The Great Gordino Newsletter – Apr 24th 2015

Hi,
I hope all is well with you.

The General Election is looming large in the UK. Many people are not interested, and have no intention of voting.

It feels odd to me to see the build up, because for the last two elections, I voted for myself! Oh yes, there’s a certain feeling when you stroll into the voting booth and put a cross next to your own name!

I remember on the way out a pollster asked me who I voted for – I said “Myself!” and kept on walking.

I’m not standing this time, and did feel a pang of sadness when the deadline passed to be a candidate. I’m also feeling pangs of it when people who aren’t normally interested ask for my opinions and end up saying they would have voted for me.

The reason I’m not standing is twofold – firstly the cost. It costs £500 to stand. Now, that’s not a massive amount of money, and one of the reasons it’s set at that level is precisely *because* it’s not a massive amount of money. That allows anyone to stand, barring anyone who falls in the exclusion categories.

Of course there are additional costs, the costs of leaflets being a big one. Each candidate is allowed a mailing to be posted for free to every constituent, which is great, but the leaflet production has to be paid for.

It all adds up.

Secondly, the chances of me winning were small. Very small. Minute.

An Independent candidate has no way of competing with the spending power of the major parties, nor the perception amongst many that since an Independent cannot win, it’s a waste of time to vote for one!

A lot of people didn’t even know I was on the ballot, while at the same time moaning about how everyone was the same. Even good friends I spoke to, who were non voters, having agreed to vote for me, told me afterwards that they ‘hadn’t got round to it’ despite me reminding them on the day.

So, I felt that what I offered, which was a purer form of democracy for the voters, was a good offer, an original offer. Having taken action to something about it, that choice had been on the ballot twice, and had not been chosen by the electorate. That’s politics!

I knew after the 2010 election that if I was going to stand in 2015, I’d have to take a run at it from at least 18 months away, to build interest slowly but surely. I decided not to. Who knows, I may do it again in 2020, but not this time.

That doesn’t mean I think people shouldn’t vote though, and while I signed up to blog for Huffington Post to write about sports, to further exposure for that adventure, I’m actually allowed to write about anything, so decided to do a couple of pieces about the election.

You can see one of them linked on the right of the page, the other one hasn’t been approved yet as I write this. I’ll be linking to that once it is on the various social media channels. You are connected with me on those, right?!

Changing subject – the movies. Ah, the movies. Long time readers will know how much I love the movies, and when I was around 11 years old, I remember seeing a film at the cinema that had the same impact on me that it had on everyone. A little film called ‘Star Wars’

The second trailer has been released for the first of the new movies, and the trailer featured Harrison Ford in his role of Hans Solo. Again, the trailer had the same impact on me as it did to most others – it made me smile with excitement.

The 3 ‘prequel’ movies got hammered by fans and critics, but as it happened I enjoyed them! I used my imagination and loved being able to add pieces to the Star Wars world in my head.

It looks like these new films will take us all back on a nostalgia ride. I do worry a bit that the positive hype around them might lead to disappointment, but the only way round that totally, is to not make the films at all. So, bring them on!

Here’s the trailer if you didn’t see and are interested, which is on you tube – did you know you tube turned 10 years old this week? I wonder if there’s anything coming out now that will seem as if it’s always been there in 10 years’ time?

By the way, think how much money will be generated by this film!

Ok, let me know what you think, I love the feedback!

‘Til Next Time,
Health & Happiness,
Gordon
P.S. When I talk about the money generated by the new Star Wars film, I don’t just mean box office for the actual film. That will be phenomenal, which created employment in the cinema industry, but how about the merchandise? The branding on all sorts of good, from toys through to bedspreads. You can grab a slice of it you know. My book ‘FB Passion Profits’ shows you how, and if you don’t like it, you get your money back! Or, there’s an option there to get a free guide to the concept. Pop over and take a look – FB Passion Profits

Do leave a comment!

Leave a Reply to gordino X

4 Comments

    • Ha! I do like to switch topics every now and again! No doubt I’ll be writing more about the politics in the run up to the election!
      cheers, Gordon

  • Hi Gordon,

    I didn’t know you were involved with politics too. I’m from the USA and I am a voter. I would have voted for you. I have a friend who was involved in politics and I voted for him.

    Very excited for you writing for the Huffington Post, and I am so happy that you are writing for them. I promise to read your articles if you give me a heads up.

    You have an awesome weekend,

    Linda

    • Thanks Linda,
      It was something I felt I wanted to do something about having voiced opinions from the sidelines for so long! You know me, I felt I needed to put my money where my mouth was and take action, so I did!
      cheers,
      Gordon