Thursday, July 27, 2006

Grown on me

I didn't like this years Big Brother initially but I must confess I did stick with it and it's grown on me. The 'Best Friends' and 'Prison Task' had me in fits of laughter this week. The prison task is an attempt, albeit a light-hearted one of the famous mock prison experiment conducted by psychologist Philip G. Zimbardo at Stanford university back in 1971.
The experiment had 2 sets of students, one as guards, the other as prisoners in a mock prison and monitored how people reacted when they were in uniforms and empowered with authority or locked up and deprived of identity and priviliges. Of course the Big Brother one isn't really that serious at all, though I did look on with mouth open as Micheal ranted in the diary room at how good having power and authority was. It's amazing what a uniform does, even a camp prison guard one with pink trim!

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

National identity?

Last Saturday I walked around the continental market in Newark, it was lovely, lots of different sounds and aroma’s in a bustling atmosphere. I perused lots of different French stalls selling meats and cheeses among other delicacies. The French traders periodically have a market in Newark and it’s always popular; whilst they speak to each other in French they make an effort to speak English whilst selling their wares.

It occurred to me how France has more national identity and culture than England, like Germany it’s keen to retain its customs, cultural ways and national pride. I then looked closer to home for answers but found myself thinking it was places like Wales, Scotland and Ireland that were more protective of their ways and cultures. Welsh is still widely spoken and taught and Scotland is still steeped in tradition. Ask a foreign person about English culture and they will probably say ‘fish and chips’. In the future how will England be known or perceived and will it still retain a national identity?

Newark is a market town close to the Lincolnshire border and surrounding it are vast tracts of farmland, the people now coming to work this farmland are mainly from eastern countries such as Poland who come to settle and work as cheap farming or factory labour. Delving deeper into the influx of east Europeans I found some disturbing facts.

Since 2004 an estimated 600,000 east Europeans have entered this country since the EU admitted 10 more countries back then and now Polish immigrants are the largest single group numbering 300,000.

The huge influx is rapidly changing the labour market especially in London and the south east; Slough council in Berkshire warned that its schools were struggling to cope after an estimated 10,000 east Europeans have arrived in the area in recent months. A friend of mine in Slough says that figure could be more and the high street there is full of foreign accents.

Next year Bulgaria and Romania are set to join the EU and it’s estimated by researchers that a staggering 45,000 ‘undesirables’ are already intending to pack their bags and head here with more to follow.

Now, I’m not racist, for the record my godfather is from the Caribbean and I love the multicultural identity Britain has, its unique in the world but I do feel if the trend continues that somewhere down the line we are going to lose any national identity we have. I’m all for diversity, its good to see Chinese and Indian restaurants or shops on the high street, they have become part of our culture but what lays ahead if the influx of immigrants continues?

Where I live there is a large Polish community, most came post war to work in the mines, they were hard working and integrated into society. Back in the 50’s and 60’s the government who realised we were short of labour invited Caribbean’s and Indians over to work doing jobs in the public service sector, mainly in London. These people still retained their cultural identity, enriched our culture by bringing their own here but yet they integrated well into our society. They worked hard and often became valued members of community such as doctors etc because education and opportunity was excellent here.

Now I’m not saying the new influx of east Europeans don’t work hard, in fact they work for the minimum wage doing jobs here that our native populace would ‘rather not’ so you have to commend the new immigrants for being industrious and hard working. On the flip side of the coin though you have to be aware a lot have set up crime networks trafficking people or drugs because it’s easy to do so here. We can’t take it as read that all enter this country with good intentions, many don’t. I’ve also witnessed instances where east Europeans come across as arrogant, in the bank the other day an east European guy was ranting in his native tongue at the bank teller, making no effort at all to try and speak English. Some seem aloof and arrogant in the fact they know they have it good here, a welfare state, national health and better shopping and housing than they have back home.

But this post isn’t about blaming east Europeans, the problem is with the government who have let it happen. Add this to the fact that some firms now often don’t look at English people to fill positions as a first choice, they go for cheap no nonsense labour that now seems readily available. Farmers and factory owners, corporate fat cats and people exploiters are also letting this happen, spurred on by relaxed laws and low wages – it means more profits for them after all. In this country there are around 3 million long term unemployed, there is also a pool of around 7 million Britons not working, some are single parent mothers, some have retired early and some are in full time education. So why isn’t the government using more initiatives to get our own people working, educated and trained?

Some people are saying ‘The Government is starting to put foreigner’s rights first and its citizens last’ but then again we have become a lazy nation in some respects with the cushion that is the easily exploited welfare state. Being well travelled I’ve noted that in other countries if you don’t work, you don’t eat – we have it so good here at times and take it for granted.

Niall Ferguson’s excellent ‘World at War’ made me think last night when he said we in western Europe are producing an average of one baby per family where in comparison some African and Middle Eastern families are producing up to eight per family. The disturbing fact is, as our population and work force shrinks other populations grow and are starting to look westward to resettle; parts of Europe have already been nicknamed ‘Eur-abia’.

So in looking to what the future may bring we have to look to past examples. When economies start to fall or governments struggle the populations begin to blame ethnic minorities for its problems. I could state examples such as Yugoslavia recent ethnic cleansing or also the fact that ethnic unrest there led to the first world war, we can look back at the Jews in Germany, to Cambodia or many African countries, its always ethnic minorities that bear the brunt of nationalist hatred when things go wrong.

Will the modern day humanistic society let this happen to this country or will we lapse and follow suit when things go wrong, are we heading for such a thing by letting so many immigrants into the country and not addressing fundamental problems closer to home?

And in closing, to go back to my initial first two paragraphs - are we becoming an apathetic nation who is losing its national identity?

Friday, July 21, 2006

Minx

Well its 4.50am and I can’t sleep, so I’m going to tell you about a new cd of mine that arrived yesterday – because I’ve nothing better to do!

Some time ago I tried to get my hands on Toyah, not the singer but an album of hers, I can only dream of getting my hands on the woman herself……. anyway I digress.

The album in question was called ‘Minx’ and when I searched for it a while back it was only generally available on ebay and on vinyl for an extortionate price. Recently I had noticed Toyah was re-releasing her back catalogue of albums onto cd and kept my fingers crossed that the Minx album would eventually appear. This week I searched Play.com and there it was but out of stock, initially I ordered hoping it would be swiftly back in but then frustrated I decided I couldn’t wait so looked on Amazon and there it was cheaper and widely available. So I cancelled the order on Play.com and placed one with Amazon - two days later I had it.

Minx is a classic slice of the 80’s, released in 1985 it moves away from Toyah’s punky roots and is more mainstream, fitting in with the ever changing fantasy induced hedonistic styles of the mid 80’s era.

Here’s my favourite video from the album, it’s called Don’t Fall in Love (I Said) and is an 80’s gem plus Toyah is wearing latex in it! (time for a cold shower).


Toyah-Don't Fall In Love (I Said)

Slab Square

On Tuesday after my x-rays at the hospital I decided to make something of the rest of the day, so armed with my trusty camera and a fistful of pain killers I caught the train to Nottingham. Come what may I was going to hobble around and do something rather than be stuck indoors on such a sunny day. At first I was ok but after a while I decided to seek respite with a sit down and go and have a look if the work had been completed on the old market square also known to locals as ‘slab square’ located in the centre of the city, after all it had been fenced off for ages, surely it should be done now?

To my horror it was still boarded off, work started back in October of last year and isn’t going to be completed until November this year, so can I ask why it’s taking over a year to do? I felt sad at not being able to sit in the square and watch the world go by, I’m sure I wasn’t alone either.

Getting curious I decided to ascend the town hall steps and take a peek at the progress and below is a picture of what I saw if you click here you can see how the old market square once looked and how it will look on completion.

Please hurry up!

Super-Turkey

I went to see the new Superman Returns movie last Sunday and all I can say to people considering it is – avoid. I’ve never been a massive super hero film fan, I did like some of the Batman ones but really didn’t care for much of the rest.

On going to see the movie with my blogging buddy and old work mate Thulsa Doom (yes that’s his real name!!) I wasn’t really expecting much but tried to remain optimistic. To say the film was dire was an understatement, Superman says probably less words than Perry White the editor of the Daily Planet and the plot is thinner than a page of it. Kevin Spacey doesn’t work as arch villain Lex Luther and the rest of the cast contribute very little. To conclude, this movie is more wooden than Sherwood Forest.
Anyway, click on Thulsa Doom's name if you want to pop over to his blog and read more about it, he wasn't keen either but then again he really wanted to see it!
To make matters worse for me, I made the error of wearing an old superman logo t-shirt to which a little girl in the cinema foyer remarked 'that superman isn't very big mummy'. It's moments like that you wish you had superman powers and could fly off. Needless to say I didn't visit the mens room during the film in case any more kids wanted to comment!

Dredd-ful

Last Wednesday Channel 5 showed one of my least favourite films of all time, then again C5 does screen all the crap movies (ok someone has to show them!). The film in question was 'Judge Dredd' which is about the fanatical law abiding anti hero from the popular comic 2000AD. It stars Sylvester Stallone as Dredd with Max Von Sydow and Armand Assante in the suppporting cast. It was made back in 1995 and directed by Danny Cannon (who?). So you’d think with a decent cast and a wealth of background stories to go on it would be good? Not so.

As a kid I read the Judge Dredd stories for years in the 2000AD comic. A lot of the stories were stand alone episodes but there were also epic stories involving the Angel Gang, Judge Death and the Apocalypse war to name but a few.

Anyway, onto the movie.

Die hard Stallone fans and people that like badly thought out action movies love this film but for me it does nothing to capture the essence of the Judge Dredd character or events in the 2000 AD comics. The film comes across as a turgid as it tries to shoe horn several Dredd stories into one. Stallone doesn’t work as Dredd either as the comics portray Dredd as a mainly taciturn character who is obsessive about the law and thinks nothing of blowing law breakers away, he lacks empathy and though he is athletic he’s not encumbered by layers of muscles. Dredd never reveals his face in the comics either, this just adds to his menacing mystery though he may have revealed his visage in later comics I didn’t read. A good choice for Dredd would have been Clint Eastward who physically resembled him or even better an unknown actor. The Dredd stories always came across as slightly noir set in a dystopian future with the odd hint of dark humour now and again which the movie really didn’t capture, maybe Tim Burton should have directed it? Though the film attempts to transpose things in order to make it work for the big screen it fails miserably, sure mega city one looks like mega city one, the costumes look like judges costumes but the feel isn’t there at all. I guess if you haven’t read any Dredd in 2000AD and you like limp action films then it's ok but if not then this film is truly blasphemy!

Anyway, no offence to Stallone but I want to go on record as saying the film is a travesty of the comics and utter crap.

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Blog shortage

Sorry there has been a blogging shortage of late, I do intend to rectify it. The reason for not blogging so much is that I've been on codeine based painkillers that have been doping me out and making me really lethargic and drowsy, the recent heat wave hasn't helped either. I'm not going to jump on the sympathy ladder here, this isn't really that type of blog, though I do like to disclose things at appropriate times. What I will mention though is the fact I have been in a fair degree of pain of late and in the near future I hope to get things sorted and get things back on track.

Bring back Partridge

I really wish comedian Steve Coogan would bring back his fab character and cursed chat show host - Alan Partridge. I guess I can't complain though because Mr Coogan is currently gracing our screens as pest exterminator and ageing ex rock roadie 'Saxondale' (BBC2, Monday, 10pm).


Anyway here is a clip of Mr Partridge himself performing an 'Abba' Medley' on his spoof hit chat show 'Knowing Me, Knowing You'.



And as Alan would say 'and on that bombshell - check out these links'

http://www.alan-partridge.co.uk/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/partridge/

http://www.alanattack.co.uk/

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Ramsey


I like Gordon Ramsey, some say he's arrogant and aloof, swears far too much but I love the guy, to me he's genuine and not afraid to be vociferous about things he's passionate about. If he doesn't like other chef's - then he says so, if he doesn't like someone in general - he says so. The thing is with Gordon is he has a fervour for what he's doing, he's not some droaning stereotypical chef we've had to put up with before. Outwardly Gordon seems an ogre, inwardly he's empathic. I like his directness, his pragmatic approach and his innate straight talking ability, there's no flowery cuisine talk from him - just flowery language!
I'm no maestro in the kitchen but Gordon creates dishes that are simple but with that touch of flair. Last week he received an OBE and to me it's a deserved one too - well done.
Any one who hasn't caught his new(ish) show called the 'F-word' should check it out, Channel 4 on Wednesday at 9pm. Anyone who can make Cliff Richard say 'F**k' gets top marks in my book, it was a definitive bit of tv history and hilarious to boot!

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

World Cup post mortem

So, the world cup is at last over, it’s a shame it ended the way it did too. Here’s a few of my musings on it, bearing in mind I’m no soccer pundit or expert. I know my blogging buddy Shep did an excellent job of covering the world cup day by day (sober!) where as I’ve only really covered the start and end. Ok, so Italy win, fair play to their penalty prowess but you a definite scowl to their on pitch etiquette of theatrics, insults and diving.

The Players

Several players stuck out for me, the Japanese goal keeper Kawaguchi, Podolski of Germany, Maniche of Portugal and of course Zidane, Thuram and Ribery of my favoured team France. Of course there were many other fine players to grace the world cup.

The Teams

No team really stuck out in this world cup, a couple peaked and then faded, others where non starters, some teams were slow to get into it. All a mixed bag really, even the soccer pundits echoed that no one team had really shone out in this world cup, I have to say that I agree. Even the winners Italy, ok so they won but using any underhand means possible, I refer of course to the Zidane incident.

The Referee’s

There’s a lot of talk about having two referee’s in the future, in all honesty what’s the point? In this high tech day and age the referee should consult with off pitch footage post match, after all there are probably hundreds of camera’s from all nations around the pitch. I accept the fact that in some instances he cannot make decisions based on camera evidence as this would upset the flow of play as he runs to the sideline to investigate but I think there’s another way. The other way being having impartial FIFA based cameramen film the match then any player infringing or flaunting the rules can be reprimanded after the game based on irrefutable camera footage. Then FIFA can use this to send players home or hand out further cards after a match. The idea of two referee’s doesn’t work for me and would probably lead to disagreements as one ref tries to out do the other. So, in conclusion, play the game as normal with the ref, then after the game an independent panel watch the game and penalise any players breaking the rules after at a hearing. This I’m sure would make players think twice before trying anything subversive or sneaky.

Zidane and 'that' incident

Well, seemingly the press were quick to vilify Mr Zidane initially but are now showing evidence that he was indeed pinched on the nipple hard by Materazzi and then taunted. The actual words said by Materazzi are still a mystery but professional Italian lip readers who watched close up replays state that Materazzi taunted Zidane about his mother who is in fact ill at the moment. There was other speculation from the press that Zidane was called a terrorist.

I can’t support what Zidane did, I accept there’s gamesmanship in football but what Materazzi said must have cut deeply. Whilst some of the press say Zidane ended his career in shame, I disagree, let’s not readily forget all the good he has done for football, all the pleasure he has brought to millions. The Italians knew they were on the back foot in the second half as France relentlessly attacked, so resorted to low level tactics. Lets remember the pressure that must have been on the players and realise that nearly all geniuses all lose it from time to time, whether it’s a footballer or an artist.

In France Zidane is still a hero, that goes for me too. I’m not letting one moment of madness affect my judgment of him. It’s a shame France lost in such a manner but to me they always shine in the world of football.

Thursday, July 06, 2006

Friends

Friends, work mates, associates, acquaintances, people that sometimes drift in and out of your life – what are they all about?

Some time ago I took it for granted that ‘friends come and go’ so to speak throughout your life. Work mates seem to be the ones that come and go most often, we often promise to stay in touch but we all move on, such is life I guess. Then come associates etc, people we may meet on holiday and exchange addresses and phone numbers, we promise to remain friends but with the best will in the world it hardly happens. Another example is pen friends we often have when we are children, or perhaps people we’ve met via email etc.

Then lastly there are close friends, its hard to define a ‘friend’ really in a few words, some could be childhood or school time friends, others good friends we meet through long term work or through other friends, hobbies and interests – or just folk you meet down the local boozer.

The irony about friendships is that they often end, for a multitude of reasons, some silly, some because we change as people, some because of distance and lives routine and lastly because we have a fall out.

I never like friendships ending, not for any reason. Friendships often take ages to forge and bond and all friendships contain empathy and trust to differing degrees.

Personally I’d say I have a lot of friends but in the same statement I have very few close friends, I guess that’s the way I prefer it. I’d say a lot of people were like me in that respect because it’s hard to maintain a large circle of friends and remain sincere or keep in touch.

What really eats me though is when people throw away friendships needlessly after they’ve taken years to build. Friendships that go down the pan for stupid reasons, because one person is stubborn or maybe perhaps because their partner dictates to them which friends are suitable for them.

I’ve witnessed a couple of examples recently, both without sensible rhyme or reasoning.

So should I be philosophical and revert to my statement of ‘friends come and go’ or should I be sad?

The honest answer of course – has to be sad.