7th March:

Please excuse me for a moment while I go all political on you.

According to the news today, China plans to impose stricter rules on foreign musicians after singer Bjork caused controversy by shouting "Tibet, Tibet" at a Shanghai concert.

China's culture ministry said the outburst "broke Chinese law and hurt Chinese people's feelings". And of course, the culture ministry knows all about the Chinese people's feelings. It decides them on a daily basis.

"We will further tighten controls on foreign artists performing in China in order to prevent similar cases from happening in the future," the ministry said in a statement on its website. So you can go to China and play your songs, but you'll have no freedom of expression. Which is kind of what being an artist is all about.

History suggests that any regime that attempts to censure freedom of speech or the arts, or use them for its own gain, comes a cropper eventually. Which must mean that the current Chinese government is sitting on a massive powder-keg. Anyone prepared to take me up on the bet of a post-Olympic games uprising?