The Uncertainty Principle

So, Farewell then

It is with huge sadness and not a little shock that I learnt of the death of John Peel this afternoon. I do not remember another public figure whose death moved me so much.

I do not usually concur with the public acclamations that follow incidents like this. As John Fortune once said in reference to Peter Cook, our problem is that, 'we live in a world where the word 'genius' is applied to hairdressers'. In this case though, they are right. Peel was indeed, a giant of a man, and an extraordinary and inspirational figure.

Of course, in these days of emotion-inflation, everyone is 'passionate' about something. Peel's passion for music, however, was honest and unpretentious. His unique radio persona was natural and always beautifully understated - I will never forget those subtle asides, and semi-apologies he gave when at the end of a record he announced that he had played the entire eight-minute track at entirely the wrong speed. He was a warm, comforting and highly original broadcaster, whose understated presence drew one on to the music.

Like most people, through the Peel show and particularly the astounding Peel Sessions I was brought into contact with a myriad bands and genres I would otherwise never had the experience of listening to. It was through John Peel's influence that I first heard electronica, reggae and Grime I could bear, understand and emote about, and it was on the Peel show that I first heard the haunting live performances of Hefner, Herman Dune and Belle and Sebastian.

Like so many others formative chunk of my musical education is directly attributable to John Peel. Also like thousands of others who sent him demo tapes, I was inspired by his encouraging and indulgent one line replies. A witty, original and genuine music enthusiast. Irreplaceable.

A lot of what I feel echoes the tributes that have been put up at Harry's Place.

How could you leave me? When I needed to / possess you / I hated you, I loved you too

In the words of Alastair Campbell, there has been 'huge things about trust' this week.

Last Tuesday I rocked up to the MORI Seminar on reputation management. For some reason, I have always had deep suspicions of pollsters. I don't know quite where the prejudice stems from, possibly from several nasty run-ins with economists, statisticians and their fondness for SPSS. In all honesty, I am probably cowed into envy by all those numerate enough to get beyond GCSE-level mathematics. I have no idea why I was on the invite list -as one attendee said when I was chatting about my work over a glass of wine, 'well, it was a very broad invitation'- all the other punters seemed remarkably high-up in their respective organisations. I was definitely in the minority of people on the list with the word 'assistant' in their job-title.

Whatever my milquetoasty predilections, I was deeply impressed by evening. Ostensibly about reputation management in the public sector, the presentation by MORI went much broader than the common moans about waiting lists getting shorter whilst everyone thinking they are getting longer.

In setting the scene Ben Page, noted that the word 'trust' is mentioned 17 times a day in the Guardian and the Observer compared to just 6 times a week, two years ago. At the same time, the percentage of people who trust politicians to tell the truth has declined from 18% to 10%. Closer analysis shows even more startling declines. In 1997, 34% of us though Tony was more honest than other politicians. Now, that has fallen to 11%.

Perhaps the key message of the presentation though, was the need to focus on what makes you different, your USP. When the public sector and politicians get this right, a decent reputation for delivery is built up.

In this analysis, the 'crisis of trust' in Blair as in individual really doesn't matter. Blair has his USPs sorted: good in a crisis, and a strong, capable leader. Twice as many of us think Blair is better in a crisis than Howard, and four times as many of us think he is a more capable leader than Mikey H. We don't like his decisions, or even his judgment perhaps, but we still rate him. What matters is delivery on public services, war doesn't even make it into the top five voting issues.

Maybe it is time for an open letter to Alan Milburn. Suggested slogan for upcoming election: 'Shut-up and vote Labour'.

Tell me Why I don't Like Mondays

I have recently started playing Polidex. My portfolio seems to be fairing a good deal better than my Fantasy Football team. At least Alan Milburn and Vince Cable don't get pensioned off to Real Madrid within minutes of the transfer deadline.

I went to see the extraordinary Timezones exhibition at Tate Modern yesterday. Truly impressive, particularly Fiona Tan's fifteen-minute piece of archers, well worth making the trip for alone. However, when the programme promised, a 'web-cam projection of a medieval monastery at Comburg in Germany', I was secretly hoping for a fly-on-the-wall dramatisation of monks busy in eleventh-century living, rather than just a live-feed of the exterior.

Heard some great music over the weekend. It is always so hard to drag oneself back to toil after 48 hours of relaxation. A couple of lyrics refuse to dislodge themselves, no matter how many emails I write.

Motivational Quote of the day, #1 in an occasional series. You can't run the marathon without training/ or stretch the artform without straining/ too much heart not enough brainin'/ whole lot of money little maintainin' - Dizzee Rascal, 'Stand Up Tall'.

London Calling

I was quite surprised that the Charter 88/ JRF State of the Nation poll 2004 did not get more press attention when it was published in July. This may have something to do with the fact that Charter 88 chose to spin it as the final nail in the coffin of the unwritten constitution. Admittidly, the written constitution debate is not one that sets my heart aflame, but I still think they missed a trick.

What surprised me was the consistently radical nature of London in the questions on protest. More Londoners felt protestors were 'definately justified' to demonstrate than all other regions of the UK. This is not even on lefty issues, but span a whole panoply of agendas, Iraq, fuel prices, GM, hunting, council tax and parental access. Not that the rest of the nation is happy and content, however, 55% of the polled sample felt Britain was getting less democratic.

In honour of the Tory Party Conference I should drawer readers' attention to page 18. The pollsters asked the sample about their attitudes towards political parties. 57% of the Scots polled, 63% of the Welsh and 42% of the English claimed they could never vote for the Conservatives.

Apparently though, things are on the up. I heard James, Matty and Charile Busted all have come out in support of Micheal Howard. I heard it on Today, so it must be true. Now I think about it, their Number One Smash 'She Said No', is clearly a subtle allegory of the forthcoming EU Constitution referendum.

Long to Short

Another while since I marked up my humble opinions on the informationsuperinterweb. A couple more links have now been added. Mr. H. Hutton's constantly astounding knowledge of trivia is on display for the world to see at Killer-Fact.com, while the mouth-watering jottings of the delightful Jackie D at The Daily Bread, are linked to under 'blogs'.

I should also salute the return of Rob, under the new moniker: Blairite Bob. Bobby now has a new, mature format and forum from which to peddle his Tonyography. Worth a read, especially if you can get excited over Anthony Giddens and his concept of Class Structuration. Get him in a discussion and Bob always seems prepared to defend his unceasing loyalty to Blair, bless him. Those less wowed by Her majesty's Government could do worse than watch this enjoyable rant by Tim Ireland.

For those more interested in chips than the internecine struggles of the left should read Malcolm Gladwell's New Yorker article on Ketchup, mustard and marketing. Its exposition of human taste sensations,(salty, sweet, spicy and umami) reminds me of the chapter in Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation which narrates the author's visit to a Swiss flavouring factory that produces scents for Chanel perfumes, smoke flavouring to spray on plastic tasteless bacon, and animal fat flavoured seasoning to shake over vegetable-oil fried chips.

I still have not read a convincing explanation for why people eat tinned sweetcorn though. While corn on the cob is fresh, sweet and crunchy in all the right ways, the tinned corn, let's face it, is the Devil's petis pois.