Restoring me, to my rightful place

In my last post on here I was criticising Reform. Constructive criticism - hopefully - but criticism nonetheless. Now, all of a sudden, I'm back defending them. Herded by circumstance back into the fold. The reason: we have a new party in town. The long-awaited Rupert Lowe party. Its name, Restore Britain.

Naturally; instinctively; impulsively; true-to-form; I've fired off a few tweets at people.

Yet then comes the inevitable realisation:

"I'm once again getting my knickers in a twist, aren't I?"

Is this the very purpose of Restore Britain? Is it literally there to corral all the racists and oddballs into one playpen. In turn herding more moderate people like myself into the loving embrace of the real darlings.

Contrariwise, however, there's always the darker fear that Restore are there to undercut, supplant, sabotage Reform. In which case my tweets are a needed insurance.

Then, likewise, there's the more straightforward, though somewhat less plausible possibility, that all these people are just entirely sincere in their views and want an alternative political vehicle. Maybe they're all just racists and oddballs, all the way to the top? Hmm..

Either way, the key takeaway, though I've said this before, is that I need to be a bit nicer to people on Twitter. If it's all fun and games I need to play with a nod and a wink. Not with Cromwellian fury.

A Holiday For The Unemployed

Reform have a gone a bit Thatcherite. Well, they were always a bit Thatcherite, so I guess too Thatcherite would be more apt. When Robert Jenrick joined a few weeks back he was speaking about "scroungers" on benefits in his defection speech. It's not exactly loving language, is it. Now Farage is in similar mode. Though naturally his words come with an advertisement jingle charm. His latest line being that people are, "on the sick for mild anxiety." The word mild offering a nuance that Jenrick's cruder speech can't match.

I think this direction of travel is bad electorally, but more importantly, it's unfair on our population. We want a party (hopefully a government) that "looks after our people." We want a bit of care and attention. The pejorative language suggests otherwise.

It's understandable. Few, if any of these Reform politicians and ex-Tories have direct experience of being unemployed or of being on sickness benefit. They come from a different world. In short, they're not working class - and naturally it's hard to have a nuanced understanding of something without direct experience of it.

This brings us back to the mild in that 'mild anxiety' line. Someone off work for anxiety might garner some understanding and sympathy. The prefix mild renders any such sympathy unwarranted. There's nothing wrong with this person. They need to pull up their bootstraps. No sympathy required.

But this is the thing..

This is partly why the economy is so skewed in the first place. Over the last twenty-five years 'fit and healthy' unemployed people have been demonised and hounded. The endless hoop-jumping and cross-examinations. It's like army boot camp. Sure, some people survive the process, get motivated and get into work, but others end up a nervous wreck. Their sense of agency and self-value dwindling by the day or week.

Try to imagine being a long term unemployed person. When you apply for a job you're putting yourself out there to be judged. It's a lot like asking a girl out. It's easy said, but harder done. The potential rejection, embarrassment, sense of humiliation. Imagine you're applying for jobs every week and getting knocked back. At some point you're going to think, "I'm not good enough, no one needs me ..I'm never gonna get a girlfriend."

"What's the point in putting myself through this endless humiliation?"

That feeling of, "I can't face this."

Now yes, I know what you're thinking if you're reading this and you're in work, or you're one of those hyper confident go-getter type people:

"That's no excuse," you'll think, "They need to keep trying; they need to keep knocking on the door and applying for jobs ..I get out of bed every day."

However, we're human beings, we're flesh and blood, and the long term unemployed are in a weird purgatory. Endless applying for jobs and trips to the jobcentre, mixed with an endless apprehension about what the next job application will bring. An interview, be it online or in person is stressful. If you do get a job it's a complete step into the unknown, and you naturally worry about how you'll fit in or be able to cope. Along with more practical concerns, such as how you'll get there/is there public transport. Even as you're filling in the application form you'll have these concerns.

So again, imagine the unemployed person. They have a bit of anxiety or depression, or they're just going through a few bad weeks. But, as they're 'fit and healthy' it's deemed that they 'should be looking for work with go-getting vigour.' So they're given zero leeway. They have to apply for more jobs this week, and if they don't then their benefits may get sanctioned.

Obviously it's going to be very tempting for this person to go on the sick with that anxiety or depression. Or whatever other ailment it is. That way they'll get some space and some sympathy. That way their benefits won't get stopped.

So, in effect, we're pushing unemployed people onto the sick.

It's such a dumb thing to do as well, as sick people are so much more expensive to the state than your standard unemployed. The healthcare, the medications - that they have to take, as it justifies the sick status. (Again, if you have anxiety and you're on the sick you can't exactly turn down the tablets, as that's like admitting you're not sick enough to be on the sick. It's a vicious cycle: medication dependencies develop, when a bit of time off and space to breathe would've ameliorated the problem.)

Then once people go on the sick it becomes a lifestyle. It becomes habit. So it becomes even less likely the person will enter employment, as now they have two hurdles to jump. They first need to make the leap from being "On The Sick" to being "Unemployed," something that will naturally come with anxieties and apprehensions.

These problems could be avoided by simply giving regular unemployed people a bit more leeway.

Holiday Entitlement For Unemployed People

One of my ideas is to give holiday entitlement to unemployed people. Just as workers get approximately five weeks a year, so too should the unemployed.

I know, anyone one millimetre to the right of Jeremy Corbyn will be screaming right now.

"WHAT !! 😡 ..holidays for people who don't even work !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! "

I'm not here to appease an audience though, I'm here to solve problems. If someone spends three or four months solidly putting themselves out there and looking for work then a break at some point will be great for their headspace. Once more, it's the endless sense of purgatory that makes unemployed people seek refuge in sickness benefits. If you can avoid that by giving them a break and a sense that they can switch off at some point, why not do that?

UBI is a whole year of that, and that's in the political dialogue, so why can't my more practical option be considered?

[And no, before you ask, I'm not unemployed myself 😅 I'm not arguing for my own freebies ..though I have been unemployed in the past. In fact, I've been in my current normie job for about five years now, which is my all time record. So I'm worried by writing about it I'll jinx things. Hopefully I won't wilt like a delicate flower again and end up back in purgatory. I am writing from experience.]

Conclusion

I've went on a bit long now. [You can throw the label "scrounger" around all you like, but somehow I've ended up correcting Reform's homework, on my day off work, for free. Perhaps some of these politicians need to work a bit harder ;) ]

Anyway, the conclusion is: politicians need to stop seeing unemployment as a cancer that requires zero tolerance, and instead need to start seeing it as a natural part of the economic bodily system. Yes, ideally there'd be less of it, but life is messy. Modern economies are very complex and messy. So fitting every human into the perfect slot, for every single day of their lives isn't going to happen.

The incentives need to be right. People need to be financially better off in work. Likewise, we need to stop pushing the unemployed towards sickness benefits. I compared being unemployed to being in boot camp earlier. A healthier comparison would be army reservists. Politicians would fare better if they viewed unemployed people as a reservoir of potential workers that can be used when needed - that need looking after - rather than viewing them as a group of people to be despised and hated.

They need to stop trying to purge unemployment with fire; they need to start manging it with intelligence.

"I am ..these words"

Why There Are No New Music Subcultures in the 21st Century

In the 20th century there were countless well defined and easily recognisable subcultures:

Goth; Punk; Soul; Hip-Hop; Dance; Indie; Britpop; Emo; Grunge; Heavy Metal; Hippies; Jazz; Funk; Blues ..the list goes on.

In the 21st century, not so much. In fact, so far it seems people are happy to just rehash and pick 'n' mix the fashions of the 20th century.

Why is this? Why has the originality died?

I think the reason is the Internet.

Before the Internet people lived and met and signalled their "coolness" in public (sorry, a very 20th century word there - insert whatever the modern equivalent is young reader). Music was played "in the room" - in clubs and pubs, at parties and festivals. So fashion, appearance - how you looked - was important. You went to physical places where music was played, and appearance was the primary way in which you communicated your coolness, credibility, desirability. It was your billboard of communication.

However, after the advent of the Internet, people met more online - so the online billboard became much more important. Avatars, memes, selfies, values (i.e. politics, views, likes/dislikes). Of course, selfies somewhat blend the physical appearance with the online appearance. With filters and artistry being used to enhance the ever-more-important need for online appeal. The fact that reality often doesn't match the image almost fails to matter.

So subcultures have moved away from real world physical appearance and much more towards online imagery and ideas. Subcultures aren't "in the room" anymore. They're somewhat more aethereal. Things conveyed in the abstract, in online spaces. So Goth and Punk have been replaced by Gamer, Incel, Woke, Tradwife, Alt-Right, Truther, and so forth. All these online labels and scenes. Often centred not around fashion and music, but around political values, online aesthetics and lifestyle (albeit presented-lifestyle perhaps more so than actual lifestyle).

Conversely, music has became more private. With people listening through AirPods and headphones. In their own little world as they sit on the bus. No longer in the room, but in the private space. On top of this, as views/politics (your bio) has became more important, music has been forced to take second place, as the person who shares your political identity might not necessarily like the same music you like.

So we don't group around music as much. Meaning music and physical fashion simply aren't as central to social life as they were in the 20th century. It's not that the originality has died. It's just that it's moved into a different medium.

[Art expresses itself in the technology of the era. Just as portrait painting (the original selfies) and sculpture were once the epitome of high art, only to later take a backseat as photography, radio and movies came to the fore.

A person living in the 20th century might well have asked:

Where are all the Raphaels and Michelangelos?

But it wasn't that art and creativity had died, it was just that the modern Michelangelos were making Rock 'n' Roll records and Star Wars movies by that point.]

Online Music Scenes

People may argue that there have indeed been new music subcultures in the 21st century. Things like Vaporwave and Sea-Punk spring to mind. (No doubt more clued-up people will be able to name other genres.) I'm sure this is somewhat true. There's never a hard line in the sand where one era ends completely. However, these exceptions tend to prove the rule, as:

a) they're very online

..and b) they're very derivative of 20th century fashions

Sea-Punk obviously taking some of its elements from Punk, and Vaporwave harking back to 80s and 90s aesthetics.

In fact, it reminds me of something my friend told me that always makes me laugh. He was on a course and there was a young girl in her early 20s with dyed green hair. He asked her if she had green hair because she was into Sea-Punk 😅. Of course, the girl had no idea what he was talking about and just thought he was a weirdo.

(I doubt the girl on the course

looked quite like this)

It's so funny to me that he would even ask that. The online world and the real world are not the same place.

An even better example of a modern music genre could be Bardcore - where popular songs are remade in a medieval or renaissance style. Naturally it comes with medieval visual aesthetics and avatars. However, the people listening to and making this music aren't going out and dressing in medieval garb when they get on the bus (though it might be privately playing in their headphones). So, again, it's largely tailored for an online world.

It'll be interesting to see how things go as we move further into the digital world. A world where people often see your "bio" before they ever see you in person.

Beyond Risk

Another post about Beyond.

On Tuesday I upped my stake in Beyond Meat. On the Monday night I had an "Okay, I'm in" moment. The stars began to align and I just felt it ticked enough boxes. So I took my number of shares from 502 to 1,313.

According to my eToro account the stock now accounts for 6% of my portfolio, but 60% of my risk, lol.

Since then the stock has actually went up a decent amount. Though it's still under a dollar per share as I type.

I'm liking the look of things, so I'm starting to feel optimistic for the long term. The only worry really is that there are quite a lot of vegan and vegetarian products on the market. In UK supermarkets Beyond is one of many products on the shelves, and there are plenty of supermarket own brand type variations.

It takes me back to that very first post I made on this topic, where I was thinking about how to get ownership of the winning product(s) through buy-outs, etc.

Either way, I'm loaded up for the long term now. So it's sit back and watch I guess.

(The AI made this image. The prompt was: A food garden stock market chart with a green arrow going up, by Lucas Cranach the Elder and Jackson Pollock

It has a charm. I quite like it.)

It takes a little time..

I've made a graph.

(click to enlarge)

It illustrates how we need time to familiarise ourselves with something before we can begin to truly enjoy it. This applies to food, music, video games ..all sorts; and it was inspired by a conversation (slash argument) I had with my friend.

My friend plays music in a band. A folky-style band - nothing too heavy. And they have a gig coming up where they have to play three separate sets, of half an hour each. The venue isn't a pub or club, but a village fete type thing. So my friend and his little troupe aren't the main attraction, they're just one of a few local acts providing backing music as the visitors wander the various stalls and attractions.

Anyway, as they have ninety minutes to fill they're learning ninety minutes of material. A bit of a steep task - especially for such a little event. I said they should just play the same set three times. Maybe adding the odd song here or there if they want. However, my friend insisted that that would annoy people.

Obviously, I think he's wrong 😈

I actually think getting the chance to play the same set three times offers a huge opportunity they're foolish to miss out on.

First of all, the people there during the second or third set aren't necessarily going to be the same people that are there for the first. How long are these people spending there? So it's unlikely many people will hear all three sets anyhow.

Secondly, people won't even be paying attention to the music. They'll be too busy looking at the bric-a-brac and other curiosities. My friend will be lucky if he even gets noticed. (That sounds a bit harsh, lol. I don't mean it to sound that way.)

Thirdly - and this is where the opportunity arises - by having people hear a song more than once there's much more potential that it'll get stuck in their heads.

During the first set people won't consciously notice the background music, but during the second - when the songs are that little bit more familiar - suddenly they might. That's when the humming or singing along can occur. Then they notice. Then it's, "What's this?", "Who are these guys?"

You're essentially fast-tracking people through two or three gigs worth of exposure in a single day. The perfect advertisement opportunity. Three ads for the price of one.

My Friend Still Wasn't Buying It

He insisted that it doesn't work like that. More to point, he claims that he knows instantly whether he likes a song or not on the very first time of hearing it, and that other people have this instant awareness too. I think he's overestimating his powers of judgement and perception though, and underestimating how easily the brain gets tricked.

I've discussed this before on here. I think with new music it takes a few goes to get acclimatised. A good example is when you buy a new album.

You maybe buy a band's album because you like the single from it. When you start listening to the album the single itself is a joy to hear - you're tempted to just put it on repeat. However, the other album tracks are harder going. You're just not feeling them the same way. But then it happens. After a few listens some of the album tracks begin to stand out. (Assuming it's actually a decent album that is.) Then you start enjoying those tracks as much as the single. In fact, one of those other tracks could well be a future single that's yet to be released. It didn't sound like a single the very first time you put the album on, but now, all of a sudden, it does.

You're rewarded for that bit of effort and perseverance.

With the first single you didn't need to make that effort. As you'd already subconsciously heard it in the background on the radio, or in other places, multiple times before. Long before you started humming it and wanting to buy it.

So there's that little period of unfamiliarity, where it isn't enjoyable. Once you get past that the real enjoyment begins. Then, after a while, it gets overfamiliar - that's when boredom sets in. Hence the tail end of the graph.

People often complain that they're bored and that they want new music (or new food, or whatever else). But they're usually not willing to put the effort in to overcome the unfamiliarity of new things. They hear something for five seconds and say, "No, don't like it!" 😠

And the more new or unfamiliar something is the more this is the case.

For instance, say someone likes Radiohead. If you play them a band that sounds similar to Radiohead, they won't have that, "Don't Like It!" response. As it sounds familiar. However, as it's derivative and samey it'll get boring for them pretty quickly, and it'll never give them the high that Radiohead gave them.

In contrast, if you play that same person a band that sounds very different to Radiohead they will indeed have that, "Don't Like It!" first impression ..and they'll push it away. Like a baby pushing away a spoonful of unfamiliar food.

As they're unwilling to try it again they'll never get over that initial "unfamiliar" period. So they'll never get to experience the high that that music might have offered them.

It's similar with food. If someone offered me a pack of pickled onion Quavers that'd be a novel experience for me, and there'd be a slight apprehension that I might not like them. However, it wouldn't be that novel. I've had Quavers before. I've had other brands of crisps that are pickled onion flavoured. So it's not too difficult to imagine what pickled onion Quavers might be like, and it wouldn't take too long to judge their merits.

However, if someone offered me some weird food from another country, with some weird name, that I had little frame of reference for, that would be different. Then I'd need a bit more time to acclimatise. The first time trying it I'd be truly out of my depth. "Hmm. Okay, that's not too bad, I guess." It'd only be the second or third time that I'd truly settle down to comfort binge on that food (assuming I did end up liking it).

"Go on, give us another one of those whatever-they're-called. They're not too bad, actually."

Before you know it they're your new favourite food and you can't remember a time when you didn't like them.

Nevertheless, my friend really disagrees - and maybe you do too.

If I'm right his folk band are missing a trick at their gig though.

From the Back of Beyond

I'm here with another post about Beyond Meat. Since my last post on the topic I've been watching the share price bounce around. Though, saying that, the volatility seems to have disappeared somewhat. I've also bought a little more. So I'm now in a position where I can lose. Though only a few hundred dollars. Nothing criminal.

I've been doing a little bit of research too. Again, nothing major, just asking Grok questions and doing a few Google searches. Thanks to this I've learnt a few things:

• Sales for meat substitute products like Beyond Meat have dropped in the last few years. (I already knew this, but seeing some ballpark figures for 2024 helped get a better sense of things.)
• Quorn, which is big in the UK, has a presence, albeit small, in the US Market.
• The general mycoprotein production patent for Quorn ran out about fifteen years ago (the main ingredient in Quorn products is mycoprotein, derived from a fungus). Meaning any company can now make a similar product.

This is interesting to me as I normally buy what I like (stocks wise). As I mentioned on here before, unusually for me I was buying $BYND stock even though I'd never tried the product. Since then I have. In fact, I actually bought some more - and this time made cheeseburgers. Uplifting the vegan option into a vegetarian one.

However, I've also since bought Quorn pieces as well. My recent delving into this topic inspired me to revisit a dish I haven't eaten in about twenty years. As a child my mam used to make sweet and sour pork - it's kind of a family recipe. That is, the versions you'll find on the supermarket shelves aren't what I remember liking as a child. Anyway, after I first became vegetarian my mam kept making it for me, only with Quorn pieces instead of the pork. As it was the one meat-based meal that I really missed.

It's basically just rice, pineapple chunks, soy sauce, cornflour and the meat itself.

(I'm actually a big fan of pineapple in proper food. I'm one of these people that likes pineapple on pizzas. I think cooked fruit in general goes massively underused and under-explored - there's still this sense that it must be eaten either raw/cold or only as some kind of treat. A steak pie is a meal, but an apple pie is a dessert. "Why can't I have apple pie for tea?" I would always ask as a child, "I thought apples were healthy?"

That reminds me, with it being winter, I must buy a strudel. And I'll eat it as the main meal, not as a dessert.)

This brings me to the point. Part of the answer to that childhood question is the lack of protein. A meal needs some substance. Rice with pineapple chunks and some sauce isn't very filling. It would be a bit light, and not really worth the hassle of boiling all the pans. However, if you add some pork (or, in my case, Quorn), suddenly you have something a lot more satisfying. So I've been making a mess in the kitchen knocking up this meal once again. Nostalgia through tastebuds.

The Two Types of Substitute

It seems there are two types of meat substitute. One that seeks to recreate the direct experience and flavour of eating meat. The other that simply provides a substitute for the protein in dishes.

The Beyond Burger does the former. Quorn (at least the Quorn pieces that I buy) do the latter.

When I make Sweet and Sour Pork the flavour comes from the pineapple and the soy sauce, and the oil and the cornflour that I fry the Quorn pieces in. I don't really care if they taste identical to pork or not.

So, speaking on a personal level, as a consumer - and as a vegetarian - I could see Quorn being a more regular part of my shopping basket. Whereas the Beyond Burger would be less routine for me. I'd happily have a Beyond Burger on a trip to McDonald's, and I'd occasionally buy them as a, "We haven't had burgers in buns in a while," option. However, as I've mentioned before, I've never been a big fan of chomping down on a steak. That's not me. I'm not really an eating meat all the time type of person. I do need protein though. Especially in Indian/Oriental dishes where I can't just "have cheese with it." Plus, Quorn has the appeal of being a single ingredient product (pretty much).

Of course, ninety percent of the market is people who actually eat meat. Who like eating meat. Who like that taste. So, weirdly, they're more the potential market for the "direct experience" products. And that's a big market.

[The sales pitch to those people has been awful in recent years though. I'll add an addendum explaining why.]

So why don't Beyond Meat just whack out some mycoprotein pieces onto the market?

This returns us to the above bullet points. When I saw that the patent had expired my immediate thought was, "Why don't Beyond offer a similar product?" Capitalising on their global brand dominance.

Working through the question with Grok there are a few obvious hurdles. Mainly developing (and funding) the facilities/experience/knowledge to do it. As ever, nothing is so simple in real life. There's also the problem of potentially confusing the customer. Not having a clear brand signal. Plus, of course, I'm just one person. Not everyone wants what I want. Though given Quorn's success and longevity in the UK they must be doing something right.

Therefore, if I was investing in what I myself buy at the check out, I'd be a bit more inclined to invest in Quorn. (They're owned by the multinational Monde Nissan, that's listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange - a bit beyond my reach and knowledge.)

(The other famous long-established brand in the UK is Linda McCartney, whose parent is now the US food company Hain Celestial. As with Innocent, which is now owned by Coca-Cola, we're often ahead of the curve, then we get bought out.)

(AI knocked this one out, so strange

they still can't get the text right. Kinda

makes it more visual though.)

///////////////////////////

Addendum

Let's say you like ice cream, it's one of your favourite foods. Then I develop a product that's similar to ice cream.

However, instead of saying, "Hey, you like ice cream, you may also like this."

I say to you, "You're very naughty for eating ice cream. My product will completely replace it, and if I have my way you'll never eat another bowl of ice cream as long as you live."

How would you feel about my company and my product? I'm not only chastising you, I'm the guy that's taking away your favourite food, your bowl of ice cream, your childhood treat ..forever.

Not a great marketing pitch. You're probably going to hate me and my company. Fear it even. Fear I'm going to force you to change your life in some fundamental way that makes you worse off.

Well, that's been the marketing push to 90% of the market when it comes to meat substitute products. Especially during what we might call "The Woke Era."

So, lesson number one, the customer is king.

AI Art Gallery - Neo Northern Renaissance

It's snowing today. But let's not talk about today. Let's talk about yesterday. Yesterday I was playing around making AI art. I say 'making,' but really I was just typing prompts into Dezgo (my favoured image generator).

My prompts usually go along the lines of: something I'm interested in + historic artist I like

Anyway, yesterday I hit upon the, "Goth Woman painted by Jackson Pollock and Lucas Cranach the Elder ..with horoscope" aesthetic.

The mixing of two disparate artists with the medieval astrological vibe just worked for me.

Then it was just a case of generating dozens of random images to find the few that had that je ne sais quoi.

These were my picks. [Beware: not for everyone]

Welcome to my art gallery..

Then, finally, there's this one: that I'm dubbing the AI Mona Lisa. Yes, it's a touch explicit. That AI left the nipples really says something about how far the technology has come. Of course, lots of Lucas Cranach the Elder paintings feature bare-breasted women - so the inspiration is obvious. Still.. In fact, Dezgo has a tendency towards showing the female form nude, so you have to be careful. (There are a few images that I've kept that I daren't show publicly ..purely - and only! - for their artistic merits I should say.) Anyway, this one has a real allure. Like Blade Runner meets 'Allo 'Allo's "the fallen Madonna with ze big boobies."

When I'm rich enough to buy my chateau this will be hanging above the mantelpiece.