It's an absolute disgrace! Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne said the decision to sack the adviser had been "disgraceful".
"What is the point of having independent scientific advice if as soon as you get some advice that you don't like, you sack the person who has given it to you?" he said.
I absolutely agree. Write to your MP (whoever it may be) and complain.......if enough of us make a fuss, something might happen (we CAN change things if we try hard enough).
Mike
Monday, 2 November 2009
Thursday, 29 October 2009
I recommend anyone looking at this site to read the following paper at:
http://www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/opus1714/Estimating_drug_harms.pdf
It is written by Prof. David Nutt, Chairman of the government's advisory committee on the misuse of drugs and is EXCELLENT!! According to this report (no surprise to those of us that are interested in evidence based medicine) alcohol and tobacco are more harmful than many illegal drugs, including LSD. ecstasy and cannabis........the "hype" that skunk makes you schizophrenic, popularised by the media, is debunked. Read and learn, my friends and let's get a more reasonable illegal drugs classification based on the evidence and NOT on hearsay.
Mike
http://www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/opus1714/Estimating_drug_harms.pdf
It is written by Prof. David Nutt, Chairman of the government's advisory committee on the misuse of drugs and is EXCELLENT!! According to this report (no surprise to those of us that are interested in evidence based medicine) alcohol and tobacco are more harmful than many illegal drugs, including LSD. ecstasy and cannabis........the "hype" that skunk makes you schizophrenic, popularised by the media, is debunked. Read and learn, my friends and let's get a more reasonable illegal drugs classification based on the evidence and NOT on hearsay.
Mike
Wednesday, 9 September 2009
Reading Festival 2009
Got back from Reading Festival last week.........during the Prodigy set, 1800 people "surfed" over into the pits and we (Festival Medical Services) treated over 200 people for "anxiety/crush/fainting" etc.etc. No one badly injured & Prodigy were FANTASTIC! Rather quieter for Radiohead (our local Band, as I come from Oxford) and who were excellent as usual. Hope all your GCSE's , A levels etc. went well and as soon as I get more photos will add to my gallery. Keep those questions coming!
Sunday, 16 August 2009
Cropredy
Just got back from the Cropredy (Fairport Convention) festival, near Banbury. Excellent music, favourites include Steve Winwood (Spencer Davis Group/Traffic/Blind Faith etc.), Richard Thompson (ex-Fairports + solo etc.) and, my personal favourites this year, Ade Edmonson and the Bad Shepherds, who turn punk-rock into folk and folk into punk-rock - excellent (see photo). Next gig is Reading , last week-end of August, so getting ready for that. Have fun!
Tuesday, 28 July 2009
Glastonbury + Moto GP
Glastonbury was, almost, dry!! Miraculous.........will have some photos soon to show you all. Favourite band, Pete Doherty - although I missed his set!!!!! (Friends said it was excellent) + although I didn't think I liked them, BLUR were very good and Prodigy put on an exceptional show.
We went to Donington for the British Motorcycle Grand Prix - very exciting and managed to (accidentally) take a photograph of Prince Harry being taken round the track at very high speed by Randy Mamola on a Ducati! Also got Loris Capirossi's and Chris Vermeulen's autographs - on my hat!
The next big event for me will be the Reading Festival at the end of August and will take LOADS of photos for the website, especially of Radiohead, who are headlining on the Saturday. Keep those questions coming in........
Dr.Mike
We went to Donington for the British Motorcycle Grand Prix - very exciting and managed to (accidentally) take a photograph of Prince Harry being taken round the track at very high speed by Randy Mamola on a Ducati! Also got Loris Capirossi's and Chris Vermeulen's autographs - on my hat!
The next big event for me will be the Reading Festival at the end of August and will take LOADS of photos for the website, especially of Radiohead, who are headlining on the Saturday. Keep those questions coming in........
Dr.Mike
Thursday, 28 May 2009
Saturday, 18 April 2009
LAUREN'S BLOG
Lately, Of The Pier Sucks
A couple of years ago I discovered the brightly coloured four-piece Late of the Pier, playing at the first Underage. I remember being blown away by the energy and originality of the group – they drew by far the most excited crowd, despite competition from headliners such as Patrick Wolf, the Maccabees and Jack Penaté. When new-rave troupers SuperSuper magazine made their promo video for the festival, which aimed, in true 2007 style to show “teenz havin a totez krazy tym”, they used footage from the set, thus was the frenzy that ensued from their decidedly electro but surprisingly blues-y rock n’ roll.
Further research into the band yielded the entirety of their unmastered EP, ‘Zarcorp’, available for free download. It was (and still is, if you can find it!) really great. For me, the main appeal was the juxtaposition of the Bowey-like nasal quality to Sam Eastgate's vocals, the candy-pop synths and the growling roughness of the guitar which had, at times, a tendency to demise into grunge. I went to see the band again, this time at the Oxford Zodiac or Carling or 02 or whatever it’s called this week, and wasn’t disappointed. In one of the smaller of the venue’s rooms, the atmosphere was chilled, and the crowd fairly unpretentious. The band themselves were hanging out in the venue, I had a great chat with keyboardist Potter, which resulted in me giving him a picture of a VW van and him thieving the purple feather mask I was wearing, to then dedicate their track ‘VW’ to me and invite me on stage to retrieve it! Their set was highly theatrical, and I saw again that energy that had so ensnared me in Victoria Park. They responded to the audience and received the same in return. Every song was received like an anthem, even the previously unheard ones, but especially ‘The Bears are Coming’, which began with the band wacking strips of wood with a stick on a construction that looked somewhat like a strung-up glockenspiel!
Sometime last year the band got signed to Parlophone and for me, this is where things started to go downhill. They released their album, primarily featuring tracks from Zarcorp. The songs, although recognisable, are now radically different. Sam’s voice has been mastered and overly layered to create a much smoother, but much less enthralling sound. The electronic sounds sound too synthetic, the irony of the kitch-pop replaced with something that just sounds….kitch. Unintentionally kitch. And the whole grunge element – departed forever! Admittedly, the new sound is more accessible, which may account for the average age of the audience, when I went to see them at Zocarlo2 a few weeks ago, being somewhere around 14. This time, the band were playing in the largest room in the club. When the band took to the stage, they looked somewhat haggard. Although it would have been more difficult with a larger crowd, there was none of the banter that I remember from previous gigs – something they achieved before the equally large crowd at Reading last year magnificently. They steamed through the album, talking only to complain about the heat. At the front of the crowd, kids were hitting each other and jostling (on the plus side, the energy expended trying to stay upright was probably on par with about 3 hockey matches),and from about 9 heads from the front onwards everyone was standing stock-still. I left feeling very sweaty and, frankly, a little short-changed.
In fairness, this could have just been an off-day. However, a meta-analysis via Facebook yielded similar results from their set of the same tour at Southampton Joiners and one or two London venues, as well as in-store at Rough Trade (although record store gigs are rarely the most energetic). I realise this rant may sound a little cliché – however, this is not about “selling out” or any of that kind of pretentious bullshit. It’s about a significant decline in quality. Within about a year a potentially great band have significantly declined and this makes me sad.
Lately, Of The Pier Sucks
A couple of years ago I discovered the brightly coloured four-piece Late of the Pier, playing at the first Underage. I remember being blown away by the energy and originality of the group – they drew by far the most excited crowd, despite competition from headliners such as Patrick Wolf, the Maccabees and Jack Penaté. When new-rave troupers SuperSuper magazine made their promo video for the festival, which aimed, in true 2007 style to show “teenz havin a totez krazy tym”, they used footage from the set, thus was the frenzy that ensued from their decidedly electro but surprisingly blues-y rock n’ roll.
Further research into the band yielded the entirety of their unmastered EP, ‘Zarcorp’, available for free download. It was (and still is, if you can find it!) really great. For me, the main appeal was the juxtaposition of the Bowey-like nasal quality to Sam Eastgate's vocals, the candy-pop synths and the growling roughness of the guitar which had, at times, a tendency to demise into grunge. I went to see the band again, this time at the Oxford Zodiac or Carling or 02 or whatever it’s called this week, and wasn’t disappointed. In one of the smaller of the venue’s rooms, the atmosphere was chilled, and the crowd fairly unpretentious. The band themselves were hanging out in the venue, I had a great chat with keyboardist Potter, which resulted in me giving him a picture of a VW van and him thieving the purple feather mask I was wearing, to then dedicate their track ‘VW’ to me and invite me on stage to retrieve it! Their set was highly theatrical, and I saw again that energy that had so ensnared me in Victoria Park. They responded to the audience and received the same in return. Every song was received like an anthem, even the previously unheard ones, but especially ‘The Bears are Coming’, which began with the band wacking strips of wood with a stick on a construction that looked somewhat like a strung-up glockenspiel!
Sometime last year the band got signed to Parlophone and for me, this is where things started to go downhill. They released their album, primarily featuring tracks from Zarcorp. The songs, although recognisable, are now radically different. Sam’s voice has been mastered and overly layered to create a much smoother, but much less enthralling sound. The electronic sounds sound too synthetic, the irony of the kitch-pop replaced with something that just sounds….kitch. Unintentionally kitch. And the whole grunge element – departed forever! Admittedly, the new sound is more accessible, which may account for the average age of the audience, when I went to see them at Zocarlo2 a few weeks ago, being somewhere around 14. This time, the band were playing in the largest room in the club. When the band took to the stage, they looked somewhat haggard. Although it would have been more difficult with a larger crowd, there was none of the banter that I remember from previous gigs – something they achieved before the equally large crowd at Reading last year magnificently. They steamed through the album, talking only to complain about the heat. At the front of the crowd, kids were hitting each other and jostling (on the plus side, the energy expended trying to stay upright was probably on par with about 3 hockey matches),and from about 9 heads from the front onwards everyone was standing stock-still. I left feeling very sweaty and, frankly, a little short-changed.
In fairness, this could have just been an off-day. However, a meta-analysis via Facebook yielded similar results from their set of the same tour at Southampton Joiners and one or two London venues, as well as in-store at Rough Trade (although record store gigs are rarely the most energetic). I realise this rant may sound a little cliché – however, this is not about “selling out” or any of that kind of pretentious bullshit. It’s about a significant decline in quality. Within about a year a potentially great band have significantly declined and this makes me sad.
Tuesday, 14 April 2009
Have been away skiing for the last two weeks in Chamonix.......loads of snow but melting fast!! Went off-piste into Switzerland for a day where I nearly frightened myself to death!! I'm no good at off-pists skiing! Back in Oxford now for a bit - next trip is to the Isle of Man for the TT races......taking my small m'bike for racing around on.....should be fun!
Where are all your questions......they seem to have dried up! Lauren will write a blog about her various favourite bands soon......and I have just bought Peter Doherty's solo album which is really very good!
Dr.Mike
Where are all your questions......they seem to have dried up! Lauren will write a blog about her various favourite bands soon......and I have just bought Peter Doherty's solo album which is really very good!
Dr.Mike
Thursday, 12 February 2009
Have just read the news that the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs have suggested that ectasy (MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methamphetamine)), be downgraded to Class B and this, surprise-surprise, has been duly ignored by the Government. The fact that this sends out the message that Heroin (No.1 on the list of most dangerous drugs ) + "Crack" Cocaine (No.2 on the list) is no more dangerous than ecstasy is completely crazy!!! Write to your MP........David Nutt (Prof. Neuro-pharmacology at Bristol University & Chair of the ACMD....has compared the risks of taking "E's" with horse-riding...............the first "kills" about 30 people a year in the UK while the second kills about 100 people a year and in addition causes head-injuries + neck injuries......and is TOTALLY legal, if not encouraged!!! Oh well.............another failure of the government to accept evidence based medicine!!! keep up the questions and have fun ....but be SAFE........
Doctor Mike
Doctor Mike
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