Saturday 24 May 2008

Market Principles Do Not Discriminate

The London music scene is not really a scene as such, but more a collection of various cliques, that will exchange and initiate members depending on the hype surrounding the individual.

There is one main reason for this, and that is scarcity. Scarcity is the simple idea that when there is not very much of a certain resource, then the value of it rises accordingly. This we are all acutely aware of with the price of oil shooting through $135 a barrel yesterday. The opposite happens in London with musicians.

There are thousands and thousands of "musicians" in London, and just as many "bands". I'm sure your next door neighbour is in a band, if you were to by chance talk to them. There are also many venues. With so much choice...there is little focus, and hence, zero vibe. In London, musicians hardly ever get paid when they play, nor receive any consolatory perks...not even respect (though this is often justified depending on the goons that are performing). If i have to hear one more promoter tell me that i have to sacrifice a month of my life, by not playing any other night except theirs, i will take my razor to their Sales' cords!

Hype is the way a sales man can make more profit from essentially the same product that is being sold elsewhere in the market. Hype is disseminated through various channels that the general public "trust" or allow themselves to infiltrate their consciousness.

Let's not fool ourselves here, we're all wanting to make money from our "talents". It is business after all, based on profit, making as much as possible from as little investment. Just the same as farming fields, building cars in factories, online legal publishing etc.

Market principles do not discriminate, nothing is safe, there is no loophole for the arts that keeps them dignified and held in reverence.

Sustainable Shaving

A few weeks ago i took the plunge and bought a cut-throat razor and all the appropriate paraphernalia. Never had i shaved this way before, always behind those safety bars that the high-street brands seem to think necessary in their designs. As if the modern citizen isn't protected enough from calamity!


I've wanted to write about this new experience for some time now, and have thought about putting finger to keyboard at the start of every shave. However, i keep cutting myself, a lot to begin with, and now only once or twice per shave. Damn it, i'll write about it when i've shaved my face with not one nick, then i can tell the world how flawless it is!

Still, what prompted me into all this malarkey, was not Sweeney Todd, as some have suggested, but that disposable razors are just another example of unnecessary waste in this sea of futurism. Not to mention the good ones are bloody expensive.

With a cut-throat and a strop (a piece of leather that you run the blade along to sharpen it), one can shave for the rest of one's life without buying any new equipment. If you treat your razor carefully you can even pass it on to your adopted children.

I believe you could make your money back within a year, and have free shaves until the day you die. Once you get the hang of it, it's a bloody good shave, and a ritual that will make you feel like a true gentleman.

Yes, it takes longer than what you'd be used to...but why does that matter? It's a great excuse to idle for longer, to gaze at your well groomed facial hair in the mirror, and daydream of swooning, fine tweed-cladded young ladies that of course don't exist in "real" life.

*sigh*