Self Soothing

We are trying self soothing with our LO.

It involves letting the child cry but visitng them to soothe them at ever increasing intervals.

DW did the first night whilst I was away and so far, so good.

LO is now 5 months old and it's like they've suddenly learnt how to sleep on their own.

Raising a child is a wonderful thing, seeing a young brain develop, it really does take your breathe away - although I won't be saying that if LO wakes up at 3am!

McBride won't face a grilling

PR week is running a story that Damian McBride will be 'hauled before a Parliamentary Select Committee' (http://www.prweek.com/uk/home/article/901117/Nightmare-Downing-Street-Damian-McBride-faces-Commons-grilling/).

That may well be true but Select Committees, especially on subjects like this, can be reduced to nothing more than Punch and Judy sideshows; with skilled orators able to dance through them with ease.

Campbell was the Master at this, as was Galloway (although his best performance was saved for over the Atlantic).

Whilst many would argue that democracy 'needs' McBride to be held to account, I doubt that will come through Committee. Only an independent review of the Prime Minister's advisers could come close to doing that and this clearly won't happen under Brown's watch.

Be interesting to see how far the Tories push this as Cameron should have noted with caution how easy a 'whiter than white' approach can come unstuck...

Death of journalism?

Sly Bailey backing up her comment from earlier this year. It's a crucial point and one that people within and outside of the industry need to wake up to. I agree with Sly and, putting any debate on the role of PR to one side, think that it boils down to upholding the quality of democracy in the UK:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8005090.stm

Co-sleeping

My and my wife are in a bit of turmoil after we recently, out of desperation, started to let our LO sleep with his Mummy. He's only 19 wks old but the few times we have done it (aboyt 03:00am) he has slept right through.

It raises a lot of fear and questions but so far LO has been fine and it's let us get some sleep.Of course, this isn't something parents are meant to do; yet I've heard lots say it in public.

I defy anyone tired at 3am not take the option that lets you and LO get to sleep.

We're just hoping he starts sleeping better soon, as my wife especially feels like a good night's rest will never come...

Smeargate: Nothing new for Brown

I've heard it said that Smearggate will lead to increased accountability for social political blogging and improve democracy.

I don't buy that.

The print and broadcast media is, arguably at least, a professional and regulated democratic platform.

You can't regulate gossip and opinion in the UK and that's the simple reason why Smeargate is nothing more than a very public glimpse into the real world of politics.

Online it may be but nothing's changed since the 8o's rise in information trading.

If you haven't read it, I recommend 'Trading Information' by Nicholas Jones - a fascinating insight into how Gordon Brown does business:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Trading-Information-Nicholas-Jones/dp/product-description/1842750909

Humble pie

OK, I was off the mark about Bayern Munich.

Enough said! But Barcalona, what a team. Messi is by far the most talented footballer in the world and seems a nice man, which can't be said for a lot of sports stars.

What a player!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELbbiyMgVgU

Great insight

Fantastic piece in today's Times on Bristol media, a regional case study for our current troubled regional landscape:

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/media/article6062284.ece

Champions League

United looking creaky again tonight. I think Bayern Munich are the dark horses. German teams haven't done well in recent years so I'm backing them in Ribery and Toni stay fit.

Mind you, Arsenal have a great chance with their best players returning fresh from injury. I'd fancy them against other English teams too...

£20 on Munich it is then!

Getting through books

I'm finding it a real pain that I'm taking ages to read books at the moment. Loving 'The Book Thief' at present but still got 150 pages left and I've had it for nearly two weeks! Back on the trains now though so things should change hopefully.

The best train books are either long masterpieces like David Copperfield, are short snappy poems or stories you can read in a day.

Better than Metro!

The early bird...?

The early start vs the late finish (OK, it's both for most of us). But, as Harry Hill might say, which is better?

From a PR perspective, getting in early lets you digest the news and sort out your actions, ready to make any contacts before client/planning meetings.

That being said, evening is often a good time to pitch, perhaps out of a grudging respect for fellow slaves.

Moral of the story? It's a 24 hr job these days! Personally, I'd rather wake up with the birds any day as I'm not as sharp after 16:00pm...