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Pop music<\/strong><\/p>\n I was becoming that person I never wanted to be, who says: \u2018These are not tunes! You can\u2019t whistle \u2019em.\u2019 So I compared the current charts with the charts when I was a teenager in the early Eighties. The charts now are very homogeneous. Then, they were all over the place: a rock song, disco, punk, a novelty song about a chicken. It was about fun. That\u2019s what\u2019s missing from modern music. <\/p>\n Growing older<\/strong><\/p>\n In Western culture, we\u2019re very bad at revering older people. My grandparents lived with us and my memory of coming home from school is talking through the business of the day with them. I liked that. But a lot of older people find themselves on their own and that\u2019s a tragedy. When I go to Indonesia, I see huge extended families. It might be chaotic and cramped, but everyone\u2019s included.<\/p>\n Celebrity culture<\/strong><\/p>\n I react badly when I\u2019m introduced as \u2018a celebrity\u2019. When I was growing up, there were astronauts and scientists who attained celebrity as a consequence of talent. That process has been eroded to the point that you can now be \u2018a\u2019 celebrity \u2013 or that horrible abbreviation \u2018celeb\u2019. It sounds like a cross between a slug and a shed.<\/p>\n Forgotten heroes<\/strong><\/p>\n Sometimes people who are unashamed about self-promotion are the ones history remembers. But there\u2019s a treasure trove of people who, for the luck of history or their self- effacing manner, were not in the spotlight. If I could, I would devote time to telling their stories.<\/p>\n Science versus God<\/strong><\/p>\n What I find amusing is that the Higgs boson particle scientists were searching for was nicknamed the \u2018God particle\u2019. Yet, if it was found to exist \u2013 which they now say it does \u2013 it would mean perhaps there is no God. But nobody could agree whether it existed or not; even now it\u2019s just dots on a screen. It\u2019s been said that the higher you get into science, the more conceptual conversations start to resemble religious conversations. Perhaps science is the new God.<\/p>\n Modern comedy<\/strong><\/p>\n I don\u2019t like cruelty in comedy, ill-thought-out routines that get a reaction because there\u2019s a shock to them, when the subjects of the jokes are vulnerable people. Comedy should be escapist and thought-provoking. In straitened times, comedy is a useful safety valve for peopleto let off steam. It\u2019s a way of airing a sense of injustice in public so that politicians and bankers are brought down to size.<\/p>\n Teaching and ignorance<\/strong><\/p>\n I was horrified by a survey where a depressingly high number of kids couldn\u2019t match up chops with the correct animals. So I jumped at the chance to do a campaign \u2013 Farming and Countryside Education (FACE) \u2013 to reconnect kids with food. Parents have an obligation to get their kids outside because teachers are bogged down with the curriculum.<\/p>\n Gadget mania<\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019m a terrible one for gadgets. But what bugs me is that you buy something and six months later the update doesn\u2019t fit with it. It\u2019s our own fault. We\u2019re constantly shown glittering images of new devices and they\u2019re impossible to resist.<\/p>\n Britain\u2019s global tinkering<\/strong><\/p>\n We imagine ourselves to be more important than we are. What was a global empire is now a small country in northern Europe. The myth is: We\u2019ll send the chaps in\u2026 bish, bash, bosh! Then they all leave in tanks and planes, waving \u2018Jolly good luck!\u2019 It doesn\u2019t happen like that. You get embroiled in a long, costly war of attrition that never seems to achieve anything. Afghanistan is just tragic.<\/p>\n Cluster-qualms<\/strong><\/p>\n These are when one worry splits like an amoeba in two, then into four, then suddenly you\u2019ve got 64 worries. On a trip to the shops, you can\u2019t park. Then you think, I shouldn\u2019t be driving\u2026 But I need a car to get all the stuff. Do I need all that stuff? I should be growing my own vegetables. But I live in London and there\u2019s not enough space\u2026 Aarrgghh!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Pop music I was becoming that person I never wanted to be, who says: \u2018These are not tunes! You can\u2019t whistle \u2019em.\u2019 So I compared the current charts with the charts when I was a teenager in the early Eighties. The charts now are very homogeneous. Then, they were all over the place: a rock…<\/p>\n