Monthly Archives: April 2010

Eyjafjallajökull's plume from orbit

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Nasa: Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull Volcano, Iceland , 17 April 2010

Nasa: Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull Volcano, Iceland, 19th April 2010

These photos of the unpronounceable geological marvel in Iceland are from Nasa. A variety of newspapers are telling me that the eruptions are set to slow down or there are set to be more. I’m not sure so here’s some volcano related facts and stories:

1. Oh, it’s not actually called Eyjafjallajökull…

So after days of reporters stumbling over the word ‘Eyjafjallajökull’ and the BBC issuing guidelines to newsreaders on how to pronounce the name of the volcano (“AY-uh-fyat-luh-YOE-kuutl-uh”);  it turns out; to the hilarity of some Icelanders; that it’s actually called Eyjafyoll. Now isn’t that easier to pronounce?!

2. Norway is being run via an iPad

Jens Stoltenberg, the prime minister of Norway, found himself stranded in New York and was pictured working remotely via an iPad.
So, the iPad, great for cats and prime ministers.

3. We’re going to have trouble buying kumquats

I’ve never wanted a kumquat, but now that I’ve heard that they might be difficult to get hold of once the stocks run low, I really fancy one! Funny how that works.

4. Twitter has become an emergency travel service

Stranded tweeple have been using the hastags #getmehome, #stranded and #putmeup to make it easier for holidaymakers to carpool or find a place to stay.
Heart warming really….

5. Dan Snow (Historian Presenter) tried to rescue people in rigid inflatable boats…

…in a Dunkirk inspired evacuation…but got shut down by the french authorities after rescuing 25 people mobilised via twitter.

If you hear of anymore surreal Volcano related stories please comment below:

Yahoo! Launches 'The People's Policies'

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Yahoo = Peoples Policies. YAHOO! LAUNCHES ‘THE PEOPLE’S POLICIES’

  • The best ones will be advertised across the site for free to Yahoo!’s monthly UK audience of over 20 million users

  • Election site aims to be UK’s most comprehensive and accessible, with blogs from comedian Steve Punt.

(London, April 6th) Tired of the same old political promises in the lead up to an election?  Convinced you can do better than the politicians?  On the day the General Election is announced, Yahoo! – the UK’s #2 online news site* –  is launching ‘The People’s Policies’ at http://thepeoplespolicies.co.uk – offering you the chance to get your  burning issue out to a UK audience of over 20 million.

‘The People’s Policies’ gives you the chance to have your policy selected as an advertising banner which could then be shown throughout the Yahoo! UK site.  Twenty-two million people see Yahoo! ads online every month in the UK, meaning your policy has the potential of reaching an audience that even Brown, Cameron and Clegg would struggle to reach.

For your policy to have a chance of being featured on Yahoo!, simply submit your own policy for the UK – be it silly or sublime – and watch the votes pour in from Yahoo! users.  As well as potentially being selected to be included in advertising space on Yahoo! UK, each policy will be given its own individual link for self-promotion on your own Twitter and Facebook pages.  The best policy of the week will also potentially be spotlighted on the Yahoo! UK homepage for even more publicity.

In the final week of voting – timed to align with the week before the General Election – advertising will be focused on the best ten People’s Policies for a big finale. These ten will be made up from the top five on the leader board as voted for by Yahoo! users, plus Yahoo!’s five favourites, selected in accordance with the rules of the Site

Yahoo!’s General Election Site

The People’s Policies are one part of a new Yahoo! General Election website (www.yahoo.co.uk/elections) that seeks to be the most accessible source of current and relevant political information in the run up to the General Election– capturing everything that’s going on in the Election in an easy and informative way.

Direct from BBC Radio 4’s The Now Show and sitcom The Party Line, comedian Steve Punt will be casting his satirical eye over the unfolding drama of the Election campaign.  The ex-star of The Mary Whitehouse Experience and one half of Punt and Dennis will be the writer of a blog aimed at providing political observation and a laugh (or two) among the serious issues of the day.

Throughout the build up, the site will be home to interviews with political leaders, live streaming of political debates and Yahoo!’s very own constituency map.  You will be able to get all the background on the politicians with party and candidate profiles and essential information.  You’ll also be able to access analysis on the highs and lows of the main parties and read in-depth articles on their policies and manifestos.

Rich Evans, UK News Editor, Yahoo! said “Over the next month, there’ll be an awful lot of coverage of parties and politicians but very little about the individual and their concerns.

The People’s Policies is Yahoo!’s way of putting you at the centre of the election campaign and giving you the chance to have your voice heard by over 20 million people.”

*As measured by monthly unique users (Comscore)

The Great Political Debate: Part 2: Labour.

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By Alain Lewis

When I was 12 it was necessary for me to become a Labourite. My father was a Postman and a Trade Unionist and my mother a Home Help for the local council.
Mrs Thatcher was about to become Prime Minister and I believed that in her haste to cut taxes she would also make public services suffer. This made me in direct opposition to my best friend Simon Jones, I believed though that my convictions were far more important than that.
I became then a back seat supporter of the Labour Party, I’ve never actually joined the party.
My belief in a fairer society came not only as a counter to Mrs Ts unfairness but partially as a result of my, then, Christianity. I have since lost my belief in God, but I still believe we should make our world more equal for more people. That we shouldn’t discriminate against people because of their race, religion, age, sexuality, gender, class or political convictions. It does though seem a long time ago that Tory MPs were openly racist, apart from Boris that is.
Through my political adolescence I despaired of what was happening. The choices were so obvious, how could Neil Kinnock have lost in 1987 and 1992? When John Smith died big changes were allowed to happen on the Labour Party. It became more attractive to more people in the UK, even some Tories.
I think though this is what’s been happening since the war. The leadership has been to the right of the party, with the exception of 1983 and 1945.
There is also no denying that Labour won in 1997 under the banner of New Labour. They abandoned clause 4 and adopted PFIs.
New Labour though has revitalised the NHS, improved standards in Education. It introduced the Minimum Wage and gave families new opportunities with Sure Start. Professionally I prospered under New Labour as a worker in Information, Advice and Guidance with Adults. For a time I worked in close collaboration in a mult-agency setting, collaborating and not competing with a range of organisations. Those were some of the most joy filled and bitterness free times of my career.
Because of the cylical nature of our politics and the blame attached by the Tories to Gordon Brown for the economic meltdown; we’re now threatened by the return of Thatcherism under the guise of David Cameron. He, as most Tories are, is obsessed with choice and has an unpalatable zeal to force private schools into the state sector.
On May 6th I will be very happy to put my cross next to the Labour Party candidate’s name, Gary Heather, on the ballot paper in the Tunbridge Wells constituency. I know full well that I’m not to be too disappointed if by some chance he fails to get elected.

Prototype iPhone left in a pub.

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Tut tut, has someone at Apple has been leaving technology on the floors of bars in an attempt to leak it to the eagerly awaiting blogosphere. If they have, then it’s worked.

Gizmodo has a full rundown of the specs along with pictures and videos if you’re intreagued. Apparently they’ve been playing with the phone for the past week.

There’s alot of skepticism as to wether it’s a hoax or not but apparently it’s been reported as lost and the firmware, screen, operating system and sim card all point to a late stage prototype….are you excited fanboys and fangirls?! Are you?!

Not so Hidden Gems {Ceri's Column}

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By Ceri Phillips

Every once in a while I stumble upon something wonderful. Well, to be more accurate, I walk along quite briskly, late for a meeting and then, on stopping for a moment, usually to tie a shoelace or spit out some gum, realize where I am or where I seem to be or around or about to experience and it turns out to be something wonderful. But my opener has more zing…the fuck was I writing? Ah yes, the last time I happened upon something wonderful was a week or so ago in good old London, (oh, for those of you who don’t know, London is a quiet, unassuming city near Slough). I was busy shopping for a few essential items in Covent Garden; essential items like root beer, American chocolate bars and impractical yet highly fashionable boots when KABLOOM! Thunder. I hate the frigging rain so I took cover in the first shop I could see. A place selling frozen yogurt.

Now, I am not the biggest fan of most frozen desserts apart from ice cream and I must concede that I am a total ice cream Nazi. Anything less than orgasmic ice cream is spat across the restaurant/parlour/funeral home into the coffin (sorry Aunty Em). Most other frozen desserts are gimmicky bollocks or pretentious “palate cleansers” used to add on £7.50 or more to your bill. Frozen yogurt is just not my thing. Plus, this place is called “Snog”. The name made me remember awkwardly tongue-poking braced acne sufferers in the corner of some dingy disco…when I was a teen, I hasten to add.

However, this particular vendor of iced cow juice is so fucking extraordinary that I will not only go again and again, I’m buying some god damned shares in the business!


Seriously now, this place rocked my tiny mind. First off, the fact that green tea frozen yogurt is available here wooed me past my initial pessimism. My girlfriend suggested I try a smaller size, pointing to a gluttonous child sitting with a “Medium” that should be called an “Oh fuck I need some stomach staples, Mum.”  After you pick a size and which flavour yogurt (plain, green tea, or a rather stunning dark chocolate) you get to pick toppings and sauces. I got an original flavour with white chocolate stars and a shot of espresso on top.

Sweet shit! My taste buds have barely recovered! I swear I heard a tiny muffled “Oi! This tastes like shite” emanating from the end of my tongue last time I ate some Ben and Jerry’s. Must have been the LSD.
The best thing about this chance discovery was exactly that; it was a total fluke. If I’d been told about this place by a trillion trendy Hoxtonites and urged to “pop in when I have a mo” (or however the fuck they’d phrase it), I would have enjoyed my experience. I would have thought “yeah, this is nice”. But finding it myself, as if I were customer numero Uno and therefore “special”, amplified the pleasure.
So next time you’re walking from one tube station to another or (if you don’t live in London) from one…uh…taxi rank to another…please stop and look at the shops and cafes around you. You may just discover a not so hidden gem.

Ceri Phillips is a young writer and actor currently playing Ollie in BBC’s Coming of Age. He’s also creating comedy forhis sketch group ‘Le 122’.

Frost Film Review: Cemetery Junction

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Frost Rating ****

A group of 20 something’s living in the early 70’s in the isolated Cemetary Junction, a sleepy suburb near Reading. Their days consist of mundane jobs, chasing girls, drinking and drawing bits and bobs on billboards.

So far it doesn’t sound like a premise for a hilarious Gervais-Merchant film but underneath the gushy-feel-good-coming-of-age premise is an observant and clever comedy.

I don’t want to give too much away but the story follows three friends living in sleepy Cemetary Junction; Freddie (Christian Cooke), Bruce (Tom Hughes), and Snork (Jack Doolan); who’s lives are transformed by the reappearance of Freddie’s childhood sweetheart Julie (Felicity Jones).
Gervais and Merchant manage to get away with some incredibly politically incorect jokes but it’s set in the 70’s so the audience forgives them. What really makes this film keep you laughing is the brilliant script.

So my advice, if you want to be entertained by a warm, funny, easy on the brain-film…definately go watch it!!!
15 cert (94 mins)

Cemetery Junction Official Site – Sony Pictures

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYDeHIszUqA

The Great Political Debate. Part 1: Is socialism dead?

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by Richard Wright

The first of a series of political articles from all the different political parties. This one, by Richard Wright, asks if Socialism exists on any of the political parties anymore

A lonely Socialist (Or living in a past that is no longer the present)

I wander lonely as a cloud. Without a main stream party to call my own. Abandoned by the Blair fashioned Labour Party, reviled by the Conservatives, slightly misunderstood by the Liberal Democrats. When you think the closest thing I have to a voice is Tommy Sheridan you know you might be out of touch with modern politics. And I’m only 26!

“To secure for the workers by hand or by brain the full fruits of their industry and the most equitable distribution thereof that may be possible upon the basis of the common ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange, and the best obtainable system of popular administration and control of each industry or service.” The original version of Clause IV, drafted by Sidney Webb in November 1917 and adopted by the Labour party in 1918.  A piece of writing that summed up beautifully the socialist centre of this left win party. A party that formed the welfare state and gave this nation the NHS. A party that won the peace when the second world war was over.  And then in 1995 Tony Blair achieve what even the great Hugh Gaitskell had failed to do and brought down this centre of the party. That day destroyed the Labour Party I knew and loved. Yes I was only 12 but the fact was I had been political since a very early age. There had been a mock election at my primary school in 1992 and I had voted Labour. Primarily for the free sweets they had given out – true socialism at work. But the fact was my political nature has been informed by one event.

The Event was the miners’ strike of the 1980’s. I grew up in a little mining village in Durham called Seaham Harbour. It had 3 coal collieries. Due to the miners strike and the actions of Margaret Thatcher all 3 were gone by 1992. The place I used to call home fell into a depression in the 80’s and 90’s and is only now pulling itself out of it. It is still one of the cheapest places to buy property, although that fact is changing dramatically as it redevelops itself.  My father, a Salvation Army Officer at the local corps at the time of the strike, had to go and visit men who were on strike or had been laid off. He had to go and deal with the people who had anger filled hearts. Was it a Tory councilor or MP? No. It was a Salvation Army Officer who had to go and see the anger, fear & utter dejection in the faces of broken human beings. Will I ever forgive the Conservatives for it? No I never will. They broke the heart of the North of England because they could. And I know cheap coal, economic factors but they did nothing to protect the people they were meant to be serving.  When you’re in power you aren’t the government of the people who voted for you!  You do the best for every single one of your people. You look after the whole country, not just the part of the country you like.

So I come to this election. Fired up. Ready to get back into the heart of political battle. And what do I find? Every single party fighting over the centre ground. Pandering to every whim of middle England and taking no chance on the edge. Certainly, there are no main stream left wing parties for me to vote for. Is socialism dead in this country? We seem to be able to protest every time the price of bread goes up in Zimbabwe but we have forgotten about this country. Sure yes we need to support conflicts and situations around the world. But politics begins on your front door. And decisions are made by those who turn up. So where are the socialists? Where is the new breed of Keir Hardy, Ramsey McDonald, George Lansbury, Clem Attlee, Nye Bevan & Harold Wilson? I fear with the political landscape as it is today I will have to sigh, vote for the lesser of three evils in Clegg’s Liberal Democrats and read the 1945 & 1983 Labour party Manifestoes over and over and dream of what could be.

Fanboy letters. To Zack Snyder

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Dear Zack

I cannot express in words how much you mean to me. I am a comic book fan (geek) and forever will be. My love for them almost outweighs my love for Films. But when the two come together to make sweet, tender, passionate love then my experience is so joyful that I cannot contain my adoration for those who create the genius and sheer poetry of such masterpieces.  As I sit here listening to the dulcet tones of Van Morrison telling me how fantabulous the night is all I can think of is how I wish I can watch Watchmen once again. While I don’t want to make Love to you Zack, let’s face it you’re no Ben Affleck, I do want to make creative love to your genius. Some people, like Tim Burton, don’t respect the source material when they make comic book movies but you? You make my geeky dreams come true and take panels from the page and make them come to life. I’ve had a crush on you ever since 300. Your adaptation of the Frank Miller novel I love so much almost made me cry. Almost – I’m still a dude. But as sweeping and grand as 300 is my full on man crush on your creativity and my deep burning passion for your vision can be put down to Watchmen.

Sure you have your critics. Like you took the Giant Squid and didn’t use it. Hey sshh don’t listen to them they just don’t understand that after Jon Peters and the giant Spider idea for Superman Lives that would have been stupid. You don’t have to explain why people are saying the movie tanked in America in its second weekend at the box office. No. You don’t have to explain to people why it’s not doing the expected business. True art doesn’t have to justify itself Zack.  Zack just remember you made an amazing film and that I think you’re great. You’re a huge big time director now!

But…….I have something to tell you. There’s someone else. I know I said we’d be together forever but as much as I love Watchmen. As much as I love 300. As much as there awesomeness makes me a happy man Zack I need to confess that you are merely a cinematic fling. A graphic affair if you will. I’m sorry that you can never be my own true love.  That will always be Bryan Singer. I will always love X-Men 2 more than any other comic book film ever made. Oh sure it’s not as amazingly accurate as your films. It doesn’t have bone crunching action like your films or have trailer lines that make me want to wet myself in geeky excitement at their mere mention. After all THIS IS SPARTA!

But X-Men 2 will forever be me one, true love.  The opening scene will always be the moment my heart was stolen by Bryan Singer. Sure it’s not perfect but what relationship is? I can even forgive him Superman Returns for the sheer fantabulous nature of the opening to X-Men 2. The music. Nightcrawler. The action. The drama. I’m sorry but the times may be a changing but not in my world of comic book love. X-Men 2 will forever be my love. Watchmen will forever be my lust.

Can’t you be happy with second place in my heart? I love you more than Nolan! I do I really do! Nolan could never steel my heart like you Zack. The way you direct makes me want you to direct me. Well not really but it makes me want to direct so that works right? The Dark Knight makes me happy. It’s great. But you make me really happy. Just not X-Men 2 happy! Zack believe me when I say I never meant to hurt you. My love for you is firm and true. But when it’s all said and done and the curtain falls and the credits role all I am left with is the faint and subtle sense that I will forever love Singer more.

Zack you rock. You kick so many other comic directors’ ass.  But you will forever live in the shadow of my love for Bryan Singer. Sorry. You may shout out Love me more than Singer but I’ll whisper…..no

In sheer awe

The Fan Boy
( Written by Richard Wright )