Beijing 2008

Beijing Olympics Start 0n 8th August 2008 But how on earth did China win the Olympic bid??

Friday 8th August 2008 sees the begining of the Games XXIX (29) Olympiad. Personally looking forward to them BUT…

Unless I am wrong

What is the Ethos of the games? Isn’t it social inclusion, friendly competition, A time where competing countries come together no matter of polictical views, economy and War??

How on Earth did the Peoples Republic of China win the bid to host the games? People in this country unless I am mistaken are not even living in a democracy! Voting there is illegal in a political sense!!

Surely China hosting the Olympics and Paralympic games is completely at odds with the whole premise of the games!!

Apart from the obvious human rights issues against Tibet which have seen protests throughout the Tour of the Olympic flame.  There are in place it seems tough restrictions on media coverage.  It seems that China are going all out to hide their crimes against human rights.  So far on the opening ceremony Beijing authourities have banned the use of any recording mediums eg. Camera’s, Camera phones and MP3 recorders and so on. Why they would do this… Surely it is to cover up something.  This is a country that enforces a one child per family policy!  With severe fines against parents who don’t follow the imposed sanction. These children are then as part of their education signed up to the PRC Communist party. I have read and seen Television programmes where a foreign journalist is followed and then interrogated as to what they are doing.

Surely China hosting the Olympics is an outrage.  Maybe when they discover a true democracy and stop the crimes against Tibet then they will be good hosts.  But it seems the IOC decided against this in thier decision and as we have seen the protests against China have already began.

Lets hope the Beijing 2008 Olympics can focus on sport and competition and not over shadowed by political matters.  The BBC have already sent Hew Edwards BBC News Reader to cover the opening ceremony on Friday.

I hope the Tag line “One World One Dream” can be realized and that the games as a whole don’t end up on a sour note from the beginning to the climax.  I already know and have seen Free Tibet banners going up all over the local town here in the UK!!

Amy Winehouse with Husband Blake

Amy’s Blake Sentenced to 27 months – What now for Amy?

Blake Fielder-Cival was sentenced to 27 months in prison on Monday charged with Grievous Bodily Harm and perverting the course of Justice. He begged judge David Radford to let him go free so he could help Amy stop taking drugs.

Blakes Barister Jeremy Dein QC tried to secure a lesser sentence but to no avail. He Said at East London’s Snaresbrook Crown Court “They are very much committed to each other and their ambition to divorce themselves from hard drugs and not each other”.

With the nations glare upon him he has every possible motive to rehabilitate himself in the way he has shown he is fully commited to doing.  If he fails, he knows it will be devistating not just for him but for Amy. He says “I can now see that drugs are to be regarded as nothing more than a smiling assassin”.  He wants nothing more than to help Amy recover however until he is recovered there is no hope for her to do the same.

So What now for Amy?

The last time I saw Amy perform was at Glastonbury, (Albeit on the TV). She was geared to be reunited with her husband again after being seperated for 9 months while he was awaiting sentence for his part in assulting a pub landlord.  Is this latest development going to wind up sending her over the edge?!?  Surely she can’t take more bad news. She is already suffering from Emphysema, drug and alcohol addiction.  The performance was great to me she was on top form, during the performance she mentioned her “blakey” countless times.  With him now off the scene for 2 years 2 months maybe this is the time when she can finally sort herself out and free her demons.

Surely it is time for EMI to pencil in a break where she can escape away from the pressures of the media.  From what I have read and somewhat observed when trying to rehabilitate a change of scene helps a lot breaking from her routines and habits. 

Its going to be a hard time for her, lets hope that by the time Blake Fielder-Cival is released Amy is once again back to 100% health and free of her problems, also hope that he succeeds in his personal rehab whilst serving his sentence.

Also Today

Madame Tussuads unvieled A life size wax work effergy of Amy standing almost 6 feet (182cm tall) Wearing 5 inch heels and a beehive, in the music zone of the exhibition.

It Seems we forget

Music is great for Relaxing, Entertaining and invigorating us, it seems to me that people forget that Stars in music are just normal people like you and I (Admittidly with luxury lifestyles) What she does away from her career is it really any of our business?  Is it our place to pass judgement on what she does? To me the answer is no! In “normal” society people who are going through exactly the same as Amy often don’t get a second thought! I hope she manages to rebuild and continue to suceed in the future and hope that some good press comes to her. Negativity doesn’t help anyone.

Good luck!

Mark Ronson

Is it just me?

I don’t know if you agree but isn’t Mark Ronson doing great for music! This is the man behind Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen and many other artists.

Until a little while ago I was a Trombone player, trying to break in to the industry to make a living.  Admittedly it was a pipe dream but I had the opportunity to try. At that time brass in my opinion was dead in mainstream music, no one seemed to use the  unique sound created by a brass section in their music.

What Mark has done

To me it seems he has breathed life back into brass (excuse the pun) with artistic input into Amy Winehouse’s Cover of Valerie (The Zutons) and also the original Back to Black produced by Mark, Not forgetting the Hit he had with Lily Allen Oh My God (Kaiser Chiefs) And Apply some pressure (Maximo Park) In my opinion he made this song excellent!

Take a look at these videos taken from you-tube one being the track featuring Paul Smith from Maximo park, the other being the version written and performed for BBC Electric Proms with the BBC Concert Orchestra in October 2007.

Above Mark Smith on Vocals

Above Same track plus 58 musicians from the BBC Concert Orchestra.

So What has happened to Brass since Mark Ronson came on the scene?

Well I know a few fellow “horn” players are being asked to play “That Tune by Mark Ronson”! This is great due to the now nearly extinct Brass bands (although still going strong in Cornwall and other places in the West country.  A lot of younger people see this as “Uncool” so Mark is helping bring the Brass sound band to mainstream music just as Amy Winehouse has introduced people to Jazz again and Lily Allen doing the same with Ska/two tone.

I think that Dance (Electronica) is stepping out of the spot light at last and letting real music come back through.

Looking at the Artists in the mainstream now you have; Coldplay, Elbow, Ting Tings, Duffy, so many now are “human” bands not a few people on stage with machines (making great tracks too) but actually performing and writing lyrics and melodies that you sing along too knowing the words and so on.

I hope it continues

 But What is your opinion – Is this revival in Brass and Human Acts simply a flash in the pan please let me know!

Amy Winehouse

Why Are People giving Amy Winehouse such a hard time?

Most people will have heard about Amy Winehouse and her mission to go into self destruct! But why is she doing this??

It seems to me that people have a natural voyeuristic tendancies. For example a certain percentage of society look at car accidents, and seem to thrive on it.  Bad news travels quicker on the wind than good news.

I have been looking at some of the stuff on youtube regards Amy and her seemingly never ending voyage to self destruction,  I find it truly saddening!  The point is, due to her status in the public eye, she is getting more negative press than the rest of not in the media spotlight.

When you sign to a record contract and publishing and marketing deals the sad truth is that to a certain extent the companies own the artist. 

They set out targets, deadlines, Apperances (Marketing)
The companies don’t look at the artist as a person it seems, only as a means to make money.
So with this comes pressures to perform and appear at events/parties, ceremonies as well as keeping to tight schedule to ensure that the Record company make the money!

There is an argument that people say that the artist is paid a small fortune for the music and therefore should cope with the pressure that comes with the career.  Thats a fair point, but… the rigoursof being in the media spot light all of the time surely must have an adverse affect on some people like Amy Winehouse.

Yes she has gone down the route of drink and drugs but then if you look at music and performing arts as an industry there is a high percentage of drugs and alcohol abuse that goes on.

Personally I think that Amy will never be 100% clear of these problems, I mean look at her husband and the people that they together hang out with.  Lets take smoking for example here after all it is legal but it is a drug that if introduced today would be banned outright.

How many people have smoked and tried to kick the habbit? Experienced the withdrawl symptoms, shaking, sweating, sickness, light-headedness, restlessness, those waves of cravings that come when you try to quit.  No matter how many people tell you that it’s going to get better it doesn’t feel like it. 

So how many people have reached for that cigarette and found that it soothes those symptoms, Is this not the same with serious drugs and alcohol abuse?

So Where has it all gone wrong:

To start with, as I mentioned above the sad truth is that of “peer pressure” and expected behaviour has a lot to do with her problems, some people have addictive personality traits and it seems in my opinion she has one of these.
Also in my personal opinion she has been on numerous rehabilitation programmes, but due to her actions on her return her past acts like a constant reminder, so how is she going to recover from all this this?
All this negative publicity is good for the Record company as their main aim in reality is to make a profit, so all this media attention is keeping her in the eyes of the public and therefore everytime she hits a problem I bet they get a spike in sales, or more visits to sites as a consequence.

This may seem controversial

A lot of people who go on forums, and comment on her actions are jealous, we forget that she is a very tallented person with a great voice and excellent musical tallent.  Agreed it is not to everyones tastes musically but does it give people the right to attack a person.
This is not constructive, we all have a right to live our lives as we wish in civalized society. So the people who are anti Amy surely should keep thier opinions to themselves. Maybe the papers should focus on more important issues like wars, famines, genocide and so on rather than running multi page spreads in Tabloids claiming to show a musician taking drugs.
However it is sad that there are people out there that will buy this rubbish, why because they like to see successful people taking a fall. It is a shame that these people don’t have anything more important in life than to read this and even more so the so called journalists that go building the stories. Surely they are better placed in countries such as Iraq reporting on things that matter!!!!
Give her a break yes she has screwed up but really do we need to keep watching waiting for the inevitable to happen.

Rehab

You Know I’m No Good

Back to Black

BTCV (formerly known as British Trust for Conservation Volunteers) is the biggest practical conservation charity in Britain.

How it all began

BTCV began as a body organising practical tasks for groups of Volunteers. However their role has changed considerably since the organisation was first founded. Although BTCV has nearly always involving people in their environment in one way or another, in what BTCV describes “as a ‘hands-on’ approach to conservation activities”, much of the charity’s work is in urban areas and includes many varied projects such as regeneration and education.

• In 1959, Brigadier Armstrong was appointed by the (then) Council for Nature to form a group called The Conservation Corps. The objective was to involve volunteers in practical conservation work. The very first project was in Boxhill, Surrey. 42 Volunteers including David Bellamy, cleared dogwood to encourage the growth of juniper and distinctive chalkland flora.

• By 1964 the Conservation Corps had expanded its activities to include education and amenity work in the countryside.

• In 1966 The Conservation Corps moved from a Basement office in Queens Gate in Kensington, to new premises in the grounds of London Zoo in Regent’s Park

• 1968 saw the very first training course held for volunteers.

• In 1969 membership had increased to 600 with volunteers completing around 6000 workdays per year. This year also saw the first international exchange visit to Czechoslovakia something that continues today under the title International Project Programme.

• 1970 The Conservation Corps started operating under the name British Trust for Conservation Volunteers (BTCV). The Duke of Edinburgh became Patron.

• 1971 The local Group Affiliation began.

• 1972 Saw the launch of BTCV’s Magazine The Conserver.

• By 1974 Registered volunteer numbers were 3000 and 57 groups had registered with BTCV.

• In 1975 The Membership was launched.

• 1977 Saw BTCV open an Ecological park opposite the Tower of London as part of the Queens Silver Jubilee celebrations.

• 1984 BTCV moved headquarters to Wallingford, Oxfordshire.

• In 2006 BTCV moved its headquarters to Doncaster. The new “environmentally friendly” building features a sedum covered roof, hence its name Sedum House.

Activities

BTCV attempts to be inclusive and accessible to all, running a diverse range of activities in the United Kingdom. Many are focussed on practical conservation work, also BTCV provide extensive training programmes, work experience and education opportunities. Projects are also run solely to introduce children and young people to their environment. There are also opportunities for people with learning difficulties to work with BTCV (although they work as part of the normal volunteer groups too).

Other activities Carried out by BTCV

• Green Gym programme to promote health benefits to working outdoors (More in later posts)
• Conservation holidays both in the UK and around the world
• Providing support to community conservation project groups
• Providing accredited training through BTCV’s own education scheme BIEC (BTCV Institute for Environmental Conservation) in partnership with Broxtowe College, Nottingham funded by the Learning and Skills Council.
• Consultancy
• Education for Children and young people on recycling and the environment
• Providing training for long term unemployed.

Please click the videos for a taster of what BTCV do and what it is like to volunteer for them.

If you would like to find out more or get involved please click either the logo at the top of the page or the following link:

http://www2.btcv.org.uk/display/btcv_home