Escaping from the digital haze

There was a time when we were not tied to computers for our daily newsfeeds, entertainment etc. When we did not carry cell phones or smartphones around in order to constantly check our emails and texts.

There was a time when switching off the television and walking out the front door meant, in most instances, disconnecting from the 'buzz' of modern life. Away from the landline telephone you became uncontactable. As weird as that sounds today, that was once the norm.

Nostalgia and rose-tinted glasses can play tricks, but I'm sure that is not the case when I state that the relatively unwired world of the recent past - and we are talking only 20 to 25 years ago at most - was a pleasant place to be.

At the time there was a freedom I took for granted. That freedom was being able to enjoy downtime from work, from social networks (a term that has come into its own in these internet days). 'Your time' could be appreciated and spent doing any number of activities, or even no activity.

Long walks or runs. Sitting and reading a newspaper from cover to cover, or a chapter of a book. Watching a sunrise or sunset.

Of course, all of the above can still be done. But if you are carrying a cell phone, as most of us do these days, you are forever aware of that portal to the electronic world being close at hand and demanding attention and checking.

Only on vacations do I manage to successfully break away from the digital world's umbilical cord. Although I have a cell phone, I switch it off and ignore it unless an emergency calls. I avoid computer terminals and the temptation to check emails.

It feels invigorating. It feels like reconnecting with a life - hearing birds chirping again, taking in my surroundings and appreciating just 'being'.

Day-to-day, away from vacation time, it is harder. Work life impinges on downtime much more, even if only through the habit of checking emails or missed calls.

But I still make time when I can to leave my cell phone at home and go wander for an hour or so, or sit in the great outdoors and feel the sun, or the breeze, against my skin and enjoy the freedom of escaping from the 21st century's digital haze. Those moments are a small window back to a less frantic existence, a small window that I aspire to expand.

Yoko Ono tops the US dance chart

Yoko Ono at 80 scored a number one hit on the US Dance Chart with 'Hold Me' - a new song written in collaboration with producer Dave Aude.

Yoko's energy is impressive and life-affirming. This song also shows that she continues to treasure her love for John Lennon.

When I first heard this track I was stunned by its vibrancy, but also by the words and the touching message they convey, all the more poignant for anyone who knows the John and Yoko backstory. In the video there is the image of the word 'yes', although it is not part of the lyric. The 'yes' is surely a nod in the direction of the first meeting between Yoko and Lennon at a London art gallery when Lennon climbed a stepladder to look through a magnifying glass at a word written on the ceiling which said 'yes'. The piece of installation art was Yoko's, and the fact that it was a 'positive' message pleased Lennon and led to the couple connecting and living their lives together.

Lennon believed that Yoko's musical output was ahead of its time. In 1980, when he heard The B52's 'Rock Lobster' playing inside a Bermuda nightclub he was struck by the similarities it had to Yoko's earlier recordings. He called her in New York to tell her the world had caught up and was ready for her music.

Well, it may have taken a further 30 years, but there is no doubt that Yoko's music is gaining the popular acclaim that Lennon foresaw. In the past five years a total of 10 Yoko tracks have hit the top of the US Dance Chart. They were reworked/mixed versions of older songs recorded by Yoko, until this year's 'Hold Me' which was specifically written as a dance track.

The thumping dance beat treatment blends well with Yoko's stark vocal delivery. At 80, Yoko recently said in an interview that she feels she is starting a new life. If she continues producing songs like this (and check out her involvement in son Sean's recent 'Don't Frack Me' environmental protest track), then long may this new musical lease of life continue.

Fond adieus Neal Butterworth

Neal Butterworth was a remarkable man. He was the editor of the Daily Echo in Bournemouth for 13 years, the first seven years of which I had the privilege of working with him.

A man of tremendous grace, wit, charisma and intelligence, Neal embodied all the finest qualities of journalism. Knowing that Neal was there, in charge, made it an actual pleasure to go to work each day. He had a way of making people feel wanted and appreciated and his good nature was infectious.

He was a leader and mentor of the highest calibre who valued his staff and created a sense of family within the entire newspaper team.

In all my years in the profession I have not known another individual with such genuine charisma, presence, insightful journalistic judgement and passion.

He gave me my break into daily newspapers, only a few months after he took over as editor of the Echo. In the years that followed I marveled at the way he led his team, showing he believed in them and their abilities and in doing so strengthening the bounds of friendship and loyalty.

With Neal there was a time for work and a time for play. At least once a year, and often twice a year, he would treat the staff to some 'downtime' outside the office where all departments were able to mingle, chat and let off steam in a congenial, friendly setting. That small gesture alone made Neal a special type of boss.

In all my time working with Neal, and in the few e-mail exchanges we had in the years after I had moved on from the Echo, I felt a true bond with a remarkable gentlemen. In positive ways I grew as a journalist, and more importantly as a person, from sharing so many years as a work colleague and friend of Neal. I learned much from simply observing him and the way he carried himself through life.

As he told me in the last communication we shared: "I've always been at pains to tell people that you only live once but if you do it right, once is enough."

When Neal died at 55 last month it was far too soon for someone who made the world a better place for so many. For me the great mentor is no longer there to speak to personally, however the magic of his life lives on in the memories and thoughts I hold for one of the finest boss-leader-mentor and friend I will likely come across.

Fond adieus Neal. You lived life right.