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Vatican not big on free speech according to W.I.C.A. It seems they still take exception to those not following the Pope’s remits. Well, JPII did warn us that he was not too keen on the internet, so it comes as no shock. Now we can only wonder if the Vatican will try to pursue Catholic sites outside of Italy. I look forward to seeing what some of the Catholic bloggers make of this.
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Never before has a blog been as well named as USS Clueless; its author, Den Beste, is almost entirely clueless about the Mac. He wheels out all the tired old clich�s about the Mac and its users. He seems to believe the mHz myth, shows a woefully inadequate knowledge about the machine & its OS, and comes across as bitter PC user. He ignores the pleased users of Macs and solely focuses in on a few people who have problems, no doubt user-related and not the hardware.
Yes, DB, there are Mac loons, just as there are PC and Linux loons. Every other technology expo has people blithering on about the latest and greatest thing that is the “killer app” (WAP anyone?) whether it be for the PC, the Mac, or a Palm. In fact, there is really no such thing, and it’s all PR hype. As a Mac journalist I take most of what Jobs says with a grain of salt. However, I use OSX exclusively, and it is rock stable, does what it says on the box, and is a joy to use.
Gamers whine that there are not enough games on the Mac, forgetting, of course, that most of the games on the PC are total and utter rubbish. The Mac gets the best (mostly) ported to the platform without bugs (mostly) and with improvements suggested by user feedback. There are many cases where Mac versions of games are more stable, are faster/work better, and have better features than their PC counterparts. There is also the advantage of having one manufactuer doing the machine, so compatability is much easier. This results in many games having lower requirements on the Mac than on the PC &/or being able to work on a lower speed machine than suggested. (Return to Castle Wolfenstein being a good example.)
In short, to each is own; however, by writing his screed, DB shows he is no less a PC nut than the Mac fans he is condemning.
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Tom B over at Samizdata was kind enough to cite my music screed below. At the end of his post he asks an interesting question: how can the British music scene pull out of its malaise?
Well, the first step would be to shoot/fire/incarcerate all the A&R twits at the majors. These trend-hopping cretins look for the “next-(fill in blank here)” and never bother to act like proper A&R men. Instead, they wait for a mate of theirs to flog them someone they are shagging/want to shag/used to shag as the next big thing. Then a whole bunch of image makers, studio musicians, and studio singers are brought in to produce something. They figure out what sound is “now” and produce something that will latch onto a trend. Let’s put it this way, if the right people were put behind it, this lot could make me into a pop star with little or no effort. (I can actually sing, which helps, but is no longer a requirement.) If someone were so inclined I would be game to try it. “Marty Dodge World Tour 2002” has a nice ring to it.
Like the Labour Party success, it is all a matter of spin.
It will not shock any of you, my clever readers, to know that the single sales chart is so much bollocks. There are all kind of tactics to make sure your track gets high enough to get onto Top of the Pops. The most interesting one is asking shops to pre-order lots of copies of a CD so that it charts immediately on release. Top of the Pops is not indicative of the single chart anyway, there is stuff that could be in the top 10 for weeks and would never get on. It would be much harder if the track made it number one, but there would be shananigans to keep it off the top spot. TOTP were not best pleased to see Iron Maiden back on the show. (They had a #1 with “Bring Your Daughter to the Slaughter” and they didn’t mime either.) It will be interesting to see if Def Leppard makes it on if their forthcoming single does very well.
There is plenty of talent in the UK that is making interesting and unique music. They are on small labels both here and in the US. Some even managed to get signed to major in the US like Bush (named after Shepherd’s Bush), who were huge and no label in the UK would touch them. If sales really tank and/or they follow my advice on their A&R people, then expect to see some of the majors find smaller labels to buy up for their talent.
One other solution would be for the British government to grant more broadcasting licences so you could get some variety on radio without having to listen to dodgy pirate stations. Total Rock has been trying to get an AM licence and having all kinds of problems. It is really pathetic that the UK has such appalling radio, and more the pity for British musicians. I understand Viviene Westwood has declared dance “dead”, and today’s Independent is touting the return of goth punk. The revival is lead by the always neat Siouxsie and the Banshees. The guys at Samizdata will no doubt be pleased with this, since at least one of them is a darkwave fan. Nothing like the return of hordes of goth chicks to brighten up London.
At the end of the day, if you want to change the face of popular music all you need to do is the following: 1. dont buy the shit that is released 2. buy music from smaller labels 3. go to smaller record shops. Oh yes, and, get off your duff, then go see a gig or two a month, help the live scene stay alive.
So, Tom, have I answered your query?
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