Blogschool is out forever

Yesterday I resigned from the staff at the city college where I was teaching the blogging and the podcastin' one day a week.
I really enjoyed teaching there and I think I inspired a few students in some small way.
The management was strangely non plussed by my announcement.
It is a strange institution, the bureaucrats seem to out number the teachers 3 to 1
I think they are even glad to see the back of me.
I don't think they actually even understood what i was doing.
Getting total neophytes to produce an hour and a half of radio magazine programs a semester was quite a feat esp on the antiquated equipment they had but I had to drop something in order to concentrate on more creative projects.
Teaching is really draining.
Sometimes it sucks the life out of you.
I was doing way too much and it was making me an real unhappy camper.
I've got a new film to make after all.
And I should finish that album that been kicking around.
Seeing our dear friend pass away recently has made me reevaluate some things.
Everything is temporary here on earth.
Every minute is precious.
You've got to choose what you put your energy into.
Talking of energy I dont think they quite realise what the price of oil will do to the international student trade.
Cheap flights will disappear in the next year.
So it's a good time to get out.
Probably the greatest achievement from this blogging thing was talking my dear brother into blogging.
He had the advantage of being himself where as I was always being careful not to go to far on this one.
Sometimes he returns the favour by knocking out a blog that is a great opener for the school of rock which is the other job I have.
I'll post here once a week or so don't tune out.
May you all find the courage to do what you will.

Blogging is the new punk rock

Well isn't it?
First a little musical history ( or is it mythology) lesson.
By the mid seventies rock had become a bloated beast, at least there was a lot of progresive rock bands with arcane names like Matching Mole and a florrid and complicated aesthetic.
The rock no longer spoke for the people or so the story goes.
I guess if you were growing up on a grey council estate, unemployed then Genesis and Emerson , Lake and Palmer and top of the pops didn't really speak to you.
Along came the Ramones from Usa and Sex Pistols from England to revitalise the whole tired music scene.
It was like early Elvis, simple music full of energy and an Up Yours ATTITUDE.
But most importantly it said" Hey you can do this too".
It was a back to basics approach that screamed DIY.
Do it yourself.
And they did.
People like Blondie, The Pretenders and Talking Heads all sprung out of this scene.
Later punk came to mean something else again and god knows what it means now.
Just another marketing niche.
Anyway what attracts me to blogging is this same attitude.
You can speak your mind.
You can do it yourself.
You can say up yours to the cowering and bland main stream media.
And cover what you feel is important.
What speaks to you.
Of course just like punk or any other musical movement you have to search through a lot of swine to find the real pearls.
Go on Piggies get out there!