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Ian May

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The Triumph of Ignorance: How Morons Succeed in U.S. Politics

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This is a very interesting article, with some excellent points raised within it. My belief is that the media, which always seems to play to the lowest common denominator contributes a huge part in helping the morons succeed, with its continual accent on simple sound bites instead of in-depth looks at issues.

Read it here

Tastes Change

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Mrs Thomas called me from the living room to the kitchen to tell me that dinner was ready.

She served up liver bacon and onion casserole. I sat there cutting this darn liver into smaller and smaller tiny pieces, along with the cabbage too, and hoping it would somehow melt and vanish.

Eventually Mr Thomas, who struck me at the time, as a very stern man, if one was to upset him, asked me in his thick Rhondda Valley accent, what was wrong with Mrs Thomas’ dinner.


I mumbled something about having a stomach ache, and he mumbled something about food going to waste. At that time I didn’t much care that it was going to waste; I was more concerned that I didn’t have to eat it.

Anyway, 35 or so years later, and this evening I was sitting down tucking into my dinner, and thinking how tastes change.

For dinner this evening, I made liver,bacon and onion casserole, with mash potatoes, and cabbage.

Suddenly my mind transported me back to sometime in the early 1970’s, and Mr & Mrs Thomas’ flat in Acton…

Death Of A Format

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I’m not a teenager. However, I’ve had a life long interest in music, and it’s my number one relaxation activity, besides reading.

CD Spindle I’m always playing it. I almost never watch TV. I don ‘t have an iTunes account, or an iPod but as I type this, I’m listening to mp3s on my Sansa m240, which I’ve downloaded from Napster during the last week. Sansa Express

Interestingly, although, I’ve not purchased any CDs for at least 3-4 years, I do, however, get sent a lot of promo CDs, as I run an internet radio station, NAB Radio, with the accent on showcasing indie bands of all genres.

sansa m240For me, as a listener,  it’s not the cost so much as the availability. I want to hear something now, and get the one song I want. I don’t need to go to the mall, or get a CD full of songs that I may already have most of, and perhaps have to wait 2-3 weeks for the store to get it in.

Finally, I guess digital is better for the environment, in the long time, and as long as everyone gets paid for their work, does the medium matter?

The 78rpm lasted around 25-30 years, as did the 45, and the 33rpm LP, and the CD is 25 years old next year, so it’s perhaps time for it to bow out.

Finally for those of you that are feeling all nostalgic, I grew up with a Dansette and a pile of 45s. Yes, it was fun, and it was good to hold those new 7 inchers in your hand, but, when I last played them (I still have around 1500 of them in my mother’s attic), I realized what a pain in the rear it was to get and down every three minutes to put on a new one. So much easier to load a few hours worth  into Amarok, or Winamp or whatever your player of choice is on your computer.