I was sitting in the pub last week, enjoying the smell of stale beer sans tobacco smoke. I was in the corner, no one was near me as I enjoyed the taste of the local ale. None of that American stuff in a bottle, but real ale.

Without realising it, I was humming the tune of a popular song, one I guess I either heard on a radio or as the background music from the TV, when the landlord came over and asked me to stop humming. Not that he minded humming, but apparently someone from the British Music Police had told him that in order to have live music, he needed to pay them money. He claimed to have jokingly said that no one would be able to hum or sing anymore, only to be told that "Yes, if you let people sing or hum without paying, you will be liable to a fine, even if you don't pay them."

This took me back. I thought they wanted us to sing these songs to ourselves, but I guess they just want us to listen to them, even if we are private citizens.

Sad world we live in now.