The Grumpy Old Blog

I present a rather off-the-wall (not that the blogs on this site would in anyway indicate to you that I might do such a thing!) adult-orientated rock show on our local community radio station. 'OK' you say. 'Big Deal'. Well my listener seems to like it! In fact he loves it. Seriously though. While we on the station joke and laugh about the strange requests (for music - please behave!) I receive for music, I suddenly realised the other week that the strange request from a listener for 'Paranoid' for his 72nd Birthday wasn't, in fact, really all that strange. When Black Sabbath, with the wonderful still-alive Ozzy first released 'Paranoid' in 1970, my sprightly 72 year-old listener would have been an even more sprightly 29 years of age. There is no reason why, 43 years later, if he was a fan of the band back in 1970, that he shouldn't be a fan now! After all, someone who supported a particular football team in the 1970's is more than li...

I wonder do people realise how lucky we are with our freedom? I mean, providing it's legal and honest, we can almost say what we like about anyone and anything - within the boundaries of decency of course. We can pillory our Deputy Prime Minister - in fact for some people it's their only hobby. The nationalists can remark that they don't want HM the Queen. We have positively distasteful people like Nick Griffin and his nasty nutters allowed the freedom to seek election and speak freely. We even allow useless and moronic reality television stars and Tamara Ecclestone a platform to become "slebrih-ees", where they contribute absolutely nothing to the fabric or wellbeing of society. I read that the wonderful Talibanimals in remote Afghan regions now inflict 70 lashes for beards not long enough, wearing a collar 15 lashes, smoking 30 lashes or the best of all, failure to keep trousers above the ankles, 20 lashes. I can't quite get my head around their barbar...