My Own Battle of Hastings

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                      First off, the Battle of Hastings, where William The Conqueror and his Norman forces defeated the English troops in 1066, didn’t even happen in Hastings, but on Sen…



Daily Mail and the X Factor Scandal That Doesn’t Exist

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                   &

nbsp;”X Factor Sleaze Storm Grows” read Tuesday’s front-page headline in The Daily Mail, and I thought maybe they were talking about further evidence of the often-hinted-at fix in the voting. I also thought “What’s left?” as Matt Cardle, who was the favorite from the outset, won rather handily. While his performances were not all brilliant, some of them in fact were, including his choice of song for first single, which totally blew runner-up Rebecca Ferguson away. The week-to-week results of the public vote showed that Matt finished on top every week but one. Had anyone else won, that would have been worth creating a storm over.

                    Enter The Daily Mail, the alleged newspaper that I read every day simply because I know that by reading The Guardian, I’d merely be shoring up my already-established beliefs. With The Mail, I get a viewpoint that’s not quite Fox News, but somewhere in the neighbourhood, which tends to get me more motivated. This time, The Mail couldn’t get far enough on any scandal involving “The Fix Factor,” as Wagner, the tone-deaf 54-year-old Brazilian, was voted out before any massively talented acts were. For me, the closest to any fix involved the remaining group, One Direction, making it to the final three without ever showing much ability to harmonize. Cher Lloyd, with her neurotic episodes and her “Look at me rap, wow, I’m so street” performances, was far more talented yet finished fourth due to the “Hate Factor.”

                 All that was left for The Mail to focus on was the sleazy performances of Saturday’s guest performers, Christina Aguilera and Rihanna. I didn’t get to see either of those, as I worked Saturday night. (Hooray, I got a life!) Oh, the shame of it! These two stars both wore scant and revealing outfits and thrust their hooters about, apparently enough so that The Mail felt compelled to mount another of their many crusades against all the terrestrial channels for showing such sleaze when children might be watching. I’m 99.99% certain that, had I watched this display, I’d have been more ashamed that these two reasonably talented artists feel they have to do a simulated lap-dance routine to keep the viewing public interested.

                      So here we go again, another year, another moral crusade. This recalls how they built a scandal in 2008 over the Russell Brand/Jonathan Ross BBC Radio 2 broadcast, something the paper still mentions when it finds the chance. Only a few had actually complained on the day about the broadcast, in which the two took nasty pot shots at veteran actor Andrew Sachs. Sachs was absent when they called his home for an on-air conversation, so Brand took it on himself to leave messages about shagging his granddaughter. A stupid move, yes, but once The Mail became aware of it, they decided it shouldn’t go unpunished. Over the ensuing week, the paper’s campaign was effective enough that soon thousands were screaming for Brand’s and Ross’s heads. It worked, for Brand quit his radio show (didn’t need it anyway) and Ross was suspended for 12 weeks. He has since left the BBC, and The Mail staff continues to click its collective heels in jubilation.  

                          While the story in Wednesday’s Mail about the “growing controversy” was relegated to page 11, they were able to mention that ITV, which airs “The X Factor,” has now received over 3000 complaints. Well, if no one’s officially counting, then maybe they have, and maybe they’ve received ten thousand, maybe they’ve received death threats, maybe someone’s put a stink bomb in ITV’s postbox. Doesn’t matter. If The Mail can get readers to respond to this non-story, then they’ve effectively done their job of scare-mongering, and if next year’s “X Factor” guests are no more controversial than Michael Bublé, they’ll believe the good guys won.     

                   Ultimately, “X Factor” is done for another year, and may return next year without Simon Cowell, Cheryl Cole, and host Dermot O’Leary. This would leave Dannii Minogue as the most interesting of the judges, as Louis Walsh this year offered few opinions below fawning adulation. That’s more of a concern to me than any amount of tit-thrusting by American divas. 



“It Was 30 Years Ago Today…”

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              December 8, 1980, already 9 December in Britain when IT HAPPENED. I was spending some time in LA with Monica Ganas, my partner in Rick & Ruby, who was newly-married and pregnant while my f…



“Snow Is Falling, All Around Me…”

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                … Children playing, having fun”  So goes the first line of Shakin’ Stevens’ “Merry Christmas Everyone,” and as I woke up to the snow finally reaching London after having cov…



The “Fix” Factor or just the “Hate” Factor?

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                  So here I am at home on a Sunday night after a busy weekend of work and a lunch meeting in Covent Garden today. I’ve allowed myself to get mildly interested in “Strictly Come Dan…



9th of November, A Date To Remember?

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                   It’s strange to Google your birthday and find that Wikipedia has an entry for every date of the calendar year, with significant events, plus births and deaths, that happened on …



I’m Still Pinching Myself

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            OK, so this has been an amazing 24 hours or so. From the first call I got at 2:30 AM Greenwich Mean Time from Deb Brondolo in San Jose saying “Job done,” it has been a big breath of fresh air. I have…



Cheering From Afar

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             Whenever I mention the

World Series over here, I’m immediately greeted with the skeptical question of “Why do they call it the ‘World’ Series when only two countries are involved?” My answer is …



“F(orget) You” and Other Great Love Songs

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This is the first UK top ten I’ve seen in a while where I can actually remember what they all sound like, so there must be some sort of impact, whether good or bad remains to be seen. So here we go:
 
1. Forget You (AKA Fuck You) — Cee-…



The Elephant in the Room (thanks, John Mann)

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            OK, even before we get to assessing the weekend’s gigs and their plusses and minuses, we must vent about the continual problem that is UK driving. Friday’s gig was in Exeter, and since it’s over 200 …