Welcome to “I Think You’ll Find It’s A Little More Complicated Than That!”

titled in reference to a phrase, and indeed a T-Shirt, found on the excellent Bad Science. blog of Dr. Ben Goldacre. The actual phrase he uses is “I think you’ll find its a bit more complicated than that!” but no matter! The drift is essentially the same albeit from a significantly more knowledgeable and proficient starting point than my own. It gives me a great title and a starting point for comment.

Tweeting my journey by public transport for a whole year!

For reasons that are more than adequately documented elsewhere I have spent all of my working life using either a bicycle or public transport. Like anyone in that position that means I have both full appreciation of the value of public transport and intimate knowledge of its failings. It’s almost impossible in such circumstances to not contemplate what might be done to improve things (and improve they must) but experience shows that the complaints system is beyond flawed and that if deregulation has failed then so did state ownership before it.

Barbara Ehrenreich – Smile Or Die: How Positive Thinking Fooled America And The World

Barbara Ehrenreich

It’s a great title for a work of fiction. Shame then that it isn’t but left me thinking perhaps it’s time to read a little fiction!

At barely two hundred pages this is not a book that outstays its welcome in terms of length but it has pushed me into thinking that perhaps I’ve read enough of the “world needs more empiricism and less conventional wisdom” type books. I think I’m in need of Jeffrey Archer. Oh Barbara, what have you done?

Is it a book you should read? Yes it is. Is it a good book? No, in many ways it is so very much less than the sum of its parts and that’s a shame.

The National – High Violet

The National

I was going to write about how the recently touted idea of The National as the next band about to leap the great divide into arena rock is, without wishing to offend them, on so many levels laughable. By any definition they contain none of the required ingredients.

I was also going to write about the fact that whilst I’ll concede that their songs can indeed be anthemic, they’re also introspective, often inscrutable and yet somehow manage to make a personal connection of the type not normally associated with arena rock.

A rather impressive appearance at Glastonbury along with this soaring to number three in the UK album charts (so I’m told) rather buggered much of that theory. Clearly inscrutable and introspective have come on in great strides.

Joanna Newsom – Have One On Me

Joanna Newsom

There is a great summary of Joanne Newsom in 140 characters on Twitter by @Discographies. It goes

“Joanna Newsom: 1 Plink! Plinketa-plink!; 2 Plink! Plinketa-plink! (with orchestra); 3 Plink! Plinketa-plink! (for two goddamned hours). Kind of nails it in so many ways but equally there’s so much more to say.

Forgive my suspicions. A triple album comes out and, whilst critics are falling over themselves always puts me on alert one way or another, I’ve hit that point where I just can’t quite believe that anyone can listen to that much music by anyone in one go let alone digest it.

When you add in the fact it’s Joanna Newsom, the very definition of an acquired taste, then my suspicion multiplies by the amount of compact discs on offer.

For the record then, in reviewing this I have listened now to this entire triple album three times through. I can honestly say, that’s enough, in every sense.