A wise man once said...

"Arguing on the internet is like the special Olympics..."

...but I'm not going there.

I just read this article and it made me fear for the day when my dad learns to use the internet properly. I'm not sure if any of his personal techniques would work (including his classic 'take your rebuttal and turn it into your point despite it being the opposite of what you originally said, then repeating the original statement no matter who contradictory') when the evidence will be there in print, hang on what am I saying, I've seen the comments sections on any number of websites and people do this all the time!

You can win an argument with him but it requires either superhuman willpower or subhuman stubbornness. It's not worth the mental energy expended or minor brain damage you'll incur, so it's a hollow victory.

Yes, it was Christmas recently. The subject was muslims, in case you're wondering. I should probably point out that he reads the Star and the Sun.

Dear internet gods, let me dad be forever thwarted in computer use by his technophobia and inability to listen to instructions. It's for everyone's safety and sanity.

You are not alone...

Apparently in a marketing industry magazine poll that "Go Compare" monstrosity was voted the most annoying ad campaign of 2009.

No meerkats = no love.

Agenda

All news outlets have an agenda. Blogs are no different. Reporting with the least bias possible is actually the definition of good journalism, but it’s hard to sell and as such hard to find. No one reports ‘the facts’ on their own anymore, it has to go through the filter of whatever editor or news values the particular outlet has. From the perspective of someone under 30 I find a lot of these positions a bit outdated. It’s obvious to anyone who has even a vague interest in politics that the old certainties of right wing and left wing and now more of a grey muddle, but not many newspapers have embraced this. Scratch that. No newspapers have embraced this. While The Guardian comes up with some great journalism a lot of the more frivolous articles (especially the lifestyle stuff) live up to old stereotypes – the ‘liberal lefty’ middle class sandal wearer who buys organic and worries about shit that will never directly affect them. If it wasn’t for this angle seeping through sometimes it would be without doubt the best newspaper online. It’s not far off already. It is the only remaining leftish newspaper - The Mirror is a joke these days, trying to straddle a line between a half arsed socialist agenda and peddling the same crap as the other tabloids. The rest of the press lives up to a stereotype that has existed for some time in politics and media academia - that the press are much further to the ‘right’ than the general population. And all of them, including the Guardian, like the beat the BBC with any stick that’s thrown their way.

It’s rare for me to be on the same side as Peter Mandelson, but he was spot on when pointing out the likelihood of Sky News following the agenda of other News Corp companies in giving tacit support to the Tories. Rupert Murdoch certainly used to be a very hands on owner (stories of terror sweeping through The Sun offices as he stormed through are legend), and it’s unfeasible to think that he doesn’t have at least some of the chief editors (or does he delegate to a ‘chief whip’ these days?) of his empire on speed dial when he needs to set the angle on the day’s news.

The less said about the Daily Mail the better. Check out the Enemies of Reason blog for regular dissections of their nonsense.

So where is this one coming from then? I’ll let you decide for yourself, as I can’t be entirely sure how this all comes off to someone who isn’t me (if anyone is reading at all).

The Point

Initially this blog will largely be a dumping ground for my scribblings, photos and general nonsense.

Scribblings will likely include reviews of gigs, albums, books, films etc, as well as rants, and possibly some actual articles with some sense of direction.

After that I'll see where it goes.

Oh and photos. Everyone seems to think they're a photographer these days, so I might as well get in on the act.

Here's one I took earlier. Well, the other day.


I've taken better, but then I've seen worse masquerading as art, so what the hell.