Tuesday, February 20, 2007

[blogfocus tuesday] part two of the boy bloggers

Moustaches maketh the man, as Poirot might say.

Maintaining my image of being one brick short of a load, my dozen bloggers today are one man short of a dozen. This is part two of the boy bloggers and the girls will reappear next Sunday, merged with the boys once more. Let's get down to it:

1 Colin Campbell's perspective is always fresh and not just because of the strange place he blogs from - not so far from the City of Churches. Hanging upside down like that downunder, is it any wonder he's occasionally apoplectic, this time illustrating that sheer mindlessness is a global phenomenon:

Shopping is bad enough as it is. The thought of having employees critiquing your selection would be unbearable. Will they get self defence training as angry consumers bash them over the head with a baked bean can. You couldn't make this up if you tried.

Just don't even think about it, Coles and Woolworths.

2 Mr. Eugenides is in the master-blogging category, rarely making either an incorrect or unsupported statement. His vocabulary embellishments may be a little rich for some tastes but the substance is unerring. This is the man to shoot the breeze with on a winter's evening, whilst getting maudlin pi--ed.

If Music Trading Online can undercut the big music companies, why the hell shouldn't they? The price of recorded music remains high - though it's probably declined in real terms over the past 20 years - but if someone can buy a Coldplay CD from Hong Kong [legally], import it, and sell it on for £7, why the f--k can't EMI?

Anyone who's ever walked into a big commercial record store to browse for music will be familiar with "rare" imported CDs - the ones with the stickers on which retail for up to twice the price of a band's regular albums. They're designed to make money out of fans and "completists" who need to have every recording their favoured artist has ever released - as with my collection of rare deleted Judy Garland albums*.

*This is a joke**.

** Higham wonders.

3 Tom Paine, as anyone who has any sense knows, is a top libertarian blogger with connections you'd never fit into a book. Quiet and yet deadly, he observes and then cuts right to the heart of the matter and does it with a neat turn of phrase what's more:

The City of London is a legacy centre of excellence in an otherwise mediocre nation. It competes on a global scale, attracting talent from all over the world. It is handicapped by the poor infrastructure of London, its high costs of living and the perception (not helped by London's mayor being a fan of Castro and a supporter of terrrorists) that it is a hostile political environment. It is a filthy, unpleasant and dangerous place to work.

Operating costs are high, not because of salaries and bonuses, but because of taxes, property costs and costs of compliance with (mostly unnecessary) laws. To run a big business in the City (as anywhere in Britain) you must employ many costly drones to interface with Government and regulators and to collect taxes for the Treasury.

I wholeheartedly agree.

Eight more boy bloggers here.

4 comments:

  1. Speaking of Judy Garland, There is a popular new group on Yahoo called THE JUDY GARLAND EXPERIENCE. They have amazing rare audio files that are changed twice weekly, great photo's, lively discussions, and a membership that not only includes Judy's fan's, but her family members, friends, people who worked with her, author's of Garland biographies, Garland Historians, people who have created and/or directed film and theater projects about her, and many more. The only thing missing is you!
    Please check it out.

    http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/thejudygarlandexperience/

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  2. I presume that strapping chap is you. I'd be more impressed, however, if the moustache were real.

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  3. Dan B, that's most informative and Mr. E shall go there henceforth. Deogolwulf, it might avail you to click on the photo and all questions will answer themselves.

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Comments need a moniker of your choosing before or after ... no moniker, not posted, sorry.