6 years and all done

Well, I got my final course result and it was a very comfortable PASS! I have my degree! I have graduated with a 2.1 in Religious Studies :-)

I still can't quite believe that it is all over. After six years I finally have no coursework to do, no big qualification to aim for. It's weird and a bit scary. What do I do now? I have no idea.

The big question right now is will I make it to my graduation ceremony? It's on Saturday 28th March... the baby is due on the 12th March, so I think I might be a bit busy!

Victory in Europe

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled in favour of two men who took their case to them after the UK government refused to removed their DNA records from the database. The two men were arrested, one was acquitted, the other had his charges dropped, but their records were kept, according to current procedure.

That the ECHR has ruled in favour of these men is a huge step for liberty in this country. The decision was unanimous from the 17 senior judges appointed to the case. They found in favour of the men on the grounds of article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Although there are no immediate changes this will set a precedent for future cases of innocent people's personal data being stored and will be a severe spanner in the works for Labour's disastrous ID Card campaign. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has snubbed the ruling, in typical fashion for this government when faced with criticism of the DNA database.

To find out more about how you can help stop the government robbing us of our privacy visit http://www.no2id.net/ and to read the whole news story visit http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7764069.stm

X Factor?

I'm no fan of the show, not by a long shot and for the most part I manage to tune out all the fuss each year. But now I live back near my family and my parents are fans. Seeing them almost every day has made it much harder to ignore the show this year and I must admit that one contestant has caught my eye.

Diana Vickers is an extraordinary talent and a surprise to see on a show designed to find a spark of talent and stomp on it until it resembles every other manufactured pop blah out there. With the notable exception of my parents, of course, the audience of X Factor is not known for its ability to recognise and acknowledge genuine musical ability. So I see from all of the vitriol I have noticed online about Diana that despite never appearing in the sing-off, this girl has a tide of anti-support.

It seems that the fans of the show are incensed by the inclusion of a singer with personality, talent, individuality and the very real and scary potential to become a credible recording artist. It does make me wonder whether the show ought to change its name. The producers of it are basically looking for someone who will sell records, fine. They are also attempting to present a show that will draw viewers, the lowest common denominator, I'm sad to say, is NOT looking for anything interesting or unique. They are looking for another pop tart.

Is it wise to name a show after a quality that neither the producers or the audience are actually looking for?

This year's winner will release a cover of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah, one of my favourite songs of all time. I don't normally expect X Factor winners to do justice to great songs like this one, but Diana Vickers stands a real shot of recording a very respectable cover. What I find amusing is one blogger's view that this is a suitable Christmas number 1! It begs the question of why the song was picked by the producers. Is it purely about the current popularity of the song? Leonard Cohen's current sell out world tour? Do they genuinely think it's an appropriate song for Christmas?

I wonder if they have listened to and understood the lyrics. Yes, the song contains the title word a hundred times, and yes, it does contain biblical references, but the context of those references does actually matter in considering the meaning of the lyrics. It is hardly a song of praise to Jesus Christ (written by a Jew), and the lyrics point vividly to sexual references.

Is this really a suitable song for the season? Is it really a suitable song for a manufactured pop tart to sing?

No.

But could Diana Vickers record a beautiful and inspirational version that would go multi-platinum? Probably.

One more thin gypsy thief

I won't attempt to write a full review, words fail me. All I really have is... wow.

I am of course talking about seeing Leonard Cohen at Birmingham NEC on Saturday. Two and a half hours of genius and stunning, understated charisma. He's a surprisingly humorous guy and full of energy quite striking for the grand old age of 74.

Unlike many crooners of his generation, Lenny's voice has not cracked with age and drugs, he sounds as good now, if not better, as on his recordings from the start of his extensive career.

I feel privileged to have seen him live, especially as I had long given up hope of the opportunity after his 14 year hiatus from live shows. I know that it is an experience not likely to be repeated. The baby seemed to enjoy it too, I could feel it grooving away right to the end of the long set!

Anyway, 5 stars. One of the best gigs I have ever been to and certainly a moment I am likely to cherish for the rest of my life.

Politics on the Dancefloor

As a long time Strictly Come Dancing fan I couldn't let the events of this series go without comment. John Sergeant has pulled out of the competition yesterday due to the controversy surrounding his continued presence on the show. Prior to this news I was a little split on the issue. I agree with him that it is a television show and prime time Saturday night light entertainment. I agree that the viewers can vote for whoever they want to see dance again. However, I also agree with the judges that it is a dance competition. The challenge for the celebrities who agree to go on the show is to learn to dance.

Arlene Phillips described the situation well at the start of this week, that the competition was divided into the other contestants who were all competing on the basis of dancing to the best of their abilities; versus John, who himself admitted that he couldn't stay in the competition on the merit of his dancing and so he and Kristina must win votes by being entertaining. He was playing a different game and it was unfair to the good dancers who had to leave the competition before him.

Since he announced his retirement from the show I feel a little relieved. The whole issue had gotten out of control and was overshadowing the dancing to the detriment of the show, which is ultimately what John says was his reason for stepping down.

The judges are saying now that they don't believe the public would put John through to the final, that they would eventually start voting for the more deserving dancers. But I don't agree. While in the past public support for the comedy participants has waned in time for the most talented dancer to take the trophy, this year it felt different.

John was not another Kate Garraway or Julian Clary. They won public votes due to the rather disturbing tendency of the British public to enjoy seeing people humiliate themselves. That tendency runs its course in the end, people get bored. But John Sergeant is genuinely loved and respected by the public. People were voting for him on that basis, there were internet campaigns set up to get him through to the final, some people were honestly supporting him to win. This never happened with Kenny Logan or any other celebrity who stayed in the competition beyond their ability level.

The level of frustration felt by his critics (myself included) was spoiling the season and excellent dancing performances were getting lost in the debate. Had his continued presence in the competition not drawn so much press attention and criticism then I probably wouldn't have objected to his potentially winning. Had there not been six or seven other truly gifted dancers in it this year, had the competition not had such tension and excitement purely from the high standards of the other contestants, then I would have been fully supportive of John.

It is an entertainment show and Louisa Lytton is right when she says it's about having fun and raising money for charity. Maybe next year the producers could fill the show with celebrities who can all compete on that level?!

Back from a long break!

I can't believe it's been so long since I posted. It's not as if life has been quiet the last four months! A brief summary of my liberal life goes something along the lines of:

Andy and I started trying for a baby in June, we got our Big Fat Positive in the very first month and I am now five months pregnant, expecting in mid March 2009. This wonderful news got work to my grandad's house going over August, September and October and Andy got headhunted! We moved to Yorkshire on 31st October (sadly leaving Samhain unmarked this year), Andy started his shiny new job on 3rd November.

We are now in the slow process of unpacking and getting furniture sorted out.

I stopped protesting in September, once I started to show, but have continued to lend my support to the Bristol crew. It feels like the global movement is slowing down, many Anons seem to have lost interest now that the weather has turned and the lulz are lacking. A few cases of Fair Game may have scared some away too. It's a great shame, but I think the core activists will keep going for longer. The protests may have grown smaller, but there are other projects going on behind the scenes that will probably keep going and have just as much impact on the cult of $cientology.

Unfortunately, despite the wonderful pregnancy and the move home, the year has not really gotten any better. There are some serious hard times approaching for my family (have they been Fair Gamed?) and the future looks very bleak and scary right now. What should have been a very positive move has been shrouded in a dark cloak.

Meeting Magoo and WBM

So the protests continue. We have now started raiding Bristol. Although there is no visible $cientology presence here there have been incidents here in the past, such as the suicide of Richard Collins in 1996. He jumped to his death from Clifton Suspension Bridge after being harassed by salespeople from the cult trying to book him onto new courses and prevent him leaving.

The Jive Aces, a $cientology swing band played a gig in Bristol recently, drawing some belated attention from Anonymous. We plan to hit their next gig here in September. The band are also playing at a summer party at St Hill, East Grinstead on 3rd August. Plans to protest the town and manor on that date are already in place.

We won't sit back and let Bristol become a recruiting ground for this cult. With the losses and disruption being caused by Anonymous worldwide, it would not surprise me to see the cult trying to put roots down in new territory that they believe to be free of Anonymous. If we make a lot of noise now they shouldn't get a chance.

At the last Bristol mini-raid on 5th July we got a good response from the public and managed to find a few new recruits for the main event on 12th July. The next Bristol raid is scheduled for 9th August.

London on the 12th was epic. Numbers were up from May and June, in no small part down to Anons flocking in from Brighton and further afield to meet Tory "Magoo" Christman and Mark "Wise Beard Man" Bunker who we flew over from California to be with us.

I was excited about meeting them, but never imagined I would end up going to dinner with them! They were in high demand all day and generously hugged all those who approached them, WBM even allowed people to stroke the beard! At the end of the day, after much nattering in the pub post-raid (I sat at a table with some Bristol Anons and Tory, as well as Anonyunderpants from York), we moved on to a rather nice Chinese restaurant. It was slow going, due to poor Tory's bad feet and there were about 25 of us, so we couldn't all be seated together.

I ended up at a table with my parents, a rather nice cult researcher, some Bristol/South West Anons and the celebrities. It was slightly surreal, but excellent fun and an experience I'm not likely to forget!

Six Month Review

At Imbolc I posted an entry assessing the year ahead. It wasn’t a very positive outlook. We’ve just passed the Summer Solstice so I thought it appropriate to have a mid-year review. I’m afraid that my negative comments in February were not without foundation and the year has really only gone downhill since then.

Only a week or so after that entry, my very excellent grandfather on my mum’s side, Jack Besley Arter passed away, aged 99 years. It hit me fairly hard, even though he had been ill for a long time and we all knew that it was coming.

The decision was made to relocate back to Yorkshire, to be near my family, but progress on that has been very slow so far, thanks to the heel-dragging of insurance companies, mortgage lenders and so on. I have had no luck job hunting and feel very disheartened about that right now, although things look better on that front for my OH.

And this morning my paternal grandmother, Barbara Lyne passed away after a fairly rapid decline in the last couple of months. I was more prepared this time and I went through a period of grief when I first learned how ill she was a few weeks ago. I had automatic negative thoughts about my inability to make her proud of me, my failures as a grand daughter and so on. Talks with my dad helped me to come to grips with my feelings and memories of my relationship with her and I understand much better now that I had never been close to her because my dad wasn’t close with her. I can accept that anything I perceived as a lack of interest in me on her part was largely down to the generation gap and absolutely nothing personal. I am much better equipped to cope with her passing, now that I have worked out my feelings about our relationship.

My thoughts go out to those she leaves behind; my great aunt Connie and my one remaining grandparent, granddad Jim. They will struggle now, I think and I can only send them my best wishes and hope that their remaining years will not be too lonely. My parents, aunt and cousins are all on hand to help over the coming weeks and months, although I know my aunt will grieve badly too.

I wonder if that is the end of the difficult period. I hope that the remainder of 2008 is more positive. I have significant life changes to throw myself into, I have to grab control of my life again and make the most of these next few months to ensure that I get all I want from life. It’s in my hands, not the gods’.

Something in the air?

Gig - The New Root - Saturday 31st May 2008 - The Croft

Maybe there was something in the air at last night's New Root gig. Waiting in the bar before the bands started, Dave told me he was feeling nervous. Fresh from the band's second UK tour and having performed countless times by now, this was a little surprising. He explained the feeling he had that in Bristol there is more expectation from the crowd than when they play in other parts of the country where they are still relatively unknown.

I can certainly see how after a string of performances around the country to smaller audiences who have no idea what to expect from TNR, a packed gig at The Croft could have that effect on experienced performers. There may well be a high level of expectation from their Bristol fan base, however, I explained to him, their loyal fans will enjoy the show tremendously no matter how well they feel they have performed afterwards.

TNR's material is so exceptional now, after an extended period of creativity that has brought a richness and depth to their set quite beyond their youth. Well, it stands on its own. And Trish performs with such natural, but understated charisma that they very rarely need to be concerned about pleasing the audience. A few technical problems or the odd lapse in cohesiveness will largely go unnoticed by the crowd, or if they do notice, they likely won't care.

I can only speak for myself, but generally I care less about a perfectly polished performance from a band and more about how they engage with the audience and how their material sounds live. These are two things that TNR manage every time I see them.

But there was something even more potent about last night's gig. I came away feeling incredibly emotional. Songs I have heard a dozen times or more moved me in new ways, Crazy had me in tears and Sick of Me fired me up almost to combustion! It hit me as we were congratulating them on an awesome show and heading home afterwards that Andy and I may not be able to see TNR as regularly as we're used to soon. Though their tours are taking them to Sheffield and Hull these days, so I'm sure we will see them in Yorkshire and I don't doubt that we will visit Bristol occasionally when they have big gigs here, but our special place at the front of the crowd won't be ours any more.

More than this, of course is how much I will miss two very dear friends of almost ten years when we move away. With ex-Root bassist Craigos moving to London this certainly feels like the end of an era. My hope is that these moves will open up exciting new doors for TNR with the opportunities for more touring and the fans we can introduce from our new locations. Those that we have introduced in Bristol will undoubtedly continue to attend the gigs without us and there are whole other groups of friends, old and those yet to be made, just waiting to be inspired by this incredible band.

What's Happening?

Here's what's been going on in my life:



And:

Although numbers were down this month due to exams for so many Anons, hopes are that June, July and August will be beyond EPIC. The $cientologists are getting visibly more touchy about these protests. They have reached the point of complaining to the police about every little thing in order to disrupt the protests. Unfortunately, the City of London police are pretty well under their control (see here), which makes the protests at Queen Victoria Street a bit risky (see the 2nd video above). Luckily the Met are much more hardy against corruption and bribery and give us a pretty loose leash at Tottenham Court Road.

See you 14th June: Operation Sea Arrrgh!

Demonstrating the Point

On 15th March, I took myself to London, somewhat spontaneously, in order to join the Anonymous protest against Scientology.

It was one of those things, I had been wondering about going for several weeks but not got it together to find out anything much about it. On the Wednesday beforehand I just decided to do it. And what's more, I went unmasked and alone.

I am so glad that I did though. I met an Anonymous person on the tube, unmistakable by the dark suit, red tie and gas mask on his face. Plus, he got out some posters with various recognisable slogans on them and held them for other passengers to see.

I approached him and asked if I could follow him as I didn't know where to go once getting off the train at Blackfriars. He offered me a spare mask from his bag and I took it, but as we walked to Queen Victoria Street I decided not to wear it. I just wasn't afraid of being identified. I had travelled by train from another city and figured it would be pretty hard for them to ID me just from a photo. But once I got there I decided to wrap my scarf around my face, simply so that I didn't stand out so much!

I got myself a spot at the barrier and watched the whole thing gather pace. A prize moment came when two mounted police came along the road and a chorus of "That's a horse! That's a cult!" sprang up. Another choice event was a double decker bus driving past with a dozen masked Anons in the back.

But in general, it was quiet and uneventful and I was reasonably glad when the protest picked up and set off to the next location. The ride on the underground was a sight to behold, hundreds of masked, sign weilding figures on the escalators and packed into the trains. I boarded with a lively bunch who had a stereo pumping out loud music and couldn't help grinning at the sight of this underground train packed tightly with dancing, chirpy people in party hats. What's more, none of the regular passengers seemed to mind!

It was at Tottenham Court Road that the atmosphere kicked up a notch... or twelve. The street was heaving, our side of the road completely packed so all pedestrian traffic had to cross over to get by. This did rather throw them into the path of the Scientologists stood outside to hand out leaflets of their own.

Every time someone took a leaflet from them, cheers of "Rip it up!" rang out from us and a few people took notice, ripping up the fliers, much to the annoyance of the poor souls dishing them out.

Since the last protest I have become much more engaged with the online discussions and am encouraged to see so much planning and committment from so many people. I am looking forward to going along on 12th April with friends this time and with signs and fliers of my own.

What do you want?

Good old B5. Asking the hard questions. This one seems easy at first, but really think about it, don't just say the first thing that pops into yur head. What do you really want from life?

Are you happy? Did you settle for something because your dreams seemed impossible to reach? If you could be anywhere and do anything, would you still be where you are now?

Some people reach for their dreams, and even if they have to struggle, they go on reaching, because if you don't extend your hand, how will you ever grasp that dream?

Some people don't reach out. For whatever reason, be it a loss of faith in themselves, or a loss of faith in the world, some people withdraw their hand and put their head down to get on with a "normal" life. But are those people ever really happy?

A New Year?

Or same old story?

On the plus side, Gordon Brown is showing signs of bowing to public pressure in pushing back the ID scam (er, I mean scheme, yeah right) by two years. On the down side, I am job hunting again.

In roleplaying news, our Werewolf: the Forsaken campaign, Echoes of the Past, has come to a pause on one heck of a high note. I am a little sad today as in last night's climactic game we had a huge and awesome battle, in which a much loved NPC was taken down and we go forward into 2008 not quite sure what is going to happen with the game.

Tomorrow is Imbolc, the festival of light. It is the first stirring of spring and newness, a time when we notice the days getting longer and a time for spring cleaning and celebrating the coming season of life and birth. I pause on the cusp of this day to wonder if 2008 will be any different to 2007. In the grand scheme of things, not much seems to have changed compared to this time last year. A month ago, as we entered this year I was full of hope and optimism for a fruitful year. Yet I find myself again looking for work and still promising myself that I will get in shape.

2007 was a great year for me, financially, socially and academically and I fear now that this year will only bring disappointments. But still, I mustn't let myself think that way, the only way is up, as they say.

Big thanks to Seagull Strange for linking to my blog from their website. They are playing on Saturday 16th February at the Cooler. Come and see them, it could change your life.