tonygoodson

Giggsy played Shit!

When I wake up on a Sunday morning, what's the first thing I do?
I switch my PC on and read how Manchester United went on, overnight.
I first look at the score on the BBC, and because I have no choice currently, I then read the match report which is as boring as......Cliff Richard!
I don't want a minute by minute, kick by kick report of the game, I want a biased, street language report, as if I'd called Matthew or Jules up, in London.
I haven't found that kind of Man Utd forum or weblog that gives me a totally biased game report, when I wake up on Sunday morning here in Australia, but I'm sure they are out there.

What I'm saying is, there is going to be a huge shift over the next few years away from the conventional media, and when I realise I want some biased reporting on Man Utd, then I can see how it's going to happen!

Mark Cuban

Just had a listen to the Mark Cuban interview, the blogging CEO.
Some great views on the future of technology, and I love that he's technology driven.
He also said, to just leave the dinosaurs behind if they're not prepared to play ball with their content or formats.
And finally a great piece of advice which he'd been given, para-phrasing a bit here.
"If you look round the table for the sucker, and you can't find any suckers, then you're probably the sucker!"

There's gold in them thar Podcasts

I'm beginning to get it with podcasts.  I've been listening for quite a few weeks on my laptop, but I've only just bought an MP3 players, the cheapest, nastiest I could find.
Load my favourite MP3 songs, load 1 or 2 podcasts each day, and I'm set for my trip to work.
Ok, ok, I listen to Hughesy, Kate, and Dave as I walk to the station, but after that, since the radio reception on the train isn't good, it's on to the MP3 player.

Trouble is, I can't seem to play the G'Day (pronounced Gay) boys on the player.  The file downloads, and I can play the file from my laptop, but not from the player on the MP3.  It recognises the title but comes up with an error when I play.  It could be that the player is a bit snooty about playing 48 Kbs files, but the 64 Kbs files don't work either.  So I'm stuck with Adam Curry, who is prolific enough to stick with for the time being.

But the real point is the freedom of expression that is going on (and the bad language!!).
It's great.
When I read something like this, How Copyright Could be Killing Culture, and even this, Rules for Failure, together with Cameron's rant about how crappy TV content is, then it's time to be part of new content creation.

The image that comes to mind is of a drowning man on a life raft, in a storm, holding on to a massive chunk of gold, next to a rescue ship.
"Sir, please let go of the gold."
"No, the gold is mine."
"Sir, I know the gold is yours, but you're sinking in the life raft."
"The gold is all mine, I tell you."
"Sir, I know the gold is all yours, but you have to let go of it, either hand it to us and we can help you, or you'll have to toss it off the life raft."
"Well if I can't have it then no one can have it.........Bwahahahaha!"

These copyright and patent holders simply won't let go of the gold.  Let 'em drown I say.
Let's move on.

Daddy, were you a Punk?

One day my daughter will ask me, "Daddy were you a Punk?".  And I will lie to her and embellish the truth.
By chance just as I was reading this, You Had to be There, I was listening to Sid Vicious's My Way on my headphones, which out of curiosity I searched (to see if Sid Vicious made it into the 80s) and found this, The Boy Behind the Sid Vicious Myth, a great read and one view of the mid to late 70s.  I didn't like the article at first because it's takes a historical view from the victors and famous, and I refuse to believe that Sid Vicious mixed with these people the whole time, but then again, who else will have an opinion on Sid Vicious, that is recorded (very different now with bloggers, where everyone has an opinion).

I've been thinking all day about perspective on the 70s.  I think The Grimleys captures that feeling of the 70s as does Fever Pitch, and there's lots of room still to write about it.

From my perspective, my teenage years were throughout the 70s, so I was there.
There were 4 parts to the 70s, all music based.
Two years of post 60s hangover, and maybe I was too young to pick up on the music.
Glam Rock of the early 70s
Two years of Abba and the Bay City Rollers.
And then Punk hit.

Of course there were all those bloated groups like Yes, Led Zepplin, Emerson Lake and Palmer, but No Single, No Visibility!  Not in my memory anyway!  But where was Disco?  Well you'll have to ask American nostalgia that question.

By value of music sold, Punk doesn't seem to have existed, but by media headlines and it's effect on us at the time, it was huge.
For a start it must have doubled the speed of the average song, (and reduced trouser width).  I wonder if anyone has ever done research on the average beat speed of a song in each year!!

On the other hand, who exactly was a punk?  If you were a teenager, you went to school.  So how could you be a punk unless you played truant, were suspended, or were just a weekend Punk!!!
Leaving school at 16 to become a Punk maybe was one career option.  Or a Punk in your 20s?

Meanwhile, back to The Rotters' Club which The Observer piece is about.  Yes, the 70s were about Morecambe and Wise, and The Likely Lads, as well as many TV programmes, even whilst Punk was going on.

I started to write about my teen years in 70s on my previous website, two years ago.  Whereas I had no trouble writing for a whole year about my childhood years in 60s (see Rimmer Shit!), I struggled to make it until to May when writing about my Sexual Years (lack of it!) in the 70s.
Why?  Because when you're in your teens you only think about 5 things.
Getting Laid
Getting Laid
Getting Laid
Getting Laid
Getting Laid

Oh and school, sport, family, music, TV.  And there are only so many times you can write about these things, without embellishing it.  So no, I wasn't a Punk, but I will be in my novel!!

Cliff Richard and Copyright

Ok Cliffy babe, you're beginning to show your age.  You may still look 16, but your attitude shows your age.  Cliff Richard wants to stop his songs entering the Europe's public domain, in 2008.

How much money have you made out of the public, Cliff? 
How much free publicity have you received over the years from the BBC, which we paid for?
How many times do you think your fans have bought the same songs because the format you publish them on lasts for less than 1/10th of the time you want to hang on to your tuneful melodic ditties?

There isn't a song that your fans haven't already bought several times over, and you want to make sure that continues?

This spiral will not end until governments recall a simple lesson: Monopolies are evil, even if they are a necessary evil. We rightfully grant the monopoly called copyright to inspire new creative work. But once that work has been created, there is no public justification for extending its term. The public has already paid. Term extension is just double billing. Any wealth it creates for copyright holders is swamped by the wealth the public loses in lower costs and wider access.
  Lawrence Lessig

My heart bleeds for you Batchelor Boy.

What are yer laughing at?

Top 50 Comedians voted for by 300 comedians, comedy           writers, producers and directors.
I love lists so this set me thinking about my list.  I'm sure I've missed some, and I've seen one off performances which were great. I agree that the two greatest influences on British comedy since Word War 2, are Peter Cook and Spike Milligan.  That doesn't make them the funniest!

The other issue is one of being in the here and now.  Some things were great then, but have faded.  The best probably never fades!  And this article Great Comedy Acts, sets the scene.

It's real simple.
1. Who would I pay to see?
2. Who are comedy actors rather than comedians?
3. Oh, and who is funny all the time, not just on stage or film?

Tommy Cooper
Woody Allen
Norman Wisdom
Billy Connolly
Barry Humphries
Frankie Howerd
John Walters
Richard Pryor
Peter Cook
Jackie Mason
Frank Skinner
Graham Norton
Newman and Baddiel
Bernard Manning
Lee Evans
Spike Milligan
Victor Borge
Jo Brand
Harry Hill
Reeves and Mortimer
Eric Morcambe
Ken Dodd
Victoria Woods
Peter Ustinov
Ben Elton

And I've separated out the comedy actors.

Phil Silvers
Peter Sellers
Rik Mayall
Rowan Atkinson
Harry Enfield
Paul Whitehouse
Steve Coogan
John Cleese
Ricky Gervais
Richard Briers
Ronnie Barker
Martin Clunes
Mike Myers
Leonard Rossiter
Ted Danson

Who have I missed?  What about Bruce Forsythe or Jerry Lewis?
And a cross check, "Parky is interviewing ********** ********** tonight!"
Would I want to watch them with Parky?

Death Row Survivor Love Boat Millionaire

Where is it all going with these game and reality shows?
I realised a few years ago.
I copyright the following!!
Six finalists.  Drawn from a long drawn out 12-20 week show, just like the other shows.
Five of them will each win $1million and the sixth won't.
It's simple really.
Take 1 gun, put 1 bullet in it, spin the barrel and fire away!!
I guarantee it would be the highest rated show ever!
But my point is, that I'll bet there would be hundreds of thousands of people wanting to be contestants on the show.  That's where we're going.
Down the Rollerball Tube.

And then, last night I thought of another.
Death Row prisoners fighting it out to the er....death.  Winner takes all.
Well they were going to die anyway.
It would be just like Gladiator, or Survivor (no links in case you watch the show).
Maybe there would have to be some kind of love interest as well.
Death Row Survivor Love Boat Millionaire.

And the good 'ol USA would be just the place for this because they have lots of death row prisoners.  Racing neck and neck with China, Saudi Arabia, and Iran.

The Apprentice II, Part 3, end of Stacie

So let me understand this. The Project leader screwed up, one of the team members screwed up, but Stacie gets it because all the bitches gang up on her! And just one point. What was said in the car on the way back to meet with Trump. Surely, they agreed to nail Stacie in the car. Is Trump stupid? Yes!
If showing madness, as Stacie was accused of, then where would Trump be?
The producer chose him because he is mad!!

I love watching The Apprentice, because I so hate it! What we learn is that the decision making process is not objective and logical. Oh and it can be guaranteed that Trump never listens to Carolyn his left hand person, and she will always agree with him when he's made his decision.

And you wonder why Scott Adams who writes Dilbert, does so well.
But not as well as Donald Trump, which is what I can't understand!!

You're Trumped!!

Now I know what a complete prick Donald Trump is.
I've seen it before when Ruby Wax did her number on him a few years ago.
He's a drama queen. He sacked Bradford for making an irrational decision to revoke his exemption from being sacked this week.

But er, hasn't Donald Trump just made an irrational decision by sacking the best person of the four this week. I'd sack Trump for making as bad a decision as Bradford made.
In fact, I don't think Bradford made a bad decision. he did in the eyes of Trump type business, but at least Bradford had the guts to step forward in the first week, and not be accused in the second week of hiding behind his exemption. He wanted to be measured on his contribution.

What do we learn from this. It's not about how good a job you do, but how well you suck up to Trump's ego. See Carolyn for that.

Decisions are not rational. They're gut feel, irrational, subjective. I've seen to many of these irrational decisions over the last few years, covered up by wanky explanations, and then the Carolyn's of the world sucking up by agreeing with whatever Trump says and completely going back on their word and beliefs.

And we buy from corporates like this. Would I ever stay in a Trump property? Would I ever buy a Trump product? Well after the Ruby Wax thing from a few years ago, it confirmed my views. And now, I'm jumping with joy. King Canute, or Midas who wished that everything he touched turned to gold, comes to mind, and come to think of it there's a lot of gold in Trump's world.

Anyway, why am I getting so worked up about a staged show.
They couldn't sack the evil women yet, there would be no drama.
And here's the irony. If you put all the gurus, CEOs and trainers, on the other side of the table where the Apprentices are, how long do you think they'd survive?
How long would Trump survive as an Apprentice?

The Apprentice II

I hate it so much, I watch it!
I hate Donald Trump.
I hate the premise and subtle editing to tell the story.
I hate the competitors. I hate their slimy behaviour.
I hate that it tells you that this is the way to behave to "Make It".
But still I watch.

It's a bit like watching Dallas!!

It's somehow very 80s, and it's interesting to see which 80s type of American corporates will climb on the bandwagon.

It raises so many things for me......
-Donald Trump's hairstyle
-Carolyn - Why?
-The nicest and weakest get the bullet
-Why are all the women thin?
-Most of what happens is taken out in the edit, so what are we actually seeing, and who controls it.
-Would you stay at a Trump owned tower?
-Did no one from the women's team talk for the rest of the day, after Bradford declared unilateraly that he was making the decision? (It just goes to show how much is edited out for effect.)

Why do I keep watching it?