<< Un-Welcome To London >>

Every year people from all over the world flock in their thousands to see the sights and experience the atmosphere of the glitzy, fashion-conscious, cool, sophisticated, chic, centre of all which is hip and happening. Yes, the City of London! But for all those of you who are thinking of booking that dream tour of the gold-paved cosmopolitan capital of Europe, think again. For the tourist has been deemed a terrorist threat and the London Police are going out of their way to make sure you do not have a nice time. There is no finer example of this paranoia, than the ever increasing number of people being verbally intimidated by security guards and police officers on duty in the capital. What is the reason for this harassment? For doing nothing more than taking a nice snap-shot of their visit to bendy-bus land. Yes if you are one of those shady characters who enjoys nothing more than taking a trip and recording the happy times by taking photographs, which you will stick into a big album or make a video postcard with, then think again.

People are now being told NOT to take photographs in London, for fear that they may be gathering information for a terrorist attack. In some cases the victim of this harassment is told to hand the camera over to the official, or they are forced to delete the 'offending' pictures. There have been more and more documented cases of people being made to feel like criminals, when all they are doing is taking a picture to send to Auntie Freda! I would have guessed, like many others, that if someone wanted to get a lay of the land in Laaaandan, then all they need do is click on 'Google Street View'. Lots of nice shots from both the sky and the ground. Maybe instead of picking on the public we should arrest the owners of Google?

This situation has affected me personally and my work has suffered. I was planning to do some video filming in London for a future lesson, but after various enquiries I found that I would not be allowed to film in most parts of the capital. This seems almost unbelievable as I'm a British citizen and will be using the camera for legitimate purposes. Of course there is another side to this story. Yes you have guessed it...Money! You can get permission to film in some places but you may find yourself having to hand over cash for that privilege. Still want to visit London? The UK is a big place and I can assure you that there are far better places to see here than the smelly, fume-filled 'Smoke' (A slang word for London).

The problem with cities like London is that they are born from an image, which is often given through the media and movies as a friendly, chic, sophisticated metropolis. Of course after you have paid for the flight and the over-priced hotel accommodation and been cheated by the cab drivers, and had to fight off aggressive 'big issue' sellers and the abusive drunk...well it is all a little too late to complain. So the new threat of being accused of working for Bin Laden can be added to the list of merry moments which can only come from spending time in one of the most unfriendly, pretentious, impersonal, over-rated cities on this planet.

Welcome to London - Enjoy your stay !!

(Misterduncan) .......................................................................

Misterduncan's Triple X X Xmas !! (2009)

This is my festive holiday video. It took two weeks to film and edit. All music was paid for by myself...from my own pocket! Feel free to sing along...The words are next to the video. Seasons greetings and have a happy 2010 !!
(Misterduncan)

<<< 2009 - An Up-Down Year !! >>>

So as we approach the final month of 2009, it is time to look back over the past year and take stock of what has occurred. From a personal perspective, my life has been fair to middling. I have been quite busy with my work. I feel a little disappointed that I did not achieve all of my goal this year. I had intended to make more video lessons, sadly due to the fact that I make these lessons all by myself, this task is not an easy one. In the early days I could film and edit a lesson in a week, but these days, because of the very nature of the videos and the techniques I use to make them, they now take much longer to produce. There are various reasons for this. As I said just, the filming is much more complicated and due to the fact that they are made in my house means that there is a great deal of setting up involved before any filming can start. Filming can take up to five days to complete and sometimes there is a break between shoots, of up to a week. I also find these days that I'm more willing to re-shoot parts of a lesson I'm unhappy with. This happened during the making of lessons 51 and 52. In fact I was so unhappy with how lesson 52 was going that I actually thought seriously of scrapping the whole project. Something I have never done before.

My plan this year was to find a place to film my lessons in. My first thought was to use a small office space. I thought that there would be somewhere I could rent and set up my studio permanently. However the costs involved here would have been sky-high. My new option is to move into a proper studio, which will give me more space to move in and will also allow me to have a permanent base from which to work. So I have replaced the office idea with the purpose built property proposal. This will mean that I will have to structure my work more carefully and try to make a real living out of my work. It is strange how my teaching work and my interest in video making has combined is this way. What I need to do now it make it pay.

As you all know my video lessons are posted for free and this will continue in the future. My aim is to keep this going, as I want as many people as possible, in as many countries as possible to have the chance to practice their English....for free!

So how to make something for free and make a living? This is a tough question and not one I have a definite answer to. So I'm hoping that by expanding what I do, I can earn enough to run a studio, with all the facilities needed to carry on making the lessons, and make them more interesting and vivid. I have already taken on private video making work and this was a good experience for me as it gave me the chance to expand my skills and earn a little cash. I was lucky enough to be asked to film a couple of amateur stage performances, which were both warmly commented on by those who watched them on DVD.

Many people have asked if there are any DVD's available of my lessons. At this time the answer is no. But in the future, if there is a demand for it, I may issue a Misterduncan DVD. We will see what happens. So as you can see, my aims are high, but the same problems exist as before. How to pay for it? I'm not the sort of person who desires wealth or riches. My one and only concern is to be able to do what I do well enough to help others, while being able to keep my belly full for a day!

So my resolution and plan for 2010? Of course I will be making more video lessons, plus I will be launching a new channel in January. This will still be aimed at those who are learning English, but there will be something extra special added to it. I will reveal more as the time draws nearer. I should be doing some more private video work next year too. One project is already in its early stages. Also hopefully next year I can find a suitable home for Hat For Rent Productions, which will allow me to produce more videos at a steady rate. We will see what happens.

My next project will be to replace lesson 6, which will be done in December. Right now I'm planning my Christmas message video. This should take a couple of weeks to make.

Before I finish today...I would like to say a special hello to all my new followers here at Blogger. I'm amazed that so many people are interested in my ramblings, but I do appreciate your joining me here....very much!

Till next time... Ta-ta for now!

(Misterduncan)

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<<< The Zzzzzzzzzz Factor >>>

During the 1970's, here in England there was a TV talent show called 'New Faces' and on this show people were given a chance to show off their skill or talent, be it dancing, singing, or telling jokes. Each performer would do their little act in front of a panel of judges and after, these 'experts' would offer their opinions on the act and give it points. Each week a person would be chosen as a winner to go through to the semi final, and so on. It was always a rule on this show that one of the judges had to be really mean and nasty and deride each contestant one by one. This formula proved very successful and many people tuned in, not only to see the acts, but to hear the 'nasty' remarks which the 'evil' judge would make. This show had a good run in the 70's but was eventually axed, due to new shows coming along. However this show was revived in the 1980's and enjoyed a short run, but people were not interested in 'end of the pier' acts anymore. It all seemd so lame, pointless and exploitive.

Now here we are in 2009 and once again the 'talent' show has become king. Once again we have the helpless and hopeless lining up in the desperate hope of being famous and loved. There can be no doubt that shows such as 'X-Factor', 'Britain's Got talent', 'Pop Idol', and...well the list goes on (depending which country you live in) are nothing new at all. The format is just a copy. Right down to the nasty judge who everyone loves to hate. The most annoying thing about this is the way in which it is being hawked as something new and exciting. In fact the TV talent show can be traced back to the 1950's, with a programme called 'The Gong Show'. Where a person would perform their act for a judge, who, as the shows title hints at, was holding a gong. If the act was terrible or boring, the judge would strike the gong and the contestant would leave the stage. Some of the acts on this show were awful, which added to the 'fun' of the show. Seeing someone humiliated on television is always going to draw a crowd. So you see all of this is nothing new. These tacky talent shows have been around for years and programmes such as X-Factor are nothing more than a combination of all of them.

Of course let us not forget the commercial value of these shows. There is a lot of money to be made from them. First from the commercial spots during each broadcast, then the phone voting system, which the viewers are charged a fee for using, and then the winning act itself, which will be nurtured and exploited by the same people who produce the show. If you still think this is worthwhile entertainment, then think again. It is mass exploitation and for the people behind these types of shows, it is very easy money...A win win situation.

If you are under the age of 25, these shows will seem fresh and new and you will be amazed at how a person could come up with such a wonderful shows. But in truth these are all reheated meals...and not particularly tasty ones at that. Sadly these days, television makers have run out of ideas and the best thing to do is remake the stuff that our dead grandparents would sit down to watch after putting our parents to bed. And while we are on the subject of entertainment, it is worth noting that whatever type of music you listen to...be it Jazz, Pop, Rock, or R'n'B. The money you spend on this music goes into the pockets of only two or three huge companies, who now own the rights to most of the music published on this planet. There are no independent music companies around anymore. Just like the television and movie industry....they are all in the hands of a few people. I tried to watch these talent shows, but from them I sense the feeling of 'this has all been done before'. The X-Factor? .....More like the 'Zzzzzz-Factor'. I feel sleepy just thinking about it.

(Misterduncan) ...........................................................................