Where do we go from here? I don’t have all the answers, but I just wish somebody would stand up and take some responsibility and attempt to sort this awful mess out.

Every year people flap on about how frustrated they are about one of the UK’s most prestigious music events – the Glastonbury Festival. I’ve been going to different festivals for over 12 years, they are often fantastic, sometimes memorable, but usually messy, but these are the reasons that make festivals so appealing. Some people see it as a time to get back in with nature, let your hair down and go crazy. They are sociable, and more often than not exciting when some of your favourite artists are on show. This year’s Glastonbury festival has had a lot of press due to the lack of ticket sales, but I think people are pretty stupid to blame the headlining of Jay Z for this.

Let’s break this down into a few different sections.
1. BIGGER AND BIGGER AND BIGGER
If we compare the big G to our current British economy, festivals can not constantly keep on growing. Glastonbury has more to compete with and although it is a now a brand name when it comes to festivals, it was the freedom and beauty of it all that originally made it so popular.
In 1981 we saw a manageable 18,000 people turn up to the Eavis farm, but nine years later 70,000 people paid £38 a ticket to get muddy and watch bands. June, 2000 saw a massive 100,000 people pay £87 a ticket with unforgettable sets from Bowie, Basement Jaxx and the Chemical Bros. As you can see, things are getting more adventurous. Last year saw the biggest attendance figures ever with a massive 177,500 people paying £145 turning up to see Bjork, the Arctic Monkeys and Iggy and the Stooges. That is a massive amount of people compared to twenty years before. Trends in music fluctuate and people today have attention spans of around 2.3 seconds, but Glastonbury has just carried on growing. Is that sustainable? This year it seems not. 

2. COMPETITION
Each year we see more independent festivals cropping up around the country – and abroad. They all want to be bigger and better than the year before and they aren’t exactly cheap. With more choice to suit an exclusive crowd people can now get what they want from different festivals. Michael Eavis said a few years ago the sun makes people lethargic, the rain makes people switch on. I went to Benicassim a few years ago and the weather was roasting, the festival was great, getting in the sea and sitting by the beach was relaxing… but every festival offers a different experience. People complaining about Glastonbury isn’t what it used to be are right, but is it possible to stick to a 20,000 capacity festival forever? Course not.

3. MUSIC DEVELOPS
Trying to satisfy everyone is generally impossible. No matter who plays, there will be a few people who won’t be too chipper. Fair enough, Glastonbury has its roots, but it’s obvious they are trying to keep up with things and attempt to be at the forefront of new music. For Liam Gallagher to open his trap about Jay Z certainly tells us something about where Oasis are right now… still doing exactly what they were 10 years ago. No disrespect, they do it well, but music doesn’t follow Oasis. Hip Hop and Jay Z obviously have a following. He’s had ten number one albums, but is that relevant when Glastonbury is really a rock festival…? but hang on, we have blues, roots, reggae, progressive house, trance, dub etc etc etc. Need I go on? We have every style of music catered for at Glastonbury so people complaining and blaming Jay Z on failing ticket sales are being very single minded.

If you took the time to consider the things written above I’m sure you’d realise that music and festivals is a massive business. Trying something new, keeping up with trends and being at the forefront of modern culture is a necessity to make anything. Although Glastonbury is not really my thing anymore, I know I would enjoy myself and for people to blame one act for the downfall of a world reknown festival really do need to get their heads out the sand. Glastonbury isn’t dead, they will still make a few quid, but hasn’t Mickey Eavis said he isn’t in it for the money? Competition is good when it comes to festivals and having choice is what it’s all about. Glasto has around 15 stages with so many different things appearing each night I really can’t get over the press coverage this year has made. We really are spoilt for choice now, and look, we still complain! 

I do enjoy football, especially international competitions. We get to see some fantastic young stars come through from teams we never expect. Greece winning the last European cup came as a shock, but even though I thought it would kick us all into touch and make us raise our game, I don’t think it did. It is safe to say though, England have truly messed up over the passed few years. We blame the youth camps, the massive amount of foreigners, the ridiculous wages or maybe we should just blame ourselves. Okay, we couldn’t pop down the local FA and have a chat with the lads and say “come on, don’t be daft, look at McClarens CV, he’s a definite no go.” but we really should have had a bit more of a say in what happens -surely. Every year we are built up to believe we have one of the greatest leagues in the world, some of the most talented players, and a passion for such a beautiful game, but when it comes to it, all i see are arrogant, money wielding idiots. Fair enough, it’s not very often we use footballers and clever in the same sentence, but surely someone has their head stapled on properly. 

Anyway, I am enjoying the Euro 2008 although working my current hours is frustrating as I’m missing key games. There is a big hole in the competition without England, but we seriously didn’t deserve to be there. I know we are encouraged to embellish a little on our CVs and really sell ourselves, but surely Steve McClaren must’ve really worked some magic on his. Well done Steve! Obviously the key to being successful in the modern world is down to the bullshit that comes out of your mouth, but once it’s run out you’re a bit fucked! Steve’s obviously ran out when he couldn’t bullshit the ball into the opponents net. Unlucky Steve!

Spending most of the time marketing other people’s products or work is often quite exciting, but trying to do the same for yourself is something which is extremely hard when you’re a graphic designer. Considering I’ve spent so much of my time trying not to take my work so personal and just get a job done, it’s barely possible to avoid getting absorbed in your own self gratification. 

After a few weeks of learning how to use the ever-so-simple iWeb on my computer I can now start to show people my new website (http://www.ianpaulbolton.co.uk). It’s nothing too fancy, images with links to more images, you know the sort. 

If you need something graphically designed then let me know. 

Scarlett Johansson’s decision to give us an album of Tom Waits covers really did surprise me. Many have said it’s rubbish (see Amazon for some gloriously mixed reviews). Some waffle on about how much of an amazing actor she is and that’s what she should stick to, but admittedly, she isn’t that much of a fantastic actor and she’s certainly not a fantastic vocalist either. How could she fail though covering one of the greatest artists of all time, with a team of musicians who have all been exceptional in their field. It would have been impossible for her to release this under a pseudonym, the media would still have caught on, which sort of brings me to “was there a point to this album?”

I guess musicians and actors are both filed under entertainment in the Yellow Pages, but then we get the art debate. What makes an artist an artist? Madonna constantly gets some of the best known producers to help her make her records, as with Kylie. This is how pop music sometimes works. But can we call popular music art? Maybe that’s another argument altogether but this works on the same principle. She has a great team of musicians behind her, all with some pretty decent street cred, but I don’t really see what any of them have gained from making this album. Does SJ suddenly become indie cool? Not really. Does Dave from TV on the Radio suddenly become ultra-famous? Again, not really. David Bowie? Why? Do we get to hear a fabulously great album? Not particularly! There are some good tracks on here, don’t get me wrong, but inevitably anyone could have gotten behind the microphone, slap a bag of reverb in there and sounded as good as this. 

So… what was the point? Was SJ a singer before she became a snot-nosed actress? I just can’t get my head round it. If I close my eyes and imagine my mates mum singing it, the album works a lot better for me (sorry Edd). I still prefer Tom Waits, I still think Scarlett is a bit of a twat even though I’ve never met her, and I personally don’t think there’s anything exceptional in the 45 minutes it takes to get through this album.

Oh well – wonder who she’ll cover next! Meatloaf anyone?

Fair enough, it’s a bit of a morbid topic thinking about your own death, but it is true our capaicity to think straight changes with mood and situations. If we were to be horribly injured in a road crash what would we do? I for one would hate to think people close to me had to lose part of their own life to look after me.

In that sense though where do we draw a line? How can we be sure we can’t be saved in a years time with a new medical breakthrough? It’s also challenging on doctors who are there to make decisions about your health. Does this card overwrite their professional opinion as to whether or not you can or should be saved?

I found this quote from Ben Smith from Ipswich to sum part of the situation up very well.
“It’s a tragedy that we “value life” rather than value having a life. It’s not love that keeps people alive in many cases, it’s selfishness and fear.” 

It’s not so easy once you take into account all the problems you encounter making such decisions, and although a single card is a nice idea, I think a rational check list of variants need to be ticked off before anyone is given such a card. Say you pick the card up in a suicidal mood, your cat’s just kicked the bucket, you cars been stolen, you’ve lost your wallet with £200 in and you’ve just had a phone call from your partner telling you they’re off to live in Hawaii with their boss. Is life worth living? Of course it is. Life is amazing, and people need to be reminded of this sometimes. Lets do this properly and stop trivialising such ambiguous topics.

One hundred thousand fans crammed into Manchester on Wednesday 14th May to see the Uefa cup final. It maybe seemed like a good idea at first, but who’s idea was it??

I found it ridiculous seeing the Rangers fans chasing the police on the news this morning. I can imagine the Rangers fans being a bit pissed off that the TV broke but the way the whole scene was handled is a disgrace. Don’t get me wrong, i love a bit football but the fact that certain football fans give such a gracious game a bad image really does get on my nerves.  The scene I saw on the BBC showed about 60 or 70 fans pegging it after ten or so cops. One of the police fell over so they all started laying into him, about 30 or so guys laying into this copper! What kind of level of respect goes on here? How he got away is beyond me. I guess my point is, we rattle on about kids disrespecting the laws of today and yob culture kicking in all over the UK, but what kind of standard do we set them? This just goes to show the total lack of respect for the law and how a few too many ales, lack of organisation and a decent TV set can spark one of the biggest football rampages I’ve probably scene in my lifetime. I was gonna pop into town last night to see what was going on, but I’m sort of glad i didn’t! 

Does the score line reflect the overall result of this dismal night in Manchester? Do the Scots deserve to go home empty handed? I reckon we give them their losers medals, all their rubbish back and tell them to go home ‘nicely’. 

Out of all the artists I have followed over the past 10-15 years Bjork has constantly, and consistently, reinvented herself to not only keep up with music, trends and styles – but to be at the forefront of it. I sometimes think maybe her work does stretch into the realms of self absorbed, pretentious ramblings, but considering the other 99 per cent of fantastic, innovative stuff she does, who could argue?

I must have seen over 300 bands in my short life so far, including Radiohead, Sonic Youth, Portishead and Beck. If I was to have a top 5 these may be in it, but then I have to think of all the smaller independent bands I’ve seen kicking around the clubs and pubs. Some of them have been unbelievable too. I could say though, Bjork and Beck would be in my Top 5 without a doubt. Bjork’s set was so emotionally charged, with great stage presence, subtle lighting, fantastic costumes… it was entertainment in its highest form. She isn’t short of greatest hits either, so clocking in at almost two hours it would be hard to criticise this set. It would transform soft, lucid brass instruments into full-on techno rave with tears one minute to party animal the next.

There’s no point in me listing track names, she started with Earth Intruders, played Joga (one of my favourites) and totally rocked out Army of Me. Where is the Line worked just as great without Mike Patton and Triumph of a Heart was mesmerising. Without a doubt, Bjork is a true champion of pushing the boundaries of music and I really can’t see anyone contesting her for a long time to come. What a truly amazing gig this was – poor Sheffield though! 

This is my homemade Pesto. The ingredients are Sundried tomatoes, pine nuts, a clove of garlic, a handful of fresh basil, some black pepper, half a red chili, a pinch of salt and a splash of olive oil. Chuck all this into a small blender, blitz it up and use it any way you please.

This particular recipe shown here had a bit of rocket in there too, but i don’t think you could tell the difference. I was just experimenting.

Here’s another great use for it too. Get a loaf of your favourite bread. Spread some of your pesto on it, top it with cheese and black pepper and toast it under the grill. It tastes great. Overall it’s quick, simple and pretty cheap once you have the main ingredients in stock. 

Try sticking your pesto in with some tinned tomatoes, chopped onions, peppers, dried pasta and cheese, covering and lobbing it in the oven for half an hour, stirring half way through so the pasta cooks. A simple progression to the old pasta bake. 

Anyone have any other great Pesto recipes? I have a courgette one to post soon.

Everyday i like to check the news and see what’s happening around the world. Most of it is bleak, but some of the factual stuff is interesting and sometimes feeds my thirst for knowledge. I’m sure we all have our opinions about the way the country is being run, but I must ask, has Alan Sugar’s interview really got much thought behind it, or is it just more “he’s a celebrity, lets get him to make a fool of himself on TV”.

Crime in the UK is a frustration, but it’s also a frustration all over the world. If we don’t get it outside on the streets, we get it online – but is there anything we can do about it? How does it come about? I see it evolving. Children grow up, they expect more, they get more, but they get refused for other things they dream to do. They then get frustrated and lost. We are all given a road to walk down to enable us to fit in with society, and if we step out of line we get punished. We can choose to sit at home and do nothing but live in apathy, or we can at least make an effort to see good in this world.

Alan Sugar expressed the thought of policing the country more to clamp down on this so called yob culture we have today. That’s one idea I suppose, but you can’t give people all these human rights (which he was saying have been put in place from the rest Europe) then take them away again. It’s a lot more complex than just getting the police to come round and slap you in jail and fine you a few quid. A lot of the time people lack direction, motivation and anything to live up to so a slapped wrist isn’t going to solve that. A fine will only make the the credit/money problems even worse. In the past people have had religion to look up to, but with science taking over that has become more of a joke than realistic. Maybe we need to question this obvious capitalistic regime we’re living in? Does that work? It’s true all of us in the end want to be successful at something, possibly the best!

So what is the answer? I don’t know. Does anyone? We all have our opinions. We all want to see good at the end of the day. Obviously we can’t always do what we want to do. There will be laws in place. All I expect is a bit of consistency and understanding. When people like Alan Sugar rattle on about these types of things should I be thinking yeah, this guy knows what he’s talking about? Is it the BBC’s fault for doing the interview in the first place and making him look like an idiot? He said he is an advisor to the government for commercial issues, which in many ways is what I think he should stick at. Our country is in a bit of a mess at the moment, but we still have some of the most creative, original and successful people living here which should give us hope that we can all make something with our lives. I’m sure Alan Sugar is a great advisor for the government and he can assist this country in many way, but it just gets on my nerves when we see celebrities piping up about things they basically haven’t a clue about.