[Written by a man still chuckling over the end of Barracuda]

[alexsarll]

Because Monday is always a good time to start thinking about the weekend - who's for girl pop night Cherry Bomb at the Betsey on Friday? It's very fun. And it's run by Bob Stanley of Saint Etienne, who are playing at the free festival in Finsbury Park on Sunday alongside Kelis, Jamelia, the Noisettes and various others; decent acts seem to start around 3pm.

Anyone signing a petition for more Harry Potter books is a mug as well as a muggle. For one thing, we don't even know yet whether there can be any more books after Deathly Hallows; personally, I'll be surprised if Harry makes it out alive. But beyond that...what would make anyone think that a retail conglomerate with an obvious vested interest is a better judge of when to end a series than its creator? A creator who, whether or not you agree with her every plotting decision or tendency to write increasingly sprawling books, has consistently demonstrated principle and good faith in her handling of her creations?

After about half the time, I already have more friends on Facebook than on Myspace, and Facebook doesn't even have bands. Which, I would imagine, is a significant component in its triumph, and heavens know I don't want the bands all following the traffic. Sites need to stop trying to be all things to all people; just as neither Myspace nor Facebook really works for blogging, so attempts to add music to Facebook seem forced, whereas music is Myspace's one genuine strength. There's room for the three to co-exist quite happily, so long as they're content to operate in different niches and don't get greedy. Of course, this being an era in which capitalism is slipping into the economic equivalent of compulsive eating, I might as well ask for the interfaces to be sorted out so they'll operate on flying pigs, but I can at least note the existence (for now) of the possibility.

I think yesterday can go down as the first basically successful picnic of the season, especially since the weather's mutability only kicked in about when I was planning to head off anyway. And all that without being too hot, either. That's how sunny days are meant to be.

Comments

[mylifebythesea.livejournal.com]

I think I'm going to Cherry Bomb, I'll probably be at St Etienne as well, never have got around to seeing them and free is a price that's right.

What does Facebook actually do except allow ex-girlfriends from the dawn of time remind you of horrors you never actually admitted to?

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

Not a lot. Yet somehow a much more addictive 'not a lot' than Myspace does.

St Et weren't great the one time I saw them live, but I imagine a short set in a London park would be a better setting than a dingy Sheffield venue on a rainy winter night.

[davegodfrey.livejournal.com]

I agree wholeheartedly with you on this.

I'm finding that Myspace is good for bands I like/know members of. facebook is for the people I know in real life/university, and Livejournal is for the people I might meet who write things I actually want to read.

[alexdecampi.livejournal.com]

Facebook is also a really good way of getting around work-enforced blocks on gmail, hotmail, etc. I use it to organise film shoots during office hours.

[alexdecampi.livejournal.com]

At the RVT for Kabarett on Friday night, doing a shoot beforehand then may or may not stay for the performances depending on how neurotic I feel about leaving my camera backstage. All signs point to Very Neurotic.

[alexdecampi.livejournal.com]

Erm, that would be Kabarett, thus proving something about this whole Facebook/Myspace thing, but I'm not awake enough to know what.

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

Exactly. So let's cross our fingers and hope they all come to understand this themselves, rather than getting all There Can Be Only One on each other's asses.

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

Is there much difference between Facebook and Myspace's messaging systems, then? I don't really use either very often.

Hope Kabarett goes well; I'm sure if I don't see you Friday I shall see you soon. Any good gigs on the horizon or is festival season hoovering everybody up?