Interview with Blogger JonnyB

By The Pakistani Spectator • Jul 22nd, 2008 • Category: Interviews • No Responses

JonnyB has been writing since 2004 from a small village in Norfolk, the isolated agricultural bit in the East of England. He tells funny little stories about nothing in particular, which people seem to like, and was called ‘an example of blog as sit-com’ in The Observer newspaper. He blogs here.

Would you please tell us something about you and your site?
My site is ‘The Funny One About the Little Village in Norfolk’. I tend to be a very private person, and don’t generally talk about anything other than the cartoon version of me.

Do you feel that you continue to grow in your writing the longer you write? Why is that important to you?

If I had a ’serious’ reason why I started blogging, it was this: I am a very slow writer. I agonise over every last sentence, whether I am typing an email or writing a long document. Blogging was a way of training myself to ‘bash out’ material to a timescale, hoping that it would be good, but forcing myself not to worry too much about it. As such it has succeeded, and as such it has been important and valuable.

I’m wondering what some of your memorable experiences are with blogging?

Early on, somebody new linked to my site. I had a look at their blog and they were a 17 year-old girl from New Zealand basically saying ‘lol! this is a great site!’ That was a revelation to me - I really did think that nobody outside the UK, and outside my particular demographic peers, would be interested.

What do you do in order to keep up your communication with other bloggers?

Very little, I’m afraid. I am bad at that. Many bloggers have now fallen off the ‘blogger’ pile and onto the ‘friend’ pile.

What do you think is the most exciting or most innovative use of technology in politics right now?
If you are talking ‘politics’ rather than ‘the business of government’ then I’m afraid I am rather cynical, blog-wise. For the first time, the first time ever, an elected representative has the chance to peer into the lives and aspirations of ordinary people, to read the detailed diaries of people from backgrounds that they might never encounter, to find out about their hopes, their frustrations, what is important to them. I have never - never - seen a comment by a politician or aspiring politician on a personal blog by an ordinary member of the public. I have seen lots of blogs, websites, You Tube things etc. by politicians eager for US to see what THEY think about things. This seems rather the wrong way round.

If they are all reading blogs via RSS and not leaving comments then I apologise for my cynicism.

Do you think that these new technologies are effective in making people more responsive?
Blogging is politicising many people who wouldn’t otherwise be interested, and that is a good thing.

What do you think sets Your site apart from others?
I hesitate to say. It was one of the first ‘The One About…’ sites, I guess, which kind of set it apart - before mine there was ‘The One About the Call Centre’ and ‘The One About the Call Girl’, but mainly blogs weren’t really ‘branded’ as such. I think it has a style that is still slightly unique - but really that’s for others to decide. Comments welcome.

If you could choose one characteristic you have that brought you success in life, what would it be?

Caring about things. You can teach somebody to be a bricklayer; you can’t teach them to care about the wall.

What was the happiest and gloomiest moment of your life?
I honestly couldn’t tell you, I’m afraid. My life is one long peak and trough.

If you could pick a travel destination, anywhere in the world, with no worries about how it’s paid for - what would your top 3 choices be?

I’d go back to New Zealand and rent a camper van; I’d like to go to China; I have always liked Dartmoor. Representatives of the New Zealand, China or Dartmoor tourist authorities are welcome to contact me with offers. I would write about it and everything.

What is your favorite book and why?
Lucky Jim, by Kingsley Amis. It’s an absolute tour de force of comic writing.

What’s the first thing you notice about a person (whether you know them or not)?
Er - their face?

Is there anyone from your past that once told you you couldn’t write?
One of my first writing jobs - in fact I think it was the first one - got returned to me with the constructive feedback ‘THIS IS BOLLOCKS’ written across it in red capital letters. A couple of the people I worked with were really upset. I thought it was the funniest thing ever. It was so bad it was funny.

How bloggers can benefit from blogs financially?
I told The Guardian [http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2005/oct/31/advertising.mondaymediasection] a while back that I didn’t see the bulk of bloggers ever making real money from advertising. I make a little bit - a tiny little bit - from links from my old URL. But unless you are big enough or niche enough to be worth an advertising or PR firm specifically targeting - and most people aren’t - mainstream personal blogging is still going to be a below-minimum-wage job.

Is it true that who has a successful blog has an awful lot of time on their hands?
In my case, yes. I have not had an awful lot of time lately, and have written a lot less.

What role can bloggers of the world play to make this world more friendlier and less hostile?
They can learn the arts of conciliation, empathy and diplomacy in comment boxes.

Who are your top five favourite bloggers?
A bit like your top five favourite CD’s, they change all the time depending on your mood. But in terms of all-time admiration, I guess my list would be:

Anna Pickard (littleredboat.co.uk) and Peter Maling (nakedblog.com) are the two old-established bloggers that I admire and envy, for I could not begin to write like them. They are not a couple, I have just grouped them together like that.
Harry Hutton (chasemeladies.blogspot.com) always makes me laugh. He’s a genuine comedian.
It’s never been my subject matter, and she doesn’t blog much these days, but it’s easy to forget how powerful Girl with a One Track Mind (girlwithaonetrackmind.blogspot.com) was when she wrote a mainstream blog about sex. She’s become a good friend and deserves her place when somebody writes a scholarly history of British blogging.
PB Curtis was the blogger who opened my eyes to the fact that blogging could be quite good. He doesn’t blog now, unfortunately, as he disagreed.

Is there one observation or column or post that has gotten the most powerful reaction from people?
Not really, but since I’ve started writing about chickens I am getting huge, huge numbers from the chicken-lover fraternity. That is my tip for any prospective blogger - write about chickens.

What is your perception about Pakistan and its people?
I’m not sure I have a perception. I guess that for odd historical reasons, Pakistan gets little media coverage in Britain outside the fields of politics, terrorism or cricket compared with, say, India. I live in a part of England that has very few people of Pakistani origin, so my first-hand knowledge is very low, I’m afraid. I wish you all well.

Have you ever become stunned by the uniqueness of any blogger?

Oh yes - it’s great when occasionally one comes along and you think… crikey!

What is the most striking difference between a developed country and a developing country?
Again, I’m afraid I must duck this question as I’d just be answering from media coverage, and I’m not sure that’s fair. Perhaps if one looks for positives, developing countries have the chance to avoid the horrible cultural mistakes that some of us have made.

What is the future of blogging?
It has become the pop music of communication. It’s everywhere now, but was arguably more fun in 1967.

You have also got a blogging life, how has it directly affected both your personal and professional life?

It has opened huge doors both personally and professionally. But I’m afraid I have spent too much of the past five years in front of a PC screen. My task now is to draw a balance.

What are your future plans?
I don’t really make future plans. I like pottering on, enjoying life, and just having enough to get by. We shall see.

Any Message you want to give to the readers of The Pakistani Spectator?
Thank you for your time, and pleased to meet you.