It’s been a rough ride for rebecca on YouTube. In a short time she’s gone from valley girl whose proud over-indulgent daddy buys her the opportiunity to make  a pop video to lynch-mob target reviled world-wide by the bandwagon-jumping haters.

Let’s hope she’s of stronger stuff than the many othervictims of cyber-bullying we so often hear about.

But I digress. Is “Friday” really such an awful song? It’s certainly got all the ingredients of loathability and instant forgettableness — but you don’t have to look far to find innumerable examples of such songs. Let’s start with Justin Bieber and keep going, eh?

Right next door to Rebecca on YouTube is her label-mate Alana Lee and her offering, “Butterflies.” Exactly the same formula as “Friday”– vapid lyrics, formulaic backing, autotuned to destruction — yet for some reason the teeny haters love this one.

Even the BBC has called “Friday” “The Worst Song Ever.” Worst? Ever? Hardly. I’ve heard it twice now and can barely remember anything about it. To be the worst ever a song would have to be so ear-searingly appaling that one hearing should leave it burned on the auditory cortex forever. Something that you instinctively recoil from and will do anything to avoid ever having to hear again.

I give you The Flying Pickets’ version of “Psycho Killer.”

So hideous I dare not even google it, preferring to believe that the one time I witnessed it was a hideous nightmare.

via On the tragedy in Arizona.

Meanwhile her staff has quietly removed the ‘political targets’ map that’s causing all the furore. Here it is, for those of us who like to mock revisionism in this information age:

But we all know how Sarah really likes to portray herself:

Meanwhile the Democrats are no better.

And every American on the net today is spinning Loughner as a member of their favourite scare group whether that be the right, the left, atheists, potheads ….

As usual, they’re all ignoring the obvious answer. Guns don’t kill people, people with guns kill people. Put down the guns, you neanderthals.

I did expect this. Won’t be donating any more of my time.

And heaven knows why they chose this shot:

.

Speaking of 1 September I spent six hours at Matfen Hall photographing a charity golf event for Newcastle United Foundation.

Golf is, without doubt, the most tedious way to spend a day short of starving to death in the Namib desert. Seems to get a lot of testerone-charged blokes very excited though.

I just got an ‘urgent’ email inviting me to interview on Tuesday. I might just ask some interesting questions at this one.

There is no option to have Kris Marshall take an Uzi to his girlfriend and her kids then turn the gun on himself while broadcasting the whole event on his BT Broadband-connected webcam.

chiz chiz chiz

What the hell, I only have to change the dates on the last application and email it back in. Let’s see what happens….

NUFC Foundation at Josephine Butler School, Ashington

For a very long time I’ve berated the folk who are killing professional photography; from those who give their work to magazines just for the prestige of seeing their photo and name in print to the weekend warriors selling snapshots of weddings at ridiculous prices.

Well guess what? I’ve given in, sold out and joined them.

Just for the promise of a credit whenever they use my stuff I joined the Newcastle United Foundation at Josephine Butler School in Ashington yesterday.

Fun morning, 1500 shots, several hours work in Lightroom and I’m quite pleased with myself and looking forward to the next gig.

But feeling guilty as hell.

So what went wrong with the DTLLS?

Thanks for asking because I feel the need to vent my spleen to the uncaring worldwide web. The course was a part-time, three hours-on-a-Tuesday-evening, arrangement with a requirement to get <mumble> hours of relevant (numeracy) teaching practice. I was assured that Student Finance would pay the course fees because it was covered under the shortage subjects mullarkey.

So all I had to do was support myself for the two years to which end I got part-time work, first as an ICT support drone in a private school then as a Physics Technician at Newcastle College. Both these were ideal as I could arrange the necessary teaching around them.

Then, a few weeks into the course, I learned that I could get £500 a month bursary as a pre-service teacher-training student. result!

There were a few problems getting teaching hours: the first place I went fell through, then I did a few weeks in the Art&Design school at Newcastle College before they passed me on to a Photography group. All now looked pretty good and nobody was telling me I was doing anything wrong. Come January, with the usual essay-writing problems, I achieved part one, the PTLLS.

Through this time I was claiming Housing Benefit from Gateshead Council (GMBC) but, because I was working part-time and trousering £500 a month on top they pretty soon stopped paying me anything. Fair enough. No complaint.

On to part two of the course, CTLLS. Workload started to pick up a bit and by now I was in the job at Newcastle College which was putting more demands on me than could be fitted into two-and-a-half days a week. And I was recommended to get some practice in with another group so took on observing/assisting a fellow DTLLSer and a group of engineering students.

Then I got a demand from GMBC to repay all benefits back to September 2009. No explanation why, so I went to ask and got no answer other than they would review my case. Around six weeks later they told me they had reviewed the case and repeated their demand for repayment. I went back again, gave them all the facts of my income for the period and they said they would re-review the case. Finally in April I got word from them that, since I was a full-time student I wasn’t entitled to Housing Benefit (but apparently I was liable for Council Tax.) Another visit pointing out that a three hour evening class isn’t full-time studentry prompted a letter that told me, according to their information, I was entitled to a student loan for the year and therefore ineligible for Housing Benefit. I visited Student Finance’s website where it clearly says don’t bother applying if you aren’t a full-time student. Further, an email from Newcastle College confirmed to me that, as far as they knew, I was not entitled to a loan.

But GMBC stuck to their guns for another month so I thought, what the hell, I’ll apply for the loan and when they tell me to bugger off I’ll take the letter to GMBC and they’ll have to back down.

Imagine my surprise, given that nobody at Newcastle College had ever suggested the possibility, when Student Finance awarded me the full loan and grant for the year.

Time has now moved on a bit, I’ve been happily burying myself in geeky Physics work, teaching practices, presentations and essay planning (not so happy at that). Then, with but a few weeks to go, I’m told that none of the teaching practice I’ve done is any use because it wasn’t with a numeracy DTLLS-qualified tutor and could I start with an Applied Science group immediately. Well, yes, I could, and did for three weeks. Then I’m told that the group isn’t having any more teaching hours.

Meeting with course leader to work out what we might do and she tells me there’s an evening class I can work with that will run through the summer to hopefully make up the required hours by the start of second year DTLLS in September 2010. Immediately emailed the tutor to say I’d be happy to take her offer and would be there at the next class. Emailed her the day before to confirm I’d be coming and she mailed back saying ‘thanks but no thanks, I’ve got someone else.’

So that’s where it ended. Apparently there was no chance of retaking the first year with a view to catching up and I’d be too far behind to make up the teaching practice requirement to go on to year two and try to make it up.

End of story? Of course not.

It’s now a month since I got the notification of my loan and after a couple of weeks watching my bank account and not seeing the money arrive I rang Student Finance to ask when I could expect it. Oh, they say, we’re waiting for confirmation of your attendance from Newcastle College. Go to the college, “we need to see your payment schedule from Student Finance”. Back to Student Finance, “we won’t be sending a schedule because it’s the end of the year and you’ll get everything in one lump.” Back to College, “We need to see the schedule.” “But SF say they aren’t sending a schedule”. “We have to see the schedule.” Back to SF, “we aren’t sending a schedule, tell college to call the helpline.” Back to college, “We need to see the right bit of paper.” “this is the only bit of paper they’re going to send.” “All right I’ll copy that but we need to see the schedule, please send it when you get it.” “They’re not going to send a schedule, will you call the helpline please?” “No. Send us the schedule when you get it.” “So if I don’t get the schedule, as SF have told me I won’t, am I ever going to get my money?” “You’ll get your money. Send us the schedule when you get it.”

I wonder if I will ever get the money? Rent due in two weeks and a gas bill to pay….

I feel a visit to Dave Anderson is imminent.