Jolly Interesting Stuff™

This is not an easy post to write. For someone who calls themselves a writer today I fail in that pursuit as I don't have the words. After a wonderful three years the Jolly Interesting Stuff™ blog closes today. At least in its current form on blogspot. The newly created jonathanleecreative.com meant I was faced with a choice. To move this blog or to remain. There are a whole host of advantages in moving - ranging from fewer passwords to lose to SEO based positives - and as such the choice was not a difficult one. That's not to say I move without heavy heart. This blog has been home to some fascinating posts. We have interviewed actors, writers, newsreaders and fake cricketers. We have examined the political strain that one is faced with when drinking American and Russian cocktails. We have grown a ginger moustache. And, of course, who can forget the rather beautiful online romance with Julia Garang. So, yes, moving is tough. But move we must and reminiscing just prolongs the inevitable. So let's dry those eyes, stand up tall and leave with a smile on our faces. We have things to do.

You know me well enough to know that I wouldn't leave you with sadness in your heart. So, in something of a seamless join, the Jolly Interesting Stuff™ story continues immediately in its new location with Saying Hello. I knew you'd be pleased.

Before you go though, thank you blogspot and thank you. Maybe you'll come with me, maybe this is where you want to get off. Whichever it is let me say how much I have appreciated your loyalty to and interaction with this blog since 2007. It's been tremendous fun and exceeded even my wildest expectations. Thanks. With that, it's...

Goodbye.

When I'm not writing this blog - which is quite often - I am working. Supposedly. And I have a new website up that tells and shows you what I do. At some stage, proabably when I have a free year to understand the coding, this blog will seemlessly be attached to the website. For now though, it remains here in all it's jolly interesting glory.

Do head over to jonathanleecreative.com if you want to see what a freelance copywriter, creative and designer does. Don't click on the blog link though. You'll just end up back here. Which would be a waste of everyone's time.

This music video for the SixToes song Low Guns shows the view of the platform at Ravenscourt Park from a passing train. Only it's in slow-motion. And it's brilliant. The song itself I am not much fussed with. So second time around I watched it with The Mummers' Fade Away. Not intentionally, Chris Evans and I just had an unexpected but wholly wonderful syncing moment. It was nice.

The whole Andy Gray/Sexism debate (or Graysexgate) was rather passing me by. That was until this evening when my girlfriend asked me whether I thought Sky Sports were right to sack him. My senses were immediately heightened. This was a test wasn't it? I needed to give her the answer she wanted to hear. If I didn't I would be making my own dinner. Then I realised I'd be making my own dinner anyway as my girlfriend was going out, so I gave her my honest answer. And it goes something like this.

I'm not sure. What Gray and co-presenter Richard Keys said was stupid and I don't for one moment agree with them, but we all say stupid things don't we? We all say things we don't mean and we all say things we later regret. Purely on that basis I would say it was not a sackable offence. As I write there is apparently new evidence of Gray making sexist comments. It is these that have apparently led to his sacking. If it is true that he has made sexist comments before then it is right that he should be sacked. For two reasons. (Which is a shame really. If I had another five I could have turned this into a post for 7 Reasons and killed two birds with one stone*). The first reason is that Gray clearly doesn't learn from his previous mistakes. Not only is one forced to question his judgement but also whether he, in fact, does have a sexist streak. The other reason, though, is really the crux of this matter. It's how these comments were made, but more importantly, the environment they were made in.

Now, Jo Brand isn't my cup of tea. Her routine, whether it be on stage or sat behind a desk on a panel show, revolves around men. And more precisely the putting-down of the male species. Are some of her comments sexist? Yes. When you analyse it, most of them are. From a male point of view I have no problem with this. It's not her sexist comments that don't amuse me, it's the fact that I find her routine tired and predictable. But she is very popular as her winning of the 'Best Female TV comic' at last Saturday's British Comedy Awards goes to show. The only complaint people in forums and on the comment pages of the likes of Sky News had was that she wasn't funny. Not one person commented that she was sexist.

I wonder, therefore, if there would have been any reaction at all if Andy Gray had made the comments he did while appearing next to Stephen Fry on QI? Given his (former) occupation as a football pundit, then maybe. So let's change what he said slightly. Not so we lose the gist of what he said, but just so we move it away from football. Let's suppose Gray had suggested a woman could never be a bus driver because she has no sense of direction and can't read a map. Would that have been picked up as sexist and led to his sacking as both a QI and Sky Sports pundit? I am willing to bet that it would not.

This all leads me to conclude that we, as a nation, are happy with sexism so long as it is in the right environment. I am not sure that sits comfortably with me. The uproar on the likes of twitter over what Gray and Keys said, suggest many, many found it offensive. There are some very strong opinions out there. Can I find an equally strong comment about sexism from the likes of Brand? Based on the strength of the complaints about Gray and Keys such a comment would be that television corporations are effectively paying the likes of Jo Brand, the Loose Women, Lee Evans and Jimmy Carr to make sexist remarks. Can I find something like that? No, of course I can't. In fact, I find no comments calling them sexist at all. While I can understand why this is the case, I can't help but feel it is ever so slightly hypocritical of us. Racism doesn't stop being racism in certain environments so surely sexism shouldn't stop being sexism?

Or am I just being too idealistic?

*This is not a sexist comment.

Hopefully you won't need to have worked in advertising to understand the humour here, but if you don't find it amusing then I'd advise you to look for a weeks work experience in an advertising agency and then come back to watch it afterwards.

If you have ever wondered what New York City looks like from fifty feet under then this is for you. It's nearly 30 minutes in length, but well worth the watch. You can read more about it and view some amazing photos at undercity.org.

If you are an avid Jolly Interesting Stuff reader, you will remember that at the start of this year I told you about a film that was being made called Dream Racer. One man's dream to complete the Dakar Rally. Well, now that film has been made. And here is the trailer.



I could wax lyrical about how inspiring it looks, but I don't think I need to. It very much speaks for itself. To keep up to date with Dream Racer and view more clips you can visit dreamracer.tv and join the Dream Racer facebook group.

You may have been wondering what on earth is going on with Jolly Interesting Stuff as of late. It used to be filled with so many apparently random ideas. Catching 100 buses in one night; driving between New York and San Francisco 25 times to beat an iPod; getting engaged on on New Year's Eve.* Recently though there hasn't even been a flicker of a new challenge or a bizarre project. Well that's because I have been planning. And playing with next door's cat. And when you are planning and playing with next doors cat you really have to give it 100% of your time and attention. But now the planning is over and next door's cat has escaped, so I can finally tell you what I am doing next. (As well as 7 Reasons, Third Shepherd™ and getting Is This You? published).

The thing is, I'm not a cynic. I look for the positive. I take things at face value. Above all, I trust. But today I got an email that made me rethink all that. Or, at the very least, it made me delete my Friend's Reunited account. I had an email telling me I had a message from an old school 'friend'. For purposes of this post, let's call her Lucy. Now Lucy and I were never really friends. We were in the same class and I think we may have sat next to each other in Art or Science or something, but that was as close as we ever got. In hindsight, given that I am now with someone I truly adore, I am delighted, but I'd be lying if I said that at the age of ten I didn't like her. Quite why I liked her I can't remember now. I don't remember her making me laugh and by all accounts she wasn't much to write home about in the looks department either. But then again, neither was I. My plastic spectacles the only thing taking attention away from my schoolboy fringe. Somehow, in some way though, I did fancy her. And somehow, in some way, the whole class found out. Maybe I was naive, but the day she asked me what shampoo I used was the day I went home a very happy boy. I liked a girl and she appreciated my taste in hair cleaning products. When you're ten that is the kind of thing that gets you through your homework. Well it did me anyway. I suspect I was buoyant as I made my way to school the next day. Maybe this day was the day I'd get myself a girlfriend? It wasn't. I had been set up. Lucy wasn't interested in me. Or my hair. She was playing to the class. Pretending to be interested in me. I was mocked. You would think I would have felt humiliated. But I don't remember that being the case. I think I just laughed it off and went back to the playground to play cricket. Inside though, I must have been hurting. Because I never forgave her. Not that she ever asked for forgiveness. Or apologised. That is, until today. In her email, she writes:

It is sometimes fun to leave a message on a friend's phone saying how much you have just enjoyed their funeral.

If anyone ever says to you, 'I can't see myself as a fireman', buy them a yellow hard hat and a mirror.

When making an Indian, it is more fun if you are dressed as a cowboy.

To avoid funny looks from neighbours it is best to put laundry on the line that has actually been in the washing-machine.

There is a Russian photographer who goes by the name of Sergey Larenkov. He has been superimposing photos from World War II over modern photos of the exact location. And the results are stunning. You can see the rest here.

This post was written listening to the theme from The Dam Busters.

There are two of us picking up this man. We are a team. I have the strength and the sweaty brow, he has the experience and the hip-replacement. But we're doing it. We are actually getting this man back to his feet. He has been on the floor for ten minutes, which is too long for anyone to be on the floor of a shopping centre really. If I had actually realised he didn't want to be on the floor, I would have probably helped him up much earlier. But that's the trouble with cafe-curtains, sometimes they just don't allow you to see. Which is why, instead of helping him up, I am eating scones with my girlfriend and wondering which decade this part of the coffee shop is supposed to resemble. Based on the cafe-curtains we decide on 1947. Which was probably the year my future partner in lifting was first experiencing long trousers. Not that I've met him yet. In fact, I am completely oblivious as to what is about to happen.

It's amazing when you have a week off. Even if it's an unintentional week off like this one. You get sidetracked by origami and ginger cake. And, if you're lucky, you remember you used to do a blog. A blog like this one. There was a time when I was proud of this blog. It was a hub of activity and an integral part of 33 people's daily internet viewing. These days it hides in the shadows of other more important and popular irritants. It's sad really, I know I should do something to give it life, but like a doctor bored with his patient, I am happy to let it fade away. Unfortunately, I don't find myself possessing the necessary sadistic qualities. Everytime I try to let it die, I feel a tinge of regret. I remember - fondly - times when I used to write about American and Russian cocktails and I was in a thriving relationship with a young African girl who didn't exist. I want to write like that again. Or, more is the point, I want to feel like I want to write like that again. It was easy before. I didn't need to force it. I was just able to write. I don't know if I am suffering from a major case of 'bloggers block' or whether it is simply a case that young African millionaires have lost my email address. I guess that sounds like a cliché, but it's true. I did decide yesterday, though, that I should at least try. So we have a new layout and a new post. Maybe that will inspire me. Maybe it won't. But we'll enjoy finding out won't we?

This post was brought to you by tea and Test Match Special.

This was taken on the upper level of a car park in High Wycombe. I went there so you don't have to. At first I thought it was funny. I know I did because I laughed. But when you think about it, it's actually quite sobering.