A grudge or a whim

Evening, readers.

Another day, another night, another session in front of my computer, typing out codswallop in the company of a good cup of tea (one step beyond just "showing it the teabag", I like it weak, but not anaemic). Actually, it's a bit lukewarm now. It was too hot, but I think I've spent too long letting it sit.

(I have to type this now as it sounds rather cool and exciting, but I have had to stop writing this blog for a few minutes after receiving a message from a local radio station, asking for any more mp3s in the run-up to my interview and session later this month. I have hunted down the most recent recording I've made & emailed it off. As a consequence, this blog is now ten minutes behind schedule and my cup of tea is now undrinkable, but, in the long-run, it's worth it, isn't it?)

If there's any of you here who stalks me, you will no doubt know that I have been excitedly starting a YouTube series for the past few weeks (what?! Over a MONTH?!!) and have rather excitedly been doing all sorts on it. Now, I don't know if it shows, but I do work rather hard on them. It's taken a few goes to get the format of my weekly series looking right, but I reckon I hit my stride by Episode Three - the look of it & the way it's put together is now possibly the swishest I can manage (and just wait until I get a lead for my camera - it should really hit a new height by then!). Anyway, to keep to the point: I work hard and I do my best to deliver something you may want to watch.

So with this thought in mind, it seems somewhat silly to allow internet trolls with an itchy antisocial trigger-finger to stamp through my page on YouTube and start clicking "dislike" on all my videos, doesn't it? Yes, it does.  Now, I know you could write this off with a simple "Oh, look at 'im chucking his toys out the pram just 'cos someone didn't like his wittering on about fish & chips," and I don't even say that I'd deny that, but the thing is, the rating system on YouTube doesn't seem to make a great deal of sense, or at least isn't a reliable way of gauging a good video from a bad video, and it's also apparently based on the assumption that internet trolls don't exist.

I can assure you, they do.

If we take my uploads as an example: As of Sunday morning, no-one had clicked "dislike" on any of the videos I have posted thus far. I posted Episode Four and within half an hour it had been disliked. Then, in the space of five or ten minutes, all my videos were similarly "rated". But what does it mean to click that button? Next to nothing - it just means that your videos are shown to have a negative rating, which looks bad. I didn't slog my guts out to make something that will look bad purely because someone doesn't like my face! Call me old-fashioned, but if you've nothing pleasant to say about something someone's posted on the internet, you just leave it be, surely? Or if you've a constructive gripe, you take the time and effort to order your thoughts and post a comment, maybe? You don't just click a button that effectively says "I think this is shit, and furthermore, I won't tell you why either!"

I suppose, to me, it goes against the kind of community that sites like YouTube strive to encourage. They try to foster a community spirit, where someone may say "Hey, I like your work," or "This is good, but I felt it needed..." and the "dislike" button seems to go against that - it's just a purely negative thing. When I started using Facebook earlier last year, I saw people saying "Why isn't there a "dislike" button on Facebook?", which I at first joined in with, but now I think I know why there isn't one. Which is why I've disabled the function on my videos. You can now either ignore it, or favourite it, or write a constructive comment. I have no time for people I do/don't know just clicking "dislike" due to a grudge or a whim, so the chance shall not be open.

So, stepping off my soapbox and sliding it quietly under the settee, I will tell you how amazed I have been by something today. I am currently wearing trousers that I wore for my graduation ceremony. In 2001. Yes, these suit trousers are ten years old and they still fit. Unless I eat dinner, whereupon I will sit for five hours and wonder if anyone will notice, should I do an ear-splitting guff to release the pressure on the trouser-fastenings. I will not lie, I am not surprised. I grabbed them out of the wardrobe by mistake and was amazed that I could pop them on AND do them up, but the point where I started to get a vaguely achey stomach was something I had half-expected. At least I didn't launch into a protracted coughing escapade and launch a button into anyone's eye. That would have been unfortunate.

"So, amid all this conflab & soapbox-ranting, is there anything you can offer us by way of actual information, you cretinous halfwit?" I hear you ask. The answer is a sort of a "No"-ey "Yes". I can tell you for definite that I will be supporting Dead Radio Society on October 14th, in an evening's celebration of the release of their EP, "Plan Z" (which you will have to fang hold of when it's released, because if it's anything like the work-in-progress preview I heard a few months ago, it will be simply superb). I can also tell you that I will be appearing on Moorlands FM later this month, on Monday 26th September. Now, they are on 103.7 FM in my local area (just), but they DO broadcast on the internet as well, at www.moorlandsradio.co.uk, and the show is on every Monday at 7pm-10pm, so if you have those hours free, I would love for you to tune in and listen. I was on there in January this year, so it's nice to be invited back and to give a progress report on what I've been doing since (writing alot, playing more is the upshot, but I'm sure I can pad it out).

There is nothing else I can yet divulge, apart from I have three songs that I aim to have a boot around on this week, voice prevailing. I had a bit of a sore throat issue last week & it's just starting to clear up, so hopefully I can get a few things done before I go on holiday in a fortnight. Any other information is currently speculation, unconfirmed or merely an idea floating in the ether, so all I can say is stay tuned, and as exciting things happen I will drip feed them to you. If you're not already, I heartily recommend following me on Twitter (http://twitter.com/mrjohnmacleod) or Facebook (www.facebook.com/mrjohnmacleod) to get the up-to-the-minute info I strive so hard to give you.

So with all the information and nonformation with which I have presented you, it seems a perfect moment for me to give you a hug, a peck on the cheek, slip your arms into your coat (for I'm a proper gent, me) and wish you a safe journey. I will see you here again soon, no doubt, and I will talk just as much shit then as I have tonight. I enjoy these trips to Blogland, but bed calls and a long week awaits. I hope we continue to make this week bearable for each other, so do pester me (within reason).

Goodnight, folks!
John.xx