Mike's musings

Whatever thoughts have been on my mind will probably end up here. Updated weekly, but perhaps more initially as I throw in some older things.

Monday, July 31, 2006

What's that, coming over the hill?


is it a monster? Is IT A MONSTER?

I bet you look good on the dancefloor

you lucky lucky lucky!

Wanna be in the charts? You don't need to write an entire song any more. All you need is a chorus a catchphrase or a hook. Ideally your catchphrase should be something you might use in everyday life, "I bet you look good on the dancefloor". Or take something that just sounds out of place - is it a monster?

Stuck for an album name, just take a well-worn phrase and use that. "You could have it so much better". If you're feeling really original, you could turn a well-worn phrase around and make it slightly different. "Don't believe the TRUTH" Aha. Ahahahaha.

Where's the originiality? Where are the wordsmiths? Don't try to tell me that it lies with Shambolic sham Doherty. It doesn't. The Streets are not poets for a new generation, they're avin a larf mate. All that remains of the UK music scene seems to be pop calling itself rock.

And there's so much GOOD stuff out there, sadly much of it being made by Americans. What happened to great original British music? It's still there, but now it's unashamedly pop. In terms of music, Goldfrapp have a lot to offer. Not lyrically, but as pop music, and as pop music that revels in being pop, and doesn't try to call itself something else.

In terms of rock music - there isn't any to be seen in the charts. I've never had anything against pop music, as long as it knows what it is, and embraces it.

Top of the Pops may be over, but it's rock that's gone.

Saturday, July 29, 2006

Sleep and Music



It's 0504 on Saturday morning and I am wide awake. Now if I had slept and then woken early, I would be barely awake, stumbling blindly around and struggling with tricky concepts such as balance and not colliding with furniture. In fact I have not been to sleep.

I really don't understand why I'm not tired when I go to sleep, but I am when I awake. I did nap for about an hour (Friday 8-9pm), but other than that, no sleep since Friday am, and then I only had 4 hours the night before. So this morning I was exhausted.

How can you start a day exhausted and 22 hours later be wide awake? Do we actually need sleep? Would less sleep make me less tired?

Anyway, this morning my mood is cheerful. This is why...

When I was in Japan I saw a music video on TV one day and watched desperately for it to be shown again. As soon as it was I wrote down the band, and as much of everything as I could (hey, there was kanji in there - it's harder than you might think). Next day I rushed to Tower Records to listen again, and I bought the album. I think I have listened to this album at least once a week since I got it in 2002. And now, the video that started it all is on Youtube! Kuchibashi Ni Cherry!

Along with some other favourites of mine from Love Psychedelico and the Brilliant Green.

Oh, and while you're there, you might as well check out Darth Vader

So yeah, and now it's 0535 hours, and I think I will try and do some of that sleep thing.

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Sunshine, sunshine, sunshiieeiine

Summer's here, and there's the occasional glance of midriff, legs and gals in summer clothes. Sunworshippers in light clothing in the parks all day. One of the best things about summer!

Of course, there have always been half-naked men on the streets too, usually ANYONE who works outside, delighted to use their work as a way of picking up a tan, perk of the job of course, and some of the younger ones delighting the aforementioned women. (No, I'm not jealous)

By young I'm meaning anyone around my age-ish. Yeah, I still think I'm young.

What I've noticed this year, more than any, is perhaps the young male sunworshippers. These aren't the guys out working, these are the sunlotioned up, lying in the park types.

Where did they come from? Have there always been such vain guys? Perhaps I'm only noticing them due to the lack of them in Japan?

No links or anything interesting to say today!

Sunday, July 23, 2006

Abseil!!

So, in a couple of weeks, I'll be abseiling the cliffs at Cove near Aberdeen. Which isn't quite as death-defying as it sounds. Still it should be fun. I'm not just doing this for me, but for Sue Ryder Care as a fundraising event. Anyone in Aberdeen that wants to take part can, and anyone else that wants to sponsor me will be loved and appreciated for a good while!

Philanthropy

I know that this might seem a heavy and 'work-related' topic for a first blog post on a Sunday night.

The difference between giving in the UK and the US intrigues me. Here we do give, but we give less than in the States. Now there are hundreds of arguments about why that is, ranging from wider social security and such like from the Government, to the fact that UKians are just stingier, or that our tax burden is kinda chunky and costs of living are higher which kinda puts us off giving money away.

Whatever, what I find interesting is that conspicuous philanthropy, such as Warren Buffet is much less popular in the UK. Less popular in both ways. Doing and seeing. As well as not giving as much, Brits seem to have something against seeing people very obviously give away lots of money. (Don't believe me, look at this article in the Guardian)

Let's take JK Rowling, one of the richest people here in Scotland. Well, I know that she's given a large sum of money to support Multiple Sclerosis research all over the country, including perhaps a 5 or 6 figure sum to the University of Aberdeen. Interestingly, I don't know how much, and it won't be all that easy for me to find out. Her name isn't on anything, although she did get a doctorate from the University last week.

But we don't like to talk about that. Brits don't seem to want to see people being obvious about giving away money. I think that JK's popularity (but not that of her books) would fall if the amount she had given was more public.

And of course this perpetuates itself. Sir Alan Sugar has always been famously private about the fact that he supports GOSH (Great Ormond Street Hospital) , and yet, through The Apprentice, and his growing public image, it is becoming known. And he is lambasted for the fact that he boasts of his charitability.

There have been a few articles saying that people should keep their charity donations quiet, but think about it, most people in the UK already do. oh sure, you can find it out, if you're looking, but you don't know. What do these grumblers expect? For all of the UK's major donors to stand up and say "I don't make a big deal of the donations I make!" because that would mean they were making a big deal of it. The very fact that you don't see it means that you don't see it.

As ever in life, a balance is needed here. Some people like their donations to be visible to deflect irrational hatred of them and their capitalist ways (this doesn't seem to work, by the way), many make visible donations to encourage others to do the same.

Think of it like this, most capital appeals, where several millions are needed to build something, how do you think they work? Do you think charities approach thousands of people for a hundred pounds? Do you think they approach hundreds of thousands of people for a fiver?

Fact: About half of a capital appeal - building a new hospice, rebuilding a church, whatever, half, comes from the top 5 or 10 donors. The thousands of people count too, but charities need that first kick, the first 5 to 10 major donors to put in the big money, and encourage others to do the same.

We should be encouraging this. According to some figures, over 80percent of Brits give to charity, but this includes charity shops and lottery tickets. Count actual hand in the pocket, money from the bank donations, and the figure is closer to 25percent

Let's applaud donors, not criticise them, lets encourage them, and with them, perhaps others.