The Duke is in the building!

Stop Press: The Duke of Oklahoma is now here. Have listened. Might have to buy a stetson

Get out of 1st Gear!

It's about three years ago now that the family badly needed a runaround car - so I bought a used demonstrator off the forecourt of a local Ford garage - a tiny Ka. It was 2006, yet to my amazement, the car radio boasted a - wait for it - a cassette deck. "A what?" cried my children in confusion. And I could hardly blame them. They quite honestly didn't know what it was. I had already formed a poor impression of the speed with which car manufacturers keep up with technology developed outside their own spheres. This did nothing to change my mind. They're woeful, quite woeful. Years of mp3 players and what did they come up with? A stereo minijack socket. Inspired.

So pardon me if I don't join the clamour of excitement at the recent news that manufacturers have pledged to make DAB standard in new cars by 2013. Would that be anything to do with the fact that the UK government wants to turn off analogue radio by 2015?

In other words, they're being forced into it. No sign of initiative at all. Ireland shouldn't miss out on this - in case you are wondering. RTE says DAB is the future of radio too, and DAB is already available in the Irish Republic.

For now - DAB radio for cars - those that are currently on the market - are generally thought to be pretty good. But you'd be hard pressed to find one fitted on the forecourt. There are already products like Pure's Highway . I like Pure's DAB radios - there are a couple in our home, and one wakes me up every morning. Whilst I'm sure this one is excellent - well, it looks like a bit of a clunky inelegant add-on to me. You even have to stick the aerial onto the windscreen...

The point is, the electronics should be built into the car, not stuck onto the window with a big suction cup.

Could we coin "Car Manufacturers" to mean the exact opposite of "Early Adopters"?

A Land fit for Heroes

I've always been a fan of older films about World War II - not because I wish I had been there, quite the contrary as it happens. But there are some very intelligent and thoughtful pieces of work, particularly The Cruel Sea. But today I had 158 miles to drive, so I got to thinking.

Often the veterans spoke of fighting just to get through it, to defeat a clear evil in the Nazis, but many spoke of hoping to make a new world. I wonder what those who didn't make it through alive would think of 2009. Would it be the world they'd fought for?

So I tested this as I hammered southwards towards Belfast. What would a 1945 soldier make of my life? Our island? My car? My home? My standard of living? My diet? My health provision? My life expectancy? I imagine he'd think I was in some kind of post-war paradise.

Then I got to thinking about our culture. What if he was shown 64 years into the future? That was an easy one to test. I simply tried everything available on the car radio. Harry Potter CD - mmm not sure. BBC Radio Ulster - Hugo Duncan. BBC Radio 4 - a rather incomprehensible play. BBC Radio 2 - Steve Wright discussing the fathers of Del Boy and Rodney. U105 and Citybeat were playing rock, and Classic FM was advertising its relaxing cds. I was glad there was no TV...

I'm not saying this is all bad stuff. I just wondered if the poor man would be able to tell me whether he'd won or lost...

The Duke of Oklahoma

I've just clicked and paid on Paypal - to buy a CD. Been a bit of a while since I last did that rather than opting for the digital download, but this time it's with good reason.

Singer-songwriter Anthony Toner - originally from the north Coast of Northern Ireland - has released a new album called "The Duke of Oklahoma and Other stories." Now it's almost unheard of for me to order an album having heard none of the songs on it - but Anthony is different. For a start, there isn't a bad song on either of his first two offerings, "Eventually" (2002) and "A Sky for Every Day" (2008). Both got a good deal of airplay from radio stations in Northern Ireland, but "A Sky for Every Day" got a lot of commercial airplay, partly because Anthony's work was becoming better known, but especially for "Sailortown", a catchy and nostalgic look at the changing face of Belfast.

I've always loved his stuff, and the critics agree, so I'm perfectly happy to take the risk, for really, it's no risk at all.

Truth be told though, there's a particular pleasure in listening to work by a man who writes about people and places you know. I first met Anthony in a shop queue when we were both about fifteen. I first heard "Look at them dancing" whilst listening to a demo cassette in his car, parked on the drive outside his house. Then as now, I like to think I can guess who he's writing about - and it really doesn't matter if I am right or not. I'll just look out for a package on the mat when I come home from work this week.

Catch his launch night for the new album at the Errigle on October 22nd.

He's a fine artist, and worthy of your attention. Mind you he's an ugly beggar.

Part of the Club.

One of the worries in life is whether you are part of something you'd like to be part of. The gang at work or college - the coveted Golf Club membership - the group at work who are clearly "really going to get on". The people who have their own Blog, and are interesting enough to have a decent number of followers?

Blogging as one who has never really been one of those people, and who really ought to have come to terms with it by now, I was still surprised at my irritation this week when I came to examine the merits - or otherwise, of Google's latest offering, Google Wave. Despite being logged in, I was still told I needed an invitation.

Ashamed as I am to admit it, I even clicked on the "Request an Invitation" link. My inbox has been very quiet since then. Am I still not "in"? And what on earth is wrong with me that I'm bothered about that?