Wednesday 12 October 2011

Happy Birthday to Me !!!!! - Three years old yesterday !!!!!

Three years ago this blog was born, with this post - http://barneteye.blogspot.com/2008/10/hello-good-evening-and-welcome.html - how times have changed since then. Let me be a little self indulgent and tell the new readers (and remind the older ones) how it all started. In February 2008, I emailed the then editor of the Hendon Times, Phil Crowther and suggested that the coverage of the local music scene was pretty poor. I offered to write a music column, focussing on the local music scene, free of charge for the Hendon Times ( I also run a music studio, which is my real job - http://www.millhillmusiccomplex.blogspot.com/ ). Phil said that he couldn't accomodate that for a number of reasons, but suggested I could write a blog on the new blog section of the Times. I saw this as a way to start. After writing a blog about then Council Leader Mike Freer (a subject I never intended to cover), I got a phonecall from Phil telling me that I couldn't write nasty blogs about Mike. Apparently he'd complained. As the blog built up popularity (often topping the most read list in the popular pages), Phil told me I had done well getting 200 hits a week !

Anyway it all went wrong with the Times (see the blog above for full details of how I upset them). They summarily sacked me as a blogger, without even bothering to tell me, just took away my password to log in. The blog disappeared of the index, although the blogs are there if you can find them. Here's one which may amuse you, where I explained how Brian Coleman is my dad -

http://www.times-series.co.uk/news/picture_galleries/2008/06/30/Rog+T+Blog+%28Imported+from+blog+module%29/3208915.Dr_Coleman_I_presume/ 

Anyway, Don't Call Me Dave gave me bell and expressed his support and suggested I start my own blog on blogspot. Of all the Barnet bloggers, DCMD is the one I respect the most, even though he is a true Tory. He argues his point and is dogged and accurate. He is not afraid to swim against the flow. He quit blogging when he decided it was pointless in Barnet to try and set a sensible Tory agenda. Says it all really.

Cut a long story short, now I get 1,000 a day on blogspot, so there was a happy ending ! Happy Birthday to me. I'm off to the 12 Bar to celebrate and sink a few cold ones.

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