Monthly Archives: November 2009

The 50 top guitar riffs – and some of my own faves.

Posted by Wendy on November 30, 2009 3 comments

airguitarmanWhoa that’s a scary sight – almost as bad as a shot of dad-dancing - but come on all you guitar fans, you’ve all done a spot of shadow-playing in the bedroom with the door shut and I’ll bet you’ve even used the tennis racket or hairbrush when you’ve felt really serious about a song…

Good news. MusicRadar have released their list of the 50 Top Guitar Riffs which should have you all heading back to the bedroom for some serious Van Halen or Thin Lizzy moments. Of course the master of the guitar riff, Jimi Hendrix, topped the list with Voodoo Child – those of you who worshipped the master will be left in no doubt that this was the correct choice but he is a little before my time so I cannot say either way. But it is not just the guitar that has been favoured with the riff and I can think of several instrumental moments that stand out on their own for sheer hair-on-the-back-of-your-neck stuff:

+ The sax solo in Gerry Rafferty’s ‘Baker Street’

+ The flute solo in Men At Work’s hit ‘Down Under’

+ The sax solo (once again) in George Micheal’s ‘Careless Whisper’

+ The incredible trumpet solo during the ballet sequence of the film version of George Gershwin’s ‘An American in Paris’ – played by MGM’s resident orchestral musician Uan Rasey – it lasts just a few bars but once heard it is never forgotten. That guy played those few bars with every fibre of his being. Pianist Oscar Levant noted at the time that had the late Gershwin been alive to have heard it he would have adored it as that is exactly how he wanted that riff played.

+ The piano ‘cadenza’ in Eric Carmen’s seventies hit ‘All By Myself’  – and yes, the tune was taken from Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 5, the second movement in fact.

Got any of your own favourites…? then share them with us!

Copyright © 2007-2012 Cultured Views. All rights reserved.

Baby Peter Update: sacked social services boss, Sharon Shoesmith, in line for huge payout.

Posted by Wendy on November 30, 2009 3 comments

sharonshoesmithThis disgusting episode in the history of so-called ‘child welfare’ in the United Kingdom drags along as Haringey Council’s sacked departmental boss, Sharon Shoesmith, continues her fight for compensation over her dismissal following the  systematic abuse and murder of 17 month old Peter Connolly.

That her department and team of social workers repeatedly made error after error in their handling of this case carries no doubt whatsoever. That this poor little boy suffered abject misery while they all pissed around following their damned ‘guidelines’ carries no doubt at all. That this beautiful little boy was eventually killed in his own cot by one of the three savages that Sharon Shoesmith’s workers left him at the mercy of has become engrained in the minds and consciences of people both in Britain and around the world. It seems everyone mourned the violent death of this little innocent while those responsible have used taxpayers money in an attempt to avoid prosecution and escape accepting their responsibilities.

The general theme running through all this folks is ‘It wasn’t our fault, we did all we could’. It is a tragedy and a disgrace that those who seem so intent on destroying their own children are never matched in their efforts by those who should be twice as determined to save them. Ms Shoesmith will use a secret Ofsted Report in her efforts to gain financially out of all this but whatever rubbish was written, read, ignored and then covered up, two glaringly obvious facts remain – little Peter Connolly is dead and Sharon Shoesmith stands to make a fortune from the whole thing.

Copyright © 2007-2012 Cultured Views. All rights reserved.

A victory for the bullies: sacked dinner lady, Carol Hill, loses her appeal for reinstatement.

Posted by Wendy on November 30, 2009 1 comment

carolhillYou would naturally assume that the welfare of a child at school was more important than politics or protecting the way in which issues are dealt with – especially when protecting those issues involves outright dishonesty. School dinner lady – or EX-school dinner lady to be more precise – Carol Hill has discovered that doing the right thing can not only upset the hierarchy but land you in a peck of bother at the same time. Mrs Hill has lost her appeal against her unfair dismissal.

Mrs Hill was sacked from her job as a dinner lady at Great Tey Primary School in Essex for telling parents, Scott and Claire David, that their daughter Chloe’s experience of being bullied was quite different to the explanation given to them by the school. To recap read here, but basically Chloe had been found by Mrs Hill during lunch break tied to the school fence and being whipped with a rope by two boys while two others stood guard. The little girl’s legs and arms were covered with red welts and the incident was duly reported to her parents as ‘an accident with a skipping rope…’

Not even close would you say…?

Mrs Hill had not been aware of the schools pathetic explanation to Chloe’s parents and innocently enquired with them when she saw them later on about her well being – it was then that Scott and Claire learned the awful truth that their daughter had indeed been subjected not merely to bullying, but a terrible assault. For her trouble Mrs Hill was sacked for telling the truth and exposing what was obviously a disgusting cover up involving Head Teacher Debbie Crabbe and the board of school governors. One of the people on that board was Kathryn Spicer – the mother of one of the little brats who participated in the assault on Chloe. What a proud mum she must be…and it doesn’t take adding two and two together to work out why the David’s were fed such crap by the school. I have had experience in the past with the Mummy Mafia thing that exists in schools – and it does exist -and how much influence these self-important people can wield. They get involved in everything, expect a say in everything and assume a self-righteous entitlement to being more important than anyone else. And for their loyalty and efforts their kids enjoy total immunity from punishment when they get into trouble. Seen it all before…

Fortunately the parents at Great Tey school recognise shite when they see it and have threatened to withdraw their kids from the school if Mrs Hill is not reinstated – the local Education Board has responded with a statement that the school ‘achieves excellent targets’ (there’s that word…targets) and that ‘one isolated incident’ should not be allowed to tarnish it’s reputation.

Yes, protect those all important targets by all means – and let the safety of a child and the truth be damned…

Updated 06/01/11 – Carol Hill wins unfair dismissal appeal after decision overturned.

Copyright © 2007-2012 Cultured Views. All rights reserved.