Quick Update...

Good news for Kambaksh, whose life seems to have been spared on a legal technicality, following mass uproar from journalists around the world and The Independent. No sentence at the moment, and a non-backtrack which allows the government to retain face.

After all, wouldn't want to be seen doing something illegal in such a model of democracy.

It annoys me somewhat that the rest of fleet street could seemingly give less of a damn about this story. Quelle surprise when there's such meaty fodder out there as Britney's ongoing saga, and new depths to plumb. When you're using pieces about pap outrage, for God's sake, of a person's privacy having being invaded, simply in order to keep that story flowing...paparazzi who hang like pigeons around the crumb of moral living. Frankly, it beggars belief.

Afghan journalism student faces execution

This morning, faced with the less than stellar 'below 50% ' pass rate in my NCTJ class, and having just a tad inkling that I was one of the majority, I hated law.

I hated it anyway: it was clunky, it was massively inconvenient, and while there are blatant examples of newspapers taking the charlie with what they write, every now and then the law is a bit too much of a shackle around the leg of a reporter. That said, I was seriously considering not only burning my copy of McNae's but blowing up Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and putting the framed thing in prominant position on my wall.

I jest...grimly.

But then I spotted this article in the Independent... http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/sentenced-to-death-afghan-who-dared-to-read-about-womens-rights-775972.html

and the debate about media freedom in the UK suddenly becomes trivial in relation to such a miscarriage of justice. As a woman, the piece is doubly infuriating when you take into account the material which the sentence pertains to.

I have so much more to say on the subject, none of which is remotely coherent, so I'll simply say this:

Please, *please*, sign the Independent's petition, and put some pressure on our government to help Kambaksh.

Happy New Year?

2008 welcomes you with:

* The questionable re-election of President Mwai Kibaki and subsequent bloody civil unrest in Kenya...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7170600.stm

* Commuter chaos as Network Rail engineering work runs over (just in time for a major back-to-work headache)...
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/transport/article3127596.ece

* A hotly contested nomination primary as Iowa goes to the vote tonight...but which Democrat is going to trail in third?
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1207/7219.html

* The stomach bug Nororvirus, sweeping the UK and striking more than 100,000 people a week...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/jan/03/health

plus! Two police officers stabbed in Swindon, three youths dead after New Years Eve car crash, rising fuel prices, global warming, snow flurries, freezing temperatures and Tony Blair as our Middle East peace representative.


I think I'm moving to Hawai'i.

Jess morgan - Monkey Chews-tastic (1 of 7)

In an intimate room above a buzzing, atmospheric bar, Jess Morgan is rocking away. Her melodic voice fills the low-lit room as her funky, folky geet-ar strumming sets the whole room nodding along. The place: Monkey Chew’s bar, Camden. The time: 9th December…oh, late-ish. The event: Laissez-faire Christmas Special.

Jess Morgan, 22, is one of those rare things: a young singer-songwriter with genuine talent. Not so new to the gigging scene, she played her way through her Bachelor’s degree at York St John University, before finally moving to London to make her name. Her voice doesn’t seem to be going unnoticed either: she’s been Steve Lamacq’s Demo of the Week, and had reviews from the likes of James Morrison…positive reviews, I might add. So I caught up with Jess after her latest gig to ask her a few questions…

Right! First, the basics: Name, age, and where d’you come from?
Jess Morgan, 22, from Acle…which is slap-bang between Norwich and Great Yarmouth. In the countryyy!

Have you always been into song-writing? What sparked your interest?
It was the move to York really. I have always been into music and lyrics - but being in a buzzing-ly cultural city like that really gave me a shove to put my ideas into real songs and let people hear them.

When did you decide…this is what I want to do?
I can't really remember really. I was dead set on joining the navy and seeing the world after Uni - until the music I was making and developing became something I wasn't prepared to give up. Between then and now I realised I don't want to do anything else right now.

What’s happening for you at the minute?
Lots of gigs coming up. I'm usually first on the bill or the support act - but it all takes time. My biggest achievent so far was being steve Lamacq's demo of the week and getting some radio play on BBC Radio 2.

Any future plans?
Future plans? Hmmmm. I've got plans to release a promotional single - limited edition on 7inch vinyl. its not a money spinner- just for promotion really. Ideally, I would like to record and sell lots of albums.

Record Signing?
Had a weeny bit of interest, but we (me and my manager Steve Whiteley) are playing it cool. We're not in a hurry to get signed. I'm still developing as an artist.

How long does it usually take you to write a song?
Not sure really. I'm currently re-visiting a lot of songs I wrote over the summer, and actually some from over a year ago. I used to hurry songs- because I thought I'd had this great idea and I wanted to play it live, or get it down on the tascam, but now I don't worry so much. I'm not afraid to take songs back to the drawing board and start again on them. I guess that’s me growing up!

And finally Jess, what do you do when you’re not playing?
I'm always playing! No seriously, I dream of one day having a gym membership, being able to travel, surf, eat French bread, pay my mum and dad back all the money I've borrowed, being able to paint massive canvasses again and go to the cinema with my lovely boyfriend. Fingers crossed it won't be too long, but for now its really just music, music, music.

Check out Jess's Demos here:




Jess' Myspace Page: www.myspace.com/jessmorganacoustic
Jess' official website: http://www.jessmorgan.co.uk/

****

Starbooks Christmas Spirit (2 of 7)

Starbooks Christmas Spirit

Starbucks are really ‘passing the cheer’ this year by donating children’s books to a local primary school.

The book drive takes place nationwide every year, and Starbucks Uxbridge’s lucky local school in 2007 will be Greenwood Primary of Northolt.

Jolita Sodaityte, a supervisor at the store said: “I think it’s great that we can give a little something to the community. It’s part of the Starbucks spirit, and doing something good makes Christmas that little bit more special each year”.

Donated books don’t have to be new, and Starbucks urges everyone to drop in any unwanted children’s books of their own. But hurry, the drive ends Christmas Eve!

Uxbridge Battles Heathrow Extension (3 of 7)

Uxbridge Battles Heathrow Expansion

An exhibition is being held today as protests continue to grow over proposed Heathrow extension plans.

The exhibition is one of several being held by the Government and lasts from 10am to 6pm at the London Wetlands Centre. Experts will be on hand to explain the consultation proposals.

Local residents have until just February 27 to respond to the consultation. The document itself has drawn criticism from campaign group NoTRAG (No Third Runway Action Group) for its unreadable and confusing language. Christine Shilling, NoTRAG’s press secretary said: “this consultation insults, confuses and probably falls foul of the Government’s own legislation against discrimination. Unless people can read and reply to the questions they have not been consulted”.

The extensions would mean the number of flights at the airport could rise to 800,000 – an increase equivalent to building a new airport the size of Gatwick. Angry residents of Sipson, a village which faces being wiped off the map entirely, have been campaigning along with local MPs and pressure groups.

The move would also threaten listed heritage buildings, as well as Heathrow Primary School, a huge area of agricultural green belt land, archaeological sites and a nature conservation area.

Hillingdon council and the surrounding areas are being vocal in their opposition to the plans by helping fund NoTRAG and holding public meetings for the residents to voice their concerns. Tim Jurdon, manager of aviation at Hillingdon Council said: “We have been fighting these proposals for a long time, since before terminal 5 existed. All members of the council are opposed to them. At the minute we are analysing the consultation and will be responding in due course”.

Unsurprisingly, airline companies have welcomed the proposals for the third runway. Responding to claims that the runway would have a terrible effect upon the climate, Steve Ridgway, chief executive of Virgin Atlantic said: “Limiting growth at Heathrow wouldn’t prevent climate change because that growth would only go elsewhere”.

BA’s chief executive Willie Walsh had a slightly more reassuring answer to the same question however, saying: "We are committed to ensuring that growth is sustainable. By the time a third runway becomes operational, aviation emissions will have been capped by the EU for several years. If airlines want to fly more, they will have to pay for emissions reductions in other industries – so overall CO2 in the atmosphere will not rise because of a third runway."

Local supporters for the no-third-runway campaign include John McDonnell, MP for Hayes and Harlington, Uxbridge’s MP John Randall, and Councillor Ray Puddifoot, leader of Hillingdon Council who said: “We recognise the international status of the airport but for the sake of our residents we have to say, enough is enough.”

NoTRAG campain website: http://www.notrag.org/

Hillingdon Council: www.hillingdon.gov.uk

BAA Heathrow: Future Growth: http://www.heathrowairport.com/portal/page/General/Heathrow%5EGeneral%5EOur+business+and+community%5EFuture+growth/2155192363423110VgnVCM10000036821c0a____/448c6a4c7f1b0010VgnVCM200000357e120a____/

BBC Coverage:
"Village FAces Being Wiped Off Map": http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4731948.stm
"Locals Polled on Heathrow Plans": href="http://http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6952887.stm">http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6952887.stm

Long Distance Relationships: Don't Let them Bite you in the Butt

This was a piece I wrote for a women's online magazine - www.ETPmagazine.com. They edited it a little, which was kind of unnecessary (but what writer won't say that), and I think in a couple of places they made it a little clunkier than it was before, but those changes are really very minor and I'm only noticing them because, well, I wrote it and it's mine and...all those sorts of feelings. I know I'll have to get used to my work being subbed obviously, and one day I might even be the person doing the subbing. So, I'll have to learn to let things go!

Here's the link to the article, but I'm posting the original piece here:
http://www.etpmagazine.com/index.php?view=article&catid=41%3Apeople&id=306%3Ahow-to-handle-a-long-distance-relationship&option=com_content&Itemid=82

*****

LONG DISTANCE: DON'T LET IT BITE YOU IN THE BUTT

It’s Monday evening. It’s been one of those days. You’re eating fish finger butties because, as usual, you forgot to go food shopping. Your face is a breeding ground for new and undiscovered acne; your boss dumped three extra shifts on you; your tutor dumped five extra essays and oh, yeah, you left your living quarters looking vaguely like something out of The Piano.

You’re mardy.

You want a hug.

You want it now.

....but here comes the catch. Your other half lives at the opposite end of the country. Or, as in the case of moi, a different country. So you grumpily send a reproving text, dump the mushy fish remains in the bin and plough on through the piles of your life currently residing on the bedroom floor.

Sound familiar? As the world becomes a significantly smaller place, the opportunities to meet –and fall for – someone living on the other side of the planet have been greatly improved. Intercity? A breeze. Intercontinental? Not a problem; we’re people of the 21^st century. Heck, what can’t we do.

That said however, long distance love won’t always be a walk on a sandy beach, on a summers eve, with a pinkish sky and a...you get my drift. It can be tough. It can be trying. It can feel an awful lot like hard work...and then it is that proverbial glass of sparkling rosé. Heaven. So from one long-distance-ite to another, a few shared secrets of transatlantic love...

* Don’t take each other for granted.

It’s the cardinal rule of any relationship but for this it stands tenfold. Unlike those lucky (mutter, grumble) people who get to live in the same city, never mind house, your partner isn’t necessarily always there for you to ignore. Doesn’t mean it can’t be done though...people get busy. You have a job, a degree, work coming out the wazoo, and, somewhere in there, a social life. Just don’t forget the little things, okay? I’m wagging my finger here. An unexpected soppy text brightens every day...

* Communication, communication, communication.

The one thing I can vouch for! Invest in a webcam – it makes such a difference to be able to see the Other Half when you’re talking. Phones are wonderful for revelling in their accents/gorgeous voices/amusing speech patterns...but nothing beats seeing that smile, right?

* It’s the Little Things...

India Arie sang it, and I’m going to nod along and agree. The best thing? Letters. Snail mail! The Yank has worse handwriting than a teacher...more sloping hieroglyphics than legible words, but nothing beats finding something to decode in my letterbox. The Second Best Thing? Sending memories...remember that time you went to ___ with ___ and slept in a tent and it blew away and a goat ate your ____? Every couple has memorable moments. Did you eat something special or see something amazing? Find a picture, a little trinket, a packet of something you ate, anything post-able, and send it First Class.

* BusyBusyBusyBee

Much harder to miss someone when you’ve barely time to sit, non? Don’t take on the equivalent business of running a small third world country or anything, but having things to fill your day certainly makes the time go quicker. Besides, a watched phone-eth does not ring-eth. Trust me.

* Honesty...the best policy (for once)

The truth. You might not like it. You may not have asked for it. But it’s one thing that needs to out if you’re going to last. I’m not talking “does-my-bum-look-big-in-this-yes-actually-it’s-huge” type honesty. I mean, guys c’mon, flattery gets you most places, especially with the Christmas season and festive feasts looming. But in all seriousness, honesty (and communication!) have to be the oils for the cogs of a long-distance relationship. If something bugs you, say. If you loved something he sent. Tell him. If you’re suddenly brimming with love/anger/hostility/absolute devastation (because England lost, again...or whatever)...the things is...speak! Be tactful, but be honest. If you let something simmer away, it’ll never get resolved.

* Culture Shock

Culture differences may not be a spanner in the works at all if you’re commuting city-to-city (though try telling that to a Yorkshire person and anyone south of the Watford Gap). But for intercontinental relationships there can be that added factor of, well, a completely different way of life. It was probably part of what attracted you to that person in the first place. Thou shalt, in that case, remember the golden word: tact. Yes, he did go to catholic school, and yes he does think tucking his shirt into his ‘khaki pants’ is cool. It’s not a reason to mock him.

Not all of the time, anyway.

* Savour Every Moment...

It’s finally arrived. He’s here. You’re there. There’s no longer that ocean/mountain range/ Scottish Border between you. It’s time to stick on some John Legend, curl up together in a comfy armchair, and finally enjoy the chance to not have to speak at all...