It’s ending as it started. More of a whimper than a bang.
I’ve said it before: blogging is the thing that drops off the “to do” list first when the “real” bites back. And sometimes, when things hurt, stuff happens, life comes in to focus more sharply or just gets busy, blogging goes out the window. And rightly so.
I wonder if it’s a bit like friends on Facebook – sometimes, they really are your mates but most of the time, not. And when mates are really what you need, the internet ain’t going to love you back, buy you a drink, console you.
I like to converse, drink coffee, prop up the bar, banter, cook and eat, connect with. Blogging and being - different tools, different times, different needs...
I think I’m also (not so) secretly addicted to the feeds. It’s time to stop.
I’m not as thoughtful a blogger as Ben.
I’m not as witty a blogger as jonnyfun or Fat Roland.
I’m not as incisive a blogger as Kester.
I’m not as dedicated or frequent a blogger as Mike at feig-city or Mark at Way Out West.
I’m not as crafty a blogger as Sal at Tinkering Times.
I’m not as sharing a blogger as L1z at Reach Out and Touch The Screen.
I think I’ve basically run out of pixel-based, QWERTY-formulated words.
You might still find me at Reel Review or posting messages about herons at Sanctus1 but till then, nuff said here at least.
You can’t control the message.
02 August 2007
17 July 2007
12 July 2007
creative trespassers... and Richard Hammond
This morning (in fact, this week) I’ve mainly been head-down on a focussed task, getting information in from people in a certain format to publish… Both concentrated and dull to some extent.
But in amidst that, I had a conversation with a new colleague who mentioned these two snippets of quotes, both of which hugely appealed to me.
Richard Hammond (on winning the 2007 Royal Society Junior Prize for Science Books):
"Perhaps all children need is the confidence to approach a subject with enthusiasm and an open mind."
Arthur Koestler (from his book The Sleepwalkers):
“…that this age of specialists is in need of creative trespassers".
Nice.
technorati tag: richard hammond, arthur koestler, creative trespassers, royal society junior prize for science books
But in amidst that, I had a conversation with a new colleague who mentioned these two snippets of quotes, both of which hugely appealed to me.
Richard Hammond (on winning the 2007 Royal Society Junior Prize for Science Books):
"Perhaps all children need is the confidence to approach a subject with enthusiasm and an open mind."
Arthur Koestler (from his book The Sleepwalkers):
“…that this age of specialists is in need of creative trespassers".
Nice.
technorati tag: richard hammond, arthur koestler, creative trespassers, royal society junior prize for science books
10 July 2007
what matters...
"Health is largely an obsession, what matters is can you still sing." George Melly, RIP
technorati tag: george melly
technorati tag: george melly
05 July 2007
kapital...
Kapital – last night was the world-premiere for Greg Hall/ Steve Martland film commission for Manchester International Festival. Apparently the three “Londoners” (those two and Alex Poots, festival director) cooked up the title in a café in Finsbury Park – and I think that about says it all.
Simon Mellor said in the post-film Q&A that he thought that Manchester was one of the main characters in the piece. And I couldn’t have agreed less. If you’re a Cockney, why come to a strange city and try and make a “Mancunian” film?
My feeling overall was that it could have worked as four short films. Actually, it could have been one short. In fact, I recommend you watch the well-edited one minute trailer approximately 75 times instead of catching the full director’s cut…
It was like watching an art installation film piece in a cinema; it’s certainly no feature film. Nice try MIF, but features budgets tend to have another nought on the end of them. As a result of that, and I suspect also the providence of the director, this really isn’t a film worth seeking out. More Krap-ital than Kapital.
technorati tag: kapital, manchester international festival
Simon Mellor said in the post-film Q&A that he thought that Manchester was one of the main characters in the piece. And I couldn’t have agreed less. If you’re a Cockney, why come to a strange city and try and make a “Mancunian” film?
My feeling overall was that it could have worked as four short films. Actually, it could have been one short. In fact, I recommend you watch the well-edited one minute trailer approximately 75 times instead of catching the full director’s cut…
It was like watching an art installation film piece in a cinema; it’s certainly no feature film. Nice try MIF, but features budgets tend to have another nought on the end of them. As a result of that, and I suspect also the providence of the director, this really isn’t a film worth seeking out. More Krap-ital than Kapital.
technorati tag: kapital, manchester international festival
22 June 2007
email disclaimer
You know the thing, the lines at the bottom of a big company email...
This email may contain legally privileged and/or confidential information. It is solely for and is confidential for use by the addressee, unauthorised recipients, confidentiality, blah, received it in error, notify, rubarb rubarb, unless expressly stated, contractually binding, whatever, liability, blah, intended recipient, sanctioned, viruses transmitted, blah, blah...
Sorry. Nodded off there for a mo...
So it was a bit of a breath of fresh air to get this today - am sure the lawyers would have a field day with it, but hey.
We have an email policy* which we would like you to take note of. It’s not the most exciting of reads but it is important. Deep breath - here goes…
We love emails; they are quick and environmentally friendly and if we ever print an email we promise to use recycled paper and then dispose of it responsibly. Please try and do the same.
This email and its attachments are intended for the above named only and may be confidential. If this email has come to you in error – do not panic! Take no action based on the email, nor copy or show to anyone, simply reply to this message highlighting the error. We would be awfully grateful if you could do this.
Although great time and care has gone into creating this email from [company], please be aware that Internet email is not a 100% secure communications medium. Bear this in mind…you can always give us a call or pop in for a coffee instead.
Although we have tried our very best to make sure that this email and its attachments are virus free, we do advise that the recipient (i.e. you) ensure that this is the case. Be careful!
Oh and enjoy your day. Well done for reaching the bottom - call us for a certificate.
*not really an email policy but an important message all the same.
This email may contain legally privileged and/or confidential information. It is solely for and is confidential for use by the addressee, unauthorised recipients, confidentiality, blah, received it in error, notify, rubarb rubarb, unless expressly stated, contractually binding, whatever, liability, blah, intended recipient, sanctioned, viruses transmitted, blah, blah...
Sorry. Nodded off there for a mo...
So it was a bit of a breath of fresh air to get this today - am sure the lawyers would have a field day with it, but hey.
We have an email policy* which we would like you to take note of. It’s not the most exciting of reads but it is important. Deep breath - here goes…
We love emails; they are quick and environmentally friendly and if we ever print an email we promise to use recycled paper and then dispose of it responsibly. Please try and do the same.
This email and its attachments are intended for the above named only and may be confidential. If this email has come to you in error – do not panic! Take no action based on the email, nor copy or show to anyone, simply reply to this message highlighting the error. We would be awfully grateful if you could do this.
Although great time and care has gone into creating this email from [company], please be aware that Internet email is not a 100% secure communications medium. Bear this in mind…you can always give us a call or pop in for a coffee instead.
Although we have tried our very best to make sure that this email and its attachments are virus free, we do advise that the recipient (i.e. you) ensure that this is the case. Be careful!
Oh and enjoy your day. Well done for reaching the bottom - call us for a certificate.
*not really an email policy but an important message all the same.
20 June 2007
busy bee
I have been particularly so these last few weeks (work, life, stuff, more work). But I'm back now. Well a bit more than the last month or so anyway.
Blogging - it's the thing that fills a gap when the rest of life's stuff calms down a bit.
100 days
100 days.
We wait for news (which you used to bring us).
We sign petitions, we lobby, we hold vigils, we blog.
We wait in hope.
technorati tag: alan johnston
We wait for news (which you used to bring us).
We sign petitions, we lobby, we hold vigils, we blog.
We wait in hope.
technorati tag: alan johnston
07 June 2007
webby five word acceptance speech...
Neat! Here's some I like...
News
BBC News - Webby: Alan, we're thinking of you.
Newspaper
The Guardian - Webby: Please free Alan Johnston now.
Science
HubbleSite - People's Voice: houston we have a winner
Artist of the Year
Beastie Boys: Can anyone fix my computer?
Lifetime Achievement
Meg Whitman: Bidding starts at 99 cents.
Lifetime Achievement
David Bowie: I only get five words? Sh*t, that was five. Four more there. That's three. Two.
Person of the Year
Chad Harley & Steve Chen: YouTubers, this is for you.
Social Networking
Facebook - People's Voice: im just here for bowie
Fashion
ZOOZOOM 'The Original Online Glossy' - Webby: not just a pretty face
Lifestyles
DIYNetwork.com - Webby: Now let's get hammered.
Religion and Spirituality
Religion & Ethics Newsweekly - Webby: to all our colleagues, thanks
Religion and Spirituality
What Is Enlightenment? - Webby: get enlightened, or die trying
Youth
Nick.com - Webby: have sex, make more kids
technorati tag: webby awards
News
BBC News - Webby: Alan, we're thinking of you.
Newspaper
The Guardian - Webby: Please free Alan Johnston now.
Science
HubbleSite - People's Voice: houston we have a winner
Artist of the Year
Beastie Boys: Can anyone fix my computer?
Lifetime Achievement
Meg Whitman: Bidding starts at 99 cents.
Lifetime Achievement
David Bowie: I only get five words? Sh*t, that was five. Four more there. That's three. Two.
Person of the Year
Chad Harley & Steve Chen: YouTubers, this is for you.
Social Networking
Facebook - People's Voice: im just here for bowie
Fashion
ZOOZOOM 'The Original Online Glossy' - Webby: not just a pretty face
Lifestyles
DIYNetwork.com - Webby: Now let's get hammered.
Religion and Spirituality
Religion & Ethics Newsweekly - Webby: to all our colleagues, thanks
Religion and Spirituality
What Is Enlightenment? - Webby: get enlightened, or die trying
Youth
Nick.com - Webby: have sex, make more kids
technorati tag: webby awards
23 May 2007
editors
OK, OK, I’ll admit it. We really wanted to go to Saturday’s The Best Disco in Town Live 2007… But somehow M and I found ourselves standing in the spring sunshine of a Warrington Tuesday evening waiting to see these blokes called Editors instead - and no, Sec C, it’s nothing to do with books! ;-)
Last night, two years on from The Back Room, those nearly-Brum boys made their comeback appearance at the Parr Hall in Warrington. Yes you read that right – one of the UK’s bands of the decade playing in a municipal hall in a small northern town sandwiched between the urban corridor of Liverpool and Manchester. You may well ask why…
Tom Smith was on fire – the comparisons with Ian Curtis are fair, but he’s much much more as well. It’s like he’s got an electric pulse running through his veins, making him convulse and twitch. His guitar’s more like a piece of armour AND a weapon, than an instrument. Chris Urbanowicz wouldn’t be out of place playing guitar with Franz Ferdinand or Placebo, and Russell Leetch as part of Robbie’s backing band (sorry – it was the jeans and suit jacket). And Ed Lay just sits out there at the back, getting on with the real business of bashing your heart into the rhythm of his drumming…
But as ever when you're trying to convey something no-one else experienced, all of that completely undersells them. This unstyled, rag bag of slightly geeky musicians played above, beyond, out of themselves, giving us way more than everything they had, whilst still checking we were ok, they weren’t losing us, it was going ok?…
My gig of the year by far – subtle, electric, buoyant, and yes (that awful muso journo short-hand) anthemic. The new stuff from the upcoming album An End Has A Start sounds just as good as The Back Room – maybe even better, but it was hard to tell on one listen… Time will of course tell.
And thankfully all this – a neat hour and twenty of short, sharp rocks - without the swagger of the Kaiser Chief’s pitiful attempt at a second album (everything is average nowadays – you bet).
technorati tag: editors
17 May 2007
happy 45th birthday, alan johnston...
To Our Own Correspondent, Alan: "For more than 50 years on this programme, the news has been broadcast from our own correspondents. Today - with apologies to you - I want to send a message to one of our own. Day 66 of Alan Johnston's captivity is also his 45th birthday. Most likely there will be no candles or cake. But my hope is that somewhere, somehow, Alan will be able to listen. His family, his friends, his colleagues all miss him. We want him home. Our birthday wish is his immediate release. Happy birthday Alan."
(Jon Williams, World Editor, BBC News, Jerusalem)
technorati tag: alan johnston
(Jon Williams, World Editor, BBC News, Jerusalem)
technorati tag: alan johnston
15 May 2007
birthday wishes for Alan Johnston...
Another way to show that you haven't forgotten Alan Johnston's abduction - 64 days today since he vanished - the Media Guardian site reports:
The BBC's kidnapped Gaza correspondent Alan Johnston turns 45 on Thursday and the corporation has issued an address for people who want to send birthday cards as a show of support. Johnston has not been seen since he was seized at gunpoint in Gaza City on March 12.
Last week, he was named broadcasting journalist of the year at the annual London Press Club awards, where the BBC director general, Mark Thompson, paid tribute to Johnston and the courage of his family. Readers who wish to send cards should post them to the World Affairs Unit, Room 410SE, BBC Bush House, Strand, London, WC2B 4PH.
technorati tag: alan johnston
14 May 2007
in the middle of the room...
Ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to present...
a man whose musical and comedic talents stretch to clowning about whilst singing about funerals
the smaller-in-real-life-but-still-somehow-larger-than-life
vaudeville-esque
tragi-comic musician
and Huckleberry-Finn-The-Musical-wannabe (better they never make a reality find-a-star show about that!)
...Duke Special!
At the end of last night’s rapturously received Manchester Academy gig, for the last encore, he and the band leapt off stage, walked through the crowd, busked an improv number about being in the middle of the room, someone playing the spoons, etc. And then ended with a fantastic necessarily-unplugged version of John Lennon Love. And all about two feet from where we were standing!! I always say that M picks the best spot to stand at a gig… ;-)
Catch him now while you can still see him in some intimate venues – or at Greenbelt. Do it – or have another boring bank holiday weekend.
technorati tag: duke special
a man whose musical and comedic talents stretch to clowning about whilst singing about funerals
the smaller-in-real-life-but-still-somehow-larger-than-life
vaudeville-esque
tragi-comic musician
and Huckleberry-Finn-The-Musical-wannabe (better they never make a reality find-a-star show about that!)
...Duke Special!
At the end of last night’s rapturously received Manchester Academy gig, for the last encore, he and the band leapt off stage, walked through the crowd, busked an improv number about being in the middle of the room, someone playing the spoons, etc. And then ended with a fantastic necessarily-unplugged version of John Lennon Love. And all about two feet from where we were standing!! I always say that M picks the best spot to stand at a gig… ;-)
Catch him now while you can still see him in some intimate venues – or at Greenbelt. Do it – or have another boring bank holiday weekend.
technorati tag: duke special
04 May 2007
30 April 2007
film sense-orship
Too young to see the film you star in because of the BBFC rating? Then make sure you get it shown in Bristol (a la Shane Meadow's This is England).
At last, an authority showing some sense over film censorship - and adjusting the certification to a 15. If only this had happened for Sweet Sixteen as well. Sadly, it's too late now.
technorati tag: BBFC, this is england
At last, an authority showing some sense over film censorship - and adjusting the certification to a 15. If only this had happened for Sweet Sixteen as well. Sadly, it's too late now.
technorati tag: BBFC, this is england
The Wiki-master interview
A fascinating glimpse into Jimmy Wales' take on everything net-ty.
> So what prevents renegade users editing each other into oblivion, and Wikipedia from becoming the world’s most unreliable resource?
> “It’s really about having a good community, having certain values within that community, and making sure the community has the tools they need to monitor the quality and maintain it over time,” says Wales. “Those are the real keys to what makes it work.”
technorati tag: wikipedia, jimmy wales
> So what prevents renegade users editing each other into oblivion, and Wikipedia from becoming the world’s most unreliable resource?
> “It’s really about having a good community, having certain values within that community, and making sure the community has the tools they need to monitor the quality and maintain it over time,” says Wales. “Those are the real keys to what makes it work.”
technorati tag: wikipedia, jimmy wales
"15 minutes" - this sunday
15 Minutes (18)
The final in our Heroes and Villains series (and the last in this run of films…)
The final in our Heroes and Villains series (and the last in this run of films…)
This Sunday, 6th May
Doors: 6.30pm Film starts: 7pm prompt
VENUE CHANGE ** please note that we've moved venues (contact for location details) **
If you want to explore the film's themes and issues: Post-film discussion: 9.15pm onwards Evening ends: no later than 10pm
Feel free to bring your own food, drinks and snacks.
25 April 2007
big voice for the little guys
howies do it again - a wealth of info on good ideas and good people, for our good planet home.
Little Big Voice lectures
technorati tag: howies, little big voice
Little Big Voice lectures
technorati tag: howies, little big voice
17 April 2007
11 April 2007
life on mars?...
Guess what? Sam was in a coma all along (cf Bobby's shower dream).
Sam's brain tumor and the swelling were the cause of his coma, and once operated on, he was hunky dory and back in the real world. All the 'clever' clues were actually his ward name, the room number, his surgeon... (It was around this time - 15 minutes from the end - that I started shouting at the TV.)
Except that once Sam was back, it didn't feel real to him. The life he'd longed to go back to - his family, the present - felt so much less real to him that he jumped off a roof - killed himself - to get back to 1973. And all because he'd promised Annie he wouldn't 'just leave'... Ah...
Questions...
If the 1973 life that Sam was living in ultimately was and felt more real to him than the present, why did he always want to go home so badly from 1973?
And why did he make the 'slightly' drastic choice of death in order to go back?
Surely he knew that was a cop-out (pardon the pun) - his mum, his girlfriend, his mates and colleagues would be distraught, guilt-ridden, at his recovery and sudden suicide?
One minute he was telling us that it was good to talk about it, the next jumping off the roof - why?
A copper of such principle, such a modern, ethical man, wouldn't choose to kill himself for racist, mysogynist fantasy-land?
He spent months trying to convince them that their methods made them corrupt, violent, sexist pigs (sorry again) - and yet he chose to go back and be one of them?
lf this is all correct, surely it's more accurate to say he was actually more mad than in a coma? Or both - the coma sent him mad?
And more...
Why did the Beeb commission a second series in the first place?
Why did I ever start watching it anyway?
lf it's true they made two endings, can they please let us see the other one?
Doesn't Jon Wilde's son's explanation seem so much better, more real, more satisfying?
Does it make me feel any better that one of the country's best TV critics doesn't seem to know what it means either?
Does all this mean Janet Street Porter's right, we get the TV we deserve?...
So many questions, and nere an answer to be found. Auntie, do the decent thing and 'Gene Hunt' the 80s spin-off now...
technorati tag: life on mars
Sam's brain tumor and the swelling were the cause of his coma, and once operated on, he was hunky dory and back in the real world. All the 'clever' clues were actually his ward name, the room number, his surgeon... (It was around this time - 15 minutes from the end - that I started shouting at the TV.)
Except that once Sam was back, it didn't feel real to him. The life he'd longed to go back to - his family, the present - felt so much less real to him that he jumped off a roof - killed himself - to get back to 1973. And all because he'd promised Annie he wouldn't 'just leave'... Ah...
Questions...
If the 1973 life that Sam was living in ultimately was and felt more real to him than the present, why did he always want to go home so badly from 1973?
And why did he make the 'slightly' drastic choice of death in order to go back?
Surely he knew that was a cop-out (pardon the pun) - his mum, his girlfriend, his mates and colleagues would be distraught, guilt-ridden, at his recovery and sudden suicide?
One minute he was telling us that it was good to talk about it, the next jumping off the roof - why?
A copper of such principle, such a modern, ethical man, wouldn't choose to kill himself for racist, mysogynist fantasy-land?
He spent months trying to convince them that their methods made them corrupt, violent, sexist pigs (sorry again) - and yet he chose to go back and be one of them?
lf this is all correct, surely it's more accurate to say he was actually more mad than in a coma? Or both - the coma sent him mad?
And more...
Why did the Beeb commission a second series in the first place?
Why did I ever start watching it anyway?
lf it's true they made two endings, can they please let us see the other one?
Doesn't Jon Wilde's son's explanation seem so much better, more real, more satisfying?
Does it make me feel any better that one of the country's best TV critics doesn't seem to know what it means either?
Does all this mean Janet Street Porter's right, we get the TV we deserve?...
So many questions, and nere an answer to be found. Auntie, do the decent thing and 'Gene Hunt' the 80s spin-off now...
technorati tag: life on mars
08 April 2007
Be the change...
Sanctus1 and Be The Change presents the Change the Dream Symposium
Where on Earth are we going?
And what can we do about it?
These are two of the questions that lie at the heart of Change the Dream. It explores the link between three of humanity’s most critical concerns: environmental sustainability, social justice and spiritual fulfillment.
Using video clips from some of the world’s most respected thinkers, inspiring short films, and leading edge information on the state of the planet and its people, the day allows all of us to gain a new insight into the opportunity we have to shape the direction of our world with our everyday choices and actions.
Monday 7 May (bank holiday), 10.00 - 4.30
Nexus, Dale St., Manchester, M1 1JW
0161 236 0100
Cost: £10 (£5 unwaged) - any profits will be donated to suitable charities.
Fairtrade tea/ coffee provided. Lunch not included – bring or buy your own.
For bookings and info, please email bethechange@sanctus1.co.uk
technorati tag: be the change, sanctus1
Where on Earth are we going?
And what can we do about it?
These are two of the questions that lie at the heart of Change the Dream. It explores the link between three of humanity’s most critical concerns: environmental sustainability, social justice and spiritual fulfillment.
Using video clips from some of the world’s most respected thinkers, inspiring short films, and leading edge information on the state of the planet and its people, the day allows all of us to gain a new insight into the opportunity we have to shape the direction of our world with our everyday choices and actions.
Monday 7 May (bank holiday), 10.00 - 4.30
Nexus, Dale St., Manchester, M1 1JW
0161 236 0100
Cost: £10 (£5 unwaged) - any profits will be donated to suitable charities.
Fairtrade tea/ coffee provided. Lunch not included – bring or buy your own.
For bookings and info, please email bethechange@sanctus1.co.uk
technorati tag: be the change, sanctus1
a realisation...
If you close your eyes and listen hard, the sound of rain on a hood sounds a lot like the patter of rain on a tent.
Thought that was worth sharing...
technorati tag: rain
Thought that was worth sharing...
technorati tag: rain
30 March 2007
some friendly post-gig advice to the young knives...
You rock! Just don't do what you threatened - and come back with the quintessential sh*t second album. Please.
technorati tag: the young knives
last night K9 saved my life...
Last night, whilst browsing around the Museum of Science and Industry, I was nearly attacked by a walking, talking Cyberman...
...shot at by a Dalek...
and blasted by an Ood...
but K9 saved my life! Phew...
technorati tag: doctor who, museum of science and industry
...shot at by a Dalek...
and blasted by an Ood...
but K9 saved my life! Phew...
technorati tag: doctor who, museum of science and industry
29 March 2007
Reel Spirituality - Leon, this Sunday
Leon (18)
The third in our Heroes and Villains series
This Sunday, 1st April
Doors: 6.30pm Film starts: 7pm prompt
VENUE CHANGE ** please note that we’ve moved venues (email Sanctus1 for location details) **
If you want to explore the film’s themes and issues:
Post-film discussion: 9.15pm onwards Evening ends: no later than 10pm
Feel free to bring your own food, drinks and snacks – I think there might be free popcorn!
Next month, the last in the series of Heroes and Villains:
6th May - 15 Minutes (18)
27 March 2007
the tribe...
Having heard some of their stories previously, it's great to see Jim Gilmore's take on The Tribe written up for a wider audience. Go read - it's thoughtful, reflective, empowering stuff...
technorati tag: the tribe, emerging church
technorati tag: the tribe, emerging church
16 March 2007
fight, fight, fight...
My mate Iain has always been an argumentative/ pedantic type but now he's picked the mother of all fights with the government's Chief Bulldog himself - John Reid. Go Iain, loving your work...
Reid wrong about comfort of smoking, research shows - smoking is not associated with better quality of life or increased pleasure.
Results from a study that investigated links between smoking and pleasure and quality of life showed no evidence to support a controversial comment by the former health secretary John Reid (now the home secretary) that for some people their only enjoyment was having a cigarette (Public Health 2007 Mar 2, doi: 10.1016/j.puhe.2007.01.005). [*this bit is Iain's research*]
"We found no evidence to support a claim that smoking is associated with heightened levels of pleasure, either in low socioeconomic groups or in the general population. In fact, our results suggest the opposite: that smoking is associated with lower levels of pleasure and poorer overall quality of life. As a group, smokers have lower levels of pleasure and quality of life than those who have never smoked, with ex-smokers in between," say the authors. The report says that in June 2004 Dr Reid claimed that people in lower socioeconomic categories "have very few pleasures in life and one of them they regard as smoking."
He added, "What enjoyment does a 21 year old single mother of three living in a council sink estate get? The only enjoyment sometimes they have is to have a cigarette." His comments, say the authors, brought criticism from other political parties, the BMA, antismoking groups, and others. "The health secretary's assertion that smoking is a source of pleasure seems to contradict established epidemiological knowledge about the association between mental health and smoking," they say, "Despite this, no evidence based interrogation of his claims has been conducted."
In fact, the researchers say, until now no analyses of the association between smoking and measured pleasure or quality of life have been done. To see whether pleasure and better quality of life were associated with smoking, the team from Peninsula Medical School in Exeter and Cambridge University analysed data from a study of 9176 men and women aged 50 years or more who took part in the health survey for England."
technorati tag: smoking, john reid
Reid wrong about comfort of smoking, research shows - smoking is not associated with better quality of life or increased pleasure.
Results from a study that investigated links between smoking and pleasure and quality of life showed no evidence to support a controversial comment by the former health secretary John Reid (now the home secretary) that for some people their only enjoyment was having a cigarette (Public Health 2007 Mar 2, doi: 10.1016/j.puhe.2007.01.005). [*this bit is Iain's research*]
"We found no evidence to support a claim that smoking is associated with heightened levels of pleasure, either in low socioeconomic groups or in the general population. In fact, our results suggest the opposite: that smoking is associated with lower levels of pleasure and poorer overall quality of life. As a group, smokers have lower levels of pleasure and quality of life than those who have never smoked, with ex-smokers in between," say the authors. The report says that in June 2004 Dr Reid claimed that people in lower socioeconomic categories "have very few pleasures in life and one of them they regard as smoking."
He added, "What enjoyment does a 21 year old single mother of three living in a council sink estate get? The only enjoyment sometimes they have is to have a cigarette." His comments, say the authors, brought criticism from other political parties, the BMA, antismoking groups, and others. "The health secretary's assertion that smoking is a source of pleasure seems to contradict established epidemiological knowledge about the association between mental health and smoking," they say, "Despite this, no evidence based interrogation of his claims has been conducted."
In fact, the researchers say, until now no analyses of the association between smoking and measured pleasure or quality of life have been done. To see whether pleasure and better quality of life were associated with smoking, the team from Peninsula Medical School in Exeter and Cambridge University analysed data from a study of 9176 men and women aged 50 years or more who took part in the health survey for England."
technorati tag: smoking, john reid
star-mega-bucks
Unusually for me, I was pretty much forced into Barstucks (as we affectionately call it) for a meeting the other day. And was horrified - nay, angry - nay, amazed - all of those and more! - that they've got a Starbucks book for sale on the counter.
Ne'ermind the music, the paraphenalia, the Times, the mugs, the coffee (which is after all what we went in there for the in the first place)... a book! By someone with a PhD no less!
Starbucks Experience: 5 Principles for Turning Ordinary into Extraordinary
Another money spinner - surely. Another opportunity to expound their "brand values" - of course. An opportunity to get under their skin, immitate, de/re-construct, learn from them, be challenged by them - that too?
technorati tag: starbucks book
Ne'ermind the music, the paraphenalia, the Times, the mugs, the coffee (which is after all what we went in there for the in the first place)... a book! By someone with a PhD no less!
Starbucks Experience: 5 Principles for Turning Ordinary into Extraordinary
Another money spinner - surely. Another opportunity to expound their "brand values" - of course. An opportunity to get under their skin, immitate, de/re-construct, learn from them, be challenged by them - that too?
technorati tag: starbucks book
07 March 2007
jennie-come-latelys...
Even though we know it, it's nice to be reminded once in a while that we're the Jennie-come-latelys... ;-)
06 March 2007
some friendly post-gig advice to The Hours...
Some friendly advice to The Hours following last night’s Academy 3 gig (aka best venue in Manc):
We came to the gig already loving the songs. But please learn a bit of patter to keep us with you between numbers.
To Antony Genn - lose the guitar more often. When you played People Say you looked really free, it came alive more. Do it more often, hire someone else to play your parts if you have to.
Try not to play venues the same night as a sold-out The Rifles gig – you’ll end up getting the disappointed dregs of people who couldn’t get in to see them. This will only pain and annoy your real fans.
Consider not playing a song about your dead dad as the first number after the encore. You’d just got us jumping when you went off stage and then it was a hard change of tempo to pull off (hence the aforementioned Rifles dregs talking through it – unforgivable but…)
Never, ever let your drummer wear a short-sleeved button-up black shirt. He looks like a hotel bellboy.
To Martin Slattery – try not to look like a rabbit caught in the headlights from the moment you come on stage. Maybe close your eyes once in a while or look at your keys if you can’t stop staring at us in a slightly off-yer-head way.
Finally - don’t try so hard. You ARE rock stars. So stop *trying* to be one and just be. You’ve seen how Pulp, Elastica, Joe Strummer and Black Grape did it, and now you’re having to work your way up again on your own terms. That must be tough. But try to enjoy it – during People Say and Ali in the Jungle last night it finally came across that you were.
PS Antony – nice teeth. ;-)
PPS We loved it, really we did. Monday night rocks! It’s the new Saturday you know…
technorati tag: the hours
02 March 2007
quote...
Picasso: "The best way to preserve tradition is to have children, and not by wearing your father’s old hat."
(from The Forgotten Ways)
technorati tag: picasso quote
(from The Forgotten Ways)
technorati tag: picasso quote
23 February 2007
the sixth “slightly weird” thing about me…
6 - …is what happens while I’m sleeping. I have chronic nightmares and talk in my sleep.
The former was most prevalent when I was a small child and bordered on night terrors. I only ever had about half a dozen recurring nightmares which I just kept revisiting. I still have very vivid dreams almost every night.
The latter, I seem to always have done, probably always will do. It seems to happen especially when I’m stressed or very busy. My mum has had several perfectly coherent mid-night conversations with me over the years – all of which I’ve had absolutely no recollection of in the morning!
technorati tag: me, sleep talking, nightmares
The former was most prevalent when I was a small child and bordered on night terrors. I only ever had about half a dozen recurring nightmares which I just kept revisiting. I still have very vivid dreams almost every night.
The latter, I seem to always have done, probably always will do. It seems to happen especially when I’m stressed or very busy. My mum has had several perfectly coherent mid-night conversations with me over the years – all of which I’ve had absolutely no recollection of in the morning!
technorati tag: me, sleep talking, nightmares
19 February 2007
16 February 2007
sorry, I must have misheard you... you said climate-change gigs where?
'Johannesburg, London, Shanghai and Sydney are among the host cities [for the Live Earth gigs]. Three other concerts will take place in the US, Brazil and Japan, with the cities still to be decided. There will also be a concert in Antarctica.
At the press conference, organisers said Live Earth "will become the model for carbon neutral concerts and other live events in the future".' (BBC News report)
(Insert your own polar-bear-under-palm-tree punchline/ despairing head shake here)
technorati tag: live earth, climate change
At the press conference, organisers said Live Earth "will become the model for carbon neutral concerts and other live events in the future".' (BBC News report)
(Insert your own polar-bear-under-palm-tree punchline/ despairing head shake here)
technorati tag: live earth, climate change
13 February 2007
blog famine/ feast...
I’ve been far too busy at work (new contract, since you ask – wonderful, passionate, scary, big, important stuff, which might or might not leak on to here at some point in the future).
Things that I’ve not blogged because of being busy:
Steve Chalke’s interview in Education Guardian
An interesting but old Naomi Klein interview
And last week’s PHENOMENAL (and I don’t use that word or the CAPS lightly) Duke Special gig. It’s not too late to catch him on the road round the UK. Do it. I urge you.
Plus JonnyFun’s tagged me to let you know "six slightly weird things that you probably didn’t know about me". Now this is hot on the heels of the "five things that you probably didn’t know about me".
Frankly I think you all now know more things about me than most people I see daily so I might not take up the tag (shushes shouts of “spoil sport!” from the back). But then again I might if anything strikes me…
technorati tag: nonsense
Things that I’ve not blogged because of being busy:
Steve Chalke’s interview in Education Guardian
An interesting but old Naomi Klein interview
And last week’s PHENOMENAL (and I don’t use that word or the CAPS lightly) Duke Special gig. It’s not too late to catch him on the road round the UK. Do it. I urge you.
Plus JonnyFun’s tagged me to let you know "six slightly weird things that you probably didn’t know about me". Now this is hot on the heels of the "five things that you probably didn’t know about me".
Frankly I think you all now know more things about me than most people I see daily so I might not take up the tag (shushes shouts of “spoil sport!” from the back). But then again I might if anything strikes me…
technorati tag: nonsense
07 February 2007
tinkering times...
Thanks to Sal, I ended up spending an hour or so on Monday night making envelopes out of magazine pages and writing cards to send to people. Sal's new year's resolution is to send more real post to people... I like that!
06 February 2007
cynicism, realism, resignation, whatever...
I am hereby officially tendering my resignation as an adult who is overly nostalgic about childhood.
I have decided I wouldn’t like to accept the “responsibilities” of an eight year-old again. I always thought McDonald's was more of a punishment than a treat. I never spent endless summers playing in the mud – I was too busy reading indoors, complaining about being bored, falling out with friends, or arguing with my brother. I hoarded my pocket money, counted it obsessively and pestered my parents as often as I could for a “raise”. The trees on our road were all dead from Dutch Elm disease, and the closest I got to altruism or a bake sale was a Blue Peter “Bring and Buy” – and only then because I fancied Peter Duncan and wanted to get on TV.
I don’t think there was a time when life was that simple. I knew my colours, times tables, and nursery rhymes, but there were the things that I didn't know that did bother me – I once asked my dad why they couldn’t just print more money to stop people being poor. I was all too aware of all the potential for things to make me worried and upset – my brother being hit by a car, some of my family emigrating, the cat getting run over… I wanted to think the world was fair (but I knew better because once my whole class got held in detention for something that one girl did). I wanted to think that everyone was honest and good (but my mum was a magistrate and I quite often sat at the back of court waiting for her, so saw quite a lot of loss and punishment). OK, I did believe that anything was possible (but I still think it is). I want to be continually aware of the complexities of life AND be overly excited by the little things too.
I don't want my day to consist of easy nostalgia about how life was better back then… and in the time I’m waiting for the somewhere over the rainbow to arrive, I recognize that I’ll have to settle for computer crashes, piles of paperwork, depressing news, how to survive more days in the month than there is money in the bank, gossip, illness, and the loss of loved ones… Life’s like that – it was when we were eight, whether we knew it or not… But I do still believe in the power of smiles, hugs, a kind word, truth, justice, peace, dreams, the imagination, humankind, and making angels in the snow.So I’m keeping my cheque book, my credit card bills and my pay slips, if that’s alright. I am not officially resigning from adulthood.
(Without apology to this.)
technorati tag: adult resignation
I have decided I wouldn’t like to accept the “responsibilities” of an eight year-old again. I always thought McDonald's was more of a punishment than a treat. I never spent endless summers playing in the mud – I was too busy reading indoors, complaining about being bored, falling out with friends, or arguing with my brother. I hoarded my pocket money, counted it obsessively and pestered my parents as often as I could for a “raise”. The trees on our road were all dead from Dutch Elm disease, and the closest I got to altruism or a bake sale was a Blue Peter “Bring and Buy” – and only then because I fancied Peter Duncan and wanted to get on TV.
I don’t think there was a time when life was that simple. I knew my colours, times tables, and nursery rhymes, but there were the things that I didn't know that did bother me – I once asked my dad why they couldn’t just print more money to stop people being poor. I was all too aware of all the potential for things to make me worried and upset – my brother being hit by a car, some of my family emigrating, the cat getting run over… I wanted to think the world was fair (but I knew better because once my whole class got held in detention for something that one girl did). I wanted to think that everyone was honest and good (but my mum was a magistrate and I quite often sat at the back of court waiting for her, so saw quite a lot of loss and punishment). OK, I did believe that anything was possible (but I still think it is). I want to be continually aware of the complexities of life AND be overly excited by the little things too.
I don't want my day to consist of easy nostalgia about how life was better back then… and in the time I’m waiting for the somewhere over the rainbow to arrive, I recognize that I’ll have to settle for computer crashes, piles of paperwork, depressing news, how to survive more days in the month than there is money in the bank, gossip, illness, and the loss of loved ones… Life’s like that – it was when we were eight, whether we knew it or not… But I do still believe in the power of smiles, hugs, a kind word, truth, justice, peace, dreams, the imagination, humankind, and making angels in the snow.So I’m keeping my cheque book, my credit card bills and my pay slips, if that’s alright. I am not officially resigning from adulthood.
(Without apology to this.)
technorati tag: adult resignation
31 January 2007
lost property...
Lost property - do you know the owner of this?
It used to be Quay Bar, then briefly was Canteena. Then it seemed to be some dodgyish club after Canteena closed down. Now it's a graffitied, smoke-stained, broken-windowed, boarded up mess.
Does anyone know if it is Uncle Tom's Cabin or not?
technorati tag: urban splash, manchester, castlefield
29 January 2007
...in black...
Some days, without knowing why, you get up and feel like wearing black, yeah? (OK so I have an inkling...)
Today was one of the days. And it was justified it turns out - I heard two personal, terrible, tragic pieces of news this morning.
The Man in Black (who wore it for "the poor, the broken down, the prisoner, the sick, the lonely, the old, the mourning ones") himself sang:
What have I become?
My sweetest friend
Everyone I know
Goes away in the end
And you could have it all
My empire of dirt
I will let you down
I will make you hurt
If I could start again
A million miles away
I would keep myself
I would find a way...
Sadly, very fitting.
technorati tag: johnny cash, hurt, the man in black
Today was one of the days. And it was justified it turns out - I heard two personal, terrible, tragic pieces of news this morning.
The Man in Black (who wore it for "the poor, the broken down, the prisoner, the sick, the lonely, the old, the mourning ones") himself sang:
What have I become?
My sweetest friend
Everyone I know
Goes away in the end
And you could have it all
My empire of dirt
I will let you down
I will make you hurt
If I could start again
A million miles away
I would keep myself
I would find a way...
Sadly, very fitting.
technorati tag: johnny cash, hurt, the man in black
22 January 2007
0 degrees...
It was with a sense of anticipation that we trudged through Manchester’s cold and windy streets to the 0 degrees of separation gig at The Bridgewater Hall. I’d been offered a free ticket through work, and we decided it was an interesting enough bill - four folk/ acoustic artists including Vetiver, Juana Molina, Adem and Vashti Bunyan - to spend the £15 to get M in too.
I’d heard of Vashti Bunyan because of her 60s renown, and subsequent thirty year absence from the music scene. On that basis alone, we decided the others were surely worth the punt – they were after all on the same bill as the English Joni Mitchell. In the end, Bunyan seemed to be the one holding the night back, whilst the young ‘uns jammed their way to a memorable gig. Sure, it was nice that they all collaborated on each other’s numbers but I left thinking that Bunyan might have good reason to have shunned recording and performing for three decades… Her intros to each song were whispered comments on this track that she’d written nearly forty years ago and was now dedicating to her children. Hmmm.
But the others – where to start! Juana Molina was like the bastard step-child of Imogen Heap and KT Tunstall’s foster parents (yes she is that weird!), with her red velvet party dress and click-your-heels-together red sequin pumps. Vetiver were so laid back they were horizontal, but ticking over just enough to demonstrate their Americana roots. And Adem launched us into another world…
The Guardian last week gave it a four star review. I’d give Juana, Vetiver and Adem a solid four stars, and (you guessed it), only one for Bunyan. A five star gig then, but not quite in the way that I was expecting…
technorati tag: 0 degrees of separation
I’d heard of Vashti Bunyan because of her 60s renown, and subsequent thirty year absence from the music scene. On that basis alone, we decided the others were surely worth the punt – they were after all on the same bill as the English Joni Mitchell. In the end, Bunyan seemed to be the one holding the night back, whilst the young ‘uns jammed their way to a memorable gig. Sure, it was nice that they all collaborated on each other’s numbers but I left thinking that Bunyan might have good reason to have shunned recording and performing for three decades… Her intros to each song were whispered comments on this track that she’d written nearly forty years ago and was now dedicating to her children. Hmmm.
But the others – where to start! Juana Molina was like the bastard step-child of Imogen Heap and KT Tunstall’s foster parents (yes she is that weird!), with her red velvet party dress and click-your-heels-together red sequin pumps. Vetiver were so laid back they were horizontal, but ticking over just enough to demonstrate their Americana roots. And Adem launched us into another world…
The Guardian last week gave it a four star review. I’d give Juana, Vetiver and Adem a solid four stars, and (you guessed it), only one for Bunyan. A five star gig then, but not quite in the way that I was expecting…
technorati tag: 0 degrees of separation
let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...
There was a flutter last night in central Manchester, and (promises, promises) apparently some more to come later tonight too...
Woo-hoo! Winter's here.
technorati tag: snow
Woo-hoo! Winter's here.
technorati tag: snow
18 January 2007
into great silence...
I read recently that one of the golden rules of creative writing was “don’t tell the reader, show them”, meaning that explanation is patronizing and ultimately detracts from the narrative. Philip Groning might well have had this line in his head when he filmed his three-hour documentary, Into Great Silence, about the monastery, La Grande Chartreuse, and its order of Carthusian monks.
I’m so glad he chose not to make an “explanatory” documentary – this was immersive cinema, which is exactly what it needed to be. I don’t think it could have been anything else. In that sense, it reminded me a little of Koyanisquatsi. Put simply, it was a series of beautiful moving-photographs, capturing the natural and built environments, the rhythmic daily life of the monks, and of course the silence…
Yes, I had little idea what the chants all meant; yes, the on-screen quotes jarred occasionally (especially when they’re in French and German, thus subtitled right at the bottom of the screen in English); yes, I spent the first 30 minutes feeling acutely aware of the rustle of every single person in the sold-out cinema. Even a little explanation (a smooth voiceover by Morgan Freeman a la The March of the Penguins?) would have killed it.
What’s more, you can’t exactly rush a film that took 16 years even to get permission to make and is essentially about a life of intense, focused, reflective contemplation measured out by seasons and in rhythm to a 900 year old daily pattern. To try and fit it into a neat 120 minutes would have felt wrong. Like slow food is to McDonalds, this is to your average Hollywood blockbuster. I am also struggling to think of the last time I was in the cinema with such a respectful audience. OK, I was the youngest by about twenty years, but a less cinematic bunch I couldn’t have imagined. I reckoned everyone else there either was or wanted to be a priest or a nun…
On reflection, it would have been difficult to make a film about the life of this monastery that wasn’t beautiful. My memories of it now are only of elementary essentials: shafts of light, flickering candles, simple food, snow, sunshine, reading and writing, chants, wooden spoons, long corridors, and of course that silence…
The daily reality of the monks’ lives was to me a mix of the unexpected and to-be-expected. The unexpected? Them sliding down a snow covered hill and whooping in delight, the plastic bottles, their electric razors, feeding the cats. The expected? The monks praying, praying, and then praying some more - in the flickering light of the chapel, in their simple wooden cells, at all times of the day and through every season. And that silence…
It’s not a lifestyle that I would want to live, but it’s an incredible and privileged glimpse into a life a world away from mine. The monks’ economy of action and focus of attention is something that I envy on one level – as if everything has become so simple and so condensed and so thoughtful that nothing else matters.
To start with I felt a bit voyeuristic watching them move slowly about the monastery, but my initial worries that there were no main characters to hang 167 minutes of “action” on were put aside as, even without words, the men came to life on the screen – the young one, the ancient and stooped gardener/ cook, the novice…
Towards the end, one old monk – who was blind and partially deaf – said a few simple sentences about his beliefs. One of those stuck with me: “The world has lost any sense of God. It is a pity…” And it was the one time that I wanted to speak out and break that silence…
I’m so glad he chose not to make an “explanatory” documentary – this was immersive cinema, which is exactly what it needed to be. I don’t think it could have been anything else. In that sense, it reminded me a little of Koyanisquatsi. Put simply, it was a series of beautiful moving-photographs, capturing the natural and built environments, the rhythmic daily life of the monks, and of course the silence…
Yes, I had little idea what the chants all meant; yes, the on-screen quotes jarred occasionally (especially when they’re in French and German, thus subtitled right at the bottom of the screen in English); yes, I spent the first 30 minutes feeling acutely aware of the rustle of every single person in the sold-out cinema. Even a little explanation (a smooth voiceover by Morgan Freeman a la The March of the Penguins?) would have killed it.
What’s more, you can’t exactly rush a film that took 16 years even to get permission to make and is essentially about a life of intense, focused, reflective contemplation measured out by seasons and in rhythm to a 900 year old daily pattern. To try and fit it into a neat 120 minutes would have felt wrong. Like slow food is to McDonalds, this is to your average Hollywood blockbuster. I am also struggling to think of the last time I was in the cinema with such a respectful audience. OK, I was the youngest by about twenty years, but a less cinematic bunch I couldn’t have imagined. I reckoned everyone else there either was or wanted to be a priest or a nun…
On reflection, it would have been difficult to make a film about the life of this monastery that wasn’t beautiful. My memories of it now are only of elementary essentials: shafts of light, flickering candles, simple food, snow, sunshine, reading and writing, chants, wooden spoons, long corridors, and of course that silence…
The daily reality of the monks’ lives was to me a mix of the unexpected and to-be-expected. The unexpected? Them sliding down a snow covered hill and whooping in delight, the plastic bottles, their electric razors, feeding the cats. The expected? The monks praying, praying, and then praying some more - in the flickering light of the chapel, in their simple wooden cells, at all times of the day and through every season. And that silence…
It’s not a lifestyle that I would want to live, but it’s an incredible and privileged glimpse into a life a world away from mine. The monks’ economy of action and focus of attention is something that I envy on one level – as if everything has become so simple and so condensed and so thoughtful that nothing else matters.
To start with I felt a bit voyeuristic watching them move slowly about the monastery, but my initial worries that there were no main characters to hang 167 minutes of “action” on were put aside as, even without words, the men came to life on the screen – the young one, the ancient and stooped gardener/ cook, the novice…
Towards the end, one old monk – who was blind and partially deaf – said a few simple sentences about his beliefs. One of those stuck with me: “The world has lost any sense of God. It is a pity…” And it was the one time that I wanted to speak out and break that silence…
technorati tag: into great silence
12 January 2007
08 January 2007
04 January 2007
Sleb Big Bruv...
Stick a fork in me - I'm done.
Because Mark Lawson's Comment is Free article is all I'm going to need to read about this entire series. Ta for that, Mark.
So early, so easy, so painless. Now pass the fork...
technorati tag: celebrity big brother, mark lawson
Because Mark Lawson's Comment is Free article is all I'm going to need to read about this entire series. Ta for that, Mark.
So early, so easy, so painless. Now pass the fork...
technorati tag: celebrity big brother, mark lawson
02 January 2007
Reel Spirituality: this Sunday - The Life Aquatic
New Year’s resolutions - See more films? Do something new? Get 30% extra from your Sundays?
Then come along to Reel Spirituality!
This Sunday, the last in “The Outsider” series…
7th January - The Life Aquatic (15)
1st Sunday of the month at Nexus
Doors: 6.30pm Film starts: 7pm prompt
If you want to explore the film’s themes and issues:
Post-film discussion: 9.15pm onwards Evening ends: no later than 10pm
Feel free to bring your own food. Drinks and snacks available on the night.
+ Book stall of film and spiritual books +
The next series is “Heroes and Villains”
4th February - The Proposition (18)
4th March - House of Flying Daggers (15)
1st April - Leon (18)
6th May - 15 Minutes (18)
See you there? Hope so.
technorati tag: the life aquatic, technorati tag: reel spirituality
Then come along to Reel Spirituality!
This Sunday, the last in “The Outsider” series…
7th January - The Life Aquatic (15)
1st Sunday of the month at Nexus
Doors: 6.30pm Film starts: 7pm prompt
If you want to explore the film’s themes and issues:
Post-film discussion: 9.15pm onwards Evening ends: no later than 10pm
Feel free to bring your own food. Drinks and snacks available on the night.
+ Book stall of film and spiritual books +
The next series is “Heroes and Villains”
4th February - The Proposition (18)
4th March - House of Flying Daggers (15)
1st April - Leon (18)
6th May - 15 Minutes (18)
See you there? Hope so.
technorati tag: the life aquatic, technorati tag: reel spirituality
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