davidP

Hmmm - I'm not really sure what's upsetting people. The pop music industry is just the same as it's always been - extremely shallow. They blow with the wind, make short-sighted decisions and milk any vague success to the n'th degree. The main difference these days is that music industry is much better at marketing and the news media are so obsessed by the cult of celebrity that they'll jump into bed with them at the slightest opportunity. You also have a public who are also obsessed by fame - everybody wants their 15 minutes and they don't care what they have to do to get it. One of the things that struck me about the Pop Idol auditions was that many of the 'singers' must have realised that they were terrible but were prepared to put up with the humiliation precisely because they got their TV spot and thus 'fame'. Go through the history of pop. At every stage you'll find manufactured bands put together by producers and marketing men for the sole purpose of making money. Taste and talent didn't enter into it - if the kids bought it then it was good and it was ruthlessly copied by 20 other labels. The main difference these days is that the turnover seems much faster and the improved marketing makes it mor obvious. What Pop Stars & Pop Idol has done is merely highlight the way it works. At least doing it this way the people that get through have some talent instead of being picked on image alone (Sid Vicious anybody?). Pop Idol especially turned up kids who had talent. Any of the last 10 could make it in the music industry, not necessarily as pop stars, but in musicals, cabaret etc etc. And the show gave them a chance that otherwise they probably wouldn't have got. All they had to do was turn up at a audition whereas to do it the normal way requires demo tapes etc which requires knowledge and money to do right. So don't blame Gareth & Will & the rest of them for them being 'manufactured' pop stars because that's what it was all about. What I'm looking forward to is seeing how they develop once they've gone beyond the initial hype and start to actually get some control of their own careers, in much the same way that Robbie Williams & George Michael (and perhaps even Kylie) went down exactly the same path. At the end of the day nobody goes the course in the music industry if they haven't got talent. Sooner or later they get 'found out' by the record-buying public and disappear. I actually think that by finding their pop stars in this way they're shortening their odds of finding talented people who could potentially go the course. There is of course 1 other huge point that's been overlooked - if you're over 30 then the record industry don't give a toss about you anyway. They're quite content to keep churning out safe U2, Elton John & Maria Carey albums for us but their real target is aged 10 to 16 and mostly female, and in the target audiences own words "you don't understand it!"

Just a word of warning about buying videos from the US - they use a different VHS system. They use NTSC whilst we us PAL. No idea what that actually means, except that unless you have a top of the range video that is specifically sold as being able to play both types, you won't be able to view them. Even if you do have a video that can play both, the NTSC tape will be a lower quality playback, especially on the sound.

Just a word of warning about buying videos from the US - they use a different VHS system. They use NTSC whilst we us PAL. No idea what that actually means, except that unless you have a top of the range video that is specifically sold as being able to play both types, you won't be able to view them. Even if you do have a video that can play both, the NTSC tape will be a lower quality playback, especially on the sound.

I know this is the sea fishing forum, but hey, what the hell.... Fishing deadbaits at night on Lake Nasser in Egypt, continually getting single bleeps on the alarm but no runs. Kept winding in to discover not only no bait but no hook either despite the hook being a 30lb wire trace! After about 2 hours and 6 traces I got a 'run' of about a foot which I half-heartedly hit. Lo and behold - fish on! I played it carefully in and up popped the biggest pufferfish I've ever seen - about 1 foot long but nearly the size of a football when inflated. When I came to get the hook out I discovered that there was 1 strand of the trace still connected and 1 look at the teeth on the puffer showed what had been chewing through steel wire - 4 chisel-like teeth, 2 in each jaw. I tried to get the hook out using forceps only for the fish to bite the forceps and bend them! (I tried to straighten them later with pliers and struggled!). I managed to land a few more during the trip including 1 on a small Rapala that was basically destroyed, but that first one was a pretty memorable fish not only for it's dental power but also for my complete surprise at landing a fish I didn't even realise existed in the lake. [ 05 March 2002, 11:41 PM: Message edited by: davidP ]

The Campaign To Abolish Angling, PISCES, PETA - they're already on the case. The first 2 are small but know exactly how to create maximum publicity (plenty of practice with hunting, vivisection, transportation of live animals etc). PETA on the other hand are a professional lobbying firm. They are not as most people think a charity but an extremly wealthy and very militant professional animal rights organisation. Just look at all the names they already bandy about in the their publicity and at their stunts. Pop stars, tv stars, film stars, models etc etc - just the kind of people that impressionable kids will listen to and believe. I'm afriad that if you really think there is no evidence for angling being under threat then you are in for a nasty surprise. Once hunting is gone all those people who've been campaigning against it won't just retire - they'll find something else. I suspect that the shooting of birds, deer and the like will be next, mainly because it's another sport that's often seen as being an upper class sport and there is no doubt that class war as an exteremly strong and emotive issue for many people. I fully expect however that a significant minority will chose fishing as a target, and we'd better be ready for it!

The Campaign To Abolish Angling, PISCES, PETA - they're already on the case. The first 2 are small but know exactly how to create maximum publicity (plenty of practice with hunting, vivisection, transportation of live animals etc). PETA on the other hand are a professional lobbying firm. They are not as most people think a charity but an extremly wealthy and very militant professional animal rights organisation. Just look at all the names they already bandy about in the their publicity and at their stunts. Pop stars, tv stars, film stars, models etc etc - just the kind of people that impressionable kids will listen to and believe. I'm afriad that if you really think there is no evidence for angling being under threat then you are in for a nasty surprise. Once hunting is gone all those people who've been campaigning against it won't just retire - they'll find something else. I suspect that the shooting of birds, deer and the like will be next, mainly because it's another sport that's often seen as being an upper class sport and there is no doubt that class war as an exteremly strong and emotive issue for many people. I fully expect however that a significant minority will chose fishing as a target, and we'd better be ready for it!

I think there will always be a place for magazines simply because they collate all the information together in one place. The Internet by it's very nature is large and diverse with information spread over a wide area. As has already been demonstrated by the triumphant arrival and ignominious departure of numerous sites in many spheres, internet users are not prepared to pay for content only and so unless someone is going to be prepared to stump up a fortune on a regular basis to run a site that does the job of the magazines and pays the writers accordingly it ain't gonna happen. There's also the issue of time - I can skim through the weeklies in 30 mins but what would be my chances of doing the same on-line when the info is spread around 20 or 30 sites? I think people like the ability to pick up a magazine for 2 minutes on a whim whilst doing something else and that's something the web doesn't offer. I'd certainy be sad to lose both the weeklies and the monthlies. You may not always like them, but they provide a service and you get used to having it!

I think there will always be a place for magazines simply because they collate all the information together in one place. The Internet by it's very nature is large and diverse with information spread over a wide area. As has already been demonstrated by the triumphant arrival and ignominious departure of numerous sites in many spheres, internet users are not prepared to pay for content only and so unless someone is going to be prepared to stump up a fortune on a regular basis to run a site that does the job of the magazines and pays the writers accordingly it ain't gonna happen. There's also the issue of time - I can skim through the weeklies in 30 mins but what would be my chances of doing the same on-line when the info is spread around 20 or 30 sites? I think people like the ability to pick up a magazine for 2 minutes on a whim whilst doing something else and that's something the web doesn't offer. I'd certainy be sad to lose both the weeklies and the monthlies. You may not always like them, but they provide a service and you get used to having it!

Does a spring one have lighter clothing??

Well said Elton, couldn't agree more. As with every sport/hobby/pastime however there will always be people who want to take it further and give something back. These are the people who should be encouraged but regretably all they often get is criticism and pettyminded interferance from those who should know better. Sadly we also have our share of people who are in it only for the power/ego/influence or whatever you want to call it, and these are often the first to criticise and dump on those who do what they do for no personal gain other than the pleasure they get from what they're doing. It's a sad situation but human nature I suppose.

Well said Elton, couldn't agree more. As with every sport/hobby/pastime however there will always be people who want to take it further and give something back. These are the people who should be encouraged but regretably all they often get is criticism and pettyminded interferance from those who should know better. Sadly we also have our share of people who are in it only for the power/ego/influence or whatever you want to call it, and these are often the first to criticise and dump on those who do what they do for no personal gain other than the pleasure they get from what they're doing. It's a sad situation but human nature I suppose.

I spent several years as the Treasurer of a largish West Midlands angling association and also helped organise and run junior matches and the squad for the NFA Junior championships. During this time I also represented the association at the NFA conference. Eventually however the pressure of working almost fulltime 'darn sarf' (300 mile round trip to attend Monday evening monthly meetings) plus the sheer petty-minded politics of Associations at local level meant I resigned. I don't regret giving up the Treasurers job, but I did enjoy coaching juniors and may try and find something local to me where I live now. So at the moment I'm doing nothing except support various bodies (ACA, SAA, RASG etc) and write protest letters when requested. Will I get back into club management or organisation? Well not in the near future but who can tell how I may feel in 5 years time.

I spent several years as the Treasurer of a largish West Midlands angling association and also helped organise and run junior matches and the squad for the NFA Junior championships. During this time I also represented the association at the NFA conference. Eventually however the pressure of working almost fulltime 'darn sarf' (300 mile round trip to attend Monday evening monthly meetings) plus the sheer petty-minded politics of Associations at local level meant I resigned. I don't regret giving up the Treasurers job, but I did enjoy coaching juniors and may try and find something local to me where I live now. So at the moment I'm doing nothing except support various bodies (ACA, SAA, RASG etc) and write protest letters when requested. Will I get back into club management or organisation? Well not in the near future but who can tell how I may feel in 5 years time.

Nope, don't think it'll sell enough because a) everybody old enough to know it already has it radio still won't play it c) modern youth doesn't know what the hell punk was about. Heck, they think Green Day & bands like that are punks! Having said that, it doesn't take many records to reach No 1 these days so if all the old punks go and buy it you never know....

Nope, don't think it'll sell enough because a) everybody old enough to know it already has it radio still won't play it c) modern youth doesn't know what the hell punk was about. Heck, they think Green Day & bands like that are punks! Having said that, it doesn't take many records to reach No 1 these days so if all the old punks go and buy it you never know....

Stop crying or I'll give you something to cry about. You're asking for a smack. Microsoft Works.

Stop crying or I'll give you something to cry about. You're asking for a smack. Microsoft Works.

A-ha - this could be because when you install Norton anti-virus it reconfigures your email settings so that the mails come through Norton and get checked before being stored in the mail folders. In my case it changed the the server name to 127.0.0.1 from whatever it was before. Sounds like somehow yours got corrupted.

A-ha - this could be because when you install Norton anti-virus it reconfigures your email settings so that the mails come through Norton and get checked before being stored in the mail folders. In my case it changed the the server name to 127.0.0.1 from whatever it was before. Sounds like somehow yours got corrupted.