Category Archives: Uncategorized

In Summer 2022, I welcomed subscribers to mailing list by asking them the question “what was the first chart single you bought?”. Here’s a compilation of the responses I received.  https://youtu.be/86URGgqONvA?si=Ef4L9OgxFaVu3Lv8 Claire Norman: “The first single I bought for myself was Iron Maiden – Run To The Hills, 12 inch picture disc (vinyl), in the early 1980s.ContinueContinue reading “Subscriber Series: First Chart Singles”

As I write I’m surrounded by boxes. The same boxes that materialise in my lounge every year as November becomes December, then once again as December becomes January before disappearing out of sight and far out of mind for another 11 months. I’m talking of course about Christmas decorations. The belongings that have been withContinueContinue reading “What is Christmas?: Attempting to make sense of a cult we’ve all accepted into”

I grew up without satellite or cable. The limitation of terrestrial TV inspired some odd viewing choices. Perhaps none as strange as the BBC’s viewer opinion show Points of View.  For some context, I’ve looked into the dates.  I can remember watching Anne Robinson present the show. According to the ever reliable source Wikipedia, Anne presented PointsContinueContinue reading “The inconvenience of opinion in the 21st century”

I’ll confess to not having yet seen Trainwreck: Woodstock ’99, the Netflix documentary series that has inspired this article, but I’m familiar with the festival’s uncomfortable place in music history.  I’ve also never been to a Woodstock event, the furthest from home I’ve travelled for a music festival was Groezrock in Belgium. I did howeverContinueContinue reading “Train Station: Reading ’09 – My experience with music festival culture in the 2000s”

In a previous article I wrote about finding alternatives to Amazon. As a result of reading it one of my LinkedIn connections DID buy something she’d usually order from Amazon elsewhere.  Does this make me an influencer, or an activist? I’m going to see if I can get lightning to strike twice and influence you all to want pizza forContinueContinue reading “The tasty chaos of pizza marketing”

I’d like to think I’m not becoming too cantankerous as my generation sails further out towards irrelevance island. I tried to approach NFTs with an open mind in my previous article.  If there’s one thing that’s always irked me though it’s hysteria surrounding new trends. This isn’t a modern phenomenon, it’s timeless. The giddy height ofContinueContinue reading “Binley Mega Chippy’s viral success: Big catch or small fry?”

I was talking with NFT champion, Josh Williams at a You Are The Media event and he suggested that a practical use of NFT, beyond owning expensive digital artworks, would be a more secure form of e-ticket. Q: “Stop the bus. What’s an NFT?” A: Allow me to explain through this step-by-step process of acquiring my first, and so farContinueContinue reading “My unlikely entry point to NFTs (spoiler: they’re a right faff)”