We can't say it better than The Times...

The Death Of Common Sense

London Times Obituary of the late Mr. Common Sense
Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as: Knowing when to come in out of the rain; why the early bird gets the worm; Life isn't always fair; and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.

It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an Elastoplast to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband; churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason. He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers; I Know My Rights, I Want It Now, Someone Else Is To Blame, and I'm A Victim.

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.'

And a little extra........................

Can you imagine working for a company that has a little more than 600 employees and has the following statistics?

29 have been accused of spouse abuse
7 have been arrested for fraud
19 have been accused of writing bad cheques
117 have directly or indirectly bankrupted at least 2 businesses
3 have done time for assault
71 cannot get a credit card due to bad credit
4 have been arrested on drug-related charges
8 have been arrested for shoplifting
21 are currently defendants in lawsuits
84 have been arrested for drink driving in the last year

Which organization is this?
It's the 635 members of the House of Commons, the same group that cranks out hundreds of new laws each year designed to keep the rest of us in Line.

Here's this week's harvest ...

 

Lorraine
Saved
new single 10 December
Lorraine have played a couple of shows at Cardiff Barfly, I had a chance to chat to Ole and was really impressed. The Lorraine sound is very accomplished and though commercial there is a dark 'underside' - new single saved is superbly produced by Dave Bascombe of Tears For Fears fame, they broke into the chart last year and hopefully 'Saved' should consolidate and tempt bigger success

Undercut
Hot In That
new single 3 December
Wow, I'm impressed with this Bristol based outfit Undercut .. a great bassline intro and a compact and brilliant 2 mins 50 secs.. great chorus
Hot in fact

Kate Walsh
Tonight
new single 3 December
I could fall in love with this Kate, each song of her songs is beautifully constructed and performed, her vocals are so so intimate ... Tonight is probably tooo good to be a big hit. However it's a samrt move to get her album out for £8 at Asda recently, there won't be any disappointed investors

Matt Costa
Mr Pitiful
new single 7 January
I warmed up for Matt last year and was really impresssed with his warm stage presence, the audience loved him, it was a full house and demonstrates great potential for Matt to follow in Jack Johnson's footsteps. Mr Pitiful is an original (not an Otis Redding cover), a jaunty little number which should hit the top forty come early January

Parka
Disco Dancer
new single 7 January
Parka have a bit of go about them, pretty up-tempo in your face punked up pop. They play a short tour taking in Cardiff Barfly this week and it should help them build on their growing following.. early January hit potential