An interesting week, I think, in so many ways.
So we voted “NO” to any changes in the way we elect our MPs. It was quite a big rejection of change, as well, which took me a bit by surprise as many young’uns had suggested they wanted change, and the “YES” People had such a positive start to their Campaign.
I’m afraid I was one of those who voted NO, I simply could not get my head around people who voted for extremist Parties like the BNP having their vote counted two or even in some cases four times.
Don’t get me wrong, if people want to vote for the BNP they can, but I’m sorry I don’t see how democracy is served by then allowing their second, third or fourth choice to then be given their vote.
Of course some say that the First Past The Post system allows someone to be elected with only a third of the vote, and that can’t be democratic, but it is at least a system we all understand.
And if we need any warning about Coalition Governments then our current one should shine out like a beacon. Here is a Government with absolutely no mandate what so ever for their political programme. Both the Tories and the Lib / Dems have torn up their manifestoes and appear to be making it up as they go along. Perhaps we should have been having a Referendum on the Coalition Programme rather than AV?
It seems the electorate know exactly who to blame. The Lib Dems!!! It might surprise many of you that I find the demise of the Liberals to be very sad, but it’s the price a Party pays for ignoring their root support, especially in the North of England. It took the Liberals decades to build that support in the Urban North, making themselves attractive to many Labour supporters who were disenchanted with the New Labour Project. I think it fair to say that at one point it could have been argued that their programme was far more left leaning and radical than Labour.
For the troops on the ground who worked so hard to build the Party in the North to see it all stripped away in one night must have been soul destroying. A feeling we in Labour know only too well, particularly in the South.
Listening to the Liberal Leaders handle the wipe out was interesting. The initial response was to hide behind the Coalition and the suggestion that the Party would sink further to the right. The more recent statements seem to suggest real problems in the future for the Government as they say they will be more forceful in pulling back the excesses of the Tories.
My own view is that the formal Coalition was a huge mistake for the Liberals. OK, the temptation of taking power, over one’s Party principles may have been too great. On reflection they may feel that the sop of being offered the AV Referendum was not worth what happened to them on Thursday. Perhaps the better plan might have been to let the Tories run on a minority basis, and that way of course would have meant that Cameron would have had to work with all the Parties. I don’t think that an early election would have been a bad thing once we all got to find out the truth of what the Tories had planned for us.
It wasn’t a great night for Labour either. The easy pickings from the Liberals in the North not being reflected by similar gains from the Tories in the South which means that we, on the Left need to get our message across more forcefully.
And well done the Scots Nats – they have an excellent election machine now, as the SLP found out to their cost, but there was dancing in the streets of Cardiff for Milliband.
Of course the week started with the demise of the World’s most wanted man Bin Ladin. The Boggy Man is dead, long live the Boggy Man. Anyway our Cousins in the USA seem over the moon. My only response is that those who live by the sword are highly likely to die by it. That applies to Terrorists and authentic Leaders alike.
It’s also sad to reflect that two of my boyhood sporting heroes have passed on. “Our ‘enry” Cooper, “splash it all over”. One of my fondest memories was sitting with my Dad in our dining room listening to Coopers fights, against the likes of Jack London, and finally Joe Bugnar. Good times. And of course Sevy. I remember watching some of his golf shots with complete wonder. Great characters, and just nice people, no matter what their politics were.
And of course we’re all lucky to be to talk and write about such things as no Super Injunction has been placed on any of the above. Yet.
Judging by the turn out for the Kurt Sawalies Concert at the Bridge at the Bridge on Wednesday night one might have thought that a Super Injunction had been placed on the event by one of our caring Judges. I think two Bank Holiday weekends with so much music available had taken their toll and being sandwiched between two local Festivals probably didn’t help. Kurt was on his way up to Scotland for a short tour and to play at the Loch Lomond Festival, along with his bass player Barney, who was visiting the UK for the first time.
Musically it was a super evening, a super class in entertaining music with songs ranging from soft rock through to his self-penned songs. Brilliant stuff. Those who did turn out soon became firm friends of Kurt and hopefully we’ll be able to sort out something just a little more rewarding for him next year.
It’s an end to an era. Currently all, yes that’s ALL the pubs in Parkgate on Rawmarsh Hill are closed. When I first moved into the area this was a flourishing drinking spot, we had The Commercial, The Alex, The Sportsman, The Travellers, and The Pakgate Inn, in addition to two WM Clubs. The Commercial was the first to go some years back now, the Sportsman about three years ago was next and now within about a month the remaining three have closed their doors. The WM Clubs went many moons ago.
The Pubs might make a comeback if someone can be found to invest, but in these hard times for the Trade it might well be sometime. Only a nutter is going to buy or invest in a Pub these days.
Sad times.
But let’s look at some positives. Wath Folk Festival is reported to have been a success. Certainly all the main stage Concerts were near sell outs, with the Sunday Concert which featured The Tannerhill Weavers a complete sell out.
The atmosphere, aided by some fantastic weather, over the Saturday Festivities of Bun throwing and multi cultured Parades was, I’m informed, simply brilliant. Well done to all those involved.
Congratulations to to Luke Hirst and Sarah Smout who won the Young Musician Award, a Norfolk based vocal/ guitar and cello duo, with Joby Hardwick and someone well known to Acoustic Rotherham Phil Sinclair coming in as the runners up. The Competition that attracted entries from all round the Country was sponsored by Charlie Barker’s Company, The Partnership.
And I can’t comment further. I did make a flying visit to Wath on the Sunday afternoon, but it seemed everyone was sleeping off Sunday lunch……………….. and there hangs a few thoughts about how things might be livened up throughout the whole weekend.
In your face………………. All around Rawmarsh you’ll find the Star Jam Night being heralded on posters. It’s every Monday night and caters for all tastes of music, from Blues and Rock to Acoustic. I might well have to pop along and test the theory out one Monday………. Well The Mashers Test anyone’s staying power.
As for The Masher he quite enjoyed his run out on Wednesday night supporting Kurt, but he was clearly completely under rehearsed and it showed. More discipline is needed. I’m still looking for a stable person to join me and thanks to Kurt, I have a number of new entertaining songs to add to the mix. With a number of Festivals coming up in early July it would be good to have someone to play with – almost any instrument will do, so if you fancy having ago send me an Email or give me a call.
The June Diary Page is now live, and you can find discover where to find the music this week on the………….. yes, you’ve guessed it, the May page HERE
The main picture page is I think up to date now. I didn’t realise that the Mashers had got around quite so much. While the pictures track the Mashers journey through music land you’re bound to spot people you know, in some cases The Mashers don’t even feature in a slide show…………… go HERE
Myspace is becoming a real problem. However, unlike many who have given up on it and transferred their allegiance completely to Facebook The Rawmarsh Mashers intend to hang about to see what happens. We’ve got many friends on Myspace, some of whom have not yet found us on Facebook. Facebook is also a bit awkward, with it’s insistence upon categorising pages, while our Friends on my personal page have hit well over 600, our Band page is running very low ebb, so if you’ve not popped across to our Band Page yet please do so and give it a click on the “LIKE” button HERE and we’d still like you to click the “LIKE” buttons you’ll find on each page of the Web Site. Our thanks in anticipation. It's not just for The Mashers, it helps all our friends who have played Acoustic Rotherham events and of course The Myke Barritt Music Trust.
Right that’s it for this week. Whatever you’re doing this week have fun and of course, KEEP IT LIVE.
No comments:
Post a Comment