Elwood blogs

In this shiny new computer age, with mobile telephony, digital television, the interweb and such like, it seems that communication and information are more freely and easily available than ever before. With this free and wide-ranging communication of course, come new forms of publication, perhaps the most notable of which being the 'blog'. What an odd and intriguing phenomenon it is. It seems to be part diary, part essay, part broadcast, part stream-of-consciousness, part manifesto. I myself haven't had much experience with blogging. I've read a few, the clear majority of which I found informative, educational and entertaining - perhaps it should be a BBC enterprise?!

The blog I've found myself reading most often though, is not by some anonymous Whitehall insider, or a slightly nutty octagenarian giving his view on youth culture. No. It has been the blog by our very own Leigh 'love child of the two Steves' Heggarty. I don't think I've ever read anything quite like it. This may be to do with my lack of blog experience, but I suspect it's more to do Leigh's unique writing style and more importantly, his unique world view. Dramatically different from my own, I find myself totally engaged by his tales on everything from his experiences as a youthful, anarchist punk rocker, to the most mundane of weekdays working in a local music shop. This, I believe, is what gives the 'blog' it's unique voice. It's not the expansive prose about the minutiae of a person's life; that's always been present, certainly in modern literature. It's the ability for anyone, young or old, educated or not, to express themselves, their thoughts and their feelings on absolutely any subject and to have it read by, or at least accessible to, millions upon millions of people around the globe. We live in fascinating times and make no mistake about it, in hundreds of years time teachers will be talking to their pupils about the advent of the internet in the same way that children today learn about the industrial revolution.

Well, after that (not-so) brief introduction to my thoughts on blogging, I'd best get on with actually writing one! Thanks to those of you who stuck with it right to the end of that blog. Now, I urge you, go and do something more productive with your time!

Mike 'Elwood' Hyde

Thanks for the plug Mike!- L.H.