Don't read this.

Strange concept, blogs; reading them even more so. Kind of like reading a book in reverse.

A koob, then.

So why do you read them? Why do we write them? More to the point, how does one write in reverse? Everything I think I know I've read, mostly forwards.

Start now and work backwards, stupid. Wait a couple of days and do the same again, and hope that it comes out as something resembling a coherent body of text.

Damn, failed on that front - this koob has all the continuity of morse code... .... ..-

But then what, and who actually cares? It's a bit like the "auto"biography of some ex-reality TV lab rat, published towards the end of their 15-minute stint in the gossip columns who thinks someone might actually like to know about their 22 years on this planet.

You know the scene... you're walking down a high street consisting almost entirely of Starbucks & mobile phone outlets, and you stumble across the solitary remaining bookshop in town. You're sure it used to be a decent one - the one where you used to buy Hardy, HG Wells & Haruki Murakami to study - but now it's a [insert random name of large chain bookstore here]. And it's got a Starbucks inside.

The window, through which you used to actually be able to see into the shop is now bathed in light, reminiscent of some side streets in Amsterdam, but the wares on display are the latest Harry-fckng-Potter & a stack of glossy hardbacks made out of broken, twisted trees containing the memoirs of a halfwit adolescent whose life highlight is getting drunk on live TV & "shuffling in a peculiar manner" underneath the duvet.

Like I said, koobs are bit like it, but only a bit. The big difference is the involvement of the media, and every single one of you who buys People magazine (or whatever) is to blame. Who gives a sh1t if Britney's shaved head now means her collar & cuffs match?

My wife is probably thinking now that this is a dig at her - in truth, I don't understand why such an intelligent person should be fascinated with such things - but I promise, that is not my point.

So what is my point?

The media is a powerful beast. It can bring down governments, cause (and end) wars, and it can ruin lives. In can also be an immensely powerful tool for positive change, but our idle fascination with the humdrum of celebrity lives means the only change involved is the handing over of our pocket change - straight to Rupert Murdoch.

This is where most blogs are different - look, no ads!

Anybody old enough to remember a kid's TV show called "Why don't you..." that encouraged children to "Turn off the TV & do something less boring instead"! Chances of any production company allowing that to happen again?

Here is my point: Exercise a little self-control & vote with your feet.

Turn off your computer & do something less boring instead.