Copenhagen - Hopenhagen - Nopenhagen

Whenever and wherever a conference attended by the world's political leaders takes place, it usually has a familiar feel to it. Mass protests, heavy handed police and an end result which is hailed by some as a great hope for the world and by others as an almighty flop.

The Copenhagen Climate Change Summit was the latest of these, and the hype leading up to it was quite explosive. Finally all the world can come together and bash out an agreement on how to combat one of, if not the greatest threat to our world for some time.

In the end, the hype only proved to mask the apathy of the majority of people, politicians included, feel about the issue. People just don't care, and others try to absolve the guilt of years of mass industrialisation causing the inevitable collapse of our planet by pretending it's nothing to do with them (see: Jeremy Clarkson). The fact that the majority of scientists seem to agree this is happening because of human hands isn't enough for them, it's all a left wing plot to gain control over everyone and create a totalitarian world... apparently.

The problem is that there isn't anyone in power who really wants to do anything. In the UK for example, Labour comes out with the rhetoric about acting now to save the planet, then decide what we really need is a third runway at Heathrow. Apparently we need it for economic growth (personally I feel that if economic growth means ignoring our commitment to saving the planet then it can piss off). And whatever the Conservatives say, they won't be any better. There will be a few flimsy schemes here and there, but it won't do much. Governments tend to do the bidding of whomever gives them a lot of money these days, and right now that's energy companies.

In the end the agreement was woeful. The more important issues were kept for debating probably next year, while the Gordon Brown said: "We have made a start." Erm.. its a bit late to be making just a start now! The finger of blame has been thrown around, George Monbiot blamed America, saying they put China in an "impossible position", while Ed Miliband blamed China. In reality, both are to blame. America refuses to make concessions, while China sees that it has the right to the growth that other developed countries have already seen. Interestingly, The Australian blamed African nations for demanding the world improve its living conditions; they should be, its sort of part and parcel of a deal to battle climate change that we should also help a Continent we have raped for resources over the years.

So a flop it was. And it didn't help that everyone flew in and limos were driven in from Germany to transport people, adding very much to the problem and giving the climate change deniers more ammo. In other words, we're screwed. Best say goodbye to Bangladesh, Maldives and any other places that won't exist in about 50 years time.

Ps. If you didn't listen to The Now Show last weekend, try to. Marcus Brigstocke's bit on this very subject was fantastic.

Rise Against: That is all.

I should start off by putting this night into perspective. Firstly, I managed to get near the front, but was crushed up in an incredibly hot atmosphere, more so than I've ever experienced. Then my phone was stolen. Not a good night you might think.

But there you'd be wrong, because I was seeing Rise Against. They start with Collapse (Post-Amerika), one of the best of the new crop of tracks, moving on to State Of The Union, by which point I've started to lose my voice. It almost completely goes over the next few songs, Re-education (Through Labour), The Good Left Undone, Paper Wings, Drones, everyone met with thousands singing at the tops of their voices. But it doesn't stop there. Blood to Bleed, Audience Of One, Saviour, Survive, then of course Prayer Of The Refugee, for which the biggest cheer of the night goes up.

But it really comes to a climax with the first encore, an acoustic set of Swing Life Away and Hero Of War, which has everyone swaying arms and singing and leaves me with raised hairs and goosebumps. Absolutely brilliant. But it isn't over yet. Give It All then Ready To Fall see us out, and the crowd go absolutely mental again. Quite possibly, this was one of the best gigs Brixton Academy has ever seen and a fantastic night was had by all (even by me and dozens of people who queued up at the lost property area in a fruitless attempt to find our phones). 10/10

Alice In Chains: A kinky sex show. Maybe not.

Alice In Chains
Kentish Town Forum

One of the main bands to come out of the early 90s grunge scene, though with more in common with metal than the other bands of the era, Alice In Chains are now touring in support a new album, "Black Gives Way To Blue". It's quite good, you should check it out. Anyway...

The support band for tonight are seemingly unknown, or at least most of the people there had no clue who they were. Oxford trio "Little Fish" apparently. They get off to a poor start, the opening track is rather dull, but its very much uphill from there. The singer has a powerful voice and she seems to be a little psychotic, which is always good, plus the songs get a lot better. Well worth checking out. (8/10)

Between the bands some nice fellow (read: wanker) throws a cup of liquid which splashes me and my friends in the face. It was warm. Lovely. (-200/10)

But now for the main event. As a recent convert to the Alice In Chains fold, I wasn't sure what I'd make of the gig. I had listened to some tracks and really enjoyed them, but what if everything else was rubbish? I needn't have worried. They start with It Ain't Like That, and Again, typically deep dark dirty tracks. "Them Bones" and "Dam That River" from their best album "Dirt" sound even better live and the new tracks, particularly "Check My Brain", fit in perfectly with the classics. We're treated to an acoustic set in the middle, before we go full steam ahead towards the encore, finishing with a rousing and emotional "Rooster", the screen adorned with the words "NO WAR". William DuVall proves to be a more than competent replacement for the late Layne Staley, his voice is incredibly similar and just as intoxicating. Jerry Cantrell is brilliant, harmonising beautifully with William throughout, and it turns out he's a pretty good guitarist too. A classic performance from a classic band that actually cannot really be faulted. (10/10)

bit more music now...

Two more gigs to report on today.

Dananananananananananananaykroid (number of anananananas varies) and support
Scala at King's Cross

In poor journalist form, I knew very little about the band before I came to this having only listened to a few tracks on their myspace page and thinking "it's OK".
I knew even less about the support bands. The first of these, "Calories", had to come up against the might of the 8 people in the venue when they started, but they seemed very relaxed and spent the first minute joking with us. More came in after they had begun. Musically they're OK, probably fitting into what some may refer to as the "indie" label, and they do well for not having practised for a month due to illness (they told us this). They're by far the funniest guys on the stage tonight, and the fact they seem to be really enjoying themselves very much helps their cause. (7/10)
If you were in the bar when the nest band "Dinosaur Pile-up" start to play, you' d be forgiven for thinking that Kurt Cobain had come back to life and had reformed Nirvana. If you were actually in the hall, you'd be forgiven for thinking that Kurt Cobain had come back to life and had reformed Nirvana. The sound, the looks, the moves while playing are all taken from the famous grunge band (though the between song banter is more chatty and jocular than theirs). They're not bad at re-creating the style, but you'd have to wonder what Kurt would have said about a band with absolutely no originality whatsoever. (4/10)
Then come the main act. They do have some originality, and plenty of energy. The two singers jump around, interact with the crowd (physically and vocally) and generally have fun the whole night. The same goes for the rest of the band. They are talented, energetic and interesting, something you don't really get from their recordings; Every one of their songs sounds 10 times better live. A truly great performance that has left many of those in attendance wanting more. (9/10)


Frank Turner and support
Shepherds Bush Empire

Folky folky folk folk folk. Yes.

First act on tonight is Beans On Toast, basically a guy with a gruff voice singing (not particularly well) about being annoyed about things. At first he doesn't really appeal, but after a few minutes you see what he's saying. His songs are simple, and often amusing. His rapping accompanied by an accordion is welcome and helps to break up a set which otherwise would have gotten boring fairly quickly. (6/10)
Fake Problems start off similarly not really appealing, but they don't get better. Its pretty dull stuff really. But a few people seem to like them (not sure why), so they get some kudos at least. (5/10)
After this, the stage goes dark and a traditional English folk song comes over the PA. The band appear on stage, and start up with "Live Fast Die Old." Then to a huge roar appears Frank Turner, and the dancing commences.
Turner has a lot of energy tonight, especially for the last date on the tour. He sings passionately on every song, backed up by the 2,000 fans belting out his songs as if they were their own. New single "The Road", "Try This At Home" are early highlights, but the show just gets better. "Sons Of Liberty" conjures up images of Bill Bragg gigs, fists pumping in political harmony. But what Frank Turner does well are songs about his life and his mates, proved tonight by rousing renditions of "I Knew Prufrock Before He Was Famous", "Reasons Not To Be An Idiot" and "Long Live The Queen". "Photosynthesis" is a good choice to go out on (and thank god he did an encore, not leaving us with "Journey Of The Magi", the worst song of the set), and rounds off a fantastic and clearly emotional night for Frank. (9/10)

Beware the cost of war exhibition at Blackall Studios

Today (Monday) saw a change in my timetable, instead of my usual features class we were asked to go to a photography exhibition curated by Yoav Galli, a student at City University on the Olive Tree programme, detailed here. His and other photographers themes were their experiences of the continuing wars between Israelis and Arabs on the west bank, Gaza strip and in Yoav's case in Lebanon. All the photographers are either Israeli or Palestinian, showing what happens on their doorstep.

Some of the photos were striking. Some disgusting. There was the usual crying babies and anguished families and friends of those who had been killed, but we also saw some pretty gruesome stuff: Dying, rotting bodies (often with missing limbs/ heads), injured soldiers with blank expressions, but the images that shocked me most were of dead children, sometimes buried in rubble so that all you can see is their heads. The more horrific images were shown in a seperate presentation by three of the photographers in the exhibit, Yoav, Mohammed Abed and Lior Mizrahi. So I'll focus on some of the ones in the actual exhibition.

Yoav's were mostly of Israeli soldiers in Lebanon, with whom he had been embedded (whereby a Journalist is placed in a troop to report on what they are doing). This was the soldiers with blank expressions and blood dripping down their faces after being hit unexpectedly.

Mohammed's were very familiar. One was what he described as "the first act of the war" (the most recent war in Gaza in January this year), when a group of graduating police officers in gaza were bombed by the Israelis. The background features lifeless bodies on the ground, but the foreground is more striking, an injured officer reaching toward the camera, his face one of fear and pain. This image was used for the cover of the Guardian's G2 insert, for a special feature on the Gaza war. It has stuck with me since then. Another of his photos was used along with others in a campaign by Human Rights Watch earlier this year. From the same war, it is an image of the UN refugee school being bombed by White Phosphurus Shells. The images are incredible, and he can't of been more than a few metres away from being hit (he said he could even smell it as it was falling). It was concrete proof that Israel had used an illegal weapon. Nothing has yet been done.

I didn't remember which photos in the exhibition were Lior's, but in his presentation he showed us a few photos of palestinian civilians in clashes with Israel border guards, as well as a few suicide bombings, and even a photo from the funeral of Yasar Arafat.

Of the other photographers, there were one or two that made my jaw drop. A photo by Mahmoud Hams of a missile just about to drop in the middle of a running crowd was particularly awe-inspiring. Bloggers had accused the photographer of photoshopping the missile in, but Yoav showed us the original. It was real. It was an incredible capture.

Another, taken by Fady Adwan, took me a couple of looks to realise the horror of it. The focal point is a dead man on the street in the arms of his friend/ relative who is crying. A usual horrific photo, but a slight glance to the left and you see it, a man with half his head blown off.

This exhibit made me feel a little sick, but more so it made me angry. Why had no-one done anything about the use of White Phosphurous? Why were there all these people who had been training to help keep the peace lying dead? Why do these two peoples keep this fight going despite growing international pressure to get talking? Why are the Israelis so over the top in their retaliation? There are answers to these questions, and they just make me more angry.

But I think my friend Dan made a good point. "3o years ago, we'd be out on the streets chanting against this. Now, we see the photos, say how horrible it all is, and do nothing." That probably needs to change.

General election and shizz.

On tuesday night, I attended a talk/debate at my university (City University London) which involved a panel of 3 political journalists discussing their views on who will win the next election, what the decisive factors will be.

The panel was made up of: Cheif Political columnist for the Independent Steve Richards, Writer of The Times' "Redbox" blog Tim Coates, and political writer of the Evening Standard and alumni of City University Pippa Crerar. They were asked to talk for 5 minutes on their views as to what will happen from now until the election, and finish by predicting the percentages each main party (Lib Dem, Labour, Tory) would recieve. This is detailed below:

Pippa Crerar: She started off talking about the biscuit fiasco, saying Gordon Brown did not want to alienate fans of particular biscuits (a very decisive issue indeed...). She then went on to say that she still though people were unsure about what David Cameron and the Conservatives actually stand for, and that Cameron must persuade the electorate that they want all the immediate spending cuts he promised in his conference speech. However, she thought that it was still too late for Brown to come back and win, but that it was not a certainty that the Tories would get a majority government, and the possibility of a hung parliament was still there. In this instance, she predicted that the Lib Dems would go into coalition with the Conservatives so as to distance themselves from what went before. Her Percentages: CON 42 LAB 33 LIB 18

Steve Richards: Again, biscuits was the lift off point, and he used this analogy to make the point that Brown was "a mix of a lofty interlectually and a crazed journalist". He stated that Blair had always commented on his being right about what the media would pick up on in his speeches (with some excellent impressions to boot) and because of this he is always thinking about the headlines. For example, when asked "Are you enjoying being Prime Minister?" he cannot answer "Yes" for fear of the newspapers saying "BROWN ENJOYS MISERY OF CREDIT CRUNCH BRITAIN". Hence he dithers and says "I just get up at 5, do my job etc..." Richards also thought that Brown was very aware that since the early 90s his popularity with the British public had oscillated wildly, so that maybe he was thinking another up was due. But he also said that the only way Labour could survive was if the Economy went up. Regarding Cameron, he thought that he shouldn't be worried that people are less excited about change now than they were when Blair was elected, because hype eventually leads to disappointment, and that he can take more risks because it's fairly certain he will be the next PM. His predictions: CON 39 LAB 32 LIB 21

Sam Coates - Journalism is all about Predictions. Not sure that is quite true, but it definetly is a huge part of it. Coates decided for his 5 minutes to detail two senarios, a boring one and an exciting one. The boring one consists of: Media say Labour are dead, there's a second huge wave of anger over MPs expenses concentrating on mortgages over which MPs fight back, Labour try a social mobility campaign (which Coates describes as their codeword for "Class War"), Conservatives promise a cut in National Insurance, the election is the worst covered (media-wise) ever, polls stay the same and Cameron wins, there's a lack of enthusiasum over voting, the internet changes nothing, the BNP does quite well, Gordon Brown steps down and Ed Milliband takes his place (and breathe). The exciting senario now: George Osbournes expenses turn out to be very dodgy, standards comittee say apology and slap on wrist but Cameron must decide whether to sack him or not, there is a grass roots Labour revolt, Mandelson tries to stop it but fails and Brown steps down, making way for Ed Milliband who stumbles and doesn't do anything, ISRAEL BOMB IRAN, and this divides the Conservative party between those who oppose the action and those who support it, 2 Lib Dem MPs join the Conservatives, David Davies joins the Lib Dems because thw Conservatives have failed to stand up for civil liberties, but Conservatives still win. Right. His prediction: CON 40 LAB 30 LIB 18.

The rest of the evening was comprised of questions coming from the audience about what might change the course of the election. This included a plea from Sam Coates regarding the use of twitter, "Please, no more twitter," was basically the quote. We also heard how youtube would be a bigger influence, because politicians can be filmed saying bad things (see: Alan Duncan joking about the expenses "scandal", though if you actually want to see it find it yourself), the turnout is all important as really very few people will switch and that Labour's frontbench is lacking in talent.

There were other nuggets of wisdom, but this blog is getting long again, so we'll jump to the end where we heard what each person would tell the party leaders if they were advisers:

Sam Coates - Brown should keep his mouth shut other than talking about 3 main policies which he thinks will help gain voters. Cameron shouln't take too many risks and should control his interaction with Journalists

Steve Richards - Brown should use his sense of humour (because he does have one) and have his team around him to show it isn't just him they're voting for.

Pippa Crerar: a mix of what the others said. Brown should use his team. Cameron should reign in Boris a bit.

The Metal Weekend and a bit!

The originally dubbed "Weekend of Metal" took place last...weekend, and spilled over into the following week to make it an awesome "Metal 3/4 of a week". Shush.

Started off with a trip to Sin City at the electric ballroom in Camden. Was awesome, don't need to say too much more. Then there were some gigs.

DREAM THEATER & OPETH, with Bigelf and Unexpect

Saturday night, Wembley Arena. The support acts varied somewhat in style, quality and humourousness. Unexpect are an interesting band, though not particularly good. They have an electric violin player, and almost all of them have long dreadlocked hair. Described as "Gypsy-metal", their tracks are sporadic and proggy (good thing then that they're playing the Progressive Nation tour here...), and the musicians are clearly talented in their own right, but they don't quite have the songwriting down.
Bigelf come on next, the ubercool (yeah I said it) frontman sporting a large tophat and playing TWO electric organs. Musically they sound like a classic 70s rock band, though heavier and with more hints of Prog. They're good, but apart from the frontman there isn't a lot of showmanship until their set is lifted by the sudden appearance on stage of DT drummer Mike Portnoy, who stands in for Bigelf's own drummer for one song. Overall this is a good set.
Main support band Opeth are given a rapturous welcome. Though they open light with "Windowpane", the rest of the set is full of the heavy stuff. Vocalist Mikael Akerfeldt is on fire, describing "The Lotus Eater" as "A masterpiece; We won't even need to introduce the song because it is a masterpiece", then telling everyone about how he had almost pulled the last time he was over in the UK: "She even grabbed my balls, but I said no. What am I, gay?" Everything seems to go right for Opeth, and the inclusion of Harlequin Forest in the set was a welcome treat.
But this is nothing compared with the headliners. Opening with "A Nightmare To Remember" (featuring a guest appearance from Mikeal Akerfeldt) , they build from there, with plenty of solo moments for keyboardist Jordan Rudess and guitarist John Petrucci and a double hit from the Awake album (Lie and The Mirror). Dance of Eternity is one of the best moments of the night, only outweighed but a huge drum duel involving every one of the drummers from the bands playing tonight, or Rudess' keyboard duel with his own cartoon image (he also wears a wizards hat). Once again, Dream Theater mix virtuoso performance and grandious stage presence to put on one hell of a show. The encore of "The Count Of Tuscany" further goes to prove this, and leaves everyone buzzing long after the gig is over.

CHIMAIRA AND UNEARTH, with Throwdown and Daath

It has to be said, the vocalist of Daath has a rather impressive beard. And with his shirt already off before the set has even started, it seems he's going to be quite the extrovert. He is. Daath are ok, better than was expected. An immence guitarist and one fairly good song doesn't quite overlook the fact that the rest of the set is rather mediocre, but it goes someway to helping them be a bearable band to watch.
Throwdown are not bearable. They have nothing. They play a brand of hardcore that is dull and dragging, with no real musicianship and a very angry man shouting at you. The only enjoyable part would have been watching the spasmodic and frankly hilarious hardcore dancing, though I only had to listen to them to get the general gist.
Unearth are the complete opposite. Though they play "Metalcore", a genre with hardcore elements, they are able to freshen it up with some beautifully melodic guitar parts taken from their metal influences. They put on a good show as well, the guitarists climbing other everything, and at one point venturing to the sound-desk to play from there. Highlights of their set include "My Will Be Done", from their latest offering The March, as well as classics such as "Zombie Autopilot" and "The Great Dividers". The crowd really get into it too, which creates a great atmosphere for fan and band alike.
Chimaira haven't had such a good run lately. Releasing their weakest album "Resurrection" a couple of years back, the latest offering "The Infection" goes someway to resolving this, but there are still some weak bits. Tonight, you wouldn't notice that. Opener The Venom Inside is crunchingly heavy, and of course as this is Chimaira that is how they carry on. "Power Trip", "Severed" and Nothing Remains are among notable classics, as well as some new treats such as "Resurrection" and "Destroy and Dominate". The crowd are loving it, Mark Hunter can't get a word in edgeways thanks to a continued chant of "CHIMAIRA! CHIMAIRA!". Of course, it wouldn't be a Chimaira gig if it didn't end with "Pure Hatred", and the rabbidness of the crowd that goes with it. That should make a very good DVD...

I'll do the other gig later, this is getting to be fairly long...

Its good to see them squirm...

Having just started my Journalism degree at City University, I thought it would be a good idea to delve deeper into the websites of all the national papers, to properly immerse myself in the medium of online Journalism. I found some interesting things, especially this little piece from the Guardians website

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/oct/11/michael-moore-catholic-capitalism

As you can probably tell from the title (although you should read it too), it is about Michael Moore's new film, "Capitalism: A Love Story", and the revelation that he is a Catholic. OK, it isn't that much of a revelation, and it even mentions in the article that:

"close watchers of Moore should perhaps not have been surprised by his inclusion of Christianity in his latest movie. In fact, he has long been open about his religious beliefs and his admiration for the liberal tradition of political activism in Catholicism."

However, it is surprising to his political opponents. Conservatives have been talking about his "Socialist Secularism" in criticising his views, so the news that he is the same religion as many of them will possibly make them think again. There is a brilliant video on YouTube of an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity, where Moore describes himself, rather than a Socialist, as a Christian. Upon Hannity's response of "I'm a Christian too", he asks him if he went to Mass on Sunday, and what the Gospel was. He can't answer and starts making excuses. The whole interview is here.

It doesn't surprise me either to learn that he is a Christian. Like the article states, there are many priests who would describe themselves as Anti-Capitalists, and I personally feel that, while organised religion has a lot to answer for, the teachings of Jesus are very much along socialist lines. Look at people like Tony Benn, Hugo Chavez, in someways even Archbishop Rowan Williams. Even the Labour party was built on a Christian Socialist ideal. It really has nothing to do with politics whether you believe in God or have a faith. I know plenty of Liberal/Left Wing people who do believe, and plenty who don't. I also know that a lot of Socialists respect the teachings of Jesus even if they don't believe in a god.

This shouldn't come as a shock to anyone. It's only due to some weird conservative propaganda that people have this idea of left wingers being secular, and to be honest it seems mostly to be an American idea. I put myself in a loose "Christian Socialist" position (though I do agree that church and state should be more separated) because I see Jesus as a fighter for the poor and meek, with a message that has since been toyed with so much it has lost its original meaning.

A few short reviews of things

So I've been a bit lazy with keeping my blog updated. No surprise really, I've been a bit lazy in general lately. But to get back in the swing of things, I am now going to do some short reviews of things musical that have occurred in my life recently...

New Dream Theater album

A review on the BBC website claims that DT went bombast heavy from track 1 to track 4. I predict this person didn't listen to it. Yes, it is a heavy album. The first track, "A Nightmare To Remember" features a powerful opening riff, and we even hear Mike Portnoy giving blast beats a go (as much as I love him, he isn't amazing at it). But there are some fairly nice tracks here, "Wither" is beautiful and in no way "Bombast heavy", while "The Shattered Fortress" gives a thorough conclusion to Mike Portnoy's AA saga by reviewing its highlights, meaning if this is very heavy, their other stuff must be too. All in all, it's a brilliant Prog Metal album, and here's to me seeing them with OPETH in October. WOO! 9/10


New Alexisonfire Album

Another very good album. It's slightly less "metal" than previous offerings, while still keeping much of the style of the last album "Crisis". Plenty of variety too, "Old Crows" is a steady opener, before "Young Cardinals" increases the pace of the album to a level that keeps the album flowing until it is broken up by the inspiring "The Northern", part gospel, part 70s rock (prominent synths) and part metal. While the screaming is a little bit worse than before, Dallas' singing is still spot on, shown especially on the aforementioned track. The rest of the album provides more good tracks, the pick being "Heading For The Sun", which is the song most reminiscent of "Crisis". 8/10


New Darkest Hour Album

Just to break it up a bit, a not so good album. There are some decent thrashy songs on this album, notably "Devolution Of Flesh" and "No God", but it seems like the band are trying to counter the slightly more mainstream sound of the last album with extra heavy, and it doesn't quite work. There are still some melodic highlights, "The Tides" featuring most of the best ones, but it doesn't compare to the mix of crunching riffs and sweet melodies that they nailed on "Undoing Ruin". Unfortunately, they missed the mark on this album. 6/10


New Killswitch Engage Album

Brilliant really. Killswitch hit the mark again. Howard Jones is one of the best singers in metal, his vocals so varied in singing and screaming. As usual KSE mix the worlds of melody and heavy riffage perfectly, and the drumming, though relatively simple, incredibly effective. "A Light In The Darkened World" and "The Reckoning" are my favourites on this album. 9/10

The Mars Volta at Somerset House

All you need to know is that all who went are now pregnant. especially the men. It was THAT awesome. Opening with "Goliath" and finishing with "Wax Simulcra", two of my favourite Volta songs, and filling in between with awesome musicianship and an awe-inspiring stage presence, they managed to wow just about everyone. The setting was perfect, watching the sun go down over the courtyard of Somerset House as an amazing band were, basically, amazing. Could have done without some of the Coke advertising, and a bottle of beer at £4 is ridiculous, but that wasn't important. 10/10

Lacuna Coil at Kentish Town Forum

This may seem like an anti-climax after the previous review, but this was another excellent gig. Could have done without the support bands, The Default were quite boring, Dead by April had a good singer but preferred to use the screamer, who was rubbish at it. Cancer Bats were fairly decent, their vocalist clearly following in the footsteps of Phil Anselmo in terms of his on stage persona. Lacuna Coil put on a very good show, opening with "Survive" off new album "Shallow Life", one of their heaviest songs as well as one of their best. You have to feel sorry for male singer Andreas. He isn't much to look at, not a great singer, and even though he has fairly equal vocal opportunities to Cristina, everyone is looking at her. Can't imagine why... But getting back to music, they are on form, playing classics such as "Closer", "Swamped", "Heavens a Lie", and of course their much celebrated cover of Depeche Mode's "Enjoy The Silence". In other words, they were very good. 8/10

My day at elections

Last thursday, some of you may have been aware that there was an election. Well, there were actually two, European Parliament and County Council, and I was working on one of the poll stations, Red Cross Centre in Earlswood, giving out ballot papers and crossing people off who had come in to vote. All very fun. I will tell you about it.

The days starts at 6:30 AM, getting all the signs put up so people know for sure there is a polling station there; It's amazing how many people can't see them and get lost! The first people trickled through at about 7, people on there way to work, and a cheery binman who could be heard singing from a while away, and chatted to us a bit about how pleasent the day was. Between working hours we got mostly older, retired people who were so hard of hearing you had to shout at them, while others just didn't understand. Anything.

We had a tally going on how many people expressed the same opinions. Most were "My goodness, that's a big ballot paper", or along those lines (shocked expressions included here) in reference to the ridiculously huge European Parliament ballot paper for the South East region (though at least it meant there plently of parties to choose from I suppose). Others commented on the weather, but only one person came up with the topic of the last few weeks, stating "We'd like to vote for the party that makes us all MPs so we can claim lots of expenses." We chortled.

The big development came around noonish, when we were informed that a party (turned out to be UKIP) had complained that the folding of the ballot papers meant people weren't seeing their box, and so were instead voting for other anti-euro parties. This made our job harder, because we needed to fold the papers so people could fit them in the boxes, and it meant we ended up folding them, then unfolding them when handing them to voters. It also didn't make much difference in our area, as the way they were folded meant in fact UKIP were one of the first parties shown. And the problem was only in South Yorkshire. GRRR!

But I digress... The big rush came between 6 and 8, when we had 60 or 70 voters each hour, compared with roughly 20 at other times. In this time a lot of people, annoyingly, asked us what parties stood for what, mostly who was anti-europe. We told them we couldn't tell them, and so they went away to the booths, many could be heard uttering "here, this top one, BNP, they have a british flag, they're probably anti-europe". I worried that aphabetical order might end up letting the racists in, but in the South East this turned out not to be the case.

The real issue there, though, is why people were out voting without even looking at the parties policies. I complained about the lack of canvassing and literature, but after my ramblings on here that started to pick up. I imagine it was similar for most people, so why were they so ignorant towards these parties? Many people also didn't realise there were two elections, despite the polling cards stating this and numerous radio and TV programmes and newspapers doing the same.

In the end, the turnout for Earlswood and Whitebushes was 37%. That figure was similar across the borough and county. It really makes you think that democracy is all worthless, if less than half the people don't bother to vote. I blame the media again. They go on about voter apathy, not voting becuse of this elections scandal, even going as far as to say that there were no alternatives to the mainstream three parties other than UKIP and BNP, an opinion stated numerous times on Question time. What a load of rubbish. Ok, I was happy that Reigate central elected a Lib Dem candidate, well done to you, but Redhill had a Green candidate who was only 170 votes behind the tory one. In fact they seem to me to be the only choice at the moment, and if you are annoyed about the expenses of MPs, then the Greens are the best way to go without moving in Racism or Facism.

So basically, I learned a bit about the people of earlswood, another area which sadly is full of decent people, possibly former Labour supporters, who have been brainwashed into blaming immigration for their problems instead of politicians and capitalists (yeah, I said it). Also, I learned that people will still blindly vote for the tories, ignoring their abismal record of money wasting and poor social services. At least the people of Reigate saw sense, now others must follow their lead.

Eurovision

Hooray! Eurovision is here! The uber-camp celebration of european integration which we all love to watch, much of the time to laugh at the comedy entries, and agree with Terry Wogan about how terrible it is but we still love it anyway, even when it's tainted with "Bloc Voting".

Well Terry Wogan has retired from the post due to that last point (many cite the former russian colonies, though Greece, Cyprus and Turkey have been doing the same thing, even Germany gives the 12 points reguarly the latter country due to the high percentage of turks in Germany), and now we have the appropriately camp Graham Norton hosting the festivities.

This year I've only managed to watch the 1st semi-final (i write this on the day of the final) and the ones I liked didn't get through. Looking at the finalists, I'm not sure i'll get on with any of them, but I'm sure I'll still watch it anyway. Unfortunetly the competition has already been marred, though many may not know it.

A Gay Rights protest taking place outside the venue hall was broken up by Russian police, as they were worried it would "get out of hand". Funny then, that earlier on there was a protest by a group of Anti-gay protesters which was allowed to go ahead without police interruption. Clearly Russia is still miles behind other developed countries, who regularly have Gay parades (even America, often considered the most homophobic of countries, has a major share of gay people) and are starting to respect the rights of homosexuals (no country can really claim to respect them fully when still can't get married). And what a time to show this, before Eurovision! A competition with a huge gay following. This has irked me somewhat, and made me want to bycott the competition. But it's not the competition I'm against, it's the Russian police.

So, what I hope will happen is that at least one of the participants will try to make a point about this, on stage or in an interview, that will "send shockwaves around the world"... Or not, but someone should say something about this catastrophy of human rights abuse.

On a different note, though relevant to a previous post, I have now recieved a leaflet from Lib Dems. Mostly fairly good, but I'm still not convinced by Nick Clegg. Vince Cable would be a better leader, though we know how the party feels about older people...

MP's Expenses

You could not have failed to notice that there has been a bit of a rumbling about certain expenses claims from certain politicians. The BBC graphics department has been showing off their skills with images such as money floating around some water with a castle in the background (in reference to a Tory MPs claim for maintenance of his moat).

It's all been very exciting for the papers as well, not least the Daily Telegraph who got hold of the evidence which they have been releasing each day of this week. The Guardian (my paper of choice), has also been having a whale of a time printing the faces of the "Shamed Politicians" who have "their snouts in the trough." The Express and the Mail have had their usual sensationalist headlines proclaiming to the world that these MPs (especially the Labour ones of course) are destroying the once noble profession of being an MP.

And what about the "once noble profession" of being a Journalist? I don't want to be too scathing about the people I will hopefully be working with/ for/ in place of in the future, but Journalists are known for being very dodgy with expenses. Also, the BBC team who have been grilling these disgusting vile creatures who get plenty of money anyway and still claim for these extravagances, earn a fair wack themselves (Paxman earns nearly 1 Million for 3 or 4 nights work), and I should imagine still claim for small things. A Labour peer hit back at a BBC newsreader, asking her what salary she got. When she disclosed it was £91,000 a year (MPs get £60,000), he wondered how she could have a go at him for such a blatant waste of tax payers money.

To me it seems a bit like two over-payed people arguing with each other about who is more corrupt. And I have to say, the public are no better. There are many people working in regular jobs who fudge their expenses or claim more than they should. A man we know to be called Stephen Fry (yes, THE Stephen Fry) was interviewed about this before going to an event designed to encourage people to vote. The reporter was unfortunate enough to not get the "Oh these people are terrible" response that he wanted. Instead, Fry said he couldn't believe how big a deal the press were making of this, especially considering the reputation that they have in the same area. He also said "It really doesn't matter." (He actual words can be heard here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/8045040.stm). He worries too the press saying "this will discourage the public from voting" is what will discourage them more than this scandel (in fact the only thing this scandal will do is drive to people to fringe parties, hopefully not the racist ones).

Now I can't sit here and claim that I wasn't frothing at the mouth when I first heard about this "corruption". But as the weeks have gone by I've started to get bored of the press coverage, and realised that there are plenty more issues to get angry about. I will list a few of these:

• The Rich - Poor gap has gotten wider than ever before.
  
• The Government has become little more than the City's lapdog.
• We spent millions of pounds fighting an irrelevant and stupid war.
• We want to spend millions more on a nuclear deterrent that we don't need.
• The tax system is such that high earners can "avoid" playing tax and the government doesn't mind, while low earners struggle to earn enough to live.
• Our Civil Liberties are being eroded away with ID Cards and over-excitable policemen, all in the name of "protecting us against terrorism".
  
• The NHS and Post office are edging nearer to privatisation.
• Rail travel is so expensive and inefficient, when it can be so good, as well as better for the environment.
  

OK that was a lot. But my point is that there are more important things to get annoyed about than this. OK, I would have hoped that the people who represent us and run the country would be a bit more honest, and possibly the system could be a bit more stringent, but in a way doing this they do represent us, since there are many people who fudge their expense claims. Listen to Stephen Fry (and if you can find it Marcus Brigstocke's rant on The Now Show on Radio 4, from which this rant is essentially copied...) and absorb their messages.

These here election things...

About this time every year we have some sort of election for some form of council or parliament. This year it's the turn of European Parliament and County Council (for certain areas such as mine, Surrey).

Last year was my first time voting. It may seem a it odd but i was actually quite excited about the process, although it was obvious who was going to win in my ward (don't think any party other than tory has ever won). Then I looked up my options for voting. Labour, Conservative, Lib Dem, UKIP. Oh joy.

The thing that really got me, however, was that the only party who even bothered (in my area at least) to give me any info on policies and the such were UKIP, or "The fluffy version of the BNP" as I call them. No thanks.

I know for a fact that in the next ward over, the Green candidate (Johnathan Essex) was out on doorsteps talking to people. Now why could any of the candidates in my area do this? Is it because they were resigned to the fact that the tories were going to run away with it? If so, that doesn't say much for their faith in democracy.

In the end I voted in shere despair for Labour, mainly because I see myself as a bit Left wing and the Liberals around this area tend to lean more toward Conservative policy. But I really didn't know who I was voting for or why I should be doing it, which surely makes a mockery of the whole system of voting.

This year, UKIP were the first people to put their little newspaper thing through my door (though they do this regularly, again, why don't others do this?), but I've also had a leaflet from the Greens. I've read this, and I have to say i agree with much of what they stand for, but I'm still waiting for the other candidates for County elections, Labour, Conservative and Lib Dem to give me something (I should point out that the BNP are also standing my ward, but I immediately ignore them on account of them being racists and pseudo-fascists).

Europe-wise, there is a wealth of choice. The main three, The Greens, Socialist Labour, Libertas, BNP & UKIP and all the other spin off xenophobic parties, plus a couple of odd ones, namely "The Jury Team" (huh?), and "The Roman Party. AVE!" But I have yet to find out what the candidates for the South East are offering me.

So if any of the party candidates for the Redhill District of Surrey or the South East region for Europe that I haven't heard from and aren't racist/ xenophobic are reading this (ambitious for my first blog...), pleas tell me what your policies and ideas!

Thanks, and good night.