Amazingly, and believe me you won’t read this very often, I find myself entertained by politics; the last week (or so) has been somewhat tumultuous for our elected representatives - and it has been a joy to behold.

The UKIP advances at the local and European elections have rattled the other political parties and the discomfort of the leaders of the Conservatives, Labour and the Liberals has been plain to see.

Personally I think the situation is perfect, UKIP whilst dramatically growing in status has control of nothing significant at all. Arguably this outcome is the panacea of protest voting.  I can’t imagine UKIP running the country, in fact the prospect scares me, but the other politicians cannot ignore the issues (benefits and immigration) that have influenced the public vote casting.

I am almost prepared to bet money that the general election will see a more traditional outcome and that UKIP will see its advance halted or a retreat ensue.

The election process saw the BNP stripped of all representation and that’s a very good result in my opinion. The BNP is a spent political force but it is fair to say that the Liberal Democrat party is in tatters too.

In the last general election I actually voted for the Liberals; Clegg impressed me and I was keen to see political reform. It is a shame however that Clegg sold his soul in joining a coalition with the Tories and subsequently abandoning his principles. The U turn on university tuition fees was shocking (and incensed me) and the failure to see through proportional representation or alternative voting was disappointing.

The Liberal party is facing the political wilderness again; Nick Clegg is looking weak and is facing calls for his resignation. In some respects it’s a real shame because Clegg is bright, articulate and multilingual and comes across as a genuine, reasonable, decent kind of a fellow; in others it’s to be expected because the failure of his party to solicit votes is his ultimate responsibility.

Tony Blair of all people had the following to say: 

"I don't want to damage him by saying this, but over the past few years he (Nick Clegg) has actually shown quite a lot of leadership and courage.

"But the problem they (the Liberals) have is very simple. They fought the 2010 election on a platform significantly to the left of Labour and then ended up in a Conservative government with a platform significantly to the right of Labour... that is the problem the Lib Dems have and there is not really a cure for that."

He’s right too.

The next general election is approaching and my money is on Cameron and the blues - Ed Miliband is inadequate, Clegg is history, Farage isn’t even an MP.

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A website landmark of sorts was recently achieved and allowed to pass without comment (until now of course). In the time since this site was launched more than 100,000 page views have been generated (in fact the score was hit was by midnight on the 18th May).  

Or perhaps not!

Website traffic statistics are of course notoriously unreliable thanks to cookie related issues and system generated versus real person generated hit confusion. Over the last few years I have tried Weebly statistics, Google Analytics and third party counters to measure traffic; each service recorded a different score each day (possibly due to time differences between the UK and the USA, more probably not). Once I even wrote to Weebly customer services to try and understand the variations, only to be told that somewhere between Google’s figure and Weebly’s was a reasonable bet. So 100,000 hits may be 50,000 or 75,000, who knows!   

Regardless of all this, I am pleased that the effort I put into maintaining the site and creating new content is being rewarded in some way. Traffic volumes have trended upwards over time which is positive but perhaps unsurprising given that the searchable content has also gone up over time.

Over 250 articles have now been created and my site content can be found using various content search parameters. The articles that have generated the largest number of views have been my Skoda Fabia Monte Carlo review, the Hi Tec Tecs piece and the Hypersonic Experience review – the ongoing popularity of these articles is nothing to do with my family, Facebook friends or Tweets – the success of these pieces is down to organic search engine generated visits.

My next challenges are to significantly increase the traffic to my site and perhaps to think about how to monetarise it in some way - because it would be good to earn something off the back of the content/effort. Perhaps funds could be generated via product/service reviews or paid for advertising; who knows? Maybe that would just be selling out and a terrible idea! Perhaps my conversational style of writing could be useful to you or your organisation? I might not be averse to a commission or two.

Regarding the first objective though, this must be more achievable? This is something you, dear reader, could help me with. If you like, are amused, entertained, or read something that makes you reflect; tell me, leave your feedback/view point on a post or point your friends to the piece too.

I am happy to take negative feedback as well. I’d rather not be trolled, or otherwise abused, but I need my mistakes pointed out and I’d value my perspectives being challenged.

It has taken two and half years to get to 100,000 page views; I’d like to get to a million visits (and without it taking 25 years)!

And that reminds me of a song:

“Happy talk, keep talking happy talk
Talk about things you like to do
You got to have a dream, if you don't have a dream
How you gonna have a dream come true?”

I am not thinking Rodgers & Hammerstein either – Captain Sensible gets my vote!

Over and out.

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Last weekend was one long transport celebration for me; Saturday started with my son’s birthday party at a local go-karting circuit (I wasn’t expecting to drive a kart but was delighted to oblige when given the option), followed by a trip to Luton to celebrate the 40th birthday of the Vauxhall High Performance Firenza. Sunday (18th May) involved a trip to Rugby to enjoy the spectacle of the town’s first motorcycle festival.

Regular readers will know that I have written of the Daventry equivalent a few times before (article 1; article 2) but the inaugural Rugby Bikefest was going to be something of an unknown quantity.  Amazingly Mrs Baldwin was keen to go as well - to be honest she had a vested interest in that she had a role in bringing the festival arrangements to fruition (nice not to have to argue though).   

We arrived in Rugby town centre in time to see the cavalcade of motorbikes stream into Sheep Street from the earlier rendezvous point at The Bell Pub on High Street, Hillmorton. Noisy, varied, colourful and dramatic are the adjectives I’d use to describe the spectacle.

If you don’t know the town centre, it’s pedestrianized and certainly not designed to cater for parking vehicles – both these challenges needed the event organisers to think carefully. Once the bikes were parked up, the supporting stalls/concessions erected, the HGV trailer stage set up for the bands, the bike riders unsaddled and the fascinated public in attendance, the town centre was literally packed to the point of standing room only.

I understand that initial expectations were that 130 bikes might be present, the actual number is believed to be more like 500 – it really was that popular! There were motorbikes on Sheep Street, High Street and Chapel Lane being displayed and then bikes all over the place that had been ridden in by people coming to join in the festivities and see the bikes on show.  

There simply wasn’t enough room to cater for all the motorcycles of all the visitors in the designated areas; they ended up parked all around the fringes of the town centre too.  It was brilliant though because the sense of occasion and the sense that something significant was happening was inescapable. I wandered around taking photos and dreaming about owning some of the machines on display.

I wrote a few weeks back about attending the start of a Harley “ride-in” to Northampton. The organiser of that run, Dave Barringer of Northants V-Twin, had organised for some of his colleagues to ride into Rugby. This crew turned up slightly later, and once the festival was underway, but the arrival of these riders was more dramatic because the way had to be cleared for them.  As they rode from Little Church Street in to Chapel Street, people were within feet of the thundering Harleys. I got some shots of some of the riders coming in and I have shared my favourite one below.  

The Police had an obvious presence but not in a way that suggested any kind of threat; in fact the motorcycle coppers had their bikes on display too and were letting visitors get on them. I couldn’t resist a chance to have a go and both I and my daughter had our pictures taken.

As I sat on the BMW, I thought of CHiPs (California Highway Patrol) - you probably have to be my kind of age to get the reference. I can still hum the theme tune, in fact I even have the record somewhere!

The sun was shining, the mood was good, the town centre fizzed with excitement and the event really was as family friendly as it had been trailed. My view is that the festival was a massive success and that the organisers and the town councillors (and Mrs Baldwin of course) should be proud of what was achieved.

For the shop keepers of Rugby, I’d advise more of them to open next time this event is run. Because it was Sunday, many of the shops were closed and those businesses missed out on the potential to do some roaring trade. Still there’s always Bikefest 2015 to look forward to – I’ll be going!

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P.S. Click on the pictures to enlarge them. I have these images and many more in higher resolution, get in touch if you'd like any sent on to you.  

David Essex sang about the wrong type of vehicle, as indeed did Hawkwind; the real deal "silver dream machine" is Vauxhall’s High Perfomance Firenza (HPF), at least in my considered opinion.

This weekend (17th May) saw the Droop Snoot Group (DSG) mark the occasion of the 40th birthday of a truly marvellous motor. The HPF, aka the droopsnoot, launched by Vauxhall in 1974, quite rightly had a party to celebrate - and I went along. This post is to share the occasion and some jolly nice photos with you.

The Heritage Centre, Vauxhall’s museum on the site of the company’s head office, was the venue for the celebrations, which was appropriate given that the car was conceived and built in Luton.      

The arrangements followed a tried and tested formula (see an earlier post) which saw vehicles displayed all around the car park outside of the museum’s entrance. Some catering was laid on, some relief facilities were provided and the DSG had a merchandising presence. In addition a presentation was delivered by Roy Cooke, the chief engineer in charge of the HPF development programme back in the seventies – I am sure that I listened to the same stories 15 years ago.

In 1999 I went to the 25th anniversary celebrations for the HPF at Thruxton race circuit. That event was a much larger and more glamorous spectacle that saw more vehicles on show and more of the characters that contributed to the car’s story in attendance. Roy Cooke delivered a similar speech.

Whilst Saturday’s event was rather low key in comparison, some well known figures of the time were present including Barrie ‘Whizzo’ Williams (racing driver), Gerry Johnstone (racing preparation expert) and Will Sparrow (rally driver).  I got chatting to Will because for years I used to have a poster on my bedroom wall celebrating him winning the 1974 RAC Group 1 Rally Championship in a Vauxhall Magnum 2300. 

It turned out that Will, whilst driving rally cars for Dealer Team Vauxhall (DTV), had a Vauxhall provided company car that was also used as a press/advertising car. The actual car, WXE266M, was on display and is now owned by Paul Dickinson (I have written about his car before).   A picture shows Will Sparrow reunited with his snoot.

Many of those in attendance on Saturday were also present at the Thruxton event in 1999, the effects of 15 years of aging regrettably apparent on all of us – there was much silver/silvering hair present to complement the paintwork on the cars.

Since 1999 some legendary names have passed on, most notably Bill Blydenstein and Gerry Marshall; but their vehicles and their work live on. Gerry Marshall’s Old Nail racing car looked splendid.

The celebrations didn’t end on Saturday because the DSG had also organised a trip to the Millbrook Proving Ground. This took place on the Sunday but unfortunately I wasn’t in a position to attend. It would have been great to see the snoots side by side on the bowl.

Thanks go to the DSG for organising the event, Vauxhall for hosting it and to Will Sparrow for being prepared to chat to a not so young anymore fan. Here’s to Billing in July and the 50th birthday celebrations in 2024. 

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P.S. Click on the pictures to enlarge them. I have these images and many more in higher resolution, get in touch if you'd like any sent on to you.  

Do you ever think that you are out of touch, that things are going on around you that you can’t relate to? This post is about a couple of instances that have made me ponder these matters. 

First up, feminist pornography, and yes you did read that right: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-27192724

I read this story on the BBC, initially with astonishment and then with some confusion. Please review it before continuing (the link will open a new window).

Astonishment came from the fact that the BBC was covering the subject at all, let alone with a relatively informed article of some length. Confusion came about thanks to multiple factors.

• Should I be reading about porn during my work lunch hour even when it’s as innocent as a news piece on the BBC?
• Should I write about such a subject on my website bearing in mind the potential sensitivities of my readers?
• Dare I risk my site acquiring a dubious search engine rating thanks to even addressing the topic?  

The label “feminist pornography”, which apparently isn’t an oxymoron, has evolved because women are making films for women to consume. The suggestion is that women are less exploited, that the genre is more inclusive (actors/actresses don’t need to conform to a model stereotype, they don’t even need to confirm to gender stereotypes), that it’s more realistic and actually more enjoyable for the performers.

So porn is being progressive and this must be a good thing?

Bizarrely I found myself thinking this very thing and that the feminist porn initiative should be supported and that maybe I should watch some in order to be more informed! Then a split second later, I mentally pinched myself and wondered what the hell I was thinking (it’s not quite the same as not knowing what Breaking Bad or Game of Thrones is about – although I hear that the latter has much gratuitous sex and violence). The subject matter does not exactly have the gravitas/importance to society of equal voting rights, equal pay or general equality in the home/workplace.   

The pictures around the article are grim; the storylines for the film scenes are as contrived/unrealistic as one could imagine; the awards ceremony is surreal. The fact is that this supposed porn evolution is pretty much limited to a marketing positioning exercise - small bit players in an industry trying to give their niche brand of horribleness some kind of stand out.  This isn’t really progressive at all!

But the article is thought provoking – for me it highlights that there are worlds within worlds and that things go on that I have few/no reference points for.

And that brings me on to Lewis Hamilton.  

I read his blog post the other day. He writes about getting praise from Nigel Mansell, moving house in Monaco, driving his AC Cobra in California and having his car purchase approved by none other than the legendary Carroll Shelby. The only point of reference for me was Stevenage because I’ve been there hundreds of times.   

So with two completely different articles, I find my middle class existence (nine to five office job, nuclear family, practical car) so completely at odds with what I am reading as to make me wonder if I am existing in a different dimension. And in that disorientation lays this blog post!   

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I watched part one of a thought provoking documentary on ITV last night (7th May) called Billy Connolly’s Big Send Off. In my opinion the Big Yin is always good value and his investigations into the business of bereavement were fascinating.

Billy is looking a little frail and at 71 is dealing with prostate cancer and early onset Parkinson’s disease. It is a shame to appreciate that he is contemplating his own demise but that knowledge adds poignancy to his observations. He maintained his trademark good humour throughout and the documentary was not morbid or depressing because of it.

During the filming Billy met up with Eric Idle and the latter sang the song that forms the title of the post. Eric is the same age and, unsurprisingly, is looking a little long in the tooth himself; they made a good pair wryly musing about the inevitable.     

The American (where much of the doc was shot) funeral scene is as bizarre as you might expect and much money is spent/made in the business of dying. Some things addressed like drive thru funerals and bespoke blankets with images of the deceased were surreal; others like cemetery real estate trading were frankly distasteful. You’d have to be American to be prepared disinter and then burn your relatives to sell on their plot!

The balance to the lunacy came from a Muslim cleric whose mosque sensitively and prudently handled funerals (and for anyone from any denomination). The cleric’s view on the outrageous sums of money being spent by wealthy yanks in shows of post-mortem one-upmanship was; “Just think how much good that money could do for those still living or the deceased’s community.”  Bang on I thought!

Some advice given to watchers was plan your funeral while you still can and discuss it with your relatives; this I have to say resonates for me and I have already planned my send-off music:

• Ace of Spades, Motorhead
• Days, Kirsty McColl
• England 77, Horrorcomic  

Aside from the tunes, cremation is good and a cardboard box will be just fine for the journey to the furnace.

To be frank getting old is a bit shit; I am going grey (where the barnet isn’t receding), am getting heavier and my eye sight is gradually deteriorating; it’s worse for my parents who are a quarter of a century older than me. Contemplating death is not fun but maybe planning and talking about it makes it easier to cope when the inevitable happens. A plan gives one structure and purpose and that has to help, especially when one knows one is doing what one’s loved one wanted.

Like Stephen Sutton, maybe writing a bucket list is worthwhile – surely the earlier you plan one, the more likely you are to do the things on it. One of mine is to get my motorcycle licence and buy a motorbike (and hopefully that doesn’t kill me off before the inevitable cancer). What would be on your list?

On the subject of plans, Mrs Baldwin and I must sort out our wills; it would be damn inconsiderate for everyone if I/we were to die without one.

If you missed it, the show is repeated tonight on ITV at 10:35pm, you can obviously catch up online too. Episode two is due for airing next Wednesday night (14th May) at 9pm.

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I read this story about Banksy on the BBC News website today and it prompted some thoughts.

Banksy is a really interesting character, he’s transformed the illegal, defacing, often ugly activity of spray paint graffiti, which is commonly associated with disaffected youth (or sectarianism if you think of Belfast’s murals), into an art form that is appreciated and desired worldwide. His work is valuable, people and organisations fight over ownership and auctioneers rub their hands together with glee when material is to be sold on to collectors.

Banksy remains anonymous, thought to be a ‘he’, he may be a ‘she’ or even a ‘them’ - he has the enigmatic appeal of a masked comic book hero. His work appears without fanfare, potentially anywhere and inevitably generates significant media hype. Being elusive means he avoids getting arrested for causing criminal damage and gets to live his life without the downsides of celebrity.  

The dichotomies surrounding Banksy and his works are wonderful;

• Cheap, hastily produced, template based art that is as valued as oils on canvasses by acknowledged masters
• Antisocial art that inevitably has some kind of social message
• Art in grotty locations that overnight become tourist destinations
• Art that is valued because it’s Banksy not because of its form/content. Has Banksy lifted the value of spray paint street art generally or made it socially acceptable? His own work even has negligible value if people don’t know it is his! This delightful story from the BBC in October 2013 proved that a day selling genuine (but non-disclosed) Banksy art from a New York market stall only netted him $420 (£263).
• He is simultaneously taking this piss out of society, the systems of law and order and the art establishment whilst challenging perceptions, supporting charities and having fun. He could teach the Sex Pistols, and the whole punk music movement, a thing or two about subversion!

And his achievements should be applauded; he has created a unique proposition that has been very cleverly (in my opinion) engineered over time. The rise of the Banksy brand would make a fascinating case study for any marketer or marketing agency – I bet the brightest of minds would struggle to create a plan that would elevate any other person/organisation to Banksy’s status.

The story that prompted this post is well worth reading, Dennis Stinchcombe’s excitement is palpable and there is feel good factor about the piece that one might hardly believe could come from an act of vandalism.    

I bet Banksy could even do something with my Vauxhall Zafira that would make it look cool.

Or maybe not!

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I have reviewed the furore about Jeremy Clarkson (JC) over the last few days and am frustrated enough by the nonsense to take to my keyboard.

By mumbling a specific word in the well-known nursery rhyme “Eenie Meenie Miney Mo”, JC is now the subject of a ridiculous media storm. I state ridiculous for a few reasons.

Firstly, and maybe this perspective is mine alone, the cynic in me thinks the whole thing is an orchestrated PR stunt; what better way to raise the profile of JC and Top Gear when the programme is off air than something that grabs the media’s attention? In fact in December 2011, I wrote about something similar concerning the shooting of strikers.

This time, Top Gear/the BBC has profited from coverage about the worst (or perhaps best) list of similar faux pas, the media has got a televised apology out of Clarkson and the BBC has even threatened to sack him. An excellent and valuable clutch of column inches for anyone that is interested in media measurement!

And what an utter load of bollocks! As if the BBC would sack the leading light of one of its precious few flagship programmes over a piece of footage that never even made it into a broadcast show!

Assuming that you have seen the clip (comparing a Toyota GT86 to a Subaru BRZ using the Eenie Meenie mode of decision making), the word nigger (‘n’ from now onwards) was mumbled - that mumbling I suspect was because Clarkson didn’t like using it at all. If he was racist, as claimed by some, surely he would annunciate properly rather than mumble (to the point where the volume actually needed to be cranked up for the offending word to be audible) and instead record an alternative take. In a Sunday Times post from 3rd June 2012, Clarkson actually wrote that “if you use the ‘n’ word, you are not anonymous and the police can find you”. He didn’t even write the word in full because that’s how uncomfortable it makes him and others - even right wing Times readers.

Rightly so, there is no place for racism in our society but there is a place for common sense. Some will argue that the ‘slope’ comments in the Christmas special give JC form but that was the kind of edgy double entendre that I suspect all will be at pains to avoid in future.

Now the ‘n’ word is horrible and probably has its roots in slavery (which deserves to be a national embarrassment) and I suspect the nursery rhyme that utilises it has similar origins. The fact is though that the racist ‘n’ word exists and can’t just be eradicated from the dictionary or nursery rhymes because we live in more sensitive, politically appropriate times.

Clarkson is no angel; he is provocative, opinionated, irreverent and humorous but those qualities are what make the British public adore him. We have elevated JC to super stardom over many years and can hardly be surprised when his sticks to his winning formula.  If you have condoned his style by reading and watching his material then you can’t very well get on your high horse when he rides too close to the edge.

If you, like I, are a fan of JC or Top Gear then you know you can’t take anything produced too seriously; it’s all created for simple entertainment and it’s well done too. My kids love his work and would recognise him before they would recognise almost any other figure on the BBC.

From a personal perspective, I think Jeremy is a master of the simile and the analogy and whilst I often don’t agree with his opinions, perspectives or politics, he’s a good journalist and I can’t say I find him offensive, or label him casually racist – let’s be frank, he’s not exactly Nick Griffin!

Whilst I rate Clarkson, I have never met him and most likely never will; I suspect that he is egotistical, arrogant, abrasive and may not be that nice. I am sure that if he read my post, he’d condemn it as shit.

They say never meet your heroes and with JC they could be right; but he is a British asset; he works bloody hard, lives in Oxfordshire and pays his taxes to HMRC.

Instead of even suggesting sacking him, the BBC should think about offering him the seat at Newsnight now that Paxman is retiring.

And if Clarkson needs a rhyme to make a future decision, perhaps the alternative “Ip dip dog shit, you are not it” should be considered (maybe “apple pip” would better suit the faint hearted)!

Finally the BBC for its part better make sure it doesn’t go re-screening “In Sickness and In Health” or “Til death us do part” or sanctioning the reading of Enid Blyton on Jackanory because the backlash could be shocking!

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