December « 2009 « Blog On The Motorway

30Dec/091

Another Year Over

At the beginning of January, in this year of our fictional deity 2009, I set out a few goals that I had for the year. Seeing as it's now the end of the year, perhaps it's a good chance for me to look back and see just how I did.

I will learn to drive. Not only do I intend to do this, but I intend to pass my test and buy a car: I have started to learn to drive, but only in the last few months, so this one is going to have to roll over into 2010.
I will start a degree. I have enrolled on an Open University course in Computing and such related things, and by the end of the year should be onto my second module, and one out of five years closer to increasing my earning potential dramatically: Done!
I will move house. Ellen and Rosie and I need somewhere bigger and better to live, with a garden for the little pickle to fall over in without grazing her knees. And we need to think about school districts and other such boring fare: Not moved house yet, but we're looking at the next few months. I have to say that the last year in this house has not been too bad though, Ellen got the concrete looking quite nice in the end.
I will start a band. This is already in the process of getting underway, but then I've been at this stage of assembling a band (all members agreed, about to start rehearsing and it falls apart before we even get a jam) so many times now that I'm going to get this done this year: I really think now is the time for me to realize that this is NEVER going to happen. I think I have finally come to terms with the fact that I will never to an international rock superstar.
I will work very hard on this site. I have lots of ideas in mind for what to do with this place, but at the very least I want a redesign and a shift to new hosting done by the end of the year: Job's a good 'un, I think.
I will diversify my sources of income. This job just ain't cutting the cheques any more, and I don't really fancy entering this most overcrowded job market right now, so I will be trying to earn some extra cash. I haven't exactly worked out all the details on this yet, but my first thoughts are to get back into writing freelance, and getting into affiliate marketing: While I don't think they will bring in huge amounts of money, I'm hopeful that the new websites launching in the next few months will go some way to addressing this issue. It's still something I am interested in
I will finish my Nano novel. And not just the first draft, but a full working manuscript that I can start shopping around. Ideally this should be done by November, as I will be writing book 2 as a Nano novel: I never did get around to it, mainly because I realised it was a bit shit, but work has begun in earnest on Blood On The Motorway, which should be launching this year.

So all in all, it's been a bit of a mixed bag, but I think that overall I can be pretty pleased with the way that the year has gone . There have been hiccups and setbacks, certainly, but all in all a good year for me and mine. Next year is going to be much more ambitious (more about that in the next few days) in terms of what I will be aiming to do, but having achieved a lot this year I feel much more able to do so.

I shall be doing another one of these 'state of the union' type things at the beginning of January, but until then, I hope everyone had lovely holidays, and a very Happy New Year to you all.

Filed under: General 1 Comment

17Dec/096

Rage against mediocrity

rage x factor

The current war in the charts for the Christmas number one spot has me conflicted. For those of you who don't know (in my last post I left out one American in particular and I don't want to do the same again) in the UK we have a show called X Factor, much the same as American Idol but with just enough format tweaks for it to justify its relabeling. Every year I watch it, for the same reasons that I watch American Idol, because not everything has to be cerebral, sometimes I like to watch dumb shit. During the show I pick the one contestant who seems to be marginally talented, and then they either win or lose and I never think of them again. It's just not my cup of tea, music wise, but as an entertainment show it's gloriously awful and entertaining to watch.

But then the show ends, and the winner releases their single, just in time to trample all over the competition for the Christmas number one. The X factor winner's single has been Christmas number one for the last five years, all but destroying what used to be an entertaining British pastime, namely talking down the pub with each other who was going to be Christmas number one. It used to be a big deal. I remember being a kid and suddenly the charts seemed quite important around Christmas.. But that's no longer the case.

Until this year. Sick of the situation, a groundswell movement has to try and get 'Killing In The Name' by Rage Against The Machine to be Christmas number one instead. A ridiculous idea, doomed to failure, except that with over half the week gone, Rage are beating the X factor single by about 40,000 copies. So there's a very real chance that this could happen.

But enough background, most of you will be going, 'yes Paul, we know this.' But anyway, my initial thoughts about this were pretty much against it. For one thing, this is mainly gonna benefit Sony, of whom one of the main people is...Simon Cowell. Both singles are on the same label. Second of all, there is something to be said for the idea that everyone buying the single are behaving with the same sheep-like mentality that the people buying the X factor single are exhibiting, especially given the song's 'Fuck you I won't do what you tell me' message. And so at first I dismissed it.

But then the other night I was sat on Twitter that all of a sudden it occurred to me that I was looking at it all wrong. I then considered the situation again.

Do I love Rage? Yes, unreservedly, they are one of my favourite childhood bands, and they introduced me to both metal and hip hop.
Would I like them to be number one at Christmas? Totally.
Do I like the idea of Simon Cowell in a strop? Indeed I do.
So why don't you buy the download then? I dunno, how much is it?
65p from play.com......

And so I made up my mind, and downloaded a song that I have previously bought three times on CD, once on single, and once on tape. And now I am hooked, scanning the news hourly for fresh sales figures. But now, as if to confirm that I made the right decision, Rage appeared on Radio 5 live at 8.50 this morning. So, just as people were pulling into work, they were greeted with this:

Now I should point out this is decidedly NSFW. But the fact that Rage are back, playing together, and getting to do that on Radio 5 with Nicky Campbell (a horrible little turd if ever there was one) is surely cause for celebration.

So what are you waiting for? Go buy the single!

Filed under: Music, Net joy 6 Comments

16Dec/093

Pointed absence

Hello there everybody, it's been a while. Those of you who know me personally or follow on Twitter will know that there has been a reason why I have been away for the last fortnight, and to those of you who don't, my apologies but I'm not going to be in a position to talk about it now either. Suffice to say that my circumstances have changed fairly dramatically, and not in a good way.

But I'll be damned if anything is going to let me stop writing a blog that is now in its seventh year (in one form or another) so while I'm not able to talk about the last two weeks in case it in some way affects what is going to happen in the future (not in a 'Back To The Future' way, you understand) I am going to continue to fill the Internet with my opinions on all the stupid thoughts that go tumbling through my head on a regular basis.

Oh, and I'm aware that there are some people reading this who I would now really rather not. It's up to you as to whether you continue to read or not. As you have gathered, I wont be writing about anything that will interest you. If you want to stick around anyway, it's my web stats you'll be helping.

But enough of that. I just wanted to say, normal service will henceforth be renewed.