Category Archives: Articles

Articles exploring everything from social issues to current affairs and more

12/24/11

Alex Day’s Forever Yours: Game Changer?

As you may be aware from my previous post unsigned artist Alex Day has been making a bid for the Christmas number 1 slot. I’m not sure how seriously he took the idea to start with or how much of it was a bit jokey but all proceeds have been going towards World Vision and at the time of the midweek chart update amazingly he was at number 4.

This is amazing because he sits there above the likes of Coldplay and Rihanna and with acts such as Little Mix with the full force of the X-Factor in front of them only just in front.

Whether he gets number 1 or simply in the top ten surely this has to be a game changer!

Think about it. Alex Day has no major record label and has only really got where he is thanks to his own hard work via YouTube and the handwork of his fans which have been building up over a number of years.

Much like the 2009 campaign of getting Rage Against the Machine to Christmas number one people power and social media is having an impact.

The difference between the RATM campaign and Alex Day is that as a musician Alex Day has no major label, no real money behind his press yet is in the Top 10.

Surely this is good for the music industry? Surely this means that actually you no longer need a major label to do well but you need to put a lot of effort into your music and actually have talent?

I don’t think if this changes the entire game but it certainly means that with the internet and social media a major label isn’t the only way to do well in the charts.

Hopefully this campaign will encourage more musicians to get out there and do self promoting!

12/20/11

Neil & Anna’s Wedding

On Saturday Neil, my brother got married to Anna. It was a fantastic day and I had the privilege of being asked to make them a wedding video which, after 10 hours of editing is finally there.

I also got to test out the digital SLR I got a couple of months back shooting the HD video on it and taking some photos. I’m pretty happy with how some of the photos came out so here are a few of my favourites.

12/11/11

The Battle for Christmas Number 1

Tonight the awful X-Factor will announce the winner of their 2011 karaoke competition and it’s more than likely that this time next week some depressingly unimaginative cover of a song that’s not really old enough to be covered properly will be released however the Christmas number 1 slot of no longer a given to the X-Factor winner following the success of the incredibly exciting campaign in 2009 which saw Rage Against the Machine get the number 1 slot (and raise a lot of money for Shelter (not Simon Cowell) in the process).

Last year’s attempts were more copies but this year there seem to be 3 equally credible and deserving contestants to go alongside the X-Factor and so here’s a summary.

1 – Alex Day – Forever Yours

My favourite of the contestants is Alex Day (pictured above), I’ve been following his YouTube channel for a while and he posts amusing videos and is also a full-time independent musician…the bookmakers William Hill have given his catchy pop-song ‘Forever Yours’ 16/1 odds of getting the slot.

Forever Yours is a fun, catchy electro-pop song which will easily get stuck in your head…on top of that Alex Day is independent which means that actually his growing YouTube and music popularity is because he is a genuinely talented guy and not some karaoke singer auto-tuned to hell in a studio.

On top of that Alex all money raised for the song goes to providing water to people in Africa!

You can listen to the song here

 2 – Nirvana – Smells Like Teen Spirit

Following in the footsteps of ‘Rage Against the Machine’ a Facebook campaign is aiming to get Nirvana’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ to number 1…with currently over 100,000 likes on Facebook and the promise of a vinyl re-issue of the single from the record label this campaign seems to be growing with momentum.

On top of that the campaign is raising money for charity ‘Rythmix’ who (as the story goes) protested to the X-Factor girl group stealing their name only to be told ‘you’d better find some lawyers then’…although since the name has been changed.

You can check out the campaign on Facebook here and Twitter here

3 – Military Wives – Wherever You Are

The Military Wives who have been coached by Gareth Malone are releasing their song ‘Wherever You Are’ also in contest for the number 1 slot raising money for the British Legion….the song isn’t to my taste but I think they’re equally deserving of the slot.

Conclusion and Buying Info

So…there you have it. 4 options for Christmas number 1 in the form of X-Factor, Alex Day, Nirvana and Military Wives and all but the X-Factor are raising money for charity so there’s clearly 3 out of 4 which are better but which will get it?

Personally as a fellow independent musician I’d love to see Alex Day get the top spot but only time will see!

You can buy the Christmas number 1 songs from the 18th December for them to count but only buy a song once or none of your purchases will count.

Get involved, raise some money for charity and let’s make music about music and not winning some competition!

 

11/30/11

Orange: Ofcom Response

So after yesterday’s post about Orange and various calls to them I decided it was still worth complaining to Ofcom simply because ifenough people complain then this clause in a contract which allows them to put up prices based on inflation may be looked into.

Here is the full e-mail response from Ofcom. Hopefully it’s useful…to make your own complain to Ofcom go to this page

(Also thank you to everyone who’s commented on my last post…it’s great to get some discussion going)

Dear Mr Tiddy

Thank you for contacting Ofcom on 29 November 2011 about increasing line rental charges.

I understand you have been told that Orange can increase their line rental charges from January but you were not made aware of this at the point of sale. When a provider sells a contract it is unlikely they will explain every term of the contract and will only explain core terms i.e. minimum contract period. Also, whilst costs may be increased during a contract, this may also not happen. Any provider is able to make changes to a contract at anytime.

However, it may be of interest to know that, if a provider intends to make changes they should give at least one months notice – as per Ofcom regulations. If the change could make a substantial increase in your bills (and thus a material detriment) it is possible you could cancel your contract without penalty. However, if the change will not have a substantial impact it is likely you can be held to your contract.

If Orange will not let you leave without penalty, you may wish to follow their complaints process at:http://www1.orange.co.uk/documents/about/Orange-complaints-code-20110118.pdf.

If you exhaust this process, or if your complaint has been ongoing for over 8 weeks, you may be able to take your complaint to an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) scheme. An ADR scheme is an important piece of consumer protection as they are free and independent for consumers like you. Orange must abide by their decision but if you remain unhappy you are free to consider legal action

Orange’s ADR scheme is CISAS (Communications & Internet Services Adjudication Scheme). CISAS can be contacted at:

CISAS
24 Angel Gate
City Road
London
EC1V 2PT

Phone 020 7520 3827
Email: info@cisas.org.uk
Website: www.cisas.org.uk

Although we do not deal with individual disputes I can confirm I have made a full record of your experience. This feeds into statistics we collate to help monitor trends and, where appropriate, the information can inform future policy in consumer enforcement and investigations.

I hope this explains our position and is useful to you.

Yours sincerely

Consumer Contact Team

11/29/11

Orange Price Increased

So Orange sent me a text this morning stating that:

Hi, from Orange. We’re increasing the price of your monthly plan by 4.34% from 8 January 2012. For more information please visit orange.co.uk/planupdate

Other than the rather cheery greeting to pass on some bad news the text didn’t tell me why and so naturally annoyed me…clicking to their link I found this:

Why are Orange introducing these price rises?

We know that price increases are never welcomed by our customers. Unfortunately, with inflation at a 20 year high it has been necessary to increase our monthly service charges.

Can I cancel my contract because you’re increasing my monthly service charge?

No, our Pay Monthly terms and conditions allow us to increase charges by up to the RPI figure in any 12 month period. The increase in the price plan charges is less than the 5.4% rate of inflation as measured by the Retail Price Index (RPI) in October 2011.

We can increase prices at any time on giving proper notice. In this case, the increase is less than the current rate of inflation and our terms and conditions state that we can do this without giving you the right to cancel your contract without paying the disconnection fee.

You’ll find the details in section 4.3 and 15.1 here

This left me wondering several things

1 – How can Orange increase the price I pay?

2 – They never told me that (as I joined over the phone I wasn’t given a contract to sign or even told where to find a copy..perhaps an error on my part for not asking though)

So I  phoned up Orange

After waiting 20 minutes to speak to their accounts department due to an unusually high volume of calls (perhaps a flurry of cross customers) I eventually spoke to a man, I calmly explained to him why I was upset by the charges and how unethical it was to do that to loyal customers and he basically told me tough.

With my contract coming to an end in February I thought I’d might as well try to leave so told him I’d do so and I was transferred…

The next person I spoke to was slightly more helpful. She informed me that the increases were due to government inflation increases and that in the past Orange had paid these for the customer but was no longer allowed to by the government. She also told me that Orange were however offering all customers effected a 5% discount for 6 months to offset this and that they would be informed next month by a letter.

Now I’m no business man but why raise your prices, tell your customers who thought they’d signed up for a set contract and pee them off only to send them a letter a month later to say ‘actually it’s ok…it’s on us!’?

Surely it would have made sense to announce both at the same time?

After realising I wasn’t going to get any further without having to spend £50 to get out of my contract and a further £20 to unlock my iPhone I gave up.

Ten minutes later I called back with a plan…

Mention the phrase ‘I’d like a PAC code’(code that allows you to take your number to another network) to any network provider and they usually become very nice and start offering you all sorts to stay.

So I tried that and explained that I was unhappy with my current price plan because I was paying for more than I was using but the other option was too little, explained that I wasn’t planning to upgrade my handset until the iPhone 5 was released and explained my upset at the price increases and Orange have now put me onto a sim-only, one month at a time plan costing me £15 less a month.

On top of that the new plan effectively ends my contract in January rather than February if I so desire.

So…for the cost of a few inclusive minutes I think I did quite well….however I have also made a complain to Ofcom about Orange because I think the clause that allows phone networks to raise your prices in the middle of the contract is ridiculous and unethical and that if it’s going to exist that it should be made a lot clearer when you sign up.

Top Tips!

Finally if you’re an Orange customer also unhappy here’s some tips:

Ring up and complain…feel free to tell them you’ll be complaining to Ofcom…maybe even mention you’ll be tweeting about them!

Don’t be afraid to threaten to leave…even if you get a PAC code you don’t have to use it but asking for one can help you get a better deal

Ask them to confirm the 5% discount if the price hike is all you’re bothered about…the more people who complain the more likely they will be to announce the discount sooner.

Further Reading

Article from Which.co.uk

Article from Money Saving Expert

11/23/11

The Return of Five Iron Frenzy

8 Years ago yesterday a band I barely knew played their last show in Denver, Colorado. That band was Five Iron Frenzy and in the last 8 years they have become one of my favourite bands and had a huge impact on my life. Their mix of fun ska-punk music blended with a mix of beautifully profound or cleverly funny lyrics made them such a good band to listen to.

Five Iron Frenzy had this habit of drawing you into the music and then hitting you with the most profound God-lyric ever! We even had the worship band at our wedding adapt their song ‘World without End’ adapted to be played as a worship song.

Over the last few months the bands website contained a mysterious countdown and their Twitter and Facebook came to life, building hype around something that would happen at 2am this morning (or 7pm in the USA!)…having toyed with the idea of staying up or sleeping through and checking out twitter in the morning I opted in for a 1:55am alarm and hoped that it would be something worth disturbing my sleep for.

And it was!

I’d spent my day telling myself that it would be a greatest hits or rarities album and not a reform or anything new but how wrong was I?

Five Iron Frenzy announced (with a slightly bizarre video of Reese Roper in the desert) that they were getting back together and would be recording a new album (to release in 2013…10 years after their break-up) and possibly playing some shows….oh and they put a new song online!

Now the latter doesn’t excite me as much unless they venture to the UK (I wish!) but the thought of a new album and a chance to hear a new Five Iron song really got me excited. To make this new album the band were asking for pledges in return for a variety of things ranging from a CD of the new album to the band writing you a song…I went for the former and amazingly the band aimed to get $30,000 to make, master and release the album and amazingly they got that within 55 minutes and less than 24 hours later they’re on $80,000.

Turns out I’m not the only one excited about the new Five Iron Frenzy.

I was also pretty excited about the new song titled ‘It was a dark and stormy night’ and it’s so good! It’s like a mix of ‘Electric Boogaloo’ and ‘Our Newest Album Ever’ and I think will please all FIF fans.

So why the blog?

This blog is simply to express my burst of excitement…share the word and tell you to listen to Five Iron Frenzy…they’re amazing and so much fun but also seriously challenging.

Go listen, support and download at: www.fiveironfrenzy.com

Note: I also had a worship blog in mind to write which also included some stuff about FIF so this blog might end up a little FIF obsessed for a week or so!

11/4/11

New Look, New Song and Half Term Recordings

If you’re reading this then you’ve probably noticed there’s been an update to my blog!

Having had the last theme for a while I fancied a change to something a little more creative. This one takes slightly longer to load but I think it’s nice…Hope you like it!

New Song!

Over the last few months I’ve been re-recording, mixing and mastering ‘Escape this Town’ to fix some of the things that slipped through the net last year and I released the first new single from it a few weeks back.

You can download the fully re-mastered track ‘Escape this Town’ for free here or if you’re feeling generous it’s on iTunes and Amazon (You can also listen for free on Spotify)

Geography Rocks EP

Finally in half term Dave came up to stay and we spent 2 days trying to record, mix and master and EP of Dave’s geography songs (which he actually sings to his classes) and we did it!

Geography Songs is available to download here or on iTunes here

They’re pretty catchy and it was great fun to try and do something of good quality in 2 days…and I think we managed it. I also got to play drums and record some bass and guitars on the record.

You can watch a ‘Making of Geography Songs’ video below

The Making of Geography Songs from Mark Tiddy on Vimeo.

 

 

10/23/11

East Riding Youth Summit

 Regular readers of my blog will know that a desire to see the church change and to see more young people through the doors are things that I’m passionate about.

A few months ago myself and Lee Kirkby (Youth Minister at Beverley Minster) were having a bit of the grumble about church…if I’m honest even though I’ve made it through youth groups, I’ve trained as a youth worker (and explored theology at university) and I work for a church I still often find church irrelevant…alongside this the lack of 20′s and 30′s in our church is frustrating when I know there are some people of that age range in our village.

The outcome of this grumble with Lee was that we both went away and thought ‘hang on…we should really do something about this rather that just moaning’ and so we have!

Next Saturday from 10am until 1pm at Beverley Minster we’re running the East Riding Youth Summit. An event aimed at getting young people aged 15-25 and church leaders (Ministers, PCC Members etc.) together, joined by the Bishop of Hull to spend some time discussing how the church needs to change to welcome in more young people and what both church leaders and young people can do to influence that.

As a follow-up we’re going to write up everything that’s said into a report format and send it to the young people and to their churches’ PCC’s as a way of saying ‘there were young people from your church at this event and this is what they think about bringing more young people into the church’.

Personally I’m really excited about this event and think it can have a big impact…if you’re in the East Riding come along!

Finally…

I know I don’t usually use this blog for work stuff but this seems to combine work and personal passions…also if you’re interested you can click here to hear me talking about the Youth Summit and young people in the church on BBC Radio Humberside this morning.

10/6/11

Steve Jobs – 1955 – 2011

Today I awoke to the sad news that Apple co-founder Steve Jobs had passed away. Steve, who had been battling with cancer for years stepped down as Apple CEO in August handing over to Tim Cook. This is what the Apple website says about Steve’s passing:

“Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and a inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple”

Steve Jobs co-founded Apple in 1979 and the company eventually released the first home Mac controlled by a mouse. In 1985 Steve parted company with Apple and went on to buy Pixar and take it to where it is today (eventually selling to Disney).

In 1997 Steve returned to the, then failing, Apple and in the last 14 years has been the visionary behind the company launching the iMac, iPod, iPhone and iPad amongst other products over the last 14 years all of which have been hugely successful.

Steve’s unique approach to keeping new products quiet and then launching with big media events causes hundreds of rumours to circulate around the web in anticipation of the next Apple product update. On top of that his attention to detail has led to Apple products being unlike any other.

When I brought my Macbook 3 and a half years ago it was unlike any computer I’d ever purchased…even the packaging was exciting and there is something really special about my Macbook because it’s fantastically designed and the user interface is exactly what I want to work with.

Likewise there is no other touchscreen phone on the market that works quite as slickly as the iPhone.

Steve Job’s charismatic approach to technology has made getting excited about technology something cool and not just for geeks. His product design has led to millions of people enjoying their technology. Steve Jobs has truly left his mark on our modern world.

I’m going to finish this blog with a piece of wisdom from Steve Job’s 2005 speech at Stanford University and few tributes from some famous people/bands that I’ve seen this morning.

“Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love.” – Steve Jobs

“Woke to the news of Steve Jobs’s death. He changed the world. I knew him a little and admired him entirely. Love to Apple and his family.” – Stephen Fry

“Dear Steve Jobs, thanks for believing in our little band enough to put one of our songs in your first iTunes commercials. Tell me one other company of this size that would actually have the balls to use a song that includes a series of “F-Bombs” in their add campaign? Not to mention a song that blatantly talks sh*t about the radio. You were a true innovator and a hacker at heart. Hell, you were buddies with The Woz and Captain Crunch! That in itself is pretty badass. Thanks for showing that it pays to break the rules and fight for what you believe. You have made a fan for life. RIP.” - The Ataris

“R.I.P. Steve Jobs (1955-2011). Thanks for giving me the tools to build my career homie. Much love and respect, you will be missed.” - MC Lars

09/28/11

Blink 182 – Neighborhoods – Review

Like many people I remember where I was when I heard the news of big events…I remember where I was when Princess Diana died and when September 11th happened.

I also remember where I was when I heard the news of Blink 182′s Indefinate Hiatus back in 2005 (not that this is anywhere near has tragic as the 2 previously mentioned events).

I was in Sixth Form, working at a computer (or at least pretending too) when a friend who had the same love for their music linked me to this article on the MTV site.

I remember at the time feeling really quite sad…the thing is somewhere along the lines in my discovery of pop-punk Blink 182 had become (and if I’m honest probably still are) my favourite band.

It was listening to Blink 182 that inspired me to learn the guitar and their song ‘Dammit’ was the first that I’d learnt…even now I pretty much never bother to learn songs on guitar but can play at least 7 Blink tracks. The music of Blink 182 may not be the most musically or lyrically challenging but there’s something about it that I love.

The follow-up of the Blink break-up led to Tom forming ‘Angels and Airwaves’ and releasing 3 albums (4th this November) and Mark & Travis going on to form Plus 44…I followed and love both bands but they’re not Blink 182.

So when Blink 182 announced that they were reforming and that they’d put aside their problems around Travis’ hospital bed (after a plane crash) I was excited and the last 2 years as Blink 182 have been writing and recording their album I’ve got gradually more excited about it.

Anyway onto the album…

Neighborhoods was released on Monday in the UK in 2 formats…a normal edition and a deluxe edition (which Mark Hoppus counts as the actual album). The deluxe edition has 14 tracks and the latter ones are certainly worth having!

In previous interviews Hoppus had stated that they were all bringing what they’d been doing in their time outside of Blink 182 into the Blink 182 music and that’s the feel of the album.

Neighborhoods feels like it continues where their self-titled album left off but without as much production and so there is more of a punk rock feel to this album with the lyrical maturity that Blink 182 reinvented themselves with self titled.

The album opens with ‘Ghost on the Dance Floor, a catchy Angels & Airwaves-esque track with Tom’s vocals giving you the feeling that Blink 182 is really back!

The whole album seems to mix the Blink 182 pop-punk sound with some of the darker sounds of Plus 44 and more stadium-rock style sounds of Angels and Airwaves and it seems to all fit together very well…lyrically it’s a pretty dark album (but with all the stuff that’s happened since the Blink 182 break-up who can blame them!) and it works.

Some of my personal favourites on the album so far…

Ghosts on the Dance Floor – It’s good fun, a fantastic album opener and so catchy I woke up with it in my head yesterday morning!

After Midnight - For me this song represents Blink 182 past, present and future…Tom’s vocals in the verse with a very Angels and Airwaves guitar and Mark taking over in the chorus with a heavier feel makes this song everything you’d want from a Blink 182 song!

Hearts All Gone – This song feels a lot more like punk-rock and is probably best compared to ‘My First Punk Song’ off the Boxcar Racer album although totally different lyrically and in length. Hoppus’ punchy vocals and Barker’s agressive drums make this song awesome!

Kaleidoscope – This song reminds me so much of some of the more mellow Plus 44 songs like ‘Little Death’ and ‘Weatherman’. There’s something about the sort of lyrics that Mark Hoppus writes for these songs that’s brilliant.

Even if she Falls - This song is the last song on the deluxe edition and I’m amazed it’s not on the normal version. It’s a very Blink 182 song very similar to some of the more simple songs on their self titled album. The whole song is just Tom on vocals but it works really well with his lower verse vocals and higher chorus vocals making it a fantastic end to the album.

Are Blink 182 back on form?

The brave step that Blink 182 took with Self-Titled was to re-invent themselves and move on to more serious music and as they return with Neighborhoods 8 years later with all of the band having done a variety of projects Neighborhoods is everything I’d hoped for as a Blink 182 fan, it’s catchy, it has the best of Plus 44 and Angels & Airwaves blended with Blink 182 and is definitely worth buying…but make sure you buy the deluxe edition.

If you’re not convinced by my pro-Blink ramblings you can stream the entire album here

09/27/11

Fairtrade Maltesers

Today the Fairtrade foundation and Mars chocolates have made the exciting announcement that next year Maltesers will go Fairtrade.

This is especially exciting as the last thing I’d heard (over a year ago) was that Mars were signing up to Rainforest Alliance and certified Cocoa and not Fairtrade but the press release today suggests this is just a step to making more products Fairtrade (rather than Nestle’s ‘token fairtrade product’ nonsense).

Hopefully Mars will follow in the footsteps of Cadburys in expanding their Fairtrade range…I’m looking forward to a Fairtrade Mars bar!

Which Fairtrade Mars product would you like to see? Why not click here to contact Mars and suggest a product you’d like to see Fairtrade.

Here’s an exert from the press release. You can read the full release here

LONDON, UK (27 September 2011) — Mars Chocolate and Fairtrade International today announced an agreement to introduce the first Fairtrade labelled Mars product. As part of the initial phase of the agreement the first Mars product to carry the FAIRTRADE Mark will be MALTESERS®. The move, which will appear in stores in 2012 in the UK and Ireland, will contribute in excess of US $1 million in annual Fairtrade Premium funds for cocoa farmers to invest in their farms, business organisations and communities. MALTESERS® is the third biggest confectionery brand in the UK, and its switch will  represent more than a 10% increase in total UK Fairtrade sales.  (see Note 3 in Fairtrade Foundation section below).

At the heart of the agreement is a shared ambition to make commodity certification that supports sustainable livelihoods for farmers the norm in the cocoa industry. Over the long-term, Mars will explore how best to scale up its purchases of Fairtrade cocoa, and will support Fairtrade’s continued efforts to develop measures that would allow more confectionery companies to increase their commitments to purchase more Fairtrade cocoa with the aim of impacting the lives of more cocoa farmers than ever before.

This blog will also appear on my new Ethical Living UK blog – Read the ethical blog here