Comfortably punk

You may recall we recently established that punk bands actually loathed the habit of crowd spitting and certainly didn’t spit on their own audiences. But that wasn’t to say a rock musician has never done such a thing.

In July 1977, at the height of the UK punk movement, the bass player in a very popular act was playing the last show of a tour in Montreal, Canada. At the gig’s climax, he marched to the lip of the stage and gobbed at fans on the front row.

This was Roger Waters of Pink Floyd.

Married bliss

It’s a college. No it’s not, it’s a record label. Sorry, it’s a TV studio. Hang on, no, it’s a computer games firm.

Let’s start again. Confetti is definitely a bar and meeting place. And all of the above, it seems.

Nestling in the centre of Nottingham, Confetti is quite unlike any media company I’ve ever encountered. And I’ve encountered a few. Established in 1994, the organisation launched as a well-equipped, creative technology school for college students and school leavers. It was the vision of Craig Chettle and initially worked with The People’s College of Further Education. As Craig puts it, “We wanted to create a place and an opportunity that was not available to us when we were in further education.”

Less than meets the eye

We’ve been spoilt. The delights of the modern media have ruined us. Our predecessors would have little or no idea what a polar bear was, let alone be presented with the vision of one giving birth to unbelievably sweet baby polar bears. But now, we merely have to activate the shimmering screen in our lounge rooms, settle back with a mug of Horlicks and the majesty of the Arctic giant reproducing is displayed in HD colour. But do we gasp in awe? Do we shed a silent tear at the sheer beauty of the wondrous event? Do we heck. Instead, we rush to the Radio Times website and type away like a secretary on speed, denouncing the whole charade because we suspect the scene was filmed at Bristol Zoo and not the Tundra.

It doesn’t much matter if avuncular naturalist David Attenborough is attacked and eaten, we want authenticity, damn it!

As I say, we have been spoilt.

The year ahead ...

1. Someone who thinks they’re important will say Twitter is dead. They will tweet a link to their reasoning.

2. Jonathan Ross will wake at night wondering why the whole ITV thing never works for him.

3. Compare The Market will make more money from soft toys than insurance.

4. Lorshuggar will be shown an iPhone. He will think it’s a calculator.

5. HMV RIP

6. HM Government will blame cigarettes and the Euro for the fact no-one has a job.

7. The BBC will accidentally broadcast Brass Eye instead of Newsnight. No will notice.

8. Iran invasion undertaken to cheer everyone up.

9. Nation will attempt to recall what a Little Mix was.

10. A correctly deployed apostrophe will be found by archeologists.

11. Train fares will rise by a percentage determined by Eric Pickles waist measurement.

12. Boris Johnson will cease cutting his own hair in the dark. His popularity will plummet.

13. Channel 5 gameshow ‘Burn The Witch’ will be deemed ‘a little tasteless.

14. Evil dictator will go to war with own people. Big boost for British arms industry.

15. Teenagers will be told to ‘finish that last bit of Coca Cola and throw the bottle away’.

16. Phrase ‘Kindle Porn’ will make first appearance.

17. Man watching 3D movie will realise he is merely looking out of the window.

18. 3D RIP

19. Olly Murs will come out. As rubbish.

20. DWP’s ‘Work For Nothing Or Lose A Limb’ scheme will be piloted in Scotland.

Help yourself

Merry Christmas? Times are as hard as a granite boulder, encased in steel, painted in superglue and treated with a rare carbon compound.

Broke is what we are.

Blame a multitude of politicians and stab an accusing finger in the direction of international bankers and I will be with you, brothers and sisters. Had the former been watching the latter, we may not be in this sorry situation. Add to this negligence a patchwork government hell-bent on hobbling the voluntary and public sectors and we’re staring down the wrong end of a long, bleak winter. But again, what’s to be done? In the creative industries, can we really lighten this crushing load in any meaningful way? I feel certain we can.

Who's killing copywriting?

Recent months have seen a swathe of articles predicting the end of the traditional, journalistic newspaper. Indeed, I have commented on the topic on Creativepool. But, as far as I’m aware, there has been no suggestion that the art of copywriting may be imperilled. Allow me to put this right.

No offense

Last week Ricky Gervais was forced to apologise for using a particular word to describe people he considered stupid. This week Jimmy Carr withdrew a tweet and apologised for its insensitivity and poor timing.

The Gervais word was certainly juvenile and Carr’s message badly thought through, but were they offensive? And if they were, does that matter?

Back to Brown

The Stone Roses have sold out the first two Manchester shows announced at this week’s press conference, which heralded their reformation. I am not surprised – neither by the ticket sales or the band’s reconciliation.

There’s a notion that certain bands will never regroup (The Jam, The Smiths, the proper Guns and Roses) and The Stone Roses were on that list. But I don’t buy it. Unfortunately this isn’t thanks to my unwavering belief in the strength of friendships forged in creativity, it’s just a conclusion born of experience. The fact is, when the circumstances are right, a handful of people who used to sell records will gladly grit their teeth and take to a few of the world’s stages. Those circumstances are usually a string of failing solo careers, the odd sizeable tax bill and a few promoters with big cheque books. Whatever the band might claim, the burning desire to recapture that old magic almost never enters the equation.

Again!

The first time I saw New Order was at Derby’s Blue Note club, shortly after the release of Ceremony. At best, it was a muted affair. The band climbed on stage directly from the bar, it was far from a full house and Peter Hook sat on a chair throughout the performance. However, the gig was notable for its ending. Despite a hardcore fan base, whooping and bellowing enthusiastically, Barney’s mic and Hooky’s chair remained unoccupied. Eventually the house lights came up and we dispersed. There had been no encore - the first time I’d experienced this omission at a gig.

Steve Jobs

Thursday morning, a bouquet and an apple with a missing bite were placed outside the Apple store on Regent Street. It was the first of many tributes to Steve Jobs, who has died aged 56.

With Steve Wozniak, Ronald Wayne and Mike Markkula, Jobs founded Apple Inc. in 1976. Long before pads, pods and phones, they had a mission to develop the first practical and affordable personal computers. That so many people read of Jobs’ death on devices he conceived is testament to their success.