Guitars, drums, volume....tune!

Well, the development of the plan has stalled slightly due to work suddenly becoming busier, but rest assured I'll get back to it next week. In the meantime this is all about music. As is often the case during times of angst or uncertainty, people turn to different crutches - some will drink, some will eat, some will turn to exercise and some will turn in on themselves or become depressed. Me, I turn to music, gorging on the likes of Pink Floyd or specifically the king of Miserabilism, Roger Waters, and this usually kicks starts the positive driving influences in me after a suitable period of self indulgent internal reflection and gloom. However, as I'm not particularly angst ridden or depressed, just a little grumpier as the years go by, I do seem to have had a massive resurgence in my love of Rock music.

I've always loved music, ever since my childhood and have always viewed those who are apathetic about music with bemusement and suspicion. But during the last few years my ability to sit and just listen to music has declined. This seems to be a result of work and generally lack of time. The last year has seen almost every bit of spare time studying and you simply can't study with music either in the background or foreground. If the music's great then your distracted, if its bad then why would you even have it on?

Anyway, I digress. In the last few weeks I have been turned back on to my favourite form of music, Rock. Not that I ever really went off it, but I just haven't made much of an effort to listen to much and have tended to listen to music radio incidentally, say when driving home from work. The Pure Highway gadget certainly acted as a catalyst for this re-energised passion for Rock. After all, I've waited for 40 plus years for the pitiful radio in the UK to get even close to my taste, whereas in America, niche radio is rife, be it Rap, Religion, Garage, Country or Rock etc. The UK of course had the pathetic Radio Authority, subsequently replaced by OFCOM, another government QUANGO, but both obsessed with public taste and decency. So whilst Classical Music got a nationwide independent station in Classic FM, Rock was ignored. With a blase, arrogant and contemptuous swipe of its authoritarian, puritanical hand the Radio Authority/OFCOM stated that the interests of Pop and Rock music lovers was already well served by local independent radio. Which is bit like saying that the needs of a blind man are well served by dark glasses. Frankly UK radio is shite, double shite and arse gravy. For the past few years I've been stuck with the admirable 5 Live and small bits of Radio 2. Now, thanks to the Pure Highway and the internet, and DAB radio in general I can fulfil my radio needs at the press of a button.

The other influence has of course been Planet Rock, quite simply the best radio station in the UK. They play all the music that hits my buttons and some of the new and the new (but old) stuff I've recently discovered has had a huge affecton the re-kindling of my love affair with all things long haired, denim and leather clad and guitar based. It's the little things like NOT censoring lyrics and playing the full tracks with no chit chat over intro's or endings, plus a diverse play list and comparatively few ads that make the difference. I have a letter written which outlines why I think I should be a presenter on the station - I mean how hard can it be to play great music all day long and have a laugh as well? That would be very high on my list of perfect jobs. The alternative is to start my own radio station. You can laugh, but surely they all start somewhere and I find the idea of being a 'radio pirate' quite appealing. It would be my own way of saying 'Fuck the System', whilst doing something I genuinely love. Plus I can talk for England, so no dead air!

To head off into the weekend I thought I'd share some of the recent discoveries/re-discoveries, songs and performers, which have been my equivalent of finding a diamond in a bag of rubies. All of which just goes to prove that no-one has heard everything and indeed unless someone plays this stuff to you, such as a radio station, then you may never discover it.

Sloe Gin by Joe Bonamassa
Stargazer by Rainbow
Magic Bus (studio and live) by The Who
The Faith Healer by Sensational Alex Harvey Band
A Great Day for Freedom by David Gilmour from the Live in Gdansk album which I hadn't even heard of but will own for Christmas
Good to be Bad - the whole album by Whitesnake released this year
Sheer Heart Attack - Queen (from News of the World)
Crime of the Century - Supertramp
Tusk - Fleetwood Mac
Sweet Emotion - Aerosmith
Heaven and Hell - Black Sabbath (with Dio not Ozzy)
Baba O'Riley - The Who
Pour Some Sugar On Me - Def Leppard
Boogie with Stu - Led Zeppelin
Carouselambra - Led Zeppelin
Highway Star - Deep purple - the live version from Made In Japan
The Unforgiven - Metallica

And finally the rather magnificent...

Like a Hurricane by Neil Young

Not bad. Not bad at all.

Later, GJ

A cunning plan?

In this advancing world of uncertainty over my job, I have decided it would be prudent to start to plan for what might be

a.) inevitable and not my choice
b.) the biggest and bravest move I've ever made
c.) The nuclear fall out - that is, a plan that is ready but you hope never to use




Of course that plan then becomes structured into various headings and thats when the complexity starts to build.

a.) What can I do that I know I can do?

b.) What do I think I can do?

c.) What can I do but as yet don't know I can do or have never tried?

d.) What can't I do and could never realistically do?

On top of this we have to add another layer of complexity

a.) What can I do that I know I can do, but do enjoy doing?

b.) What can I do that I know I can do, but don't enjoy doing?

b.) What do I think I can do, but would enjoy doing?

d.) What do I think I can do, but wouldn't enjoy doing?

e.) What can I do but as yet don't know I can do, or have never tried, but would probably enjoy doing?

f.) What can I do but as yet don't know I can do, or have never tried, but would probably not enjoy doing and can subsequently rule out?

g.) What can't I do and could never realistically do?

Of course that then becomes even harder....

a.) What can I do that I know I can do, and enjoy doing that will earn me enough money to continue as I am?

b.) What can I do that I know I can do, but don't enjoy doing that will earn me enough money to continue as I am?

c.) What do I think I can do, but would enjoy doing that will earn me enough money to continue as I am?

d.) What do I think I can do, but wouldn't enjoy doing that will earn me enough money to continue as I am?

e.) What can I do but as yet don't know I can do, or have never tried, but would probably enjoy doing that will earn me enough money to continue as I am?

f.) What can I do but as yet don't know I can do, or have never tried, but would probably not enjoy doing and can subsequently rule out?

g.) What can't I do and could never realistically do?

And then............

a.) What can I do that I know I can do, and enjoy doing, that will make me rich?

b.) What can I do that I know I can do, but don't enjoy doing, that will make me rich?

c.) What do I think I can do, and would enjoy doing, that will make me rich?

d.) What do I think I can do, but wouldn't enjoy doing, that will make me rich?

e.) What can I do but as yet don't know I can do, or have never tried, but would probably enjoy doing, that will make me rich?

f.) What can I do but as yet don't know I can do, or have never tried, but would probably not enjoy doing and can subsequently rule out, unless its likely to make me very rich?

g.) What can't I do and could never realistically do despite the chance it would me me very rich and hence might be worth a punt if desperate?

And finally....

All of the previous, but with the added question of what I am morally prepared to do. I'm not even unemployed but I do wonder if my principles of fairness and decency to people would be something I could just discard in order to get to the end result. Is my current moral compass stuck merely because I live in the comfort zone of wage slave? Could I be a ruthless bastard willing to use the phrase 'It isn't personal' to justify hard business/self preservation/get rich decisions?

Yes, I think I could.

Anyway, to get this plan under construction I will need a mind map, a spreadsheet, probably a process flow diagram, some swim lanes diagrams, an Ishikawa/Fishbone diagram, a Gannt chart and finally some sort of tabular display with a final list of options, each with a relative success likelihood indicator score, in turn linked to a set of sub plans for each consequence outlining an approach, an action plan and a final result.

Looking at that last paragraph, a job in the legal proffession or with a local authority seems to beckon. Have I really turned into Captain Darling?

Later, GJ

The Creativity Gap

Creativity suffers under the warm caress of contentment. One only has to look at how the best songs are those written from the pain of angst and suffering....or drugs I suppose.

So, sometimes the creative juices don't always flow as freely. But a seething and bubbling mood of discontent is never far from the surface as the constant barrage of bad news continues to smash into us on a daily basis. It is now becoming more and more obvious that that contentment in my life goes as far as family. Kid is now happily studying at college and in tow with a seeming sensible boyfriend on the verge of joining the Marines, and Pie having just completed her first GCSE at the tender age of 13. Hellsbells and I battle on with the daily grind like all good parents do. On the boyfriend front, my adaptability amazes me. For Mini-Me I was able to act the gruff misery who could be friendly when it suited him, but if this kid is joining the Marines then expect me to pull out the doddery, friendly old Dad act. No point in riling him is there?

But everyday I now find my job becoming more and more meaningless. Don't get me wrong I love the team, really enjoy leading them and seeing each and every one of them flourish. But I now seem to be almost irrelevant in its success and maybe its time to think about moving on. Maybe I've found my Kevin Keegan moment and realised I've taken them as far as I can. My new boss, who replaced The Tub Thumper (TTT), has been asked to restructure his department, now called Service Management and we have tentatively discussed anew role within that structure which may pique my interest again. My new boss, lets call him Squadron Leader as he is ex-RAF, is as far removed from the fluffy faux people friendly world of TTT as possible, who despite her wacky fundamental Christian beliefs, over sincere caring attitude and crap jokes I must admit to liking. Squadron Leader doesn't do fluffy and doesn't do communicating much. He's very much like Captain Jean Luc Picard of Star Trek Next Generation fame. He seems determined to surround himself with strong personalities who'll deal with the crew of the good ship Service Management, the customers and the rest of the business whilst he does the strategic stuff with The Federation.

Thats fine by me and I've shown a degree of enthusiasm for his plans, but deep inside I can't help wondering whether its what I want. I'm a person who thrives in smaller departments, a bigger fish in a smaller pond if you like, When I first moved into The Customer Facing Operations Bit of High Tech Pipes, Tubes and Strings it was about 150 people strong, now its 500 people strong and the intimacy and friendliness has evaporated. It's full of over-promoted engineers managing people by box ticking and numbers. The fun has gone, summed up by the cancellation of the Christmas Party in favour of smaller more localised team based events. Heaven forbid that people might want to mix outside of their local team circle huh?

And hence its time to start making plans. Plans to take a grip on my life and try something different for the inevitable day when the big push arrives. Believe me its going to happen, another round of job losses to follow the bollocks of earlier this year. A recession is all that major corporations need in order to to decide that they are 'overweight' and need to be become 'lean and agile' - despite their own recruitment policies being the very cause of this during the apparent good times. The Company will be no different, despite my desire for the CEO to stand up to the greedy City idiots who've caused this recession and tell them to keep their noses out of how he runs The Company and to assure the staff that they will still be in place for when the economic upturn hapens. I foresee some 10,000 jobs going similar to the number BT have decided to lay off. I've never been unemployed since the day I left school way back in 1978 and have never been through redundancy. So, if it does happen this time it will be a new experience for me, and no doubt one which will fuel the creative flames.

Unless , of course I'm still coated in redundancy teflon and slip nhrough the net again.

Later, GJ.

Mental?

Sorry people, slacking again.

I know the internet has opened up new ways of communication for countless millions around the world. Internet dating remains phenomenally popular for those who don't want to traipse about in clubs and pubs in some sort of human equivalent of a cattle market. Great and very liberating I imagine.

But this story has to be the most mental thing I've ever read in The Guardian.

Have a read and tell me different.

Back next week.

Later GJ

A Star Spangled Future?

Well, that was exciting wasn't it. After months of build up America has finally made its collective mind up and elected Barack Obama as the new President.



I've been a bit ambivalent to the whole political scene whether here or abroad, fed up by politicians everywhere seemingly hell bent on ignoring the very populace that elected them and I doubt Obama will be much different. it isn't by choice of course, like most that ascend the political ladder they start with honourable intentions of doing good things, but invariably get ground down in the end by the harsh realities of political dogma, press campaigns, military pressure, religious influence and big business interests. How very disillusioning that must be to find out that you are but a piece in the overall theatre of power.

I remember the feeling well when Britain turned out in droves to sweep a fresh faced Tony Blair into power in 1997. Life promised much and Blair seemed so in touch with real people. The hope was that this was truly a new dawn for this country in terms of being a modern, civilised, balanced and progressive society. No longer. it seemed, would class play a part in how priveleged your education might be, and consequently what profession you might choose. Age, whether old or young would be no barrier to your voice being heard. The same applied to colour, race or creed. Socialism with a glass of champagne, rewarding those who deserved it, rather than the Marxist dogma of everyone bar an elite being the same. Any right minded society will reward Doctors, nurses and teachers etc on an equal basis to those working in banks gambling our money away. After all, they have the biggest and most valuable responsibility, far outweighing that of cash.Our lives and our futures.

As the years went by though it became obvious Blair was crumbling under the pressure of his faith, the myriad of 'Sir Humphrey's' throwing civil service bureaucracy in the way, the secret services and the good old US of A, choking the poodles leash to ensure we did what America wanted. A crying shame to see such bright eyed idealism extinguished like Elton's candle. I hope the same fate doesn't befall Barack Obama because if ever a nation needed re-inventing more than this one, then it's America. It's hard to imagine, after 8 years of Bush, an America that has a friendly face for the world. An America that doesn't take a default stance of mistrust. An America that takes a world view on conflict resolution and doesn't deem invasion or threat as the only methods of dealing with international unrest. An America that doesn't think 'oil first' but looks at ways of pushing new fuel technologies and uses these to help the western civilised world become independent of Middle East oil. An America that smiles at the world, helps those in need, internally and externally and becomes a force for progress around the globe. A tall order of course, but a worthy target.

If the new President can survive for a second term, politically and physically (America has a disturbing tendency to assassinate progressive thinkers) then it can once again be a role model for others to adopt. I'd start by adopting their 'no more than 2 terms' stance for all PM's and party leaders. Later, GJ

The perfect summing up

If I had this blokes gift I'd be the happiest man on Earth

Click here and have a read of the ever brilliant Charlie Brooker for one of the funniest and most sensible views on the Brand/Ross non-story and one that I wholeheartedly agree with.

Mr Brooker, you're a comedy genius.