My subscription is coming up for renewal and after careful consideration my love affair with The Word is over.

It's lasted since Issue 1 and it is the podcast decision that's done it.

I don't agree with the reasoning of it being time consuming, the people involved always seem to enjoy it.

In hardened times, it has isolated the retail trade, created a two tier readership and most importantly of all made me realise that we aren't a merry band of brothers in a Word related fantasy world

The glib initial defence of the decision fanned the flames with the likes of if you don't think its good value fair enough

Over the top, petulant, rash, naive, living in a dream world, it's none of those things.

It's how I feel and feeling as I do its what I want to do.

The Word has lost a constant promoter of both mag and the podcast, but all good things come to end.

I feel it'd be hypocritical to continue on here so this is bye bye.

My stance may be the only one of it's kind, I don't care, I can vote with my feet and I am.

I will invest the money in something music related.

Thanks for the great trip.

As a Bill Nelson nut and it is a wallet emptying love affair, has anyone any inside info on the Numan - Nelson spat during the recording of Warriors?

Apparently, it was of Partridge - Rundgren Skylarking proportions.

Having just posted my thoughts on the podcast going subscriber only, my thoughts turned to the cover cd.

With the cost of producing it in cd format and the bulk, would it not be wiser to create this as a download and how it important is it to continue with this?

Just throwing it out there as a discussion point.

Podcast wise, I understand the reasoning, but I think one of the mag's greatest marketing benefits has now gone.

15 minute samplers are ok, but potential new readers will just think I can't be bothered with an extract.

Ad from the latest Word.

Waterboys - An Appointment with Mr. Yeats

"Ireland's greatest poet, W.B. Yeats, is transformed into one of the finest rock'n'roll lyricists on the stunning new album by The Waterboys"

I'm washing my hair, pass me my PS3 etc etc.

Any other similar off putting examples readers?

The recent Word Podcasts with Doggett and Lowe have left me reaching for the back gatherings of the posse and I've started the Podcasts all over again from Number One.

All have been synced to the ipod and it's well underway, all being listened to in order. On the way home tonight, I've been listening to the Folk Awards and Rob Fitzpatrick stating that Phil Collins should be allowed back in to every day society.

Andrew Harrison is the star of these, never fails to make me laugh.

Matt Hall's chirping from the back of the room is also top notch.

Mark Ellen is like everyone's favourite Barmy Uncle who still thinks it's 1972 and sets fire to the sofa by falling asleep with his pipe in.

Heppo though, you do sound like the boss in these earlier ones, I've got the conch etc etc.

I'm sure I should get out more, but I'm showing no signs of getting bored yet.

I'd never been mad on Rob Fitz but I'm starting to love him too as he's been on great form on his appearances thus far. Jude's Welsh Stella Stella Street is hilarious.

Getting the chance to read more than I usually do this week, I caught up on a lot of the stuff that had been mentioned on here.

I was given the Whiley book, it is pretty rubbish to be fair, but I did see it through. As in depth as Tony Blackburn's drivel a couple of years ago and building up her part just as much.

I also dug some other stuff out that's been mentioned on here such as In There Own Write and the Radio 1 book.

Some that I'd forgotten about were Where Have All The Good Times Gone, Hitmen and Paul Du Noyer's excellent Liverpool book.

I also managed to fit in Martin Tomkinson's excellent Pornbrokers and finished with The Rest Is Noise.

I'd listened to the audio book of the latter, but the book seemed better.

Whilst being quite pleased with myself for staying away from the computer, I also got to thinking about the music and entertainment books I've got and how there are so many that you can't get now and how I rarely read them.

Perhaps we should have a Word Library in these credit crunch times. Sending books that you can't get or are fetching a ridiculous price out to people who want to read them and they in turn pass them on.

It only cost a couple of would to post and senders would get their money back by borrowing something else.

Perhaps it's too complicated, I live in a Utopian world, the sun shines every day and I never hear a U2 song, or it may lead to "where's my book?" fall outs.

But it's just a thought.

I'd rather loan out In Their Own Write to someone who wants to read it than have them paying 35 quid for it on Amazon.

After enjoying the Katie and Peter reviews, I've just had this passed on to me.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/B001N6W8U0/ref=cm_cr_dp_all_summ...

The upside down review had me laughing out loud.

There was a post about NME Cassettes and then it has disappeared.

Is John really Ali Bongo? Am I imagining things?

I came to the blog from a different angle. I also noticed the post about T'Pau.

I've got all things T'Pau too, seems a bit dated now as does my Belinda Carlisle stuff from the time.

Massive or Collective or Gang may be a debating point, but I am getting more and more surprised about the impact of this blog.

To add to press quotes and mentions of intelligent debate (sometimes quoted as fact, we are now finding ourselves more and more discovered in the blog world.

Since starting up a music blog, a couple of months ago, I get a lot of contact from fellow fans. When you look at their sites, there are lots of links to Word magazine.

The links go further to either a bit of text mentioning the blog, or a link to the blog itself.

Could it be that we will be voice of reason as the papers drop one by one?

On a more serious note, I'm amazed at how much time and effort, some people put into these blogs. I get irritated some times at putting in an average of an hour a night and don't get loads done.

Some of these sites, must be virtually full time occupations, probably for divorcees.

Most are a real labour of love.

All this assessment of musical genres, got me digging out some stuff.
I looked to see how much some were going for.

Bloody Hell. The Mott The Hoople/Hunter/Ronson, Sparks, Big Country, XTC, ELO stuff I've got is going for an absolute fortune.

I was gobsmacked.

and should really grow up.

But I'm enjoying the new Green Day album.

errr that's it.

Is it just me or does he seem to revel in relating the latest bad news from the financial world.

Yes, he does provide loads of scoops, but he just seems to enjoy revealing another one's gone down and then smuggly wading in.

Defintiely would be an Office Troublemaker in my world, tell him something confidential and then watch how the dirt is dished gleefully.

"I sneeze and the company catches a cold" indeed.

The current Sopranos trailer has an operatic piece that I just can't identify.

I've trawled the net to no avail, can see loads asking but no one able to help them.

It would help me to soothe my other half's irritation and (watch this clever link to another topic), allow me to spend tomorrow practicing for Peace One Day by being mellow and gun free.

I've e mailed the bearded one's corner shop, but expect the answer "We don't know, but would you like to swap your mobile to us".

Help!

I am on my space but don't bother much now.

I tried Facebook and within half a day, two different nobs from a decade past contacted me.

They must have been searching my name hourly and so that was sacked sharpish.

Is Twitter the answer?

I bought Mojo yesterday and I haven't bought it for a while and even having the facility to browse for as long as I wish (see p94), I haven't even browsed.

It was the Mott feature that made me do it.

What's happened to this mag, it's rubbish, all over the place. The worst part was after reading the list of staff at the front to see the usual editor and staffers type then turning over the page to find a list double the length of the Bauer people.

My first thought was that it was obvious that the man had got hold of the mag and the following contents proved that it was obviously written after reading a market survey demographic report.

Truly awful.

Incidentally, the mag is run by the head of mens magazines.

So it's official now is it, that women don't like music?

errrrrrr, when I think of it are their many females who post on here?

Make yourselves known!