Politics doesn't get a great wrap these days. The daily deluge of credit crunching news features about the recession, MP's expenses, unauthorised porno, and displaced Gurkha's are depressing enough, and that is before we get on to the war in Afghanistan. Political doom and gloom is something we have become accustomed to, and perhaps even take pride in. Very rarely do you hear about the good work of a local politician or MP. Obviously the media plays a huge roll in this. Sunshine and fluffyness tends not to sell newspapers or increase advertising revenue.
Amongst all of the bad news and backstabbing that flies through the news agenda on an almost hourly basis, I have been wondering just how accurate and truthful the reports are. Are all politicians philandering self promoters just out for personal recognition and gain? I have always been proud to call myself a Labour voter, yet according to our media the party is loosing its way, and being involved in the political process is not the most alluring of prospects to the majority these days. Gordon Brown recently said in one of his jolly faced youtube vlogs that he very rarely meets young people who want to be an MP when they grow up. Yet he meets plenty who aspire to public service in other forms, so why not that of a member of parliament?
I made a decision a month ago that I would defy the media and see for myself whats really going on with the people who run our country. In the words of John Prescott, it was time to "Stop Complaining and Start Campaigning". If we have problems, tutting at the newspapers isnt going to get us anywhere. I thought it might be the time to contribute, to make a positive change and get involved. Im always going to be part of the political left, yet nobody can deny Labour has problems, but I don't want to abandon them when times are tough and just vote Lib Dem, why not try and help, let them know and maybe make a difference.
I have been to two events now, a local campaign meeting near my home in Rusholme, Manchester and a city centre campaign event to mark the anniversary of 12 years in power for the Labour Party. As a result, I have positive things to say about four politicians in particular.
Theresa Griffin - popped up on my facebook a few months ago and is currently running as a candidate for the European Parliament on behalf of the North West . After dozens of status updates and video links to campaign events, I had the good fortune to meet her last Saturday. The lady is tireless and her prolific nature exists out of the genuine desire to do good. She is concerned that she is currently running head to head against the candidate from the BNP, Nick Griffin (no relation).
Arlene McCarthy MEP - Our local MEP was out supporting John Prescott's battle bus campaign over the weekend. I spoke to her whilst we stood outside the town hall in Manchester following the event and asked her what her job involved on a daily basis. She has a warm Irish accent and I listened with great interest as she detailed her daily task of solving issues that involve real people both in the UK and abroad. I sensed that she played down just how much she did, perhaps because she thought my interest was unusual or potentially critical, but she told me enough for me to be impressed and for it to become obvious that she does her job because she cares.
Rabnawaz Akbar - The local Labour candidate for the Rusholme ward. Rabnawaz has lived in this part of Manchester for 15 years and has chosen this point in time (after Labour lost 3 highly muslim heritage wards because of the war in Iraq) to win back a place for Labour in South Manchester. He is a genuine family man who is another example of someone who just wants to try and make things right on a local level and I intend to support him however I can in achieving his goal of being elected councillor in 2010.
John Prescott - I can't help but admire John Prescott. I have met him twice now, once as he was bickering with Charles Clarke on the Politics Show at the Labour Party Conference and again on his Battle Bus tour of the North over the weekend. Some say that he no longer represents the working class man because of his lavish lifestyle. Yet he still lives in Hull and having a couple of old jags is hardly Roman Abramovich standard. His grittiness and determination even in these difficult days for his party is truly inspiring. To stand and watch him preach alongside Lord Kinnock outside Manchester Town Hall reaffirmed my positive perception of the Labour Party. He openly admits that some things have gone wrong, yet that he knows people want a Labour Government and that if we want to turn things round that we need to stop complaining and start campaigning. I genuinely feel that if 25% of our politicians in the UK had John Prescotts gutsy and charismatic approach, politics would be perceived in an entirely different way in the UK.
I think that trying to get involved with the party that runs our country is a worthwhile goal, and any element of reluctance that existed previously has faded. I am convinced that politicians are generally good people, despite what the press might say. I get the feeling that there is an issue not just with the Labour party, but how we as a society are determined to perceive them. It is a problem that any political party in power will endure, yet it is one they must consistently combat head on.
I feel that the Labour party is doing so much firefighting right now that they not only risk losing sight of the fundamental messages they need to communicate to the electorate about politics -what the party stands for and the good work that does take place - but how to convey them. Labour needs the opportunity to take a breather, regroup and get their messaging and communications strategy placed consistently throughout the party. I am confident they can do this. Whether they do it before or after the next election will determine how much longer they stay in power.
Tuesday, 5 May 2009
Friday, 3 April 2009
Fascinating and Infuriating - What would you do?
I just watched a fascinating documentary on Channel 4 On Demand. Would you save a stranger? An hour long documentary recounting the stories of people who have been victim to violence, and those who have watched others being subject to violence and their consequent response.
In a week that has seen a local man randomly stabbed to death just round the corner from my home here in Manchester this documentary raises realistic and timely questions about the way in which we both as individuals and a society address violence when exposed to it in this often shocking and brutal way.
Very often we read in the media about somebody taking a beating or even being killed. Yet we can distance oursleves from it and, very often we cannot envisage or may not even consider what our own reaction would be in that situation.
For most of us, the violence that we encounter comes through a televsion screen. A re-enactment, actors working through a sequence, jerky black and white CCTV images. By now we are used to seeing this kind of content on a regular basis. However, for those unfortunate enough to encounter this king of violence in real life, our reaction is often exactly the same as the one we provide from the couch when watching TV. We sit still and we gawp.
When I lived in North East London, I read an article in the Guardian written by a woman who had been on a bus in Islington when another passenger was stabbed on his way home from work. On a bus full of people, she was the only one who went to his aid. As he died in her arms, she asked another passenger for his coat so she could wrap it around the victim because he was shivvering. He said no because he didnt want to get blood on it. No one offered any support even after the attack was over and the attacker was long gone.
As far as I can tell there are two reasons why someone would not go to the aid of someone in immediate distress:
1. They have a serious concern for their own safety
2. They believe someone else will - or is already - dealing with the problem
I think it is entirely reasonable that a lone female should not try to tackle ten men beating someone up. She should certainly try and get someone's attention and call the police. However, for a bus full of grown men to sit and watch a 13 year old girl get her head stamped on is pitiful, and to watch this documentary was at times totally infuriating.
Similarly, there were two men featured on the programme who had gone to the aid of an attack victim. One died of a stab wound to the heart and another was stabbed five times but survived. The beauty of this documentary was that it was objective. It didnt judge those who did or did not intervene, and it highlighted the contradictory elements of the "Should I?, Shouldn't I?" question.
I once taught a man in prison who had stamped on someones head until they were dead. I asked him why he kept going, why he didn't stop. He said if only someone had pulled him away he knows he would have left the man alone. He infact blamed the lack of action of others for the mans death.
Would I help a stranger? Yes, I think I would, because I would look to others for help if I found myself in a situation where I could no longer defend myself.
In a week that has seen a local man randomly stabbed to death just round the corner from my home here in Manchester this documentary raises realistic and timely questions about the way in which we both as individuals and a society address violence when exposed to it in this often shocking and brutal way.
Very often we read in the media about somebody taking a beating or even being killed. Yet we can distance oursleves from it and, very often we cannot envisage or may not even consider what our own reaction would be in that situation.
For most of us, the violence that we encounter comes through a televsion screen. A re-enactment, actors working through a sequence, jerky black and white CCTV images. By now we are used to seeing this kind of content on a regular basis. However, for those unfortunate enough to encounter this king of violence in real life, our reaction is often exactly the same as the one we provide from the couch when watching TV. We sit still and we gawp.
When I lived in North East London, I read an article in the Guardian written by a woman who had been on a bus in Islington when another passenger was stabbed on his way home from work. On a bus full of people, she was the only one who went to his aid. As he died in her arms, she asked another passenger for his coat so she could wrap it around the victim because he was shivvering. He said no because he didnt want to get blood on it. No one offered any support even after the attack was over and the attacker was long gone.
As far as I can tell there are two reasons why someone would not go to the aid of someone in immediate distress:
1. They have a serious concern for their own safety
2. They believe someone else will - or is already - dealing with the problem
I think it is entirely reasonable that a lone female should not try to tackle ten men beating someone up. She should certainly try and get someone's attention and call the police. However, for a bus full of grown men to sit and watch a 13 year old girl get her head stamped on is pitiful, and to watch this documentary was at times totally infuriating.
Similarly, there were two men featured on the programme who had gone to the aid of an attack victim. One died of a stab wound to the heart and another was stabbed five times but survived. The beauty of this documentary was that it was objective. It didnt judge those who did or did not intervene, and it highlighted the contradictory elements of the "Should I?, Shouldn't I?" question.
I once taught a man in prison who had stamped on someones head until they were dead. I asked him why he kept going, why he didn't stop. He said if only someone had pulled him away he knows he would have left the man alone. He infact blamed the lack of action of others for the mans death.
Would I help a stranger? Yes, I think I would, because I would look to others for help if I found myself in a situation where I could no longer defend myself.
Sunday, 25 January 2009
Stating the Obvious for "Staters" - The Facebook Faux Pas
Cigarettes, alcohol, a variety of Class A drugs, endless partying, blatant philandering! All things that a lot of people are addicted to. The continued and unrelenting consumption of the aforemtioned has been proven to send many participants on the destructive downward spiral which will undoubtedly commit them eternally to hell for being so naughty and rebellious in the first place.
Traditionally, the way to get over an addiction is simply to stop, go "cold turkey" or painfully ween yourself away from your vices. Yet the arrival of the digital age has unwittingly thrust us into the realms of "social networking" and an addiction from which we cannot escape. Facebook has accomplished world domination in a way that is truly astonishing. My 76 year old grandmother even has a profile and uses it to keep in touch with us from across the Atlantic. I came across a picture on her profile of her looking shocked whilst holding a plastic trick flask which had ejected a rather large penis as she opened it, something I am sure she has not seen yet. Social Networking has its pro's and con's. Facebook alone has been responsible for facilitating countless parties, romances, one night stands, marriages, breakups, crimes, business successes and failures, just to name a few. Yet the one phenomenon that has managed to cement itself well and truly as a form of modern day media is the "Status update".
They say that you can learn a lot about a person from the way they dress, or perhaps their body language. Yet the Facebook status update has become a voluntary and rolling commentary on our lives, an insight into personality traits and tendancies. The most noticeable thing is that people use their status updates for a variety of reasons, and often one person will remain within a singular genre of status update because thats what they are good at, much like Steven Saegal who has made the same movie at least 15 times.
By far my favourite status updaters, or "Staters" are the ones who can integrate charm and wit into their updates. Nothing overly personal, but enough to tell us about who they are and making us smile or even giggle at the same time, for example one of my cyber friends just posted this update (Im going to change the name for, erm, privacy) "Paul Smith now understands why women like a particular type of alcohol, because they can relate to it... WINE WINE WINE".
Yes, it's sexist, but it's allowed because it's meant as a joke, it's funny, and it shows us that "Paul Smith" can have a laugh. Im sure that many of my cyber friends strive to come up with updates that are as comedic and topical as possible. This is good because it's entertaining and not overly personal, but it reflects my cyber friends in a positive way because it shows that they are fun and not overly self concerned.
Yet status updates can also place us on that destructive downward spiral that ends only with certain untimely demise. Many people use and abuse their status updates and by doing so inflict upon their unwitting cyber friends a barrage of boredom induced tosh, self obsessed jiber jabber, vomworthy romance related utterings and generally mindless drivel. It is important to remember that a status upate says a lot about who we are, and this is something to bear in mind before we start telling everyone about just how much our polycystic ovaries are "destroying my life", or about how much we"really wish he would just listen or Ill kill myself" (apparently he knows who he is). The point being that many people take status updates too far and use them as a tool to win an emotional overshare. However, the real point is that this only makes people feel that the person who has written it might just need to get a grip, instead of conveying their deep and meaningfuls to every cyber stalker on the web.
I have a couple of friends who recently got engaged, they will probably recognise themselves if they read this, but it serves them right. I am certain that they think nobody else exists on Facebook, and they break the status update etiquette several times a day by informing us of just how much they cant wait to see each that night . Sometimes they make updates like this at about 9:05am, undoubtedly just after they have arrived at work, having seen each other about 45 minutes before hand after spending the entire night together. The thing is, they push the boat even further and actually have conversations via status update , "Paul Smith is eating his sandwiches, I miss you baby waby, cant wait to see you tonight", to which his fiance will punctually reply something along the lines of "Sarah is so happy that her hubby is enjoying the sandwiches she made him, love you too baby cakes". I'm sorry, but I want to throw up, now.
Staters need to twig on that they have their own brand, their own personality, and people will behave towards this brand according to the messages that are conveyed to them. Much like a business, if you don't like what it stands for, you are likely to invest your money and time elsewhere. Every business has its issues and problems, but they dont send out a press release for evey little hiccup, because frankly we don't need to know and its generally a bit boring, infact they strive to tell us only about the good things, and only tell us about the bad things if they really have to. I think this is a model that could work for Staters.
Personal PR is a hugely important element of social networking, and its relatively recent arrival means that a large number of people are still not completely switched on to it. Personal PR for Staters is not about getting attention or trying to make ourselves look better than all our friends, it is more to do with maintaining an image which isnt going to make everyone throw up every time they log in, or heaven forbid, take us off their friends list.
Traditionally, the way to get over an addiction is simply to stop, go "cold turkey" or painfully ween yourself away from your vices. Yet the arrival of the digital age has unwittingly thrust us into the realms of "social networking" and an addiction from which we cannot escape. Facebook has accomplished world domination in a way that is truly astonishing. My 76 year old grandmother even has a profile and uses it to keep in touch with us from across the Atlantic. I came across a picture on her profile of her looking shocked whilst holding a plastic trick flask which had ejected a rather large penis as she opened it, something I am sure she has not seen yet. Social Networking has its pro's and con's. Facebook alone has been responsible for facilitating countless parties, romances, one night stands, marriages, breakups, crimes, business successes and failures, just to name a few. Yet the one phenomenon that has managed to cement itself well and truly as a form of modern day media is the "Status update".
They say that you can learn a lot about a person from the way they dress, or perhaps their body language. Yet the Facebook status update has become a voluntary and rolling commentary on our lives, an insight into personality traits and tendancies. The most noticeable thing is that people use their status updates for a variety of reasons, and often one person will remain within a singular genre of status update because thats what they are good at, much like Steven Saegal who has made the same movie at least 15 times.
By far my favourite status updaters, or "Staters" are the ones who can integrate charm and wit into their updates. Nothing overly personal, but enough to tell us about who they are and making us smile or even giggle at the same time, for example one of my cyber friends just posted this update (Im going to change the name for, erm, privacy) "Paul Smith now understands why women like a particular type of alcohol, because they can relate to it... WINE WINE WINE".
Yes, it's sexist, but it's allowed because it's meant as a joke, it's funny, and it shows us that "Paul Smith" can have a laugh. Im sure that many of my cyber friends strive to come up with updates that are as comedic and topical as possible. This is good because it's entertaining and not overly personal, but it reflects my cyber friends in a positive way because it shows that they are fun and not overly self concerned.
Yet status updates can also place us on that destructive downward spiral that ends only with certain untimely demise. Many people use and abuse their status updates and by doing so inflict upon their unwitting cyber friends a barrage of boredom induced tosh, self obsessed jiber jabber, vomworthy romance related utterings and generally mindless drivel. It is important to remember that a status upate says a lot about who we are, and this is something to bear in mind before we start telling everyone about just how much our polycystic ovaries are "destroying my life", or about how much we"really wish he would just listen or Ill kill myself" (apparently he knows who he is). The point being that many people take status updates too far and use them as a tool to win an emotional overshare. However, the real point is that this only makes people feel that the person who has written it might just need to get a grip, instead of conveying their deep and meaningfuls to every cyber stalker on the web.
I have a couple of friends who recently got engaged, they will probably recognise themselves if they read this, but it serves them right. I am certain that they think nobody else exists on Facebook, and they break the status update etiquette several times a day by informing us of just how much they cant wait to see each that night . Sometimes they make updates like this at about 9:05am, undoubtedly just after they have arrived at work, having seen each other about 45 minutes before hand after spending the entire night together. The thing is, they push the boat even further and actually have conversations via status update , "Paul Smith is eating his sandwiches, I miss you baby waby, cant wait to see you tonight", to which his fiance will punctually reply something along the lines of "Sarah is so happy that her hubby is enjoying the sandwiches she made him, love you too baby cakes". I'm sorry, but I want to throw up, now.
Staters need to twig on that they have their own brand, their own personality, and people will behave towards this brand according to the messages that are conveyed to them. Much like a business, if you don't like what it stands for, you are likely to invest your money and time elsewhere. Every business has its issues and problems, but they dont send out a press release for evey little hiccup, because frankly we don't need to know and its generally a bit boring, infact they strive to tell us only about the good things, and only tell us about the bad things if they really have to. I think this is a model that could work for Staters.
Personal PR is a hugely important element of social networking, and its relatively recent arrival means that a large number of people are still not completely switched on to it. Personal PR for Staters is not about getting attention or trying to make ourselves look better than all our friends, it is more to do with maintaining an image which isnt going to make everyone throw up every time they log in, or heaven forbid, take us off their friends list.
Monday, 19 January 2009
Potty Protests, Pink Parrots and Zip Lines
Every now and again I tune into a web based alternative news portal called LiveLeak.com. It is a viral collection of videos from around the world. usually captured on handheld cameras and mobile phones, they are typically the things that dont make it onto the mainstream news, or are an alternative viewpoint of the issues that do.
The thing about LiveLeak is that its raw and often unedited. Feeds are often placed on the site directly from personal cameras and are not subject to censure. You can be right in the action with British troops in Afghanistan or in the crowd at a Barack Obama pep rally.
I love the psychology of bandwagons and, this past few weeks has seen almost every former hippy, powerliberal, and bandwagoner get on the Gaza Strip boat. Please don't assume that I condone Israel and its actions, a lot of people have died and some of the scenes have been truly shocking. I am not talking about Israel and the Gaza Strip today. I am talking about ineffective protesters.
I tuned into LiveLeak.com this week and came across a video that was taken from within a pro-Arab protest in London. It essentially involved a gang of young British asian men leading a "protest". By protest I mean they were marching on the police with such force that they could not be contained, they were goading the Police to fight with them, shouting racist insults, throwing traffic cones, bricks, bottles, anything they could get their hands on. For the several minutes that the video lasted, I couldn't help but wonder what they were aiming to achieve. Normally you would expect that a protest would strive to get a message across, to get people on board, to win some exposure. Yet by being so aggressive, hurling bricks and generally acting yobbish, whilst at the same time yelling "Allahu Akbar", I can only assume that their cause wasn't inundated with new recruits.
I wear a Palestine scarf, I'm no political activist, Im just fashionable. I also wear some geek chic glasses and a flat cap, but it doesn't mean I'm a chimney sweep, even though I do talk a bit like the legend that was Fred Dibnah. My selection of scarf however, has made me the target of pro gaza campaigners. They think I'm all on board, one dreadlocked student even tried to recruit me to stand behind his desk on Market Street in Manchester. He was called "Snoops" and he couldn't tell me anything about the history of the Arab/Israeli conflict. His awkwardness and the "you're a numpty" look on my face was enough to cement my release.
Similarly on the protest front, the "highly criticised" third runway at Heathrow airport seems to be getting nothing but bad press. A whole village will be destroyed and Joe Bloggs was even on the radio complaining about having to move house after 30 years. He didnt mention how much compensation he will get though, and if h has been there 30 years he could probably do with a change. We are in a recession and we seem distraught by a new runway despite the fact that it will create 65,000 new jobs, not to mention the money spending visitors it will facilitate and aircraft carbon emmissions are a third less than they were ten years ago, and they are still going down.
The point I am trying to make is that there are plenty of ineffective protesters about these days. If you stand in the street shouting "Free Gaza" what are you actually going to achieve? I often wonder if protesters actually think that the powers that be will notice and say "oh look, we've annoyed those people outside the BBC in Manchester, do you think we should tame it down a bit and just let Hamas fire rockets at us and hope for the best?". In this age of modern technology, surely there is no need to stand out in the cold and wave banners. Surely things have moved on and well placed emails and letters to MP's, MEP's and Newspapers are going to have more effect. Some of the Heathrow Airport protesters were pretty clever this week and actually bought a piece of land that the new runway will cover, and they are outright refusing to sell it. Good for them, it wil truly throw a spanner in the works. That's how you do it.
In other news, in 16 hours America will inaugrate its first black President. A rather cool pilot became the first in history to ditch a fully loaded aircraft in water and have everyone survive. The Royal Bank of Scotland reported a 90% drop in profits and I couldnt help but think "it serves you right for charging me £38 for exceeding my overdraft, you fatcat muppets". There are 3 bright red Australian parrots vacationing on Whalley Range in Manchester. The other night (and armed with a very large pepper grinder) I chased a robber out of my back garden at 1:30am, and yesterday a 12 year old zip lined into my front garden with the use of some dodgy old rope and the tree across the street. I can't help but think that they are using our house as a training ground for some high profile Oceans Eleven style robbery.
The thing about LiveLeak is that its raw and often unedited. Feeds are often placed on the site directly from personal cameras and are not subject to censure. You can be right in the action with British troops in Afghanistan or in the crowd at a Barack Obama pep rally.
I love the psychology of bandwagons and, this past few weeks has seen almost every former hippy, powerliberal, and bandwagoner get on the Gaza Strip boat. Please don't assume that I condone Israel and its actions, a lot of people have died and some of the scenes have been truly shocking. I am not talking about Israel and the Gaza Strip today. I am talking about ineffective protesters.
I tuned into LiveLeak.com this week and came across a video that was taken from within a pro-Arab protest in London. It essentially involved a gang of young British asian men leading a "protest". By protest I mean they were marching on the police with such force that they could not be contained, they were goading the Police to fight with them, shouting racist insults, throwing traffic cones, bricks, bottles, anything they could get their hands on. For the several minutes that the video lasted, I couldn't help but wonder what they were aiming to achieve. Normally you would expect that a protest would strive to get a message across, to get people on board, to win some exposure. Yet by being so aggressive, hurling bricks and generally acting yobbish, whilst at the same time yelling "Allahu Akbar", I can only assume that their cause wasn't inundated with new recruits.
I wear a Palestine scarf, I'm no political activist, Im just fashionable. I also wear some geek chic glasses and a flat cap, but it doesn't mean I'm a chimney sweep, even though I do talk a bit like the legend that was Fred Dibnah. My selection of scarf however, has made me the target of pro gaza campaigners. They think I'm all on board, one dreadlocked student even tried to recruit me to stand behind his desk on Market Street in Manchester. He was called "Snoops" and he couldn't tell me anything about the history of the Arab/Israeli conflict. His awkwardness and the "you're a numpty" look on my face was enough to cement my release.
Similarly on the protest front, the "highly criticised" third runway at Heathrow airport seems to be getting nothing but bad press. A whole village will be destroyed and Joe Bloggs was even on the radio complaining about having to move house after 30 years. He didnt mention how much compensation he will get though, and if h has been there 30 years he could probably do with a change. We are in a recession and we seem distraught by a new runway despite the fact that it will create 65,000 new jobs, not to mention the money spending visitors it will facilitate and aircraft carbon emmissions are a third less than they were ten years ago, and they are still going down.
The point I am trying to make is that there are plenty of ineffective protesters about these days. If you stand in the street shouting "Free Gaza" what are you actually going to achieve? I often wonder if protesters actually think that the powers that be will notice and say "oh look, we've annoyed those people outside the BBC in Manchester, do you think we should tame it down a bit and just let Hamas fire rockets at us and hope for the best?". In this age of modern technology, surely there is no need to stand out in the cold and wave banners. Surely things have moved on and well placed emails and letters to MP's, MEP's and Newspapers are going to have more effect. Some of the Heathrow Airport protesters were pretty clever this week and actually bought a piece of land that the new runway will cover, and they are outright refusing to sell it. Good for them, it wil truly throw a spanner in the works. That's how you do it.
In other news, in 16 hours America will inaugrate its first black President. A rather cool pilot became the first in history to ditch a fully loaded aircraft in water and have everyone survive. The Royal Bank of Scotland reported a 90% drop in profits and I couldnt help but think "it serves you right for charging me £38 for exceeding my overdraft, you fatcat muppets". There are 3 bright red Australian parrots vacationing on Whalley Range in Manchester. The other night (and armed with a very large pepper grinder) I chased a robber out of my back garden at 1:30am, and yesterday a 12 year old zip lined into my front garden with the use of some dodgy old rope and the tree across the street. I can't help but think that they are using our house as a training ground for some high profile Oceans Eleven style robbery.
Saturday, 15 November 2008
The Mighty Fallen
There were a number of things I planned to blog about this evening:-
1. My sister and her limitless talent as an urban artist has once again caused some controversy following a newspaper article about her role teaching young people from sheffield how to "do graffiti". I think controversy is good when it comes to publicity, but I really do wish she would make more use of her free of charge PR guy brother before she jumps in with these wet behind the ears, out for a scoop journo's working the local rags (learn to take a hint sis).
2. The rugby team I play for each Saturday conceding its ninth consecutive defeat was also high on my list. The Didsbury 3rd team seem to be having less luck than a final destinaton movie, and I have sore shins.
3. The fact that I have become completely and utterly obsessed with this years X Factor, mostly because of our home girl from Blackburn Diana Vickers, but also because I simply love to watch the way they run things. The PR stunts, the media scandals, the emotive editing. They must be making a bloody fortune.
4. The entire staffteam of numpties who work at the Vodafone store on Market Street in Manchester. It seems a maximum IQ of 49 and a fancy hairdo are the only pre-requisites to employment there.
But then I watched The Fallen, a feature length docufilm that provides a candid and often brutal insight into the lives of the families who have been left behind following the deaths of their loved ones in Afghanistan and Iraq. I could not help but feel a pang of dissapointment in myself for being so self concerned and ignorant, shouting insults at the X factor whilst kicking back and enjoying a few cheapo Asda beers and feeling sorry for my lightly bruised rugby shins whilst wondering whether my housemate Greg will notice that I nicked one of his Rocky Robins.
I know a lot of lads who are completely Army Barmy. They know that when they go into the theatre of conflict they are at risk of injury or death. Some enjoy the thrill, some just want to survive and come home. Yet there is an amount of the "it wont happen to me" ideology that exists amongst them. It was truly heart wrenching to delve into the lives of the surviving families and to see how they handle the flood of emotion that wells up within them when they talk of their fallen sons and daughters. This was a film that truly needed to be made. When we see the news of another soldier dead in Afghanistan, there is little we can do to relate or associate oursleves with their life. We often fail to realise or understand the enourmosity of their death. A name, a rank and regiment, their age, perhaps the name of their hometown. Then we close the page and go back to our spreadsheet or overpriced coffee.
What we dont see is the shot that enters through the side of the flack jacket, into the kidneys and up through the spine and into a lung. We dont see the desperate attempts of close friends to fashion a stretcher from combat jackets and branches. We dont see the team of medics battling on the Chinook elbow deep in blood to save a 19 year old life that they watch ebb away. We dont think about the mental trauma that being part of this brings to his fellow infantrymen. We dont think about how the family accept the news. We dont think about the empty bedroom their son wont come back to or how a widow comes to terms with sleeping alone in a double bed.
I am guilty of turning the page and moving on. Almost a year ago to the day I was in the front rank of the Duke of Lancasters Infantry Regiment parade on Rememberance Day. As we marched off the square following the service the hundreds of people in attendance began to applaud and cheer. It was at that point I realised that we turn the page not because we dont care, but because we simply struggle to relate and because we are pretty powerless to do much else.
So The Fallen was a very appropriate film, because it allows us to relate to the realities of what happens to the soldiers of the British Army and their families. The next time I see a story of another soldier dead in Afghanistan or Iraq I will certainly take a moment to reflect on just how lucky I am before going back to my spreadsheet.
1. My sister and her limitless talent as an urban artist has once again caused some controversy following a newspaper article about her role teaching young people from sheffield how to "do graffiti". I think controversy is good when it comes to publicity, but I really do wish she would make more use of her free of charge PR guy brother before she jumps in with these wet behind the ears, out for a scoop journo's working the local rags (learn to take a hint sis).
2. The rugby team I play for each Saturday conceding its ninth consecutive defeat was also high on my list. The Didsbury 3rd team seem to be having less luck than a final destinaton movie, and I have sore shins.
3. The fact that I have become completely and utterly obsessed with this years X Factor, mostly because of our home girl from Blackburn Diana Vickers, but also because I simply love to watch the way they run things. The PR stunts, the media scandals, the emotive editing. They must be making a bloody fortune.
4. The entire staffteam of numpties who work at the Vodafone store on Market Street in Manchester. It seems a maximum IQ of 49 and a fancy hairdo are the only pre-requisites to employment there.
But then I watched The Fallen, a feature length docufilm that provides a candid and often brutal insight into the lives of the families who have been left behind following the deaths of their loved ones in Afghanistan and Iraq. I could not help but feel a pang of dissapointment in myself for being so self concerned and ignorant, shouting insults at the X factor whilst kicking back and enjoying a few cheapo Asda beers and feeling sorry for my lightly bruised rugby shins whilst wondering whether my housemate Greg will notice that I nicked one of his Rocky Robins.
I know a lot of lads who are completely Army Barmy. They know that when they go into the theatre of conflict they are at risk of injury or death. Some enjoy the thrill, some just want to survive and come home. Yet there is an amount of the "it wont happen to me" ideology that exists amongst them. It was truly heart wrenching to delve into the lives of the surviving families and to see how they handle the flood of emotion that wells up within them when they talk of their fallen sons and daughters. This was a film that truly needed to be made. When we see the news of another soldier dead in Afghanistan, there is little we can do to relate or associate oursleves with their life. We often fail to realise or understand the enourmosity of their death. A name, a rank and regiment, their age, perhaps the name of their hometown. Then we close the page and go back to our spreadsheet or overpriced coffee.
What we dont see is the shot that enters through the side of the flack jacket, into the kidneys and up through the spine and into a lung. We dont see the desperate attempts of close friends to fashion a stretcher from combat jackets and branches. We dont see the team of medics battling on the Chinook elbow deep in blood to save a 19 year old life that they watch ebb away. We dont think about the mental trauma that being part of this brings to his fellow infantrymen. We dont think about how the family accept the news. We dont think about the empty bedroom their son wont come back to or how a widow comes to terms with sleeping alone in a double bed.
I am guilty of turning the page and moving on. Almost a year ago to the day I was in the front rank of the Duke of Lancasters Infantry Regiment parade on Rememberance Day. As we marched off the square following the service the hundreds of people in attendance began to applaud and cheer. It was at that point I realised that we turn the page not because we dont care, but because we simply struggle to relate and because we are pretty powerless to do much else.
So The Fallen was a very appropriate film, because it allows us to relate to the realities of what happens to the soldiers of the British Army and their families. The next time I see a story of another soldier dead in Afghanistan or Iraq I will certainly take a moment to reflect on just how lucky I am before going back to my spreadsheet.
Wednesday, 5 November 2008
The Mountain of Martin
At 4am this morning Barack Obama reached the summit of the proverbial mountain that represents the struggle that has befallen the black people of the United States throughout that countrys history.
This afternoon I crossed the road to visit the Urbis museum in Manchester to find a group of school children winding their way through an exhibition that tells the complex and violent story of the Black Panther movement of the years gone by. The lives of Malcom X, Martin Luther King, John and Edward Kennedy -all advocates of black rights in the United States - which were taken so violently and tragically can now be remembered as the true and real foundations for what has happened in the United States within the last 24 hours. In 1963 Martin Luther King conveyed his dream that his four little children would one day live in a world where they would be judged not by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character. Today his only surviving daughter Bernice sat and wept as she saw elected the first black president of the United States.
It's not only the fact that Barack Obama is black that is important - that issue sits to serve as a contrast between the social constructs of modern america and the america of decades gone by - but it is the fact that he bears such inspiration, vigour, youthfulness, appeal and grit that matters the most. I will certainly be watching his progress with great interest. Well done the Democrats.
In other news, a 50 foot high effigy of Jonothan Ross and Russel Brand will be burned this weekend in response to their recent faux pas on BBC Radio 2, and here I am talking about civil rights and humanity in modern times.
This afternoon I crossed the road to visit the Urbis museum in Manchester to find a group of school children winding their way through an exhibition that tells the complex and violent story of the Black Panther movement of the years gone by. The lives of Malcom X, Martin Luther King, John and Edward Kennedy -all advocates of black rights in the United States - which were taken so violently and tragically can now be remembered as the true and real foundations for what has happened in the United States within the last 24 hours. In 1963 Martin Luther King conveyed his dream that his four little children would one day live in a world where they would be judged not by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character. Today his only surviving daughter Bernice sat and wept as she saw elected the first black president of the United States.
It's not only the fact that Barack Obama is black that is important - that issue sits to serve as a contrast between the social constructs of modern america and the america of decades gone by - but it is the fact that he bears such inspiration, vigour, youthfulness, appeal and grit that matters the most. I will certainly be watching his progress with great interest. Well done the Democrats.
In other news, a 50 foot high effigy of Jonothan Ross and Russel Brand will be burned this weekend in response to their recent faux pas on BBC Radio 2, and here I am talking about civil rights and humanity in modern times.
Monday, 27 October 2008
God bless public transport
Manchester will soon have a referendum on whether to introduce a congestion charge for traffic coming into our fair city. I just spent 1 hour and 15 minutes on an early morning bus which brought me 6.8 miles into work on a road which seemed totally bare of cars. I would like to write more but I cant, because I'm late. God bless public transport.
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