Link to my elusive piece on MP's expenses for OnMedica.com.

Singh vs. BCA

What a strange turn and self degrading action on the part of the BCA to take a 'libel' case against Simon Singh to the courts over the word 'bogus' (Oh my, reputation ruined). It may be a bit more than that but it seems a pretty extreme, and suicidal, measure to forgoe validation through medical journals (the usual route of action in medicine in these cases) but have taken their 'last resort' course, the most primitive of tactics. To their fortune they have landed a narrow minded judge (to the nations suprise…) who has somehow misread and misunderstood the original article, paying no heed to its irrefutable evidence and backed-up, beyond a reasonable doubt, opinion.

This judge is well known for his messing around with privacy laws, What a stroke of luck he presided over the BCA case ey…? Despite his preliminary ruling, Another £100,000 in legal cost’s on Singhs part will be well worth the turning over from a higher court, and rid us of any future rulings againts the right to the freedom of speech.

Its time anciet, creaking dinosaurs like these did not have such a hold over our basic human rights.

see article from ‘The Times’
Article begins:

“Mr Justice Eady, High Court judge

He may be just one of more than 100 High Court judges but Sir David Eady, 65, is nonetheless arguably more influential than any of his colleagues. Almost single-handedly he is creating new privacy law. A series of rulings have caused some disquiet within the press — although Sir David, a quietly spoken courteous man, is tapping into a public distaste for invasions of privacy. In 2006 he granted a gagging order to a celebrity who had an affair with a married woman to prevent the wronged husband from selling his story and unmasking the well-known “family man”. In 2005 he ruled that passages of a book by the author Niema Ash about her former friend, the Canadian singer Loreena McKennitt, be removed on the ground that Ash had violated a duty of confidence; and awarded damages to a Saudi Arabian billionaire against the Wall Street Journal Europe over allegations that Saudi authorities were monitoring the bank accounts of prominent Saudis for links with terrorism. Of course, he is subject to higher courts — and this last was overturned by the law lords. But his influence is certainly being felt.”

April 21, 2008

Find the original article by Singh here, with evidence in support of Singh's claims.

Last Blood

I came across this little gem the other day trying to quench my insatiable thirst for all things Zombie. It combines my two favourate things; comics and zombs! (if any of you know me this wont be news to you...) Its updated every week with a new page of the story and if your a zomb fan I think you'll find this interesting. Its illustrated by Owen Gieni and written by Bobby Crosby, the writing may seem a little loose at the beginning but it really settles down when it starts pulling together. Enjoy... Last Blood






Ack! so addictive!

Peter Callesen

An artist friend of mine pointed me in the direction of this sculpture, Peter Callesen. Take some time out to take a look at his incredible works. His attention to detail is fascinating and a true representation of his dedication to his art. He works mostly with A4 paper to create his pieces. He says that "...the thin white paper gives the paper sculptures a frailty that underlines the tragic and romantic theme of my works." A lot of his influences lie in childhood, fairytales, and the beautifully fantasticle, and if you take a few minutes to have a look this really shows through. Don't forget to view his larger pieces, he rides around a river in a giant "paper" hat. The big kid.

The Impentrable Castle,
Picture property of Peter Callesen.

http://www.petercallesen.com/index.html

Lightspeed Champion - Everyone I know is listening to crunk (review piece written for www.howdooz.co.uk feb 08)

The last I’d heard of Test-Icicles after their split was that one of them was working at Asda, a not so hardcore end to the frantic techno-hardcore-emo they once were. So listening to ex member Devonte Hynes post-Icicles project, Lightspeed Champion (Domino Records), is nothing but a breath of fresh air.

Some of you might have seen an acoustic guitarist with dreadlocks swept into a huge fringe playing alongside a middle aged balding violinist (Mike Siddell, formerly of Hope of the States ) on Channel 4’s Big Brothers Big Mouth last year, desperately trying to keep up with an out of time clapping audience. This, I’m ashamed to say, was my first time of catching Lightspeed and I was very, very pleasantly surprised.

I managed to get my hands on a pre-released copy of his first album ‘Falling of f the Lavender Bridge’ (to be released on January 21st 2008) and to say that Hynes‘s moved on is an understatement to say the least. His infusion of indie with pop, folk and heavy country and western creeping in at the sides is fresh and invigorating in a musical pond that is becoming slightly stagnated.

This attraction to country music is no more prevalent than in the track ‘Everyone I know is listening to crunk.’, a particular favourate of mine. The nature of the track niggles softly at the heart strings with lazy sliding and lilting, spaghetti western plunky guitar overtones, something keeps saying cabaret to me. Over the top Hynes layers melodic lyrics ‘…sometimes, in the cold night, when my phone rings, but its not you, kiss me and comfort me my sweet’ along with modern youth angst ‘…my drawings are starting to suck, my friends are all listening to crunk, I feel like the whole world is going to crap…’. The upbeat tempo of the chorus suit’s Hynes honest lamenting a treat.

This infusion is not all to do with this talented musicians many influences, alongside him he is armed with an arsenal of musical genii from the vocal of UK female vocalist Emmy the Great (whom you can hear crooning softly in the backing of ‘Everyone I know is listening to Crunk’) to guest appearances throughout the album from Cursive and Tilly and the Wall. The acoustic influences of these raw bands does much to credit Hynes efforts.

Although the song can be guilty of feeling cramped (it is only 3.02 in length) the rising and falling tempo, using a variety of instruments to create a smooth layered, well finished track, recovers what it looses in length. To truly appreciate the nature of each track you definatly need to listen to the album throughout, it is, as a whole, quite an experience. The heavy country mixed with Hynes self-damning lyrics pays homage to his folk influences in a way that we should all get to appreciate.

Look out for the album ‘Falling off the Lavender Bridge’, released at the end of this month, I know I’ll be giving Hynes some of my student loan.

Justice - D.A.N.C.E. (review peice written for www.howdooz.co.uk february 08)

If you’ve never heard of Justice, but maybe of Daft Punk, then just imagine if the DP robots were born into the era of disco but retained their techno-dance genius...

...Ok so now throw in a strong dose of dance savvy popular culture (maybe a few chemicals too) and send them back here and you’d have, well…something that might look a bit odd and probably sounds a bit like Justice’s single ‘D.A.N.C.E.’

Whilst it’s not new to the world and has been stewing around in the dance charts for a while it

recently was released into the pop charts late January, having been missing in its first appearance in summer ’07, and thus released into our hearts.

From the funky bass line to the rhythmic dry hump beats, this track could have come out of your disco collection, but the ecstatic vocals shouting at you to “Do the dance!” and pleasantly futuristic synth piano flip this sneakily 80’s track back to the dance floors where shapes will be thrown.

The subtle Michael Jackson homage’s are brilliantly wedged into this track; “…just easy as A.B.C…” referring to the Jackson 5 track, and “…catching all the lights.” Can only be a reference to the iconic Billy Jean video.

Xavier de Rosnay and Gaspard Augé have created something magical here. It does typically sound like something dragged up from last summer but that doesn’t matter because every time you stick this song in your ears you’ll think that’s what time of year it is and people will stare at the questionable grin on your face.

This single gleams, is completely unforgettable and is so far from Euro trash its unreal. Get ready to be singing this shiny, smiley chorus all the time; it will never leave your head. Ever.

For a lovely taste of the French duo check out their video to D.A.N.C.E. and gape at the awesome t-shirts on display, and prepare to want them.

So do what you’re told. Do the dance.

Lupe Fiasco - Superstar (Review peice written for www.howdooz.co.uk) January)

Lupe Fiasco as an artist can be more associated with the slick, well dressed image, with smart, hard hitting lyrics, like that of Kanye West, than the grime previously associated with this genre. The fact that he, Kanye and Pharrell Williams formed a group in 2007 called Child Rebel Soldier only shows that the three share the same frame of mind in their musicality.

The recently released track ‘Superstar’ (Atlantic Records) is about that rappers hot topic: superstardom. ’Superstar’ is from Lupe’s second album, ’The Cool’ and has a very

organic feel to it, the rhythms and rhymes flow gently together, the repeated backing track and Fiasco’s chorus meshed with Santos’s out there (but not in your face) rhymes mix well, creating a morose but very strong, very modern finish.

I chose a new song, originally aiming for a UK based artist to stick close to home, but I gave this track a listen and gave Fiasco a go as he kept appearing everywhere I looked. Before this weeks chart (13.01.08) the track was pegged to find a place in the top five by BBC Radio 1‘s 1extra, and there was just something about it. It actually came in at number 7 this week but this isn’t bad coming from relative obscurity.

Here’s a little sample of the lyrics: “…And the light bulbs around my mirror don’t flicker, everyone gets a nice autographed picture, one for you and one for your sister…”, a tasteful ironic prod breaking down the very business that the artists themselves are a part of. But these modern hiphop artists are not afraid to poke fun and leave behind the image they themselves are trying to break away from. The vocals take on a more Chris Martin melancholy feel than Snoop Dogg. Not to say that the songs breaks away from its genre, because it doesn’t, the backing track sticks like glue to the grimy, crackly true hiphop style, the intelligence and the maturity of the lyrics make this song what it is.

If you’ve come to associate hiphop with gun wielding aggressive gangsters than give the likes of Lupe Fiasco a go, you might refresh your opinion on this changing genre as artists like Fiasco and Kanye move it away from this unfortunate stereotype.

Sadly Lupe has said in interviews that he will be ending his career after his next album ‘LupEND’ later this year.

The album ‘The Cool’ is released at the moment, I highly recommend it.

Look out for: LupEND - tagged to be Lupe’s final album.

Bloc Party - Flux (review peice written for www.howdooz.co.uk dec 07)

So Bloc Party have another single then? When I think Bloc Party I immediately remember an acquaintance back in the early 00’s tipping them off as ‘the definite next big thing’, I of course scoffed and turned back to my copy of the Guardian and sipped my filtered coffee.

Now I think innovation, experimental, a varied influence of techno rock that signifies them and their rise out of the student union touring primordial ooze to indie icons. To top that they released a second album that was at least on par with the ground breaking ‘Silent Alarm’.

So what’s the next step? Apparently this new single ‘Flux’ is. A stand-alone that can only be tagged onto previous album ‘A Weekend in the City’ (reeks of ’two more years’ does it not?) that came in at number 8 in the charts.

‘Flux’ is definitely something different.

The effects are there, all the usual Bloc Party digital brandishings and croonings, the aesthetics are nice and it doesn’t challenge you. The track is definitely lyrically lighter, they are probably facing label pressure to appeal to a wider audience. There are New Order overtones here too, which can be appreciated, but the hole thing is slightly too over-produced for my taste.

It has Bloc Party stamped all over it that’s for sure, its fast paced, modern in its production and it’ll have all the skinny-jean wearing kids on the dance floor at the local pop and crisp’s disco, but where is the meaning? The passion behind Kele’s voice is definitely missing, perhaps it longs for lyrics spattered with hidden undertones and reflections. It seems directionless and smacks of desperation, like they hurriedly put together a track to show that they can get in there with an audience that’s more familiar with the Klaxons.

But I miss the political undertones we got from the post-7/7 London bombings ‘A Weekend in the City’. This lighter track lacks the lyrical ‘in your face’ messages and hidden meanings we usually get from Bloc Party. Bloc party aren’t a young persons band, but it seems like at the expense of integrity they have released a ‘diet coke’ of a track, its made by them, its made up by most of the same stuff, but you just cant enjoy it as much as the real thing.

Matt Tong has said their new stuff is going to be a lot less textured than their second album and that their next album is going to be rawer like their earlier stuff, but if this track is anything to go by they are more layered and over produced now than ever.

Bloc Party proved they could provide an album that was a true experience, an album that was nostalgic and beautiful. Perhaps taking their political stance a bit too strongly, but the album still had a few cracking tunes. The exposure of modern music and subsequent label pressure is endangering bands like Bloc Party. To release a track like ‘Flux’ after an album like ’A Weekend in the City’ is saddening, and if this is what we have to look forward to in the future from BP, there’s a definite sense of disappointment.

Newspaper Clippings

Here is a small selection of newspaper clippings taken from my portfolio...

front page

double page spread 1

double page spread 2

example from report on local elections

local politics

Leisure example

Credit crunch is a nutritious start to your day, try credit crunch for brunch or lunch! (A view of the Fincial Crisis from a job-seeking graduate).

Not really a feeling shared by many. One not shared by myself as the fresh-faced graaduate ready to take on what the world can throw at me. Which doesnt actually seem to be that much and, actually, it seems to be me who is doing most the throwing, throwing inadequate cv's devoid of relevant experience at 'potential' employers; tantrums at having to tidy my room on a regular basis, as opposed to the pile I grew in my student house; and, evedintly, the throwing out of any plans I had to continue living the (student) life-o-reilly post university.

The fact that recent graduates may be having a hard time of it in this current climate is a fact. Not that I would know having lost contact with many other alumni after the glorious, sparkling, tingly, magically glossy bubble of university burst, spraying fourth the sad suds of post-grads back to their prospective ends of the country and, subsequently, down the drain of dark realisation that: after much pleasure, comes great pain.

Graduate recruitment site www.get.hobsons.co.uk states that the credit crunch has meant capping on the hiring of new employees to help reduce costs. Baker Tilly (graduate recruitment micro-site) surveyed 100 graduate employing companies finding that, during this month, the number of companies reducing costs rose from 26% to 45%. Thats a 20% increase in less than two weeks (the article being released on the 14th march 2009).

Of course it is to be expected that everyone and everything will be affected by the financial crisis. It is naive to believe that there is an rock somewhere we can climb upon to watch the waves crash far below, to then slowly receed back into booming house prices and soaring consumerism. It will do, and has, and has done so before, effect everything. But that isnt to say that you dont have a chance in hell at finding that not-so-perfect job.

The net has merely shrunk, if you cast it out into the proverbial sea of career opportunities you may not drag back as many to shake a spoon at as you may have had during a time of economic climb, but there is still a haul big enough to offer a few tasty morsels. instead of getting the right combination of your CV and covering letter falling on the right persons desk, with the right history for the job, and having the perfect interview being a chance once out of a hundred, it may be one in one thousand, five thousand, and so on, but that will be enough.

The financial crisis is like a snake shedding a skin. Once it has reached a size, what holds the creature together in is no longer durable, it must shed its old skin to grow another stronger one. Society is shaking free the crap, the rubbish, the parasitical baggage that has clung to its back, parasites benefitting through the years of economic boon and the consumers market. But it is these parasites that need to be shook free lest we stagnate, clutching to us our cheap plastic goods we bought with loans we could never pay back.

Assuredly new business will grow, it is a terrible thing to see these small, meek business fall alongside the untouchable tyrants, clinging together in their final throes as they vomit goods as empty in value as their shop floors are now, but it has to happen and has happened before.

What goes around comes around.

We can see this in the consumer and credit-based economy enjoyed by 1920's America crashed in 1929, with one third of the US workforce out of work by 1932 and the economy having declined by half. It took World War II to drag that nation back to its feet fully, with great military spending boosting growth, generating jobs and industry. The US savings and Loans scandel of 1985 took a bail out of $150 Billion to rescue the economy, but it served to strengthen the bigger banks and weed out the smaller, weaker rivals, laying the foundations for mergers and consolidations to bolster the retail banking sector of the 1990's. In 1998 hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management needed to be rescued by a hot cash injection of $3.65 billion by the very banks that had invested in it, in turn rescuing investors, US credit markets and interest rates.

There is also the trigger of the UK house-price bubble of '88-'89, the largest peacetime one-day fall of the US stockmarkets in 1987 where losses began through the widespread belief that takeovers and insider trading on borrowed money dominated a slowing down US economy. A number of different technological and worldwidefactors meant that the Federal Bank of America and other banks lowered interests rate. the market recovered quickly but not without damaging house prices and the pound.

So it is easy to pick out reacurring trends, great pain usually follows great pleasure (in this sense I am pointing to the trend of high spending and a consumer based market quickly being followed by liquidation of businesses, creditors and lenders, and so joblosss, interest rates varieing and everything else you can peg onto the "credit crunch" occuring). Damage is done, shares drop, people grumble to varying degrees, and great action, albeit through cash intervention or reasons for rise in industry, is required to ease the world through for a few more years before it happens again, and again, and again until something else happens. Because there are only so many skins a snake will shed before it can shed no more.