You know you’ve neglected your blog, when you go to log in, and realise you’ve forgotten the password. Yes, that did happen. I just had to click the reset link *blushes*

Anyhoo, I didn’t come here to tell  you about my nincompoopery – I’m sure you’ve figured that out – no, it’s time to share some of the more unusual or puzzling search terms people have used to find this blog. This crop is a mixed bag, some odd, some that don’t make sense, and one that is more than a bit scary.

internet good - I have a mental image of this being typed by Joey from Friends. (That only works if you’ve seen the episode in which Rachael makes trifle).

carol vorderman in boots/carol vorderman boots – After Carol’s performance on Question Time I can’t help but think ‘carol vorderman straightjacket’ would be more apt.

pay me – What is this, extortion by search term? No, I don’t think I will random search term person.

is it illegal to – Possibly. Could you be more specific? But, to give general guidance (yes, I’m a helpful blogger), if it involves public nudity, buying substances from dodgy geezers on street corners or running a ‘gentlemens’ club’, then yes it probably is. However, on the flip side, doing any of those things will outrage Daily Mail readers, so it is worth running the risk of a criminal record. (You get extra bonus outrage points if you can get a gypsy, an illegal immigrant and a single mother to accompany you).

david cameron funny – He is? Can’t say I’d noticed, but I suppose humour is a highly subjective thing. Unless, they mean funny-peculiar, in which case then yes, I see their point.

pile of dead babies – That has got to be the creepiest thing ever! Why would someone search for that, and why is Google telling them I have it here?! I don’t! Go away you weird baby hating weirdo!

asda sabotage – This is perplexing. Why would someone sabotage Asda (for people in the US, it’s our version of Walmart)? I can understand why they might not want to shop there, but sabotage is a bit much. Either don’t use the shop, or, a better plan, do go there but don’t buy anything. Instead, walk past the meat counter sniffing and occasionally gagging to suggest you can smell something really unpleasant. This works even better if you can borrow a toddler who is still in nappies. Not that I’ve done it, I’m just saying.

Finally, not ignoring comments! Will respond asap!

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Do I speak some strange form of English intelligible only to me? Well, on occasion I probably do, but I think I’m pretty good at making myself clear most of the time, aren’t I? The reason I’m asking is because either I’m not one of life’s natural communicators, or the people at T-Mobile don’t read my emails. And why am I emailing the people at T-Mobile? That’s a rather sorry tale.

For a while now my mobile has been troublesome. It was only cheap when I bought it, and has been dropped several times, so it was only to be expected that it wouldn’t be very long lived. Last week (on the 29th June), it completely died and no amount of charging, shaking or pleading could bring it back to life.

So, I looked for a replacement. A search of Amazon turned up one I liked and, with the clarity of hindsight, I should have bought that one there and then, but I didn’t. Instead, I did a quick search of Google to find out more about the phone, and discovered the same model was cheaper direct from T-Mobile. The dead phone was with T-Mobile, and they seemed ok – apart from a weird habit of blocking social networks and making you phone up to ask for permission to use them. (Please T-Mobile person, let me use Twitter, I promise not to post photos of my bum). So, I ordered the phone from them, naively expecting it to arrive within a day or two – I could manage for a day or two.

A day or two went by with no sign of the phone. Then another day or two, and another. Finally, yesterday, I’d had enough of waiting, so I emailed them to cancel the order. Today, I got an email back from them saying they were processing my order, I just needed to phone them to provide more information about myself. WTF!

They already have my name, my address, my bank details, and if I’m remembering correctly – it was so long ago – my date of birth. How much much more could they possibly need to know?! Even better, the number they provided was not a freephone one, so I’d have been calling them at my own expense. And which bit of ‘I want to cancel this order’ did they not understand? Is that an ambiguous statement? I didn’t think so, but then I’m the silly sod who didn’t buy from Amazon because she thought she had got a better deal elsewhere, so what do I know.

I’ve emailed them back – using fairly simple words in the hope that this time they will understand what I’m saying to them – and repeated my wish to cancel the order and explained that I feel a nine day wait for an item I could buy off the shelf in a supermarket is somewhat extreme. Am I wrong in thinking that?

Anyhoo, it’s now 8th July. I still don’t have a phone. I am about to buy one – yes, from Amazon.

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Oh dear. How bad were we? Don’t answer that, I already know. That is the worst England World Cup performance I’ve seen since Glenn Hoddle’s days, when the team did at least compensate for the inadequacies of the manager by trying so much harder. This time? Not so much. We had two mediocre games, scraped through one, then today – we were awful.

And how much worse would it have been if it wasn’t for David James, who threw off his Calamity James nickname and played fantastically. He’s the one member of the squad who can come home with his head held high; many of the rest should consider withdrawing from selection, leaving their place to someone who is actually prepared to play as well at national level as they do for the clubs that pay them millions. Talent means nothing if players drift about the pitch, shrugging like Vicki Pollard whenever called upon to do something – yes, Rooney, I’m looking at you.

In this World Cup, one of the New Zealand team was a bank clerk; he took unpaid leave to play in South Africa and acquitted himself admirably. We should have done that, we should have fielded a team of bank clerks, and postmen, and dentists, and …. because what they lacked in talent they would have more than made up for in enthusiasm. No, we wouldn’t have got any further, but at least we’d have known our  team tried as hard as they possibly could, and been proud of them.

Of course, it’s not just the players; the manager should do some soul searching too. Capello is reputed to be a very successful manager in mainland Europe. I’m wondering if anyone bothered to check his credentials to make sure that was with real football teams, and not Championship Manager with the cheats enabled.

Some of his tactics are bizarre to say the least. This weird obsession with playing people out of position, what’s that about? It defies logic. I’m pretty sure if Gerrard and Terry were naturally left-sided players, someone would have noticed long before now. (And being stuck in a position they have no aptitude for could explain below average performances from players who are usually stalwarts.) Then there are Capello’s puzzling substitutions, such as:  bringing Heskey on when we desperately needed goals, and with Crouch sitting on the bench!

Speaking after the match, Capello stated that England played “very well”, and seemed quite nonchalant about the debacle he had just witnessed. Meanwhile, the radio phone-in shows are inundated with calls from people calling for his resignation: I can see why. We need a manager who understands how England play, and who doesn’t want to turn them into Italy v.2; we need a manager who cares passionately about results, who wants us to win as much as we do. Capello doesn’t seem to be that person.

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If I was to adequately express just how bloody annoyed I am at the moment, this post would consist of one long GAH! But that would be very dull, and wouldn’t explain the source of my current ill temper, so I’ll try to convey it in prose, of a sort.

This cartoon. In the Guardian. You know, the newspaper that prides itself on being liberal, unbiased and not promoting stereotypes.

“Oh I see. As a female football fan I must be a morbidly obese peroxide blonde with really bad dress sense. Thanks for letting me know, I’ll get to work on that.”

That’s the comment I left beneath this, umm, steaming pile of someone’s prejudices. Then I thought, maybe some people might think I was being a bit thin-skinned, so I thought I’d drop in here and explain why it offended me so much.

I love football. I don’t just mean I enjoy watching the occasional match, it’s not a hobby. I adore it. I get the same kind of thrill out of a beautifully executed pass that opera buffs get from a pitch perfect aria. I love the passion and drama that unfolds on the pitch, and the roller-coaster of emotions a closely fought match can bring.

I even love the tribalism. Not the nasty, bigoted variety that leads to people yelling, ‘you’re going to get your f****** head kicked in’. No, I love the tribalism that comes from supporting the same team as your grandfather, and great grandfather. The tribalism that occurs when you meet another fan of your team in some far flung place, and immediately know you share a special bond; you too exalt/despair at their form this season, you too remember that cup final when …

The thing is – yes, finally, I’m getting to the point – being a female football fan can be tough. Even harder, is being a female football writer. This is something I have done in the past, and something I hope to do again. The problem is, although blogging is male dominated, football blogging makes the blogosphere in general look like a Blogher convention. Really.

I can count on one hand the women football bloggers I’ve come across, and I’m one of them, and I don’t even need to use all my fingers. There are still a significant number of people who believe women who claim – of course we are only pretending – to like football fall into two categories.

Category One – the airhead who watches because she likes to ogle the players, but who really has no concept of the game and thinks the offside rule is something to do with half-time refreshments.

Category Two – the yob who drinks cheap cider and only watches because she likes a good punch-up afterwards.

The above linked cartoon puts female football fans into that second category. In the Guardian. You know, the newspaper that prides itself on being liberal, unbiased and not promoting stereotypes.

Which is why GAH! would have most adequately expressed how I feel.

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Why would someone put a fake bird on their roof? This is a serious question, there isn’t a punchline.

I’ve noticed a house across the lane has a fake bird on it’s roof. To be truthful, initially, I didn’t realise it was fake and spent 5 minutes trying to figure out what kind of bird it was and why it didn’t move, then it dawned on me … oh, I see, it’s fake. But why is it there? Why would someone attach a four-foot tall plastic bird to their chimney?

I’ve asked Google who were no help at all. I did find something about using fake owls to stop real birds sitting on your roof*, but this fake bird looks heron-ish** which is more likely to scare fish, but fish don’t sit on roofs. I suppose flying fish might, but as far as I know there hasn’t been a big problem with that in Yorkshire. So, suggestions for fake bird usage please!

In other news:

- A chap in Nottingham owes his life to my son who found him collapsed outside a club, realised it was due to something more serious than simply having one too many and administered CPR. He’s been quite modest about it, but is angry that the bouncers left the bloke lying there for about half an hour.

- I’ve fallen victim to Clumsy Oaf Disorder (COD) again. Long story short: huge wasp flew in through window, dog leapt up to eat it – he hates flying insects – I jumped up to stop dog eating wasp, got leg caught in the rungs of chair and fell over, hurting back It’s not bad, just aches.

- Been doing that whole writing/blogging thing. Recent favourites (of mine) have been this about another of my favourite books. Also enjoyed the research*** for this, I’d love to hear what you think about the effect of technology on family life.

I made the pic to the left (you need to click to embiggen it), because, well, it seemed like a good idea, and I’m learning to use GIMP. Not learning too quickly though, it’s similar to Photoshop, but some bits work differently, which is holding me back.

Anyhoo, I thought I could use the skills I do have (I know, that isn’t a lot of skills) to help Dave out with his election campaign. (If you want to help Dave too, you can find a blank image here.) However, when I came to do it, I realised I’d rather eat my own hair fried in batter; so instead, I was a tiny bit critical. Just a tad.

That’s all!

* I’m not convinced that real birds would fall for the fake owl trick; surely they watch them for 5 minutes, then think … oh, I see, it’s fake.

** Yes, heron-ish is the technical term for any bird that looks like it might be a heron. Bill Oddie uses it all the time.

*** Basically, I watched the series. Talk about hard work. Gosh, it was brutal. Even worse, I drank tea and ate a fruit and nut Toblerone while I did it.

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Who knew we had our very own gang of birthers in the UK?! Apparently we do though, or so it appears from some of the anti-Nick Clegg propaganda being peddled in certain sections of the right-wing media.

It seems Nick Clegg is one of those pesky Europeans and as such should not be elected as PM of the UK which is not a European country, no matter what history and geography books say. The UK is actually part of some other continent … I think it’s called Middle England.

Middle England should not be confused with Tolkien’s Middle Earth, which only had to face the threat of Sauron; Middle Englanders face a much more dangerous enemy in the form of continental types who want to ban Sunday lunches, football and bendy bananas. The swines! They also want to overthrow the monarchy – who are not German, no matter what you may have read – and install Gerard Depardieu as the head of state.

But wait, there’s more! You remember those death panels people in the US were talking about during the healthcare debates? It seems the Lib Dems want to bring them here. Don’t be swayed by arguments about that article being a mixture of hyperbole and fantasy! I think we all know they just want to bump us off so they can give our houses to Mr Depardieu and friends, who’ll use them as venues for fondue parties at which they all quaff Stella Artois out of our best tea cups and dance to Sacha Distel. Quelle horreur!

Luckily, the good people of Twitter have rumbled Continental Clegg and his band of house-stealing granny-killers, and even gone further, finding a whole host of other evils perpetuated by this croissant disguised as a ham sandwich. Personally, I’m blaming him for my hayfever, the two broken biscuits at the top of the packet I just opened and Liverpool’s poor form this season.

Of course, it’s entirely possible the articles linked to above are merely a feeble reaction from impartial newspaper owners who, terrified the Tories might not ooze their way back into power, have resorted to printing any old crap in the assumption their readers are too stupid to see through it, but how likely is that?

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This is something I never thought I’d type, but here goes: I’m looking forward to Doctor Who later today. There I’ve said it. I’m not a huge Whoey – is that what Doctor Who fans are called? Possibly not, that might be as inaccurate as my theory that fans of Lord of the Rings are called Ringies. Anyway, however they identify themselves, I’ve never counted myself amongst their numbers.

I quite liked Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker, but thought later Doctors were just trying too hard to emulate them. Then, when the programme returned, Christopher Eccleston was OK, but I never took to David Tennant, he always looked a little too pleased with himself. However, this new Doctor seems to be from the same mould as Pertwee and Baker, and I’m liking his quirkiness. Of course, there is always the chance that the new Doctor isn’t very good and I’ve just gone over to complete geekdom, but we won’t talk about that.

Other things this week:

- Soldier Son is home for two weeks I’m thinking of waiting until he’s asleep, then hiding him in the loft and pretending to be Danish – I figure with my name that would be credible – when they come looking for him. There are a couple of snags though: a) he’s far too big to fit through the hatch and b) I don’t speak a word of Danish, and knowing my luck whoever came looking for him would be fluent.

- Medical Son has a strange new neighbour; an elderly lady who sneaks into his garden and plants things. The odd thing is, years ago Mr Blogs and I saw an elderly lady sneak into a neighbour’s garden and start to weed it – is there some kind of underground guerilla gardening movement for the retired?

- I wrote this, which is part of a series of reviews based on the BBC Big Read list – the idea is I try to give a reason why someone should read each book. The thing is, I’ve noticed Bridget Jones’ Diary is on the list. I haven’t read that, but I’m so looking forward to it. As you all know, I’m a big fan of chick-lit. Yes, that is sarcasm, I hate it. So, if anyone has read it, how much am I not going to like it? Is it better or worse than the Shopaholic books?

And finally: if you aren’t sure how to vote in the general election, this site might help. (Thanks to Sharon for the link )It shows you policies from a variety of parties, but without letting you know which ones – actually if you’ve been paying attention it’s easy to guess some of them – you just select the ones that most appeal to you. In case you wondered, my result was 75% Labour and 25% Green – so I’m left-leaning with eco-friendly tendencies, but I think we already knew that.

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If you follow the UK news you may have noticed the story about journalist, Rod Liddle, being censured by the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) on the grounds of inaccuracy. Oddly, this story has been spun into something far more wide-ranging by certain elements of the mainstream media (msm), with some publications asking if it should lead to the regulation of blogging. Not entirely sure why, because Liddle is not a blogger, he’s a journalist who sometimes happens to have his work published on a blog. There is a difference.

Anyhow, I’ve been pondering the subject, and here are my thoughts for your perusal; I’d love to know what your thoughts are, so feel free to share them in the comments.

Should blogging be regulated? No. I can understand the arguments for professional bloggers to have an accreditation body, similar to the National Union of Journalists, which would not only provide guidelines but other benefits such as legal protection. However, I strongly disagree with the idea that anyone who sets up on blogspot and posts about what they had for breakfast should be forced to join up. That idea is ludicrous. The wonderful thing about blogging is that it gives everyone a voice, even if they choose to use it to discuss cornflakes.

If casual bloggers were forced to jump through hoops before they were allowed to share their thoughts with the world far fewer would make the effort which would, in effect, stifle free speech for all but those who were prepared to tick boxes, send off subscription fees and abide by guidelines they probably had no say in writing. Of course, this means there will be always be bloggers who go beyond the pale, but the rest of the blogosphere is free to criticise and rebut what they say. And that is how it works: someone says something daft; the rest of us point and laugh.

If anything, compulsory regulation would lead to a more polarised and venomous blogosphere. Most hobbyists would be deterred by the legalese and bureaucracy, leaving only those with extremely strong opinions; the moderate middle ground would not be around to challenge them.

Should bloggers be regulated by the PCC (or similar bodies in other countries)? Absolutely not! The idea that bloggers should be covered by a body set up to control journalists is ridiculous. Just because the two groups have some skills in common does not mean they are the same thing at all. Nurses and doctors share many skills, but if anyone wants to pop over the next Royal College of Nursing conference and suggest nurses should be governed by the General Medical Council … well, I’ll just say good luck with that.

If bloggers are ever regulated it should be by an organisation that comes from within blogging. The msm regularly demonstrate their complete lack of understanding of how the blogosphere works, with most still seeing it as merely an extension of traditional printed media.

There seems to be a mindset that says blogging was populated by bumbling amateurs for the first ten years or so of it’s existence, but now the professionals have deigned to take an interest the bumblers – us – should give up and stick to commenting on their words of wisdom instead. Once again, this is odd. We are the professionals here, whether we’re paid or not. We are the ones who know how it all works, we speak the lingo, we understand the protocol and etiquette.

If you need evidence of their inability to ‘get it’ you only have to look at the number of journos who say things like, ‘I just wrote a blog’, when they mean they wrote a post*. Or, the even greater number who never venture into commentland because they can’t break out of the mindset that tells them they do the speaking and we do the listening. This reluctance to enter into conversation is one of the biggest differences between the journalism and blogging.

So should we allow ourselves to be taken into the fold of journalism? No. Why on earth would we want to tie ourselves to an industry that would always see us as second rate journalists, rather than first class bloggers? Why would we want to be governed by a group who have only a minimal understanding of what we actually do?

Why would bloggers even want to be associated with journalists? The PCC may be basking in praise following their verdict on Rod Liddle, but they didn’t exactly cover themselves in glory when they pronounced on Jan Moir, even though her piece was just as inaccurate**. Of course, there are exceptions, but on the whole journalism is now seen as the realm of politically biased, celebrity obsessed gutter-scrapers, so much so, the question should be reversed. Instead of asking if bloggers should join the ranks of journalists, it would more appropriate if we were encouraging ethical journalists to describe themselves as bloggers. Admittedly, they’d have to deal with the blank looks when they tell people what they do, but they’d be able to hold their heads up knowing no one thinks they make a living by raking through other peoples’ dirty laundry, either literally or metaphorically.

* I’m often tempted to comment saying something like ‘what? A whole blog? In a single morning? You truly are talented’.

** Apart from her nasty insinuations about Stephen Gately, she claimed that, “Healthy and fit 33-year-old men do not just climb into their pyjamas and go to sleep on the sofa, never to wake up again”. The trouble with that is, they do, more often than many people realise. A friend of my brothers died that way aged only 29; it makes me very angry to think anyone could be allowed to dismiss medical evidence in an attempt to use such tragedies to validate their own malice.

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Today is Ada Lovelace Day, a (now) annual event when bloggers celebrate the the work of women in the fields of science and technology. When I decided to take part I thought long and hard about who I should write about – we’re now fortunate to have a growing number of notable female scientists and technology experts so it was difficult to single any one out. However, I decided I’d leave the famous women for somebody else, and devote my post to a woman few (if any) of you will have heard of, but whose knowledge of, and enthusiasm for all things scientific and technological had a significant influence on me, and I would hope many other girls.

When I was eight, I had the extreme good fortune to be placed in the class of Miss Vaughan, a woman I can only describe as decades ahead of her time. Miss Vaughan would have been unusual in any school in the 1970s, but even more so in a cosy Catholic primary school.

At a time when certain elements of the curriculum were still divided into subjects for boys – science, technology – and subjects for girls – home economics, needlework – this small, religious school in a market town had on it’s staff a woman who had completely broken down those stereotypes and become a qualified and talented science teacher. Even more remarkable, Miss Vaughan did not come from the privileged, British, upper/middle class background of women like Ada Lovelace; she came to this country from Trinidad – an immigrant – and initially trained as a nurse before moving into teaching. With hindsight, I suspect this may be the reason she was working in a backwater, rather than at a more prestigious institution.

Whatever the reason, we were lucky to have her, not just because of what she had done, but because she was one of those teachers whose positive influence on their pupils lasts long after they’ve moved on to another class.

Miss Vaughan’s enthusiasm for her subject was infectious; whether we were having a lesson about the lives of the tiny mayflies which skated around the surface of the class pond, or discussing the ethics of vivisection. She had the ability to break hugely complex subjects down into child-sized bites of information, thus making the inaccessible, accessible. But more relevant to this post: she never made any distinction between the female pupils and the male; she just assumed we all had the ability to learn and understand whatever she was teaching us. And she never dismissed a question, no matter how odd, or how silly it might sound, she would answer, and then encourage us to discuss the subject as a class.

The class discussions were probably a first taste of informed debate for most of us – we were only eight. Unusually, these were allowed to follow a natural course, we were never forced to stick to a narrow topic; if a subject veered off at a tangent we were encouraged to go wherever it led us. She insisted we ask questions, but more importantly, expected us to go further than the answers she gave us, and read and research to gain an even greater understanding.

Those were her qualities as a teacher generally, but as the teacher of girls she brought something extra that was quite unusual at the time. The words “you can’t do that because you are a girl”, would never have left her lips, I can’t imagine they would even have entered her head. To her a mind was a mind, and her actions and conduct left us in no doubt that, as far as she was concerned, there was nothing we couldn’t do if we set our minds to it. If we had any doubts about that, we only had to look at her, a woman who lived and breathed the supposedly male subject of science.

Fast forward to the 21st century, and the numbers of women working in science and technology have grown, but we are still outnumbered by men, and girls are still the minority in sci/tech courses at school and college. There are a number of reasons for this, but the lack of direct female role models is a big factor. Girls may hear about high profile women in these fields, but too few encounter real role models in the course of their education.

Speaking personally, having such a role model played a part in the self-belief that enabled me to go into a male dominated field – and in internet technology circles, men are still very much the majority! It’s true that things are moving in the right direction, the number of female science graduates is growing, more and more women are forging careers in technology, but it’s still not the 50/50 split it should be. I’m pretty sure the numbers would be far more even if every little girl encountered a Miss Vaughan, someone who has no time for the concept of male subjects and female subjects; someone who understands a child’s intelligence, talents and abilities are unique to them, and are not simply a product of their gender.

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This week’s interviewee is Tim Whale, who proved to be a truly fascinating subject; I regret post length didn’t permit me to delve deeper. Tim publishes an impressive array of blogs and sites, including: Anarchy in the UK, Random Thoughts of Nowun Till, newonline businessideas.com, and keeps the spirit of John Peel alive at Indie Bands’ Blog. In this interview, Tim shares his thoughts about punk, politics and the music industry, as well as offering a glimpse into a life less ordinary.

1. You’re a prolific blogger covering a range of topics. What brought
you into blogging?

Anger was my initiative.

I bought the domain anarchyintheuk.com in 2003, which has undergone many transitions, as a platform on which to vent my spleen.

I decried the invasion of Iraq and as I saw it and still do, the Bush Oedipus complex, which drove a personal war.

Website ownership at that time in the UK became a viable proposition.

I was fortunate to live in Bromley, which had the option to not be a ‘dial-up’ connection, as prior to that point, connecting on a private line was more annoying than venting.

Prior to purchasing my first domain, I was an IRC advocate.

2. You’re a proud punk, and list England’s Dreaming as one of your
favourite books – what attracted you to punk?

I guess a good education.

I was a boarder at a school which gave me space to construct my own ideas.

I abhored the fees my parents paid to have me educated, but it give me the space to question the world in which I lived.

I was also fortunate that my parents lived in London, so on my breaks could spend time looking outside gated houses.

I was initially an anti-nazi. My first demo, resulted in my first arrest, for knocking a coppers hat off his head, at the Lewisham March in 1977.

It is the ethos of Punk, rather than being a ‘fashion punk’ which still lives in my soul.

Punk to me and I know there are reams of books about what it really means, was an ethos of self responsiblility. No-one owes me and I have choices and can make a change.

I was brought up in an era of anti-communism. The East End and Waterloo still being bomb sites from WWII, yet an attitude that The British Empire still was important. America still decrying Blacks as second class citizens, the Irish provinces, a world in turmoil.

I went to Berlin in 1972, my father, a senior British army officer, driving the only permitted route for him in to Berlin, with The Stazi on tow, made me see the world was a messed up place.

The Baader-Meinhof gang, who were responsible for my first blowing up (one of three), in Hamburg in 1976, didn’t draw resentement towards them, but resentment towards Centralisation and my support for individualism.

There was so much happening and yet so few people took ownership. Betjeman with ‘Come angry bombs and fall on Slough…’ made so much sense.

Punk was an opportunity to say, this is wrong. A space to vocalise an aim to destroy the status quo. Suddenly people were standing out and saying, no.

The late ’70′s, I still believe 30 years on, made England wake up a little. I still think it is slumbering, which is perhaps why I remain the angry person I was all that time ago.

‘England’s Dreaming’ encapsulates many of the band with the same ethos. The people who said no, in a time when being conformist was seen as a badge of honour.

I am saddened that the world has revolved so quickly to conformity once again. Where Celebrity is the new dogma and once again responsibility has become something for any one other than the individual to carry on their shoulders.

3. What do you think about the idea that punk has transformed from a
genre of music into an ideology?

Punk never was a genre of music it always was an ideology. Unfortunately the bands who live in memories such as the commercial Sex Pistols and The Clash have become a face for what was happening at the time.

As you rightly say, I list ‘England’s Dreaming’ as a book on my should read list. The first 553 pages focus on the background and politics of Punk.

Take a look at page 101, you still can’t find this uncensored on the internet easily, imagine back 30 years how much angst that would have caused wearing it on a t-shirt?

I can’t even guess the number of times I was physically attacked for being a ‘punk rocker’ simply because I stood against the status quo. In the late ’70s being a Punk wasn’t a fashion statement it was a way of life that meant aggression, police intervention and media approbation.

It may be looked on historically as a musical movement, but at the time it was far more serious. It was an agenda for change, which did achieve an end, not just in music, but across a far wider spectrum.

Punk always was a political agenda, history has attempted to lock it in boxes.

4. You offer a showcase to independent music acts at Indie Bands’
Blog; how would you describe the current indie market?

Music has moved forward and on the website I do not focus on my politics.

I enjoy writing the blog, in a shallow spirit of John Peel.

The website aims to find bands around the world, who are not steeped in commercialism and have a value to add to the world of music.

Every generation throws up a new anxiety and I am finding that the most creative bands are doing, as every generation has done, focus on the issues that face them head-long.

Personal relationships seems to be the theme of the current generation, which I find of no great surprise.

There are politically motivated bands coming out from places such as the Far East and South America, where freedom of speech is as relevant now, as it was when I was in a band. In Europe and North America far more, the focus seems to be on a generation who has been brought in to a world in which there is little cohesion, with lyric focussing on these issues.

Indie music thrives and remains ahead of the mainstream, which is heartening, as the experimental musicians move away from guitar and drum to new technologies.

I am lucky to live near Cambridge, where there is a thriving experimental scene, where bands are taking ‘instruments’ such as electro-magnetic conducters and magnets to generate a whole new sound.

Music must evolve, as technology evolves.

5. Do you think mainstream records labels can learn anything from the
way the independent scene has used new technologies?

Yes.

Oh, I was meant to add more…

Mainstream record labels of course will always try to maintain their space and of course as significant Shareholder Businesses they should.

Much as I decry the RIAA approaches to downloads, that is not their business model and of course the mainstream takes time to catch up.

It is when institutions such as the UK Government get involved, while they sit in an eddy behind a rock pool, that my back bristles.

The old ‘mainstream’ will defend the status quo, that is why they are termed mainstream, as a shareholder of a ‘mainstream’ do you really want ‘give music away for free’ as a business model, no of course not.

As a musician do you want to expose yourself to a wider market, for sure and here the boundaries strike fire.

Much of the Brazilian scene has evolved to a superb pivot, whereby music is freely available for download, the revenue is from live events, physical copy releases and merchandising. Slowly it is catching on.

As a model for a major label, that is a massive step change. People such as Cowell, in the UK, have recognised the change and make revenues from completely different avenues.

The question should perhaps be, apologies for my turning the tables Kate. Are major labels fit to serve music?

When Bach, Brahms, Tchaikovsky etc were composing did they have major record labels?

You kindly mentioned my own website, which is a division of Indie International, that is seeking to take a new step in music financing.

There are a myriad of seed financiers who are unable to connect with musicians and promoters, simply because the industry is still worrying about ‘major record labels’. As long as Governments continue to support their anxiety, the distribution of music will remain locked in to a few players and to clarify my position, itunes is included.

However me ranting against large labels and distributers is futile.

It is the music buyer who decides, but the bands can take control and this is perhaps where I see a strike a completely different stance to many of the bands I showcase on the indie bands blog, where so many remain myopic in their desire to progress to ‘striking a record deal’.

It is unfortunate that Google has recently stepped in to the breach with their ‘favouritism’ towards myspace, but that is yet another issue that you didn’t even ask me about.

6. You also blog on political themes; how do you feel about the
political landscape in the UK.

I could respond for an hour or two on this Kate.

In a simplification, I am anarcho-capitalist, who believes in no form of Government, centralised judiciary or policing. I oppose nation states and decry a system which permits elected dictatorships.

To expand a little on the status quo.

We have a system which has become to view its central brief to defend the status quo.

The spy agencies are supposedly protecting British Citizens, and although Binyam Mohamed is not a British National, The UK Government took him under his wing, yet the spy agencies saw torturing him to protect Democracy was more important than protecting an individual they were supposed to protect.

Rendition flights in to UK territory have been permitted to go unpunished, simply because America scares the UK Democratic System. There is far more to say on Diego Garcia, which is a disgusting legacy of British Imperialism.

Elected Governments with less than 27% of the population voting for them have absolutely no mandate.

The next election which may result in a hung parliament, whereby a party supported by perhaps 6% of the voting population can decide on future policies fills me with anger.

I hope that fewer than 40% of the population actually vote and perhaps then a concensus will rise up to change our system of Government. Far better a few BNP get elected and perhaps we will head towards a revolution as the populace realise centralised Democractic Government is a complete fallacy.

I could rant and rave on so much more, but let me finish with Cameron and his Wisteria and Brown and his secrecy covered Sky Sports Channels.

7. Do you agree with claims that people have become apathetic about
the political process? If so, what do you think could be done to
stimulate debate and engagement?

This is the religious zealot argument which permitted the dunking of witches, the Spanish inquisition, The Crusades and The American Christian Fundamentalist war against Islam, led by the Bush, Oedipus Complex.

I am not convinced ‘apathy’ is an issue. I am hugely politically active but have never voted and never will.

The argument put forward by Democrats, is that if you don’t vote you are apathetic.

There is another position.

Many people do not support the Democratic system.

8. Also on your favourite books list are Animal Farm and 1984; if
Orwell were resurrected in 2010 Britain, do you think he would see
similarities to his creations?

I would hope so.

We have revisionist Government.

Just to take some examples of where I think Orwell may have a smile.

Apparently all MPs were against their claiming obscence allowances. Funny, I recall they voted against disclosure and it was a leaked Daily Telegraph story. Yet still they claim the need that you and I pay for second homes and they take the profit. Hind leg pigs come to mind.

Icleand was deemed a terrorist state because their banks failed, but the British Tax-payer owed it to British banks to bail them out.

Anti-terrorims laws are used to permit Local Councils to look in dustbins, on the grounds that the wrong litter may be in the wrong bin.

The rise of the unaccountable Quango. Listen to politicians explaining why they can’t actually be accountable…. ‘…We fund it but no-one who can be called to account owns it…’

It is illegal to protest outside the Houses of Parliament without permission.

The G20 summit, protestors were not allowed within 1/2 a mile of the main building, yet the state sponsored media focussed on the City of London.

Peers appointed by Blair and Brown questioning Blair and Brown on their culpability in an invasion.

CCTV

I could go on a few more lines and then head in to the wider world

9. Finally, the obligatory meme-type question. You know the amusing
conspiracy that says Elvis didn’t die? Imagine for a moment it was
true; what did he do next?

You mean Elvis Costello or Elvis Presley?

Either of them I don’t care.

If they got fed up with the limelight so what? If they died, so what?

It happens and the world evolves.

I appreciate you dropping by,
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(kbitisi2010)