theblogpaper Beta No.1

free* Prawns Don’t Need Specsavers page 8

Adam Resurrected page 18

Cut the BNP’s Lifeline page 3

Cover: Kerstin zu Pan (Page 11)

theblogpaper has been produced by users of theblogpaper.co.uk posting articles and photos on the website. / 20 / 09 / 09 - Beta_no1

Index: Jane Watkinson posted an article:

Object, object to Lads’ Mags / Newspapers - Part 2 Teen Mags to Lads’ Mags page 4

abrown posted an article:

Worried about climate change?

Nevermind, just get the Survival Ball page 8-9

20. November 2009 theblogpaper has been produced by users of theblogpaper.co.uk posting their articles and photos on the website. The highest rated and most discussed content has been collected and published in this paper. In this edition the following users have been published: GillMPhoto - www.gillmoorephotography.co.uk // toaster - www.terryrodgers.com // beth francis - www.pieterhugo.com // krystalsim - www.thefourohfive.com // James Fisher - www.theroughcut. co.uk // JaneWatkinson - www.myliberaldemocratpoliticalramblings.wordpress.com // MediaActivist - www.mediaactivist.com // Laura - www.livingtheeuropeandream.blogspot.com // thebloggess - www.thebloggess.com // foodiemumontheroad - www.foodiemumontheroad.blogspot.com // max milford - www.disordermagazine.com //marie eaton - www.ale.gr // Cam Phillip - www.nikkigiling.com // ryan mullen - www.nicrysenbry.co.uk // Jemyperds – www. lookuplookaround.wordpress.com // hecklerspray – www.hecklerspray.com // bastardlife – www.bastardlife.com // will challis – www.kerstinzupan.com // mrshev – www.mrshev.wordpress. com // kdhiltz - www.kimhiltz.com // www.grace.de // abrown – www.theyesmen.org // Joe Woodhouse – www.jwjwoodhouse.blog.co.uk // Tory Aardvark – www.toryardvaark.com // el_bing - www.bing-emall.blogspot.com // samjackson – www.theblogpaper.co.uk/samjackson

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Oil Paintings byTerry Rodgers page 13

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We could be Heroes page 15

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Harry Brown Film Review**** page 19

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Bastardlife posted an article:

Hoggin’ page 22

politics Article by MediaActivist / UK Average Rating: 3,8

www.mediaactivist.com

Cut the BNP’s Lifeline “I believe perfect objectivity is an unrealistic goal.

Fairness, however, is not.” So said journalist Michael Pollan, making a statement I’ve always remembered in attempting to counter much of the right-wing bias of the mainstream media dominated by profit-and-loss columns. But the goal of “objectivity” has been used as an excuse time and again British National Party leader Nick Griffin recently appeared on Question Time, and the BBC’s reasoning was its “objectivity” – just like its “objectivity” when refusing to air Gaza charity appeals, or, I assume, its “objectivity” when deliberately editing and reversing the order of events as documented at the miners strikes’ crucial “Battle of Orgreave” – depicting the workers as the aggressors when, in fact, the police were. Yep, Objectivity™ can be used as an excuse for all kinds of things, including appeasement. Even so, sometimes it’s time to take a side, you know?

But I don’t blame the BBC. Once called “KGB” by the BNP, suddenly they weren’t so bad in the beady eyes of the British National(ist) Party as soon as former “white power” marcher Nick Griffin himself was invited onto the show. The BBC had a certain ratings-winner in the works, and for all our uproar over this controversial figure being showcased on one of the BBC’s most staid television programmes, we did indeed tune into the show in droves. We can argue about whether the opportunity was a win or loss for the BNP, but the only certain winners were the BBC, needing a much-needed boost under the threat of Conservative cutbacks. During that ratings-grabbing edition of Question Time, we witnessed even the lame politicians on the panel make a mockery of that nationalist white supremacist, with him publicly and visibly torn between staying true to his vicious and vile roots, or laughing at himself a bit while seething underneath and attempting to narrow the debate to the sort of cynical scaremongering the BNP has depended upon. But the highlight came when – after repeatedly claiming his party used to be fascist but isn’t anymore – Griffin basically suggested that he’s progressed with his party so much that they no longer want homosexuals incarcerated; they only hate them these days instead. Oh, well, the bloke’s a veritable progressive, then, I suppose! Give that man a Nobel Peace Prize. Imagine someone claiming Adolf Hitler was a decent chap simply because he didn’t kill all of the millions of people he put in concentration camps. Since he stopped short of going all-out against the Jews, Lefties, and gays, I guess he ought to be hailed as a hero - by such perverse standards as that. But unlike the Nazis our country challenged, fought, and defeated, thanks to that bloody awful struggle itself we now live in a land where we have freedom of religion as well as freedom of expression – for everyone.

Noam Chomsky once said, “If we don’t believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don’t believe in it at all.” While we’re right to protest this British Nasty Party, ultimately they can - within reason - say what they like. Come on: the real question raised here was not about whether the BBC was right to give a voice to the leader of a fascist political party, but whether Griffin’s rhetoric should, in today’s British society, even be acknowledged as anything at all more credible than, say, claims of the world being flat.

And that’s before we even acknowledge the fact that Germany and Canada have hate laws that prevent the existence of the likes of Griffin in their respective political arenas. Heck, even by British law, Griffin’s party is lacking legal status, considering they violate equal rights legislation in their membership acceptance process. I say that as soon as the BNP further “compromises” from openly white supremacist and fascist to being quietly racist yet abiding by our laws, all ethnic minorities should line up at BNP headquarters at Waltham Cross in their thousands, sign up, and take over the party. After all, a “British” “National” Party should consist of British nationals, shouldn’t it? The BNP are in trouble, and for them, it’s all down hill from here.

Anything fundamentally flawed will always be doomed, just like Oswald Mosley’s Blackshirts, or Enoch Powell’s scare tactics. The reason Nick Griffin - during his 15 minutes of fame - attempted to steer away from anything but the emotive hysteria on immigration that we read about in the likes of the Daily Mail was because it’s the only level in which he connects at all with the working class mass majority – the same who pick up and read The Sun simply because their dad always did, or because their mates do, despite the fact (not, of course, reported on in The Sun itself) the “news” paper is owned by tax-avoiding media mogul Rupert Murdoch, who has his press perpetuate themes that are, naturally, only beneficial to him, not us.

Murdoch’s tax avoidance – fully endorsed and approved by the right-wing governments of Thatcher, Major, Blair and Brown through their lack of action www.theblogpaper.co.uk

on the issue – costs us the approximate equivalent of seven hospitals or fifty secondary schools over a decade.It’s high time we cut that connection. Because the facts show that almost as many people leave Britain as enter it, we are far from being a crowded country with similar population density to that of Germany, and ultimately immigration is damn well good for us, as explained to me for my documentary Escape from Doncatraz by writer Philippe Legrain, author of Immigrants: Your Country Needs Them. No, the immigration issue is part of the tried-and-tested tactics of the elite to divide and conquer all the rest of us at the bottom of the barrel. And the more we play ball, the more they get away with it. So, the next time the bloke in the pub makes some comment about “those bloody Kosovans” or repeats something he read in the press about our country being “flooded by waves of immigrants,” challenge it, for goodness sake. When someone complains one minute about a foreigner taking their job, yet the next minute about an immigrant taking a welfare cheque, point out such things as the fact that not only did our government create more refugees by bombing the Middle East, but the UK accepts fewer of them than other European countries, and that these people can’t win: if they work, they’re accused of “taking jobs,” and if they don’t, they’re called “lazy.” Don’t just stand there and smile politely – I know you’re British, but bloody hell, say something! Set them straight, and move on to issues of actual importance. Because not only do we need to cut that connection that acts as the BNP’s only single solitary lifeline left, but we need to nip in the bud this kind of extremism that – in times of economic hardship – can only lead to dangerous events…as history has shown, with devastating effects; there’s a reason those Germans are happy with their laws preventing the likes of the BNP rearing their ugly heads.

join the discussion on www.theblogpaper.co.uk

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politics

Article by JaneWatkinson / Leeds Average Rating: 4,2 www.myliberaldemocratpoliticalramblings.wordpress.com

Object, object to Lads’ Mags / Newspapers - Part 2 Teen Mags to Lads’ Mags This is the second in a series of my own personal analyses of reports by the campaigning body, Object, into various lads mags and their implications in terms of the objectification of women (to see part 1, click here). The report looks into the comparisons between teen mags, that are magazines designed for girls, and lads’ mags, which are designed for men and boys over 16 years old (it is claimed). The teen mags they focused upon were those promoted towards girls who are younger than 15 years old, as they are regulated by Teenage Magazine Arbitration Panel (TMAP), which the Home Office set up to ensure that teenage magazines provide sensible sexual content. This clearly arises the question of why is it that girl magazines are tightly regulated, whereas boy magazines, which lad’s magazines such as Zoo and Nuts are, have no regulation of the kind. The response I have sometimes received when calling for lads mags to have tighter consideration of what they put on their magazines has been met by calls that I am not liberal enough. Well it simply isn’t liberal in my eyes to promote unrealistic expectations of women and expose them to the degradation, just in the name of predominantly men’s sexual pleasure.

This links to the predominant discourse often used to justify rape, which states that men’s sex drive is ‘naturally’ uncontrollable (see for example this).

They have to satisfy their sex drive from having sex with women, even if this means against women’s will. Whilst I do not agree with radical Feminists assertion that all heterosexual sex is rape, the point regarding the sex drive discourse is very relevent today. Pornography of this nature also ridicules lesbian relationships. They are made to be seen as only purely acceptably in a heterosexual framework, only when they are hyper sexual are they acceptable. The minute lesbian relationships, and indeed homosexual relationships in general, appear as though they are caring and sensitive, they are seen as ’sick, ‘perverse’ and all the other names you can think of.

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Why is this the case? It seems a tad odd when comparing it to pornography where violence in a heterosexual context is seen as pleasurable and desirable. How can this not be furthering the degradation and subordination that women face in society? Thus, sexuality has to be considered here too, as these magazines clearly prop up an inherently heterosexuality dominated market. The only way lesbians seem to be portrayed to males are as sex objects that are up for any kind of sex and degradation. The report argues convincingly that the lads mags such as Zoo and Nuts that contain objectified and degrading images of women, should be seen as a teenage magazine for boys. This relates to how the magazines can be bought over the counter with no real age restrictions at pocketmoney price, and teenage boys have very few lifestyle magazines to choose alternatives from. It is worrying that the lad’s mags are seen as educating boys about sex. No wonder it plays into the culture of degradation that women face. As the report states, it is time that the lads mags are regulated like teen mags are.

The TMAP should assess its own role and justify why it chooses to regulate teenage girl orientated magazines, but not obvious teenage boy orientated magazines. Why is it that teen mags are marketed with the pull of free gifts, whereas the lad’s mags are marketed by the pull of ‘cheap’ girls? As the report states, the male pin ups in teen mags are fully clothed, without any real sexual connotation. Instead, there is more female degradation and sexual connotations placed in teen mags, as women with the ‘wrong’ dress or who are not ‘thin’ enough or are too ‘fat’ are exposed. There is no such exposure of males.

The underlying message of the report and indeed of this blog is that the regulatory body, TMAP, need to start regulating lad’s magazines that teenage boys can easily pick up and buy, given that the TMAP’s guidelines are as follows: “It is recognised that magazines have an important role to play in the field of sex education for, and emotional development of, teenagers. It is recognised that magazines have an important role to play in the field of sex education for, and emotional development of,teenagers.”

Another proposed way of dealing with this is making sure that these magazines are only sold to adults. Maybe that would work. However, I think this is an un welcomed compromise, as there needs to be regulation of the degrading comments and images that are placed in those types of magazines, as they are teenage magazines. www.theblogpaper.co.uk

politics

Article by Laura / Utrecht Average Rating: 4,0

www.livingtheeuropeandream.blogspot.com

My ode to the corporation Corporations are amazing. Really. Look at what corporations are - big groups of people who come together, decide together, and create things. Look at what they can achieve! Modern technology + cooperation + labor = world-wide effects. We have entered the age of the corporation. Every day, more and more, corporations are overtaking territory once held by the state. At a conference I attended last week on the role of public/private partnerships, this was explained as being due to the fact that the public/private divide is collapsing in light of the new, unique challenges we face today. Challenges arising from the unprecedented levels of interconnectedness, complexity, and scale of modern life. I want to take this opportunity to cry: BULLSHIT! So much is wrong here and so much wrong was said at the conference ... where to start?

Reality

First, this idea that we are today dealing with unique challenges which call for the collapse of the public/private divide. This divide has ALWAYS been illusionary; a conscious choice for denial of reality.

The division of public and private is a choice stemming from the choice for a capitalist economy. Who got a say in this choice? Well, I don’t remember anyone ever asking me. An illusionary wall between public and private has two useful functions for our capitalist society:

(1) A man’s home remains his castle and business can be business

A public/private divide gives “private” acts a certain immunity. It gives private actors immunity. How? Well, it is not so long ago that what a man did in the private realm - in the home - was considered to be out of the reach of the law. Therefor, he could abuse his wife and his children freely. What else?

When GM decided to move many its factories out of the US to Mexico, it knowingly caused approximately 50,000 of its employees to lose their jobs.

GM in no way had to do this to ensure the life of the company, it wasn’t for self preservation. No, GM was booking higher profits (19 billion dollars!) than ever before! But, it felt it could make even more by moving to Mexico, where labor was cheaper. The

result of GM’s action? Tens of thousands of people lining up for government-subsidized food, without which they would simply not eat, the abandonment of a whole city, 28,000 people kicked out of their homes, the list goes on and on. But GM cannot be held accountable for this ... no, this was a “private matter”, business is business and apparently different rules apply there. Another example? Xe (the artist-formerly-known-as Blackwater) has impunity for many of the atrocities it committed in Iraq.

(2) We may live in a democracy a good 10% of the time!

This immunity is a result of the lack of democratic control over the private sector. While we all profess to live in a democracy and to love living in a democracy, it is clear that this democracy only exists in federal buildings and on the street. You may get to vote every two to four years on Proposition X or Proposition Y - but most of our day is spent in a workplace in which democracy is a dirty word.

Employees don’t get to vote on what hours they should work, who should get paid what, which holidays should be observed, what tools should be used, etc. As an employee, you do not have a right to freedom of speech, freedom of religion, a fair hearing, the right to bear arms. You have no rights and no say. Further, the private sector is completely unfettered by the will of the people at large regarding what they produce and how. The “market” does not work democratically, does not give one person one vote, but rather one dollar one vote. Those who have more dollars, get more votes.

Distorted Reality

This conference on public/private partnerships had a speaker, Colin Mayer, an Oxford professor who claimed that the cause of our current economic crisis is over-regulation. That this is obvious since the years proceeding the crisis were full of new attempts to regulate business. That the GlassSteagall act’s separation of investment banks from commercial banks was pointless and counter-productive and therefor that it was positive that it was repealed in 1999. I was astounded by this professor’s logic. If over-regulation is to blame for the crisis how does one explain the fact that the combination of investment and commercial banks after de-regulation of the field was one of the main causes of the crisis? And was he now saying - with a straight face - that the Bush years brought us more regulation of the financial market? This

www.theblogpaper.co.uk

Professor Mayer gave a solution for the woes of over-regulation. Instead of regulation, we need to go back to the “trusting” times of the early 20th century. Everyone knows that was when the stock market was booming and everything was working like clockwork. There was no need for regulation, because businessman knew and trusted one another.I think I must have become very distracting to thepanel at this point. My astonishment was more than evident; my jaw dropped and my eyes were wide with disbelief. I looked to my left and to my right - was I the only one?! Was I the only one who understood what he was advocating? Colin Mayer, this Oxford professor, was advocating a return to the practices of the pre-Great Depression economy.

Advocating a return to a time when workers were literally worked to death, when child labor was the rule, and when workers lived in ghettos and shanty towns. I asked around after his speech and apparently I was alone in this realization.

Public/private partnerships

Those that say the public/private divide is collapsing are referring only to a shift in approach promoted by private companies in a way that serves their needs.

It means three things: One, that private companies are allowed access to the huge public sector, are allowed to make profit off of public goods such as railroads, health care, education, and even development aid. Two, that the people are losing control over these sectors. The representative for the Dutch government at this conference admitted that often times politicians cannot understand the plans drawn up by the private sector in these partnerships. The private sector employs economicspeak and convoluted corporate structures to bedazzle and confuse the people’s representatives.

And three, that private corporations are gaining legislative powers as corporate codes of conduct and corporate social responsibility ideals gain ground. It is unfortunate, for democracy’s sake, that these new legislative powers have zero democratic legitimacy, do not represent all stake holders, and include weak - if any - obligations to protect human rights.

Revisiting the ode to the corporation

I still find corporations amazing. They are proof of how much people can achieve together. But this power can only be used with legitimacy if corporations are run democratically and are held to the same human rights obligations we hold the former most powerful actor in society, the government.

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worldnews

Article by Tory Aardvark / Afghanistan Average Rating: 4,0

www.toryardvaark.wordpress.com

Long Wars Are Unpopular In Modern Western Countries And Struggle For Support If They Go On For Years The last war that was fought by Britain that had full public support was the Second World War, where we fought a recognised and deadly regime that really would have plunged the world into a new Dark Age. There was both the military and political will to beat Hitler, the bombing of British cities was a real tangible threat the public believed because they were the targets, their houses destroyed, relatives killed or wounded. Because the threat of death from the air was tangible the public knew they had no option, the indiscriminate use of Hitler’s V weapons later in the war kept the people in the firing almost to the end of the war in Europe. The Second World War was fought with the 3 things needed: The Military Means, the Political will and Public support, in short the objectives of the war were clear. Move forwards in time 5 years, the date June 25th 1950, North Korea invades South Korea and Britain once again finds herself at war this time in a UN police action.The Korean war dragged on for 3 years, millions of Koreans died and many many UN soldiers died; the US lost more men killed in 3 years in Korea than it did in the whole Vietnam War. Britain suffered heavy losses as well, the stand of the Gloucester’s at the Imjin River was an action fought in the highest traditions of our armed forces. It must be remembered that we still had Conscription or National Service and in 1950 you got your call up papers on your 18th birthday. So unlike today’s forces which are 100% volunteers National Service men were forced to go and fight not only in Korea but also the Malayan Communist Emergency.

Korea was a little understood war and not particularly popular, when the war ended in a draw a communal sigh of relief went up. Korea started with the Military means, the Political will and Public Support, as the war dragged on the Political Will began to waver along with Public support.

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The war that really changed public perception and support for wars was Vietnam Vietnam has become the fear factor that is always raised when any UN or NATO action is mooted ; Vietnam demonstrated that you needed the military means, the political will and the public support to win. Korea started with the Military means, the Political will and Public Support, as the war dragged on the Political Will began to waver along with Public support. The war that really changed public perception and support for wars was Vietnam Vietnam has become the fear factor that is always raised when any UN or NATO action is mooted ; Vietnam demonstrated that you needed the military means, the political will and the public support to win. Vietnam and the Invasion of Iraq by Bush/Blair both have something in common, they were both started by very big lies. US President Lyndon B Johnson faked an attack by North Vietnamese patrol boats on a US Navy destroyer and Blair lied about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. In the beginning the US public supported the Vietnam war, in the same way that the public here supported Iraq and Afghanistan. Britain has the unique distinction of being the only country that has beaten an internal insurgency – Malaya, we beat the Communist bandits not only because we were militarily superior but we also won the hearts and minds of the Malay people. This was a lesson not lost on the North Vietnamese. Ho Chi Minh and his generals realised early on they could never beat the US strategically, and in every major battle the US beat the North Vietnamese Army hands down. So the North Vietnamese embarked upon a hearts and minds campaign, to convince the American public that the war was unwinnable and that their men were dying for nothing. The turning point came in 1968 with Tet Offensive. Tet was the biggest military disaster for the North Vietnamese, their casualties were horrendous, the Viet Cong were almost wiped out but due to a couple of significant successes like the occupation of the US Embassy in Saigon they scored a tremendous propaganda victory.

Legendary reporter Walter Cronkite went on TV that evening and said the war was unwinnable. US public support evaporated for the Vietnam war and by 1973 the last American soldiers were gone, over 58,000 died in Vietnam. America had the military means to win, the political will drained away with each year of the war and the loss of public support ended the war. The Falklands war had majority of public support but not to the full extent that WW2 had, but the cause was just and it was a www.theblogpaper.co.uk

short sharp war that ended with a pre-stated goal, to take the Falkland Islands back. The first Gulf War had a defined objective, kick Saddam out of Kuwait; the Invasion of Iraq: find the weapons of mass destruction and topple Saddam. When no WMD’s were found support for the war began to wane. In Afghanistan the objectives are muddled, like in South Vietnam the regimes supported by our governments aren’t the sort of people you would really want to govern in this country and as the war drags on it touches more and more lives, and the public will inevitably begin to question the loss of life to our service people. The difference in cultures in Afghanistan/Vietnam to the West regarding the value of human life gives them a strategic advantage, the Vietnamese like the Chinese in Korea used human wave tactics where the casualties did not matter. No Western country post WW1 would tolerate that loss of life. The Taliban have stated they will take as many martyrs as they need to win. The latest opinion polls show public support ebbing away for the war, but unlike in the US the British public have not turned on our military in the same way that the US public did on their returning soldiers. To win in Afghanistan we needed the military means, which it is doubtful our forces were ever given, the political will to win, again, under Brown doubtful and the support of the public for the war which was there at the outset. The country has no confidence in Gordon Brown as a leader or his Government, thus it follows that there is no confidence in his prosecution of the war and the reason the public support for the war has all but gone is the thought are our people are dying for nothing. We support our armed forces but not the war which is something of a paradox.

If we are to stay in Afghanistan then we need a Government that has empathy with the Armed Forces, there must be clearly stated objectives, the Military must be given the equipment to do the job and the political will to win must be there. As a Nation will need to believe again that our brave service men and women are dying for something worth their sacrifice. If this is not done then we will leave tails between our legs on the last Chinook out of Kandahar and there will be one terrible and haunting question left, what did all those brave people die for?

worldnews

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„ comment by el_bing

“The difference in cultures in Afghanistan/ Vietnam to the West regarding the value of human life gives them a strategic advantage, the Vietnamese like the Chinese in Korea used human wave tactics where the casualties did not matter”...

I have no idea where you have gained this insight from, but it is pretty outrageous!

WW1 saw’The West’ send wave after wave of folk to their deaths.

Also, your admiration for ‘The West’ and it’s wars, winning those wars and the only relevant factors, in your view, pertaining to waging war being “the military means, the political will and the public support” seems to block your thinking and render it impossible to concieve that perhaps these wars were illegitimate and should never have been fought at all. ...at no point did you mention the 3 million non-american victims of the Vietnam war, as you fail to mention the deaths of the Iraqis, Afghanis and Pakistanis ‘those brave people’ helped kill...

The question you raise in your last sentence should’ve been posed 8 years ago, asked of ‘our’ people and of the people we have killed... why should anyone have died?

Join the discussion on www.theblogpaper.co.uk

reply by Tory Aardvark

My father fought in Korea for three years and knows what a human wave attack is, friends of mine fought in Vietnam ditto their experiences.

As I said Post WW1 Western Societies wont tolerate bloodshed on that scale The purpose of the article was to demonstrate what is needed to win a war, what must be done if we are to win in Afghanistan. I also demonstrated that if politicians lie public support for the war drains away, e.g. Vietnam, Iraq.

To include everything you would want would require a book or thesis not a blog article.

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reply by el_bing

“The purpose of the article was to demonstrate what is needed to win a war, what must be done if we are to win in Afghanistan” ...Who are we? Why must ‘we win’ in Afghanistan? Who are ‘they’, ‘the enemy’?

The premise of your article, like I stated above, relies on the presupposition that we SHOULD be at ‘war’ in Afghanistan (and Pakistan and Iraq), and that it is a conflict we need to be in. This is highlighted by the fact that you describe withdrawal as leaving with our “ tails between our legs” when in actual fact military withdrawal is what needs to happen, immediately, and is a far nobler act than trying to ‘win’ a ‘war’ that is (and has always been) illegitimate.

It does not take a thesis to show that ‘wars’ are the most prominent example to aberrant human behaviour, and that antiwar seniment is never encouraged and largely suppressed in mainstream doctrinal propaganda systems. www.theblogpaper.co.uk

We obviously have different opinions on the rights and wrongs of war, and it’s always good to exchange reasoned views and opinions. I never agreed with the invaision of Iraq, long before the virtual WMD’s became a news story it always struck me the George Bush junior was finishing up the what the UN would not allow George Bush Senior to finish. The fact that they knew there were no WMD’s 2 weeks before the war started is criminal, and ignoring my political affiliations I still believe that Blair and Bush should stand trial in for war crimes. Afghanistan is a different I supported the war because there was demonstrable evidence that OBL and AL-Quieda were and are still there. I have friends who have been 2 and 3 times to Afghnaistan and they believe they are making a difference and making the UK safer. I belong to the school of thought that would rather stop the enemy a long way from the gates of Dover, rather than at Dover.The war has been run so badly and with out the will to win that we are left with the question of withdrawl or staying. If we go it was all for nothing, if we stay it might still all be for nothing. As far as I can remember no one has ever beaten the Afghans, we tried for 200 years, the Russians had their Vietnam there.One the reasons I have the opinions I do is that what you and I regard as normal civilised behaviour is interpreted by some as weakness. Where we would seek to arrive at an agreement by negotiation, this is regarded as western decadence and weakness.The only thing the scholl bully understood was a smack in the teeth, there are some countries that need a smack in the teeth. Libya is a case in point, after Regan bombed Tripoli and shot down some Libyan jets that attacked US aircraft, Libya dropped off the terrorist scene because it realised the consequences of it’s actions. Not standing and fighting when you should, normally means that you fill a lot more body bags with your own, than if you had done the job sooner. War might be aberrant behaviour but sometimes it is the only answer unless you want to live under occupation or have a dictators will imposed on you

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reply by Tory Aardvark 7

environment Article by abrown / USA Average Rating: 4,0

www.theyesmen.org

Worried about climate change?

Nevermind, just get the Survival Ball Article by Joe Woodhouse / London Average Rating: 4,2

www.jwjwoodhouse.blog.co.uk

Prawns Don’t Need Specsavers Last week researchers at Bristol University released exciting details about the capabilities of the Mantis Shrimp. Unfortunately it wasn’t that when mixed with mayonnaise they taste exceptionally yummy (that research already being carried out myself on numerous trips to Greggs), or even that when nestled into the soft, pulpy confines of an avocado that flora and fauna make a perfect pre dinner soupçon. The facts unveiled by the Marine Researchers at Bristol University prove that the Mantis Shrimp has the best and most diverse eyesight in the Animal Kingdom. The vision of this particular breed of shrimp is such that, not only does it see in full colour, but can also detect types of light that we can only see through specifically designed machines. Bobbing up and down off the shores of Aberdeen or somewhere else equally glamorous, a Mantis Shrimp will pick up any rays of light ranging through the spectrum from infra-red to ultra violet. What we as humans have had to make complex machines in order to pick up, the Mantis Shrimp does automatically. But why? The question must be asked. Why does a shrimp, an invertebrate with no arms, legs, or particularly mind blowing thinking faculties, have such astonishing eyesight? It has all the potential to be an incredible animal with an incredible tool, but is let down by its own framework. It’s like forcing Lewis Hamilton to perpetually drive around in a Fiat Punto.

What the Scientists at Bristol have further discovered is even more interesting. Not only is the Shrimps vision broad, but also extremely complex.

The tiny marine scavenger can perceive and filter circularly polarised light, turning it into its linear form. What we see as the suns glare, the shrimps will filter into an orderly picture. With Shrimps, there’s no need for Raybands. This filtration of circularly polarised light into its linear form is something that every camera and DVD player does, the one difference being that our man made

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machines can only filter one colour, whereas the Shrimp can do it across the whole spectrum, with all twelve colours. It is no surprise that developers of the next generation of DVD player and cameras are closely studying the patterns of light filtration in these amazing animals in order to improve our monochrome systems. Imagining the type of vision one would see through the eyes of a shrimp is difficult because it is just so different from our own restricted view of the world. If anything, it highlights that the way we perceive the world is very different from how many other animals see it. This brings to light the diverse panoply of ways in which each species battles for survival in the evolutionary fight.

Two hundred years ago the Thinker William Paley posited the idea that nature seemed so defined, refined and designed, that it must necessarily have some sort of High Creator. After all, if you find a pocket watch in the middle of field, take it apart and discover it is so well designed, you would automatically think that someone had made it. For Paley, pocket watches were comparable with the intricately perfect mechanisms of nature. If he’d seen the Mantis Shrimp (one that hadn’t made it into a chilled cabinet at Greggs) he would have one more very good piece of evidence for his case.

Luckily, Darwinian Evolution coupled with seminal texts from the pro-atheist Philosopher Richard Dawkins have quashed such ideas. The fact is, we survive by being the best at what we do out of everyone else in our species. Scientists believe that the incredible eyesight of the Mantis Shrimp may very well be used as a secret communicative channel through which the mating process is covertly performed. Circularly polarised light is known to emit from male Shrimps cuticles, unbeknownst to other predators. A female able to pick up such a signal will know that the time to mate is nigh and that this particularly shiny cuticle is worth pursuing. Nature and its survival guided process of evolution throws up many anomalies. All polar bears are left handed, a chameleon’s tongue is as long as its body (I’m unsure whether this is, like the prawn’s amazing eyesight, to do with sex) and snake’s can see through their eyelids. What we have to remember is that quite often, nature wins hands down in terms of technological advancement. We would do wrong to ourselves by ignoring William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Perhaps, more often than now we should “hold up a mirror to nature.”

After all, we survive by emulating the best. www.theblogpaper.co.uk

Climate change its on its way, and sooner or later we will most likely all die, and there is a good chance that we might die from climate change.

But thank god we do not have to worry about the evilness of climate change anymore, since a “major companies” from the US and the world got together and invented the Survival Ball (Model X7) - Have a look at the images on page 9. This is revolutionary.

Just listen to what they say about it: “We are America’s largest companies, and we have a plan to save you from the wide range of catastrophes that are likely to come from our increasingly unstable climate. While others look to Senate bills or UN accords for a climate solution, we look to our best engineers. And our expert team has come up with a solution in perfect accord with our values. Technological. Profitable. And, dare we say, beautiful.

Originally the „survival ball“ has not been built by major US corporations. It is the brainchild of the Yes Men who famously scammed various media institutions, by pretending to be an official spokesperson for the medical firm Union Carbide.

Photos courtesy of the Yes Men

Heather Graham loves Survivaballs

environment

People in “Survival Balls” looking obviously relieved…

Now here are the features of the Survival Ball: 1. SHF Atenna with Supplementary LF Annennae 2. Receiver and Data Processor 3. Protective Headgear with Visor 4. Drinking Straw 5. External pores (defensive) 6. Defense Enhancement Unit (1 of 3; primary) 7. Food Reprocessor (receives nutrients from Nutrition Refunction Centre, 21) 8. Maniple Pods (for interaction with people, technology and the environment) 9. Nutrition Utility Transfer (conveys nutrients from Food Reprocessor, 6) 10. Electrical Grafting (secures against power loss) 11. Dynamo 12. Motors (powered by Dynamo, 11, and Maniple Pod, 8, plug interfaces) 13. Electromagnetic Strips (generate electricity for Dynamo, 11, and allow external linkage) 14. Maniple Pod Deployed as Rotor 15. Defense Enhancement Unit (2 of 3; non-lethal) 16. Power Converter 17. Defense Enhancement Unit (3 of 3; rear) 18. Power Conduits with Inline Power Converters and Dynamo) 19. Medical Analysis Unit (runs constant scans on health and energy) 20. Personal Trapment Unit (conveys cast-off to Nutrition Refunction Centre, 21) 21. Nutrition Refunction Centre (extracts nutrients from cast-off) 22. Persistent Nutrition Unit (delivers small amounts on an ongoing basis) 23. Suspension Grid (elasticated cable system) 24. Hyperfine Elasticity Units (impart added momentum) 25. Medical Stability and Emergency Unit 26. Communications and Infrastructure Monitoring Assemblage www.theblogpaper.co.uk

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art

Supervision

concept & photography - Kerstin zu Pan Wig &Hair - Acacio da Silva Make-up & Lashes - Karla Neff Model -Britta Thie / Viva

Photos posted by will challis / Berlin Average Rating: 4,4

www.kerstinzupan.com

“Supervision” is the latest series by Berlin based photographer Kerstin zu Pan. She belongs to the kind of photographer that manages to create very distinctive yet highly creative pieces within every new project she gets her hands on. She just finished working with british Sounddesigner Tommy Four Seven and worked for Designhotels and Chevrolet in the last few weeks, so we should be expecting more of such visuals soon...

Photos posted by hannas 4 / London Average Rating: 4,6

www.jim-skullgallery.com

Jim Jim, aka The Skull Artist, draws inspiration from his travels around the world to create his contemporary sculptures, each piece providing the viewer with a personal interpretation of a continents culture, history and atmosphere. He began his journey in Oceania before visiting other such culturally rich locations as India, Africa, China, and many more. Currently his work is being displayed at the skull gallery in Paris, we highly recommend a visit as such a modern, and frankly really cool, take on skull art is not to be missed!

www.theblogpaper.co.uk

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art Article by GillMPhoto / Manchester Average Rating: 4,5

www.gillmoorephotography.co.uk

“Arty Wow Moment” - Angels of Anarchy exhibition in Manchester It has to be said I probably attend my fair share of exhibitions, but what doesn’t happen very often is that I enjoy one so much I feel a powerful urge to blog about it. But the “Angels of Anarchy” exhibition currently in residence at Manchester City Art Gallery really does deserve to be seen by anyone with even the vaguest interest in the visual arts.

My last real big “arty wow moment” in Manchester was back in 1997 at the David Hockney exhibition, the one with all his photocollage stuff. OK, well yes, I did also have one seeing the footage of Gandhi visiting Darwen at the Procession exhibition (Cornerhouse, Summer09). But that doesn’t really count as it wasn’t the art that made me hold my breath with wonder, rather the actual event happening at all and being recorded forever by someone with a movie camera.To be truthful, the only reason ‘Angels of Anarchy’ even twitched on my radar was due to the inclusion of some of Lee Miller’s photographs. I am not really a big fan of Surrealism.

A few years ago, when I got to see some of Dali’s best work up close, I could appreciate the beauti-

ful brush work but I didn’t find myself particularly moved. It was all a bit too clever for me. Surrealism emerged in the mid-Twenties, a potent, shifting and bubbling period in the art world. Most of the celebrated artists and thinkers were male (Breton, Dali, Freud, Magritte, Man Ray, Picasso) and these are the names which are inextricably linked with the movement and whose work we have become accustomed to seeing. Where the curators of this new exhibition have struck gold is by choosing to limit things to a unique viewpoint, namely the part women played as creators. This helps to make the work relevant, it introduces a much more human aspect and allows the viewer to better understand and feel the emotion pouring out from the artists work on show. Exhibition spaces can often feel cavernous, cold and intimidating. Manchester Art Gallery have got things right here though. Subdued lighting, warm rich colours and intelligent grouping of images make for a meandering and intuitive journey. The work takes all forms, from painting and photography through to film, sculpture, books and poetry. Many of the pieces can usually be found ensconced within numerous different private collections, there are 150 images from the 1920’s through to the 1970’s. After viewing the exhibition I came away with much to think upon. Many images deal with the representation of women as sexual objects; beautified, empowered, sad, disconnected, shackled. Sometimes it felt like a celebration, stumbling into someone else’s party, women united and enjoying each others artistry, support and friendship (Lee Miller’s portrait work). This is women experimenting and questioning, using their art to examine traditional roles and their place within a wider world

and trying to find a voice. It is a privilege to have the opportunity to see powerful work such as Lee Miller’s ‘Severed Breast’ (a freshly removed female breast is photographed served up on a dinner plate complete with cutlery on a white linen tablecloth, the was showcased in Vogue the magazine Miller worked for at the time) and Meret Oppenheimer’s wickedly disturbing “Fur Gloves With Wooden Fingernails”. I really like the work of Manchester-based artist Rachel Goodyear and I believe her images would feel right at home in the slightly gothic and fetish-themed room where Oppenheimer, Penny Slinger and Josette Exandier’s work is displayed.

Within this leatherbound haven you will find a fur teacup, a blonde human hair whip (fairytale/Rapunzel?) and bird skeletons. Argentinian painter Leonor Fini’s work stands strong and powerful. A remarkable women, artist, costume designer and novelist.

I was wowed by her “Little Hermit Sphinx (1948)” with it’s subtle colours and exquisite technique, capturing decay and innocence, a guardian for life and death. Batting for the British corner I found Edith Rimmington’s painting “The Oneiroscopist (1947)” haunting, weird and beautiful. Photography is well-represented in the exhibition. I mentioned Lee Miller’s work earlier, but there is an abundance of powerful work. I discovered the images of Francesca Woodman (Kate Bush a big fan apparently).

This US artist took the photograph chosen for the Exhibition poster and “Untitled” (1977) a self-portrait showing her hanging from a doorway really stayed bouncing round my mind long after I had left the gallery. Using long exposures she generates a ghostly atmosphere, made all the more powerful when you discover she had a troubled life and com-

publish your content online and in print

Nollywood Photographs by Pieter Hugo Text by Chris Abani, Stacy Hardy and Zina Saro-Wiwa 112 pages with 50 colour photographs 28th September 2009 12

www.theblogpaper.co.uk

art mitted suicide aged 22yrs. Dora Maar’s photographic portrait of an armadillo embryo is freakish, spooky and rather innocent, whereas her “Sans Titre” seashell with a hand is classic surrealism, another of her prints hints at her striving towards a more documentary style and one can understand there is a truth to rumours of her appreciation of Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange. Maar is perhaps better known as Picasso’s muse, but I would love to see more of her photography. A big star of the show is Frida Kahlo, probably acknowledged as one of the more celebrated female surrealist artists, her work is vibrant and pulses with it’s own distinctive style, symbolism and themes. I must make an effort to see the film “Frida” based on her life, she overcame huge odds to create such powerful paintings. A new discovery for me was Kay Sage, an American painter working mostly with oils. She created beautiful, linear landscapes filled with futuristic structures all coloured from a sublime palette.

Sage’s work felt decidedly modern and distinctive, her painting “The Hidden Letter” immediately made me think of Phillippe Starck’s famous iconic lemon squeezer (or am I alone in that thought!). This really is a feast, an exciting opportunity to see such a range of high quality work in one place. The Gallery has made sterling efforts to enhance the experience, with a programme of talks and tours, games and interactive websites. All part of a quietly terrific marketing and social media campaign, steered by Wilmslow agency Wonder Associates. Fantastic to see an arts organisation making such an effort to find and engage with their audience.

Photos posted by beth francis / London Average Rating: 4,8

www.pieterhugo.com

Pieter Hugo’s Nollywood Here is a sneak preview of Pieter Hugo’s lastest collection Nollywood, a reflection on what is said to be the 3rd largest film industry in the world. Hugo first became famous for his works The Hyena & Other Men, but is quickly catching this success up with this new and great addition. Nollywood the Nigerian / African film industry releases on average 1000 films a year, and is definitely one to watch.

“The tableaux of the series depict situations clearly surreal but that could be real on a set; furthermore, they are rooted in the local symbolic imaginary.

The boundaries between documentary and fiction become very fluid, and we are left wondering whether our perceptions of the real world are indeed real.” Federica Angelucci

www.theblogpaper.co.uk

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culture Article by thebloggess / Texas Average Rating: 3,9

www.thebloggess.com

I’m fine. (Updated: No, I’m not.)

I was just in the office bathroom I saw this folded scrap of toilet paper on the floor and it looked like a perfect little man’s leg. Like the pant, knee, shoe…the works. And I was like…”Is it possible that someone made this little origami man leg out of toilet paper and left it here for me to discover?” And then I thought, “No. Probably not.” And that’s how I figured out that my medication was working.

PS. This post only makes sense if you have been on drugs to make you less crazy and have had that moment of clarity when you realize that what you are thinking is probably kind of crazy and it makes you less crazy for being able to recognize that you are being irrational and realize that some mad toiletpaper-origami-artist probably did not actually leave you a bizarre gift on the bathroom floor and you don’t need to pick it up and bring it to your coworkers so they can see its genius, but that you are still unstable enough to blog about it (in case there really is an artist leaving dismembered limb origami in public bathrooms) and also to write the longest runon sentence in the history of the world.

So I guess what I’m saying is, you know…yay for slightly-less-crazy.

Yay. Updated: Okay, so many of you asked for pictures that I got my camera out of the car to photograph the tiny origami dismembered leg but when I went back in the bathroom it totally looked different so I thought maybe it got kicked into a different position so I’m hunched over, walking around it with a camera trying to find the original angle and then I realize that it’s not even the same piece of toilet paper.

Then I see myself in the mirror standing in a public bathroom with my giant camera, circling a random piece of toilet paper so I can post a picture of it on the internet to prove that it looks like a tiny dismembered leg. Then someone walks in. On me. At my job. In the bathroom. With a camera.

Awesome.

Thanks, internets. Now I’m even more fucked up than I was before. Comment of the day: Didn’t you hear about this tragedy on the news? That origami man had a wide stance, and the lady before you ripped his leg off with her fat foot. He died en route to the hospital of massive urine loss. If only you had picked up that leg and taken it to the hospital, you could have saved his life. ~ MommasTantrum

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Article by mrshev / Gloucestershire Average Rating: 3,9

www.mrshev.wordpress.com

I Love Breakfast Breakfast is brilliant, isn’t it? Breakfast gives everyone carte blanche to put just about anything they want onto a plate and not feel weird or guilty about it. Any combination, any ingredient, any quantity - it doesn’t matter because it’s the ‘most important meal of the day’ so you could eat a deep fried panda with tomato ketchup and chocolate sprinkles and no one would bat an eyelid (you could probably have a bat eyelid.)

For example: ‘I’m going to have a big bowl of hot chocolate and then I am going to dip some cake in it.’

This can be justified because it is a continental breakfast and is considered healthy. For the full effect, smoke an unfiltered Gitané at the same time and drink a triple expresso with 18 sugars in it. ‘This morning I will have a plate of meat with some eggs on the side just in case I am not getting enough protein.’

The famous full english...or full scottish... or irish, depends on what token, sterotypical meat product can be added to add a national individuality...as if the breakfast plate is the last battleground of sovereignty. It does sound unhealthly but it can be made instantly healthy (if you order it in a boutique hotel, say) by sprinkling chopped parsley on it, or having a fried tomato on the side. Or, you can get your eggs poached - that’ll make a massive, positive impact. ‘Today I shall twice cook some wheat based food and put whatever the hell I like on it.’ Toast is justification to eat anything at all. Sweet, strawberry preserve?

Fine. Blended peanuts? Knock yourself out.

Liquid chocolate? Go crazy. Spreadable pseudo beef paste? Be rude not to. Squish some bananas on it? Hell yes! Cheese? www.theblogpaper.co.uk

Why not. You can even do combinations. The Scandinavians will even put smoked fish on it. Is that okay? Of course it is, it’s toast. If the American’s tortured their Iraqi prisoners on pieces of toast, it would have been fine. ‘I am going to fill a bowl with carbohydrate and then sprinkle sugar on top.’ Cereals are just an excuse to eat a bowl full of sugar coated biscuits, and who wouldn’t want to do that? Cocopops have taken this to the logical extreme and covered their biscuit with chocolate. I prefer to have Weetabix and then sprinkle sugar on top - it’s breakfast! I could sprinkle amphetamines on top and I still wouldn’t get thrown out of the B&B. ‘To be healthy, I am going to have a big-arsed piece of fruit...and then sprinkle some sugar on it.’ Grapefruit is a shit fruit really. If you were given an apple and then sprinkled some sugar on it, I think the person who gave you the apple would be offended. But grapefruit? Nah, it’s breakfast, do what you like. ‘It’s a long time until lunch, so I am going to have a bowl of carbs covered in chocolate, then toast with whatever the hell I like on it, some cake and then a big plate of meat - and I don’t care how processed it is.’

That’s the great thing about breakfast, you can do the whole lot in one sitting and it’s okay. If you’re staying in a hotel or a guest house with breakfast included then you can eat with a depravity that will shock even yourself. Some places even do all-you-can-eat buffet style hog troughs of meat and carbohydrates. Remember: it’s the most important meal of the day.

The Americans have really pimped breakfast, though. They do all the above but you can pour maple syrup on top. That’s off the chain.

please recyle this newspaper, or give it to a friend

culture Photos posted by max milford / London Average Rating: 4,6

www.disordermagazine.com

We could be Heroes

Recently Disorder ran a Fashion shoot entitled ‘We Could Be Heroes’, in which we invited MySpace users to come into the studio and dress up as their Heroes. The Idea is that in this time of financial uncertainty, unemployment, youth problems and a culture of vacuous celebrity, we wanted to take a hard look at where young people are turning to for inspiration for their dreams and their values.

After the edition hit the news stands, several of the models put their images on their MySpace pages and word got around that Disorder were looking to continue the project for a second issue. On hearing the buzz, MySpace contacted Disorder and ran the ‘We Could Be Heroes’ campaign live on the UK homepage on the 8th September and only two days later the call-out was taken down after the response crashed the Disorder MySpace page several times with nearly 20,000 requests. www.theblogpaper.co.uk

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culture

Article by foodiemumontheroad / London Average Rating: 4,9

www.foodiemumontheroad.blogspot.com

MasterChef Live 2009- the review Over the weekend of 13th-15th November the awe inspiring MasterChef Live took place at the iconic venue of London’s Olympia. With the likes of past MasterChef winners, celebrity chefs, Gregg (the pudding spoon) Wallace and John (change your life) Torode hosting and piles of seriously yummy food how could I not attend when Blogpaper.com invited me? It was opened by Gregg and John who had a little comic trouble fumbling with the safety catch on the scissors. After overcoming this difficultly the ribbon was cut and Masterchef Live was decreed open. Press cameras flashed and a beaming Greg said: “Wow, we’re just normal people doing a normal job, doing something we love and we’re lucky to do it. Go and discover amazing food and drink vodka!” It was a little early for the Vodka, at 9.30 in the morning, but that didn’t stop the animated crowd from pouring into the main hall, eager to be first to bag a culinary discovery from over two hundred stalls. I followed the crowds to the ‘Cookery experience’ where former MasterChef winners went head to head in a 20 minute cook off. Two kitchen stations were set up on stage and Gregg and Jon were loudly and exuberantly introduced by Olly Smith of Saturday Kitchen. Thomasina Miers and James Nathan bounded on stage and their bags of food where revealed. Prawns, harissa, basmati rice, chocolate, spinach and raspberries. The two MC winners rifled through their bags and got to grips with their ingredients. James (MC winner 2008) told us he wouldn’t try and make a tableful of dishes like he mistakenly (but astonishingly) did when he was on MC but that he’d stick to just one dish this time. Smiling, he explained he’s currently enjoying working in Padstow for Rick Stein, and loves his new professional chef status - a far cry from his previous job as a Lawyer. Tomasina (MC winner 2005) seemed to be getting in a bit of a fluster and Jon joked that it probably seemed like he and Gregg were going to be judging her forever.

However, she still managed to inform us that since winning MC she’s opened 3 restaurants all called Wahaca and written a book on Mexican street food.

Gregg held up her left hand and Tommy sheepishly

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admitted ‘Oh and I’ve got married to”. As the 20 minutes drew to an end it was apparent they were going to be given more time. Does this normally happen I wondered? James hastily binned burnt rice and changed to couscous instead: “I’m changing continents” he exclaimed. Tommy was jokingly told to shut up and stop talking when it was time to plate up and after a frenzy of plate wiping the contestants stood back and let the judges decide. James won with his prawns in chilli and ginger against Tommy’s harissa, prawns and rice.

I sneaked a taste of both dishes while the ‘clean team’ were cleaning up and both were mouth wateringly delicious. I had to agree with Jon and Gregg, James dish was the best. The textures were wonderful (crisp slivers of shallot anyone?) and boy did it have a zing from the chillies. Beautiful. I’d order it from a restaurant right now. Afterwards I wandered around the amazing stalls. It was a cornucopia of colour and smells and not unlike a huge bustling continental market .People called out, exclaiming the virtues of their wares. The unusual grabbed me.

Black fermented garlic, oak smoked rapeseed oil, green tea that you eat, huge walls of cheeses and the most expensive apples I’ve ever seen. I loved it.

It was like being plunged into a Willy Wonky world of foodie treats. When I came up for air, I realised that what really struck me about this event was that everyone really did have a genuine passion for good food and wanted to share that passion.

Strangers excitedly talked to each other about the goodies in their bags. I overheard one middle aged lady invite another to ‘have a go’ at her corn fed chicken from the Well hung meat company: “Go on, look at the colour of that, have a feel of it, go on really squish it” - To which the other lady replied: “Oh you should see the tea bulbs I just bought; they flower when you put them in hot water!” Now, I’ve had meat from the ‘Well hung meat company’ before and frankly it was fabulous, but I’d never heard of flowering tea bulbs. So in the spirit of the event I sought out Choi Time Tea’s stand where I discovered they don’t only have flowering tea but also ‘pearls’ of tea. How beautiful but boy, how wonderful it tastes. Their Jasmine scented green tea pearls have been described as the ‘Dom Perignon’ of the tea world by the Sunday Times and with one sip you can tell why. I bought two packs at £6.00 each.

I’ll never go back to www.theblogpaper.co.uk

a plain old ‘builders brew’ again. Melissa Choi who owns the company told me she’s even converted hardened coffee drinkers to it, which is probably a plus as her tea is high in antioxidants. One of the genius ideas in MasterChef Live is the ‘restaurant experience’. Here you can sample the signature dishes of all those restaurants that you’ve always want to go to but for one reason or another (the credit crunch?) couldn’t. The Ivy, Min Jiang, Launceston Place and the dishes of the MasterChef Winners were all available.

I tried Thomasina Meir’s’ duck liver and hazelnut ravioli, Min Jiangs duck dim sum and Theo Randall’s pan fried scallops. In order of preference I would put the ravioli first for taste and presentation (I could have eaten it forever), the scallops second followed by the duck dim sum. I found it deeply rewarding to be able to sample all the dishes in one place. Where else would I have that opportunity? If you ever want to have the Masterchef experience without actually competing then this is the way to do it. In the invention test paying members of the public, aspiring MasterChefs, had a go in a live 30 minute cook off. Complete with cooking stations, a mystery bag of goodies to cook from, your very own sous chef, provided by Southgate college.

Andi Peters interrupts you as he commentates on everyone’s progress. You really do get the essence and feel of MasterChef. You can see hands shaking, smell the overly ‘caramelised’ mistakes and be subjected to that Masterchef fervour.

Gregg Wallace and Jon Torode judge and they don’t disappoint with their witty banter.

I spoke to one of the ‘runners up’-and asked her about it: “I loved the experience although I was nervous (Gregg said that my chicken was undercooked) but I’d love to do it again, now.

It was exhilarating”. So to (dim) sum up (sorry),.

MasterChef Live is a fantastic place to experience your very own culinary voyage of discovery. It’s inspired me so much that I’ve actually applied to be on MasterChef.

You can get top tips from the foodie greats and can wallow in every conceivable food dream you’ve ever had with people who probably have the same or similar dreams. I know that I for one will be back next year whether I get accepted for MasterChef or not.

sports

Join the discussion on www.theblogpaper.co.uk

Article by samjackson / London Average: 3,8

www.theblogpaper.co.uk/samjackson

Arsene WengerSaviour of English football?

‘If in doubt, get it out!’ It’s a cry heard from many a parent and even coaches every weekend around the country at junior football games.

It’s a cry that can sum up in a nutshell the attitude English football has carried for many years. And looking at some of England’s attempts to win major championships since 1966, it’s a slogan that the national team should have had stitched to their shirts at times. Especially in recent times with both Sven-Göran Eriksson and Steve McClaren’s sides having the habit when under pressure, of aimless punts up field presenting the ball to an opposition more than willing to punish them. The punishing usually a lesson in how by keeping the football you can effectively dominate the game. In the 5-1 Wembley demolishing of Croatia and the one hundred percent breeze through World Cup Qualification Fabio Capello’s team have handed the type of footballing lesson to teams that England have been on the receiving end of in the not too distant past. Although these are promising signs, scratch beneath the surface of the first team squad, and there isn’t a large amount of established technically proficient attacking players waiting in the wings in case of injury. And don’t forget there is still the chance for England to revert to type when the pressure is truly on in South Africa, and come back full circle to ‘If in doubt, get it out.’

There are other reasons to be positive, and they come from the unlikeliest of sources. While training with the England team at Arsenal’s Colney training ground, he said Arsenal had set “a very important example for the other English academies.” Concluding that the future of English football is in good hands. The same Arsenal hands that fielded a 16man squad without an English player in 2005. The hands belonging to the long time enemy of English footballers Arsene Wenger, who has received

criticism for not giving British players a chance from numerous sources, including Sir Alex Ferguson, Sir Trevor Brooking and memorably from Alan Pardew accusing Arsenal of “losing the soul of British football.” Yet the evidence coming from the Arsenal academy seems contrary to Pardew’s statement.

Kieran Gibbs holding the Gaël Clichy’s left back position at the end of last season, even being trusted in hugely important Champions League quarter and semi-finals. Henri Lansbury, at loan on Watford, who has captained the England under 19 outfit. And Jack Wilshere who burst onto the scene at the tender age of 16 during Arsenal’s six-goal massacre of Sheffield United in the League cup last season. Wilshere has been widely tipped for a surprise call up to Fabio Capello’s World Cup squad.While these three are the headlines, there is also Gavin Hoyte, Jay Simpson and Mark Randall looking extremely promising. The Arsenal 2009 F.A Youth Cup winning squad contained 12 out of 16 English players. Suddenly Arsenal could have a golden generation of English talent. Liam Brady, Head of Youth Development at Arsenal, knows that this is not due to chance. “I would say this is probably the healthiest state the Academy has been in since I’ve been here.” This is the same Liam Brady who in 2000 launched a scathing attack on the standard of young English footballers, saying “You can’t blame Arsene or any other manager for bringing foreign players in.” So what has changed?

“I think that’s because we are starting to see the first generation of players who have come all the way through the age groups at Hale End. Boys like Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, Henri Lansbury, Jack Wilshere, Emmanuel Frimpong and Sanchez Watt have all attained England schoolboy recognition and they have been with us since they were nine and ten.” Maybe through hard work, organisation and good coaching Arsenal have removed the ‘If in doubt, get it out’ mentality from English footballers. By following a more continental approach to teaching young footballers England may finally have a conveyor belt of footballers both technically perfect, equally able to control a game by passing a team out of it and to play the ‘English’ high tempo, athletic game. Now wouldn’t that be an exciting thought?

So can Arsene Wenger be the saviour of English football? He seems to think so, “I know how much the English national team means here to people. To contribute to that would be a big pride as well.” www.theblogpaper.co.uk

„

comment by fozzfoster

Let’s hope these guys make through to regular 1st team slots, I’m not an Arsenal fan but I trust Wenger to give the kids a chance, it’s just a case of hoping the kids don’t carried away like Bentley and think they’ve played in Premier League so they don’t need to keep working hard.

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film

Article by krystalsim / London Average Rating: 4.5

www.thefourohfive.com Legendary scriptwriter and director Paul Schrader’s latest movie Adam Resurrected boasts a tour-deforce performance from Jeff Goldblum, in a moving yet ultimately flat adaptation of Yoram Kaniuk’s 1968 novel of the same name. Set in the early sixties, the film tells the story of Adam Stein (Jeff Goldblum) once Germany’s foremost entertainer and clown, now inmate at the Seizling mental institute for survivors of the Holocaust. The charismatic former impresario appears to have the run of the place, basking in the attention of his fellow patients, drinking from slyly hidden hipflasks and running rings around medical staff, including Dr Gross (Derek Jacobi). The wiley devil is even in the midst of a sordid affair with head nurse Gina Grey (Ayelet Zurer). But underneath the gibes and bravado there is a damaged alcoholic, haunted by the things he has seen, and ashamed of the things he has done.

Adam’s past unravels in a stream of black and white flashbacks, beginning with his glory days as a star of the 30s Berlin circus scene. The lone Nazi armband in the audience soon becomes many and despite protestations of being a non-political entertainer, the Jewish clown and his family are later forced into a concentration camp.

Camp commandant Klein (Willem Dafoe) recognises the funniest man in Germany and spares his life but forces him to act as a dog for his amusement.

Adam is praised when he’s a good dog, beaten when does anything human and must fight Klein’s German shepherd for scraps of meat. The only human act Adam performs is playing violin for the prisoners as they walk to the gas chambers. It’s a disturbing display made worse on the day his wife and child make the journey while he looks on, powerless to help them. The loss of his family and the horrors he witnesses scar Adam deeply, compounded by his sense of shame at his Faustian

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Adam Resurrected

This movie has been reviewed by a user of theblogpaper for the UK Jewish Film Festival 2009 pack with Klein. These old wounds are reopened when a young boy is brought to the institute, chained up and living as a dog. The new patient terrifies Stein, but offers him a chance at his own resurrection from madness and despair. There is a beautifully symbiotic relationship between Adam and David (as the boy is later named). Adam desperately needs to purge himself of so many years of shame andself-loathing while David needs a guiding hand to help him rediscover his humanity. While David is a harsh reminder of Adam’s own demons, he’s also a mute confidante and chance for Adam to redeem himself. However the role of mentor does not come easily, nor is it a particularly welcome one. The traumatised Stein is passing on the abuse he suffered, snapping at his feral charge and indulging his carnal lusts with the nurse to an unhealthily bestial degree. At times he appears to make light of David’s situation, or pushes him away utterly. But as he spends more time with the boy, he begins to talk of the child with warmth and compassion. It is the highs and lows of Adam’s character as he battles for sanity that keep us engaged. Adam Resurrected is not without its faults. The film treads over familiar tears-of-a-clown territory and, while it does boast a soulful performance from Goldblum, at times the story falls flat. Neither sparkling nor particularly gritty, the root of the movie’s problem is the straddling of the evils of war and the dark humour to be found in survival. Sadly the film doesn’t excel at either. To his credit, Schrader does not use the violence of war to shock his audience into paying attention. There is no onscreen violence; instead the director punctuates the story with moments which serve to remind us what we already know. He doesn’t push our faces into the atrocities. Instead he subtly hints at the wider evils with familiar scenes: wide pans of the gas chambers, the sound of barking dogs in moonlight and boots trampling next to wired fences. The film explores a very literal interpretation of the degradation the Jews www.theblogpaper.co.uk

endured under the Nazi regime. Adam is stripped of his humanity for Klein’s sport and while this is an apt metaphor, at times it seems an obvious conceit and their scenes lack real tension. Dafoe’s performance as Klein is also surprisingly lukewarm.

As an actor perfectly at home as the villain one would think his turn as a Nazi officer would have more bite to it, more malevolence. Like much of the film, he offers few surprises and this takes away some of the believability of Adam’s suffering. Klein’s despicable but he doesn’t have the savage unpredictability as say Ralph Fiennes’s Amon Goeth in Schindler’s List. We know Adam survives his ordeal, but there just isn’t enough in those moments placing him in danger. The climactic scene of their relationship is also somewhat muted. Adam Resurrected revolves around Goldblum’s performance.

It is one of dizzying highs, and sometimes sickening lows.

One scene in particular, as he watches his nurse lover roll on her back and bark like a dog, shows how very damaged he has become. But it’s the light touches that matter. The mumbled aside, the slight gesture, the nuances behind the drunken gropes and McMurphy-esque confidence make all the difference here. His painted face drenched with tears, calling on his fellows to hold their branded arms up to God and shout their numbers is a powerful image.Stein observes that with sanity “there is no greatness, no true joy, nor the awful sorrow that slashes the heart.”

Adam Resurrected is perhaps too sane to be truly great. Like Stein himself, one half of the film is mired in the suffering of the Holocaust, the other in the manic now of the asylum. The gulf is something that Goldblum’s performance alone cannot fill.

film Article by James Fisher / London Average Rating: 4,3

www.theroughcut.co.uk

Harry Brown Film Review ****

I was lucky enough to get hold of some premiere tickets for the debut film from director Daniel Barber but the glitz and glamour of the red carpet was a stark contrast to the content of the gritty British thriller. The film was introduced by the director of Lionsgate, producer of the film, director and cast all stating how realistic the film was and they weren’t wrong to a certain extent. They clearly highlighted how corrupted the minds of some of our youth society have become. The film is an amazing triumph for British cinema, when watching it at Odeon Leicester Square it was hard to believe that it was only a low budget independent release.

I felt like I was about to watch an American studio production and after watching the trailer you will see what I mean. The film follows Michael Caine’s character Harry Brown, who lives alone in a council estate off Walworth Road in Elephant and Castle.

His wife is ill in hospital living off a life support machine, no longer recognising her own husband when he comes to visit. His wife passes away and the only other person who Harry has in his life is his best friend Leonard. Leonard is living scared, he is tormented by a group of hoodies who hang around a subway outside his flat terrorising him. One day Leonard approaches the hoodies to confront them but is murdered in the process, leaving Harry alone and broken. As the police say they are unable to convict the people responsible, Harry takes matters into his own hands and goes on a roaring rampage of revenge. The film is a must see but it is hard to watch. Where as in films like Reservoir Dogs, the characters are criminals but likable at the same time, their violent acts have motivation for a goal and can sometimes have ironic effect. In Harry Brown each character is just as sickening as the previous one and watching them live in the environment they do disgusts the viewer even further.

There is no remorse for any of the acts of violence in the film and this was the director’s intention. He wanted to show how nasty our society has become and how acts of violence are often unmotivated and

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committed purely for entertainment. Daniel Barber plays around well with the framing, for example we see Harry look through the curtain of his flat window, looking down observing the crime going on outside many times but doing nothing. These are the same traits that many people in society do, watching crime but not reporting it. These voyeuristic qualities are reflected in the viewer of the film as Harry is looking through the curtains of the window, we are looking through the curtains of the cinema screen with the screen being our frame. Each time Harry steps out of the flat to actively do something, the framing changes thus creating a gripping story.

The performances are probably the stand out feature of this film. Although Michael Caine is the name that will draw people in to see the film at the cinemas, you will be astounded by some of the supporting performances. Sean Harris who starred in The Red Riding Trilogy earlier this year gives an outstanding performance as one of the most horrifying characters I have ever seen on screen.

Whilst injecting himself with heroin he stays conscious and threatening towards Harry. I don’t want to spoil too much but its one of the best supporting roles I’ve seen so far this year. Caine’s performance is solid and holds the film strongly together, it feels weird seeing Caine playing a retired Second World War veteran of poor health rather than the healthy, full of life character that he is usually cast as. Seeing an old age pensioner kicking arse is a must watch and seeing Caine do it makes you wonder what would have happened to Carter if he retired.

The film is a must watch for fans of the thriller genre but this film is definitely not for the faint-hearted. The opening scenes before Harry Brown reacts to his friends death are heart wrenching and made a couple of eyes weep. Whilst in the later part of the film the audience were jumping out of their seats as gun shots blew across the screen. The film is gritty and shows the lowest of the low of characters on one side, the oblivious police force on the other (focusing on new schemes with silly names rather than what’s really going on) and the victims including Harry Brown in the middle.

Due to the lack of normal characters going about their day to day life, the film isolates Harry Brown and makes him a loan vigilante. For this reason it loses the element of realism but makes the film more powerful and unsettling as it focuses on the nasty characters in our society. If you enjoyed Gran Torino, Taxi Driver, Reservoir Dogs and Get Carter, Harry Brown will not disappoint you.

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design Photos posted by ryan mullen / London Average Rating: 4,3

www.nicrysenbry.co.uk

Organic Fabrication Table

RCA Graduate Nic Rysenbry developed the Organic Fabrication Table which resolved from a design of a preceding installation in Spain (see Image 1) that was a precursor to the development of the tables. Here is what he has to say: “In the beginning products and furniture were created by skilled craftsmen, but with the advent of mass production and subsequently computer aided design and digitally driven fabrication methods the skill and craftsmanship within design has all been streamlined into a generic computer aided aesthetic.

Whilst this highly developed sense of design has many benefits such as a high degree

Image 1: Site-specific installation at LABoral Centro de Arte y Creación Industrial Photo: Marcos Morilla

of accuracy, minimal if any difference from product to product and much quicker production cycles, there has been something lost in translation. The triangulated geometry combined with the aluminium composite material used allows for a great amount of strength with a minimal amount of material.And the combination with the lightweight material the strength versus weight ratio is quite high which allows for easy moving around.

The Organic Fabrication range doesn’t try to make a product more functional but instead by using this broken down approach tries to breathe life into products” Photos posted by Cam Phillip / London Average Rating: 4,2

www.nikkigiling.com

Nikki Giling’s Hats Note posted by mona f The EC-f and EC-fs are electric commuter vehicles designed to provide easy, motorcycle-style riding for people of all age ranges and experience levels. They combine futuristic styling with the ease of use, quietness and smoothness that only an electric vehicle can provide. The EC-f features colouring which accentuates its clean, commuter-oriented design, while the EC-fs offers a stylish alternative colour scheme.

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technology

note posted by the_past2

Grace

German company GRACE produced the world’s first e-motorbike. It might look like a futuristic version of a regular bike, but it is actually the world’s first e-motorbike that you are allowed to ride on the street. The only thing that might be worrying is that it will cost you 5877 EUR...

Article by kdhiltz / everywhere Average: 3,8

www.kimhiltz.com

Amazon’s Kindle: A case for accessible design Accessible design (also known as universal or inclusive design), is all about designing your products and services so they can be accessed and used by as wide an audience as possible, regardless of age, disability, or other limiting factors. It’s not about designing for a specific disability group, rather it is about making sure that mainstream products can still reach the growing number of people without perfect vision, hearing, mobility, or cognition.

Accessible design is more than just a social phenomenon – as the balance of the population continues to tip towards the elderly, it is increasingly being seen as a commercial opportunity. Those at the older end of the population pyramid often do not have the same levels of dexterity or eyesight as their younger counterparts, although they do have considerably more disposable income. Products that are designed to also meet the needs of this rapidly growing user group therefore have the potential to appeal to a considerably larger market.

An interesting yet unexpected example of this came to light recently, when discussions on an Amazon forum led to the revelation that over 50% of Amazon Kindle owners are 50+, and nearly 70% are 40+. So why does the Kindle appeal so much to this

older audience? Take a look at this quote from a Publishers Lunch report based on the same forum: “So many users said they like Kindle because they suffer from some form of arthritis that multiple posters indicate that they do or do not have arthritis as a matter of course. A variety of other impairments, from weakening eyes and carpal-tunnel-like syndromes to more exotic disabilities dominate the purchase rationales of these posters.” For those with arthritic hands, the form factor of the Kindle makes it easier to hold and easier to page through than heavy hardcovers and flimsy paperbacks. The display also offers several advantages. It uses an electronic ink that is similar to print, so it is crisp and clear. For those with ageing eyes, the text size is also customizable - providing obvious advantages over paper equivalents (this is also an important feature for those with dyslexia). As one legally blind Kindle owner explains, the text-to-speech functionality is also a very important accessibility feature – while the computerized voices are no competition for audio books, they are still progress towards making text more generally available to the visually impaired. Of course, the Kindle doesn’t have it all figured out (for example, see some additional accessibility requests from Russ Stinehour).

But it certainly is a great example of how taking an inclusive approach to the design of a mainstream product can benefit your users and customers in unexpected ways, and how it can also help you to reach a much broader and more lucrative market.

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post, rate, discuss content and get published in print...

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stuff Article by hecklerspray / London Bridge Average Rating: 4,0

www.hecklerspray.com

Official: Robert Pattinson Smells Like A Binbag Full Of Dirty Nappies

Article by bastardlife / New York

Robert Pattinson has got it all. He’s got incredible fame. He’s got wealth. He’s got moviestar good looks. He’s got a stinky arse. He’s got armpit odour that could blind a nun from 30 paces. He’s got breath that could dissolve concrete. He’s got feet that could be isolated and used as a spitefully powerful weaponised pathogen. He has. No, really, he has. Robert Pattinson has admitted to a magazine that he essentially smells like a dirty protest in a curry house. Um, Robert Pattinson? We think you’ll find that slagging you off is our job, not yours. Would you like it if we starred in a number of crappy films about sparkly bad-haired effeminate vampires? No. No you wouldn’t. So stop it. How do you divide Twilight fans into groups? Splitting them into those who dribble and those who don’t won’t work, because they all dribble. Similarly, you can’t divide them into groups of 1) those who wear black nail varnish and those who don’t, 2) those who uncontrollably urinate down themselves at the slightest provocation and those who don’t or 3) those who are desperately lonely and those who

Average Rating: 4,0

Average Rating: 4,6

www.monicacookart.com

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Hoggin’

Big really is beautiful, especially in the bedroom. A new study published in Obstetrics & Gynecology shows that overweight women have more sex than women with so called “normal weight” (a weight, mind you, that we at BastardLife find way too thin.

Boney sex? Overrated.). The research, conducted

by Universities in Oregon and Hawaii, investigated the sexual behavior of 7,000 women. It looked at the relationship between body mass index and sexual behavior, including sexual orientation, age at first intercourse, number of partners, and frequency of intercourse. According to the study, “92 per cent of overweight women reported having a history of sexual intercourse with a man, as compared to 87 per cent of women with a normal body mass index.”

The findings debunk the myth that fat chicks have less sex and are less sexual. The results actually show the reverse to be true – that overweight women are more likely to get-it-on. The study also showed that overweight women had a higher chance of unexpected pregnancy than so called “normal women.” So fellas, bag it when you bunk a big, beautiful babe.—N.B.

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aren’t, because all Twilight fans wear black nail varnish, uncontrollably urinate down themselves at the slightest provocation and are desperately lonely. That’s just a fact. But maybe you can divide Twilight fans into those who like Robert Pattinson and those who like Taylor Lautner. Yes, that works.

Twilight fans who like Taylor Lautner prefer buff young men with an uncontrollable wild side and an inexplicable propensity for wandering around half naked. And Twilight fans who like Robert Pattinson prefer men who stink like a barrel of bums in a curdled yoghurt factory. It’s true. Remember all those rumours from earlier this year about how Robert Pattinson stinks? And remember how he initially denied it? Well it’s all out in the open now. We know it’s all out in the open because a) Robert Pattinson has admitted that he stinks, and b) all the foliage in a 40-mile radius of Robert Pattinson’s dirty bum has wilted, died, caught on fire and started to poison people with its toxic bum-smoke. Us Weekly reports: Pattinson says that he rarely changes his clothes. “These jeans are a few days old,” he says.

“But the top is probably fresh because it gets to the point where even I can’t stand the air around me. I don’t know, my personal hygiene – it’s so disgusting!” He explains that his constant travel schedule pares down his wardrobe quite a bit. You know what? We’re proud of Robert Pattinson. It takes a big man to step forward and admit that he reeks like an old man’s shoe that’s been filled with bat guano.

It takes a big man to admit that smelling his scalp is like smelling a pork chop that’s been left behind a radiator for six months. It takes a big man to admit that when he cries, the tears smell like a mixture of raw sewage and infected wounds. Be proud, Robert Pattinson. Hold your chin up high. Raise your arms in triumph. Actually, no, put your arms down again.

Jesus, man, you smell like crap.

monica cook

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In Seeded and Soiled, Cook’s nude women continue to be engaged with gorgeously rendered erotic food in scenes that elicit a range of emotion in the viewer from mesmerized hilarity to horror.

The atmosphere in the current paintings however, has been altered from that of the prior works. The sense of pensive isolation of the previous solitary nude figures has been fractured and energized, as multiple figures, both clothed and nude are now interacting with each other, as well as with the food that they are consuming and playing with in sensual abandon. What is more, it is not solely the fact that some of the figures are clothed while others are nude that expand the implications of these utterly curious images, but the oddity of the garment itself - a captivatingly incongruous uniform vaguely reminiscent of an earlier era – and the fact that every clothed figure is wearing exactly the same uniform. The artist has dubbed these nude and clothed women the “Nakeds” and the “Officials”.

Whether locked in battle as in the exquisitely precise drawings, or enjoying a sort of truce while sporting side by side in slippery, shining food as in the paintings, the Officials and the Nakeds play out the eternal paradox of existence as they, in the artists’ words “wrestle with debauchery and virtue, control and liberation, logic and absurdity – the beauty and repulsion inherent in each of these extremes and the magnificent struggle in our search for balance”.

stuff

If you are tired of having your food stolen by sticky-fingered coworkers or roommates? Bullies taking your kid’s lunch? Well, worry no more . . . Anti-Theft Lunch Bags are sandwich bags that have green splotches printed on both sides, making your freshly prepared lunch look spoiled. www.thinkofthe.com

Article by Jemyperds / London Average: 4,0

www.lookuplookaround.wordpress.com

Christina West is curious by nature, her work explores the most “compelling subjects” of all: other people. We each of us live in our own worlds that can never truely be experienced by any ‘outside’ visitor which makes us, in her own words “clowded in mystery”.

Christina’s work encourages questioning, she accentuates this by always capturing her subjects in movement.

Music and the Machine: Who or What is Recommending Music?

The invention of the jukebox was well before my time, but I still remember the table top jukeboxes in a diner in Toronto, which for 25 cents, your song selection would be dropped into the queue of other requests, to be played over the sound system in the restaurant. That was back in the 1980s. Fast-forward almost thirty years and the relationship between music and the machine has significantly evolved. Technology has made music more portable. A greater variety and selection of music is available at the click of a web-page button or at your fingertips (on a touch-sensitive screen). A more critical change is that technology is also being used to predict your preferences. What is happening to the art of listening to and discovering music?

The home page of my last.fm account suggests that I might like Arcade Fire, Matt & Kim, Architecture in Helsinki, and Those Dancing Days – all because these bands are similar to other bands that I’ve listened to or scrobbled on the website (in case you’re not familiar with the term, scrobbling is the transfer of information about your music you listen to on your computer – the artists, the song titles – from your computer to the last.fm website.) Well done last.fm, but you’re a bit behind. In fact, I already listen to one of the suggested bands and two others were introduced to me by friends, whose opinions I trust and matter to me. Will I actually have a listen to the fourth suggestion? I haven’t decided yet, but certainly if I hear one of my friends speaking www.theblogpaper.co.uk

about it, I will pay attention. Last.fm’s recommender system uses a collaborative filtering algorithm combining the member’s listening patterns as well as information from the profiles of other members with similar music preferences. Members can also manually make recommendations. It isn’t entirely left to the machines, but the information is contributed to a machine-run, technology-based formula. There is an internet radio station called Pandora, which unfortunately is not yet available outside of the US. Pandora has stripped music down to its science, employing several musicologists to analyse a broad spectrum of music and identify it by up to 400 unique features. This detailed analysis of music is meant to produce recommendations – songs, music, artists that implement similar features to the listener’s existing and identified preferences. I haven’t had a chance to try it since I am based in the UK and at first it intrigued the analyst in me. But when I thought about it further, I became less certain about giving up the art and occasional randomness of music recommendations for a deeply scientific, possibly logical, definitely analytic method. The old fashioned way of discovering new music happens through sharing by friends and trusted members of our social circle.

Sometimes they get it exactly right, sometimes they get it wrong – I don’t have to like everything a friend suggests, but it’s worth a try. The choice of support bands by headline acts at live concerts is also a source of new music (the reasoning being “if you like us, you might like this band that we like.”) And sometimes, discovering new music is random and organic – like hearing a song in a shop, restaurant, or on the radio (radio? What’s radio??) What I love about these non-prescriptive, non-formulaic approaches to recommending new music is that they capture something that might not exist in the preferences identified in the playlists I already have.

The whole idea of it is discovering something new.

Sure, it’s great to be listening to a broad selection of bands from the same genre, but imagine what is being created outside of that space. That is the exciting part of new music and its creative possibilities. So, if anyone would like to suggest a new band to listen to, do let me know.

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