How Music changes through the Years *

When I was a teenager, buying music was pretty straightforward. You had a choice of two formats - cassette or vinyl and that was about it. All you really had to decide was what you wanted to buy.

It's not so straightforward now. I imagine that most pre-recorded music is purchased on CD. I'm not sure if cassettes are still available, but even if they are, why would you want one? I also know that, though I doubt if you'll see many on the high street, LPs have never really gone away. In fact at least one serious hi-fi buff i know prefers records to anything else, and he's probably not the only one. For a while, then, it's basically been a case of deciding what you want, then buying the appropriate compact disc. Fine, no problem there...

Problem is that there are new digital formats appearing, eg

1. SACD (Super Audio Compact Disc)
2. DVD-A ( DVD Audio)

I really would prefer it if we could avoid another format war. SACD v DVD-A brings to mind the VHS/Betamax wars, wherein the main loser was the poor old consumer...

As if this wasn't enough, if instead one elects to opt for music in the form of computer downloads, it's not much better. There's the ubiquitous MP3, Microsoft's own WMA and doubtless may other different formats.

Truly, the era of the LP was a simpler time - come to think of it, the album covers looked much nicer when 12 inch sized as well!

* Yes, I have taken the title from a musical lyric. It's from Queen's Radio GaGa.

A Breath of Fresh Air

This one's going to be somewhat contraversial I reckon...before I go any further I want to state that I have no problems with smokers as people, but I detest the habit itself.

A group of medical colleges led by the Royal College of Physicians have called on the government to introduce a ban on smoking in public. They feel that the risks to health associated with passive smoking have been proven to the point where the issue cannot be ignored.

At least one smoker I know - and he's a mate of mine so I'm NOT having a go at him - is prone when the subject of smoking bans comes up, to banging on about such being an "infringement of his human rights". Well, I reckon that I have a human right not to be poisoned by the by-products of this filthy practice which overrides that.

I suspect that our government will not act on the colleges' call, chiefly for fear of alienating people at a time when their popularity is not as high as they want. This, I feel, would be a mistake. Only slightly more than one in four of the UK population smoke, so there is every chance that the other three quarters of us would approve...

We'll have to see if anything happens.

Eng-er-land, Eng-er-land, Eng-er-land ...

Good Lord, we've actually won a world cup! Our rugby league team beat the Australians 20-17, winning thanks to a Jonny Wilkinson drop goal in extra team.

Well done lads, and I trust that this will be remembered come time for the New Year honours...

Bah, Humbug

I don't have a problem with Christmas. I'm not remotely religious, but enjoy the festive season as much as the next man. I do, however, deplore the tendency for it to start earlier and earlier each year...

It's bad enough that one of the local garden centres has been selling decorations and other festive fripperies since early October, but I noticed yesterday that outside our town hall there's a christmas tree all aglow with illuminations. Please, could we not wait until December ?

Ol' Dubya's in town

George Bush should be arriving imminenetly on the shores of our sceptred isle - well presumably he'll be touching down on Heathrow's grimy tarmac to be a little more specific.

He's not the first US president to visit us, although we've not had one on a state visit since 1918, and I'm sure many more will come here over the years ahead. However, I really don't think that this visit, at this time, is such a bright idea.

I've been to the 'states and people there really were very hospitable, so please don't assume that I'm on just another anti-American rant. Unfortunately, though, Mr Bush just isn't very popular over here. For sure he'll be warmly greeted by assorted politicians, civil service types and the like, but I wouldn't be at all surprised to see large scale protests and hope that, in that event, they don't get out of hand.

I'd also say that if the story currently doing the rounds suggesting that the main purpose of this visit is to provide TV footage to be used next year to get Dubya reelected has any validity that really is something which will stick in my craw.

Canine Progress Report

My last entry into this quasi-journal concerned Kane, our border collie. He'd just been diagnosed with osteo-arthritis and prescribed anti-inflammatories.

He's now been on the tablets for a couple of days and they are already making a difference. He's on restricted exercise for the rest of this week, after which he'll be able to carry on as his usual cantankerous self !

Just a Pet ?

A couple of days ago Kane, our 13 year-old Border Collie, had a tumble in the garden - basically his back legs just gave out. He picked himself up and after looking a little subdued for an hour or so he's been his usual self.

Obviously this concerned both myself and my wife somewhat and we made an appointment to take him to the vet this morning to be checked over. Despite the fact that Kane's been as active as ever since the fall, as we walked into the surgery with him I found that I was extremely nervous.

It turned out that he's got a degree of osteo-arthritis, which the vet described as normal wear-and-tear. Other than that he's in pretty good shape, so he's been prescribed anti-inflammatories which should help a lot.

To put it mildly, I was relieved at this diagnosis. To you he might be "just a dog", but to us he's family !

A Mystery of the Sea

I've just read that Britain has become the first nation to sign up to an international treaty aimed at protecting the wreck of the RMS Titanic. This can only be regarded as good news, though we need to remember that in another decade or two, there won't BE a wreck as it's deteriorating badly.

The thing about the ill-fated liner which I've never understood is how it came to pass that "salvage rights" over a British liner which sunk in international waters was awarded by an American court to ,surprise surprise, an American company. Hopefully we can now look forward to the wreck - which after all is a mass grave - being left in peace.

Let it go

We used to live in Brighton and very enjoyable it was too. Currently there's a lot of talk about the "restoration" of the town's West Pier. Whilst I think there would be something to be said in favour of the town having two piers, I feel that it's time for a reality check.

The fact of the matter is that there's not much left to restore. To my certain knowledge the structure's been derelict for years and, after two fires earlier this year, all that remains is some twisted rusty wreckage. It's my belief that it would be better to demolish these remains rather than build what realistically would be a reconstruction of the original Victorian pier.

Alternatively, if another pier is really seen as desirable, why not build a contemporary 21st century interpretation of the idea?

A La Carte Democracy?

I've been interested to see the protests by various groups over the weekend regarding proposed legislation currently going through parliament to ban hunting with dogs. Many of these groups are saying that if a ban is brought in then they will simply defy the law.

I accept that this is a complicated issue, but I believe that these people are the same ones who will be the first to turn to the law when it suits - for example, if faced by protesters, hunt-saboteurs and the like.

Whether they like it or not, we live in a democracy. As I understand it, the anti-hunting bill passed through the House of Commons on a free vote with a very large majority. You can't pick and choose as to which of the country's laws you will obey...

For the record, I do not particularly regard myself as anti-bloodsports. In fact, I do occasionally go fishing, which I presume is classified as a bloodsport.