Just like music, writing has now evolved so much that some old timers would rather terms like literature and chord were not applied to blogging and grime music respectively. And just like it would be churlish to deny that instant noodles are not noodles it's improper to deny those two their place in their respective cultures.

And so it is that like music, writing is an art form however apart from a deluded minority you don't get us bloggers thinking that we MUST live off the pen keyboard.

Musicians need to get over that aspect of their art and realise that there are thousands of them out there and that just because someone has spent some money on their craft, doesn't mean that the world owes them a living. In the music and bloggers analogy writers who can string two sentences together would try to go professional; and soon as they try to live off of writing they would start to complain about every aspect of the industry. Spouting on about anything from the 'dinosaurs' who don't get the change that's happening right down to the new school digital gatekeepers who are screwing them on behalf of the dinosaurs (who want to hold onto inflated profits from times gone by).

"To save money we will be replacing our reporters with bloggers, who will work for free."

You only have to look at the blogging world to realise that we too spend money on our craft hoping that one day we'll make it. However making it for most of us just means getting a link back and getting 100 hits in a day. There are millions of websites out there competing for eyeballs and whilst it would be great for me to be paid to write, I seriously don't lose any sleep over it. I will continue to fork out money to Godaddy (and their girls), theme designers, app makers and anyone else who promises to make my blog look cool or easy to put together. I am prepared to do all this in order to fool a few readers a day into clicking the subscribe button. One day my kids may be mad at me because they missed out on playing time whilst I wrote about my sadness at the death of a dictator but you know what? I don't mind. I blog for the love of it and though my time is worth a lot to me and my family, the fact that I'm doing it for me means that I'm content with not charging you to read it. Link away dear friend, unless I suddenly become popular and am the subject of a mega-bucks Rupert Murdoch takeover, this website will always be freely available. Though lets face it, everyone has their price.

Nevertheless, I am truly content with knowing that the millions of rubbish websites and blogs out there make it much less likely that mine will be found by any significant number of people. Not through a lack of presence of course, but apathy from readers who are tired of being trapped into reading ugly blogs full of unoriginal content churned out by machines. And that's just if you're lucky because on a bad day surfing the web can result in your computer catching a virus or you visiting a site for paid local (same) sex services which would be impossible to explain if your boss or wife looked at your browser history.

In the end it's clear to me that the internet is full of junk. Millions of rubbish websites with trash-type content strung together by biased writers who stopped learning grammar soon as they finished learning their ABCs and all available one of the greatest innovations in history. The weird thing is that some of that junk is actually really popular and a huge number of other well written and presented content will never be exposed to much more than the writer who wrote it and their long lost ex who is trying to track them down. I'm conceited enough to think that my blog is one of the better ones, but I'm not up-myself enough to think that internet surfers owe me a living.

Despite all this I'm not deterred in my quest to write compelling posts and it's probable that my anti-Apple zeal could have been cured if Steve Jobs had ever said that the Macbook was so magical it could make me write like a latter-day Thomas Hardy. The Macbook is one of the few things that separates me from my very musical younger brother. The fact that he has invested much more in his equipment than I in blogging writing equipment. This could quite easily have been the reverse had I been born in the days of the type-writer however in terms of time spent I believe I would have no problem matching him or any other arty type. Nonetheless I won't single him out because he has never expressed a sense of entitlement about his standing in the music business. My ire is directed at his up-and-coming peers in general who complain about the state of an industry which they have chosen in all consciousness to be a part of.

As the proprietor of a music related business, I'm not anti-musician nor do I foresee doom and gloom on either side of the music business artist or establishment. I simply believe that people have choices. To work in the industry or not. To view it as a hobby or not. To use certain services or not. To always complain about the state of things and the problems they encounter or to try and effect change and solutions. But most pertinently musicians also have the choice to live in the real world and look around...... or not. Either way I wish they'd stop whingeing about the business!

Perenially on the cusp

Fred Wilson on AVC recently wrote a blog post about how he ended up 'illegally' streaming a New York Knicks match because there was no 'legal' way for him to pay for it without actually going to the match. In that situation he had been willing to pay even $25 for the priviledge. The post is aptly titled #screwcable!

In and amongst the support for what Fred did were some well argued contrarian views. The quote below is not one of them though it raises an important issue.

The players, owners, league spend money to enter into contracts with cable companies and specialized networks, who in turn negotiate with advertisers to bring viewers an entertainment medium. They have real costs to all of this. But because someone doesn't like that there are fees or limitations or other obstacles within the creating group's model, it's okay to simply "hack" in and take what one likes?

I agree that a lot of planning and investment goes into making a profitable business out of a sports team or even any other entertainment performance like a music album or whatever. Those investors and operators are perfectly entitled to charge what they want and how they want in order to recoup their costs.

For me the big caveat in all the above that turns someone like Fred into a 'pirate' is the fact that during business planning a conscious decision has been made to have this sports package not appeal to him. That is through a combination of pricing, segmentation rights, down to stadium capacity, match day scheduling and location. When all is said and done the rights holders have put together a package which they believe will earn them the most revenue possible in order to recoup costs that they have deemed as appropriate for this enterprise.

In simple terms; when selling their package rightsholders are consciously saying #screwyou to a certain percentage of interested parties. Nothing wrong with that. It's their prerogative and a balance HAS to be found.

What I find interesting is that there seems to be a belief that it's okay to then go after these people who have already been told to screw themselves as if they actually mattered to the business model. They don't really; and any plan should not have taken into account revenue from someone who has been told where to go or revenue lost by that person consuming that service in a way that does not deprive other willing buyers. The fact is no business can sell all their products to everybody all of the time. Someone has to be out of the loop even though digital products make that scenario theoretically possible.

Naturally there are people who infringe copyright and would have been perfectly able to legally consume it. It is wrong of course, but I believe that every business model has to try to have low enough barriers to allow people to take up the product. In a previous post I referred to the concept of a consumption threshold. This is something that is generally not a feature of high quality digital content, though Louis C.K seems to have found a balance between price and protection and he is succeeding despite those who are saying #screwyou to him. It's probably because he only tried to 'screw' relatively few people in the first place!

Related articles

• #screwcable (avc.com)

Human zoo

The major point that I believe has been missed is around the issue of why racism and hate speech is wrong. The belief that some people are inferior or even less than human has for centuries been the cause of some of the most atrocious crimes committed by humanity. Sadly those crimes continue today and it's significant that just as the headlines are riddled with stories of famous people racially abusing other famous people, the murderers of Steven Lawrence are once again on trial for their own horrendous hate fuelled crime.

The media really needs to put across to their readers how there is a direct line connecting the fact that some people are seen as less than human and the way they'll be treated by society. Whole sections of society have been killed, denied their rights, denied a vote and denied access to justice having been categorised as inferior.

Racist words by their nature are meant to spread the same message that has resulted in those great crimes. Standing by and paying no mind just means that another generation will grow up believing that we are not all equal and therefore it is okay to kill or maim people of an 'inferior' race, gender or sex because well they are less than human aren't they?

Technology is here, get used to it

Maybe it shouldn't amaze me because the world is full of dumb people and it should be expected that now and again I'll run into the misguided opinions of some of them. But it's amazing that in this day and age some people still don't get that Facebook is just another communication tool. Same as text, MMS, letter, postcard, fax, phone, email, smoke signals or Morse code.

Facebook and the internet enable communication in general and are not specifically for narcissists and voyeurs. The dumb people who don't get this irritate me by trying to put across to me that they are somehow holier than I because they don't use Facebook to share their 'pregnancy news'. To say that a communication tool is sad and pathetic doesn't make sense to me. A tool is only as sad and pathetic as the information going through it. In other words if you think Facebook is sad and pathetic maybe you need to look at your 'friends' first. A communication tool can only be labelled useful, useless or other such adjectives. This doesn't apply to Twitter which as an open publishing platform that is actively trying to take on the soul of it's content. Go ahead and call Twitter sad if you like.

What people should realise is that you can have 3 connections or even less on Facebook and exclude your cousins or whoever because of that long running feud your Mom hold's against her sister for not letting her borrow her mascara when they were teens. If you were going to send photos of your newborn to your 3 siblings, Facebook is just as good a tool as any to send those pictures with. You don't even have to accept one more friendship request or make yourself discoverable to that crush from Year 6 who thinks you're the one that got away simply because one curious day you decided to give him a quick peck on the lips.

It's true that voyeurs and narcissists do have it slightly easier on Facebook but only in broadcasting to other voyeurs and narcissists. There are plenty of people who very privately share information and pictures with only the people they care about. The internet can be a lot like real life in that sense. Most of the people saying dirty jokes online would likely have been saying them offline.

Anyway, let me stop this rant before I point out about the absolute contradiction of someone actively publicising the fact that they don't publicise something! LMAO!! (as the Facebook generation would say).

Maybe that ought to be a picture of a hammer cracking a nut.

Some time ago Fred Wilson on AVC.com posted an article about how annoying he finds it when people describe copyright infringement as stealing. He has a point. Infringing a copyright is not stealing. It is just that an infringement. Both are wrong and in most countries illegal, but they are not the same.

I also find it very annoying when people use words that should apply in an effort to get me on their side. It's a bit like that scenario where someone tries to turn you against another person by telling you something bad they are meant to have done. Except in this case the the squealer doubts that they have sufficient ammo to get you worked up and have to dress it up. A lot.

And so it is that the digital protection agencies and creative unions are uncomfortable about factual copyright debate and it seems that 'By-Any-Means-Necessary' is their new strategy. Unfortunately Fred didn't eloquently put his point across and his article soon generated into another 'How do I make money from my digital product?' debate.

Here on Stunted By Reality we don't like minced words and I tip my hat off to the commenter who noted the real difference between copyright infringement and theft.

Theft would be stealing a sculpture, or... picture.

Copyright infringement would be taking a picture of the sculpture and posting it online, or producing a replica of the sculpture.

Either act deprives the author the right to enjoy the benefits of his/her work, but they are totally different concepts.

I'll add that theft will definitely deprive an artist of the ability to sell his sculpture, however infringement does not do so. I am not saying that infringement is OK; I'm just saying lets not use hyperbole in trying to paint the picture.

If a serial groper terrorised women on public transport, by all means we should throw the book at him and even throw away the key, however it still wouldn't mean that he committed rape. That would be sexual assault no matter how depraved his groping technique was.

That question was asked by a commenter on a post on AVC.com:

Why do you protest against the thousands of individuals and organizations that are legally taking advantage of the system, rather than protesting (at) the SOURCE which is the system itself?

I took it that the commenter meant that the best way to protest the system is to join the democratic queue like everyone else including the racists have done. Lord knows democracy is not perfect, but there is no denying that it does afford a platform and a voice to people with a cause. You have to applaud what organisations like the Green Party in the UK have done in turning themselves from a community initiative into a political party with an actual seat in Parliament. Maybe it is because that struggle is long and hard that our modern day slackers do not turn to democracy, but more likely it is the fact that however well meaning their wishes are, there just aren't enough people who identify with whatever it is they are protesting.

Yo man, I'm actually a revolutionary. I made my money selling placard paper in the great protests of 2011. I had to put on a small margin to enable expansion and accidentally became stinking rich.

I don't know but I'd guess that most people do not think that things are so broken that wholesale changes are required. I believe the cost of living has been rising faster than income and with the lack of job creation opportunities to make a decent living are less than they were five years ago. If most people are honest we'd realise that opportunities are less than five years ago rather than actually being non-existent. And that dip in opportunities is something that most would also agree is a short-term blip in an otherwise longer-term improvement in the life chances of all people on Earth.

I don't know for sure but I am willing to bet that a poor kid born in 2015 will be better off than a poor kid born in 2000.

Another commenter points out quite rightly that the real problem is..

... the default position for NOT working hard is very different for the rich than the poor. A poor kid who doesn't work hard, is fucked. A rich kid who doesn't work hard, not so much.

(But) Yes, if you work hard, you can succeed.

The same commenter goes on to say that what we should strive for is that all people start from a level playing field. In other words equality. I don't buy that. People can never be equal. It's a fact of life.

Even as an ardent supporter of capitalism I admire the thinking behind Socialism and Communism. However I just don't think it would work on any macro-level better than capitalism.

In the end too many people get bogged down in worrying about the state of things without looking at it in perspective. Most times if we look at the recent trends you'll actually discover that things are getting better. That's the only thing I personally worry about. Things are fucked up right now, but are they getting better?

Ok, so maybe you will get your body fitter and live longer?

But that can be very dangerous.

You could end up causing your body to outlive your brain! Think about it, when you are very old, with a brain befuddled and incoherent, nature is telling you it's time to die. But your body is lagging behind several years and keeping you alive much longer than nature intended!

You are risking maybe 20 years in a geriatric ward at the mercy of the NHS. That's my excuse not to start running!

Reading a comment on a Charlie Brooker article on the  Guardian website today I was reminded about the old Philip Morris research that people who smoke are a net benefit to society because they pay more taxes and die sooner. No doubt that research was politically incorrect because of the inherent bias of a cigarette maker actually publishing research to support an activity which without doubt will end up severely affecting your health. However the central premise is true. If in fact I want to enjoy my life now and am not bothered by the mere statistic of living longer than the average person, then modern society no longer seems to accommodate my wish.

I was never a smoker but I was totally opposed to the smoking ban when it came in. I feel the same about health. I only advocate a healthy lifestyle in the sense that it should make you feel good enough to do what you want and allow you to contribute to society TODAY, not some ideal about how people should live longer. Let's face it the odds of living to 90 whilst at the same time enjoying a fruitful life are not very good, even if they are improving. I'm amazed by what science continues to achieve and supportive of all efforts to improve peoples lives even by stem-cell treatments, however I am also aware of why nature intended everyone's life to come to an end.

A long and unfulfilling old age in which I have no comprehension or memory of one day from another is one of the worst things I can think of. Unfortunately upon one's death it's their recent being that people also tend to remember.

I've often said that black people ought to do Rock n Roll more often. That's not to say it's not being done right, because it is, just that we've produced pretty good rock musicians since the genre started and all of a sudden nothing. Lil' Wayne single handedly tried to undo that rich heritage but that's by-the-by.

Anyway amongst those bands putting out great records regardless of whether or not black people strum a guitar are The Black Keys.  Their new album El Camino will shortly be dropping, but this first taster is amazing. Heavy guitar work, thumping drums and a few progressive riffs. Brilliant and classic.

To top off this brilliant song, it turns out black people should dance to rock much more often. The dude dancing in the video has a pretty classy take on it. Clearly inspired by Carlton Banks from the Fresh Prince of Bel Air but totally on another level! Enjoy!

Image by Abode of Chaos via Flickr

Colonel Gaddafi died today and I am mourning.

I don't mourn for Gaddafi. I mourn for my brothers who are deceived by the self serving leaders of countries that have failed time and again to peacefully resolve conflicts. Even those conflicts which have nothing to do with them.

This however has never stopped our hypocrites giving out peace prizes nor has it stopped their cohorts accepting them; all whilst draped in the cloak of democracy.

Eleven years in and the 21st century is already littered with wars. Some people think we have fewer dictators alive today, but we'll only know that for sure in twenty years time! After all how can society ever be truly democratic when the powers that be continually show us that the best way to get power and keep it is to fight for it?

Fight dirty. And enjoy it while it lasts. That advice applies as much to Robert Mugabe as it does to Barack Obama or David Cameron.

Now that's a bright idea!

I'm always coming up with business ideas based on my own experiences and needs. One of the best I've had recently was a phone application to document the things that my kids say and do. Actually it's third best idea I've had recently.

The idea is to be able to compile a document or repository of the funny, weird and wonderful things that my (our ) children say, because they do say a lot of funny stuff. I already take a lot of pictures and video of them but sometimes I just want to note down a quote that I found funny. My solution was to build an application that allows you to store little things like that; notes, pictures etc. and you would be able at a future date to have it all published into a book. Perhaps even an annual about your kids.

I think it's a great idea, and one that I don't even need to ask what your opinion is because frankly anything to do with kids is going to sell. The hard bit would be the marketing but that's the case in any business. However, women are probably the best demography to market because they talk so much. If one gets to like something, best believe that the whole world is going to hear about. Plus most women don't really shop around. I've always said that if I sold cars I'd sell only pink hatchbacks! Anyway, the idea is also great because lets face it, which parent doesn't think that their kids are the funniest and cutest, despite us constantly observing at first hand other seemingly deluded parents?

So I got round to checking the idea, as I normally do with all my ideas. No matter how good your idea is always check that no one has yet done it. I've said before on this blog that a good idea either solves a problem, or copies another good idea well, or exploits lack of market knowledge or serves a neglected market.

All those factors mean that if you have had a good idea then someone has already done it; if it's a great idea then ten people are already doing it. If no one is doing it you have to ask yourself why.

So after Googling my idea, I found that someone has already done it. Not only that, but they have done it in almost exactly the way I envisioned it. I'm not really upset though, but just impressed with the other guys execution. My fan-boy brother is away so I don't have an iPhone to test their app, but it looks good. And one thing I believe is that if I can't do something better than the other guys then there's no point doing it. Take a bow Kid's Quip Journal.

*Okay I have to admit I could have come up with a better name than that, but touché!

The record is called Everytime and it's a no-frills RnB song, with a  great beat and great lyrics and the two are well matched throughout to make an up-tempo love song. Ms Green has what I would call a 'thin' voice even by most women's standards but she's well in control of it and even manages to do some vocal gymnastics with it. I loved the song and would have bought it had she not had it available as a free download. Honestly!

Regular visitors would know that I occasionally blog about music, however on listening to the song got, it got me thinking about a topic that regularly been discussed in Zimbabwean circles. In fact I've ranted about this on Facebook before and I can't resist another rant now that I'm blogging about it!

Basically, a lot of new Zimbabwean artists are singing RnB, Hip-hop and Dancehall tunes in Shona (one of our local languages) and mostly these songs are labelled as a new genre called 'Urban Grooves'. I don't buy into Urban Grooves. I think it's a way of peddling sub-standard music that wouldn't make it as RnB, Hip-hop or Dancehall by just singing it in a different language. From that we constantly hear calls of 'supporting your own' and 'play local artists more'. To be honest the whole debate is ridiculous in my eyes.

Most of the Urban Grooves songs have no real differentiation from their Western counterparts apart from the fact that they are rubbish. A lot of the beats are stuck in the '80s and they seem to take the caricature of whatever genre they are meant to derive from. Think of it this way; in Urban Grooves I've heard beats that share more with Chaka Demus and Pliers or Keith Sweat than with the music of today.  That's not to say that those two artists were bad, just that they are now being badly copied by young Zimbabwean artists. Artists bring no real variation within their songs and never mind the albums. I like what the youngsters in South Africa and Ghana did in coming up with Kwaito and Hiplife. Their music is clearly influenced by Hip-hop and dance music but the musical structure is totally different. They can make the rules now and say what's good and what isn't, because it's their music.

Basically I think our Zimbabwean kids have not brought anything to the music to warrant it being called a new genre. I wouldn't stop anyone putting out music if they feel like it, however what I will do is judge them by the standards of the genre they took from. By those standards most of 'Urban Grooves' is rubbish. There are some Zim guys putting out good RnB or Hip-hop songs in Shona and you have to say even by Western standards, the beats are tight, the flow is good and the lyrics are on point. Way back when, A Peace of Ebony and Zimbabwe Legit are two groups that had lyrics in the vernacular, but even at that time their records could stand up against their American peers. I think members of those two groups would probably agree that they were original in their own way, but not original enough to call their music a new genre. It was still Hip-hop.

I believe that musicians must bring something to the party all the time, whether it's originality or talent. As a music fan I don't care whether you've worked your butt off for the last ten years if you're only going to be putting out wack stuff. I'll care even less if the only thing a musician brings is a different language. By all means a musician can sing in Shona or Klingon if it pleases them, but if it the result isn't good I won't hesitate to call BS.

On Everytime, Davina Green has not done something truly original but she has brought something to the party, and that is her talent. Her song will stand comparison with anything out there. I played it on loop whilst writing this post and I'm still not sick of it. Ms Green has the tools to make a name for herself in the industry and I'll do my bit to spread the word. However I certainly won't be feeling linguistically blackmailed Everytime I listen to her song!

That's because in the last few months I've been bombarded by ads of products I've already taken up or ones I've already decided against. Basically this behavioural targeting stuff just recently seems to have got even dummer. The only criteria they seem to be using is "you visited X site and looked at Y, so we'll keep showing you ads of Y regardless of whether or not you bought it already".

I signed up to GiffGaff (a new UK mobile network) about a month ago and did it from their website. I even managed to convince four people to switch to them, and guess what I get in return? My browser is now polluted with GiffGaff flash ads. WTF? Whose idea is this?

Preaching to the converted

Sadly enough this stupidity isn't just reserved for whatever network is running this campaign but also to Google who also try to get me using Chrome even when I'm surfing on their browser! So now I have been moved to install Ad Block Plus. No more dumb ads for me. Well.... except for the Google Chrome BS.

The point of being a leader is that the buck should stop with them and they must shoulder responsibility for achieving the goals of their subjects. I believe that a leader should never have anyone to pass the buck to or else when the shit hits the fan they will simply pass the buck.

If women only want to lead as part of a team then they shouldn't be anywhere near the top. Let the ball-breaking women who aren't afraid to say "fuck you right back" to Gordon Ramsay lead; and let those who want to hide behind others stay at home where they'll probably do better calling their husband every evening to ask him what he wants for dinner.

Plenty of companies were founded by two or more people, but I can't recall any that had more than one person in the top job.

"Okay, all those in favour of delegating decision-making please shrug your shoulders."

The first ever phone with a lip.

It didn't come as a surprise when HP decided to kill off all it's WebOS related projects. From the time they paid $1.2 billion dollars for Palm in order to get their hands on the by all accounts 'great' operating software they have consistently made the  wrong moves.

With the company making most of their money from selling hardware to other companies it was always a dumb move in my opinion to get rid of the Palm brand once the acquisition had gone through. Palm had pedigree in the high-end consumer market that formerly crossed over into the business user market way before RIM ever got there. It didn't stop HP from renaming all the Palm devices with the HP prefix which I think never had the same brand cache to compete with Apple. HP definitely skipped a beat there as they could have had their own 'Lexus' of the mobile world. A brand with which they could package the best part of their low-end stuff in a shiny slightly different case and still have users falling over themselves to buy it in the mis-guided belief that it was somehow more exclusive because it was pricier. Works every time in these days were even us poor people can buy a Mercedes or an iPhone without paying a penny upfront.

In addition I think that Palm had only lost the battle with Apple simply because their pockets were not as deep. The only thing they probably needed from HP was their money. Can you imagine where Palm would be now if HP had poured in another billion, given the Palm access to their manufacturing base and stayed well clear? The initial Palm Pre wasn't good hardware, but I think there was enough to work on and if they'd simply been given the money to match Apple's annual release cycle and copy HTC's lineup of all-touch and qwerty keyboard handsets, they might have made an impact.

Only 18 months after the right move was stunted by the wrong strategy we now hear that HP are throwing the towel in following the dismal sales of the WebOS tablet. Not only that, but they are also looking to spin off the whole PC and hardware business and acquire the UK software house Autonomy. Leo Apotheker the CEO who has only been in the job less than a year has called the moves and it seems that just like Mr Elop at Nokia he already had pre-conceived ideas about what direction he wanted to go before he joined.

I can see where he's going with this. He wants HP to be making high margins. Well higher than they are right now and higher than you can get flogging hardware to corporates. It's admirable but sometime you just have to stick to making money the best way you know how. There's isn't much evidence that HP know the services and software business or that they can stake out a claim against, Microsoft, Apple and whilst fighting away the millions of small start-ups with new and innovative ways to do the same things cheaper and faster.

I can’t remember the first time I was dumped but a few occasions are still ingrained in my mind almost as much as the first time I got a wedgie at school. One time in Zimbabwe I went to a school dance with my then girlfriend thinking that I was going to get dumped the minute she saw me, we hadn’t been communicating for a while and it was mostly my fault. Surprisingly we got talking and things were pleasant and all. Fast forward to the last dance that evening which just had to be a slow song; so as I was leaning in to get a better hold of my young love I heard a soft whisper above the 2,000 watts of R. Kelly, Keith Sweat, Jodeci or whatever mid 90’s crooner it was. And like that I was dumped. Just when I was thinking that the axe was not going to fall.

On an earlier occasion I had been asked by my Dumpee, “Don’t you think it’s time we broke up?” It was a question which I’d honestly not thought about latterly even though a few months earlier I’d unsuccessfully asked another girl out. A fact which had probably been discovered now.  Trying to preserve my cool and for the first time in my life adopting my ‘It’s your loss sucker’ attitude I said “I guess you’re right.” And that was that. She walked away. I couldn’t; because I had a lump in my throat and could not immediately summon that cool Bart Simpson strut. I can safely say, it was a good thing I didn’t try though otherwise I might only have moved my arms and shoulders but not my legs and probably fallen flat on my face. It was that period after school when everyone is rushing around trying to get to their sports or after school activities. It truly felt like the whole world had heard me being dumped.

I had to get over each of my lumpy throats by listening to the 20 boys in my dorm giving me advice on what I should now do. Today you’re in luck, you’ve got me to help you get over being dumped. My days being dumped are on hold for quite some time. However I have the perfect ‘It’s your loss sucker’ playlist for you. Even when you’re clearly at fault as I have mostly been when I’ve been dumped. Anything else will result in you immediately moping back to your ex and conceding every little bit of power. By all means go back with your tail between your legs, but only after a respectable I-can-live-without-you period. You may still have to claim you can’t live without them after you find out your ex has a new sucker, but that’s relationships for you.

Anyway enough about that, these are a few songs that you absolutely must play when you’ve just been dumped, regardless of what music you like;

Eagle-Eye cherry – Are you still having fun? (Download)

The title alone makes this two-hit wonder a hero of mine. Straight out of my ‘how dare you dump me’ book.  The answer to the song title may well be yes, but play this song and convince yourself that it all went down-hill for your ex the day they kicked you to the curb. "This was your mistake; and your masterplan; With all the drugs you take; you can hardly stand; After all is said and done; Are you still having fun?"

Artful Dodger  - Think about me (Download)

“There’s only one me and you can not replace me.” No doubt your ex will be hoping there’s only one you, so she doesn’t suffer the same shit twice, but why dwell on that. There’s only one you. Repeat til you believe it. I love that catchy piano riff and the soft garage bass. Ahh, those garage days!

Gregory Isaacs - Substitute (Download 1981 version)

The Cool Ruler was trying to hedge his bets in this song. Sticking pins into his ex’s voodoo doll whilst also realising that he could end up with her again. "I’d be around; so you won’t get drown; Your substitute is gonna put you down"

Arctic Monkeys - Fluorescent Adolescent (Download Fluorescent Adolescent)

Girl gets fun and exciting guy who loves her. Dumps him coz he’s too edgy, maybe flirty. Maybe he won’t commit yet. Maybe her parents didn’t like him. Now she’s settled but longs for her rascal. It least he was hers. "You used to get in your fishnets, now you only get in your night dress." Ring bells for you? Play this.

Sunset Rubdown - Idiot Heart (Download)

“I hope that you die; in a decent pair of shoes; You got a lot more walking to do; where you are going to.” The title says it all, but that line! Brilliant. This song is for when you just can’t avoid feeling mad at being dumped.

So that’s five songs for you to play next time you get dumped or right now if you’re lucky enough to be newly single. If you have anything else on loop that’s been getting you through I’d love to know what it is. No soapy or please take me back songs. Spare us.

Image via Wikipedia

I've just read an interesting article by Paul Hayward of the Guardian on David Haye about tonight's fight against Wladimir Klitscko; and predictably a few well spoken people lamented the usual.

• Klitschko looks in far better shape than Haye.
• Haye is too small to be considered a legitimate threat
• Haye has shown nothing at heavyweigtht and is about to be exposed as a decent cruiserweight and little more.

I wrote a comment to reply and thought it comprehensive enough to reblog here.

....that's what we need to revive our dying industry and infrastructure, yet another bunch of massively expensively over-educated pseudo-intellectual navel-gazers without the nous between them to wire a plug. How about some engineers, physicists, chemists, mathematicians? Hell, how about some plumbers, plasterers, motor mechanics, brickies? Or even competent road menders and whelk stall managers?

Quote from catweazle on a Telegraph article by Cristina Odone about the launch of AC Grayling's new university.

It is a sad indictment of FIFA when the English FA are standing up for ethics, integrity and values whilst the British contingent of journalists are standing up for honesty and decency.

No where more than on these pages is the English media elevated to the post of laughing stock that they so richly deserve. Today, as FIFA re-elected President Sepp Blatter using single name ballot sheets that might as well have been brown envelopes, they can rest easy knowing that there's still plenty of scum out there on which they can shine their tabloid torches.

Well at least we should have a good view of Sepp's coronation.

Swelly no doubt! Chiddy Bang are working hard. Good thing they're putting out good music instead of polluting the airwaves with meaningless tat.

It's a similar kind of sound to their previous stuff, however the beats (by Xaphoon) have moved on a bit. Showing a little more pop-synth-electro influence and some video game sounds; all used to good effect . Chiddy's lyrics are still tight and tinged with a bit more swearing than he's managed on all their material to date. I'm not sure why, but maybe he's just been inducted into the Ghostface Killah school of Wordsmiths. It doesn't detract from the songs, however this is one record my 5 year old son probably won't be listening to. He loves it when I play their old stuff.

Guiness flow is my early favorite, a sort of club banger that sounds like it was produced by The Neptunes at the height of their powers. The Whistle song is another good song and it's produced in the old-school way. Overall this is a really good mixtape, perfect for the car, the barbecue and just in time for the summer. Enjoy!

Click on the link to download the album; http://www.mediafire.com/?lsp8sjno420wost

Click on the link to listen or download sample tracks:

02 The Whistle Song

06 Guinness Flow

Correct me if I'm wrong but in that quote is President Obama effectively saying that only Britain and America can lead the world? If not us then who, kind of thing?

Well I'm going to clarify something for Mr Obama. I don't believe that people are necessarily mad that we're stuck with these two countries as leaders, we're more mad about them being hypocritical, blinkered and only out to serve their own interests without a hint of fairness. These are flaws that are fairly common, however you wouldn't expect someone who cries out to be a global leader to be like that. China and Russia might probably produce worse global leaders, however you don't see them trying to throw their weight around politically in an effort to be in involved with each and everything outside of their regions.

Wasn't it Spiderman's uncle Ben Parker who gave us a famous quote about having great responsibility if you had great power? Someone ought to get Obama and Cameron the DVD. One thing is for sure, if the world was (improbably) going to be more peaceful, prosperous and just; America and Britain wouldn't have had much to do with it given their track record.

Re-writing history