Mike Ritchie Media - Comes A Time

TOP ALBUMS And GIGS OF 2011

2011-12-29T14:53:00.000Z

It’s okay to cheat on my own blog, yes?

It’s end of year review time. I have to say I love the music-related “best ofs” that appear on so many outlets, off and online.

So – and here’s the cheating part – my top ten CDs of the year include two I don’t have in my collection but whose tracks I’ve listened to a lot thanks to the Internet. The “cheating” selections are Tom Waits’ “Bad As Me” and the Israel Nash Gripka offering “Barn Doors And Concrete Floors.”

Each of these albums is rewarding and hugely satisfying.

Tom Waits – Bad As Me

Gillian Welch – The Harrow and The Harvest

Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring For My Halo

The Decemberists – The King Is Dead

Dave Alvin – Eleven Eleven

Richmond Fontaine – The High Country

Israel Nash Gripka – Barn Doors And Concrete Floors

Ryan Adams – Ashes and Fire

Steve Earle – I’ll Never Get Out Of This World Alive

Laura Marling – A Creature I Don’t Know

Bubbling under Wilco with “The Whole Love,” Jonathan Wilson’s “Gentle Spirit” and, surprised myself with this one, the Elbow offering “Build A Rocket Boys.”

No cheating, however, when it comes to my top gigs of 2011 as I did attend them all, enjoying the glorious music while enduring the crowd talkers, grotty loos, venues where starting times are state secrets, and the antiseptic air of the all-seated, posh places.

If all these acts had been playing a second night, I’d have gone again, happily.

GIGS

Gillian Welch/David Rawlings, The Armadillo

“Each and every one of their 22 songs was a highly polished, meaningful gem, delivered with poise, passion and delicious contentment.”

Israel Nash Gripka, Stereo

“A sweaty, barnstorming gig, bang on the money if you like roots rock hewn from musical goldmines where The Stones, Son Volt, Ryan Adams and even Crosby Stills and Nash have dug successfully.”

Band of Heathens, Classic Grand

“…utterly compelling as the Texans played song after song in an unfussy, but gripping manner.”

John Grant, St Andrew in the Square

“…an emotional, heart-warming performance with shards of black humour slicing through his sadness.”

Phosphorescent, Stereo

“ a band that blends the robust and the tender, and makes its audience smile all the way through, a real trick of the trade.”

David Olney/Sergio Webb, Laurie’s Bar

“…a magic gig that lasted over two hours. Another two would have had us equally entranced.”

Richmond Fontaine, Stereo

Gleefully and mercilessly intent on setting song moods to manic mode in many cases, RF retain an endearing ability to be rockers, hushed raconteurs and first-class Americana roots’ exponents.

Steve Earle, The Academy

“Leaving an Earle gig is always a bit of a wrench…never do you come away other than satisfied – and gratified that you get a masterclass each time.”

Giant Sand, 02 ABC2

“A shortage of great tracks is not a problem for dust-blown Gelb who can deliver them in any manner he chooses..”

Wilco, The Royal Concert Hall

“….truly on fire offering up a joyous mixture of wailing wig outs and dreamy, heartfelt mellowness.”

All live review snippets penned by me and available in full on the excellent americana-uk website.

HAPPY NEW YEAR.

The Simpsons, Primal Scream and Theresa May

2011-10-06T11:37:00.005+01:00

Do any of you remember the scene in The Simpsons where Bart is trying to train – hugely unsuccessfully – his dog, Santa’s Little Helper?

We see inside the pooch’s brain via screen bubbles and what man’s best friend is seeing or thinking is something like: “Blah, blah, good dog. Blah, blah, sit…..” Well, I confess, that’s the effect the political party conferences have on me.

The platform speakers’ speeches may well have been buffed and tweaked, re-worked and sleeked-up but the oily polemic has little or no impact on me. And when the leaders receive their so-contrived and well-rehearsed ovations I shake my head and cringe.

These are embarrassing occasions. As bad as Dad dancers at weddings. Earnest delegates nod sagely, some just nod off, others gravely take notes and try to ignore the TV cameras as they pan around the hall while upfront, centre stage, their leader is rattling on about this policy or that while sticking the knife into their opponents’ ideas. A real turn-off.

However, I actually tuned in by accident to Home Secretary, Theresa May’s speech. I was at the gym on the cross-trainer and had forgotten my iPod with the new Wilco and Laura Marling CDs on it, so stuck the headphones into the BBC channel as Coronation Street, speedway racing and some teen-angst drama were on the other screens, plus poor rap stars on MTV.

But I was in for a shock because it was so bad it was actually funny. The content, at times, was absurd, infantile. “The only cause of a crime is a criminal,” said May. No, really? Rain can you make you wet, you might want to know.

Then on human rights she said an illegal immigrant avoided deportation because of a pet cat. It made me mull over what headlines the tabloids would conjure up for that revelation but I’ll keep them to myself. Later it was revealed to be a totally inaccurate tale so that made Ms May’s oh-so-earnest delivery and assertion that she was “not making this up” an even bigger hoot. This was live telly at its most hilarious, if unintentionally.

As she shuffled off to the Primal Scream track “Rocks” she was about to get Bobby Gillespie and his merry band annoyed. They were none too chuffed with her song choice. http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/oct/05/primal-scream-theresa-may-rocks?newsfeed=true

So what is the point of these political conferences, all of them, other than a jamboree for drinkies and a catch-up with chums you don’t see from one year to another? Surely, no-one is deluded by these stage-managed pantomimes or convinced that those reading from their tele-prompters have an ounce of sincerity other than to please and appeal to the party faithful attending?

Maybe the political commentators – and I am not one, I admit – would dismiss me as a lightweight in these matters and fair enough. But that doesn’t change my view that such gatherings – good as they might be for the local economy of wherever they are held – are no more than contrived, set-piece events where a lot of hot air is about all that’s delivered.

AND TODAY'S "IN" WORD IS........

2011-09-28T13:52:00.002+01:00

ro·bust Adjective

1. (of a person, animal, or plant) Strong and healthy; vigorous.

2. (of an object) Sturdy in construction.

Is it just me or is robust the “in” word at the moment?

A lot of people like it and are using it. Whether it’s up-against-it police chiefs in the aftermath of the riots in London, politicians defending their policies or banks and bankers trying to avoid a shake-up, robust is in demand.

It’s not a word I dislike, the opposite in fact and one I have used selectively in my role as a PR – but hearing it every day grates.

Some of the coaches at the World Cup Rugby, or Rugby World Cup even, have used the word, too. To me, that’s a sport that involves being robust at all times.

I wonder how words suddenly slip into fashion?

“Devastated” is very popular and has been for many years, as I can recall from my days as a tabloid journalist intruding in private grief. Sports stars, victims of crime, people involved in tragedies all used, and still do use, this one word response.

Transparency and accountability are high in the usage charts, too, alongside credible, incentivise, leverage, tangible, keynote and synergy. They crop up all the time. They are words of the moment. The loathsome “tasked” is another, sadly. I hate it when nouns are suddenly sullied by those who use them as verbs.

“Quite rightly” – OK that’s two words – is a phrase I’m fed up hearing, especially when spouted by a politician who has been challenged on some issue or other and is trying to give the impression of even-handedness while dismissing the criticism. Staying with politicians. The way they dismiss a question by declaring in an answer: “A more important question is…” Blooming cheek. Anyway, I’ve strayed from the topic slightly.

Visceral* and venal**, whose meanings I always need to look up in the dictionary, have been on my radar for some time. Music, book and film critics like, no, love them in their reviews. But they just came from nowhere, it seems to me.

I don’t know if any experts can pinpoint or explain why some words suddenly escape from the anonymity of the dictionary pages and become so popular. And does it work in reverse? What will replace today’s liking of robust? That’s anyone’s guess – what do you think it might be?

* felt in or as if in the internal organs of the body: a deep inward feeling.

** capable of being bought or obtained for money or other valuable consideration.

NIGHTMARE NETWORKING - BLEEDING EARS ALERT

2011-08-31T12:07:00.005+01:00

The business world is a real mix of people.

And nowhere is this more evident than at networking events. All types of business folk come to these gatherings for a fair number of reasons but meeting new people, making contacts, possibly forming relationships and winning business further down the line would be near the top of the list for most people.

One of my earliest network nightmares was at an evening event, a sit-down meal with speakers, who turned out to be informative and helpful. That’s more than could be said for the chap sitting on my right-hand side whose company supplied drain cleaning products. On and on he went about this solution and that detergent, the types of jobs his firm had undertaken, the problems encountered, the clients who caused him grief. “Excuse me, I’m eating,” I should have said. If someone could have magically flushed him away along with his pile of leaflets and their pie charts I would have been grateful.

On another occasion, I got stuck with the droner – rattling on interminably about his company after thrusting his business card down my throat within seconds of meeting me. Then, when someone else joined us, he did the same again – a double dose of boredom. At least I knew he wasn’t making me a special case.

Another event, another shudder. A woman asked me about my line of work. I started to talk but she, after examining my lapel badge, cut me off by saying that PR was a waste of time, no way would she ever, ever speak to the media because one newspaper had misquoted one of her friends and got her name wrong. Fair enough. Despite that, I asked what she did (a professional expert on everything, seemingly) and, 25 minutes later, my ears were bleeding. Taxi!

On the other hand, I’ve met some people who are excellent at network events as they share a conversation and are quick to introduce you to others they know. Heather Alexander at Clearsight Consulting definitely comes into this category - http://www.clearsight-consulting.com/

But, you live and learn and nowadays my experience at networking events is different. I go with a relaxed attitude, accepting that people are there for a shared purpose and that works for me.

I’ve also learned from reading generous online tips provided by the likes of Jackie Cameron of Cameron Consulting whose thoughts actually prompted this post.

http://www.facebook.com/Speakupforyourself

On the Glasgow Business Network group page on LinkedIn there’s a harder-hitting discussion under way, equally interesting and relevant. http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Why-do-you-network-2226692.S.68244307?qid=d9166a43-54bd-4f4b-88f7-1cdd0098ec9c&trk=group_most_popular-0-b-ttl&goback=.gmp_2226692

No networking event or business gathering is the same for two people. How could it be? I like meeting new people and I find the follow-up contact, such as the “good to meet you” email, often brings about another 1-2-1 meeting and that can been good for business. Networking does not provide instant solutions nor immediate new business in my book.

You will, I hope, note that this post hasn’t been written po-faced. So if we meet at an event, I promise I won’t thrust a business card at you instantly, I won’t bore you with a lengthy diatribe about what I do and how wonderful I am at doing it. Instead, it would be good to have a chat and see what happens. OK?

MIDSUMMER MERRY MADNESS

2011-08-02T10:23:00.004+01:00

This is a post that my darling wife is unlikely to read.

My annual rant, you see, about C-mastime has begun at the end of a glorious sunny period. Normally, this type of complaint from me kicks in late in September or early October when all the ho-ho-ho, hoo-hah relentlessly gets under way.

But I didn’t start this, honest.

Famous big stores in London – I refuse to give them a free plug – are to blame for this moan. They have, incredibly, launched their festive season with more than 140 days still to go to December 25. It’s not real. November 25 is time enough, just about, I would suggest.

It’s bizarre and worrying. I pity the shop staff who may have to listen to C- word related songs by Slade, Wizzard and others before they’ve possibly even been on a Costa sunshine holiday or the next series of X Factor has started.

Crikey, we’re in the middle of the schools’ summer holiday here in Scotland, for goodness sake.

If you read the so-called explanations in this article

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/just-149-days-left-to-go-christmas-comes-early-to-harrods-2327918.html then I think we are doomed to year-round festive frolics.

I used to feel hugely dispirited on returning from an annual overseas holiday in September. I’d pop into our local supermarket to stock up with essentials only to be confronted inside the front entrance with outsize tins of biscuits and C-cards. Tinsel time was already trying to wear away my suntan.

C-time has officially gone commercially bonkers…for longer and longer each year.

You know you can’t possibly be able to have a good time unless you’re spending loads on needless presents most can ill-afford to buy, forking out on over-priced, mass produced traditional turkey dinners in a conveyor belt of “sittings” in hotels and clubs, or boozing till you drop for the sake of it. Well, that’s the advertising message I get and do my utmost to resist and ignore.

One feeble idea that these stores are catering for overseas visitors wanting to stock up on “British” decorations for their homes is laughable. Presumably these visitors can’t order such much needed gems over the Internet?

One senior executive at one of the two London outlets involved in this madness, no doubt rubbing her hands together gleefully and with a smile wider than Santa’s, says she can see a time when: “… we offer a capsule Christmas collection throughout the year.” This is a fancy, snake-oiled, marketing-tongued way of saying all-year round, which is not a pleasing thought to me.

In the run-up to the festive season we are increasingly brow beaten to consider spending our very hard-earned cash, mostly on rubbish (apart from C-pudding and mince pies, I must confess.) Now, the commercial brains behind the big stores and chains would love us to spend more on C-time for months in advance. Take your sunglasses off and buy the fake snow spray, they enthuse.

But I refuse to join in. It’s crackers, and I don’t mean the kind with corny jokes inside.

TALK SPORT

2011-07-15T16:47:00.004+01:00

The BBC TV commentary team on duty at Wimbledon this year was criticised by some viewers for talking too much or “over talking,” as a Beeb statement put it.

From what I caught of it all, John McEnroe’s comments are always worth listening to, but Greg Rusedski talks utter drivel. “If he wins this point, he’ll hold his serve.” What? That other non-Wimbledon champion, Tim Henman was OK without being insightful, despite being paid a packet.

The problem with former players packing in their sport and heading for the commentary box is not confined to tennis. Rugby has that whingeing, carping Brian I-can’t-see-anyone-but-England-on-this-pitch Moore: dreadful.

In golf, there is the waffling and woeful, Wayne Grady: “All these golfers look the same to me,” he said after mixing up a player’s name in this week’s coverage of The Open. Handy for a so-called “commentator,” isn’t it? Another out-on-the-course-faceless-one ventured into Ed Milliband territory with the same reply but only twice in a row: “Yes the wind has dropped. It was windier earlier, but it has dropped now.”

We’re in the close season but football, with its wall to wall coverage, is the biggest sinner. Does anyone remember Match of the Day dullard Alan Shearer saying anything remotely interesting? Great player, grim pundit.

And Mark Lawrenson? His raised eyebrows and so-called sardonic wit never register with me at any rate. Andy Townshend on ITV is about as useful as a Grand Prix driver with no sense of direction. Ex-players can be good on the box: Graeme Souness and Martin O’Neill spring to mind.

Former sports stars are able to make the transition – jockey, Willie Carson knows his stuff and Steve Cram in athletics, too, although both have voices that grate.

While some of the former players on Radio Scotland’s football coverage could do with a course in grammar, obviously. But there’s an entertaining buzz about what they have to say - and they don’t make the mistake of taking themselves too seriously.

How programme producers go about picking the pundits is a mystery. But surely they could revamp the criteria and start looking for people with sparkle, insight and an ability not to state the blooming obvious.

Anyone get on your nerves when you're watching televised sport or listening to the action on the radio? Get it off your chest, let me know.

FESTIVAL DREAM - QUEUE FOR TICKETS OR COVER YOUR EARS?

2011-06-21T15:26:00.005+01:00

IT’S the middle of summer, allegedly, and the music festival season is in full swing. As I won’t be attending any, I’m using my blog slot this week to compile my own dream festival line up.

There are some notable and superb exceptions from my musical collection like Dylan, Springsteen, Cash, Zeppelin, Sam Baker, Mary Gauthier, The Handsome Family and Bonnie “Prince” Billy, for example. But they can always play a fringe festival.

It’s a fun flick through my CD racks – and it would be equally enjoyable to see your picks.

Neil Young

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WxIkHpnVtE&feature=related

Gillian Welch

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FM8ui2ByUI

Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqFPqEwY6to&feature=related

Steve Earle

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyD5qVbGhbo&feature=related

Morrissey

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmbcPONXRHQ

Richmond Fontaine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChGak4-qNxI&feature=related

Eels

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_1cNtZ1h4o

Rory Gallagher

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxiEMpcI83E

Lucinda Williams

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kx1ffuDoy6I

Four Tet

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWBDzHqXZqk&feature=related

The National

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEZJ_sjG7II&feature=relmfu

James McMurtry & The Heartless Bastards

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcBWlblRDjg&feature=fvwrel

Pet Shop Boys

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g47JEcwpMyY

Cat Power

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhUC3yjM6vU&feature=fvwrel

SUPERGROUP

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Gzglg7WDmQ

A BIZARRE BUSINESS - THIS WEEK I'LL BE AN ASTRONAUT

2011-06-07T10:03:00.003+01:00

I have encountered many different things since setting up in business in the late 90s – the good, the bad, the hugely gratifying and the downright impossible.

The praise of people is always welcome and heartening. Complaints, justified or otherwise, have to be dealt with. The demands need to be put in context and the expectations matched to reality. I like the mix and doing my best for clients who invest so much in me.

I’ve learned that keeping a level head is essential. Listening to sage advice is very important. I believe in good manners in business (as this blog has mentioned before) at all times and dealing with people respectfully.

And in the main I have been fortunate with clients from the public and private sectors who have been a pleasure to work with, to socialise with.

However, I’ve just experienced a business world first. Without naming any names, let me explain. But I do think this bizarre.

At two meetings at the tail end of last year, I was invited to discuss PR support activity with a company for a series of events it was planning. Before the second, I submitted a detailed proposal that included costs. The company said it was pleased with the advice I had given, the suggestions offered and that the proposal was “excellent” and suited in every way. A contract was prepared but not signed as no starting date had been finalised.

Then the first proposed event was postponed so any work I had to do was, rightly, delayed and the company said it would be “in touch.” Busy with other clients, I did not think this was unduly remarkable.

But, when I checked the date for the second planned event on the original list I had been given, it was obvious a fair chunk of activity was quickly required to ensure the strategy agreed could be carried out to the client’s advantage.

I contacted the company several times and heard nothing in return. I didn’t want to badger them and as the day of the proposed second event was getting closer and closer, I had increasing concerns that any worthwhile PR support activity could be achieved.

Then out of the blue, a new “PR” company announced its arrival via a social media platform.

One of its listed clients, its only client actually, was the company I’d been speaking with – and that’s because those behind the new “PR” outfit were those in the company I’d been talking to.

I did smile even though this was a surprise development, bizarre even. I wasn’t aware those involved with the company who had sought my assistance had any expertise in PR: that’s why I was being hired, I reckoned. Silly me.

If those involved – and on their website they rattle on about PR/Marketing but focus their words on marketing mainly – believe they can undertake an efficient and effective PR campaign for their business and their events, then good luck to them. How they can help meet the PR needs of any other client they manage to secure must be open to question.

What’s happened is a bit like me saying: “This week I’m going to become a photographer, a web designer, or an accountant, no wait, an astronaut.” If I did, nobody in their right mind would hire me, would they?

Of course, there’s been no communication from the company, even out of courtesy, to say we won’t be working together. An associate suggested I should write and ask them if my services are definitely no longer required, just to be awkward. But I haven’t and, frankly, don’t want to waste any more time on them.

I would never wish to work for an outfit so blatantly – it would appear – at odds with my own standards and straightforward approach.

DYLAN - ONE NAME, MANY TUNES

2011-05-22T20:18:00.009+01:00

I readily admit that I was a fairly late convert to the words and music of Bob Dylan.

Pop and then prog rock dominated my early listening days, but I am glad I caught up with his Bob-ness. He is an unforgettable star.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwSZvHqf9qM

I have only seen him live twice – both times in Glasgow. First time at the SECC was simply dire. I don’t remember the date, but I recall the gig with a shudder. Spot the tune was the popular game in the crowd that night.

Second time was on June 24 (significant number that) 2004 at Barrowland. This proved to be one of my favourite concerts of all time: I got goosebumps even reading the reviews. It was an immense performance buoyed by a boisterous crowd loving every minute of it, whether in the sing-a-longs or in the hushed moments. We were there – and we swear we saw Dylan smile.

As it’s Dylan’s 70^th birthday next week, and there will be lots written and said about him, I thought I’d have a daft, no prize Bob quiz – and the answers are dead easy.

What are your top five Dylan tracks? Well, maybe not so easy as he’s written about a squillion of them. My top five change all the time – but I’ll start it off, and in no particular order.

Stuck Inside of Memphis With The Memphis Blues Again

Tom Thumb Blues

Not Dark Yet

Hard Rain

Forever Young

OK – let’s make it 10.

Shelter From The Storm

Masters of War

Like A Rolling Stone

Mississppi

Blowin In the Wind

OK 15.

You’re A Big Girl Now; I Believe In You; Don’t Think Twice – no, that’s plenty. Going to listen to lots of them now.

Please let me know your favourites – no simple task, I know.

STARTING OVER - A DAD AGAIN IN MY FIFTIES

2011-05-16T14:59:00.004+01:00

This is the first blog post I have devoted to the subject of my becoming a Dad again in my 50s – but since my little boy, Adam is five this week, I reckon it would be OK to share some thoughts with you.

I’ll start off by saying that I love caring for him. The sleeplessness, the tantrums, the current spate of back-chat: none of this ever gets in the way of my love for this child, matched, of course, by my love for my darling wife, Maggie and my elder sons, Steven, 32 and Martin, 29. I’m a lucky man.

Adam is funny, chatty, bright, inquisitive, inventive, daring, quick and keen to learn, re-assuring, anxious to undertake tasks, as well as mischievous, messy, dogged with a fiery temper, and a very loud voice. A great mix in other words that prevents me, in the main, from reading a book, watching a film or listening to more than one CD track at a time when he’s around. I don’t mind.

Within minutes of his birth, I took off my T-shirt and laid him against my chest, looked at him and told him he was coming into a good family, that we would love him to bits and that he had two cracking big brothers who’d look out for him, too.

It was, as John Lennon sang, just like starting over. No it was starting all over again. I had seen two boys grow into fine, independent men.

But now I was reading the what the hell-do-we-do-next help books as much as first-time mum, Maggie. The dramas, the worries, the desire to keep him safe and happy that applied with Steven and Martin were back in action again with Adam. It’s an instinctive thing.

Stages of his infancy – like learning to walk – brought back great memories of things that my older boys did that had faded over the years as they grew and developed to be replaced by more up-to-date memories.

I’m not sure if I’m a different kind of Dad this time round, although maturity must be a positive thing. I might be a little more patient, but I suppose that’s debatable. My working life is different now compared to the 80s so I probably spend more time in Adam’s company. I play tennis, work out at the gym and go to live music gigs but I am more of a home bird now than I was when in my 20s.

Naturally, I do worry from time to time about the age gap between Adam and me, but I like to think I’m young at heart. I also worry more this time round that I am helping him as best as I possibly can – but when I look at my older sons, I reckon the evidence is that I’m doing alright.

I love all the changes and twists and turns he delivers. Adam is hugely quizzical and also matter of fact. When bathing him one night, he looked up to declare: “I love my Mum from here to the moon, but I don’t like you so much.”

Out on a bike ride last week he was advising me how to brake when going downhill without falling off. “I don’t want you to get hurt, Dad. Have you got any plasters?” Then he became annoyed with the litter dropped in the park. When the rain came on, he said: “Who ordered that?”

No two walks to the park are ever the same. One day we’ll be looking for golden statues, the next we’re counting the number of cats we see. These are things that have transformed my life, and maybe because of my age, they really lock in to my brain to be cherished.

An acquaintance in the same age bracket as me, also shares my experience as a Dad in his 50s again. He summed up his thoughts, when asked what it was like looking after a pre-school child one more time, as follows: “well, it takes me a little longer to get up off the floor after playing with the toys than it did when I was a parent in my 20s.” That’s true.

But, doing this all over again does keep me young and smiling a lot. Thanks, Adam.

CHURNING OUT THE WORDS

2011-03-18T16:08:00.003Z

I’ve been following the conversations and reading a range of articles on the issue of “churnalism” – and I am struggling to work out what the fuss is all about.

I run my own PR business and I am a former print journalist and when I started out in newspapers in the early 70s, PRs, as we know them today, were as rare as a news editor saying ‘thanks, well done” on a big story. Times have changed in PR, though I don’t know if news editors today are any more praiseworthy when it comes to the staff they have left.

Is the media becoming “a pawn” of the PR industry has been one question raised. My answer to that is: “We wish.”

The Media Standards Trust charity and its new website – good coverage of its launch was created by its PR team, incidentally – examines “news” of print and broadcast outlets, and measures up how much the information slavishly follows news releases from PR companies.

You can check the results for yourself http://churnalism.com/

In my experience, rarely – if ever – do newspapers or radio outlets or TV stations run a News Release word for word. The News Release can form the basis of news or feature copy for the media outlet concerned if and when editorial executives decide that the content is interesting enough for their readers/viewers. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

It’s no secret that media outfits have slashed the size of their editorial teams. As a result, there are fewer journalists in house to drum up the ideas to fill the daily news, features, specialist schedules that in turn fill the following day’s papers or the evening news bulletins. PR companies can provide information, suggestions and opportunities for the Press to take a look at, develop or, as often happens, reject.

But PRs are not in control of the media, well, I’m not and never will be. Or want to be for that matter. As I say to hopeful clients, I have a measure of influence but no final control. After all, the best PR fed story in the world will vanish if a major disaster strikes or last-minute advert is needed for a page.

No journalist today - be they staff on a tabloid or a broadsheet or in a news agency - would be in their right mind to shovel News Releases into a paper or broadcast programme without all the usual, necessary checks being made. At times, the News Release submitted can even be tweaked, twisted and torn apart to suit a particular newspaper’s editorial agenda. We’ve all been there, but, thankfully, not that often.

http://www.prmoment.com/585/by-copying-press-releases-word-for-word-are-churnalists-journalists-destroying-the-authority-of-news.aspx

So any notion that journalists today are in any way sloppy and happy to grab a News Release with both hands, slap a by-line on it and submit it to their editorial superiors is fanciful in the extreme. Doesn’t sound like any of the fine journalists I know and deal with on a regular basis. In fact, that insults the good journos working flat out in news rooms where empty chairs outnumber the occupied.

On the other hand, there is nothing devious, cheap or nasty about PRs offering ideas to journalists, or supplying images because a media outlet doesn’t have resources to take one for themselves. But that’s a far cry from leading the Press agenda. I see my efforts as a PR of being only part of it and, yes, if my clients have a positive, profile-raising outcome, I reckon I’ve done my job pretty well.

Neither is the so-called lack of investigative journalism – being replaced by churnalism, some claim – the fault of the PR industry. The MPs’ expenses scandal was a big, full-on exemplary piece of investigative journalism, so that weakens that argument in some ways, doesn’t it.

To my mind, PRs and journalists benefit from each other’s existence. The journalist who gets the case study for a feature in time to meet a deadline because a PR has set something up is grateful, and so is the PR for a positive outcome. By the same token, the journalist who can’t persuade a PR to be more revelatory in some circumstances will be displeased. The PR whose briefing is distorted will also be far from chuffed.

The journalist getting, for example, the “big jobs boost story” is happy, the PR acting on behalf of the jobs’ boosting organisation is equally content. And the readers/viewers will be interested in new jobs. This is a simplistic example, I admit, but it does show the mutual benefits to both the Press and PR camps.

If you agree, I’d be pleased to hear from you. If you don’t, I’d like to hear what you think, too.

HOWLERS ON THE RADIO

2011-03-05T18:49:00.003Z

I will be making every effort to catch this BBC radio programme on Monday, March 7 http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/news/gobbledygook-on-the-bbc.html

It’s the day the Plain English Campaign – http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/ – holds its annual awards so I’m keenly anticipating gobbledygook howlers with the guilty named and shamed and suitably humiliated.

I am looking forward to hearing of one example from the NHS that took 229 words to define a hospital bed. Made or unmade, I don’t know.

I’ve blogged before on my love of plain English and I reckon I visit the Plain English Campaign’s excellent website regularly. I’ve often thought it would be great to work for them.

It can be amusing to berate those who drivel for a living and it is certainly infuriating to come up against buzzwords in business and elsewhere that mean absolutely nothing.

But news reports this week from the coroner’s inquest into the July 7 bomb attacks in London said that baffling jargon could costs lives as it caused confusion among emergency service personnel.

Do you have any idea what “a conference demountable unit from the management resource unit” is? Me neither.

It is a mobile control room – so why not say that?

This bureaucratic bluster prompted one MP to suggest that jargon is “often used by people who have been trained, rather than taught to think.”

Now that’s worrying, isn’t it?

For 30 years, the Campaign has proved to be one of the most powerful grass-roots movements in the UK. Its website is a delight and I suggest you try the grammar quiz – I got three wrong so my Dad would have been horrified.

It also has interesting comments including one from former Prime Minister Thatcher, who said: “Some people think that flowery language and complicated writing is a sign of intellectual strength. They are wrong.”

This is the only time I have ever agreed with her.

SUITS YOU, SIR

2011-02-15T14:58:00.002Z

I like to wear a suit for business, I enjoy wearing a dinner suit for black tie functions as it brings out the Al Pacino in me and I love wearing a charcoal grey linen suit that was hand-made for me in Dubai as a gift from my darling wife, Maggie.

Suits are great and chic: Mad Men, Reservoir Dogs, The Blues Brothers, Men In Black fine examples of looking good.

I wouldn’t dream of seeing clients without wearing a suit or meet potential new ones casually dressed. I suppose it’s because I’ve always had to be smartly dressed for work – first of all in my days as a journalist when the first Chief Reporter I worked with would regularly say: ”Dress as if you were about to interview the Lord Provost” – and latterly in PR.

The reason for this sartorial discussion follows on from a BBC News website item that posed the question “Are Suits On The Way Out?” http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12418046.

According to the report “a recent poll of 2,000 British workers by online bank First Direct found that only one in 10 employees wears a suit every day, more than a third of staff opt for jeans and only 18 per cent regularly wear a tie.”

It didn’t say what kind of jobs these people, men presumably, had. But, I suspect the majority would have been office workers of some kind: bankers, estate agents, financial advisers, lawyers, journalists and PR-types. Maybe not teachers, social workers or other professionals who can be more casually dressed, I would argue. And that doesn’t mean that the suits are more professional, it’s just that they operate in a different sphere, some might say a less arduous one but that’s a discussion not for this blog.

All in all, it’s down to workplace rules and regulations, or individual choice, if that’s permitted. I’m fairly relaxed about what people are wearing when they meet me, I have to say.

Doctors in jeans, no problem. Open-neck shirts for the chap behind the Post Office counter, absolutely fine. It actually reminds me of an appointment I had in London a few years ago with a PR company who were looking for some support in Scotland.

Suited and booted I headed south from a grey Glasgow into a scorching summer’s day in the capital. When I arrived at the firm’s offices near Tower Bridge, I was greeted by a young chap in a t-shirt, sandals, beach shorts and a brightly-coloured shirt. The only thing missing was the surf board.

“Crikey, Mike, are you not melting dressed like that?” he kindly asked. I was. My tie was loosened and jacket removed pronto.

When I worked in daily newspapers, Sundays were the Press’ equivalent of “dress down Friday.” Some executives turned up in hugely unappealing garb. One newsdesk man favoured tartan trousers that would have been more appropriate on a soldier on guard duty at Edinburgh Castle. Another reserved Sundays for sickeningly, garish shirts that you only wear to win a bet.

On weekdays in their suits, shirts and ties they looked more normal, though I use that term loosely.

In an earlier blog, I discussed my confusion over whether or not to wear a tie and today I mostly don’t. I put on a suit for business every day, but can’t remember the last time I wore a tie. A sharp suit and a neat shirt is a stylish combo, I reckon.

For me, wearing a suit for business is as natural as Superman with his underpants over his blue tights. Not sure about the colour co-ordination, mind you.

Any thoughts from either of the sexes on whether the suit deserves to be hung up in the wardrobe of history or if it still looks as good as I think it does?

Your views would be very welcome and interesting.

Buzz Lightyear Says Buzz Off Buzzwords

2011-01-23T22:13:00.006Z

Toy Story star Buzz Lightyear’s favourite saying is: “to infinity and beyond.”

And, to my mind, that’s where the list of business buzzwords and phrases featured here should go as well, leaving our world of written and verbal communication a more straightforward, clear-cut, plain speaking place.

It was a LinkedIn topic http://jbianchi777.wordpress.com/2010/12/22/20-business-buzzwords-you-want-to-kill/ that eventually yielded a list of words and phrases that deserve to be binned.

Although many examples nominated came from our friends in the USA, many are familiar here, sadly.

So the Twaddle Top Twenty, with comments in quotation marks from Jim Bianchi in Detroit who instigated all this, is:

1. At the end of the day – “At the end of the day, it’s night. So what?”

2. Solutions / solution provider – “Everything is a solution, not a product or service. They’ve even turned solutions into a verb – solutioning?”

3. Low hanging fruit – “Can’t we just saying ‘quick wins’? And why don’t we ever talk about the ‘high hanging fruit?’”

4. Moving/going forward – “Shorthand for: whatever I say after this, don’t ever let it happen again!”

5. Leverage – “Bizspeak for ‘we’re really going to put the screws to someone now.’ And the someone may be you.”

6. Out of / outside the box – “Out of the box and into the garbage!”

7. Value add / value added / added value – “If you add up all the value adds, you’ll get 110 percent.”

8. Thought leader / leadership – “Or is it that you just thought you were a leader?”

9. Synergy / synergize – “Derives from the words synthetic – imitation – and energy, so we’re talking about fake energy?”

10. Cutting / leading edge – “Unless you’re talking about saws or airplanes, forget the edge.”

11. Circle back – “Consultant speak for what a group does after they put things in buckets, did deep dives in the fishbowl, performed a wash up and got on the same bus.”

12. Reach out – “Can’t we just say contact or call?”

13. Talk / meet offline – “Means I want you to stop talking now and will rip you a new one later, when there are no witnesses around!”

14. Granular / granularity – “Unless we’re talking about sand or sugar, let’s just say examine closely. Next we’ll be looking at the atomic level.”

15. Bandwidth – “Hijacked from the IT world, let’s send bandwidth back where it belongs, cyberspace!”

16. Utilize – “Like many verbs ending in -ize (especially those fabricated from adding -ize to a noun to try to make it a verb), could be said in a clearer, simpler way … in this case, use.”

17. Incentivize – see Utilize above.

18. Best of breed / best in class / world class – “Best of breed – yuck! Let’s leave the animal husbandry terms out of this!”

19. It is what it is – “Of course it is, otherwise it would be what it isn’t, which it clearly is not … is it?”

20. Engagement / engage – “Unless we’re talking about an impending wedding, engagement causes my enragement!”

I’m not sure what the comment to No 13 means and, of course, No 16 and No 17 would relate to –ise here.

And, for heaven’s sake, “boil the ocean”; “tick the box”; “no brainer”; “raft of ideas” didn’t make it. Oh, well.

And just in – “oppositionism” from an eminent Scottish journalist and “productise” from someone in business.

It would appear that there’s no end in sight to word mangling, as I pointed out to a national newspaper through its Letters’ Page.
http://www.heraldscotland.com:80/comment/herald-letters/letters-saturday-22-january-2011-1.1081279?46162

I think the English language should be protected from abuse, misuse and the downright useless, who should watch what they say and, importantly, how they say it.

BOIL THE OCEAN - TICK ANY BOXES?

2011-01-10T21:12:00.002Z

I have been amused, bemused and hugely entertained by a LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/ discussion that has focused on “buzzwords” or, more precisely, the “buzzwords” that should be erased, wiped out, eradicated, binned, dumped, banned, buried – for ever.

Like the word “buzzword” itself, as one contributor suggested prompting no argument from me. When a BBC2 Newsnight presenter used the expression “bigging up” one night last week, I knew that my time in the doldrums as far as blogging was concerned needed to end.

Apologies for being pedantic, but the “buzzwords” topic should really have been about ridding the world – pronto – of annoying and meaningless phrases or terms that people in business, mainly, have latched on to and use, remorselessly, thinking they sound authoritative, smart or contemporary.

Or, maybe, like bonus-winning bankers, they think they are hoodwinking us with their snake-oil jargon, the nest of vipers that they are.

That aside the LinkedIn conversation, started by Jim Bianchi, who heads his own PR company in the Detroit area, has been enlightening and informative. http://jbianchi777.wordpress.com/2010/12/22/20-business-buzzwords-you-want-to-kill/

Loads of us want this gobbledygook to end, the gibberish that clouds reality – words stuck together that mean little or nothing.

Even in the world of hiring new staff, the latest buzzwords and phrases are causing confusion leading to demands for plain talking from applicants.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/classified/jobs/chi-linkedin-job-cliches-010311,0,82925.story

While, many of the examples responding to Jim Bianchi’s question were US- centric, we will recognise many and, worse, will be reminded of people who use them as naturally as they stare at their iPhone/Blackberry when you’re in their company.

One of the first to bob up was a belter - boil the ocean. Brilliant. What does it mean? I had no idea until some helpful US contributor suggested: "….if a member of the corporate pantheon suggests you are trying to ‘boil the ocean,’ he or she thinks you are doing something incredibly inefficiently.” Is that the same as “you’re making a mess of it?”

My tuppence worth included “raft of ideas” and the really annoying "ticking all the rihgt boxes" but this guy, Tim Trout - http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/tim-trout/18/21b/a46had - had me in fits with this example he had come across.

“We are a full-spectrum consumer-focused solutions provider. Our teams are experienced in transitioning processes and systems to supply the platform your organisation and customers need. Our iterative product-development methodologies expedite the evolution of next-generation functionality. We can enhance your existing business and portal strategies or collaborate across disciplines to create new and exciting iterative change.” As Tim put it, “…a cool twenty or more for the price of one.” Utterly gruesome and shocking that some people are dim enough to fall or be impressed by such verbiage – or mince, to be more precise.

Action plan;  at the end of the day; bells and whistles; best practice; blamestorming;  blue sky thinking; goal-oriented; fit for purpose; moving the goal posts;  multi-tasking; on the same page; open door policy; parachute in; tasked; touch base; transparency and value-added. A catalogue of the meaningless spouted by the vacuous, I suggest.

Not forgetting, of course, “thought showers” instead of “brainstorming.” To think someone, somewhere had enough time to sit and create this dross.

Any other examples? I’d love to hear about them. Or versionise, as I heard someone utter during a Radio Scotland interview recently.

NAME THAT "NAME" BRAND

2010-11-30T09:55:00.008Z

Thought I might offer up a quiz (sorry no prizes) that caught my eye.

Clearly, becoming the “name” brand in any industry sector is a dream for many companies.

Many organisations crave to be the generic name such as Hoover. As a young hack, many a senior reporter or sub editor would issue reminders that people vacuum, not Hoover when it comes to filing copy. But, few of us talk about vacuuming carpets, do we?

In the PR sector, lots of clients want their name in lights right now, if not quicker. The realists – I include my clients here – appreciate that some things take time to be nurtured and developed.

This short quiz – taken from Shortlist magazine www.shortlist.com – was brought to my attention recently, so can you guess what terms have now taken over the name of the following?

1. Adhesive Tape
2. Inline Skate
3. Stand–up Personal Watercraft
4. Ballpoint Pen
5. MP3 Player
6. Correction Fluid
7. Mobile Building
8. Public Address System
9. Artificial Grass

Here are the answers:

1. Adhesive Tape - Sellotape
2. Inline Skate - Rollerblade
3. Stand–up Personal Watercraft - Jet Ski
4. Ballpoint Pen - Biro
5. MP3 Player - iPod
6. Correction Fluid - Tipp-Ex
7. Mobile Building - Portakabin
8. Public Address System - Tannoy
9. Artificial Grass - Astroturf

No 2 puzzled me but I got there in the end. How many did you get - and do you have any other examples?

SIZE MATTERS

2010-11-05T12:35:00.002Z

I must have got the short genes in my family.

Both my brothers are tall – over five feet 10 – and my eldest sons are tall. One is just under and the other just over six feet.

In my stocking soles I’m 5 feet 7 inches, and nothing I can do about it. My wife is taller than me. I’ve always wanted to be taller. It would certainly help when the last-minute gig goer barges into the crowd to stand right in front of me, all 8 feet 10 inches of him, or so it seems. And big guys get served quicker at a busy bar.

But this week I’ve read and listened with interest to a couple of discussions on whether big in PR is better than small. http://quietnewsday.co.uk/ and http://www.prmoment.com/403/Who-does-better-pr-big-pr-agencies-or-small-agencies.aspx

At the end of the day, I don’t think there can be a winner in the size stakes. That’s because there are excellent small PR companies (like Mike Ritchie Media) and equally top-class larger PR agencies, too many to mention. Doubtless, too, there will be some smaller PR companies and some bigger ones who are not considered to be ticking all the right boxes, but that’s a subjective matter and not one for me to focus on.

I recognise that some major organisations will have demands that can only be met by the manpower available in a company employing a lot of staff although I provided comprehensive PR support for a leading Scottish housebuilder for over a decade to that company’s satisfaction.

The clients who have entrusted their PR needs to me like the fact that after I turn up at the pitch or discussion and if I win the account, then I deal with it personally. I may bring in additional bodies – photographers or event managers and the like – on some projects and campaigns, but the client consistently and exclusively deals with me. It’s the only way a smaller business like mine can ensure the best possible, effective communications’ service.

To my mind, the bigger agencies have one major in-house advantage and that is the ability to have a lot of people bringing ideas to a particular campaign or project. But, I have to say, that I am indebted to be able to tap into the expertise of many fellow PR practitioners when I need advice or confirmation that what I was proposing for a client was OK or needed refinement. Often this help is just a phone call or a cup of coffee away.

The bigger PR outfits also enjoy bigger budgets to offer corporate entertainment to movers and shakers but, once again, I am often sanctioned to buy a journalist a lunch in the course of my duties. So it’s a question of scale rather than size.

So I don’t think big versus small is a clear-cut issue at all. In another area altogether, I use a local one-man band car mechanic in preference to any of the big garages. I’d rather buy a newspaper from a street vendor than a multiple chain newsagents. I prefer quiet neighbourhood bars to brash and noisy city centre pubs. I like smaller gig venues such as Barrowland to the SECC.

So big versus small is not the be all and end all. I try to offer a mature, appropriate, cost-effective quality service and I’m sure, in fact, I know, that those bigger company PR teams strive to do the same.

We’re all different, and that’s a good thing, don’t you think? It gives those in the market for our services greater choice – and that’s healthy.

DIFFICULTY WITH DATES (Not the romantic kind)

2010-10-29T10:38:00.001+01:00

I wonder if other people suffer or share my real, daily struggle to quickly recall what date it is.

Of course, birthdays, Christmas, Boxing Day and January 1 are easy to remember but I’m writing this on October 28, or is it the 29th? Have checked on the top, right-hand corner of my laptop screen and it is the 28th.

Having worked in newspapers for over 25 years, you’d think I’d be right up to date, as it were, with such a thing. But, no, I’m hopeless.

While I can easily access the date – by looking under any newspaper’s masthead, on my computer or mobile phone – it is often a momentary puzzle for me.

And lately, I find I’m checking the time more and more on my mobile instead of one of the two very nice watches I own.

I’m not alone it would seem.

This item http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-11634105 caught my attention and I do check the time on my mobile more than I refer to my watch.

I also admit that checking the date via that tiny little box on the screen of one of my two watches has been a rare event for me. In fact, it would be pointless as I can’t remember setting the correct date on it – ever.

As information sources constantly change, memorising or recognising telephone numbers seems to be a thing of the past, too, I’d suggest. Today, it’s so easy to link to phone numbers via speed buttons etc or the first initial of a name that I barely remember – or know – anyone’s number with a few exceptions.

If you have a comment on this, I’d pleased to receive it, any day/date, any time.

A BIG ASK - AAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!

2010-10-05T13:52:00.001+01:00

The English language is suffering from a real mangling nowadays. This saddens and worries me.

Stupid phrases, meaningless responses and a general sloppiness in many sectors are all combining to muck it all up.

A big ask – I ask you? Isn’t that just one of the most horrible and totally wrong utterances imaginable? It’s a crime against the language, that’s what I think. I loathe it. It’s horrible and ugly and doesn’t mean anything.

The last time I consulted a dictionary, I noticed that “ask” is a verb and definitely not a noun. You ask someone a question, you ask for information. A verb – easy to understand, you would think.

Hard on its heels to make me cringe is the equally execrable term – big up to so-and-so. What? Up is an adverb, has been since I was a lad and will be when I no longer have the energy to rant.

It’s another crime and, no, I don’t want to pop a chill pill (hideous) as I move seamlessly on to more expressions that make me shudder or worse.

I confess – not “fess up” – to being a pedant when it comes to language and grammar but I reckon it’s easy for people who use these expressions to sort themselves out.

Hold tight.

A raft of ideas – I hate this, especially when the “raft” then has its ideas “rolled out.” Awful, isn’t it?

“Absolutely” could be my reply but that word is used sickeningly often today. Big culprits are at-the-scene TV reporters when linking to studio-based presenters who have a asked question such as: “I imagine the atmosphere is tense there with 10 dead?”

Reporter: “Absolutely.” I pray someone, sometime will say, instead, to such an inquiry: “yes, obviously” or “that’s right” or “got it in one.”

If I didn’t abhor this description, I would say a lot of people today need to experience a “learning curve” – usually steep for added dramatic effect – to get them back to simple statements that mean what they say.

Now that’s what I’d call “joined up thinking/ planning/action” if only I didn’t include “joined up something-or-other” in my pet hates. Does it really mean anything: not to me it doesn’t.

Here’s another one to bother and baffle. “Not fit for purpose” – just say “no use, useless, inappropriate…” anything but jargon that serves no purpose.

OK, I hear you say it’s time to “Draw a line under this” – groan and groan again. If I “draw a line under” something, a word or a phrase, for example, then this means I want to be drawn to it, to remember it – not forget it.

And in business, while I am always happy to be given notice of something or be briefed on an issue, please don’t say to me: “I thought I’d give you a heads up.” It’s on my sin list and so is “no brainer,” a useless saying, overused and also unwanted in my book.

So, if people can be persuaded to get rid of all these rank awful phrases, I’ll be contented, pleased, gratified – but don’t dare call me “a happy bunny.” Crikey, that’s really duff.

Feel free to share your thoughts on this. Am I stuck in the grammar glory days of the past, or do I have a point? Let me know one way or another, if you wish.

Non-circumlocutory, oral communication...what?

2010-09-15T12:13:00.001+01:00

“….non-circumlocutory, oral communication dispensed by an orator who has no predilection for verbiage and is far from prolix or magniloquent in manner…”

These weighty words – I had to look up three of them in the dictionary – feature in a very clever advert by legal firm Macroberts – http:// www.macroberts.com

The company follows them with the comment “Straight–talking” and emphasises in the ad that they offer straight-to-the-point business law.

I’m all for plain speaking so the ad appeals to me. I came across it as I ploughed through an insurance policy following another water leak episode in my bathroom where floorboards had to be ripped up to trace the source of the problem. The policy is, you’ll not be surprised to learn, classically confusing. It sucks the will to read on, each sentence a barrier, each paragraph formed to sap all energy.

Even in day-to-day business, people speak or write in needlessly, long- winded ways that really grate. The Plain English Campaign http:// www.plainenglish.co.uk/ and fine bloggers such as Marian Dougan at http:// wordstogoodeffect.wordpress.com/ write in interesting ways - and most eloquently - about words and language, subjects that intrigue me.

I liked this list from the folks at the Plain English Campaign. They say the words in brackets are just as – or even more – effective and I homologate. Sorry, that means I agree.

additional (extra)

advise (tell) 

commence (start)

forward (send)

in excess of (more than) 

in respect of (for) 

in the event of (if) 

on request (if you ask) 

particulars (details)

per annum (a year) 

persons (people) 

prior to (before)

purchase (buy) 

regarding (about) 

terminate (end)

whilst (while)

I’m keen to learn any examples people my have of gobbledygook or drivel, as some might suggest.

PERFECT PITCH - PLAIN SPEAKING

2010-08-13T15:34:00.002+01:00

“I don’t know how to write, but I can tell you fluently what I do, what my product does.

“My spelling is atrocious. My grammar equally poor, but I am a confident and competent speaker who can communicate most effectively. Writing for me is a chore, although I have a sound technological brain.

“I have an eye for a solid business idea, one that’s interested some large companies already. I haven’t got a clue how to engage effectively with consumers, business or the public at large.

“I really need someone who can make my product, my idea visible to business, consumers and the media at large, both specialist and general outlets.

“I have no idea how costly, problematic, feasible this might be – so do you think you can work with me and help me by doing what you clearly have done, successfully, for a range of clients to date with a PR campaign?

“I think this is an important way forward for my company.”

I have paraphrased this hour-long conversation with a prospective client, obviously. I was so gratified by his beguiling approach on behalf of his company and his associates. Here was someone, needing PR support and positive media attention while admitting with a smile he knew little or nothing about how to pursue it. A company in his network circle had recommended that he chat with me. I was delighted to do so.

This isn’t a blog about me and my company and what it does, or is capable of doing. Nor a criticism of previous pitches I’ve attended. It is about the refreshing attitude of this company MD for whom a proposal is ready. It may come to nothing.

However, the big point, for me, is that this man was candid, said his expertise lay elsewhere and he wanted to buy in a specific form of help. He issued no demands and listened closely to what I had to say, the suggestions I put forward, the involvement he could expect from my company. I answered his questions openly and in detail.

It was a great discussion, which led on to a chat about many different subjects. Nothing has been decided. I have submitted a proposal. It was just a hugely refreshing way to talk about working together – possibly.

WHAT MUSIC HAVE YOU BEEN BUYING?

2010-07-13T12:41:00.001+01:00

I made a resolution for 2010 and I have to report I’m failing dismally.

Back in bleak mid winter when snow lay on the ground for weeks and the central heating was on round the clock, I declared that I would buy fewer CDs this year and concentrate, instead, on listening more to the music already in my collection.

Well, it’s partly true because I have trawled the shelves to listen again to some excellent sounds I’d not heard for years and years. Those that spring most quickly to mind include “Exile on Main Street” by The Stones, now re-released in some super-duper format, Rory Gallagher live, most of Gillian Welch (with no new release in sight), Ron Sexsmith (very under-rated) early Willard Grant Conspiracy, Lucinda Williams, Clem Snide, James McMurtry, The Black Keys, Nick Cave, loads of Neil Young – “On The Beach” in particular – and Steve Earle and dark Springsteen through Nebraska and Tom Joad plus a whole lot more such as The Smiths, Morrissey, Sam Baker and The Felice Brothers.

But, despite that resolution, I’ve added considerably to my collection, too, and I blame Mark Oliver Everett without a shadow of a doubt. And that’s because I am a very latecomer to the wonderful world of Eels. Don’t know why I didn’t pay him more attention as I thought “Novocaine For The Soul” was brilliant when I first heard it. But, I’ve made up for lost time and now have most of the Eels’ collection and, for good measure, I read his captivating autobiography, “Things The Grandchildren Should Know” in one sitting on a return rail journey between Glasgow and Dundee.

I thought not reading the review sections in magazines such as Uncut or tuning less often into internet music sites might curb the urge to buy but, clearly, that’s not been the case. I’m happily admitting failure.

As I write, I can think of quite a few CDs I’d want. In the meantime, here’s what I’ve bought so far this year – and I’d love to hear what you’ve been buying, too. Might give me some ideas, oh, no.

Eels - End Times

Eels - Daisies of the Galaxy

Bonnie "Prince" Billy - The Wonder Show of the World

Mary Gauthier - The Foundling

Primal Scream - Dirty Hits

Bob Dylan - Tell Tale Signs

Dave Rawlings Machine - A Friend Of A Friend

Johnny Cash - Ain't No Grave

Guy Clarke - Old No 1 / Texas Cookin'

Queens of the Stone Age - Songs For The Deaf

Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds – Murder Ballads

Keep It Clean and Tidy

2010-06-25T14:44:00.001+01:00

There is so much available to read as social media continues to expand but, unfortunately, a lot of it is riddled and marred by bad spelling and poor grammar.

To me, rightly or otherwise, such factors indicate a sloppiness and a questionable attitude to detail, particularly in the world of business.

But when I re-read the words in my second paragraph I realise that it is a somewhat harsh attitude, unforgiving and set in stone. Maybe I need to lighten up. Yes?

I am always annoyed if I find I have sent an email or draft News Release or letter to a client – or anyone for that matter – with a typo in it. And it does happen. In texts, too, I’ve slipped up.

Thankfully, I'm not a serial offender but I'm hard on myself when mistakes occur. They look so bad. Sometimes my head is about three or four words ahead of my fingers so typos and misplaced words do up crop – see that?

Among the worst offenders, I've found, are those who submit, speculatively, requests for positions in my company or work placements. Their CVs can be riddled with errors and some even manage to spell my name wrong - or should that be wrongly? For good measure, some even muck up their own email addresses, or end with a chirpy (and I’m not kidding): “Hope to here from you in due coarse.”

There are errors galore on the social media sites I read and, no doubt, it’s down to people wanting to respond quickly to something or other. That, I suppose, is understandable. However, nothing wrong with checking a message before sending it, is there?

One fellow PR person I know wrote a single sentence Tweet recently that couldn’t have had more blunders in it if she’d tried. Two spelling mistakes, an inaccurate hotel name and the classic “it’s” misused – and all in 140 characters.

Like others, I find computer spell checks fairly ineffective so I open my dictionary frequently. A by-product of this is that you come across words you’ve never seen before and maybe will never have the opportunity to use.

Simple spelling errors and grammatical mistakes aside – they’re not life-threatening, after all and none of us is perfect – I also have a problem with swear words in Tweets or on Facebook and the likes, even the words with ** in them, as if that makes them less offensive.

I’m no prude. Having worked in national newspaper newsrooms for 25 years or more, the language used could make a building site labourer blush, and that’s just from the women.

On TV, too, swearing is commonplace and I don’t mean just on the sports’ pitches. Comedians have been swearing their way through gags for years and the good ones – Billy Connolly, for example – make it almost an art form, which doesn’t appeal to one and all, necessarily.

Most of those guilty of swearing, it must be said, are those hiding behind anonymity, but it has been sneaking in to other business forums as well.

As social media is a way of starting conversations, dialogue, finding advocates for businesses, foul language really has no place, in my book. No-one in their right mind would submit a proposal, for example, littered with four-letter words of the sweary kind.

In a public forum, in print and online and for all the world to see, I think swearing is a no-no and most folk, it has to be said, keep it clean.

Am I being pedantic and too fussy, too squeaky clean and prudish, out-of-touch or spot-on? Let me know – and no swearing, if you please.

And, of course, fingers are now crossed that there are no spelling mistakes, literals or words missed out in this bolg. I have chequed.

MISSING - PHONE NUMBERS

2010-05-21T11:37:00.003+01:00

In these days of straightforward communication at all levels, why do so many people omit good, old-fashioned telephone numbers – office or mobile – from their emails?

Equally, why do some websites hide contact telephone numbers away as if they are an embarrassment to them? Phone calls are great ways to clarify matters, clear up any written misunderstandings, discuss issues fluently, or keep in touch. For me, it’s still a natural way to connect and to do business in addition to email, and other helpful social media activity.

I really don’t understand why phone numbers are banished from online appearances. Modern day communication is as straightforward, allegedly, as it’s ever been. Those PR practitioners among us want to communicate, discuss, share, connect, converse, inform, entertain, interest - that’s our business.

So when organisations – and, astonishingly some major media outlets are guilty of this – fail to provide simple phone contact details, an unnecessary difficulty arises. A PR chum, keen to target leading blogs, told me some didn’t even have email addresses – one-way communication only, it would seem.

That’s when a simple telephone number comes into its own, to play a key role. I joke with friends and clients that I’m “going over the wire, Steve McQueen-style and avoiding the Twitter/Facebook spotlights” by making direct contact on the phone. Think I’ll be booted out of the social media club for that confession?

Making telephone contact is essential in business, and in life, generally. Another bugbear is voice mail messages when no return numbers are left. Or numbers are left, but rattled off really, really, really quickly as if the caller was fleeing a blazing building.

I love social media and the speed of Internet services as they make life a whole lot easier for us all. But, telephone numbers should still be in the contact mix.

CONSIDERING CONSIDERATION

2010-05-14T07:08:00.002+01:00

Recently I blogged about good manners and my view that they matter in business. The feedback was quite astonishing.

Around a hundred people from all over the world including India, the USA, Greece, Australia, Europe, England and Scotland responded when I posted my thoughts on the LinkedIn website http://www.linkedin.com

Most agreed that being polite, taking the trouble to respond to emails or voicemails, acknowledging receipt of important documents such as proposals was not difficult and, indeed, was an important element of conducting business seriously in a well-mannered, courteous way.

It was an issue that even made it in to the pages of a national Sunday http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/business/Michelle-Rodger-Manners-maketh-man.6168474.jp newspaper, where I was quoted. The reaction from that was encouraging as well.

It’s clear that good manners to many people do count for a lot, an awful lot. Just take a look at Twitter and Facebook and LinkedIn where individuals gleefully reply and respond, suggest and refer, help and inform. In the main, these sites highlight first-class, heart-warming Net-iquette.

So I’d like now to see this extended into a further business arena – the networking event. And you can blame (only kidding) Cordelia Ditton of http://www.voicebusinesstraining.co.uk as she encouraged this rant.

Her latest blog http://talkaboutspeaking.com/networking-tip-how-to-move-on-without-feeling-you-are-giving-offence is very useful on how to extricate yourself from being stuck in one spot at a networking event. For me, however, that’s not been a real problem but, nevertheless I found reading Dilly’s blog useful, as always. It’s one of the best blogs on my radar.

My biggest bugbear at networking events comes when I am happily engaged and talking with one or more people, listening, exchanging views and offering suggestions to one another.

Then someone else barges in flourishing a business card before launching into the dire “all about me” spiel. Very annoying, hugely boring. I would never dream of being so discourteous. Networking is about meeting different people and, to my mind, the listening part is crucial. I don’t expect anyone wants to hear about PR in detail, the services my company offers or any other info in glorious Technicolour. They prefer, as I do, a brief overall summary that encourages questions or, even better, presents an opportunity for a follow-up, one-to-one conversation at a future date.

But the individual, who breezes into conversations and focuses on his or her business, what he or she can do for you and so on, doesn’t talk with anyone – he or she talks at you. He/she seems to think I, and others in the gathering, need to know in gruesome, long-winded detail all about him or her, what they do and why they are so damn good at it. I don’t. Sorry. To me, such people appear extremely desperate for attention, new business, who knows? It’s easy to walk away from them.

This has happened to me over the years. Usually, I escape with the words “I’ll leave you to it” or “I think we’ve chatted before” – not, perhaps, very profound or well considered or worth copying. But it has worked for me.

Such gatherings are a chance for low-key business conversations, a time to meet others in a range of businesses, to fit faces to names of companies I’ve heard about, to build possible relationships. And at some events, I have met people I have come to admire, like and even to do business with.

Rant over.

PEPPA PIG AND POLITICS

2010-05-04T12:46:00.003+01:00

I’ll be voting on Thursday. I always vote, it is important.

I have voted for two political parties over the years, one consistently and the other, when I was possibly an angrier and younger man, on the one occasion only.

I’ll keep their identities private. Voting is personal and is based on a great many things for me.

The current General Election campaign has been wholly uninspiring and the attempt to put personalities before policies has not captured my imagination. The TV debates were dull, dreary and puerile.

Neither am I impressed – ever, it should be noted – by the endorsements from celebrities, sports stars or anyone else in the public eye. The exact opposite is the case, actually.

I’m underwhelmed when Richard “I don’t believe it” Wilson or comic Eddie Izzard tell me they’re voting Labour. Big Deal.

Actors Michael Caine and Gary “Take That” Barlow are backing the Conservatives. So what?

The Lib Dems have Daniel “Harry Potter” Radcliffe and fellow thespian, Colin Firth on their side. Really, hold me back.

An election highlight so far was when I learned that Channel Five stopped cartoon character star, Peppa Pig from playing any part in a Labour press conference. Would that have helped secure the vote of morning TV “Milkshake” viewers like me, I wonder? I watch it with my three-year-old son, Adam before he heads off to nursery, I should explain.

Conversely, I won’t stop watching someone like Eddie Izzard if his vote was different to mine – he’ll still be funny regardless of his political preferences and, similarly, Gary Barlow’s music will continue to do nothing for me, no matter who he votes for.

I’m not for a minute suggesting there’s something wrong or unpleasant with celebrity backing it’s just that I doubt if it has any real influence. Pointless in my case and I’m sure I’m not alone.

Just a thought. Maybe it would be better if the “stars” urged everyone to actually cast their votes, to get down to the polling station, to exercise their rights. That might have an impact, you never know.

MUSIC FOR THE MASSES

2010-04-26T14:23:00.012+01:00

Online backing for Tina Turner’s song “The Best” pushed the 1980s recording into the UK Top Ten at the weekend.

It’s a song favoured by Rangers’ football fans. Supporters of their Old Firm rivals, Celtic were pushing online for “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” the Gerry and The Pacemakers’ hit from 19-oatcake.

Both are good songs but it got me thinking as to how – and why – do fans target particular tunes and make them their own unofficial club anthems. I support Scottish Cup finalists, Dundee United and their fans, the Arabs, love songs by John Paul Young and Daniel Boone – yes, that’s right, John Paul Young and Daniel Boone. No not tracks from United fan, Ricky Ross and his band Deacon Blue but John Paul Young and Daniel Boone.

Who are they, you may well ask?

It turns out that John Paul Young is an Australian pop singer-songwriter who had a 1978 worldwide hit with "Love Is in the Air" while Daniel Boone was a one-hit wonder with the 1972 single "Beautiful Sunday."

You’ll agree neither is a household name, like Tina Turner, but their songs are belted out great style by the Tannadice faithful. I have failed to find out just why, out of millions and squillions of pop songs, the tangerine and black clad United fans picked these tunes.

The lyrics have no obvious sporting references nor are they adulterated rudely or controversially, as has happened with other terracing offerings. The words have not been altered, unlike, for example, those in “Knees Up Mother Brown” which have been amended to “Who Ate All The Pies?” which many fans direct at seemingly overweight players performing in front of them. Other popular tunes have been crudely changed and I certainly won’t repeat them here.

Having joined in the United singing many a time, I do like these two songs for what they are, jolly singalongs. “Love Is In The Air” even appeared on the playlist during our wedding festivities. Well, it did suit the occasion.

Don't know if John Paul and Daniel are aware of their popularity among the United support. Maybe they'll pick up on it online - or via this blog offering.

BECAUSE IT'S TIME, I'LL LEARN ONLINE

2010-04-08T14:47:00.003+01:00

With great anticipation I will be attending a social media for business course next week. I will be a rookie.

OK, I Tweet and Facebook, I’ve got my Google Alerts, I blog and I have used social media for clients and their PR, and so on. And I have attended various seminars that have been hugely interesting but, equally, baffling. Not, I must add, because the speakers weren’t good, far from it.

But, clearly, I am nowhere near an expert and that makes learning more essential. After all, I struggle to put links into my blog text properly (hopefully this effort will prove me wrong.)

On the web, there is wall-to-wall expertise, mostly free, too. Some of the information is riveting, some too geeky for me, but it all goes to show that social media/digital media, call it what you will, isn’t going away in a hurry.

The thing I really like about Twitter, for example, is the willingness of clued-up people to share their tips or, the pitfalls, the etiquette and the dos and don’ts. I am way behind when it comes to guidance and reference points.

Already, I have been grateful to the likes of Craig McGill at www.contently-managed.com and Michelle Rodger at www.brazenuk.com for many snippets of invaluable instruction and help selflessly supplied. Indeed, all of those I follow on Twitter amaze me with the links they readily and gleefully put up.

Some day, I hope to be equally informative and helpful to anyone logging on to my blog or following me on Twitter or elsewhere. At the moment, however, through lack of knowledge, I wouldn’t feel confident to advise anyone too closely.

So, in the interests of making a start, I am pleased to reveal that next week’s course is organised by Glasgow Opportunities GO Group http://www.go.uk.com whose personnel were hugely efficient in arranging for a 50 per cent fee reduction.

The day-long event is being led by Kyle MacRae http://blethermedia.com/ whose reputation is deservedly very high in this field.

I just hope I don’t end up wearing the dunce cap with a capital “D” at the end of it.

NEW AND TRADITIONAL: BOTH, PLEASE

2010-03-15T20:57:00.004Z

IT’S intriguing looking at and digesting discussions about the future of the print media when new/social/digital media is flourishing and exciting.

From the age of about twelve, all I ever wanted to be was a newspaper reporter and that was my job continuously for almost 30 years, even though the loathsome crook, Robert Maxwell did make me swither for a while.

In the most recent past I’ve been running my own PR business and a fair bit of time involves dealing with newspaper and magazine journalists, plus the broadcast side of the business.

Never a day goes by when I don’t read a couple of newspapers, although nowadays, my first scan of the morning news is either on the radio, TV or online. That I read a newspaper maybe later in the morning doesn’t bother me: it’s a natural merging of new ways to get up-to-date news and the traditional. During the MPs’ expenses scandal, I have to say I devoured the story in the Daily Telegraph and got more from its coverage that any other news outlet. Of course, I greedily scoured online sources for updates and latest revelations as well.

I’m embracing social/digital media because I definitely recognise its merits, not least its speed and ability to reach huge audiences, which is a bonus for a PR practitioner. Getting my head round some of the possibilities has taken worthwhile time and effort, but it is hugely interesting, if daunting as well.

I like newspapers, magazines and books to read at the breakfast table, in a coffee shop, on a train or plane journey. In bed, too, but I usually only manage a couple of pages before I crash out – so a book lasts me ages.

For those reasons, I don’t think newspapers etc will become extinct, blown away by the social media whirlwind as there are plenty of readers who think like me.

So it was heartening to read today the view of Brian McNair, Professor of Journalism & Communication at the University of Strathclyde, particularly when he wrote about reading “in the kitchen at breakfast, in bed at night and in the bath, books are organic and unobtrusive. Much easier to use than the lightest laptop, and much less bother.”

And he continued: “I could go on about the pleasures of print, but I don’t want to pretend that I don’t love online technology too. With the Internet I can do things that print never allowed. It is, without doubt, the biggest leap in communication technology since the invention of print.”

You can read Brian’s full article on the allmediascotland.com website here http://www.allmediascotland.com/press_news/24880/the-allure-of-print-brian-mcnair-writes

I share his views and I admire many individuals, such as Craig McGill www.contently-managed.com who are storming into the social media world with great gusto allied to a fearsome determination to make sense and purpose out of it all.

I’m a mild-mannered guy and I reckon there’s a place for both the new media in all its forms and, hopefully, a re-vitalised traditional newspaper scene.

GOOD MANNERS MATTER

2010-02-19T13:30:00.004Z

Good manners have always been important to me so I hope you don’t mind me sharing that. No, well, I thank you (see what I mean?)

I abhor bad manners, lack of courtesy and those who are less than polite – whether it’s keeping a department store door open for someone who breezes past without so much as a “thanks” to children who don’t seem to be able to master simple phrases such as “please” and “thank you.”

This brings me to politeness and manners in business – they do matter, and I like to think I have them. They are vital. But, in the opening two months of this year, I’m detecting a sad slide, however, despite modern communications available to all.

Here are two examples: at the start of December I undertook a copywriting job for a publishing company. One of the businesses I had to contact during the project indicated, in our conversations, that it was interested in PR support and media relations and asked if I could make follow-up contact in January, which I duly did, as I promised I would.

When I got in touch via email, as requested, I asked the gentleman I had interviewed previously if he would like to consider a meeting to discuss his company’s needs for possible PR, generally. No response. No simple acknowledgement was forthcoming so after seven days, extremely politely, I emailed again. Several weeks later, I have heard nothing.

Yes, of course, I could telephone but I was specifically asked not to do so and to use email instead as it was “more convenient” given the nature of the business. Not convenient enough, it would appear, to say “no thanks” or “we’ve gone off the idea or “we’re waiting to sort out budgets” – an acknowledgement or a knock-back, it wouldn’t matter. Some form of feedback was all I sought.

In another case, I was invited to visit a company to discuss PR and media relations. At the end of a very positive meeting, I suggested – and its company representatives agreed – that I should submit an outline strategy, flesh out some of the matters we had discussed and submit costings based on a range of commitment scenarios.

I emailed them to say I had enjoyed the discussions, meeting them and so on – as I usually do after a first meeting - and attached a summarised proposal. Four weeks on there has been no feedback, no acknowledgement that they have even received my document. Phone-call follow-ups have yielded the usual trite “we’ll pass on your message” or “so-and-so has been very busy” to “leave your mobile number” etc. Pathetic.

I’ve not been seeking decisions, agreements or confirmed deals. I only want to know that my communication, which I have taken the time to prepare, refine and finalise, has actually been seen by someone I was dealing directly with.

Thankfully, and to end on a positive note, good manners do exist. This week I met with a charming MD with a view to creating website text for his company. Again, I was asked about PR support, media relations, social media opportunities and more. When I was on the train home, up popped a message on my Blackberry to say - and he beat me to it - that he had found the meeting extremely instructive and interesting and could I, in the first instance, give him a costing for the copywriting work the following day.

This I did – and he replied one hour later to say go-ahead. Now that was efficient and business-like, simple good manners, neither difficult nor challenging. Not all decisions, obviously, can be made instantly. But, if I am spending time plus effort to communicate and keep potential clients informed, the least I expect is the same level of courtesy. And with email, text or whatever, it’s never been easier.

To refuse to respond, answer, or acknowledge is arrogant, ignorant and totally unacceptable behaviour in my book. To repeat: business manners do matter.

That feels better: please forgive the rant. I’m sure I’m not alone, am I?

TO WEAR A TIE – OR (K)NOT?

2010-02-07T21:31:00.003Z

I have a business problem at the moment. Thankfully, it’s not causing sleepless nights, but it lingers nonetheless.

I’m talking about dress codes, or lack of them, if you like - and not for shopping at Tesco, barefoot or in nightwear, I hasten to add.

No. For most of my working life a simple formula existed: work = wearing a suit and a tie, or trousers and a jacket and a tie. No wriggle room.

From my earliest days as a young hack, it was drummed into me to wear a shirt and tie for all eventualities. I did so until I left a newspaper editorial floor for the final time back in 1996 and I followed that advice faithfully as I started out in my own PR business thereafter. I never thought twice about it; it was as natural as putting on your socks or cleaning your teeth at bedtime.

But the sartorial world in business terms, and I’m concentrating on men as I am one, has undergone a massive shake up. Ties are now optional and that’s been confusing me for a while.

Ties are still OK, open neck shirts are not frowned upon, either, these days. Think Alan Sugar (tie) or Richard Branson (no tie.) Some guys happily toddle off to work in jeans and polo shirts and, I suppose, if you work indoors, don’t meet anyone other than your colleagues, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

Dressing appropriately for a particular professional, business environment is sensible. Some might say that it adds a touch of gravitas. Newsreaders like Jon Snow look good in ties and I reckon if he opted for an open neck shirt in the TV studio, it might just look out of place. So-called football TV pundits can leave the ties at home alongside any original thoughts, insights or points of view.

That said, I think that how people dress is entirely a matter for them, and I’m not one to judge given my uncertainly in this matter. For example, the Top Gear team on BBC TV recently got a dressing down in a survey for being less than Top Men when it came to their on-air threads. Jumping in and out of souped-up toys hardly calls for a neat, dark blue or black, all-wool two-piece, from Savile Row, or Ralph Slaters, which is my emporium of choice, does it?

So:

Do I wear a tie at all times on business, as I was brainwashed to do?

Do I never wear one, regardless of the business appointments?

Or do I wear one selectively? That is: a “yes” when meeting lawyers who are clients, for example, but, a hey man, “no” when dealing with music festival promoters and organisers or other creative/artistic types? I don’t imagine the legal eagles would really mind, either.

My general rule of thumb is, therefore, this. If I am not sure, I wear a tie – and I prefer a white shirt with a self-coloured one in the main, not being a fan of patterned or striped ties. After all, as I said once jokingly in an interview with a business newspaper: “I’ve never been refused entry anywhere for wearing a tie.” I can always remove it if I feel I’m over-dressed in comparison to those I’m meeting for the first time.

This happened when I went to see potential clients in London a few years back during a heat wave. In my suit, shirt and tie I was uncomfortably hot – those greeting me at their Tower Bridge offices looked as if they were heading for a beach barbeque with not a pair of trousers in sight, only garish shorts.

Before the pitch began, my tie was off, so was my jacket with great relief – and I got the contract, which actually involved meeting lots of people wearing ties, so I wore one, too.

This week, in a very unscientific poll conducted on a Glasgow-Edinburgh train, I noted that about half the chaps in suits were wearing ties, the other half, including myself, were not. Very inconclusive.

But, I’m bending to the view that the tie-wearers did look sharper, keener and smarter, even though some of the tie and shirt combos were of the “dress in the dark” variety.

As I don’t have a mirror that talks back, I asked my darling wife, Maggie her opinion. After a moment’s consideration she said I looked smart and dashing with or without a tie, a pleasing compliment I must say.

So, with apologies, this is a blog with no conclusion, or answer to my initial question. It’s personal, isn’t it? Any comments would be, as always, most welcome.

CRISIS? WHAT CRISIS?

2010-01-26T15:43:00.002Z

I don’t know Carlo Strenger but in my book he’s been talking a lot of sense in a straightforward, easy-to-understand manner lately. I would even say I take great comfort in what he’s been saying.

Essentially, he reckons that a “midlife crisis” is unlikely for most folks although “midlife change” is inevitable, but not in a dramatic, potentially harmful way.

That’s because Carlo, a psychoanalyst, psychologist and associate professor at Israel’s Tel Aviv University, reckons middle-aged workers of today are more laid back than the young thrusters making their way in business.

And there was a section from the Harvard Business Review quoted in many newspapers that I particularly liked pointing out there was a trend for big companies to “rely on outside consultants (and this) was particularly good news for mature, independent professionals.” Woo-hoo, if that’s an appropriate response from a mature, independent professional.

No, I’m acutely aware since I set up in business that an older head, my own, has helped me considerably, to stay calm and to play to my strengths. At one time I was, yes, honestly, a young buck, who was eager to learn but had difficulty sometimes listening to the learned. I didn’t know everything and the older pros who took time to help, guide and calm me down knew that – their patience and know-how and willingness to share was unbelievably beneficial and they asked nothing in return.

Eventually, I did learn to listen, absorb and make use of the knowledge offered. It paid off.

Today, conversely, I’m listening intently and appreciatively to the young entrepreneurs and business people at the cutting edge of digital, social, whatever media you want to call it, and they are really good instructors as I reckon I’m learning steadily and surely. And they enjoy sharing what they’ve learned, too. The mix of the experienced and youthful exuberance is vital, I suggest.

Anyway, back to Carlo. The Daily Telegraph summed up his words perfectly by reporting: “The midlife crisis is being replaced with a graceful ‘midlife transition’ as increased life expectancy and good job prospects take the sting out of ageing.” That’s good to know.

And the paper’s coverage of Carlo’s findings goes on: “…an increasingly confident and resilient generation are embarking on productive ‘second lives’ as they reach 50, aware that they still have 30 good years ahead of them.”

I’m over 50, a father to a three-year-old son – and 31-year-old and 28-year-old sons – this is very good to know, indeed.

2010-01-14T16:25:00.001Z

COLLECTORS’ ITEMS - Part Two

NEW stamps featuring ten classic British album covers are out now and this blog offered its own alternatives last week to those officially selected.

Paul and Duncan - thank you, gentlemen - also contributed their very interesting suggestions and, as both chaps know a thing or two about music, I was intrigued by their choices. Some on their lists were on my original one, too, but left out as I was only allowing myself ten.

This week, again in no particular order, here are ten album covers from across the Atlantic that could grace stamps, I would suggest. Again, if anyone wants to send in nominations, that would be great. Anyway, here goes:

Harvest Moon – Neil Young
Transformer – Lou Reed
Nebraska – Springsteen
Blood on the Tracks – Dylan
Car Wheels On A Gravel Road – Lucinda Williams
Dixie Chicken – Little Feat
Copperhead Road – Steve Earle
Hot Rats – Frank Zappa
Brighter Than Creation’s Dark – Drive-by Truckers
Surf’s Up – The Beach Boys

COLLECTORS' ITEMS

2010-01-07T10:50:00.001Z

NEW stamps featuring ten classic British album covers are out now – Led Zeppelin IV, Ziggy Stardust, Let it Bleed, Screamadelica, Tubular Bells and London Calling are among the selection.

The stamp issue, we’re told, “explores some of the most potent graphic images of modern times, many of which have provided a visual soundtrack to people’s lives. Many of the most significant graphic designers of the last 40 years are represented by this selection of ten iconic album covers.”

Some of the choices are interesting – Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side Of The Moon” cover has been ignored in favour of “The Division Bell” and Zeppelin’s more distinguished I and II covers lose out to IV. The Stones’ “Let It Bleed” would have been one of my choices, too, however.

But, in no particular order, here are ten British album covers I have selected as an alternative:

Hats – The Blue Nile
Solid Air – John Martyn
Led Zeppelin II – Led Zeppelin
Turning Point – John Mayall
Meat Is Murder – The Smiths
Hunky Dory – David Bowie
Thick As A Brick – Jethro Tull
Argus – Wishbone Ash
Paranoid – Black Sabbath
New Boots and Panties – Ian Dury and The Blockheads.

What would you choose? I’d be really interested to find out. British only, please; will do a US follow-up on my next blog.

2009 Review

2009-12-18T12:14:00.000Z

Reviews of the year and the decade are everywhere – here’s another, my own personal end of year list offering.

It gives a flavour of what I’ve enjoyed musically - live and on record - over the past 12 months, what I’ve read with pleasure, what I’ve watched on TV (not a lot) or on DVD.

I’ve not been to the cinema for six years so no one-two-three choices there and the last time I took a seat in a theatre was over a year ago for a panto, featuring my actor son, Steven Rae (very good he and it was, too.)

So, starting with CDs:

1 - Oh My God Charlie Darwin by The Low Anthem: a mix of mournful folk songs and blood-and-guts stompers.

2 - Yonder is The Clock by The Felice Brothers: inventive tales set to music that is well-crafted and full of life.

3 - Cotton by Sam Baker: lyrically superb and heart-warming from a bomb blast survivor, who is brilliant live.

Commended: Fork In the Road by Neil Young; We Used To Think The Freeway Sounded Like A River by Richmond Fontaine; Years of Refusal by Morrissey.

GIGS

1 - Neil Young, Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre – followed up Edinburgh master class gig of 2008 with this utterly, spine-tingling set of wondrous rock and tender interludes. Fantastic.

2 – James McMurtry and The Heartless Bastards, Oran Mor, Glasgow - politically-edged songs with an unrivalled rootsy, blues-laden, sidewalk swagger.

3 – Mark E Smith and The Fall, The Ferry, Glasgow – totally mesmerising despite indecipherable lyrics moulded on to relentless, pounding white noise punk.

Commended: The Handsome Family, The Tron, Glasgow; Mark Olson/Gary Louris, Darvel Music Festival; Morrissey, Barrowland, Glasgow.

BOOKS (not necessarily published in 2009):

1 - The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

2 - The Terrorists by Per Wahloo and Maj Sjowall

3 - Swan Peak by James Lee Burke

All good, engrossing, cleverly plotted reads with interesting characters. As the authors named in the first two show, have been delving into Scandinavian cop thrillers – thoroughly recommended.

Commended: The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson; When Will There Be Good News by Kate Atkinson and To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

DVD

1 - The Wire - astounding and outstanding.

2 - The Sopranos – gripping to the very end.

TV

1 - Thomas The Tank Engine

2 - Peppa Pig

3 - Giggle Bits

Three-year-old son, Adam rules the remote so these are shows I’ve seen most in 2009. Although I have enjoyed Gavin & Stacey, Gary Tank Commander and various BBC4 music documentaries, thanks to iPlayer.

Happy to hear your “best of” while looking forward to what 2010 brings.

CRAZY TITLES

2009-12-07T12:11:00.002Z

Loaded with the flu so brain cells functioning less than expertly at the moment. But they, the cells, that is, have been thinking about album titles. No idea why.

Maybe it was because I was looking through some “best of” album lists and was slightly tongue-tied by American group Grizzly Bear’s “Veckatimest”, named after a small island in Massachusetts, seemingly. Doesn’t exactly trip off the tongue but it makes sense, unlike the one from a Danish band called MEW, whose work I am not familiar with. Their latest album title is a hoot:
“No more stories are told today I'm sorry they washed away No more stories the world is grey I'm tired let's wash away.” Bonkers.

But not half as crazy a title as that from American singer, Fiona Apple, who has a CD titled: “When the pawn hits the conflicts he thinks like a king What he knows throws the blows when he goes to the fight  And he'll win the whole thing 'fore he enters the ring  There's no body to batter when your mind is your might So when you go solo, you hold your own hand  And remember that depth is the greatest of heights  And if you know where you stand, then you know where to land  And if you fall it won't matter, cuz you'll know that you're right.” Touch of the Eric Cantona’s there, no?

There’s probably an explanation but life’s too short and all that and the same goes for “Oh Me Oh My The Way The Day Goes By The Sun Is Setting Dogs Are Dreaming Lovesongs Of The Christmas Spirit” by American singer/songwriter, Devendra Banhart.

I was raised on the simplicity of Led Zeppelin I, II, III and IV but on closer examination my musical youth is dotted with dotty titles such as:

“Weasels Ripped My Flesh” – Frank Zappa
“Swordfishtrombones” – Tom Waits
“Trout Mask Replica” – Captain Beefheart.
“Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy” – The Who
“Brain Salad Surgery” – ELP
“Thick As A Brick” – Jethro Tull.

And the just re-released and wonderful “Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space” by Spiritualized, is a favourite of mine. If anyone cares to tell me their “weird” favourites that would be fun.

On The Personality Trail

2009-11-27T10:18:00.000Z

Low, high, low, medium, medium.

What am I talking about? No, not gas oven levels for cooking but personality. Specifically, my personality (no sniggering, please, or snide comments about a personality by-pass, thank you.)

Yes, you might be interested to learn that I’ve been a digital lab rat and completed the BBC’s Big Personality Test https://www.bbc.co.uk/labuk/experiments/personality/

This looks at our “Big Five” traits of openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness and neuroticism. Scientists refer to these as “your unique personality fingerprint.”

It was all quite painless really - an online survey with loads and loads of questions to answer as honestly and openly as possible. If you want to duck some of them you can – I went the whole hog although the education questions do not reflect the Scottish system I passed through.

Others could be considered a bit too intrusive, too, but people can decide whether or not to respond to those.

The test, the testers suggest, is designed to answer the question: do our personalities shape our lives, or do our lives shape our personalities?

My results revealed the following:

Openness - low, 3 out of 5. (Thought I would score higher.)

Conscientiousness - high, 4.2 out of 5. (I am certainly that.)

Extroversion - low, 2.8 out of 5. (Yep, sounds about right.)

Agreeableness - medium, 3.4 out of 5. (Again, thought I’d rate higher.)

Neuroticism – medium, 3 out of 5. (Should I be worried?)

I also scored 6.2 out of 7 on life satisfaction; 4.4 out of 5 on relationships; 5 out of 5 on job satisfaction; 82.5 out of 100 on health: just why the “out of” figures change is beyond me.

I’ll not delve any further into details but if you fancy taking the test, you might find it as intriguing as I did. Some feedback was spot-on and I agreed with, some I doubted such as the “openness” trait result, which irritated/surprised me somewhat.

But I guess we all have views on ourselves, how we are with others, how we want others to see us, how we work, rest and play. Don’t we?

It’s been far from a life-changing moment for me - I don’t think that’s the purpose – but nevertheless a worthwhile exercise, a bit of fun one could say.

It would be interesting to hear what others think once they’ve completed the test.

* The results of the Big Personality Test will be presented in a special series of BBC One’s Child of Our Time, which will go out in Spring/Summer 2010.

NEEDLED

2009-11-20T12:15:00.001Z

Swine flu immunisation programmes are a headline hogger at the moment.

But it’s the news bulletins on this issue I’d like to comment on. Please be assured this is not a flippant blog on a serious health matter.

Essentially, the information being provided is balanced and helpful - but why do TV news programme have to show close-up images of patients being injected?

For needle phobics - or wimps, if you prefer like me - it’s just too graphic. It’s why any TV medical dramas or fly-on-the-wall documentaries are a no-watch area for me. Now it’s perfectly understandable why Casualty and ER-type TV soaps or medical-themed films include people being jabbed. That’s fine, because I can elect not to watch.

But TV news catches me on the hop when there are items about drug deaths, flu jags and now swine flu. Of course, words and images need to be matched up on telly, but we know what sticking a needle in someone’s arm is like, don’t we?

If someone choked to death on a peanut, would we have to be shown a peanut? Come to think of it, one tabloid newspaper did such a thing on one occasion.

Newsreaders, when introducing some items, frequently say: “The following report contains some flash photography.” So maybe, for the benefit of faint hearts like me, there could also be a warning, when necessary: “The following report has graphic scenes of people being injected with a hypodermic syringe.”

I have a deep-seated fear of needles and I just have to live with it. It presents problems such as preventing me from being a blood donor, though curiously I used to be one in my late teens and early 20s.

It’s doubtful that news presentation of vaccinations etc will change so my eyes will have to stay shut - or I’ll just look away quickly.

TAKE YOUR TIME

2009-11-13T09:20:00.002Z

TIME is a four-letter word.

There’s not enough of it in the day, we observe often, unless you’re a Dr Who-like Time Lord.

But I noticed a recent and interesting survey -http://www.indesit.co.uk/indesit/2/prime_tina/index.html - saying that the average Scot would like an extra 104 minutes a day to find time for family, friends and fitness.

One Hundred and Four Minutes - that’s longer than a football match, about three CDs worth, a normal telephone call between my wife and her sister, or five episodes of The Simpsons, roughly.

In Glasgow, according to the survey, we would like an extra 95 minutes every day while our good neighbours along the M8 in Edinburgh would welcome an additional 113.

Because of increasing work and business commitments, free time is crucial so what do you think you would do with that “extra” time each day if you had it?

Sleep would be the quick answer in our household given our darling, three-year-old son, Adam’s unpredictability when it comes to going to bed and sleeping through. If that were resolved, the mythical “extra” time would be great for my wife, Maggie and I to unwind, watch a DVD film (I think I remember them) or laze around and chat.

At weekends, the “extra” time could be spent with Adam as he explores his world, creating games and lots of happiness, as well as fitting in visits to or from friends.

Selfishly, I would try to listen to more music, live or recorded - at the moment there are four unopened CDs on my desk, one has been there for over a month. Reading more would be great, too. Mastering social media more quickly and confidently would also be high on my agenda.

The survey is a clever way for Indesit to plug its “time-saving” products with an actor from Coronation Street at the helm and, as a PR chap, I applaud the company and its brains behind this project.

Finally, I don’t like to think I’m wasting precious minutes writing on this topic. So, if anyone reading this has the spare time - I know, what’s that? - I’d be interested to learn how others might use any “extra” time in their day-to-day lives.

TOP TRACKS

2009-11-06T10:01:00.003Z

THREE additions to my record collection this year are in the running for the Uncut music magazine’s Album of the Year 2009 award. These are:

The Low Anthem – Oh My God Charlie Darwin
Wilco – Wilco (The Album)
Bob Dylan – Together Through Life.

I enjoyed the first of this trio the most and am looking forward to their Celtic Connections’ gig in Glasgow in January. So I hope they win the title as I feel the album is an intriguing mix of styles – from a Tom Waits’ cover, torched tonsils and all, to the Arcade Fire to any delicate, lo-fi, close harmony trio you can think of. Not sure who will win.

Predicting a winner is difficult especially when I’ve not heard all the albums fully. For the judges, too, it’s a real challenge. Being on such a judging panel would be a dream gig for me.

One thing for certain, the final decision definitely won’t please everyone. Disagreement is part of the fun of such lists and contests.

Singer/songwriter, Ricky Ross cheekily wrote on a recent blog: “It is only the sad, old or young male that does lists…..” Obviously, I don’t share his view but, graciously, he permitted me, as a fellow Dundee United Arab, to reply: “As for lists – I am a sucker, always have been. They are fun, provocative in a non-combat way.”

Don’t know when the Uncut results are coming out but I’ll wait until they are revealed – and then I’ll do my own “best of” list for 2009, to amuse myself if no-one else.

On the other hand, any feedback - plus your own “best ofs” - would be welcome and most interesting in due course.

The other five contenders for Uncut’s award are:

Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion

Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca

Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest

Kings of Leon – Only By The Night

Tinariwen – Imidiwan: Companions

www.uncut.co.uk has more.

No Reply

2009-11-02T11:48:00.002Z

I have been quite taken aback recently about the attitude of some businesses to the prospect of potential new work. It astonishes me how sloppy some are when new opportunities arise.

I have been looking to discuss the staging of a charity event on behalf of one of my clients with companies offering that expertise. Responding to messages in email and voicemail format, clearly, doesn't seem to be a priority for a few companies.

Several have yet to respond to my inquiries, lodged two weeks ago. If they are too busy, I’m pleased for them, but I’m busy, too, and I’ve been making return calls to prospective new clients. I’m delighted they are considering using my services.

A courtesy call or an email to say ‘we can't take on new work’ is preferable to a stony silence any day.

Basically, it's a form of the rudeness in my book.

Can businesses afford to ignore potential new income? I very much doubt it.

To those who have replied to my specific inquiry, I thank you.

And I WILL be in touch.

Booking Time To Read

2009-10-22T17:31:00.000+01:00

I am a great admirer of people who have time to read books for a second time or even more. This has come to mind as my wife, Maggie is undertaking a creative writing course and her reading list includes many titles she has read previously.

As a slow, very slow reader, I have rarely re-read a book with a few exceptions: “Kidnapped”; “Tess of the D’Urbervilles” and “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and “Shakey,” the Neil Young biography spring to mind.

I do love books but bedtime reading is hopeless as I get through a few pages before falling asleep. So, the next day when I pick up a book again, I have to go back over the pages I read. I can’t skip over passages or words as I hate to think of an author slaving away with text and plots for me to pay them less than full attention.

On holiday, Maggie - somehow despite the demands of our lively three-year-old son, Adam - managed three books during the 12-day break. I think I read about three chapters, if that.

So while Maggie rattles through books, there is always a healthy pile on the bedside table for me to tackle. Just started a Val McDermid thriller - so might have it finished before bonfire night.

Mike Ritchie Media - Comes A Time: Eye opener

2009-10-18T21:42:00.000+01:00

Mike Ritchie Media - Comes A Time: Eye opener

Eye opener

2009-10-18T21:39:00.000+01:00

I do listen to a lot of music from a range of styles. Lately, for example, I’ve been playing Spiritualized, Sam Baker, Richmond Fontaine, Eilen Jewell - excellent live, incidentally - and Ian McNabb with my usual favourites, Neil Young, Tom Waits and Morrissey, as well as The Smiths. A class selection.

But, somehow or other, there is a band I’ve not been involved with though selected tracks over the years have intrigued and pleased me. Indeed, my middle son, Martin, included them in a compilation CD a few years back. And I have no idea how I have become interested again of late.

This has happened quite a few times in my music listening lifetime – Tom Waits, Richard Thompson, John Prine and even, it must be said, Dylan as plenty of chums were major followers while I played catch-up.

And so it is now with Eels.

Yes, “Novocaine for the Soul” has been on the turntable many times over the years but I’ve not bought a single Eels” CD ever. Spotify has been filling in the gaps, admirably and enjoyably.

So, do I go for a compilation or work through the back catalogue? Any advice anyone? I note a new release is due in the New Year, but I want to make that my latest, not the first. Thank you for suggestions.

STAYING CLEAR

2009-10-09T17:01:00.001+01:00

INTERESTING, but baffling nonetheless, are comments from a senior Glasgow cop saying that “older” folk should head down into Glasgow city centre at weekends to make it seem safer, or reduce safety concerns.

I can’t see how my sensible attitude to drinking and behaviour in public is going to dissuade dozens of yahoos and others, unwilling to curtail and unable to control their booze intake or even handle it, to tone down, quit being bolshie or aggressive and behave differently, I really can’t.

(And, you there, yes the girl whose clothes are barely visible, stop pewking in your pals’ handbag. That would go down a treat, wouldn’t it? Unheard, ignored, or possibly just an opening for some inebriate or drug-fuelled individual to inquire as to whether or not I would want my face re-arranged, more likely.

Big crowds of young people, elated that it’s the weekend, are entitled to be boisterous – I was, too, at their age. It’s part of growing up, an important part.

But, there are limits and boundaries that so many seem to overstep. Foul-mouthed, vulgar, bad-mannered attitudes certainly don’t make me want to share my social time in that sort of atmosphere.

Really, what difference would my appearance, or my friends of a similar vintage, really make to the rowdiness, the drunken-ness and the sheer unpleasantness of it all?

Last Saturday evening, I had A PINT in a city centre bar, a very busy city centre bar populated by drinkers over the age of 25 in the main. There was a lively bustle, but no threatening behaviour. That was in major contrast to what I saw on the short walk to Central Station.

The drunks were all, I’m convinced, under the age of 25 – and lot looked barely out of school, many were young women. There were arguments, one scuffle and a general air of menace. It was only 5.30 p.m.

I am perfectly willing to accept and believe that the majority of the weekend revellers are well-behaved, out to have fun and not to cause any trouble whatsoever. In fact, I’m convinced most go out for a laugh with their mates, no more, no less.

I’m no prude, far from it, nor am I a killjoy. But, Glasgow City Centre will stay a no-go area for me most weekends. I’m sorry, it’s just not for me. When we venture into town for a meal, we’ll jump a cab straight to the door, and take a cab back home.

While I am one of the “older” people the police chief refers to in the newspaper article, I’m sorry but I don’t see how I can help raise the tone of the city centre by my calm presence. I’m sure many others feel the same.

The story I refer to is at: www.heraldscotland.com:80/news/home-news/police-chief-urges-older-people-to-return-to-city-centre-at-weekends

Listing still

2009-10-06T21:05:00.003+01:00

I am a sucker for lists so Uncut magazine's latest, "150 Albums of the Decade" is good fun to digest.

Forty-two of my purchases in that period are included in the magazine's collection, more than 42 probably aren't, but that doesn't matter. These are not serious, definitive lists in any sense. They are good for discussions, arguments and overall a chance to talk nonsense about music in general.

Artistes I really like, such as Jim White, Morrissey, Steve Earle don't rate a mention but that doesn't make me want to vent a fury against the magazine in any way or cancel my subscription. After all, critical reviews rarely put me off an album, although when Ryan Adams released "Rock n' Roll," the critics did unanimously give it a pasting, I ignored the warnings and the CD was truly awful and has been played only once in this household.

Looking over the Uncut list over my porridge and toast in the morning has been enjoyable. As the year/decade end approaches, I'm looking forward to more lists, musically.

www.uncut.co.uk

Uncut's Album of the Year Award

2009-09-30T21:14:00.001+01:00

As a subscriber to the Uncut music magazine, I was more than interested to read over its Album of the Year “long list.” Such lists always give people, like me, a chance to cast a critical eye over the choices and also to reflect on my purchases over the same period.

Four CDs I have bought are on the Uncut selection here: The Duke And The King with “Nothing Gold Can Stay”; The Low Anthem – “Oh My God Charlie Darwin”; Wilco – “Wilco (The Album)”; Bob Dylan – “Together Through Life.”

Of that quartet, I put The Low Anthem at the top of my list.

Some others nominated by Uncut I have sampled on various sites without wanting to add to my collection. There are CDs listed I have not listened to but I’ve just caught up with White Denim’s “Fits” and it’s a ragged, daft collection of tracks.

I’m surprised The Felice Brothers’ “Yonder Is The Clock” or Sam Baker’s “Cotton” have not made it on to the magazine’s list. Both yield moments of great music, lyrically as well as melodically. Both would have been worthy winners.

Anyway, for what it’s worth, and with no knowledge of the Uncut judges’ tastes or musical preferences, I’ll predict that either The Duke and The King, or The Low Anthem or Grizzly Bear’s “Veckatimest” will win outright with White Denim an outside bet.

Age issue

2009-09-27T21:19:00.001+01:00

Plenty of media coverage about age issues at the moment, have you noticed?

Retirement at 65 is not OK for many 65-year-olds, the BBC wants to hire an “older” female newsreader, which is surely in breach of equality legislation, and Man Utd’s Ryan Giggs is being widely praised for still being brilliant at his stage in his career.

I am firmly in the “what’s age got to do with it?” camp. I am not defending me, or may age group, far from it.

Fair enough, I will not ever be pulling on the boots for Scotland at Hampden or be short-listed for a young journalist of the year award, but that’s fine and perfectly understandable. I was never short-listed for a young hack’s title in my journalistic youth and that was fine.

But, as a young man starting off my career in local newspapers and then progressing to the nationals, the “old guys” - the professionals - were endlessly supportive, helpful, critical and gruffly caring. Of that, there can be no doubt.

Today, being my age - 56 since you all ask - isn’t a barrier to anything, although ticking the final box in surveys that ask your age always slightly un-nerves me.

I became a dad again three years ago, I still go to a gym three or four times a week for a vigorous work-out, I play tennis as often as I can, I still have all my own teeth, knees, hips etc. I believe I am young at heart, with a big heart.

Of course, when I turned 40 and 50 I did that reflective bit but my life is good, the people in it are just wonderful and I think getting hung up on age can be a bit of waste of time.

I set up my own business just over 12 years ago so new learning has been part of my growing up in another different way.

I was asked by a chum, who is a year or two younger me, a few years ago when I would give up going to live music. No plans for that, I told him as I still love going to gigs with my older brother who is 62 and my grown-up sons, aged 30 and 27.

On that note, Neil Young, Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen played gigs in Edinburgh last year and each was memorable, absolutely brilliant. No problems with their ages, I suggest.

Workwise, I reckon I bring experience, maturity and a healthy dose of reality to my clients through my PR business. I feel sorry for people facing the job chop at 65, especially those who are in good health, have plenty to offer, are enthusiastic and fit for it. I reckon I’m not alone with these views.

I like to think I’m grown up, not old.

Landmarks

2009-09-24T20:30:00.000+01:00

This, my second blog, has been written on the day I attended a social media event in Glasgow city centre. It was interesting and certainly opened my eyes to all sorts of communications’ possibilities. I had been aware of most of them but a closer look is essential, clearly.

Clearly, keeping a blog alive and up to date is important, so no pressure. Since my first effort earlier this week, I have been pleased with the positive feedback but now I must master ways of extending the network of people able to read it. Not going for mass circulation or anything like that but sharing a few random thoughts is a pleasing idea, although I suppose that’s for others to judge.

The appearance of my blog also comes during a landmark period for the Ritchie household. My darling wife, Maggie has become a student again as she’s started a part-time Creative Writing course at Glasgow University. It’s something she’s long considered so I really hope she’ll enjoy the experience and, of course, write that best seller.

And our three-year-old son, Adam has completed his first two weeks at nursery, which, apart from natural separation anxieties, he seems to be enjoying. With Mummy at Uni, it means I’ve been flying solo when it comes to his teatime, bath-time and bedtime activities this week - and it’s been fun with hardly any “where’s Mummy?” questions.

Highlight? This definitely came on Wednesday evening when I went to the kitchen to make our pasta pesto, leaving him in the sitting room in the company of ‘Fireman Sam” on DVD. Adam suddenly appeared at the kitchen door to tell me he was “missing me” although I’d only been away from him less than a minute. Huge hugs followed. A happy note to end on, I think you’ll agree.

Food For Thought

2009-09-22T13:28:00.002+01:00

This is my first blog submission so it seems natural to start on a subject I enjoy - food.

Having just returned from a family break in Majorca, I am astonished at the great value lunches we enjoyed there. Not only great value but also very satisfying.

Paella, followed by fresh fish (whole sea bass, one day) then a pudding, a bottle of wine and a litre and a half bottle of still water cost NINE Euros per head, yes, equivalent to £9 each. You can't buy a bottle of wine in a restaurant here for nine quid, can you? Bottles of water are pricey here, too.

The food was always served piping hot, our three-year-old son was welcomed with open arms and departed licking a free ice cream most days. Not surprisingly, the family-run restaurant was always busy with local residents, in particular. Prices went up at the weekend, but that's understandable. One Sunday lunch table was set for 50 folk.

It makes me think that bit harder about going out for a meal here in Glasgow, where there are some excellent restaurants but they come at a price. There are also some less good establishments with charges they don't merit.

So, it will be sometime before we venture out to eat in the city - the pleasant dining hangover from Majorca hasn't worn off yet.