A collection of thoughts on a Sunday evening in March

Dissertation proposal done. Being Human season finalé watched. Two extremely tasty meals eaten. All in all this Sunday's turned out alright, which was far from guaranteed when i woke up.

I have to say i was more than a little nervous this morning, despite my best intentions i really didn't make the progress i was hoping for on the work yesterday, meaning that it was still seeming pretty damn daunting. Gradually though today, despite many distractions, some worthwhile, others less so, i chipped away at the word count until at about half past 8 i saved a final draft of it and made some food, chicken kiev's as it turned out. I'm quite happy with it so far, but at the same time i am glad that it isn't binding, i'm not ready to commit to the topic yet. If i'm being honest i don't think it's a question of the topic so much as just not being ready to commit to any particular future.

My parents and sister came to visit today, we went for a meal and basically just had a good catch up. We spent quite a bit of time talking about the ideas i have about what jobs i could see myself doing. I think it was partly inspired by the journalism assignment i completed, where i wrote about the challenge facing people like me, coming towards the end of their second year of university, the challenge of deciding what exactly they want to when their degrees come to an end. I've been giving it quite a bit of thought and right now there are three career paths which appeal to me, all of them perhaps slightly naively aspirational, all of them probably a far distance from where i will eventually end up.

1) First up, this kind of a continuation of a career i've had in mind for a long time, that is of course to be a journalist. I've been wanting to do this for years, i've always wanted to write for a living and i've always believed that journalists play an important role in society. It's the natural conclusion i guess to that second element that i would love to work for someone like Reuters or the Associated Press, an organisation that is global, committed to trying to present balanced and objective coverage of events. They're not perfect, they have their faults and their aims create some limits in terms of creative scope. I'd love to work in some far away country, covering events and making sure that people whose stories might never be told are heard by a potentially global audience. As aims for a future career i go i reckon that i could do a lot worse.

2) A lecturer in American Politics at university. This is a new one, a career born out of a realisation that i have a passion for the subject and that maybe if i continue to study the subject, to post graduate or masters level, i could turn that interest into an occupation. I'd find it fascinating to keep studying the politics of the country, with all it's fascinating and contradictory details. I'm less certain about that career path, i guess because it's only occurred to me as an option over the last few months. I quite like the idea of teaching, though it's hard to put that appeal into words without it sounding cheesy, even by my standards. So i guess i'll leave it at that and move on to job 3.

3) This one is certainly the least feasible and realistic, but i would love to find myself in a position where my primary occupation and source of income was writing either novels or writing screenplays for film or TV. I loved doing the screenplay writing task in film studies, and anyone who even vaguely knows me will be aware that i have some aspirations to write novels. The story i wrote when i should have been revising for my A-levels is probably the one thing i have ever done that i am most proud of, not because i have any misguided notions about the literary merits of the story itself (it was distinctly average in all honesty) but instead i'm proud of the fact i wrote something of that level, i'm proud that i followed through on an idea that i was passionate about and i'm proud that for once i managed to put one of the myriad of ideas that float around my head all the time into a more coherent and corporeal form. It was a hugely satisfying experience to print it off and hold the physical copy of my story in my hands. I still have that copy in my room at uni now, i look at it every so often just to remind myself that if, and it's proven time and time again to be a frustratingly big IF, i can maintain enthusiasm for something, maintain a degree of focus, then i'm capable of creating something i can be proud of. I'd love it if one day i could create something that lots of other people appreciate, but for now, it's enough that i am happy with it.

As usual i'm going to end the post with a music recommendation. I don't post these assuming people haven't heard of them before, or that they're the greatest thing since sliced bread, merely that they're a band or artist that i really am enjoying at the time that i write, and i believe music, like anything that can make someone happy, should be shared.

Today i'm recommending 'The Boxer Rebellion' and more specifically their most recent album 'The Cold Still', not sure how to describe it, because it is, in my opinion at least, a quite entertainingly varied album. I hear the influences of Mumford and Sons, Radiohead, Mando Diao and possibly a bit of Band of Horses. If you listen to just one song, i'd say listen to this one - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lj-i-5SgT4E.

Saturday 12th March - A Few Thoughts

I'm a bit tense while writing this, but that's because i'm listening on the radio to the Forest match against Doncaster and as the season gets closer and closer to the end the nerves involved in every match grow to an almost ridiculous level. In the last few weeks Forest have appeared to do their absolute best to throw away a very promising position. Thankfully none of the teams around us have been able to find any real consistency either so we're still very much in the race for promotion.

Later i'll be watching the FA cup game between Arsenal and Man U and i will definitely be supporting Arsenal; i quite like them as a team, they play good football, they always have a few exciting youngsters who are given a chance in the 1st team, Wenger has shown patience in building a team with real potential and he's been given the time to do so by the board. I felt pretty sorry for them on wednesday, if the ref had shown a little bit of common sense rather than sending Van Persie off for kicking the ball away, i reckon they'd have been in with a real chance of beating Barcelona. In that atmosphere, with such a short time between the referee blowing his whistle and the incident, 99% of players would have done exactly the same as the Arsenal striker so it seems harsh that he, and his team were punished in the way they were. Still it would all have been very different if Bendtner could actually live up to his potential for once, and had finished that chance in the dying moments. I really don't think he's good enough for a top team, he shows ability in flashes but he's hugely inconsistent and you never feel confident that he'll take even the simplest of chances. Seeing as they were also unlucky against Birmingham in the League Cup final, though their downfall in the end was of their own making, i really hope they manage to keep going in the FA Cup and chase down Man U in the league as well. It'd be nice to see someone other than Man U or Chelsea win the premiership for once.

It's not impossible that part of my motivation for writing this blog and focussing on the sport this weekend is that i'm doing everything in my power to foolishly avoid doing work. I have to hand in a dissertation proposal on Monday, it's meant to be around 2,000 words and right now i really don't want to do any more work on it, but i know i'm just going to have to man up and just get on with it soon if i want to avoid that horrible last minute scramble to meet a word count. It's kind of daunting just thinking about that particular D-word, it sounds quite appallingly grown up and serious. I'm sure i'll get this proposal done in the end, just need to find a bit of focus.

I've always been pretty bad for procrastination, but in the last few months i've been even worse than usual. I don't know what it is, why i'm finding it that bit harder to muster the energy to do work or why it's taking longer than usual for the fear to take hold and force me to work. There's really not much time left in this semester of university, so i just need to actually get on with my work, however the difference between acknowledging that fact and acting on it are very different.

I'm kind of loving this song right now - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjFaenf1T-Y . It's called 'Home' and it's by the brilliantly named 'Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros'. From the whistles in the intro, to the slightly odd but kind of heart warming conversation in the middle, to the conclusion it's sheer feel-good music, the kind of song you put on when the sun's out and you're walking somewhere.

That's all for today but i'm sure i'll write again tomorrow when i want a break from writing the proposal.

Friday the 11th of March

This post is mostly going to be about music but i felt that it's only right that i start it by saying that right now my thoughts are with two sets of people half the world away this evening. I hope the news coming in from Japan doesn't get any worse, that the situation at the nuclear plant resolves itself and the men and women of Japan are able to begin to get their lives back on track soon after this earthquake. The footage that has turned up on the internet is shocking and awe inspiring in the worst possible way; the raw power of the earthquake and the tsunami that followed it have proven that even the most technologically advanced societies on earth are still vulnerable to the sheer power of a natural disaster. The other people on my mind are the Libyan rebels; fighting and dying for every town and city as Gaddafi attacks his 'people' with a brutal disregard for human life. Meanwhile the UN debates and discusses faced with the minefield of international diplomacy and a situation where there is no indisputable right answer. Personally i'd support the creation of a no fly zone over Libya, recognising the council in Benghazi as the legitimate government and offering them advice and weapons (seeing as we've helped arm most of the other powers in the region it would be nice if for once we gave our weapons to the good guys).

On a lighter note, i've been enjoying doing the 30 day song challenge on facebook (basically a set of rules which require you to post a different song, chosen on a different set of criteria, each day, and post it on your wall) it's been an interesting experiment and posed me several almost unanswerable questions; how on earth am i meant to choose my favourite song for example? It's a question for which the answer changes on an almost hourly basis, depending on my mood and where i am. As it was i chose my favourite Bloc Party song, This Modern Love as this has been pretty consistently up amongst my favourite songs. I've found it really entertaining trying to work out which songs fit which categories, though some have definitely been easier (favourite band) than others (a song that makes you happy - there were a lot of options).

It's also been good fun to go on the main page for the challenge and scroll through what other people have put. I find it fascinating to look at which songs other people find happy or sad, which songs carry particular meaning and which bands they simply can't stand. It's been a great reminder of just how subjective music is, how one person's favourite song can be another's most hated, without it saying anything critical about either person.

Music has some objective value, like any art form; there are some pieces which require more skill than others, some which challenge the audience more, but in the end the most important aspects; whether you enjoy it, whether it takes on some meaning beyond that of a simple 3 minute song or whether it captures peoples imaginations, all that is subjective and i'm incredibly glad for that. I love the fact that despite the hyper-socialised world most people of my age group live in, where peer pressure can be implemented on a national or global scale via the internet, music, and the arts in general, are still so wonderfully subjective. You may say you like one song or another to impress someone else, but deep down you have opinions on that songs which are entirely personal and i'm intensely grateful for that.

The experiment was one of a whole host of reasons why i've decided to change my own attitude to this blog. I'm going to try and post more frequently, instead of only writing when i have something that has been bugging me for days at a time. I'm going to try and write most days, even if it's just to post a song or two which i think people should listen to, recommend a tv show or film i think people should watch or just ramble about what is on my mind.

So today (it's technically tomorrow, or yesterday depending on your perspective, i'm too tired to care either way) i'm going to recommend a band from New Zealand called 'The Naked And The Famous'. If you're going to go on a night out, or just want a song or two to get you in a more upbeat mood, check them out. I'd particularly recommend 'Punching In A Dream' and 'Girls Like You' if you only have time to listen to a couple.

I think i'll finish this blog with a brief section of lyrics from one of my favourite songs right now:

I still believe, in the need, for guitars and drums and desperate poetry

If i was ever to get a tatoo, those words would be the ones i'd get done.

Any feedback is very welcome, whether it's good or bad, plus any musical recommendations are always much appreciated.

This Country Can Be Ugly, But Isn't It Beautiful

I was sat on a train for a few hours on Monday, travelling through East Anglia and the Midlands, between Norwich and Leicester and a thought occurred to me, a thought that brought a genuine smile to my face, one free from self-consciousness for a wonderful yet brief moment. It was an idea that is sadly passed over in so much media coverage, an idea forgotten by so many people who live in England and ignored by so many who have turned pessimistic views and cynicism into a career choice. It's a simple concept really.

England is utterly beautiful. Granted it was an uncharacteristically sunny March day, but i couldn't escape the fact as i hurtled through the countryside, that regardless of all the things going wrong in our country there are so many things that are right, and it's about time they got some attention. I was sat reading a paper, the Independent, and was struck by the contrast between the England covered in the stories within the paper and the country i was seeing out of the window.

Now try not to dismiss this as merely the ramblings of a hopeless optimist naively ignoring the truth in much of what the Independent and the majority of the other media outlets cover. I have been as angry as most at the state of this country, at the decisions of our politicians and the attitude of our citizens. I was just abruptly more aware of all the things I take for granted.

I've often found myself presented with a conflict. Patriotism, a pride in your national identity, has become almost inseparable from some heavily negative connotations. The flag of St. George has been adopted by far right groups who embody all that i consider wrong with our country. I'd take a guess and say that of the many adjectives people could come up with, positive or negative, to describe me, patriotic is not one of them. That's simply not true, i'm hugely proud to be English, i just don't believe that pride has to be jingoistic or hate filled. I'm proud of the very multi-cultural England that David Cameron is so keen to dismiss as a failure. Too often the problems of 21st century England are laid at the feet of immigrants, so as to distract from the larger, more pressing issues (for example, Vodafone's billion pound tax write off from the coalition). Any government that can argue that there must be a cap on immigration because of the economic pressures it places upon us, while simultaneously letting one of their business friends ignore billions of pounds of corporate tax (and Vodafone are just one example, look at Barclays, Topshop etc.) really can't be trusted. The sad thing is that i can't simply level this criticism at the Coalition, Labour have proven to be just as bad.

I'm proud to know people from a variety of ethnic backgrounds, proud to be from a country that across the world is seen as a beacon of democracy and freedom. That may sound cheesy and naive, but even the Home Office acknowledges that contrary to the reports of papers like the Daily Mail and The Sun, the large majority of immigrants (especially, but far from exclusively Asylum Seekers) have no in depth knowledge of the British benefit system. There's this myth perpetuated that getting into England is easy. That immigration is not controlled or monitored sufficiently. If any of the people believing this myth took the time to look into the realities of applying for a visa or work permit in the UK, read any of the related web pages (http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/workingintheuk/tier2/ or http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/workingintheuk/tier5/), or heaven forbid, actually talk to a genuine immigrant, they would realise that to get the chance to work in the UK, if you are from outside the EU at least (which let's be honest, it's the immigrants from these areas that face the most hostility) you are required to jump through a series of ever narrowing hoops.

I got a little sidetracked there, but it was an important track to take. Carrying on with my list of things i love about England, i love the passion of the people, the quality of the arts that we produce (a quality that is threatened by the Coalition's cuts, but that's another post, for another day) and the welfare services available to people. If i was forced to choose one thing, right now, which i held up above all others as an example of the things our country has got right, it would be the NHS. Even the most cursory glance at the US healthcare system makes me incredibly glad i was born this side of the Atlantic. For a country which prides itself on the concept that 'All men are created equal' they've fought tooth and claw to maintain the idea that a person's access to good quality healthcare should be dependent on the money in their wallet. In my politics lecture on American politics i learnt that it costs the average American nearly $12k to insure a family of four for just 1 year. It is that kind of figure that really makes it hit home just how lucky i am to have grown up in a country with the NHS. It's far from perfect but it is abundantly clear that we as a nation often seem to fail to appreciate just what it is that we have.

Another sidetrack, also important, deal with it. I live in Leicester, a city renowned and in some cases mocked for it's ethnic diversity, and contrary to Cameron's belief that this multi-cultural society is eroding our national identity, i consider myself almost exclusively English. I am also British, European and human, but these are all distant secondary identifications. There are only a few things that sadden me more than the fact that it feels like to be proud to be English there is some requirement or assumption that i must also be suspicious of change, borderline racist and revel in narrow minded nationalism. England is a mongrel nation, invaded time and time again, made stronger by immigrants over the last 400 years, a nation that thanks to it's incredibly questionable colonial history has links all over the world. I refuse to accept that to be proud to be English means i should distrust or openly dislike immigration. How paranoid and insecure do you have to be about your own identity to feel so intensely threatened by immigration? There needs to be serious discussions about immigration, about what levels are practical for a nation our size. But they are debates that have to be conducted based on facts rather than prejudices, debates which have to be open and honest rather than manipulated by politicians and media figures for their own ends.

The basic point of this rant is to say that the English people are inherently tolerant, that England is incredibly beautiful and that we really need to start appreciating all the great things we have, rather than letting the national discourse become so unrelentingly negative.

This was a rant inspired by a 3 hour journey across the English countryside, a rant inspired by just how happy it made me to look out over the countryside on one of the first sunny days of spring. It was an over simplistic, idealised happiness, but i realised it was one i should cherish.

So here's to a reasoned debate on immigration, an appreciation for the beauty of the English countryside, a beauty which must be preserved, and most importantly, reclaiming the idea of being patriotically English from the thugs, fascists, bigots and scum that give our incredible, diverse and fascinating nation a bad name.

Pleasant Sounds And Pretty Pictures

The third thing i want to write about today is a more light hearted thing, something of little overall importance but much personal interest.

The prospects for Music in 2011 look very good. The new White Lies album is brilliant, capturing the epic quality of the first album with if anything a greater control and a higher frequency of strong tunes. 'Bigger Than Us' is a great single, a powerful chorus supplemented by a melodic hook which sticks in your brain in a way which is surprisingly enjoyable. On first listen the Bright Eyes album is every bit as good as the previous ones, though i need to give it a couple more listens before i can really judge it. The Boxer Rebellion's new album is a definite grower and i'm beginning to really love that album. The new Strokes album sounds promising, at least based upon the new single, 'Under the Cover of Darkness'. I've got a definite soft spot for The Strokes, ever since i first realised just how damn good their first album 'Is This It' was. Elbow's new album sounds amazing, "Lippy Kids" and "Neat Little Rows" are both brilliant tracks and if 'The Seldom Seen Kid' is anything to go by, this album will be awesome. My friend Kara posted the video of the new single by Radiohead, 'Lotus Flower' , on my facebook page, it's the first song from the new album which in true Radiohead style has crept up on everyone and is being released for download this weekend. Frank Turner has also confirmed he'll be releasing a new album in the summer. All in all a very promising start to 2011 music wise. I'm a happy guy in that particular respect.

Similarly Film in 2011 has some serious potential. I'm currently in full on geeky excitement mode over two particular films. First up, released on March 23rd is "Battle Los Angeles", a film i've wrote about previously. An alien invasion film told from the perspective of one isolated Marine squad in LA trying desperately to hold back the tide of a technically superior alien force. The most efficient way to describe quite why i am so excited about this film is to use the director Jonathan Liebesman's own words from an interview in the March issue of Empire, "Black Hawk Down with aliens". If it does justice to that claim it could be an incredible film. The other film i'm very excited about is "Suckerpunch", due for release on April 1st. Made by Zach Snyder, the man who brought the world 300. It promises to be epic, utterly stupid and stunningly shot, everything i like from a big budget action film. I love the fact that all the lead characters are female, giving it a slightly different dimension to so many other action films out there. I love that the plot revolves around one of those girl's imagination, a girl who, unfairly, has been placed in a mental institution. It all looks so very promising as something dramatic, exciting and pleasantly different.

There are many things wrong in the world in the early stages of 2011, several of which i have written about or will write about in the future, but it would appear that the escapism of film and music will be in fine form at least.

A Society That Is Neither Big Or Clever

The third thing, also important, though put into perspective by the revolutions going on elsewhere, is David Cameron's proposed "Big Society". This is the Conservative policy that has in many ways become the flagship policy of the coalition government, or at the least the Tory half. It centres around the idea of councils, and volunteer groups taking up some of the work load from central government, including the running of a whole range of services within communities. It centres around the classic Conservative aim of reducing the power and role of national government and reducing the involvement of the government in every day life. Now anyone who knows me, and probably anyone who only knows me through what i've wrote on this blog, will be aware that i'm a LONG way from a Tory and in many ways despise Cameron, Osbourne and all the other Tory MPs. However at an ideological level i am not entirely against this particular idea. The idea of the concept of community being strengthened, the idea of people doing more volunteer work, of helping each other, of leaving local issues to be run by people who understand those very same issues. And on a completely partisan level, the less direct power and influence David Cameron has on my life, undoubtedly the better.

The major, defining and unforgivable flaw with Cameron's entire philosophy is that he seems to believe that this can be achieved while savagely cutting the funding of the very councils and organisations he hopes will start doing his job for him. I'm not overwhelmed with enthusiasm about Ed Miliband but i loved his question to Cameron during February 9th's PMQ's (a remark brought to my attention by Alastair Campbell) of, and this is a rough quote, "How does Cameron expect people to volunteer at the local library if it's being shut down?". It perfectly summed up the aforementioned giant flaw in the concept of "The Big Society".

The simple reality of the situation is that more funding rather than less is required to set up and organise the situation in which Cameron's envisaged "Big Society" could operate. Without a doubt eventually the government's role could be massively reduced, the work left to willing volunteers, councils in majority control of their own problems, but to reach that point, investment, not cuts, would be needed. Council's require money to set up the necessary facilities, to regulate and monitor the volunteer organisations so that people don't exploit the vacuum left by central government retreating, to provide the volunteers with the equipment and opportunities to make a difference. As a concept "The Big Society" is not without it's good points, as a practical plan to be implemented now in the manner Cameron suggests it is idiotic. The plan is so poorly formed and ill thought through that it is quite worrying it comes from our nation's Prime Minister.

I hope the set backs his plans have suffered recently, especially Liverpool City Council pulling out of a proposed test run due to similar concerns to the ones i have raised, will make the Tory's re-evaluate and either abandon it for now, or at least come back with a much more solid and fully formed plan.

"The Big Society" is not without redemption as an idea, but i fear it is in entirely the wrong hands.

The Pursuit of Democracy in the Middle East

I've decided to write each of these things as separate blog posts so that they stand in their own right and don't detract from each other.

This is what, to my eyes at least is the most important thing happening in the world right now. The Middle East Protests. Since December 17th when Mohamed Bouazizi, a 26 year old street vendor, set himself on fire in Tunisia, protests have developed in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain and Iran, rumours of protests in Jordan and Morocco. Reports have come out today of a man in Senegal setting himself on fire in what has to be assumed to be a deliberate reference to Bouazizi's deliberate immolation. In all these countries people are marching, and in many fighting and dying in pursuit of a concept we in the west proudly boast about yet far too often take for granted, Democracy. Such a basic premise, the idea that everyone's voices should be heard within a nation, that people's rights should be respected, that governments should serve, rather than exploit the people of the nation. Horrific scenes are unfolding day by day (if anyone doubts just how horrific they can watch this video from Bahrain, http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=fwnUQcKXmMM but it is very graphic so consider yourself warned), the worst of which seems to be in Bahrain and Libya, where there are reports of government officials explaining that if people engage in the protests they are "committing suicide".

One of the uncomfortable truths for the 'west' is that a number of these governments that people are attempting to overthrow, are ones which have been supported financially, and with military supplies, by ourselves, especially the United States and the UK; Egypt and the Bahrain are the primary examples of this. I've been trying to remain up to date with the news from these states (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2011/feb/18/middle-east-protests-live-updates) has been particularly useful in this regard. I am under no illusions about the likelihood that in all these cases, or even any, the people will get the government their revolutionary spirit merits. History has taught us often enough that revolutions often only provoke cycles of violence that only come to an end when someone equally as dictatorial as the person kicked out in the first place. However i hope (and if i was religious i'd consider this something well worth a whole heap of prayers) that at least some of those brave people find a form of democracy that makes all their efforts worthwhile.

I can't imagine the courage it takes to go out onto the streets and protest in states like the ones mentioned above. So many brave men and women are putting their freedom and their lives at risk, simply in pursuit of the freedoms we hold dear. I hope it doesn't get any worse, but it seems almost inevitable that it will for the time being.

I have to hope that at some point in the future this unrest will die down because the majority, but preferably all, of the governments which have ruled that region with violence, corruption and nepotism have been replaced with something closer to the democracy we hold dear. It may be a naive hope, but it would seem cruel to hope for anything less.