Tourist at home

Like most footbal fans in England it took a while for the crushing disappointment of the national team’s dismal performance at the World Cup to sink in.

However, in the haze of a drunken hour and following David Beckham’s self important resignation – like we cared? – and the mock auto da fe of Sven Goran Ericsson's exit interview, the thought struck that a tipping point was reached, not only for England football but also in English culture.

Since last summer there seems to be a genuine gravitation back to substance rather than style. Those that govern and entertain us by virtue of a triumph of their charisma over what hey could do seems d to be slipping into dependency.

In football terms the whole WAG circus seemed to sharpen minds that it was what happened on the pitch and not the shops that was more important; Tony Blair hit the buffers when what the country actually wants are concrete policies about sorting things out rather than charm (this could be Gordon Brown's big advantage as he slugs it out with oily Blair-lite David Cameron); in music a lot of gritty, street-level bands like Arctic Monkeys thumped boy bands – even Take That came back with real songs – and the new X-factor darling seemed to have an even more ephemeral shelf life; Jade Goody and cohort dreadful Danielle Lloyd have rather wonderfully brought down the concept of being famous for being famous and BB’s future (and thus its housemates’ fame and inevitable fortune) is in doubt.

In fact David Beckham slipping out into the sunset way out west is further evidence for this. Goodbye, good riddance and take your fame hungry, bad culture influencing other half (Victoria Beckham or Posh spice for the two people who don't know) with you. For good. Be a movie star; be a scientologist; be anything; just don’t be here…unless you want o do something real.

Of course this may be dreadful wishful thinking and dreaming. But as one of my home town’s most famous son’s said. You can say I’m a dreamer but I’m not the only one…I hope.

Email me to tell me if I am the King of wishful thinking

It's over a week now since the UK slipped into one of those horrible periods of moral panic and mass angst over the celebrity Big Brother Jade Goody ‘race’ row.

Those who are much more articulate than I am – and better paid because of it I would hope – have covered this issue elsewhere. I can only recommend the wonderful Grace Dent and Barbara Ellen for their perspective and also that of Anushka Asthana to get a rounded view.

What was noticeable though was just how poorly C4 came out of this. When it was obvious to all who watched that we were not witnessing some common or garden BB bullying but something that belonged in a much darker place , it was striking that the whole issue was allowed to continue by the broadcaster.

Yes the whole essence of BB is to witness first hand how people in a confined space do or don’t get on but, as when B5 nearly descended into a brawl, there are limits. These were undoubtedly breached in the Jade/Shilpa row.

Programme makers Endemeol and C4 were shown to be either opportunistically cynical in rating chasing or just rubbish. I believe the former applies to Endemol and the latter to C4 who did themselves no favours when tackled by the media on the incident.

Call me old fashioned but putting up someone in a scruffy t-shirt, despite his position, to give the corporate view was not sensible at all. It appeared, and appearances are vital at these times, that they cared just as much as the programme’s appearance as their personal appearance.

As for Endemol, and I speak as a BB fan, they deliberately provoked the row; why else was the manifestly mad Goody clan put there in the first place. Endemol’s Victorian ancestors probably promoted bear baiting.

Following Jade’s defenestration and inevitable media excommunication, what’s left for BB now? Can the same dynamics simply be allowed to develop or will conflict only be permitted when the protagonists are of the same ethnic grouping? How racist is that?