Is it better to burn out or to fade away?

Perhaps this is a question we should ask Amy Winehouse. Is it just me or did anyone consider her phoned-in, semi-coherent display at Glastonbury on Saturday night just one step too far?




Honestly, you're up in front of nearly 180,000 people, you gotta bring your game woman! Instead, I'm sat at home watching in full technicolour glory what I considered to be a career ending (or at least career crippling) performance, my mind racing as to what tomorrow's headlines would be. Perhaps "Amy's Glasto Nightmare" or "Winehouse wakes the dead", but no no no, I guess this strangled cat really does have 9 lives because a lot of the newspapers didn't even mention it and the ones that did were particularly forgiving.

In addition to the slurred lyrics, the meandering melodies and the strange skeletor-like dancing I find out today she also punched someone in the audience. There's nothing fun about watching someone's life appear to fall apart in front of your very eyes and watching her on TV made me feel like I was doing just that.
Don't get me wrong, I think she's an incredibly talented woman and when she's at her best is nothing short of an icon, but on Saturday night there was something quite tragic about her singing lyrics from "Rehab" whilst barely being able to stand.

Anyway, in case you don't believe me check it out on youtube!

Back from China

So I'm back, I had limited net access out there so was unable to blog but it will all be worth it. In a couple of weeks (hopefully) I will be uploading a documentary-style video of the MBA japes and capers that took place through Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing. Excited? You should be...

China Blog Part I - Plane blogging is the future

Anyone who knows me at all knows that I'm an awful fidget. Take me to the cinema and be prepared, just as you settle into the movie, amongst this sea of silence (assuming no hoodies are present) a rustling from your periphery will distract you. Again and again and again, until you are left begging for the credits. Your eyes will scan the emergency exits for a means of escape as I shift from side to side and squirm up and down the seat just frequently enough to lull you into believing I've found a comfortable position.

So here I find myself, on the first leg of my trip to Hong Kong, writing in a notepad as a way of combatting the incessant restlessness that crashes over me wave after wave. Oh how poetic I find myself at this hour!

Only a couple of hours left on this leg of the trip, a stopover in Doha (Qatar in case you didn't know) and then on to Hong Kong for two nights. From there it's off to Shanghai for a business symposium, which is part of my MBA course, so I spend a week there and then fly to Beijing for three nights.

I'm going to try and blog when I'm out there, upload pictures and what not....

Ohhh, I best be off, they are serving sandwiches.

Ray Bradbury would be turning in his grave... if he were dead

Ray Bradbury, the author of one of my favourite books, Farenheit 451, who, just to clarify, is still alive, is seeing his prophecy come true, albeit with a 21st century twist.

A Nottingham Universtity student, as part of a legitimate study, downloaded a copy of the "Manual of Afghan Jihad" or "Military Studies in the Jihad [Holy War] Against the Tyrants" otherwise known as the Al-Qaeda manual. This document was part of the Politics faculty reading list. Alarms were raised when the document was passed to a member of university staff for printing and within days the pair were arrested and found themselves staring at a holding cell wall.

Six days of interregation followed, computer equipment was confiscated and family was interviewed, all for printing a copy of this document.

Is it just me or does this strike anyone as a serious erosion of our civil liberties? Either way I've found the edited version (by the US gov) on the department of justice website which are here:

part one; part two; part three; part four

Since the DOJ put them up I'm assuming you cant get arrested for reading them! If I were you I would read them while we are still able to.

I told you so...

Following up from my previous post:

I told you so.

"Software on the launch vehicle did not behave normally during a test sequence."

The end is nigh.

Brown trousers time.

The end.