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Travel back to 1979 with Question Time

Permit yourself a trip back to 1979. I commend you to the first episode of Question Time currently available on the BBC iPlayer. It’s a wonderful show and maybe, maybe, something to make you hanker after a better, more gentle and more personable age. And blimey, in some cases: how little has changed. Thirty years on we're still hearing some of the same arguments. Robin Day is a deliciously acerbic and yet lovable host. The audience questions are less pointed but still uncompromising. The answers are less spun. In fact both Teddy Taylor and Michael Foot offer some quite complex, nuanced ... Read more »

Goldsmid By-election Reflections

Goldsmid By-election Reflections

It’s a lot of fuss over a single seat on a city council. But the Green victory in Goldsmid offers a lens on the politics of this City-by-the-Sea. A Labour gain in Goldsmid was always a big ask in the current climate but then again a Tory hold was hardly a dead cert (the previous Tory Councillor ... Read more »
Stockman's Plinth Innings

Stockman’s Plinth Innings

It was a tremendous giggle to go and see my mate Martin Stockman strut his stuff on Anthony Gormley’s fourth plinth as part of the ‘One and Other’ project. Dressed in cricket whites, resplendent in team blazer and cap he read his own poems (some with a cricket theme) and also lyrics from ... Read more »
A Letter to the Daily Mail

A Letter to the Daily Mail

Don't ask me why I was reading the Daily Mail yesterday, but I was. There was a letter from one reader in response to a recruitment drive by police forces to recruit more officers from gipsy groups. My jaw dropped. I'm slightly surprised that this is ... Read more »
How 31 Year Olds Consume Media

How 31 Year Olds Consume Media

Matthew Robson (aged 15) wrote a memo for Morgan Stanley called ‘How Teenagers Consume Media’ and caused a stir. I’m hoping to be as helpful with my own memo along similar lines. Don’t expect it to make the front page of the FT any time soon though. How 31 Year Olds Consume Media By Dan ... Read more »
Online Community Reading

Online Community Reading

Here are a few things I've been reading. I'm fascinated by the whys and wherefores of interaction on the web. All of these blogs, pages and ideas have provoked a reaction from this community manager. Pew Internet provide this fascinating graph charting how various activities have changed online ... Read more »
Politics and Torchwood: Children of Earth

Politics and Torchwood: Children of Earth

I enjoy a good polemic and I also appreciate didactic drama. But I’m not so serious that I don't adore well crafted pap. Often people ask why a seemingly otherwise balanced and normal man watches Doctor Who and, by extension, Torchwood. I don’t have kids after all and I’m not an obsessed ... Read more »
Michael Jackson Ticket Refunds Update

Michael Jackson Ticket Refunds Update

Things have moved on a little since I wrote my first post about Michael Jackson tickets and the situation regarding refunds for people who had bought tickets for the ‘This is It’ concerts at the O2 arena on eBay and paid with PayPal or credit card. eBay has made several announcements and the ... Read more »
TV Nostalgia: The Boy from Space

TV Nostalgia: The Boy from Space

It’s amusing to think back to the notion of schools’ television when I was a kid in the 1980s. Whole classes would sit in front of a big telly and watch broadcasts live or on video. The video was much sought after, as I recall. Televisions were wheeled from room to room. Telly time was ... Read more »
"Help. I bought Michael Jackson Tickets on eBay"

“Help. I bought Michael Jackson Tickets on eBay”

The sudden death of Michael Jackson yesterday raises questions for people who have bought tickets for planned concerts this summer at the O2 arena. I’ve had a few emails from people asking what they should do. Here’s my perspective: First, don’t panic. You may have spent a great deal of ... Read more »
Real Ale Tasting Notes

Real Ale Tasting Notes

One non-snobby reason I like Waitrose is the very real commitment to local produce. And one of the reasons to rejoice about this policy is their selection of bottled ales from Sussex. Selflessly, I have taken it upon myself to shell out, stock up and tuck in for you, dear readers. Hepworth’s ... Read more »
TV Nostalgia: The Adventure Game

TV Nostalgia: The Adventure Game

(It seems like I've been blogging mostly politics these past few weeks. Here's a bit of whimsy... the first in a possibly new series of nostalgia telly posts). The Adventure Game lurks dimly in my memory and sometimes I worry that I’m the only who can recall it. I think it was on at about 6pm, ... Read more »
eBay Notes: June 2009

eBay Notes: June 2009

Every now and again I get asked to comment on eBay and ecommerce. A request a few weeks ago, resulted in a quote in The Independent. But as ever, I submitted much more than was used. So here is the Q and A in full: Has it become easier or harder to make money on eBay now it has become so ... Read more »
Darwin Day vs. Christ

Darwin Day vs. Christ

Spotted in Hove at the ... Read more »
The Guardian and MPs' Expenses: Loving the Crowd

The Guardian and MPs’ Expenses: Loving the Crowd

I’ve been doing my bit for transparency and democracy in the last day or so, using the Guardian's crowdsourcing tool to scour the thousands of documents related to MP expenses. I’ve reviewed just over 300 pages. It's taken me a fair few hours. Here are a few reflections. Great ... Read more »