If Glastonbury proves anything, its the power of music. That may sound like a cliche and a bit of a hippie, incense burning, free love statement, but it does. There is a power to music that cannot be denied or ignored. There isn't another art form that can invoke such emotion, without considering the genre or environment.
You can be sat on your own in your front room with a record on, or on a bus with your ipod on, or at a club, or watching a movie, because lets be clear, emotion is raised in a film by the use of a soundtrack, there's even an Oscar for it. Or you can be at a concert, gig, or festival like Glastonbury.
I wasn't fortunate enough to be there this year, but i watched a fair chunk of it on TV, and it blew me away just sitting on my sofa.
Everyone will have their own personal reasons for loving a song, an album, a band, a simple line of music, because it can transcend real life. It can send you back in time, It can make you happy or sad. Remind you of a time of your life, a memory, an event.
I was watching Status Quo play "Rockin all over the world", on Sunday night and i was immediately in my mum and dads old house, Live Aid on the video player, me and brother were Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt, swinging our guitars.
I would imagine people old or young watching Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young and Blur were transported to another time and place.
There is one thing that everyone had in common listening to "The Boss" doing "Born to Run" or Neil Young doing "The Needle and the Damage done" or Blur doing "For Tomorrow". They were united in that song. Their reasons were different but the song remained the same. This is what great songs, great bands can do to people.
In an NME article about the Oasis gigs at Heaton Park, Manchester last month, there were technical problems with a generator and it meant the band were off stage for 40 minutes after the first few songs. Fueled by alcohol (and in some cases, drugs) there was an under current of violence and tension, bottles were thrown about, the tone of the peoples voices were aggressive.
In less than hour these people had their arms around each other, screaming "Don't Look Back in Anger" at the tops of those same voices.
What is it that makes people unite in such a euphoric way to a band, a gig, a song? The noise, the lights, the chorus of voices back at the band, drinking every last drop of sight and sound in.
Watching back, Radiohead, Glastonbury 1997, Oasis at Knebworth 1996, these are borderline spiritual events.
It is hard to describe in words, what a feeling is. What emotion is. You can use metaphors and similes, but in the end, its beyond words. You feel love, you feel hate, you feel indifference, or enthusiasm. I've been thinking about it, and its hard to describe what a favourite song feels like. It might make you want to dance, to laugh, to cry, to scream and shout. You can't describe that.
Someone once said to me, "If you had to choose, what would you rather be, deaf or blind?" Instantly i thought blind, because i couldn't live without hearing my favourite band, or discovering new bands and songs. Then i thought, well you wouldn't be able to see them at a gig. That came back to me at the weekend watching Glastonbury, so i closed my eyes and just listened. Its easy to say it didn't matter, because i could open my eyes, but almost involuntarily you find yourself closing your eyes at times when listening, concentration or contemplation. I think i could live without sight, i wouldn't want to, but i couldn't without listening.
For a minority, music isn't important. I don't think you can live without music influencing you in some way, even if music doesn't play a daily part of your life. I know its something i couldn't live without!
Tuesday, 30 June 2009
Saturday, 20 June 2009
Its going to the Dogs!!
What is wrong with this country? Now that's a question we could discuss, debate, and fight about for a week and never get to the end of.
Of course its not just this country that's in trouble economically or socially, but i live here, I'm British or English or whatever, so I'm worried about Great Britain, the UK, England.
Where to start? Well there is recession. There is the corrupt, money grabbing democratically elected members of parliament who are stealing from us. There is the rise of the BNP (these last two not mutually exclusive). There is the issue of political correctness, health and safety morons stopping everyone doing anything that could have the remotest chance of being possibly, slightly dangerous, maybe. There is the problem with youth and gang culture. There is the threat of swine flu and MRSA and dirty hospitals. The list is plausibly endless.
For the sake of my rant, i shall pick a few specimens that have grabbed my attention and pricked my interest in leaving this isle and never returning.
The recession isn't one of them. There has been plenty of social comment on that. Some of it is beyond my comprehension, safe to say it must be the bankers fault, nothing to do with us as a nations reckless borrowing for the past decade. Fair enough its there to be borrowed and its obviously not all our fault, but capitalism works like thus. Supply and demand, we want it, they supply it. A bank isn't going to not lend just because it should have a moral conscience. If there is money to be made, they will make it, and we haven't been saying no, have we.
Anyway i said that wouldn't be one of the specimens. However, part of the issue is of course the government and parliament. Those banks that suddenly found themselves on the brink of the abyss, were bailed out by Gordon and Alistair. With our money. Throwing our money at a problem created by screwing up with our money. Well not mine, i bank with someone who hasn't needed propping up. Although of course it's my tax pennies that are propping the other banks up. Does that mean i have shares in these?
Of course Gordon and his chums in the cabinet, and also those two swords breadths away from the Labour benches (It was you Tories too, David), have been using our money for other things as well. Like, renovating a kitchen, or paying for a miniature duck house (they live OUTSIDE), or a digital camera. Or even paying for a mortgage that didn't exist. Also claiming twice as much rent than that was paid on a central office and second home in the capital.
I would love to have been there when the white paper was issued by some poor back seat MP to make transparent all expenses claims. They must have had a fit. Is he still alive do we know?
What was going through their minds when they were diddling us? Granted some were genuine mistakes, however they were clearly in the minority. They cannot seriously want us to believe that they didn't realise they were claiming for a mortgage they didn't pay anymore? They don't earn that much that they didn't notice when the expenses came through for x, y and z and they had twice as much as they did before when they paid their mortgage. Is anyone really fooled that they are sorry they did it, or just sorry they got caught? At anytime this year would they have noticed and stopped?
No, they wouldn't, because they were on to one seriously cushy number.
This leads nicely onto the issue with the BNP. Lets be categorically clear about this. They are not the answer. They are racist, bigoted fascists who haven't a faintest clue what they are on about. There is a genuine concern about immigration but their policy for dealing with it is not the way to go. Although lets not kid ourselves into thinking that is why they garnered so many votes in the European elections. This was a protest vote. A stupid protest vote. Not that Nick Griffin would admit it, but it was. Those interviewed in the wake of the results, who were asked why they voted British National Party, the majority answered that it was because they didn't want to vote for the "Big Three". Pandering to a proportion of the population who have lost their jobs in the recession by stating that the immigrants and foreign nationals have stolen their jobs only allows a wafer thin excuse for the disenfranchised to vote for these morons. Those who know no better have shown up at the polls and ticked the box as they don't trust MPs. And lets face it, the BNP can't boast many of them.
The problem is of course, who do you vote for? I haven't a clue! So i won't discuss that today.
The second part of my rant will be focused on political correctness and health and safety regulations that need the perpetrators of such guidelines sectioning. I'm talking banning Ba Ba Black Sheep and banning toilet rolls! Banning toilet rolls! What, in heavens name, will happen to you if you use a toilet roll? Of course theoretically you could scrunch it up and ram it into your eye, but you'd think even the most educationally challenged 5 year old may know not to do that, and even if they did, this would be an exception to the rule.
Teachers have been sent a 5-page dossier about the use of bluetac, its dangers and the need to wear goggles whilst using it. The only thing that might happen to a teacher whilst using bluetac is that a particularly naughty child might push them off the chair or stool they were using to put up a poster or such like. What do they think will happen that requires goggles? I haven't had the misfortune to read the document, and quite frankly I'm not sure it would help.
Also on the list of banned items are: Pritstick, egg boxes and conkers. I suppose banning pritstick will prevent any new form of solvent abuse, if that's even possible with pritstick. Egg boxes run the risk of having salmonella on them. Conkers run the risk of taking a small child's eye out. Maybe I'll give them that one, although that is still being generous.
I'm beginning to despair of this country. I could go on about other issues, but i fear I'd send you to sleep, if you haven't already.
The problem is, I haven't got any answers, but I'm afraid i don't think any of the people sat in the House of Commons do either.
Of course its not just this country that's in trouble economically or socially, but i live here, I'm British or English or whatever, so I'm worried about Great Britain, the UK, England.
Where to start? Well there is recession. There is the corrupt, money grabbing democratically elected members of parliament who are stealing from us. There is the rise of the BNP (these last two not mutually exclusive). There is the issue of political correctness, health and safety morons stopping everyone doing anything that could have the remotest chance of being possibly, slightly dangerous, maybe. There is the problem with youth and gang culture. There is the threat of swine flu and MRSA and dirty hospitals. The list is plausibly endless.
For the sake of my rant, i shall pick a few specimens that have grabbed my attention and pricked my interest in leaving this isle and never returning.
The recession isn't one of them. There has been plenty of social comment on that. Some of it is beyond my comprehension, safe to say it must be the bankers fault, nothing to do with us as a nations reckless borrowing for the past decade. Fair enough its there to be borrowed and its obviously not all our fault, but capitalism works like thus. Supply and demand, we want it, they supply it. A bank isn't going to not lend just because it should have a moral conscience. If there is money to be made, they will make it, and we haven't been saying no, have we.
Anyway i said that wouldn't be one of the specimens. However, part of the issue is of course the government and parliament. Those banks that suddenly found themselves on the brink of the abyss, were bailed out by Gordon and Alistair. With our money. Throwing our money at a problem created by screwing up with our money. Well not mine, i bank with someone who hasn't needed propping up. Although of course it's my tax pennies that are propping the other banks up. Does that mean i have shares in these?
Of course Gordon and his chums in the cabinet, and also those two swords breadths away from the Labour benches (It was you Tories too, David), have been using our money for other things as well. Like, renovating a kitchen, or paying for a miniature duck house (they live OUTSIDE), or a digital camera. Or even paying for a mortgage that didn't exist. Also claiming twice as much rent than that was paid on a central office and second home in the capital.
I would love to have been there when the white paper was issued by some poor back seat MP to make transparent all expenses claims. They must have had a fit. Is he still alive do we know?
What was going through their minds when they were diddling us? Granted some were genuine mistakes, however they were clearly in the minority. They cannot seriously want us to believe that they didn't realise they were claiming for a mortgage they didn't pay anymore? They don't earn that much that they didn't notice when the expenses came through for x, y and z and they had twice as much as they did before when they paid their mortgage. Is anyone really fooled that they are sorry they did it, or just sorry they got caught? At anytime this year would they have noticed and stopped?
No, they wouldn't, because they were on to one seriously cushy number.
This leads nicely onto the issue with the BNP. Lets be categorically clear about this. They are not the answer. They are racist, bigoted fascists who haven't a faintest clue what they are on about. There is a genuine concern about immigration but their policy for dealing with it is not the way to go. Although lets not kid ourselves into thinking that is why they garnered so many votes in the European elections. This was a protest vote. A stupid protest vote. Not that Nick Griffin would admit it, but it was. Those interviewed in the wake of the results, who were asked why they voted British National Party, the majority answered that it was because they didn't want to vote for the "Big Three". Pandering to a proportion of the population who have lost their jobs in the recession by stating that the immigrants and foreign nationals have stolen their jobs only allows a wafer thin excuse for the disenfranchised to vote for these morons. Those who know no better have shown up at the polls and ticked the box as they don't trust MPs. And lets face it, the BNP can't boast many of them.
The problem is of course, who do you vote for? I haven't a clue! So i won't discuss that today.
The second part of my rant will be focused on political correctness and health and safety regulations that need the perpetrators of such guidelines sectioning. I'm talking banning Ba Ba Black Sheep and banning toilet rolls! Banning toilet rolls! What, in heavens name, will happen to you if you use a toilet roll? Of course theoretically you could scrunch it up and ram it into your eye, but you'd think even the most educationally challenged 5 year old may know not to do that, and even if they did, this would be an exception to the rule.
Teachers have been sent a 5-page dossier about the use of bluetac, its dangers and the need to wear goggles whilst using it. The only thing that might happen to a teacher whilst using bluetac is that a particularly naughty child might push them off the chair or stool they were using to put up a poster or such like. What do they think will happen that requires goggles? I haven't had the misfortune to read the document, and quite frankly I'm not sure it would help.
Also on the list of banned items are: Pritstick, egg boxes and conkers. I suppose banning pritstick will prevent any new form of solvent abuse, if that's even possible with pritstick. Egg boxes run the risk of having salmonella on them. Conkers run the risk of taking a small child's eye out. Maybe I'll give them that one, although that is still being generous.
I'm beginning to despair of this country. I could go on about other issues, but i fear I'd send you to sleep, if you haven't already.
The problem is, I haven't got any answers, but I'm afraid i don't think any of the people sat in the House of Commons do either.
Saturday, 13 June 2009
Xenophobia rife in football!!
What is Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini's problem with England? Seriously! I mean , is it just simple jealousy. Platini as we know was a footballer, Blatter on the other hand I'm not sure, possibly, he can't have been that good, or we'd have heard of him as a world great. Maybe he was a sturdy centre-half for Basel or Grasshopper Zurich. No, a goalkeeper definitely. If he played he was a goalie. Or maybe he was the inspiration for Mr Toad from Wind in the Willows.
Cheap shot maybe, but his constant anti-English spite is wearing thin. Grinding my gears if you will!
This is on the back of his gushing sentiments regarding Cristiano Ronaldo's transfer to Real Madrid for a mind-bogglingly ridiculous £80m. Or euros. Or U.S dollars. I think it was a new World Record transfer fee, depending on the exchange rate for € to £. Or € to $. Or £ to $. Or if the moon is in Uranus. Or if FIFA say so.
For some reason this ridiculous amount of money is OK for a person that can kick a football quite hard with a clever little dip right at the end to totally bamboozle the goalkeeper and all in attendance and leave them foaming at the mouth.
Never mind that it would bail out Northern Rock Building Society, or pay off a third world countries debt or house the world's homeless. For some reason the fact that it was Real Madrid is fine. Not only that though, they had already splashed out £56m on Kaka, and will being signing David Villa from Valencia for £40m imminently.
Speaking in South Africa, before the beginning of the Confederations Cup, Blatter said " We are in a very sensitive market these days, but in football we are in a good market. It is a game of the people, and people want their stars, OK it is a lot of money, but he is performing".
He also described Ronaldo as "the Picasso of football" and two years ago claimed Ronaldo was a "modern day slave" because Manchester United did not want to sell him. You could build a case that Blatter has more than a professional interest in the Portugese winger.
How this contrasts to his opinions regarding Manchester City's attempted bid to sign Kaka for £100m. He said at the time "Is it morally acceptable to offer such sums of money for just one player". Now let me just clarify: Is he suggesting £100m is morally corrupt but £80m is absolutely acceptable?
During the same press conference yesterday, he always made a comparison between the transfer of Luis Figo from Barcelona to Real Madrid for £37m and the sale of a Picasso painting for £100m at Sotherbys and that this was hidden away for no-one to see, but the transfer of a footballer is there for all to see. Now he assumes we all should have equal interest in art as football. I'll leave the comments about women footballers needing tighter shorts for another day, but this does not only demonstrate his clear bias against England and the Premier league but also a chemical imbalance in the mans brain.
I would love for someone to put these contradicting quotes to him at a future public event, such as the next Miss Switzerland contest or maybe even at the after-party for Ronaldo's un-veiling at Madrid, something he obviously wants to celebrate.
What he has against us i'd like to know. I realise he and Platini have a huge problem with the influx of foreign owners of Premier league clubs, but we never hear them pose a question as to where Real or Barcelona get their bottomless pit of cash from. Its quite fascinating.
Personally, whilst they can do very little or nothing about the money our clubs have or the amounts we wish to spend on players while their favourite clubs get to spend what they like, i call for Monsieur Blatter to "Shut the fuck up".
Cheap shot maybe, but his constant anti-English spite is wearing thin. Grinding my gears if you will!
This is on the back of his gushing sentiments regarding Cristiano Ronaldo's transfer to Real Madrid for a mind-bogglingly ridiculous £80m. Or euros. Or U.S dollars. I think it was a new World Record transfer fee, depending on the exchange rate for € to £. Or € to $. Or £ to $. Or if the moon is in Uranus. Or if FIFA say so.
For some reason this ridiculous amount of money is OK for a person that can kick a football quite hard with a clever little dip right at the end to totally bamboozle the goalkeeper and all in attendance and leave them foaming at the mouth.
Never mind that it would bail out Northern Rock Building Society, or pay off a third world countries debt or house the world's homeless. For some reason the fact that it was Real Madrid is fine. Not only that though, they had already splashed out £56m on Kaka, and will being signing David Villa from Valencia for £40m imminently.
Speaking in South Africa, before the beginning of the Confederations Cup, Blatter said " We are in a very sensitive market these days, but in football we are in a good market. It is a game of the people, and people want their stars, OK it is a lot of money, but he is performing".
He also described Ronaldo as "the Picasso of football" and two years ago claimed Ronaldo was a "modern day slave" because Manchester United did not want to sell him. You could build a case that Blatter has more than a professional interest in the Portugese winger.
How this contrasts to his opinions regarding Manchester City's attempted bid to sign Kaka for £100m. He said at the time "Is it morally acceptable to offer such sums of money for just one player". Now let me just clarify: Is he suggesting £100m is morally corrupt but £80m is absolutely acceptable?
During the same press conference yesterday, he always made a comparison between the transfer of Luis Figo from Barcelona to Real Madrid for £37m and the sale of a Picasso painting for £100m at Sotherbys and that this was hidden away for no-one to see, but the transfer of a footballer is there for all to see. Now he assumes we all should have equal interest in art as football. I'll leave the comments about women footballers needing tighter shorts for another day, but this does not only demonstrate his clear bias against England and the Premier league but also a chemical imbalance in the mans brain.
I would love for someone to put these contradicting quotes to him at a future public event, such as the next Miss Switzerland contest or maybe even at the after-party for Ronaldo's un-veiling at Madrid, something he obviously wants to celebrate.
What he has against us i'd like to know. I realise he and Platini have a huge problem with the influx of foreign owners of Premier league clubs, but we never hear them pose a question as to where Real or Barcelona get their bottomless pit of cash from. Its quite fascinating.
Personally, whilst they can do very little or nothing about the money our clubs have or the amounts we wish to spend on players while their favourite clubs get to spend what they like, i call for Monsieur Blatter to "Shut the fuck up".
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