followingadam

Cats that look like Hitler

2006-07-06T18:01:00.000+01:00

May I introduce you to an excellent website. I first looked at it after they reviewed it on the BBC's Friday Night with Jonathan Ross.

www.catsthatlooklikehitler.com really amused me. To think that there are so many cats that look like Hitler amuses me somehow.

Can they not let someone else have a go?

2006-07-06T17:46:00.000+01:00

I'm in France this weekend and by all accounts the French are going a bit mad for sport. They have reached the World Cup Final fairly unexpectedly and now the lesbian-grunting Amelie Mauresmo has reached the Wimbledon final. They also have the Tour de France this week. I'll be watching the World Cup final somewhere in Paris this weekend and hopefully there will be pictures to follow - my guess is that the French will be celebrating.

All credit to them though. The French are doing very well at the moment in everything. Britain inevitably compares its sporting success to its neighbour with an almost identical population but I don't think I would swap all this sporting success for the 2012 Olympics that London beat Paris for 12 months ago.

With England out of the World Cup in the quarter-final I didn't know who I wanted to win. Could they not all lose?

The Germans have really grown on me during this tournament. Obviously I have not been over but I them going out actually brought a certain amount of sadness which I never thought would happen!

Amsterdam

2006-06-18T11:02:00.000+01:00

I've just got back from a midweek trip to Amsterdam - well I say just, I actually got back on Friday but I felt I needed a bit of a rest. We flew out from the brand new snazzy Doncaster airport on Tuesday morning.

I thought I would use this as a picture post but then I looked back and I didn't have any pictures of the city. I don't know how it happened but this is the best of a bad bunch. I hope some of my friends have got some pics so I can add to them. Please bare with me on the picture post thing:

Kate on the top and the sexy Sue(bottom)

There's me on there looking all happy and the lovely Liz asleep on the plane.

We booked to stay on the hostelboat Anna Maria II. We had read the reviews and it basically said that it was clean and cosy which is fine for about £17 a night. What we didn't anticipate was the acrobatics that we had to display to get around the boat. We had to fit two rather large lesbian ladies through what looked like midget doors and to get to our room (and vice versa to the shower/toilet) had to walk along the narrow edge of the boat and climb over the egde but we managed it anyway.

One of the more amusing moments of the holiday was when Liz was sat out on the top deck of the boat having a fag and Sue went to the toilet - Liz then looked down and saw what can only be described as Sue's brown fish. It was pretty disgusting that the place pumps raw sewage out into the river but only us would find it amusing and not want to leave - no-one else seemed to have noticed and I'm sure it can't be legal. The pic below surely can't be legal either? Amazingly the censored version and that was my view when I woke up in the morning.

Liz's muff.

We tried out some cultural stuff like the Rijksmuseumm which is full of Rembrandt's and Dutch history kinda paintings which was good apart from the weird bit at the end where they lit up a painting and started trying to bring it to life with music and lights - they should keep trying on that one. It was also a bit more fairly priced at 10 euros than the Van Gogh museum which we had originally gone to see which was a whopping 20 euros.

The Red Light district was good fun. Liz's face was a picture when she first saw a prostitute - it was sort of a cross between shock and glee. She was also convinced that some of the prostitutes fancied her but I think that is doubtful. The erotic museum was much fun with a twisted Snow White area with a sexual version and a fetish room at the top where you could take your own pictures and a (plastic) woman wees on your head in a bizarre water feature.

The bars and stuff were ok but I think we missed out a bit because we went in midweek - there would probably have been more on at the weekend.

The cities streets and canals are charming and I genuinely could have spent much longer there which is rare for me to say because I usually get bored quite easily. The coffee shops (no coffee sold) were an experience and Liz particularly enjoyed the Ben & Jerry's cafe. We went there on the day of the England v Trinidad & Tobago World Cup game and had our faces painted red and white, and we watched the game in a packed English pub. It was a great way to watch the game and made Peter Crouch's late header all the sweeter.

Net helps to open Belarus' curtains

2006-05-31T11:19:00.000+01:00

A while back, for my assessment work at uni I contacted some bloggers to ask for their opinions on the impact of the internet on the Belarussian elections. I hadn't been able to publish the article on the blog until all the marking procedures were done with, but they're all done now so as promised, here it is:

A quiet revolution has been stirring in Minsk. The US labelled Alexander Lukashenko’s regime the “last true dictatorship in Europe” and called for change in Belarus. After years of media repression there’s a new way of communication that has made a difference to those who want reform.

Communities of opposition activists have been building on internet sites like LiveJournal, Blogger and Flickr, which provide a crucial way to get around the barriers that Lukashenko put in place.

Television, radio and newspapers are under state control so follow Lukashenko’s every word, and in his twelve-year rule he has almost entirely abolished independent media.

Despite this, on 19th March President Lukashenko received 82.6% in the presidential election, but the results have been rejected by many Western nations. The US and EU placed travel and financial penalties on the former Soviet republic after an estimated 500 people were detained by the authorities following a five-day protest against the poll.

Including those arrested were Mariusz Maszkiewicz, a former Polish ambassador to Belarus and Alexander Kozulin, a runner-up in the election. It is widely believed that riot police used unnecessary violence and tear gas in their response to the protests.

Foreign journalists from Poland and Ukraine who attempted to report the election from inside the country were also targeted and detained while other foreign reporters have been expelled.

But internet groups like the one on LiveJournal have helped to galvanise protesters against the regime. During the protests thousands of people gathered at Oktyabrskaya Square in Minsk in a small ‘tent city’ to protest the fraudulent presidential election, demand a new vote and support the opposition. The state-owned media either ignored or misrepresented the protest, and much of the virtual discussion took place in Belarusian LiveJournal communities.

Veronica Khokhlova, who translated LiveJournal posts from Belarussian to English on globalvoicesonline.org, said: “I think that the internet has been very important for the activists and that the lack of access to information has played a very negative role in the election.

“LiveJournal and its communities have been a way to coordinate many activities; they serve as a means to spread information but also provide certain anonymity which means relative safety [from government forces].”

Surveys suggest that just 18 percent of Belarussian people have access to the internet either at home or at work, which means that less than two million of Belarus’ ten million citizens have access to the internet.

But at the end of 2005 it was estimated by the Belarussian Association of Journalists that the total circulation of independent press was just 200,000, meaning that the internet could potentially have twenty times the audience as the independent press.

Sales of independent newspapers became even more difficult in the run up to the election with subscriptions banned, newspaper kiosks ordered not to stock them and tens of thousands of copies seized. But the internet has given a lifeline to the oppressed campaigners.

“Though it is hard to estimate how many of those who are using the internet are seeking or finding political information there, even with a rather small portion this should mean that the internet is of an importance which is comparable to that of the printed independent press” said Belarus blogger Tobias Ljungvall.

News websites such as Charter-97, which is available in Belarussian, English and Russian, led the online campaign for democracy. The website had a banner across the top of the website reading ‘we want a new one!’ referring to the election. The words are printed against denim – the material that protesters hoped would be the symbol for the ‘denim revolution’.

However, a revolution similar to that of the ‘Orange Revolution’ in Ukraine in November 2004 is unlikely to happen in Belarus after the election which Lukashenko still insists was fair.

Although at its height protesters numbered around 10,000, bitter winter temperatures and a fear of the regime saw numbers dwindle to around 1,000 who were dispersed with force. The Belarussian army may have been able to move 1,000 people away from the main square but they might have had more trouble displacing the 50,000 assembled in Kiev.

The Belarussian elections got a few headlines in the West, but reporting was largely speculative and nothing on the scale of the Ukrainian elections in 2004. For a country of a similar size and facing similar democratic problems the coverage in the UK has been poor.

Other internet news sites such as Belorusskiye Novosti, Belorusskiy Partizan and the br23.net blog which operates in English and Belarussian have provided some news and reports on the human rights violations in Belarus but much is based on rumour and personal reports rather than traditional journalistic news writing and facts.

The internet is not as free as you might believe in Belarus. Independent websites have complained of attempts to censor and block them so many of the sites are hosted abroad to bypass the censorship.

Since the protests have quietened following the arrests, users on LiveJournal have continued to stage smaller acts of defiance including urging for readers to honk their horns as they pass Oktyabrskaya Square, wear black and hang black ribbon out of their windows at Lukashenko’s coronation. LJ user ‘hondurazian’ suggested that people let free paper origami boats with messages at the Svisloch River embankment.

Experts are unsure as to how much impact the internet has had on Belarus. It is doubtful that if another entirely democratic election were to be held tomorrow then Lukashenko would lose. But if the kind of press freedom that other Soviet states have got can’t be achieved in Belarus then the internet could just be the way to spread knowledge and lead to his downfall in the future.

Update

2006-05-24T20:48:00.000+01:00

I've not posted for a few days because I've been busy with a number of things.

Last week was the end of my deadlines for uni so I was busy finishing off those and this week I have gone back to the hospital I worked in before to do some more note-taking at boardroom level. It's pretty grim at the moment with the workforce review but Chesterfield are coping better than most hospitals, despite the cut in nursing staff.

The best news of the week is that I had the cast off my foot. I went in on Monday morning to have it taken off and it was just minging underneath and I had to go up to start work just after! The consultant told me that I would need to use my crutches for another couple of weeks while the muscles in my foot strengthen again but in reality I hadn't been using crutches for three weeks anyway and I wasn't about to start then.

I soon found that I was just carrying around my crutches though so I took them back to the stores and I'm walking around fairly normally now.

More good news is that I have a job for the summer. It's at an electrical wholesalers near my house in Chesterfield and I'm working for the finance director in there. It doesn't look like the stuff I have done before but I'm sure I'm more than capable. The money is a bit crap but the hours are 12 - 4.30 so I'll still be able to have a good social life - what else do I do between 12 and 4.30 apart from watch Deal or no Deal?!

Out and about

2006-05-16T11:16:00.000+01:00

Today was the first time I've been out and been entirely independent on a trip to town since I broke my foot. My walking is much better and I just want to get the damn cast off now - which is happening next Monday.

I had to go into town today for a job interview. The job I expected to have is the one that I had last summer as a Public Relations Support Officer at Chesterfield Royal Hospital, but my position has fallen foul to the NHS budget cuts. I would have felt bad taking a nurse's job but I'm not too happy with Tony B for doing this in the first place. Chesterfield Royal was one of the best performing hospitals in the country and now are having to make cuts for the sake of other crap hospitals over the UK. It's really bad for staff morale and I don't know how they can make cuts like this after the progress that has been made.

One scheme that Tony has funded is free public transport for the over 65s. It's a really nice idea in theory and probably a vote-winner with the greys but in practice it really doesn't work. My interview was at 9.30 in Chesterfield town centre and at 9.24 a big Jamaican pensioner came onto the bus bigging it up. OAPs get free bus travel after 9.30 and the traffic lights changed three times before she had finished arguing over the time, and whether she should have to pay the 35 pence fare up to the hospital. In the end she decided to pay a smaller fare to get just to the town centre but I was a bit miffed as I probably have even less money than her as a student and had to pay £1.20 for a mile trip.

I had my interview and there was almost Russian like bureaucracy with the amount of paperwork I had to fill in. The annoying secretary looked very confused when I handed over my British passport with a Russian visa in - I left her with that confusion.

My interview went fine and I went over to the job centre. It was Monday morning and the town's unemployable had come out again in the vain hope of finding work. I had always found the job centre quite helpful before but the butch lesbian that stopped me on the way in today was quite rude and told me to go and use the phone instead of impeding the helpless, obviously not in those words.

I don't know what the point of this post is. I guess I'm a bit mad that I'm job hunting for the fourth summer in a row. Employers are really hostile towards students and it's not easy to get work. I definitely need some but it looks like another summer of crappy office work for me - and that's if I'm lucky.

I really enjoyed my job at the hospital last summer so I'm a bit gutted that that has fallen through because I thought it was almost a cert. The woman on the bus annoyed me too - besides making me late for my interview I suppose there are further political problems with the government spending money on things that are nice but unnecessary (free buses) but making cuts on something which is entirely necessary and in need of more, not less funding (NHS).

cheesy pic from ebullpen.com

Chavtastic

2006-05-14T13:40:00.000+01:00

President Chavez has announced that he is coming on a private visit to the UK. No it's not the king of chavs but Venezuela's left-wing, verging on dictatorship Hugo Chavez.

Chavez has been a fierce critic of the US who want him out, and doesn't like Tony Blair too much (but we won't hold that against him). Chavez is meeting up with London mayor Ken Livingstone and I just hope it's not another George Galloway/Saddam moment.

I speak to a few young Venezuelans online and they generally think Mr Chavez is a nasty piece of work. Not quite evil but the elections are rigged and the country is still poverty stricken despite its vast oil reserves.

This could be a bit of a PR blunder. Maybe we should hire the same PR company as Russia?!

Pic from home.pages.at

An hour in a wheelchair

2006-05-09T20:31:00.000+01:00

I am coping quite well with my broken foot. I haven't touched my crutches in a week and my friends have been really good with taking me out in their cars and stuff. I can walk quite freely on it now, although it hurts when I go a long way because the cast rubs against my toes; so much so that I nearly shoved Suzanne's (unused) tampon down it the other night to stop the rubbing!

Anyway, on a trip to Meadowhall shopping centre in Sheffield I went and got a wheelchair because it's quite big and I didn't fancy walking when I could be pushed. It proved to be a really enlightening experience.

The man behind the desk offered me either one that could be pushed or one that I could operate myself so I thought I'd have a go at the one I could operate. My dreams of some amazing electric wheelchair with a gearstick were quickly dashed when he brought out one where I had to turn the wheels.

I soon got the hang of it but a number of things struck me. It's just so awkward! Everything is a chore and you can't browse shops at your leisure. You can just about do it if you know what you want and where you have to go for it but it's not easy.

Some of the shops are so packed that you can't get round the displays and you have to reverse and go the long way round. If you want to look for your size in clothes you literally have to put yourself into them to try and get to the back of the rail - then they all fall off and you end up looking an idiot.

Also, when I was in HMV I wanted to look at the Knarls Barkley single at number one but I couldn't reach it -I could only reach number three, and I didn't want Beatfreakz! You also regularly get in other shopper's way, they get in your way and you have to turn round and go back. It's all very impractical and this is at one of the country's leading shopping centre's, that prides itself of their disabled facilities. It's not Meadowhall that's the problem - it's the displays in the shops. I don't know how wheelchair users would cope on the cobbles in Chesterfield.

I could see how it could work if they had a shop for people in wheelchairs with wide aisles, easy to reach clothes rails and large changing rooms - that might make a fortune because people in wheelchairs would flock to it! You heard it here first....

I tried to do as much as I could myself but Paul insisted on pushing me in the shops. At one point I thought he was pushing me, but actually he wasn't and it was just a slope. I went flying down the corridor like Tanni Grey-Thompson and it was rather difficult to stop - no wonder people in wheelchairs usually take it steady. I think I'll leave you with that image.

'cos we've had a bad day

2006-05-04T15:25:00.000+01:00

It's not been a good day for Russia as the West again attacks its practices and record on human rights. US vice-president Dick Cheney said that Russia is "restricting the rights of its citizens" (which I agree with) and Amnesty International said that racist killings are out of control.

They don't seem to have the best human rights record in Russia and I've heard racist attacks being described as hooliganism many times. When Paul was in Russia a man just kicked him in the face when he got off the metro. I presume it was a racist attack as he was talking English because you can't take such a disliking to someone THAT quickly. Paul didn't report it to the police though because he knew they would do nothing about it. After giving them a bribe to clear off after they told him his documents were wrong (which they weren't and the police knew they weren't), I don't really have faith in the Russian police. Who do you complain to? The police?

It's scary to be in a place where you think that the police are out to get you. It doesn't inspire confidence and if people can get away with racist killings then they will carry on doing them.

We'd better get this PR firm into action pretty quick!

New football stadium for Blues

2006-05-02T11:21:00.000+01:00

My football team. Chesterfield FC have leaked some more information regarding their new stadium. We've been meant to be moving to a new stadium for about 25 years now as our current home, Saltergate is falling to bits (literally). It's one of the last old football grounds left in the country and is a place with a great deal of history and character but it just can't hack the day to day running of a League One football team anymore.

We haven't had much success in recent years. We reached an FA Cup semi-final in 1997 but have been in the same division for all but one season, without reaching the top 6 ever since.

The new stadium is due to be ready by December 2007 but that remains to be seen. I presume the plans resemble the generic design that was drawn up last year but it seems on a smaller scale.

Chesterfield's current home has a capacity of around 8700 and although we rarely sell out and average crowds of 4500 the new suggested capacity of 10700 does seem a little small if we ever plan to get anywhere although my understanding is that the corners of the new ground can be filled in if it's needed.

One of my main concerns is the lack of flexibility for away supporters. Usually 3/4 times as season we have occasions where the visiting fans could sell more seats that are available to them. Teams like Sheffield Wednesday and Nottingham Forest have been in our league in the last few seasons and could have sold double the allocations given to them but weren't able to - even though there were empty seats in the home end.

Another concern is the lack of terracing. I know it's a requirement to have an all-seater stadium in the Championship (the league above Chesterfield) but we haven't been there for more than 30 years. Apparently it is far more expensive to put a terrace at one end of the ground for structural reasons, even though the capacity would have been raised to 11915 - providing much needed income were the club ever to be more successful or have a cup run. If Chesterfield were to be promoted to the Championship then within three years they would be required to convert the terracing into seats.

The Chesterfield fans are a traditional and fickle lot and a large minority like to stand at a football match and I think that they should be given the opportunity. I enjoy standing because you get a far better atmosphere than sat in front of a moaning granny and grandad with rugs on their knees and a pot of tea (yes, we do have these people). Terracing would also make the ground a bit more distinctive than the other new soulless grounds that our rivals have got. There are some really horrible new grounds and it would break my heart to see us get one like Northampton Town (which has no character) or Port Vale (which has a 20,000+ capacity for their 4500 fans).

I am excited by the new conference facilities which should get the club much needed revenue to be able to compete better at their current level and hopefully push onwards and upwards.

Russia hires new PR firm

2006-05-02T11:16:00.000+01:00

The BBC has reported that that Moscow have hired an American PR company to handle dealings with the western media. It might seem a strange move such is the Russian pride with the way they handle things but do they need one? You bet they do!

Russia has a really bad image and I'm sure it's not as bad as how it looks. It actually has some really nice stuff there. If a PR company can help to avoid at least one PR blunder a year then it is money well spent.

Blogs I like

2006-04-27T18:37:00.000+01:00

Even though I'm quite new to the world of blogging I've been sucked in and can't keep away from some of these blogs. There's too many to mention so I'll just pick out a few that I like and see for yourself if you like them.

Tobias Ljungvall is a Swedish writer who posts up news from Belarus every Sunday and Tobias was kind enough to help me out in an article I've written about the Belarussian elections for my assessment. I also posed questions to br23 and Veronica from Neeka's backlog.

Cherolex is a Ukranian national blogging from Canada and he often puts stuff up of interest about Ukraine.

Chig's blog feeds my Eurovision fix more than successfully and Adrian's blog at AceDiscoVery also is an interesting read - I don't know how that guy gets to go on so many holidays!

Greg's blog never fails to amuse me - we know those boars are coming! Also sneak a peek at my friend's blogs: Ashley's, Andrew's and Paul's.

Tara for now.

News sources

2006-04-27T18:09:00.000+01:00

I think now it's time for me to share my sources. I don't have the most extensive list so if any of you have any news sites or blogs that you think I might like then feel free to suggest.

Online one of my main sources of news is BBC News. I've paid for it and I think it offers great up-to-date news and some handy features. I regularly read the Europe and Sport sections throughout the day. The design of the site is also something that I haven't found any other news site to come close to.

For my fix of Eastern European news I tend to use the Moscow Times. They usually cover all of the former Soviet states and despite the slightly regimented feel to some of the stories it's an invaluable source. I think they try to question the Russian government as much as they can without causing too many problems for themselves. They seem to stick to some of the journalistic rules very rigidly which often makes for awkward reading but it's as good as I have found.

Globalvoicesonline is a collection of daily news from around the world. It often adds a personal touch to the news stories that are reported by the big news sites and often things are written about that aren't reported anywhere else at all.

The Guardian's Comment is Free site is always a good read if you have the time/will to trawl through reader comments. It's good if you are really interested in a story and want to find out more but I wouldn't recommend going there just to find out the news - just read the paper instead!

Oh my God they're going to kill us (well not quite)

2006-04-26T20:35:00.000+01:00

I stumbled across another astonishing article from Eastern Europe today. This one isn't intentionally funny though and doesn't contain any boars.

What it does have though is a buffoon. Vladimir Zhirinovsky has claimed that Britain is public enemy number one. Am I worried? Well I was until I read the rest of the article. And I'm now going to get great personal pleasure from dissecting it.

1. "Zhirinovsky accused Britain of sheltering senior Chechen separatist Akhmed Zakayev, who is wanted in Russia on terrorism charges, and oligarch Boris Berezovsky."

I'm so sorry Mr Zhirinovsky I'll go and fetch them out of my cupboard now - I had no idea that it was them that were hiding there.

2. "Other British offenses, apparently, include founding the Communist Party of the Soviet Union."

Is this the same Britain that has always been ideologically against communism and is one of the few countries in Europe never to have a significant communist success at the polls? Maybe we knew how rubbish it is and inflicted it upon Russia out of spite.

3. "A spokesman for the British Embassy in Moscow responded: 'People often make surprising and exuberant statements during their birthday celebrations. We don't think that there is any need to comment on Mr. Zhirinovsky's latest rantings.'
The spokesman added that the British Embassy nonetheless wished Zhirinovsky a happy birthday."

Haaaaappy birthday to you, haaaaaaaaaappy birthday to you, haaappy birthday Mr Zhirinovvvvvvvvvvsky, haaaaaaaappy birthday to you.

4. "Boris Melnikov, 56, one of Zhirinovsky's well-wishers, said he particularly enjoyed the entertainment provided by the birthday boy: 20 models whose job it was to pose in photographs with the guests so that,'Zhirinovsky explained, 'every man can feel like he's a man.'"

Oh do stop it Mr Zhirinovsky. It's like the Russian equivalent of parliamentary Nuts magazine. Well I'm sure it's a vote winner!

5. "He has forged ties with right-wing extremists in other countries, including Jean Marie Le Pen of France and Belgium's Daniel Feret, who was invited to Tuesday's party."

Well what a party that would be. I'd love to be sat on that table. Were the BNP not invited?

6 (and best). "Earlier, he accused Jews of ruining the country, sending women abroad as prostitutes, selling children and organs to the West, and provoking the Holocaust -- despite acknowledging in 2001 that he was, in fact, half-Jewish"

This one really, really defies logic.

7. "Vladimir Zhirinovsky has called for nuking Japan, dumping radioactive waste in Germany and reoccupying Alaska."

The man is clearly an absolute crackpot who should never be given a microphone ever again. It amazes that some Russian people actually vote for him. Well actually that's a lie it doesn't amaze me but it bewilders me that this man's political party is called the 'Liberal Democratic Party'. What part of this is liberal or democratic?! I rest my case.

pic from thesqueal.com

Chernobyl

2006-04-26T13:56:00.000+01:00

Today marks the 20th anniversary of the world's worst ever nuclear disaster at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine. I think today is a day of remembrance for the people that it left scarred, many children with thyroid cancer and the ignorance that made this disaster so much worse.

There's been lots of coverage on this throughout the media and the BBC do an excellent round-up.

The accident happened in the year of my birth, 1986 which I suppose means nothing but I could very easily have been born under the radioactive cloud and I feel for the people that's lives have been ruined by the problems that a nuclear disaster bring with it.

Alien visits blog?

2006-04-23T16:02:00.000+01:00

I'm very excited by by new flags courtesy of Neoworx. I love flags and they are even more exciting when people from all over the world have come to visit my blog. Yes I know, I'm a sad act.

But when I checked my flags this afternoon I made a disturbing discovery. I had a new flag on my counter - satellite provider. It's all steeped in mystery. Could it be an alien? Could it be a man in outer space as the picture suggests? Could it be someone from a small unknown country with no flag? Who could this be?

I've seen 'unknown country' as a country listed before on someone elses blog but never satellite provider. In all the excitement I prefer to believe that I have alien visitors on my blog, so welcome to earth, I hope you enjoy my ramblings.

Come on 'Enjoy England', take a chill pill...enjoy

2006-04-22T11:57:00.000+01:00

I've just read an article on the BBC which labels Brits as addicted to 'sex and TV'. Well I've heard far worse and less accurate things said about our fine nation.

Enjoy England, whose spokesman has just had a hissy fit at a new book really need to relax a bit. It seems from the beeb article that he said some very nice things too.

I've found very few better places than Britain. I love England (especially the north), I think Scotland's great, you can't go wrong with a bit of Ireland, I'm not sure on Wales but it probably has it's nice bits too!

Yes, we have more than our fair share of shitholes - step forward Aldershot and Grimsby as my classic examples of places most deserving of a nuclear bomb, but overall there's more good than bad.

I've also seen that my home county Derbyshire is suffering an identity crisis . Well we certainly get a lot of tourists through to Chatsworth House but I have to say I never ever venture into Derby, despite it being the county town. I can get 95% of what I need in Chesterfield and if I want something different then I'd much rather go to Sheffield or Nottingham than Derby.

And I suppose even Grimsby isn't that bad...but it still smells of fish.

Nasha Niva to be closed down?

2006-04-19T11:39:00.000+01:00

After reading the br23 blog on Belarus I found the headline story particularly shocking:

"If we don’t keep fighting, Lukashenka’s regime will go on destroying everything, until nothing is left. This is something we all should understand about this dictatorial regime. Today I received the news the the First Belarusian newspaper “Nasha Niva” is under a serious risk of being closed down.

"Department of ideology wants to close it down because the editor-in-chief… was in jail for 10 days. That’s the reason they give for wanting to close their offices.

"Let me remind you, the editor-in-chief Andrej Dynko was detained at a bus stop on the October square on March 21st, when he tried to bring some food to the protesters on the square, who protested against massive falsification of the “election” results and demanded new elections. Later he was sentenced to a 10-day arrest after being convicted of using “foul language” in public (this man probably doesn’t even know a single swearing word; let alone publicly use it). In fact, he was detained because police heard him speaking in Belarusian language, and that was good enough reason to arrest him.

"The authorities are cynically closing down “Nasha Niva” on the eve of its 100th anniversary. This legendary newspaper was founded in 1906, and it was the first ever newspaper published completely in Belarusian language. In 1915 the original “Nasha Niva” was closed after Vilnius was occupied by German troops. In 2006 the attempt to close it is ordered by the Lukashenka administration. We don’t have any German occupation in 2006. It’s Lukashenka’s Russian-Soviet occupation. And they’ve advanced very far.

"This is the last existing independent newspaper that is published in Belarusian language.

"The attempt to destroy “Nasha Niva” is a symbolical beginning of Alaksandar Lukashenka’s third term, after a massive falsification of the vote.

"You can read more about it on their official website nn.by. Their English is far from perfect, but it provides a very good summary of the current situation".

Although it appears from clicking on the link that it has already gone....

I think that freedom of the press is so so important in a democracy (and this blatantly isn't). How Lukashenko can close down a 100 year old newspaper for this reason is beyond me. Surely the people should be rioting in the streets? Maybe they are just resigned to the occupation by now.

Again this has gone entirely unreported in the West. I don't know why - does anyone care?

Adam in A&E

2006-04-16T22:50:00.000+01:00

I've had some bad news. I stupidly fell down some stairs last night and have managed to break my fifth metatarsal in my foot. I did itwhen I went downstairs to check if the door was locked - I only fell down the bottom two or three steps but it seems to have done quite a lot of damage.

I slept it off anyway and when I looked at my foot this morning it was rather black so my Mum took me down to the hospital and I had an x-ray confirming the break.

It's strange really because it doesn't hurt at all until you put any weight on it. I can still move my toes so I was convinced that it wasn't broken. Anyway I have my pot put on tomorrow and apparently I get to choose what colour I can have which is nice. Pink anyone?

I think I will be in plaster for about 6 weeks so that buggers up my summer holiday which I was planning on going on on Tuesday morning - I can't see that happening anymore. It also has potential repercussions for my deadlines at uni because I'm not going anywhere at the moment on my crutches. I hope I can sort it out soon.

It's the same injury as Michael Owen got while playing football. Unfortunately mine isn't that glamorous - just a few stairs :(

No No No No No entry for S&M

2006-04-16T22:29:00.000+01:00

The Eurovision Song Contest provides priceless moments of entertainment every year. Some indivuduals like Terry Wogan and Chig take it very seriously. But the whole nation of Serbia & Montenegro appear to take it far too seriously.

I can understand the political problems that such a contest could cause but after years of war and violence you would think that the nation might be able to put up with it. It is only Eurovision after all.

It should only be the equivalent of having a Welshman representing the UK in population terms.

I'm not too sure of the role of Montenegro in the Balkans but judging by the amount of bickering that has gone on over one song contest maybe independence is best for them.

One thing I am sure of though is that there are so many Eastern European states that poor old Daz Simpson won't be bringing home the bacon for the UK. I think the combination of the public phone voting (for the ones that sound most like the music that they are used to) and the breakup of Yugoslavia have finally put the nail in the coffin for a country universally disliked throughout Europe.

Pic from BBC

Oh what a night...

2006-04-12T11:50:00.000+01:00

What a night this must have been for this Russian man. Those Russians get me every time. 'Wvat is vis nail doing in my hvead?"

"Now I remember going to the pub, ordering my Baltika, ordering another Baltika, playing dominoes, another Baltika but vis nail I do not kvow."

It seems from the article that nails in the head are a common complaint in Russia, and even more brilliantly entirely treatable - or maybe they just don't want you to know about the ones that didn't make it....

Pic from kp.ru

Bulgarian man in bother

2006-04-11T19:20:00.000+01:00

Another bizarre news story here (although granted it's not quite as good as the boar story). English referee Mike Riley has been accused by the Levski Sofia president Todor Batkov of getting a decision wrong because he is "homosexual".

The very concept that being gay effects your decision making is incredible. I'm sure that Mr Badkov was just spouting off after his team lost with any possible reason for his team being crap but it's just not acceptable to say that in 2006. If it was Uriah Rennie and he said he got it wrong because he is black then I'm sure that there would be far greater uproar and I suppose this news story will just get ignored but to me I don't find it offensive just ridiculous.

To my knowledge Mike Riley isn't gay and it wouldn't matter if he was. I doubt that Mike was in the dressing room with his poppers at half-time thinking sod the Bulgarians I want to P-A-R-T-Y down but if that was the case then Batkov has every right to complain.

Pic from thefa.com

Bugger, I have no readers

2006-04-07T11:52:00.000+01:00

As a comment virgin today I decided to go around and comment on other people's interesting blogs - so if I have left a comment on your blog then you should consider yourself priviliged.

Some of the blogs I found particularly enlightening and left comments on were Alexander's blog with an Eastern European slant reported from his home in Canada. I posted a comment on his 'nice little news from Belarus' post where one of his friends has been released from prison following the demonstrations that I have written about in Belarus.

I also found a great blog by the Felt Duck who has inserted himself into all his pictures on his travels. I think the duck is still in Riga at the moment but i commented on his 'three brothers' post. Both comments have to be monitored before they can be put online.

Over to you Jim...

Neil McIntosh

2006-04-05T13:29:00.000+01:00

Neil McIntosh, Assistant Editor, of the Guardian Unlimited website came into talk to online journalism students on Friday and had some interesting things to say about the future for journalists.

Firstly, I thought Neil was far more practical than the well-known John Pilger who came to give a talk at our uni a couple of weeks ago. Pilger seemed to be stuck in the golden age of journalism where the Daily Mirror was an investigative newspaper and excellent photos told the story in newspapers. Rightly or wrongly things have moved on since then and the market is far more diverse.

The Guardian is currently experimenting with Podcasts, which can be downloaded for free and listened to on your iPod. McIntosh said: "We reckon there's people who are too busy to catch up on the site, don't want to buy a paper and would rather have stuff on their iPods.

"The Times Online have Baddiel & Skinner doing podcasts for the World Cup in Germany and we are certainly looking to do something." Initial experiments have proved successful with the Ricky Gervais podcast getting record numbers of downloads.

The Guardian have also started their new blog site 'comment is free' recently and are already starting to reap the rewards. McIntosh continued: "Our editor watched the success of the Huffington Post in the US and that inspired the comment is free idea. On other sites they insist on comments going past the author and so get very few comments through but we are happy with the amounts of hits that we are getting. The material from our journalists on the blog site is just fantastic."

I love the variety of journalism out there now and anything that involves technology on a practical level for reporting can only be a good thing. It seems to be that the Guardian and to a lesser extent The Sun and The Daily Telegraph are front runners in the online format and other newspapers such as the Daily Diana are getting left behind as their over 50s female readers are literally dying out. Now wouldn't that be a shame?

Getting pissed in McDonalds

2006-04-05T11:56:00.000+01:00

Paris: A city of beauty, love and spectacular gothic architecture. The streets overflow with charming cafe's and fine restaurants. All true, but what they don't tell you in the guidebook is that you would have to win the Euromillions draw to be able to afford to go in them. It's normal in Paris to pay around 7 euros for a pint of beer (that's around £5).

Now excuse me Mr Chirac, for a country famed for its own fine vineyards, Kronenbourg and cafe culture is this price not a little high when you can buy booze in your local supermarket for a pittance?

Of course there is a way round it rather than funding the French economy from my student loan. Try this for a stingy night out:

Drink at your home/apartment/hotel room/hostel with alcohol from the supermarket
If you want to eat out, eat in the Latin Quarter at St Michel metro station where you can pick up a 3 course meal for between 8 and 20 euros, depending on the quality
A number of Parisian bars have 'Happy Hours', (Remember those things that Blair banned in the UK because underage pikeys used to go in and drink as many Hooch's as possible in an hour and then throw them up down the wall outside) well yes they have these in Paris and you can usually get a beer for half price. Now these hours are not strictly hours. They happen from around 19.00 to 21.30 and if you are lucky then you might get one from 23.00 to 24.00 but that takes some masterclass investigative work that Bernstein and Woodward would be proud of
My final and most chavvy tip is between the hours of 21.30 and 23.00 go and buy a drink in McDonalds. If you are like me and don't particularly care for your surroundings then you can get a pint of Kronenbourg for £1.50 - a bargain at even Northern prices!

And finally, who thinks the French are lazy frogs? Me, never! Actually Philip Meeson, chairman of budget airline Jet2 thinks that they are after strikes over a new Youth Employment Law. You can make your own mind up but i don't think that what is being proposed is anything too outragous but any excuse for a riot seems to be taken up by French students. Credit to them though i suppose because I can't see anything on that scale ever happening again in the UK.

The French also have in place at the moment a 35 hour working week which sounds great, and probably is if you live there but leads to many things just being shut at random times. Supermarkets, pharmacies, musuems. You name it they've shut it. There's very little open on a Sunday. They must lose SO much money by doing that. I can understand the intentions and being a lazy little bugger myself I think it's a great idea because I love the idea of only having to work 35 hours a week but to workaholics and tourists alike it must be frustrating. Lucky then that they are thinking of scrapping it...
Picture from www.clipartheaven.com

Boar-ed to Death

2006-03-29T15:25:00.000+01:00

Estonian man goes on boar killing spree. This is exactly the kind of news story that we don't hear about enough in this country any more. Brilliant!

Orange revolution squished

2006-03-29T14:19:00.000+01:00

Pro-Western parties are having a difficult time of it at the moment in Eastern Europe. President Yushchenko only got 15% in their parliamentary elections and came in third place.

There is some light at the end of the tunnel though as Yushchenko opened up talks with the woman that he sacked a year ago, Yulia Tymoshenko about forming a coalition to keep out Yanukovych's Party of the Regions.

It just shows though that the grass isn't always greener on the other side - especially during the first few years. If they stick with it though I am sure that life will be better under the current regime than the old one.

Meanwhile in Belarus things have gone a bit quiet. Hunger strikes seem to me a desperate cry for help and attention. After a brief flurry of headlines on Friday, things have petered out in Britain - people just aren't that interested and that is why I think this particular 'revolution will fail.

Picture from BBC News

Gypsy Wars

2006-03-29T13:41:00.000+01:00

I saw this listing in the TV mag and thought wow, reality TV taken to an extreme. I was hoping Gypsy Wars on Monday on BBC Two was going to be some sort Napoleonic battle with caravans and cannons but what I got was something a bit different.

I found myself more annoyed with the pompus middle class council's attitude towards the people of the village of Cottenham, Cambs (including the travellers) who seem to think it is alright to say 'i've had calls from people in 10 other local villages and none of them want gypsies there either' - as if that is some kind of justification.

Of course the gypsys weren't all angels but one Irish traveller man in particular i had a lot of respect for trying to build bridges between the communities of gypsies and villagers.

I'm still hoping for more fires, illiteracy and infighting next week though..

Picture from guildfordopera.com

Vive la revolution

2006-03-25T14:52:00.000Z

Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of Minsk following the election rigging that took place last week.

At last the protests have been getting some headline coverage in Britain and the West has imposed sanctions on Belarus which include "travel restrictions" and "some financial penalties". I'm not sure what these travel restrictions are - maybe they have banned Lukashenko from his next 'easyCruise'?

One blog i have been looking at sources out a lot of the information. He manages to pick out a lot of the main news stories and is well worth a look.

Meanwhile in Belarus

2006-03-22T14:22:00.000Z

The Belarussian people voted and with accusations of vote rigging in President Lukashenko's 82.6% poll win, 10,000 people gathered in October Square, Minsk to protest against the result.

Russia sent their congratulations to Lukashenko but the US refused to recognise the result.

Shamefully, the protests are getting nowhere near as much coverage as the larger scale Ukrainian Orange Revolution. I don't know why this is. Maybe the media are fed up of Eastern European revolutions?

I think the most likely explanation is that despite wrongdoing by Lukashenko's government he still probably has the backing of the Belarussian people. I just can't see this being another Ukraine style revolution and that it is a great shame.

In search of Russia's middle class

2006-03-22T13:31:00.000Z

I read a great article in the Telegraph on the train on Saturday. It literally fell into my lap from the overhead compartment - I wouldn't dream of trying to read the oversized Tory propaganda otherwise.

Alan Philips is obviously very informed on the country having been the Telegraph's Moscow correspondent for five years and his contacts provide an interesting and personal angle on what is a pretty shit country to be in. Philips' friends seem to have come off alright from Putin's reign.

There is a worrying quote in the middle of the article from Philips' friend Anatoly who puts it succicntly: "There is no democracy - only mediocrity and vulgarity". Give it a read anyway, it's worth a go.

I'm a bit gutted that I missed the programme on More4: The death of a nation on Monday night but hopefully they will put it on Channel 4 soon or my library will get a copy because it looked excellent.

My blog seems to be turning into an attack on Russia - this wasn't how it was meant to be! I know it's an area I'm interested in but I'm sure there are positive things going on over there too and as soon as I find one, I'll make it my duty to blog about it.

Picture courtesy of www.sptimes.ru

America loves us

2006-03-17T12:34:00.000Z

According to a new study, Britain have been granted the dubious honour of being America's favourite nation.

Although we only beat the likes of Iran, Palestine and North Korea in the 15 countries surveyed, the loveable Brits are still pulling at the heart-strings of the Yanks.

I'm sure Tony and George will enjoy a few more hot dogs and milkshakes together yet.

Bloggers can be useful

2006-03-17T11:48:00.000Z

In th short history of bloggers they have stirred some controversy by bringing to light and discussing issues that sometimes the newspaper doesn't/isn't allowed to.

Former leader of the Republican party in the senate , Trent Lott, was forced to resign from that position after a remark at Storm Thurmond's 100th birthday party on December 5th The comment appeared to agree with Thurmond's 1948 pro-segregation comments during his campaign for presidency.

The American mainstream media had given the story very little coverage and in an interview with CNN on December 6th, Jonathan Karl didn't even approach the subject.

Bloggers such as Josh Marshall, Andrew Sullivan and Glenn Reynolds posted Lott's speech and eventually forced the New York Times and other mainstream media to consider the story again.

The Guardian ran an interesting piece with the angle that the bloggers have helped to uncover the story and give it it's rightful coverage. Bloggers could have an even more important role to play in the future if their popularlity continues to grow.

More trouble in the east....

2006-03-16T23:47:00.000Z

I saw an advert on C4 earlier for a programme on the 'death of a nation' Some of the facts they have on here are really, really shocking. I know a bit about eastern population shift on an article that I wrote last semester for my assessment, but the facts are that:

Russia could lose half its people by 2050
Life expectancy is seven years less than it was ten years ago
There are more abortions every year in Russia than babies born
Paradoxically, Moscow has more billionaires than any other city in the world

I know it seems like I have a bit of a grudge here against Russia and all that it stands for - I might go as far as saying I think the people were better off under a socialist/communist regime but i'm genuinely interested.

This ad looks like this programme would back up what I have thought since I visited in the summer - that it is quite shit. I really want to see this programme but it is on More4 on Monday at 9 and being poor students' we haven't got sky. I'll try and find some way of getting hold of a copy or i'll be hoping that they put it on Channel 4 soon.

Trouble in the east...

2006-03-16T16:32:00.000Z

I will be watching with interest when the lovely people of Belarus take to the polls on the 19th March to elect their president. Belarus is regarded by George Bush to be the "last remaining dictatorship in Europe" and is generally just a little bit shifty.

There is expected to be widespread vote rigging surrounding the elections and the Belarussians have blocked EU monitors' entry into the country which seems to be an extremely bad omen for any hope of a democratic vote. On the other side though, the Russians, who support the pro-Moscow current president Alexander Lukashenko, have reported that America has planned to bomb four Belarussian schools in some kind of alliance with Georgia.

It sounds as if President Lukashenko is going to win the vote comfortably and I don't think we should be getting ready for another Ukraine because as i understand it, Belarus still largely has very, very close ties with Russia and the majority of the population are happy with that. You only have remember the dodgy gas deal to think about the special priviliges that other countries like Georgia and Ukraine that have loosened Russian ties don't get any more.

From my time in Eastern Europe I have found that the youth are fed up with the way their country is run and are trying to be as Western as they can be. I only hope that the vote in Belarus gives its people a fair and democratic choice.

I'm speeding around, move out of my way

2006-03-12T20:41:00.000Z

I've just been browsing a gadget website when i found this. Now as much as I hate speed cameras I don't know how this company can still sell this product when it so blatantly is encouraging people to break the law - how can they sleep at night?!

Yes, we know speed cameras are annoying and I think at times they could cause more accidents than they save. When I drive along the road from Chesterfield to Worksop back at home i find myself more watching the speedometer than the road because the bloody road is riddled with them.

This magic spray though will probably not be bought by the innocent, responsible citizens that the ad pretends to protect, but boy-racers who like nothing better than to scream around a housing estate at 50mph.

Speed cameras must go where they are only there to make money but i don't think obscuring your number plate is the best way to go about avoiding them.

Going for .....4th?

2006-03-08T17:35:00.000Z

Team GB aim to finish in 4th place at the 2012 Olympics by virtually doubling the budget to our athletes to £770m. Hoorah! A bit more sporting success for our nation that continually falls flat on its face at major championships.

When I look around at our athletics squad at the moment there seem to be very few people that can compete for world medals, bar Paula Radcliffe who wants to still be running around the East End on a zimmer frame come 2012. People like Jade Johnson, Tim Benjamin and Mark Lewis-Francis have the potential to succeed at the top but there is noguaranteee that they will win medals even given as much funding as they can swallow.

All we have is hope - I find it very hard to believe that we are going to find, fund, and nurture enough athletes to be able to get anywhere near USA, China and Russia at the top of the medal table and I think we will struggle to catch the likes of Germany, Australia and South Korea so I can see the point of the taxpayers alliance when they say it's our money wasted, but the truth is that something must be done.

I think we have to try and get as much money as possible together because a successful home team makes a great Olympic games. I was very proud to be British when we got the games and I am sure I will be very proud again to see the world's athletes, media and supporters fly into the UK, and it would be even better to keep lots of the medals in Britain!

Nuclear Reactions?

2006-03-05T18:35:00.000Z

So, Russia have proposed to give Iran a hand in developing a bit of uranium. What's the great fuss?

Well right-wing hardliners rule the roost in Iran, democracy is patchy, the surpreme leader, looks like a cross between Santa and Deirdre from Coronation Street, and they have all the reasons in the world for wanting to bomb us.

And the Dreamteam partnership for nuclear power is founded...

From the people that brought you the Chernobyl disaster, Moscow have offered their incapable hands to assist in Iran's nuclear energy programme in a move that is seen as a compromise to the West.

If it's incompetence and bureaucracy that you want then look no further because Russia have it all. Desperately trying to ignore the Chernobyl crisis and pretend levels of roentgen per hour (a fancy measurement for radiation death) were 3.8, an relatively safe level, where as infact levels were as high as 15,000. This has led to generations of heartache in Belarus and Ukraine and caused immeasurable damage to the environment and peoples' lives.

I'm sure that things have got a little better since 1986 with the whole change of regime but on my recent trip I still found a remarkable passion for bits of paper, documents, delays, corruption and general incompetence that makes me think that Russia and Iran will be a match made in hell.

Picture courtesy of globalpeacesolution.org

Students lack social skills?

2006-03-02T14:54:00.000Z

I came across this article in the Inde and just thought what a good idea it was. A lot of people seem to lack the essential confidence skills to get a job and this is particularly relevant in the media.

Are today's students any worse than the last generation? Probably not but it's worth thinking about these kinda things when going for a job. I don't think i'm particularly bad at interviews and tend to be able to smalltalk quite well (if i get on with people i do anyway - and if i don't then surely i wouldnt want the job!) but i would be interested to see what this woman has to say.

I don't know whether it is possible to teach people to be confident or whether it just happens with life experiences. I know people that have really come out of their shell but i also know more people who i can't see getting a job because they are so shy and well, uncultured - i wouldn't want to employ them!

For a job interview men should wear a suit, a shirt and tie, and smart shoes, preferably lace-ups. Women should wear a blouse and suit, and a heeled shoe. She tells the women not to wear black, because it symbolises death. "If you are going for interview, you need to shine and it's very hard to shine in black."

Presentation is obviously going to be important - why do good looking people always seem to fall into decent jobs and the mingers get stuck on the minimum wage?! As for emanating death - i think we're all guilty of that at times but lets hope try for it not to be at a job interview next time!

Ain't nothing but a houndblog

2006-02-17T14:08:00.000Z

So first i start my blog, then i post sporadically, then i start earning money, then i take over the world, muhahahaha. Well we're 1 and a half of the way there. In his inventively named article Blogs to Riches, Clive Thompson thinks that we can. His (very) long feature discusses how with a little bit of inventiveness and a niche we can become web-millionaires almost accidentally.

So can i actually become a web-millionaire accidentally? Probably not...but someone out there in East Timor or Malta might read my blog and think 'this trainee journalist in Farnham can actually write'. Ok that's wishful thinking but it does offer hope for those with a bit of a business brain and an idea.

2006-02-17T13:47:00.000Z

this is another test link to The Guardian

Who is online right now?

2006-02-17T11:27:00.000Z

Well, the answer to that is obviously quite a few merry net people, all clicking away on their little mice. 68.1% of Americans have access to the internet. The Yank man was the pioneer of the Internet but some of those canny Europeans (go us) have overtaken them. According to Internet World Stats 62.9% of Brits are online but it is those Maltesers that are most online in the EU. 78.1% of people from Malta use the internet - there can't be that much to do in Malta then other than go online and eat; the size of some of their Eurovision Song Contest entrants (pictured left from www.esctoday.com) certainly seems to back that up.

And bless East Timor. Only 1000 people from East Timor have the internet which is quite good for a country ravaged by war - i didn't even know they had electricity! I set about trying to find an East Timor blogger but soon gave up. If anyone knows somebody from East Timor then please forward their blog to me because i'd be very interested to read it!

The Baghdad Blogger

2006-02-12T20:17:00.000Z

Well i'm quite glad Jim introduced me to this blog. I had wondered whether stuff like this was out there but i guess i didn't look far enough. Salam Pax's blog is intriguing. He takes an original view on a situation that he finds himself in and uses that as the inspiration for his blog.

Some of the earlier stuff is particularly interesting about preparations for the war - he writes with remarkably good humour. I guess the way the media portay Iraq is somewhere rather miserable where everyone is locked up indoors shaking but when you think about it that clearly wasn't going to happen.

It's slightly disturbing that the posts seem to stop suddenly in 2004. He'd taken so much time to post but then he just sort of....stopped. Has he died or just lost the will to live with the American invaders?

He does seem to write very personally and attempts to explain where possible for non-familiar readers although the frequent use of the word 'till' does grate a bit. I don't want to read this blog as much as the , which was written by an American journalist in Iraq, but gives a different angle which is just as valuable. Some of the conspiricy theories and analyses of news articles would never get any press in print or broadcast.

2006-02-10T11:38:00.000Z

post post post!