Rock On With Jet City Rednecks

My mate and colleague Paul has a groovy website set up for his rock band here. I was listening to it while I worked today and unlike most band websites where you can listen to just a couple of sample tracks, the Jet City Rednecks have a whole gig for you to listen to. Pretty much all covers, I must admit, but they are all rock standards that anyone who has ever messed around in a band will recongnise and think, yeah we used to play that in my mate's garage/flat/rehersal room (I remember a few from my band days myself. Jet City Rednecks, proving that there is more to Leicester than a dead King Richard and red cheese! Rock on!

Talent shows

It is a bit depressing to me that two of the highest rated shows on UK TV the last few weekends have been talent shows: Strictly Come Dancing on the Beeb and X-Factor on ITV. One lot of amateurs and professionals competing in ballroom dancing, week after week while on the other a panel of snide judges belittle a bunch of wannabe pop stars (like we need to encourage any more talentless pop stars). Is it just me being cynical (who, me?) or is this the sort of exercise you expect at some old Hi-De-Hi style holiday camp? However, they pulled in many millions of viewers, so what next to keep pulling in those goggle-eyed boob-tube watchers? Well, we all know skin sells, so perhaps the next natural step for these talent shows will be:

The Sex Factor; hopeful amateurs line up each week to perform a variety of hardcore sexual acts in the hope of winning through to the grand final and a contract with a major adult entertainment, becoming major porno stars. The BBC counters with Stricly Cum Fencing in which the trickiest part of pornographic films is covered as one hopeful amateur is paired with one professional as they try to create a variety of inventive 'money shots'.

And before you all groan and say what a dirty minded little sod I am, yes I know (and let's be honest, most of you too are, you just don't admit it as much!). And also I would ask to to consider that the above is a little jest, but in parts of the Japanese or Italian cable media they may very well already be real shows...

Sniffle

Well, after a few weeks of seeing lots of the folk around me going down with cold or flu symptoms I finally caught it myself over the weekend, leaving me very bunged up and, worst of all, dog-tired because the damned cough kept waking me up (along with the delightful cotton mouth feeling because your nose is blocked and you've been breathing through your mouth until it dries out, yeugh). I've used more tissues than the British Onanist Olympic Squad today, but at least I got some sleep eventually. The cats were very supportive as usual, regarding me with their shining eyes then rolling over to expose their tummies to remind me I may be feeling awful, but that is no reason not to tickle their tums.

(Censored) Turkey for Christmas

Following from the earlier post on the levels of censorship our own government will stoop to (isn't that illegal under the European Human Rights legislation?) comes this news about Orhan Pamuk, the bestselling Turkish writer. His crime? He made comments in a newspaper interview in which he criticised certain aspects of the Turkish government and older horrors hidden in history which no-one in Turkey is supposed to talk about. Criticising the authorities or in any way denigrating Turkish identity is a crime.

These are very broad terms which could be interpreted and applied in almost any way the government sees fit to stifle free speech, somewhat like the 'bringing the company into disrepute' charge I had to deal with a few months back; it can mean anything and you are at the mercy of those who made the rules as to how they interpet it. It just occurred to me as I write that it was around this time last year that a certain manager had me sent home suspended and a certain company tried to set up a disciplinary hearing a couple of days before Xmas in a nice Dickensian touch - the union sorted them out on that score - although I couldn't blog about it until after the hearing in January where I was fired.

Not that I am comparing my case to Ohran's in any but the broadest strokes - I certainly wasn't in danger of going to prison for speaking my mind unlike this famous novelist, or many bloggers in countries like Iran. That said this attempt to stifle free expression has similarly resulted in something of an own-goal for those authorities in the form of much publicity and subsequent condemnation around the world, starting with the literary community and spreading outwards to everyone else who reads of it (and indeed is free to read about it and free to comment on it).

Since the Turkish government is very keen to join the European Community this could be seen as not only a moral morass but a practical error of judgement. Many other writers have faced the courts in this country, but Ohran has such international standing, being both a critical and bestselling success, that this has become noticed by the international community. Some EU members of parliament, already uneasy at the thought of a large Muslim country with a dreadful human rights record (Turkey has more cases outstanding for human rights abuse than all other nations in Europe put together) and a repressive regime which stifles free speech have seized upon this. Although I doubt the idiots in charge in Turkey (hey, I'm denigrating you, what are you going to do about it?) want to surrender any of the repressive powers they have gathered to themselves we can only hope high profile cases like this and the pressure it creates from the EU will force them to reform into a more democratic and liberal society if they wish admittance to the EU.

Isn't it interesting that 21 years after 1984 has come and gone so many of those in authority, both corporate and government, are still thinking in terms of Orwell's Big Brother. From Henry banning the Bible in English to the imprisoning of poets in the Soviet era (Vaclav Havel, anyone?), the detention, torture and murder of 'intelligentsia' to new acts like that in the earlier post enacted to 'protect' us from terrorism by denying our rights, the face of Big Brother is the same - strip away the cosmetic surgery of PR and spin doctoring and it is the same, dour face.

What Big Brother doesn't understand - indeed has never understood - is that the little people he steps on are not little single souls to be crushed underfoot with no consequences. Little Brother has many other Little Brothers and Sisters who he shares with and they with him. From Gutenberg's printing press to the web and blogs the ability of individuals and small groups to reach larger audiences in many nations those in authority have striven to control the medium, the speech and so the thought of their people. It has never worked. In our interconnected world it is even less successful, with such abuses as Ohran's quickly reported and debated in many languages around the world.

Many in the cyberpunk genre are fond of saying that information yearns to be free. This is true as far as it goes, but really it it the thoughts behind that information which yearns to be free - and what are our writings, be they blogs or novels, but the formal construction and articulation of our thoughts, set in a medium in which others can read, share and debate with those thoughts, often without ever meeting the person who generated them. Language is the birthright of all human beings - it is wired into that remarkable mechanism, the human brain; just look at small infant trying to speak, trying to understand the world and express it. It allows us to construct ideas and express them, from spiritual and philosophical insights to the telling of tales, language is the very essence of our humanity; to restrict the freedom of expression is to attempt to neuter and control language, which is a direct assault on one of the most fundamental human faculties. The ability to speak freely against those in authority is the civilised world's equivalent of a gargoyle on a medieval cathedral or the mirror shield of Perseus, reflecting back the evil against itself, the one thing it cannot face.

Okay, I'll come down off my high horse before the saddle starts to chafe my thighs, but I make no apologies for going on perhaps a little too far above - this sort of thing incenses me and has done all my life, right from being a small boy reading history and learning of the burning of books by Nazis. I'm angry - bloody furious. There are many websites out there and books too that I dislike intensely, but the thought of banning them, imprisoning the writers or burning the books is horrific to me. It is still going on in the 21st century, even on the doorstep of Europe (and even in our own democratic countries), so use your voice Little Brother, Little Sister - it is and always has been our one true defence against the oppressors and deniers of freedom. They repress because, despite their powers, their police, their censorship and laws they are scared of us. They should be. I think I'm going to have to go and re-read V For Vendetta again (if you have never read it, I highly recommend it - it is, in some ways, the graphic novel equal of 1984). Read and think and talk; use your language skills, they are the sharpest tools any human was ever given.

The Law is an Ass

I missed this outrageous story about a draconian law being used to stifle freedom of speech in the UK - fortunately Yvonne had posted on it so I picked it up eventually. Isn't it nice to know our elected leaders, the police and the judiciary are so terrified of the voice of peaceful protest that they will stoop to these extremes? I wonder if they will try to amend these laws to include blogs? Actually since the law prohibits unauthorised protests anywhere near Parliament (or the House of Shame as Private Eye refers to it) I wonder if you sat near Westminister with a WiFi laptop and blogged a protest would that get you arrested?

Religious censorship

I missed this story last week when I was off for a few days and just picked it up via Neil Gaiman's blog - the Religious Holier-Than-Thou twonks who know what is best for us (don't they always?) have put pressure on a couple of large UK retailers over sales of the Jerry Springer: the Opera. After managing to get many stage versions of the show cancelled did Woolworths or Sainsbury's stand up for freedom from censorship and for the vast majority of their customers to exercise their rights to choose for themselves what they wished to view as adults? Hell, no they caved in faster than an Italian army. A programme, which, incidentally has already been aired on national network television, not some little cult programme which no-one had heard of.

I seem to recall around this time last year I was blogging on some small, extreme Christian cults who were doing their best to get stage shows closed down they didn't agree with. It is all reminiscent of the outrageous attacks religious figures (mainstream rather than cult in this case) made on Monty Python's Life of Brian back in the 70s (of course, today we don't remember those idiots much but the Pythons are immortal - and Brit comedy took its own revenge in a spoof of the chat show where Palin and Cleese defended their movie and adult's right to choose their own entertainment in a delicious Not The Nine 'o Clock News sketch).

There is always some small minded person trying to tell us what we can read, what we can watch - Harry Potter promots witchcraft, this book is contrary to Aryan supremacy, this EC horror comic corrupts children, this 80s slasher movie turns viewers into de-sensitised killers, Marilyn Manson songs are what make kids shoot other kids. It isn't about that - it never was. It isn't about sex or violence (if it was we'd have to ban the Bible and a fair chunk of Shakespeare and Chaucer too) either. It is about a small group who want to control what we think and how we express ourselves. That's what Threadworths and Stainsbury's (every little help, sez chirpy Jamie Oliver - oh, yeah, Mockney Boy? Want to buy a dodgy DVD then?) caved into, so guess what? I'm going to censor my money! My money isn't allowed to buy anything from these craven, cowardly companies.

Conspiracies

There was an interesting show on Channel 4 this evening on the Opus Dei movement which Dan Brown has made a lot of book sales from as one of the central players in the Da Vinci Code. It was reasonably even-handed in dispelling the nonsense in that tosh but also raised more potential worries (where does their money come from, how did their founder come to sainthood so quickly?). However, I am not really worried about Dan Brown's fictional mumblings or the real Opus Dei. No, there are even more worrying cults out there that haven't received the glare of publicity from international bestsellers.



Oldest of these two cults is the sinister organisation known as Doris Day. Like Opus Dei it is an apparently harmless organisation based around charitable works and a beatific central figure, in this case Saint Doris of Day. Members sing happy songs and promote a conservative, 1950s lifestyle. However, behind this wholesome image of clean-cut, old-fashioned American values and happy songs some say the Doris Day movement is secretly corrupting youth, teaching them that it is good for young, blonde women to have relationships with hunky men who are secretly gay. The cult strictly divides the roles for men and women in their organisation, with the women - or Dorises - taking on traditionally 'womanly' roles such a singing while doing housework and the men - or Rocks as they are referred to - pursue manly virtues such a driving sportscars and buggery.



A more modern cult is Opus Penguin, based around the teachings of the Guru Berk Breathed with Opus the Penguin as the central figure, aided by his faithful minister Bill the Cat. Some critics have declared that Opus and Berk have used the medium of cartoons to reach impressionable youths - the Catholic Church is especially worried about this, although it is not clear if this is because of genuine desires to protect youngsters from the evils of comics or because it cuts into their recruitment market. Other cartoon-based groups, such as the Seventh Day Larsonists say that there is nothing sinister about Opus Penuin, themselves or any other cartoonist cults such as the Church of Saint Charles of Schulz or the Sacred Lasagne of Garfield, but others have linked Opus Penguin to the rash of beatings of street mimes by olive loaves.