practice daily and need to make some sacrifices (but get paid very handsomely for the privilege) but are they heroes? No more than someone who excels in, for instance, carpentry or topiary. But the best carpenter in the country would never be given the moniker 'Hero' just because they are brilliant at carving - why then is someone who can kick a ball a bit better than the rest of us... or for that matter any other sportsman or pop star, or television presenter who happens to be good.
So why are we treating these people almost as demi-gods? Is it an extension of the whole celebrity culture? I suspect it is... After all, with so many 'reality' shows which catapult people who are pretty much talentless into the world of celebrity, are we now using the word hero to describe someone who stands a bit above them in the celebrity ranks?
I'm waiting to see how many tennis players over the coming weeks will be described as heroes - many of them for sure. But again - they are professional sports players who are doing their jobs. There is no danger to them, no courage is needed, and the only greater good they are looking for is a greater bank balance.
There are very few real heroes these days. Yes, there are examples of astounding heroism from the members of our forces - most of them unacknowledged. Deeds carried out in an unwanted war thousands of miles from our country generally aren't reported by the media.
Closer to home though an astonishing act of bravery and heroism was virtually unreported. Why it would be is unclear but Ingrid Loyau-Kennett, Gemini Donnelly-Martin, and her mother Amanda showed exactly what heroism is when they protected the body of Lee Rigby without a thought for their own safety. This is what I call heroism. This is what the media should keep in mind before they further devalue the term hero by describing some overpaid sports celebrity as one.

Margaret Thatcher RIP

I'm old enough to remember 3 day weeks, random power cuts, boiling a kettle and toasting bread on a coal fire because there was nothing else to use, needing to make sure there were enough candles etc. not to mention the bins not being collected and decent people who wanted to work not being able to because of flying pickets. Do you remember British Leyland? Crap cars coming off the production line and breaking down 3 days later because of shoddy 2nd rate workmanship and materials....The country was being held to ransom by union leaders who believed they should run the country, not the democratically elected government - and this was a Labour government - the ones the unions are supposed to like...

Margaret Thatcher was voted in in despite her being a 'milk snatcher' - that didn't seem to bother too many people then. If I recall correctly, she made no secret that things would be tough to get the country back on it's feet... and they were. Her election campaign centred on taking power away from the unions and a tag line of 'labour isn't working' and the British people gave her a mandate to go ahead and fight the unions. The fact that she did, took away the power that was bringing the country to its knees and got the country back on the road to recovery seems to be forgotten by a lot of people. Yes, it was difficult but the country was in absolute shit state.

The biggest problem most people have with Maggie is the miners strike. The mining industry had been in decline since the 60's or even earlier. The governments plan was for mines which were no longer profitable to be closed and the rest to carry on production - makes sense doesn't it?. The unions opposed this and insisted all stayed open so called a national strike to 'fight for the rights of miners'. This made no economic sense - at a lot of pits it was costing more to get the coal out of the ground than it could be sold for. There were a number of pits that were viable and could still have have resumed operations after the strike but the unions refused access for the safety engineers to maintain the pumps. They flooded and were lost. The union (or should I say Scargill) screwed their own members by not seeing sense. If it weren't for the unions the mining industry would have been smaller, but at least some miners would have kept their jobs. And they wouldn't have been forced to live in absolute poverty for the duration of the strike (whilst their union leader lived in absolute luxury).

Oh, and the poll tax. Deeply unpopular.... but I still don't see why.... Everyone has to pay for the services which are provided by local and national government. OK, so how do you do that fairly? Here's an example of unfairness - two households on the same street. One is a single man no kids, the other a family of 2 parents and 4 children. The single man uses less of everything the government provides as public services - less rubbish, less public transport, less education etc... yet in the old rating system he paid exactly the same as the family of 6 people - this model is still true of the current system. The poll tax simply took that unfairness away - each adult paid the same for the same services. So why was it unpopular? Because the poor had to pay the same as the rich.... Do the rich use more public services than the poor? Nope - they use far less. So why should they pay more? You don't go into Marks & Sparks and get asked how much you earn so that they can work out how much you should pay for something do you? Where else are you expected to pay a different amount for a service based on your wealth?? Hmmm....


So, to everyone who thinks it's a good idea to trample on Maggie's grave, or thinks we should get 'ding dong the witch is dead' to number one... try to imagine what this country would have been like if she hadn't won the election in 79... just think what the alternative would have been and what this country would have been like. I for one am glad she was elected and believe her to be the most important and best post war prime minister. RIP.

Music

A few days ago a facebook friend posted his 'all time top ten' and invited people to comment/post their own... so I had a think and came up with my own - although I said at the time that my all time top ten could easily all be Bowie tracks (see previous postings on here).... So anyway, what I came up with was this (in no particular order) -

Bauhaus - Bela Lugosi's Dead

Joy Division - Ceremony

Human League - Hard Times

David Bowie - Look Back in Anger (yeah - this isn't my number one Bowie track... I know!)

The Blow Monkeys - Digging your Scene

The Stranglers - Walk On By

The Jam - Modern World

Black Eyed Peas - Ring a Ling

The Stone Roses - I Am The Resurrection

Well - although I got told my selection was rubbish because I was 'old' I don't think it's too bad... but then I realised how much good music which I love that I'd left out... Madness - The Prince, The Specials - Ghost Town, Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here, The Who - Love Reign O'er Me, Japan and David Sylvian, The Smiths, The Undertones, The Cure, The Cranberries, Elvis Costello, Dire Straits, Mick Karn (who was without a shadow of a doubt the best fretless bass player this world will ever see), Spandau Ballet, Keane, Simple Minds, Chris Rea, Radiohead, Muse, so many others that you'll get bored with me listing them....

This has made me realise two things....

Firstly, there is no way I can create an all time top ten - my moods change and what I listen to changes with my moods. Something I would put on a top ten today would possibly not make a top 50 tomorrow.

Secondly, I can't think of many bands/artists in the charts now who have the impact or the staying ability of bands from even as recently as 10 years ago.... I'm sure there will be some - but I'm struggling to think of any - Adele maybe? Paloma Faith possibly?? A quick look at this weeks top 40 albums and there are 2 by Bowie and albums from Suede, Stereophonics, Billy Bragg, Bon Jovi, Dido, Fleetwood Mac, Pink and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - a quarter of the top 40 albums by bands/artists who have been around more than 10 years.

I never thought I'd be one to say they don't make music like they used to.... but they don't!!

Horse Meat - what price convenience??

What price convenience indeed....
Well, to be fair, other than cultural preferences for what meat gets put on the table, there is nothing wrong with eating horse meat. Plenty European countries eat it and it was common in the UK as recently as the 1940's.
So what's the problem then? For me there are two problems....
The media - who on one hand are making this out to be a huge public safety issue and then in the next breath telling us all that the horse meat is perfectly safe. The ludicrous BBC sending a reporter to stand on a country lane in the middle of nowhere to tell us all about the fact that wagons full of meat drive down the lane was priceless. What you don't hear from the media is the second problem I have with the whole thing and probably the most important...
Being told what we are being sold! I wouldn't care if my lasagne was made of horse meat if that was what was on the packaging and that is what I had intended to buy. But to buy something and then find out that you actually got something which you neither wanted nor find acceptable as a meat for consumption is totally different. How long I wonder has horse meat been used to bulk up beef products? I have just heard on the news it has been at least 2 years! What else is being used as a substitute for what it is meant to be? There have been reports of pork being used in supposedly halal meat supplied to prisons - so this company was not just breaching the law but offending religious beliefs. Do we really know what is in your favourite burger or fried chicken nuggets? What about the toppings on your pizza? Or the filling in your sandwich? Come to that, what is the bread made of (apparently sliced white bread has ground chicken feathers in it but that could be urban myth).
I was under the impression that food labeling was very strict and if so how have companies been able to get away with it? Well - to my mind it is the pure dishonesty and greed of the producers. Horse is cheaper than beef and we are still in recession - if they can get away with it and make more profit then they are going to. But why has there been such a widespread problem? Well that's simple - supermarkets pricing and convenience foods.... I (quite smugly) have no concerns - I haven't eaten a ready meal for many years. Our meat comes from a local butcher who can tell you exactly where the meat has come from, our bread is home made and our eggs come from our own chickens. Our milk could be from the Fat Tony Rat Dairy - who knows! But many families eat ready meals and processed food pretty much every day - whether due to convenience or finances. It's so much easier to get everything from the local superstore than go to a butcher and get decent fresh meat, and so much easier to get frozen meals than buy the ingredients and make things yourself. There may not be a health issue with eating horse but there are a large amount of people in the UK who don't want to.
This is a huge wake-up call for the food industry. Butchers are already reporting increases in sales - I'm not surprised... but how long before the supermarkets get their customers back by selling poor quality cheaper 'real meat'?
It has to be remembered that the government have only ordered testing for horse meat... so the beef lasagne made with horse will be detected, but a cottage pie made with dog meat will not. I think there may be bigger scandals than horse meat in the near future.....

And while we're speaking of Bowie

Many people have asked me what my favourite Bowie track is. Well, it's not an easy question to answer - preference depends on mood and therefore my favourite may not always be the same. I tend to prefer album tracks - although many of his singles have been masterpieces I think there are many album tracks which are ultimately better...
So anyway - I thought I'd put together a top ten. The positions of these 10 would not always be the same but I think most of these would always figure somewhere in the list -

10 - The Lonliest Guy - from Reality... a great ballad and confirmation of Bowie's song writing ability.

9 - Moonage Daydream - Ziggy Stardust has so many good tracks but to me this is the best... freak out!

8 - Lady Grinning Soul - the final track on Aladdin Sane and well worth waiting for.

7 - Wild is the Wind - So, this has been recorded many times before  - Johnny Mathis to Nina Simone, but Bowie puts his mark on it and makes it his own.

6 - Station to Station - Ten and a quarter minutes of sheer brilliance. I don't think I can say any more!

5 - Look Back in Anger - Lodger was pretty under-rated for a long time but there are some excellent tracks on it. The extended version of this which is on some CD releases is worth finding - it was re-recorded in 1988 and is near as damn it 7 minutes long....

4 - Loving the Alien - from Tonight. One of my least favourite albums starts with one of the best tracks Bowie has recorded. The album version is good, but the version on Reality Live is better and Bowie admits that it was perhaps the way that it should always have been done.

3 - Sweet Thing/Candidate/Sweet Thing - a brilliant track from Diamond Dogs... And it has the lowest note ever sung by Bowie on any recording. OK, so it's technically 3 tracks but I always consider it to be 3 movements of the same song.

2 - Heroes - but please - the proper album version and not the version you always hear on the radio or TV. Many people are far more aware of this song since the olympics. I have loved it since the first time I heard it. A very simple message is contained in the song, but it is put across so well. When I pop my clogs I will have this played at my funeral and just hope that there is something in my life I have done which will make it relevant.

1 - The Wild-eyed Boy from Freecloud - Maybe an unusual choice and possibly not rated at all by many. To me it shows Bowie's talent for narrative and bundles it together with a damn fine tune. You are transported into the song and it becomes more than a piece of music. I also get the opportunity to put a link to what I think is one of the best live medleys I've heard (although sadly I was too young to have been there). Bowie at this time must have been something special to have seen - and he snatches back his own song from Mott the Hoople and shows them how it should be done http://youtu.be/B58jucquCgo (yes - I know Bowie worked on the Mott the Hoople single and did backing vocals on it but you can't help thinking that his own version is how it should have been).

Where Are We Now??

OK, I'm a Bowie fan. A big Bowie fan. I have been for the best part of 35 years. So it was with some apprehension that I clicked on the youtube link I'd been sent on his 66th birthday. After all, it's been a fair while since any new material and there have been a lot of rumours about Bowie's health.
So... first impressions?? Well - I thought the video doesn't do Bowie any favours - he looks awful. The song itself? My first thoughts - a bit whiney... (Sorry David if you happen to stumble across this!)... that's not to say I didn't like it. No - it doesn't come out and grab you, but it's a ballad - it's not meant to. I found it to be a beautiful piece of music  - introspective, yes - but I think also optimistic and full of hope. I may be wrong but I think Bowie is saying 'yeah - it's shitty now but things will get better' and he puts this as a parallel to his own life back in the 70's when he was living in Berlin - when he arrived in Berlin he was hopelessly addicted to cocaine but he broke his habit and produced 3 of his best ever albums (in my opinion) whilst there... It's growing on me with every play - I don't think it has the lasting appeal of Lady Grinning Soul, Wild is the Wind, or Loving the Alien but then again, I thought that about The Loneliest Guy which is now one of my favourite Bowie ballads and that is probably closest to the style of Where Are We Now.
So - don't listen to the press who have been so quick to herald this single as the bell tolling for any musician over the age of 20, listen to the music. Bowie still has the same creativity he always had. He can still write songs which have meaning and which are still in your head more than 10 minutes after you heard them. Perhaps it's not the best thing he's ever done - so what? Did you buy Never Let Me Down? Just because it's not the best thing he's done doesn't mean that he's past it.
Me? I'll be playing it to death and looking forward to the album in March!!

Only 353 days to go

So, it's over. Tree down, decorations packed away until next year and everything back to normal.... Or not. Supermarkets seem to be incapable of restocking shelves with 'normal' products because they are still cramming the shelves with cut price 'luxury' mince pies and 'gourmet' Christmas puddings. Why they think that people will want them after Christmas when they didn't want the overpriced, over-processed muck during Christmas is beyond me. But hey... those of us who want potatoes or dog food will need to wait until the shops are 'fully restocked'. Now call me old fashioned, but is having stock that people actually want to buy not what the business model of any shop should be? It's not as if something like Christmas is a last minute thing - it comes at the same time every year and guess what? The shops can make advanced planning for it!
I expect exactly the same at Easter .. mad frenzied shopping with supermarkets bursting to the seams with crazed people pushing 3 fully loaded trolleys to the till - well, come on - the shops are closed for a day... you need to stock up... and then post Easter there'll be nothing on the shelves other than stale hot crossed buns (which have incidentally already been spotted on the shelves), and overpriced simnel cake (does anyone even know what one of them is??).
I don't know why I'm surprised. It's been like this for years and for some reason we just accept that the supermarkets tell us what to buy rather than us buying what we actually want. For example - can you imagine anyone sitting at home with their jar of nescafe and thinking "hmmm... I think I'll get some stale ground coffee, grind it to a fine powder and add it to the instant coffee - it'll taste much better" yet people are paying double the price of normal instant coffee for something which still tastes of instant coffee. My point is this - people have been quite happy with instant coffee for decades. No - it tastes nothing like real coffee, and yes - people would probably like a more realistic taste. But I bet no-one wanted the sweepings off the coffee factory floor to be added to their favourite jar! Oh, and I'll bet that until a couple of years ago no-one ever thought it would be a good idea to shove an orange in the middle of a steamed fruit pudding!
So - into the New Year and remember, the supermarkets only have 353 days to persuade you to buy more over-priced rubbish in the name of Jesus....