I am in love with Micah solely for his voice.  I first heard an album from an old flatmate, who forced me to listen.  I didn’t even know what he looked like until I saw him in concert in Leeds a few months ago (more on that later…)

He looks like this:

Why I love him:

1.  I love blues music. particularly the earthy 3 string guitar type

2.  He’s had a hard life, and you can hear it.  I like it when singers sound like they have had a hard life.

3.  He has a kind of bizarre universal appeal; my dance music loving friend is also an appreciator, as is a friend who is so obsessed with punk he has the name of his favourite punk band (Leftover Crack… enough said) tattooed down his leg.  The wonderful beardy hobo that is Seasick Steve transcends this.

4.  Only a blues artist can have an album called ‘I started off with nothin’ and I still got most of it left’

5.  His music is awesome!

And so, for all our appreciation:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Obviously I have to start using it, preferably for doing things like writing to the Financial Times (might need to step up the intelligence a bit there though.)

Really the purpose of this blog is to ask for suggestions for what I should use it for… crime writing? I do love jessica fletcher (what recent graduate doesnt) But obviously I need other uses!

Answers on a comment please…

The simple explanation is he’s from Yorkshire, he rides a motorbike, and, most of all, he can cook!

However, it is more complicated than that.  The fact is that I love food, I love cooking, I watch cookery programmes like noone else my age.  If I had more money for food, I would be the size of a house.  My flatmate has likened me to ’someone’s mum’ for these features of my everyay life.

Because of this, I suppose it’s normal that, spending this much time with ‘people’ (TV Chefs) I should have a favourite.  Lets look at my other options:

I don’t actively dislike him, just am slightly perturbed by him.

I will never understand why he feels the need to take his top off on every show.  I swear a lot, but nothing compared to him.  I do like Kitchen Nightmares, but not for him, for the other numpties on the programme. 

I think I’ve made my point.  As he would say… Done. (Idiot)

I didn’t see her last programme, but apparently it involved tinned things and instant mash.  If this was the case, then I would rather see my granny on telly.  She’s nicer, more sincere, and doesn’t have such strange hands (sausage fingers shouldn’t really have that much camera time…)

Can you understand slightly more why I love James Martin?  Just, whatever you do, don’t mention Strictly Come Dancing.  I’ve managed to block this out of my memories somehow.

Enjoy…

Click here to view the embedded video.

However, in the build up to writing this (and this is just today, not including previous days of avoidance) I have had a cigarette, made a cup of tea, put on a washing, cleaned the bathroom, backed up my mp3 player (for the first time in two and a half years) and defragmented my laptop, even though I am not entirely sure what that means.

Add to this copious amounts of Youtube time and you will find that I have been at home and in the vicinity of my laptop for nearly two hours, without doing anything of any use. Or even starting my shorthand practice.

And yet, when I spent a grand total of two and a half weeks unemployed, I was bored, my house was a mess and I certainly wasn’t ‘backing things up’ or ‘defragmenting’ anything, unless that means analysing the sheer number of episodes of Friends played on E4 in one day.

However, it was in the copious amounts of today’s youtube time that I was able to find this.  It sums up my life when I have lots to do…

Click here to view the embedded video.

I’m sure you can all identify with it. 

Now that I’ve finally done that. I better go do the shorthand. Although I did notice that my rug needs hoovered…

King Creosote – You’ve No Clue Do You

The Internet in particular means that a news consumer can now access any news, any time.  This has been furthered by the ease of accessing the Internet on mobile phones, wireless Internet connections, blackberries etc.  Instant access news is also not specific to mainstream news.  The sheer number of news sites, blogs, and opinion sites means that people are open to a huge wealth of information, not always accurate.  The real challenge is providing news which is accurate and accessible.

The Internet has not only changed the pace of news reporting, but has also changed some of the legal ramifications of reporting.  Anything posted on the Internet is liable to judgement by the laws in any country in which it is viewed. This means there are new considerations for journalists regarding libel issues.

Print journalism now has to compete with the availability of Internet news and 24 hour news broadcasting on digital television.  When a reader accesses the Internet, they can go directly to the site of their interest, rather than skimming through an entire newspaper.  Many newspapers have aimed to tackle this issue by creating accessible, easy to use websites with the same stories. This means that journalists who were previously based entirely in print journalism, now must be open to preparing stories for online use, and even, on many sites, with video.

The future of journalism is very different from its past. It is extremely fast paced, and must be kept completely up to date. Journalists must now be more aware than ever of the fact that news is now itnernationally accessible, rather than being limited nationally. Most importantly, the proliferation of new media must be taken into consideration.