Sunday, 5 October 2014
Middle East - What's in a name?
Well, I don't know about you but I'd be a lot more confident of the Western world being able to help out in the Middle East if the various governments, politicians etc. could manage to agree who they are taking action against. No - not physically who they want to take action against - I think they may have managed to decide on that, but what they are calling them.... When they first started being talked about on the news they were 'IS, formally known as <something or other that I don't even remember>'. That was obviously too much of a mouthful so had been shortened to IS by a lot of the media. However, apparently IS should not be used because they are considered to be neither Islamist or a State (although I'm not sure who made the unilateral decision to stop using the term - it obviously must have taken up hours of debating time by some unheard-of and unelected body of people!). Anyway, now we have politicians and the media calling them either IS, ISIS or ISIL. And the French have decided to call them Daesh because that is what the Arabic speaking media use. You can witness interviews on the TV where one person is using one acronym and the other is using a different acronym - oh and it has happened in exchanges in the House of Commons too. It would be nice if everyone could just pick one of the names and stick to it!
Tuesday, 9 September 2014
Scotland
It's amazing how the media are so interested in whether or not Scotland are going to vote for independence. There's barely been a mention of it until last week, but the good old 'impartial' BBC are at almost fever pitch about it now. I'm not sure why their reporting should be biased towards Scottish independence but there's certainly no doubt that every report they make is slanted that way. It would be nice to get a balanced view but if you want that don't rely on the BBC - perhaps they've been promised a load of money by Alex Salmond - he seems to be good at promising money the country doesn't have.
As far as I'm concerned the rest of the union has been disenfranchised. Any media reports should be confined to regional TV stations and a very brief report on the national news. It would be a different story if the other members of the union had a say in the huge implications this vote has on them, but unfortunately it is only the people living in Scotland who can have a say. Not really democratic is it? Can you imagine if the English had decided to have a vote to eject Scotland? There would have been an outcry.
So anyway, I suppose I'll need to get my passport up to date - the way it's looking there'll be border control on the A1 soon!
As far as I'm concerned the rest of the union has been disenfranchised. Any media reports should be confined to regional TV stations and a very brief report on the national news. It would be a different story if the other members of the union had a say in the huge implications this vote has on them, but unfortunately it is only the people living in Scotland who can have a say. Not really democratic is it? Can you imagine if the English had decided to have a vote to eject Scotland? There would have been an outcry.
So anyway, I suppose I'll need to get my passport up to date - the way it's looking there'll be border control on the A1 soon!
Sunday, 6 July 2014
WiFi on Trains
An announcement on the news today (bursting with that artificial enthusiasm the presenters always use when it is supposed to be a 'good news' story which I hate).... The government has decided to use the money it has fined Network Rail to improve WiFi on commuter trains. Yeah, you know, the money taken off them for failing to improve services and thus making them even less likely to be able to improve anything as they have no money.
Well, I'm pretty confident that the last thing on a commuters mind when they are packed into a 30 year old carriage like a sardine which is running late for the 3rd time this week is "hmmm... wish there was faster WiFi on this train". Call me old fashioned, but I'd have thought trains with the right capacity which run on time would be a priority, not being able to check twitter in case some celebrity has told the world what they had for breakfast.
No doubt this scheme will go ahead for the sake of Britain needing to be on the forefront of technology (or some other trite soundbite) - and of course will benefit no-one but London's commuter trains. And will it make any difference to the normal working person? Well I suppose it means they can upload the pic they've just taken to instagram quicker, but does that really matter? Do you really need WiFi on a commuter train? I'd have thought that if anything WiFi is more important on long distance trains so that people travelling are able to work while travelling - no chance of that on a commuter train when you have your nose shoved in someone's armpit!
Anyway, it's never going to have any impact on me... I live in the North East (the region where the first steam engines came from) - no chance of any sort of modernisation for us. The North apparently ends at Leeds as far as any transport scheme is concerned!
Well, I'm pretty confident that the last thing on a commuters mind when they are packed into a 30 year old carriage like a sardine which is running late for the 3rd time this week is "hmmm... wish there was faster WiFi on this train". Call me old fashioned, but I'd have thought trains with the right capacity which run on time would be a priority, not being able to check twitter in case some celebrity has told the world what they had for breakfast.
No doubt this scheme will go ahead for the sake of Britain needing to be on the forefront of technology (or some other trite soundbite) - and of course will benefit no-one but London's commuter trains. And will it make any difference to the normal working person? Well I suppose it means they can upload the pic they've just taken to instagram quicker, but does that really matter? Do you really need WiFi on a commuter train? I'd have thought that if anything WiFi is more important on long distance trains so that people travelling are able to work while travelling - no chance of that on a commuter train when you have your nose shoved in someone's armpit!
Anyway, it's never going to have any impact on me... I live in the North East (the region where the first steam engines came from) - no chance of any sort of modernisation for us. The North apparently ends at Leeds as far as any transport scheme is concerned!
Sunday, 22 June 2014
Football
So the TV Channels have just about accepted that England weren't good enough. But will they change their schedules so that people who have no interest in football can get back to normal? Well what do you think? Of course not. After all - they've invested a lot of money in sending hundreds of staff out to Brazil to cover the World Cup and they need to show it was money well spent.
I've never understood why 'pundits' (in the case of football this is usually ex-players who have slightly more personality than a brussel sprout and aren't good enough to move on to coaching/management) need to travel to any sporting venue in order to watch the game on a TV and then comment about it - couldn't that be done for a lot less money in this country?? The usual excuse is so that they can 'experience the atmosphere'. What a load of rubbish....
And why are the England team not good enough? After all, the English Premiership is supposed to be the best league in the world. Well I would suggest the reason is laziness. Laziness of the premiership clubs who have so much money to throw about that they just spend the budget of a small country to buy some foreign superstar rather than concentrate on home grown talent. I hate to think how many opportunities have been lost because some bright sparks at top premiership clubs think a quick fix by buying an established talent is a better option than developing our own. Without developing our own talent how can we expect to compete on the international stage? But then again, it's all about money these days, not passion for the game. And that is probably the second reason England didn't get through... lack of passion.... Lets face it - if you're getting paid six figures per week you don't really need to worry too much about winning... although your agent will most likely have secured a nice sponsorship deal for you because of wearing an England shirt. No doubt many of the squad do have passion but certainly not all of them. And without passion you are not going to perform.
To my mind it's a combination of these two factors which mean England will not succeed until both are sorted out - sort out the first and the second will follow....
I've never understood why 'pundits' (in the case of football this is usually ex-players who have slightly more personality than a brussel sprout and aren't good enough to move on to coaching/management) need to travel to any sporting venue in order to watch the game on a TV and then comment about it - couldn't that be done for a lot less money in this country?? The usual excuse is so that they can 'experience the atmosphere'. What a load of rubbish....
And why are the England team not good enough? After all, the English Premiership is supposed to be the best league in the world. Well I would suggest the reason is laziness. Laziness of the premiership clubs who have so much money to throw about that they just spend the budget of a small country to buy some foreign superstar rather than concentrate on home grown talent. I hate to think how many opportunities have been lost because some bright sparks at top premiership clubs think a quick fix by buying an established talent is a better option than developing our own. Without developing our own talent how can we expect to compete on the international stage? But then again, it's all about money these days, not passion for the game. And that is probably the second reason England didn't get through... lack of passion.... Lets face it - if you're getting paid six figures per week you don't really need to worry too much about winning... although your agent will most likely have secured a nice sponsorship deal for you because of wearing an England shirt. No doubt many of the squad do have passion but certainly not all of them. And without passion you are not going to perform.
To my mind it's a combination of these two factors which mean England will not succeed until both are sorted out - sort out the first and the second will follow....
Monday, 17 February 2014
Water, water everywhere....
Well first of all I'll say that I have every sympathy for all those who have been flooded. Their lives must have been turned upside down and will most likely take months to put everything right....
BUT....
How many more times do we need to see a reporter in wellies/waders plodging about in some street going on about how deep the water is? We get it... the streets are flooded... If it's not the reporter up to his knees in water, it's the reporter interviewing the local who assures you "I've lived here 15 years and it's never been like this". Well no shit Sherlock - if it was common for it to be 'like this' you wouldn't have your 5 minutes of fame because the media wouldn't be interested!
So yes - we've had a lot of rain and there are about 6000 homes flooded. Does that really mean we need non-stop coverage every night showing us exactly the same scenes?And dare I say it - if it were 'up North' having the flooding would it get more than a quick couple of minutes just after the really important story about the cat that was lost for 37 minutes?? Probably not....
Could the media for once please not take a story and do it to death? How about some real objective reporting rather than the inane and frankly insulting "Oooh look at that - the water is almost up to the letter box" - too much to ask?? Sadly I think it is....
BUT....
How many more times do we need to see a reporter in wellies/waders plodging about in some street going on about how deep the water is? We get it... the streets are flooded... If it's not the reporter up to his knees in water, it's the reporter interviewing the local who assures you "I've lived here 15 years and it's never been like this". Well no shit Sherlock - if it was common for it to be 'like this' you wouldn't have your 5 minutes of fame because the media wouldn't be interested!
So yes - we've had a lot of rain and there are about 6000 homes flooded. Does that really mean we need non-stop coverage every night showing us exactly the same scenes?And dare I say it - if it were 'up North' having the flooding would it get more than a quick couple of minutes just after the really important story about the cat that was lost for 37 minutes?? Probably not....
Could the media for once please not take a story and do it to death? How about some real objective reporting rather than the inane and frankly insulting "Oooh look at that - the water is almost up to the letter box" - too much to ask?? Sadly I think it is....
Saturday, 25 January 2014
Cover Versions
So I was sat tonight watching 'The Voice' tonight... what stood out were people singing songs in exactly the same way as the original - they may as well have been doing karaoke.... badly.... So that got me thinking about cover versions. Well there are plenty about but these days they tend to be for adverts rather than because a band just wants to do them. Now I like a good cover version, but don't see the point of them being exactly the same as the original - I like to hear a different interpretation of the song and that's what makes it interesting....
So anyway - I thought I'd do another top ten, this time for cover versions. As always this is according to my current mood so could be different tomorrow!
10. Somewhere Only We Know - Lily Allen
Originally by Keane and made popular by a cute rabbit waking a bear up for Xmas. Hated the advert, loved this version.
9. Don't Stop - Nina Nesbitt
Originally by Fleetwood Mac and another made popular by an advert - not too different from the original but sounds cleaner and fresher.
8. Hazy Shade of Winter - The Bangles
Originally by Simon and Garfunkle. I hadn't heard the original until after I heard the Bangles version. Don't know if that's why I think The Bangles do it better but they do!
7. Dear Prudence - Siouxsie and the Banshees
Originally by The Beatles - How dare a punk band do a cover version of The Beatles? Well they dared, got their biggest selling single and did a damn good job...
6. Hounds of Love - The Futureheads
Originally by Kate Bush. The start does it for me...
5. All Tomorrow's Parties - Japan
Originally by The Velvet Underground. Never liked the original version but then again I never liked anything by The Velvet Underground. A beautiful version by one of my favourite bands.
4. Police and Thieves - The Clash
Originally by Junior Murvin. There was always a link between punk and ska but The Clash stripped the song back and improved the original by about 1000 times
3. Tainted Love - Soft Cell
Originally by Gloria Jones. Not many people even realise this is a cover. The original isn't much cop to be fair and Marc Almonds over the top (and pretty much out of tune) vocals made this a huge hit.
2. Walk On By - The Stranglers
Originally by Dionne Warwick. What can I say? The Stranglers totally turn a sickly sweet love song into bitterness and regret - and it works so well.... Go take a walk in the trees.....
1. I Second That Emotion - Japan
Originally by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. Another Japan cover version. For a band who had their own original style it seemed strange that they did cover versions, and to do motown covers when they their roots were in glam rock seemed a bit strange. But this is an excellent cover, has been one of my favourites since I heard it and will probably always feature in my top ten!
So anyway - I thought I'd do another top ten, this time for cover versions. As always this is according to my current mood so could be different tomorrow!
10. Somewhere Only We Know - Lily Allen
Originally by Keane and made popular by a cute rabbit waking a bear up for Xmas. Hated the advert, loved this version.
9. Don't Stop - Nina Nesbitt
Originally by Fleetwood Mac and another made popular by an advert - not too different from the original but sounds cleaner and fresher.
8. Hazy Shade of Winter - The Bangles
Originally by Simon and Garfunkle. I hadn't heard the original until after I heard the Bangles version. Don't know if that's why I think The Bangles do it better but they do!
7. Dear Prudence - Siouxsie and the Banshees
Originally by The Beatles - How dare a punk band do a cover version of The Beatles? Well they dared, got their biggest selling single and did a damn good job...
6. Hounds of Love - The Futureheads
Originally by Kate Bush. The start does it for me...
5. All Tomorrow's Parties - Japan
Originally by The Velvet Underground. Never liked the original version but then again I never liked anything by The Velvet Underground. A beautiful version by one of my favourite bands.
4. Police and Thieves - The Clash
Originally by Junior Murvin. There was always a link between punk and ska but The Clash stripped the song back and improved the original by about 1000 times
3. Tainted Love - Soft Cell
Originally by Gloria Jones. Not many people even realise this is a cover. The original isn't much cop to be fair and Marc Almonds over the top (and pretty much out of tune) vocals made this a huge hit.
2. Walk On By - The Stranglers
Originally by Dionne Warwick. What can I say? The Stranglers totally turn a sickly sweet love song into bitterness and regret - and it works so well.... Go take a walk in the trees.....
1. I Second That Emotion - Japan
Originally by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. Another Japan cover version. For a band who had their own original style it seemed strange that they did cover versions, and to do motown covers when they their roots were in glam rock seemed a bit strange. But this is an excellent cover, has been one of my favourites since I heard it and will probably always feature in my top ten!
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