The Loss of Pete Burns

Last weekend another celebrity from my childhood memories joined the growing group of celebs to leave us in 2016, Pete Burns passed away this has been reported as the result of a heart attack.

Who was Pete Burns and what did he do?
    Well for me he was a singer who went on to become even more famous for his looks and courting controversy with his TV appearances. He rose to fame through his music and particularly the hits that took him onto Top of the Pop with his second band Dead or Alive. The big hit for Burns was the 1985 classic "you spin me round" which is still an awesome tune to hear and was used at the beginning of last nights Strictly Come Dancing.

    Now looking back, growing up in the 1980's was a strange an potentially confusing time with different fashions and trends not just music genera. We still had some mods, rockers, punks, hippies, yuppies etc and we also had a new wave of rappers, house artist, pop stars and new romantics just to mention a few. It was also often difficult for a youngster to work out whether some artists were male or female with the preening of artists hair and looks. of course with the innocents of youth sexuality was not considered it was simply "is that a boy or a girl?" as Pete Burns with his androgynous looks performed at the same times as Boy George and Marilyn.

 The above picture shows what I thing is Pete Burns looking at his best, this is the pop star from my childhood I remember and I think he looks good int his photo.  But the presences of the eye patch is an indication of how a comment about him had already started his to manifest as an insecurity and develop into a quest to reach a perfection which lead to a tragic story. I am not going to judge whether his idea of perfection was right or wrong. Its this point I want to pick up on really as its happens all to often.

  Watching a recent TV program featuring Pete Burns I learnt what started his life with plastic surgery.  The way Pete Burns told it was that he had previously had  small accident where he broke his nose subsequently, later in life he was at a photo shoot in which he overheard a simple comment by the photographer asking someone to get Pete to move slightly so he could lose the broken nose look. Surely that broke nose was simply part of Pete? but he took it as a recognition of his imperfection and immediately sought a nose job. This subsequently started to collapse and Pete found using an eye patch he could hid the nose repair more surgery was on the cards.
       There are other examples of extreme plastic surgery addictions being caused by individual event. We are told by the media that Michael Jackson's life of plastic surgery and use of painkillers was triggered by the incident of his hair catching fire during a Pepsi promotion. It s said that this left the star bald and scarred, to deal with the pain he was prescribed the pain killers that went on to kill him and he changed his looks significantly

As we know from then on Pete Burns' quest for perfection saw him try a number of procedures and again things went wrong, we all remember the front page tabloid headlines of his lips engorged with infection  following filler injection that had gone wrong. there were then other problems he had which may have been linked to surgery and the treatment after in order to heal and correct the damage.
    For me this lead Pete down a narrow path of trying to make the best he could with what was left. Pete quest for perfection and change his look had ironically put him in the limelight and given him a career over the last 2 decades and i wonder if some of his outlandish behaviour we say on Big brother was him trying to deal with thing.

I think what I am trying to say is that despite the the fame and front stars have they often have insecurities which lead them into avenues they didn't expect. The reason this is important is that small or large incidents and small comments can really effect people, the famous live under a microscope and therefore deal with things in what becomes more extreme ways. Sometimes we have no idea of the impact of the things we say or do, I'm not talking about bullying or the legitimization of bullying we call Banter I'm talking about the judgments we make in almost innocence.  it just makes you think a little when its put like this.

   One simple comment possibly not even meant as an insult changed the path of Pete Burns' life. But what an entertainer, whether it was his music, his TV appearances or other behaviour Pete Burns' entertained.

  If you don't remember what made him famous just listen to his biggest hit You Spin Me Round  or even this one Brand New Lover without the eye patch and very 1980's

What about Brum !!!!!!! Another run way for Heathrow

Today saw the announcement that the government has agreed to pursue a third run way at Heathrow.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37760187

http://news.sky.com/story/heathrow-airport-expansion-now-comes-the-hard-part-10631608


Some have said it is needed to support british industry, some have said london needs it, some have said it will never happen and some have even resigned at the announcement.

I say What about Brum ?

I did have the pleasure of working for Birmingham Airport in 2013 this was a time when the the Uk's airport capacity was being looked at and a number of airports and ideas came forward. This was when Boris was mayor and he had is Island idea. This was a news story at the time showing the proposed runway.

During my time there I was convinced that expansion of Birmingham Airport was not only feasible but also advantageous and beneficial not only to the midlands region but also London and the rest of the UK. Today I still believe this is true.

Not only is Birmingham airport served by Birmingham International train station but also links straight onto the M42, M6, M5, M40 and  M6TOLL giving fantastic links to the whole of the UK in a mere few hours. Hold on here's something joined up, Birmingham airport could be a vital link connecting London to the Northern Powerhouse.

And be careful we might have too much joined up thinking here. The expansion of Birmingham Airport instead of Heathrow would create a justifiable argument for HS2, something the project could certainly have done with. The proposals that were made in 2013 used HS2 and an expanded Birmingham Airport as a midlands hub for travel. this would not only lift the region but also pull some of the wealth from the south east and up into the country without complete displacement, all in easy reach

Tamworth would benefit hugely from this with employment opportunity at the airport and business development in Tamworth as well as potential tourism in the region. I am not going to repeat all the arguments that have been documented before but I will conclude.

   An expanded Birmingham Airport is a better option than Heathrow and I would urge all MP's in the region to fight for this before the final vote in the house for the Heathrow 3rd runway

75% of us are micro criminals and petty theives

http://news.sky.com/story/three-out-of-four-britons-are-micro-criminals-poll-10629227

Is a micro criminal like a micro pig, at first they are small and make little impact but then they grow into huge pigs?

I am keen to find out what local results would be to the yougov and sky story ? Have you committed any of the crimes below? (remember commenting on my blog is moderated for language and hate but it is anonymous)

• :: Paid someone cash-in-hand knowing so it costs less, knowing they won't pay tax - 43%
• :: Illegally streamed TV programmes, films or music - 28%
• :: Illegally downloaded TV programmes, films or music - 25%
• :: Avoided paying for a fare on public transport - 24%
• :: Said your food order was to take away rather than eat-in because it's cheaper - 22%
• :: Lied about your age/situation to get a cheaper deal - 19%
• :: Taken a plastic bag at a supermarket without paying for it - 17%
• :: Lied about your child's age to get a cheaper deal  - 16%
• :: Refilled your drink without paying extra - 16%
• :: Eaten loose fruit / pick n' mix at a shop without paying for it - 12%
• :: Put a product through a self-service till for less than it should actually cost - 9%

Now I've asked the question and hopefully you've answered I'm going to get opinionated and judgemental. I have looked at the list and can say 8 of which I definitely haven't done, as for the other 3 I'd say its a grey area ;)

All of the above crimes have in this article been looked at a minor or petty or "micro"and they way they are discussed is as if they are victimless crimes. But stop for a second!! One person takes one sweet from the Pic'n'mix and before you know it Home Bargains has replaced Woolworth on our high streets. wow it was only one aniseed ball.

 Ok I jest but the point I am getting at here is the small end of the wedge in terms of petty theft, the area of concern for me is how society handles this and what does it lead to? what 'crimes' are 'acceptable' to some parts of society as they are perceived as victimless or at least the huge numbers of people involved for the small amounts taken they can be justified.

What is it that makes these things ok?

I wonder if the below is a list of justification

well its cheaper for me, they get to save some taxation and being caught is unlikely
I'm not taking anything away from anyone, its not like stealing a car. everybody is doing it 
the bus/train is going that way anyway it's not like a taxi driver is not getting paid loads of other people have already paid, I can retrospectively pay for a ticket. My child is too young to enjoy this and will sleep through it, they are only little it won't cost this attraction anything if my little 5 year old goes in as a 4 year old. 

So if these micro crimes are "ok" then what about the next step. Oh its only a little benefit fraud my neighbours get benefits and if I lay it on thick I could have a slice of that free money.
Right now we get to some business. 
For me the tone of the article justifies taking something from someone else without permission and suggests that as these crimes re so prevalent they are ok. being able to get away with something due to its impact is a slippery slope and as I've suggested can lead to other things becoming acceptable in some parts of society. Benefit fraud or as I call it the theft of our taxes is prevalent and costs a fortune to police yet very few would be concerned enough to report someone they knew were committing this crime. reporting benefit fraud is one of those things you only do to someone you don't like as people hide behind the "its not my business". I think there are also other barriers such as the need for evidence or the potential pressure of having to be a witness, 

At risk of going off on a rant about a different issue for a minute there. 

We all know the above crimes happen and its up to us to police ourselves and resist the temptation. I am disappointed that this article does not promote this or a sense of guilt.  The tone of the article is for me jovial and almost promotional. 

Recently I was talking to a Sikh guy and we were discussing terrorism relating to religion he had a simple out look, he said "first I have to be a good human being,  if I cant be a good human I can never be a religious man"

Lets resist temptation with these "micro-crimes" and remember victimless or not our actions determine what sort of human being we are.