Let me get something off my chest first. A hung parlaiment, with no party having enough seats for a majority, does not indicate a desire for change, Dave. What indicates a desire for change is the kind of outcome we saw in 1997 when Labour crushed the Tories out of existence for the last 13 years or, just to prove I’m not only hating on the Tories, the kind of results the old Milk Snatcher had in the 80s.

What this result indicates, to me at least, particularly given the almost non-increase in voter turnout, is that people are fed up to the gills with the parties and don’t see any of them as the people to run the country.

I’ve always voted Labour – I’m left leaning and I believe in many of the policies and tennets of what would be called “Old Labour” these days. Think Tony Benn and you’re on the right track as to what I believe in. However I’ve become increasingly disenchanted with Labour, and politics in general, over the last few years and their willingness to engage in the Iraq war was the final straw. As such I voted Lib Dem this time, not because I have any strong beliefs in them (although many of their policies are good on paper) but because I will never vote Tory, voting Labour in the new constituency I’ve just moved to would be like pissing in the ocean and also the Lib Dems were the only one of the three big parties that opposed the war in Iraq, and for that they earned my respect.

I wouldn’t say I was disappointed in their performance at the polls, precisely because of the point I raise above, in that this was a tactical and protest vote on my behalf. What I am disappointed in is that Nick Clegg has said the Tories should get to try and form a Government first. Although this goes hand in hand with Lib Dems desire for proportional respresentation, it goes against the current constitutional laws in this instance: the incumbent PM gets first crack.

Who knows what happens from here? All I know is that a Tory government has one thing that it is interested in: making more money for the rich, and cutting back public sector funding for all the services us lower and middle income troglodytes rely on. They can profess to be green, caring, compassionate and so on, but it’s a complete and utter lie. After all, the cuts won’t affect them.

Think about it. If you’re David Cameron, born with silver spoons in every available orifice, attend Eton and all the old boys network perks that goes with it you can afford private healthcare (no need to worry about an impoverished NHS so let’s cut away at that, the commoners can rot), you can afford private education (the plebs will be fine in class sizes of 40 and a curriculum that will keep them in their place, just like the good old days when men were men and everyone was happy with his lot).  Cuts to the public sector mean little to these people, because they have the money to pursue other options, so rather than make money from taxing the super rich, the banks and corporations it is the “little people” that will suffer.

Don’t get me started on how they treat the homeless, single mothers, drug addicts and so on.

But don’t forget, they’re “Caring Conservatives” really.

Labour haven’t done the best job, and they certainly aren’t a party for the working man any longer, in fact they’re practically indistibguishable from the Tories in many ways, but they have done a lot of good things in their time in Parliament, and they do care a lot more about people than the Tories – whose primary interest is capitalism, making money and keeping the power in the establishment.

I’m well aware that Labour haven’t been tough on bankers and all that jazz – but do you really believe that the Tories would have been or will be? If so, well you need to take a long hard look at the history of that party and what it has done to the ordinary working people, whether they are working class or in the middle classes.

Anyway, rant over. I could go on and on but I won’t. I just hope that something good comes out of this situation, but being the cynic that I am, I doubt much of anything will happen at all.

Time to start that isolated commune I think.

It was a lengthy labour, kicking off at 1am on a Sunday morning and ending, finally, at nearly 2am the following day. It was exhausting for me let alone Kate, who left me in awe at her determination and stoicism – she hardly made a sounf throughout the whole thing.

As far as experiences go, it was simultaneously the most surreal and the happiest of my life. Sitting in the birthing room cradling my daughter in my arms I realised that I had done the single greatest thing in my life. She was so still and quiet, just looking around and taking it all in with her big, blue eyes and all I could do was talk to her and cuddle her.

Of course she hasn’t been so quiet since and Kate and I have endured those sleepless nights parents knowingly warned us of with wry smiles playing across their lips. Having a new born baby certainly introduces you to a new definition of tiredness. I’ve never been a good sleeper, so only having four or five hours a night isn’t too bad for me, but when I lie down to sleep now I’m dead to the world in five minutes. No dreams, no fitful tossing and turning just blissful unconsciousness until the now familiar squeal of my daughter rouses me, heart hammering, stumbling and mumbling, to her cot side.

Two weeks paternity leave was not enough, and it pains me to see how far behind Europe and other developed countries we are. Dads are relegated to unimportant addenda in the family unit, when in fact I think we play a crucial role, not least in supporting the mother through those sleepless nights and days.

The experience has also left me with a new respect for single mothers (not that I didn’t respect them already). How a single mum looks after a newborn amazes me, its more than enough work for Kate and I even when I had time off work. Factor in a toddler going through the terrible twos and it strikes me as a positively Herculean task of mental, emotional and physical endurance.

She is the most precious and important aspect of my life now and always will be, and I have a renewed energy and determination to make life as good as I can for my new family.

It’s a shame David Cameron and the Tories don’t see it that way, and will no doubt do their damndest to make life more difficult for single parent families. Well you know what you can do to stop that – get out there and vote Labour or Lib Dem!

Well, the election is for another time – tomorrow perhaps when the outcome is known. If I’m not crying into my tea at work under a Tory government.

So what’s new?

Well, the birth date of my daughter is almost upon me. She’s due any day now so concentration at work is increasingly difficult, I keep expecting a call from Kate shouting: “I’m in labour. Get your fucking arse back home now!!!!” It’s been such a long time now, and I’ve noticed an odd time dilation phenomenon. It feels like Kate has been pregnant forever, and yet the last nine months have disappeared with alarming speed. Now as the big day approaches these last few weeks have been agonisingly slow. Of course I’m not the one carrying the baby, so I’m just feeling the boredom of waiting – not all the back pain, indigestion and other pregnancy “perks” that poor Kate has been lumbered with.

And we don’t even have a name yet! Well, we have a short-list but getting down to that one name is harder than I ever imagined.

What else? Oh yes, I’ve been promoted to Editor now. It all happened very quickly in February and I’ve now steered two issues out the door single-handedly, and the consensus has been that they were the best issues since I’ve been here. So, yeah, I’m feeling pretty happy with myself.

Being Editor has resulted in more pressure, naturally. I’m now responsible for the whole magazine. The buck stops here. And that has led to me waking up in a cold sweat after a magazine has gone to print. Did I miss something? Was a picture not credited, potentially causing problems with a photographer or stock agency? Have I horribly mispelled the name of the cover artist, on the cover, in enormous bold type for the whole world to see?

Not fun. But the worries are becoming less, and I’ve developed an increasingly pragmatic approach to it all over the last few months.

Aside from that, Kate and I moved house, I’m still working on my creative writing with a few projects spinning but as always finding the time is hard, and probably isn’t going to get any easier any time soon. But the pay off is I get to finally see my baby girl, and that is worth paying any price for.

Of course this has led to a wonderful increase in those “So much for global warming!” comments. Anyway let’s not get in to that right now, suffice to say as humorous as that might be once (I’ve said it a couple of times, I’ll admit) they are completely wrong. Global warming is snow joke…sorry.

The weather has caused massive inconvenience across the country and I was snowed out for two days this week, and if the weather reports are right that could happen again next week. I’m the first to admit that I did enjoy the two days off, running (carefully) around in the snow and seeing all the snowmen that littered the streets within minutes was fun, but it has meant a bit more pressure in the production of the next issue of Acoustic. Ah well, I’m sure we’ll manage and I’ve been set up to work remotely now, which is good. I guess.

Of course a new year brings new resolutions: to exercise more, quit that bad habit, do that thing you’ve been meaning to do for the last ten new years and so on. I’ve never been a big one for them, as most people I know who’ve tried to undertake them end up failing in the first couple of weeks. But after reading an article on why most people fail I decided to make one.

Yes that’s right one. Apparently one of the main reasons people fail so miserably to keep their resolutions is that they make too many. “I’m gonna give up smoking (for the third time) and go to the gym three times a week, lose a stone, watch less TV, drink less and become a vegetarian.” Then 3 weeks later they find themselves watching Corrie in their underpants, cramming mouthfuls of choclate eclair down their gob in between drags on a Silk Cut and then washing it down with half a bottle of Pinot Grigio. And the bathroom scales are in the loft.

Not me though. Oh no. I made one resolution. What was it? That’s right to write everyday. Yeah I know I go on about the writing thinga fair bit. Like you, I (my girlfriend) got sick of hearing me say it and not doing it enough. So my resolution was simply that: to write everyday. No word counts, no time limit. Just write.

What’s the point without a goal? Why do I need another goal? The second reason people fail, according to the research, is that they set their targets too high, fail to hit them and then think “Why fucking bother?” and that’s that. By setting the bar so low it means I don’t get disheartened.

If all I manage is 100 words. So what? I sat down to write and that’s all I intended to do. Plus I’m 100 words closer to the end of my novel. If I get into a groove and hammer out 2,000 words then I shut my computer down with a feeling of great satisfaction.

And you know what? It’s working. I’ve written every day and got the first draft of my novel up from 8000 words to nearly 17000 in two weeks. Not bad going.

I’ve also paid heed to some advice from Ian Fleming: On the first draft, don’t look back. If you do you’re lost. Get it finished then worry about the rubbish afterwards, otherwise you’ll never finish and you’ll hate what you do write.

Wise words and absolutely true. I’m having a blast hurtling on, putting my protagonist through the wringer, letting the bad guy be a complete bastard and not worrying about every time I use an adverb…or oh was that sentence in the passive…actually now I look at it not only is it passive but it’s a bit clunky too…I just used the word slam four times on one page…shit did I just tell instead of show? Oh god the literati are knocking on the door, I better just give up now…

You get the picture.

So, whoever reads this: what were your new year resolutions and have you managed to stick to them? More importantly, do you feel any better for having stuck to them?

Oh yeah. I dedicate this post to Dan Hobday. Just because he found my website by random chance and sent me a message. See you at work Dan!

Anyway, as the year comes to an end I’ve been thinking a lot about what this year has yielded, what I’ve achieved, what I didn’t and how I can change that in the new year. Looking back on it it’s actually been one hell of a year. I graduated from university as a mature student, then landed a great job out of the blue while many of my third year cohort are temping, signing on to the dole or struggling through PGCEs and the like. I’ve created (along with my amazing partner Kate) a new life that’ll be joining use kicking and screaming (hopefully not too much) in 2010, I can’t wait to meet her. I interviewed one of my favourite musicians, Kip Winger, who was an awesome dude and has just released an awesome album with the band. And there have been other minor things: getting my fiction out there, albeit to the free on-line markets; seeing my “adopted” grandma for the first time in about 8 years having said I would several times a years since my last visit and other things that aren’t of interest to you, but are to me.

And the bad?

Having stories rejected; feeling constantly knackered from May through to October thanks to the new job and all the stress that comes with it; beinig incredibly grouchy and moody because of said stress (sorry Kate x); not doing enough writing, of either fiction or my non-fiction book project; having the non-fiction book project rejected by a few publishers (in a really nice way, the book wasn’t for them but that is has potential and someone is bound to take it soon, so that wasn’t too bad); losing faith in the project because of my not-quite-thick-enough skin…and so on.

On balance it really has been a great year and as it comes to an end I’m determined to get my fiction out there, improve it and get it into some of the better markets. I’ve also got other projects that I’d like to investigate: a novel that was started and needs finishing; a story I’d like to adapt into a short film; more freelance writing for other magazines.

But the one I’m most looking forward to: my daughter. If nothing else goes right in 2010 I know she’ll be perfect!

I guess my point is that, even if this year hasn’t been great there were probably more good things than you instantly remember, and even if you’re as cynical and downbeat as me use this time to re-connect with friends, spend time with your family and think about how you can make 2010 the best year of your life (so far).

Happy Christmas!

Ben

Let’s face it, you can’t really see Slash whipping up Eggs Benedict can you?

But it seems that a lot of musos are also rather fond of food and its epicurean delights. If you don’t believe me check out Teri Saccone‘s website The Rock N Roll Cook .

Teri is the inversion of Sting’s Englishman in New York (an American lady living in London in case you don’t get the reference). She’s a freelance writer who has started doing some work for me on Acoustic and has interviewed pretty much every band I love from the 80s rock era. She also writes for Elle and other much more prestigious titles.

Anyway, check it out, you just might pick up an interesting recipe from the stars she interviews. Plus Teri’s a really nice lady. Just don’t get her started on the American healthcare system! 

I’ve owned every Nintendo console to date. I’m a big fanboy who, despite owning and enjoying many other consoles by Sega, Sony and Microsoft and gaming on PC, truly believes Nintendo offer the best gaming experiences known to man and I’ll strip to my scrawny torso and go man-to-man with anyone who says otherwise! But that’s a whole other post…

I have always considered myself to be a hardcore gamer in most respects, but a discerning one. I’m not quite sure what the definition of hardcore gamer is, but seeing as I’ve just started playing World of Warcraft I’ll go with theirs: If you play more than 20 hours a week, you cease becoming a casual gamer.

In my youth I’ve played more than 20 hours in a day no problem.

One of my earliest all nighters was playing SimCity 2000 at the tender age of 12. I remember playing the game (after fucking around with config.sys and autoexec.bat files to make it run on my PC, those were the days!) straight through from 3pm until my mum went to work the next day at 8:30, turning, bleary eyed and fuelled by coffee and marmite on toast, to peer through my bedroom door in my underpants and confirm that, yes I had been up all night.

SimCity 2000!

But being hardcore isn’t just about time alone. It’s dedication. Think of any a 9-5 job you’ve had where you turn up, physically occupy a space then go home, and each month/week you get paid. That’s casual gaming. The hardcore gamer pours his life and soul into the game – these are the entrepreneurs of the gaming world, whose every waking second not filled by necessities such as school/work/eating/sleeping/defecating are dedicated to their enterprise: gaming!

A hardcore gamer is a completist – he/she has to get every achievement and if that means playing the game 5 times over taking slightly different choices then so be it. It isn’t supposed to be fun!

As I’ve aged (I’m not that old I know) I’ve noticed my hardcore gaming nature softening. Now I rarely play a game for more than a couple of hours in a go and sometimes I won’t game for most of a week, just grabbing a snatch here and there. The last game that really grabbed me was Fallout3 on the XBox-360, one of the most engrossing and amazing games I’ve played. It appeals to my love of apocalyptic anything but is just a simply amazing game with an enormous immersive world with great characters and plot-lines. It’s probably the only game I’ve played outside of the Zelda series (my all time favourite!) that I felt genuinely sad to leave behind.

Fallout 3. Look at those gibblets!

I’ve also noticed a tendency in myself to enjoy genuine casual games that I download to my iPod touch or games that I can just dip into and not dedicate my life to, like this little gem Rat on The Run which has that one more play element but can be dropped whenever without a feeling of guilt:

I wonder if this change is just part of ageing or just not finding the right games, or is it simply that my life has got a bit more going on it now…nah! I know it’s still there inside me but just needs unlocking.

I’ve recently started playing WoW with Kate,  and I’m enjoying it but I haven’t yet found it as addictive as the people who’ve actually killed themselves by playing it for days on end! Now that’s hardcore.

I do miss those epic sessions where a whole Sunday would disappear in a haze of pixels, but until another game like Fallout3 comes along I’m happy being a semi-casual. After all I’m hardcore at heart!

Kate and I had the 20 week scan on Friday and, because we’re terrible at keeping secrets or waiting for surprises we decided to find out the sex of our baby. Observant readers will already have tagged that it’s a girl! I’m over the moon, and couldn’t have cared what the baby turned out to be.

Now we have the issue of deciding on a name. I had a definite name for a boy (which will remain a secret until we have one) but hadn’t decided on a girl’s name. They seem to be much harder, you want something pretty, a bit unusual, with a good meaning behind it but without being something horrific like Chardonnay-Lilly…

We’ve decided that we’ll make a short list and then when she’s born pick the name then…though I’ve been known to take half an hour deciding which budget DVD to buy for Sunday evening!

But, I just received this clipping from a PR company. I’d been asked to write an endorsement of one of their bands for Music Week, an industry magazine for the music world. Who knew I’d be setting trends and tastes from sunny ol’ Devon.

Of course, this doesn’t mean I’m the next Simon Cowell (because I have a modicum of taste and don’t wear my trousers hiked up around my nipples), but Chasing Pandora really are quite good if you like acoustic music. So if you feel like following my recommendation, then do. You’ll probably be better off than with the latest X-Factor rejects.