Brian Holden: Please, please, please not Sir Cliff!

If you can't trust the likes of Sir Cliff Richard, then who can we trust? PHOTO/FILE

Oh no, not Cliff! - that was the text that showed on my phone Friday morning. It was from a muso mate with whom I grew up in the era of pop singer Cliff Richard and his backing group, the Shadows in the 1960s.

Astonished fans are coming to grips with the allegations of a sexual misconduct accusation going back to the 1980s. After the Rolf Harris sex charges, it's a case of "here we go again. If someone like Sir Cliff has found himself under the spotlight, who's going to be next?"

I have a problem with allegations that have been dug up from the distant past.

Recollections of such events, if there was one, become clouded over the years and the gathering of evidence can be damned near impossible. And sifting through what evidence there is, takes up a huge amount of resources, to get to the truth.

Of course it's early days yet, but already, even if nothing comes to it, Sir Cliff Richard's name will be tainted forever.

Tragic, when we've always regarded the man to be an absolute gentleman, squeaky clean and despite the murk and temptations of the pop entertainment scene, he's come through unblemished and an all-round good guy - a man you could respect. If you can't trust the likes of Sir Cliff Richard, then who can you trust?

This out-of-left-field allegation of sexual misconduct, will be seen with disbelief by his millions of fans and admirers. If anything comes of it, then so be it. But I really hope with my heart that for Sir Cliff Richard's sake and for all those who have admired this truly great entertainer, the allegations are simply not true.

I chuckled at first when I read about drivers down South being ticketed for scraping away just enough ice to see through their frosted windscreens so they could drive to work.

I'm sure I did that a few decades ago, with the crazy belief that I would be able to get successfully to my destination, where I could then let the morning sun take care of the rest. Miraculously it worked and I did it only once, but I ask myself now what on earth was I thinking?!

Police have been pulling over morning drivers, whose car windows are covered in ice, with only a small gap to see through.

Some drivers have had to lean out the window to see where they're going.

It doesn't take a particularly large brain to realise that doing this is suicidal and if that's okay with some drivers, what about others who share the road who are likely to be hit?

It really comes down to laziness. All the driver without a garage needs to do is fill a jug with lukewarm water, pour it over each window and wipe away the excess in case it freezes again.

Personally, I think that with the unthinkable risks involved, the current $150 fine for such mindless behaviour ought to bedoubled. No excuse.

Smartphones are great little devices.

My Samsung comes up with word options as I text and even remembers names and words regularly used to saving having to type the same words every time. The old, frustrating single letter predictive text method has gone. And how about this - when I type in the word "good", two of the next word options are "luck" and "morning".

Not surprising that on typing the latter word, the next word in the option bar on my phone is "America". With New Zealand being the first in the world to see the new day, surely the rest of the world should be saying good morning to us.

My latest CD, PLUG IT IN is finished, which coincides with the 60th anniversary of the Fender Stratocaster ("Strat") guitar. Actually, there are two CDs to cater for a wide range of musical, tastes, with songs most people will know.

If you would like one or both CDs, they are available at Musicworks in Pukuatua St. Illustrated single CDs, relating to any of the songs, are also available.

Brian Holden has lived in Rotorua for most of his life and has recently celebrated 10 years writing And Another Thing.