I received this text out of Glastonbury this weekend:
"Check out Sophie Hunger, she's exactly the type that you get hung up on & unhealthily obsessed by."
A week ago I rallied for fair votes. Yesterday I declared my support for the BBC radio station 6music at Broadcasting House in London at the event organised by love6music.com, and reported in today’s Independent.
Fear that I’m turning into Arthur Scargill is tempered by my experience of both events being impossibly polite, good natured and yes downright middle class. Yesterday, several people even brought cakes. Militant insurrection was not on the agenda.
A blisteringly hot midday sun shone down on some excellent speeches.
Liz Kershaw opened with a convincing argument against the Rajars, Cerys Matthews (of all people) stirred us up with patriotic rhetoric and Ed Byrne hit the main point that the proposed closure of one of the BBC’s most culturally significant offerings is such a nonsense:
Collins & Herring were just... Collins & Herring, brilliantly diverting into a bit of Collings & Herrin for good measure, with Richard definitely not swearing because of the children present. I love these guys:
I first wrote some pomposity about this proposal in March. Having listened to the speakers yesterday I’ve reviewed my thoughts (particularly on the demographic issue) but my overall opinion is now stronger than ever. My email has been sent to the BBC and I’ve filled in the survey.
You should do the same if the intelligent celebration and development of music, culture and creativity in the digital age means anything to you. Do it no later than tomorrow (Monday 24 May 2010) as the consultancy period closes on Tuesday.
Other than making yourself feel better about declaring your support to strangers and friends, tweeting and joining a Facebook petition will have no effect at all when it comes to the BBC Trust review.
Thanks to all involved in organising yesterday and for sharing the videos I’ve used here. love6music has plenty of other photos from the day and they also have all you need to know on what to do. Please do it.
Fellow anoraks...and bearded academics....
(Dr Evan Harris addressing last Saturday’s Take Back Parliament rally in Westminster.)
To be more cynical the crowd was disillusioned Lib Dem and Green Party supporters combined with those of us who are just intrinsically anti-Tory. Add a few anti-establishment protestors and you have a typical leftie political rally.
Only it wasn’t like that at all. Save for a few anti-Cameron banners this wasn’t about party politics. Indeed, politics as we have come to know it wasn’t the issue either. The broader principle of true democracy and representative politics was at the heart of last week's protest, campaigning for fair votes now.
This was, as one of the speakers pointed out, a CLAIM. A claim for fairness. An assertion of right.
I suspect that many of us at Westminster last week see this as a no-brainer.
But, as the humour of Evan Harris only really highlighted, this issue isn’t a straightforward one to explain, no matter how simple it was to all of us there.
But it is a point worth making, worth being passionate about and for that I thank Guy Aitchison and all involved in the organising of the event.
We have a chance to make this happen. This is only the start.
I’m not really bothered England’s bid for the 2018 World Cup. It would be nice to host the tournament but I couldn’t really care less about it.
However I know many are and that a lot of work has gone into presenting the bid. Much of that work has been undone in the last few days by a combination of a previously anonymous civil servant, Max Clifford and the Mail on Sunday. A lovely trio.
Bravo then for Gary Lineker’s decision today to resign writing his Mail on Sunday column in protest at the nature of the story and its effect on the bid.
We learnt nothing of value from the Mail on Sunday’s ‘expose’ and it benefitted no-one (with the exception of England’s rivals in the 2018 bid). The ‘shocks’ in this utter non-story, amplified by unearthed and previously anonymous blog posts:
- Newspapers love honey traps, especially if they are organised on their behalf.
- Newspapers like to see failure and have the power to force resignations from public office.
- Newspapers like to create and distort the news agenda, rather than report it.
- People talk bollocks in private conversations.
- People have neuroses and often speak of paranoid conspiracy theories, regardless of factual evidence or rumour.
- Boys like to show off to impress the girls.
- People like to flirt.
- Some married people are unfaithful.
- Some people are spiteful.
- Some people will abuse friendship, trust and work ethics for money / five minutes of fame / personal revenge.
- Max Clifford’s clients like to pose for photos in gardens.
Too good for words. Really.