tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74922770442041732102024-03-14T18:53:31.954+00:00Work Of My Own FictionThis blog is mainly a personal response to stories in the media, but may also include the odd arts review, cultural relfection or occasional anecdote. Blog journo - Karen Burke.Karen Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11541344386669774364noreply@blogger.comBlogger210125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492277044204173210.post-75852787747202424472012-10-05T09:20:00.000+01:002012-10-05T22:15:47.695+01:00Tori Amos - Gold Dust - Royal Albert HallTori Amos chased the muse around the Royal Albert Hall when she performed with the Dutch Metropole Orchestra as part of her Gold Dust tour this October. Dressed in an elegant green floral suit and black rimmed glasses, Tori evoked the woman behind the image of her 2003 album “Tales of a Librarian” when she played a selection of songs from her impressive twenty year repertoire to an orchestral accompaniment arranged by John Philip Shenale. The black rimmed glasses only came off when the muse turned around and chased her back, inspiring an improvisation – She Calls My Name – in between “Snow Cherries from France” and “Ribbons Undone” during the first half of the evening. Tori’s 12-year-old daughter, Tash, and her friends gave a shout out from one of the loggia boxes when Tori called to her down the mic, saying she hoped Tash would use discretion with her candy and give her best at school in the morning. Assuming Tori’s husband, sound engineer Mark Hawley, was among the crew operating the sound deck, it felt like Tori was very much at home in the grand London venue after overcoming a racing heart at the beginning of her opening number, “Flying Dutchman”. Tori left the stage to a standing ovation in a show that peaked with highlights, “Hey Jupiter”, “Programmable Soda”, “Leather” and “Precious Things”. Her art has been an inspiration to so many people over the past twenty years and the people who love what she does look forward to what’s still to come.
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Link to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOAAvylipqI">Snow Cherries From France</a>.Karen Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11541344386669774364noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492277044204173210.post-31900795066898160072012-05-17T15:48:00.006+01:002012-05-21T19:11:00.625+01:00Milo and The Restart ButtonBack from a pre-record of the Review Show for Premier Radio with the Original Miss B. After complaining from one show to the next about self-help books, Premier very kindly spared me this time. Instead, we were treated to a pre-teen book with a compelling narrative voice: “Milo And The Restart Button” by Alan Silberberg, and an autobiography by East End champion powerlifter Arthur White who crossed the legal line into drugs, crime and violence: “The Power and The Glory” (co-written with Martin Saunders). Milo had me hooked from page one (this from page one: “I love Summer Goodman but she barely knows I exist, which I’m pretty okay with because when you love someone, they don’t have to do anything – and Summer does nothing, so I think it’s all going to work out great”), and "The Power and the Glory" opened with a gripping preface that led into a fascinating story about East End culture and masculinity.
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We also reviewed an album: “Go” by Rachel Chan. It’s the kind of album that folks on a Chick fil-A date night might have playing in the background. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOQsMVBXRjs">Here’s </a>a sample.Karen Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11541344386669774364noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492277044204173210.post-12851533575457985852012-04-04T10:05:00.000+01:002012-04-04T10:05:19.064+01:00Lydia Davis: What She KnewI’ve been thinking about identity and the internalised object following the PsyLitFilm symposium at Sussex University on Monday. I’ve been wondering, in particular, about a Lydia Davis vignette used to illustrate a loss of perception between the interior and the exterior in a paper given by Professor Josh Cohen on Bion and Laplanche and externalisation in literature and psychoanalysis. Here is the vignette: <br />
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<blockquote>What She Knew <br />
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People did not know what she knew, that she was not really a woman but a man, often a fat man, but more often, probably, an old man. The fact that she was an old man made it hard for her to be a young woman. It was hard for her to talk to a young man, for instance, though the young man was clearly interested in her. She had to ask herself, Why is this young man flirting with this old man?</blockquote><br />
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It’s only four sentences – a wisp of smoke, maybe – but there’s so much happening that it seems a shame to stop at using it to make one point about a problematic situation: a young woman who has not been able to communicate all of herself to a young man and the resulting breakdown between a “perfect” interior and an “imperfect” exterior. It’s amusing for a start. If the young woman is conscious of her external identity and if she is so acutely aware of the object she has internalised that she can describe his characteristics, then it is not really necessary for her to ask herself why the young man is interested in her, except to draw on irony when he flirts with her. There is also a suggestion that the internalised object is a changeable entity. That the object is “often a fat man” tells us that sometimes he is not – he might be a thin man or a muscular man, or even a woman. That he is “more often, probably, an old man” implies that he might be a young man, or, perhaps, a young or old woman during the times when he is “more often, probably” <i>not </i>an old man. The old, fat man isn’t therefore a prisoner of the young woman, or vice versa, if the object shifts and changes – perhaps as quickly as it takes to follow the meaning of the sentences. And what about the internalised object of the young man? Maybe it’s an old woman? Or a young woman? Or maybe not. Maybe the young man is as he appears. Maybe he is even aware of the young woman’s internalised object when he flirts with her. Maybe she knows he knows this too and this is why she finds it difficult to talk to him.Karen Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11541344386669774364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492277044204173210.post-79312036748177146532012-03-02T14:56:00.002+00:002012-03-02T15:23:24.346+00:00Review: Jamie Grace, Forbidden and Self-HelpRecorded another <a href="http://www.premierradio.org.uk/">Premier Review</a> show today due to be aired on 13 March at 4pm. <a href="http://www.julesrendell.co.uk/julesrendell/Home.html">Jules Rendell</a> and I reviewed two (awful) books: ‘Forbidden’ – a “lipstick confession” novel based on the story of David and Bathsheba – and ‘God Give Me Victory Over Anger’ – a “self-help” book steeped in <a href="http://baptistunionofgreatbritain.emailmsg.net/cgi-bin/c.pl?p=2%2E10%2E10%2E2%2E3%2E2012%40a%3A1196%2Ec%3A3%2Ee%3A470%2Er%3A16%2El%3A3530%2Eac%3ACL%2Es%3A3377">demonic possession</a> and Biblical literalism, and Jamie Grace’s album ‘One Song At A Time’, which was excellent (mix of R&B, folk, pop, acoustic). The last <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbRQvrBgCJA">track</a> on her album was particularly strong.Karen Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11541344386669774364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492277044204173210.post-31234525067963106422012-02-20T17:03:00.005+00:002012-10-05T22:11:31.554+01:00Nick Cohen's Attack on Jonathan Gledhill and Alan BeithAnother <a href="http://www.spectator.co.uk/nickcohen/7659123/attack-of-the-militant-secularists.thtml">article by Nick Cohen</a> inspiring a blogpost - this time in the Spectator. Here’s how it starts:<br />
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<blockquote>If you want to hear a <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9697000/9697507.stm">BBC discussion</a> going hopelessly wrong, listen to the ‘debate’ between the Bishop of Lichfield, Jonathan Gledhill (brother of the better-known Ruth) and Alan Beith on the Today programme this morning. Radio 4 meant it to be about the established church, and set the Anglican bishop against the Methodist Beith. </blockquote><br />
Did they? Methodists and Anglicans have been in Covenant since 2003. They are not arch-enemies out to slay one another. They work together ecumenically, share local churches together and support each other on a number of social issues. Also, Ruth Gledhill is not related to Jonathan Gledhill - an error that Ruth has pointed out on Twitter. <br />
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<blockquote>But a freemasonry of the faithful took over, and ‘balance’ went out of the window. Conformist and non-conformist united against their common enemy, ‘militant secularism’. Not just Anglicans and Methodists, Beith assured us, but Sikhs, Jews, Muslims and Hindus were at one in their fear of the secularist menace.</blockquote><br />
“Freemasonry”? An unfortunate term in this context. The first definition of freemasonry in the Oxford English Dictionary reads: “The system and institutions of the Freemasons.” Back in 1985 the Methodist Conference voted that Freemasonry competed with Christian beliefs. Cohen, however, would have meant the second definition of this term: “Instinctive sympathy or fellow feeling between people.” A less ambiguous choice of words would have been “a shared perspective”. The jumbled phrases continue through the paragraph with Cohen suggesting that Sir Beith says that Anglicans, Methodists, Sikhs, Jews, Muslims and Hindus are in “fear of the secularist menace”. He didn't say anything like this. In fact, Sir Beith stands up for the views of atheists, some of whom would agree with Mary Ann Sieghart's piece in the <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/mary-ann-sieghart/mary-ann-sieghart-you-dont-have-to-believe-in-god-to-cherish-the-church-7216680.html">Independent </a>this week.<br />
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<blockquote>‘It is bad enough having to put up with the platitudinous propaganda of Thought for the Day,’ I thought, ‘but this is too much.’</blockquote><br />
Thought for the Day takes up roughly one minute of scheduling time. It’s topical, features participants of different faiths and, I think, would be an even better slot if it featured humanists too. Why didn’t Cohen lay into the Sunday Programme, which lasts 45 minutes every week? Maybe he likes the Sunday Programme.Karen Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11541344386669774364noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492277044204173210.post-87249918187898541862012-01-30T15:56:00.002+00:002012-01-30T16:39:34.776+00:00Jonathan Franzen, Kindles and PaperbacksReading damages society. That’s another way of saying that e-books damage society. This was the headline in today’s Telegraph online: <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/hay-festival/9047981/Jonathan-Franzen-e-books-are-damaging-society.html">“Jonathan Franzen: e-books are damaging society”. </a>Franzen isn’t actually quoted as saying this in the article, but what he is quoted as saying is enough to provoke a backlash:<br />
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<blockquote>“The technology I like is the American paperback edition of Freedom. I can spill water on it and it would still work! So it's pretty good technology. And what’s more, it will work great 10 years from now. So no wonder the capitalists hate it. It’s a bad business model,” said Franzen, who famously cuts off all connection to the internet when he is writing. “I think, for serious readers, a sense of permanence has always been part of the experience. Everything else in your life is fluid, but here is this text that doesn’t change.</blockquote><br />
If you spilt water on your paperback, the ink might run (depending on the quality of the paperback). If it didn’t run, then it could start to fade. If your Kindle was damaged and had to be replaced, you wouldn’t lose your books because they’d be backed up electronically (on your Amazon account, for example). Still, I don’t think it’s helpful to pit e-books, hardbacks and paperbacks against one another, with one format emerging as the winner. They can compliment each other. <br />
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Franzen’s suggestion that e-books aren’t for “serious readers” isn’t really thought through. A student on her way to the library might want to read a novel on the bus and e-readers are small, fairly light to carry and take up hardly any space in a bag. For people who don’t have enough room in their home for a library, e-readers are a form of storage space. And there’s no need to lug the Oxford English Dictionary around with you either because the Kindle comes with a copy. If you wanted to know the meaning of a word, you just need to click on it with the cursor and the definition appears in the margin. Kindles are practical.<br />
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<blockquote>“Franzen said he took comfort from knowing he will not be here in 50 years’ time to find out if books have become obsolete… ‘Seriously,’ (he said) ‘the world is changing so quickly that if you had any more than 80 years of change I don’t see how you could stand it psychologically.’”</blockquote><br />
If Franzen felt like getting away from it all on a remote island, he might want to think about slipping a Kindle into his backpack - provided there's electricity on the island, of course.Karen Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11541344386669774364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492277044204173210.post-47203944199654317832012-01-20T22:49:00.000+00:002012-01-20T22:49:20.412+00:00Lisbeth Salander and FeminismI’ve come across Nick Cohen’s Guardian piece “<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jan/08/nick-cohen-stieg-larsson?commentpage=2#start-of-comments">Stieg Larsson was an extremist, not a feminist</a>” too late to leave a comment, so I’ll leave one here. This is what made me want to make one – Cohen’s closing paragraph:<br />
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<blockquote>I do not go to actors for political advice. But when Rooney Mara said that she did not think that Larsson's Salander was a feminist, she was not the empty-headed celebrity she seemed.</blockquote><br />
Salander is not Erika Berger; she wouldn’t call herself a feminist. She’s not really keen on labelling herself as anything. One of the most important things to understand about Salander is the likelihood that she has a high functioning form of autism. Blomkvist thinks she has Asperger’s. Her way of relating to herself and everyone and everything around her is affected by her psychological make-up. It’s not enough to quote Eva Gabrielsson saying that Salander’s "entire being represents a resistance, an active resistance to the mechanisms that mean women don't advance in this world and in worst-case scenarios are abused like she was" without mentioning the probablity that she also has Asperger’s. It’s key to a reader’s understanding of how Salander thinks and how Larsson drew her as a character.Karen Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11541344386669774364noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492277044204173210.post-48489474834314160182011-11-30T15:10:00.003+00:002011-11-30T15:13:35.503+00:00From Russia With LoveI’ve been immersing myself in Raymond Chandler novels recently, which probably accounts for this short blog post on the story about Ekaterina Zatuliveter who proved to a tribunal that she was not a honeytrapping spy from Russia sent to access defence secrets in the UK. <br />
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This is from the end of an article in <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2067544/My-darling-Teddy-bear-Diary-passionate-love-affair-Russian-honeytrap-clear.html?ito=feeds-newsxml">Daily Mail</a> online:<br />
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<blockquote>Their (the tribunal’s) ruling states: 'The picture painted by the diary entries is inconsistent with the Security Service's assessment that she was, most likely, tasked actively to pursue the offer of a relationship with Mr Hancock.<br />
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'The most likely explanation, and one which we find to be proved on the balance of probabilities, is that, however odd it might seem, she fell for him.' <br />
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Last night security officials insisted they were not in any way 'embarrassed' by the ruling and insisted their identification of Miss Zatuliveter as a potential threat to national security was correct.<br />
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The ruling said: 'We are satisfied that it is significantly more likely than not that she was and is not a Russian agent.' <br />
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However, it added: 'We cannot exclude the possibility that we have been gulled – but, if we have been, it has been by a supremely competent and rigorously trained operative.'</blockquote><br />
Right, so: “We don’t think you’re bluffing, but if you are we’ve called you on it anyway.”Karen Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11541344386669774364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492277044204173210.post-82818847195782102512011-11-04T16:49:00.010+00:002011-12-02T11:22:44.676+00:00Tori Amos; Cultural Olympiad; Review ShowBack from a pre-record of the Review Show for the Premier Radio <a href="http://www.premierradio.org.uk/premierdrive.aspx">Drive Time</a> slot due to be aired at 4pm on 14 November. This followed a morning at the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane for a press conference about the <a href="http://www.london2012.com/cultural-olympiad">Cultural Olympiad</a> (The Guardian was concerned about the cost of free cultural events during a time of recession; The Times wanted to know more about a major art installation by the Manhattan artists' collective YesYesNo which will span the length of Hadrian's Wall and The Telegraph wondered whether actors spouting Shakespeare along the walk from Westminster to the Southbank might be a bit too much for "grumpy Londoners" to take) - and an evening at the Hammersmith Apollo being blown away by Tori Amos (Suede; A Sorta Fairytale). <br />
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On the Review Show we discussed: <br />
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1) Film: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0rnLZN5r6w">Amélie</a> (10 year anniversary dvd)<br />
2) Book: Just Want To Be Loved for Me. <br />
3) CD: Kingsway triple pack. <br />
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And here is a picture from inside the Theatre Royal today:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKaNkCROQ0tbsg5PdSAjcahRlDyFtLjzw2hyphenhyphencPImncYmjIA6cInQOrZ1r99kjypEl3Av9XpG6nTgY7yZYYJDlpgaO29nYavUWJPSQ_MeGivNwVhniGa1Tc4-1qoDYI_QkMkNWV3Isv5F4/s1600/IMAG0079.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="200" width="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKaNkCROQ0tbsg5PdSAjcahRlDyFtLjzw2hyphenhyphencPImncYmjIA6cInQOrZ1r99kjypEl3Av9XpG6nTgY7yZYYJDlpgaO29nYavUWJPSQ_MeGivNwVhniGa1Tc4-1qoDYI_QkMkNWV3Isv5F4/s200/IMAG0079.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Quite.Karen Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11541344386669774364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492277044204173210.post-59545568833101015602011-10-28T14:42:00.000+01:002011-10-28T14:42:45.534+01:00Jack Clemo Poetry AwardsA poorly taken picture of <a href="http://www.jasperian.org/">Tony Jasper</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Mary_Holborow">Lady Mary Holborow</a> at <a href="http://www.societyofauthors.org/">The Society of Authors</a> yesterday:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaEuNjlRo_mSk5W5UF03OFXqg7bGMG8LET_MMZW_kNua6asCPTlz33RUC2VWmgmKVAAIV1ER1a5qqsVcuOIYvJgqE5Rwx0MzwCCLVNsrYQspi0-20VJvaChZGcIi3DMECsbLn-QhIGZkY/s1600/IMG_6505.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="134" width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaEuNjlRo_mSk5W5UF03OFXqg7bGMG8LET_MMZW_kNua6asCPTlz33RUC2VWmgmKVAAIV1ER1a5qqsVcuOIYvJgqE5Rwx0MzwCCLVNsrYQspi0-20VJvaChZGcIi3DMECsbLn-QhIGZkY/s200/IMG_6505.jpg" /></a></div><br />
The Arts Centre Group held their annual Jack Clemo Poetry Awards there.Karen Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11541344386669774364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492277044204173210.post-74838324226179561022011-10-21T10:55:00.000+01:002011-10-21T10:55:46.149+01:00House of CommonsLabour MP Meg Munn hosted an afternoon tea in celebration of the Methodist Recorder’s 150th anniversary year in the House of Commons yesterday. Here is a snap from inside Dining Room A:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwxSkgdGNMxnNmYTvl0Cm5s3vYPAnzQM1nQj_93jdaLUE4AqnSdFHdssSWRCMr7Ug4pY_AwOns1HoxqTXxMKK-ldf6JnyEYwV0O3ZAs9cGZIKORB_aYtfTZehllnS2rAVuPYNf8DDXefY/s1600/DSC01176.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="150" width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwxSkgdGNMxnNmYTvl0Cm5s3vYPAnzQM1nQj_93jdaLUE4AqnSdFHdssSWRCMr7Ug4pY_AwOns1HoxqTXxMKK-ldf6JnyEYwV0O3ZAs9cGZIKORB_aYtfTZehllnS2rAVuPYNf8DDXefY/s200/DSC01176.JPG" /></a></div><br />
Charles Dickens was writing Great Expectations and Queen Victoria was on the thrown when the first edition of the Recorder was published in 1861. After the Daily Telegraph, the paper was the oldest in Fleet Street and also one of the last to move out. The Methodist Recorder is now taking on the challenge of a digital age (I heard yesterday that its website will be revamped... soon).Karen Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11541344386669774364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492277044204173210.post-49800508620169140442011-09-02T15:02:00.001+01:002011-09-02T15:02:39.401+01:00Greenbelt 2011I’ve experienced a kind of Greenbelt overload since last week. I think this is because it was the first time I'd been and also because of what I was doing there: reporting for the <a href="http://www.methodistrecorder.co.uk/">Methodist Recorder</a> and compiling a podcast for Methodist Web Radio. The podcast is <a href="http://www.methodist.org.uk/index.cfm?fuseaction=opentogod.webradio">here</a> and the Recorder piece will be out next week.<br />
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Here are a few photos from the festival:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikG-qHVHdRybfFzw6uUbTGE1plw3ILo0HLeG5clIafovoBM78rDNnu8bvoY95HJHl6ncOz1N2-uJ_QXALGKPYVXvy25b9hmLu_Ql0F19Mg65mCCzOnvU7GYMSriE6-EgBKSYOuLJIdgkY/s1600/Mainstage+Greenbelt.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="150" width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikG-qHVHdRybfFzw6uUbTGE1plw3ILo0HLeG5clIafovoBM78rDNnu8bvoY95HJHl6ncOz1N2-uJ_QXALGKPYVXvy25b9hmLu_Ql0F19Mg65mCCzOnvU7GYMSriE6-EgBKSYOuLJIdgkY/s200/Mainstage+Greenbelt.JPG" /></a></div><br />
The Mainstage at Greenbelt<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd9M9PFVSBmszKPeNgL3re0-HRvyN88StmDn6KpsL7HIZNRQjAeE8iV3l64qB7GWh-dKzKoA2HMSB3I8lWuGoTryLNdcc4KbQtiUkYtjLwn6bmN9ZH3BitXlGOrDEkQOR2LOvOfrRCkd0/s1600/Poverty+debate1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="150" width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd9M9PFVSBmszKPeNgL3re0-HRvyN88StmDn6KpsL7HIZNRQjAeE8iV3l64qB7GWh-dKzKoA2HMSB3I8lWuGoTryLNdcc4KbQtiUkYtjLwn6bmN9ZH3BitXlGOrDEkQOR2LOvOfrRCkd0/s200/Poverty+debate1.JPG" /></a></div><br />
Debate on poverty in the UK<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitJCc0iT5QRCrtoK4PdgKh2RDexVwH2R2OR7Jb7zfXMqKm1JtklwLqVt0iwIHIISnl1ZagWm9x8jxs5uZrl4LbZVkACtPGRwVg-yajG7fbikCW2vmfXlkgX99LHsFPfRXp_8Z75yG409M/s1600/George1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="150" width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitJCc0iT5QRCrtoK4PdgKh2RDexVwH2R2OR7Jb7zfXMqKm1JtklwLqVt0iwIHIISnl1ZagWm9x8jxs5uZrl4LbZVkACtPGRwVg-yajG7fbikCW2vmfXlkgX99LHsFPfRXp_8Z75yG409M/s200/George1.JPG" /></a></div><br />
George Luke, DJ and gig organiser for the Performance Cafe<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiNYjIJGgmJ5RfepqS8OJcGp4MBv5gFiWtZ1jIpaSmfZpnivH2Wtc9x1QCe4bYiVvuvLaoBq9X3FMv3Ld9nyaENND7PKdEUz8eNGiMEF2ceeeQq0isdOjMYkEpYbQuoDG0Lo1yrmJ0ZCw/s1600/Performance+Cafe1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="150" width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiNYjIJGgmJ5RfepqS8OJcGp4MBv5gFiWtZ1jIpaSmfZpnivH2Wtc9x1QCe4bYiVvuvLaoBq9X3FMv3Ld9nyaENND7PKdEUz8eNGiMEF2ceeeQq0isdOjMYkEpYbQuoDG0Lo1yrmJ0ZCw/s200/Performance+Cafe1.JPG" /></a></div><br />
The Performance Cafe<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhST0_3Rfd2xTH5YbvPjIThpjm_p5mTBrHqXt3aN1-TxLIcGu_BAZLgzxuqEw_rWV6L97iPA8627oaVTjdPmNq3RIVOfUtHrzTDpILCPZg3usXlAyYvCrGByk-sjIBt-BLPGSvrKUVWuNk/s1600/Stella+Duffy1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="150" width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhST0_3Rfd2xTH5YbvPjIThpjm_p5mTBrHqXt3aN1-TxLIcGu_BAZLgzxuqEw_rWV6L97iPA8627oaVTjdPmNq3RIVOfUtHrzTDpILCPZg3usXlAyYvCrGByk-sjIBt-BLPGSvrKUVWuNk/s200/Stella+Duffy1.JPG" /></a></div><br />
Writer and performer, Stella Duffy<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw02IHj5wyBeLxVf9OVLqDNN7ozCQ1kt5WzA0CUaZop23HqTZsfOi0x5x91URrlmr6Fwtl4bOxQ_yuR2O8mPFuxuqV1Gk7e2mqgnhCPNxgesUdDpg6AFjhFXD_Novx56izEHGWvNBJfSQ/s1600/Me1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="150" width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw02IHj5wyBeLxVf9OVLqDNN7ozCQ1kt5WzA0CUaZop23HqTZsfOi0x5x91URrlmr6Fwtl4bOxQ_yuR2O8mPFuxuqV1Gk7e2mqgnhCPNxgesUdDpg6AFjhFXD_Novx56izEHGWvNBJfSQ/s200/Me1.JPG" /></a></div><br />
Me in front of Mainstage in between rain showers, looking no way near as stylish as Stella.<br />
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Karen Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11541344386669774364noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492277044204173210.post-51634804256794260732011-09-02T10:45:00.000+01:002012-10-05T22:14:37.703+01:00Isreali Philharmonic Orchestra targeted by ProtestersI feel for the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra this morning after a small group of protesters wrecked their performance at The Royal Albert Hall last night. The concert had to be pulled live off air from BBC Radio 3. You can hear the protesters shouting: “Off, off, off,” on a recording featured on <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/proms/8736652/Proms-Palestinian-protest-at-Royal-Albert-Hall-forces-BBC-to-abandon-live-broadcast.html">The Telegraph</a> online today. What got me was that Communications Minister Ed Vaizey, who was in the audience, tweeted: “Demonstrators seemed to have turned the entire audience pro-Israel.”<br />
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I’ll say it again: Being Pro-Israel does not mean that you are anti-Palestinian or that you endorse every policy that the Israeli Government makes. I am pro-Israel. That doesn’t mean I support the denial of human rights. For all the protesters know, the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra doesn’t support oppression either. And yet they get booed off the stage purely because they are Israelis. No one equates the statement: “I am pro-American” with the same logic; that is: “I support all American foreign policy.” Why does this happen with Israel? Now it seems that anyone from Israel, whether that someone be a musician, an athlete, an artist or a writer, is a controversial figure merely for being Israeli. I remember meeting a tourist from Tel Aviv in a London pub. She hadn’t said anything more than where she came from, but it was enough for a couple of people around her not to want to have anything more to do with her. <br />
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Ed Vaizey’s final tweet last night was a link to <a href="http://www.artsjournal.com/slippeddisc/2011/09/israel-proms-attack-the-depressing-pointlessness-of-dialogue.html">this blog post</a>, which is worth reading.Karen Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11541344386669774364noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492277044204173210.post-79932117155412157802011-08-17T11:45:00.001+01:002011-08-17T11:53:53.793+01:00Comprehensive SchoolsMelissa Benn has written a lengthy piece in <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/aug/16/crisis-britains-education-system">G2 </a>today about the disparities between private and state school education in the UK. In it she quotes Tory MP Oliver Letwin who reportedly said that he would rather “beg on the street” than let his child go to a school like Lilian Baylis Technology School in Kennington. Aside from the fact that the atmosphere “could not present a greater contrast with schools such as Wellington”; that “75 per cent of the children are on free school meals” and that the school has “a far higher percentage of children with special educational needs”, we don’t learn why Oliver Letwin is so horrified. There’s no mention of the curriculum. We’re told that “successful learning" at the school depends on a “range of support and mentoring” but we are not told what they learning. Perhaps the needs of the students at Lilian Baylis mean that this school doesn’t reflect the range of subjects on offer at the average state school. What is the range of subjects on offer at the average state school? How many comprehensive schools, for example, teach French, German and Spanish? How many offer politics and economics at GCSE? Are there any state schools (excluding grammar schools) that teach Greek and Latin? Or is it that the kids who want to learn have to hope to come across books like Primo Latino in order to teach it to themselves. Karen Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11541344386669774364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492277044204173210.post-10784447527895319742011-08-16T10:44:00.002+01:002011-08-16T10:47:02.262+01:00Drive Time - Premier RadioI'll be on Premier Radio today just after 4pm for the Review Show. We'll be talking about:<br />
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1) <a href="http://www.eden.co.uk/ishmaels-songs-and-hymns/">Ishmael's Songs and Hymns</a>.<br />
2) <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Soul-Food-Mums-Lucinda-France-Williams/dp/184474521X">Soul Food For Mums</a> - Lucinda van der Hart and Anna France-Williams.<br />
3) <a href="http://shop.soulsurvivor.com/Products/544-buy-the-latest-soul-survivor-worship-dvd.aspx">Soul Survivor</a> - live worship from Kingsway.<br />
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Karen Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11541344386669774364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492277044204173210.post-65525687436750444892011-07-21T12:46:00.004+01:002011-07-25T14:48:46.500+01:00Nijinsky and DiaghilevHow exciting: A new <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/features/the-lure-of-nijinsky-2316965.html ">play </a>about Nijinsky and Diaghilev called Rattigan’s Nijinsky. Rattigan is said to have described the dancer and impresario as "the two most famous lovers since Romeo and Juliet”. According to the piece in yesterday's Indie, Rattigan was blackmailed by Nijinsky's widow, Romala Nikinsky, into withdrawing a screenplay commissioned by the BBC in 1974 and Nicholas Wright’s new play explores this. Journalist Paul Taylor wonders why Rattigan, who had never written openly about gay male relationships before, decided he would write about Nijinsky and Diaghilev when Romala was still alive, adding (in brackets) that “(since her husband's death, Romola had somehow managed to become both intensely homophobic and a practising lesbian)”. I wonder if Rattigan knew that (it’s not that uncommon an occurrence) and, if so, exactly what it was that he knew about her and how she would react to his script?Karen Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11541344386669774364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492277044204173210.post-55802872794425521682011-07-17T17:45:00.008+01:002011-07-18T18:06:27.542+01:00La Teta AsustadaHa qualcuno visto il film <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAxBkfBBTTI">La Teta Asustada </a>? Non avevo mai sentito di questo film fino alla settimana scorsa quando lo vedevo in un cinema tedesco. In tedesco si chiama <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JbYbJMSfl4">Eine Perle Ewigkeit </a>ed in inglese <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBw85DXCc2U">The Milk Of Sorrow </a>(non sono traduzioni l’uno dell’ altro).<br />
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Che fortissimo questo film. Claudia Llosa (il direttore) rende una bellezza triste di un pease che non conosco - Peru. E Magaly Solier (chi interpreta Fausta – la protagonista) e’ meravigliosa. Un film profondo. C’era una donna nel cinema che doveva uscire perche non poteva risparare bene dopo comincava la storia trista di Fausta – una ragazza che fosse nato dopo il stupro della sua mamma durante il terrismo all’inzio degli anni ottanta. Pensando di proteggersi contro lo stesso destino, Fausta porta una patata dentro il suo sesso che le causa tanti problemi medicali e psicologici. La trama del film riguarda la morta della mamma di Fausta e la determinazione di Fausta a pagare per la sua sepoltura e portarla al suo villaggio ancestrale. Fausta prende un lavoro come domestica per una pianista chi ha abbastanza soldi e abbastanza collera a gettare un pianoforte fuori della sua finestra se le cose non vanno come vuole. Quando la pianista sente Fausta cantando, le dice che possa avere una perla dalla sua collana ogni volta che canti. Ma la pianista rompa quest’ accordo con Fausta. Lei esegue una canzone di Fausta davanti un teatro pieno di gente, senza chiedando Fausta per la sua permissione. « Tutto Lima era li, » la pianista dice nel tassi dopo la rappresentazione. Fausta, viso orgoglioso, dice, « Te e’ piacuto, no?» La pianista ordina Fausta di uscire della macchina.<br />
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Da questo punto, succedono alcune cose inspiegabili. <br />
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Fausta ritorna alla casa della pianista e trova le sue parle nella sua camera di letto. Le trova per terra. Ma perche erano li ? Dove era la pianista ? E cosa succede quando la pianista vedeva che non c’erano piu’?<br />
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Dopo questo, Fausta sveine nella strada a causa della sua maladia (la patata). Il giardinere di casa della pianista (un amico di Fausta) la trova per strada. Ma come sapeva che era la? Lei stava seguendo o qualcuno gli diceva ? Una coincidenza?<br />
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Alla fine del film Fausta ha l’operazione di togliere la patata dal suo sesso e vediamola nel carro di suo zio, portando il corpo della sua mamma fuori Lima al suo paese ancestrale. Quando Fausta vede il mare nella distanza, scende dallo carro e porta il cadavere della sua mamma al di la’ del deserto verso il mare. Benche il suo cadavere sia stato imbalsamato e coperto, dovesse stato scomodissimo per Fausta a portarla cosi dopo al meno un mese di decomporre. Per me questo era la giustapposizione ultima del film – l’imagine cinematografica del deserto, del mare, di Fausta e il suo fagotto sulla sua schiena (tutto quello che porta una bellezza triste) contro la realta’ (che non spieghero’ qua ma che potresti immaginare).Karen Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11541344386669774364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492277044204173210.post-53627789077579624202011-06-10T13:44:00.010+01:002013-02-21T20:04:45.481+00:00Literary ClichesSince yesterday literary clichés have been bugging me. After reading Philip Hensher in the Telegraph today and listening to Martin Amis in the Guardian Book’s podcast yesterday, it seems that writing in a straightforward fashion risks being cliché. (<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/audio/2011/jun/03/books-podcast-eastern-europe">Martin Amis</a>: “Whenever a novelist writes ‘she rummaged in her handbag,’ this is dead freight.” Zadie Smith’s makes the same point, which I’ll return to in a minute.)<br />
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Here is Philip Hensher in the <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/8564092/Tea-Obrehts-The-Tigers-Wife-is-competent-but-lapses-into-literary-cliches.html">Telegraph </a>(tweeted today) reviewing Tea Obreht’s novel The Tigger’s Wife:<br />
<blockquote>And it suffers slightly from banality in the writing. The literary novel has its own dreaded clichés by now – “These stories run like secret rivers through all the other stories of his life” – to which Ms Obreht adds universal clichés – “Dobravka was a woman possessed”. Her editor might have told her not to use the expression “I thought to myself,” too. </blockquote>I wonder if it will become cliché to write, for example, that she sat down and drank a cup of coffee? It’s an activity that many people do often. How else should writers describe it? One of the reasons Stieg Larsson’s books work so well is that the picture is clear: “He put down his coffee. He got up from the chair. He opened the door. He walked down the street.” (Those are paraphrases.) <br />
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Going back to Zadie Smith and her 2007 essay "<a href="http://faculty.sunydutchess.edu/oneill/failbetter.htm">Fail Better</a>":<br />
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<blockquote>“With a cliche you have pandered to a shared understanding, you have taken a short-cut, you have re-presented what was pleasing and familiar rather than risked what was true and strange. It is an aesthetic and an ethical failure: to put it very simply, you have not told the truth. When writers admit to failures they like to admit to the smallest ones - for example, in each of my novels somebody "rummages in their purse" for something because I was too lazy and thoughtless and unawake to separate "purse" from its old, persistent friend "rummage". To rummage through a purse is to sleepwalk through a sentence.”</blockquote><br />
Alternatives are not suggested. Perhaps there is a fear that they too might become clichés? The key here is “true and strange”. A writer might be describing a scene that is true and strange, but reaching for the thesaurus won’t necessarily help a writer to communicate the event’s truthfulness or strangeness. I am not arguing for novels full of aphorisms and empty clichés; I am questioning whether we will see writers dressing up scenes or ideas with fancy language.<br />
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Are we far away from reading that “he said” has become a literary cliché?Karen Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11541344386669774364noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492277044204173210.post-50624273733206823562011-05-31T08:00:00.001+01:002011-05-31T08:01:42.635+01:00The ReviewI’ll be on Premier Radio Drive Time Review today at 4pm. We’ll be reviewing:<br />
<blockquote>1) Novel: <a href="http://www.roseandcrownbooks.com/books/BlueFreedom-SandraPeut.html">Blue Freedom </a>by Sandra Peut. (But don’t read that: read this – <a href=" http://ronajaffe.com/bestofeverything/boebook.html">The Best of Everything</a> by Rona Jaffe.)<br />
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2) Album: <a href="http://www.eden.co.uk/love-shine-through/">Love Shines Through</a> by Tim Hughes.<br />
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3) Social Media: Hisbook<a href="http://www.hisbook.org.uk/"></a>.</blockquote><br />
No self-help books this time. Phew.Karen Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11541344386669774364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492277044204173210.post-8121670045304603822011-05-16T11:30:00.000+01:002011-05-16T11:30:41.820+01:00Middle East - Objective Reporting?Well done to the BBC for its objective reporting of the border clashes in the Middle East on Radio 4’s Today Programme this morning. John Humphrys reported that there was great anger among Palestinians in the Middle East over how Israel reacted when Palestinian demonstrators massed on Israel’s borders yesterday: twelve were shot dead and many more were injured. The demonstrations were timed to mark the 63rd anniversary of the creation of the state of Israel. Some of the demonstrators crossed the border into Israel and some of the demonstrators were throwing stones. We also learned from an interview included in the BBC’s report that Lebanese forces also opened fire. <br />
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By comparison, other reports have referred only to Nakba Day with no mention Yom Ha'atzmaut. <br />
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This is the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/16/israeli-shootings-middle-east-unrest">Guardian</a>: <blockquote>Demonstrators commemorating Nakba day, marking the 1948 war in which hundreds of thousands of people became refugees after being forced out of their homes, were met with live gunfire, rubber bullets, stun grenades and teargas.<br />
</blockquote>And here is how it should have been done (from The <a href="http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/middleeast/article3020066.ece">Times</a>): <blockquote>During protests to mark the 63rd anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel, described by Palestinians as the Nakba, or “catastrophe”, unprecedented numbers turned out at the three hostile frontiers in scenes that quickly turned to carnage. </blockquote>Karen Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11541344386669774364noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492277044204173210.post-1013556683692584102011-05-10T12:26:00.004+01:002011-05-10T12:31:16.084+01:00Gay and Lesbian FarmersI've written an article about gay farmers for Guardian CIF. If you are a gay or lesbian farmer, you might be interested in this:<br />
<blockquote>Christians are not generally known for breaking new ground when it comes to gay rights; they're usually struggling to catch up. Take a look back at this year for example: <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/18/gay-couple-win-case-hoteliers">Christian B&B owners</a> discriminating against a gay couple, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/feb/28/christian-couple-lose-care-case">Pentecostal foster parents</a> insisting on being allowed to teach that homosexuality is morally wrong and continuing Christian resistance to <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/22/catholic-challenge-gay-marriage-church">gay marriage</a>. Who would have thought that a helpline set up to support gay farmers was run by a Christian chaplain? But that's exactly what's happened.<br />
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Keith Ineson is an ex-farmer who now works as a chaplain for <a href="http://www.cheshire-churches-together.org.uk/">Churches Together in Cheshire</a>. He extended the remit of his chaplaincy after handling more than one case of a farmer suffering from suicidal thoughts because he felt unable to come out as gay. Within six months of launching the dedicated helpline at the end of 2009, Ineson had received 52 calls – mostly from gay farmers over 50, some of whom were single, and all of whom felt imprisoned, thinking that they were the only gay farmer around. The concern is that if Ineson stopped work tomorrow, the helpline would stop with him: there is a need for Christians with rural knowledge and an understanding of gay issues to get involved in the work Keith is doing. </blockquote>For the full article, see <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2011/may/10/helpline-gay-farmers">here</a>.Karen Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11541344386669774364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492277044204173210.post-81127104080074394162011-04-10T21:27:00.009+01:002011-04-10T22:17:41.074+01:00Video ArtSpring is in the air:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhaw656fKJhRLLVwDdhjXVn9ovgd_9le0mBTIwMbOsLmFnglFanuhkI1eIHM0DcpWxfdI2fDm0WYuo4VdOYXTLc9XF5etjPkJbd9ABD_fhxxfeVojWqgH9zhSMox7zCENG5z0juq3bH1c/s1600/08042011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="150" width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhaw656fKJhRLLVwDdhjXVn9ovgd_9le0mBTIwMbOsLmFnglFanuhkI1eIHM0DcpWxfdI2fDm0WYuo4VdOYXTLc9XF5etjPkJbd9ABD_fhxxfeVojWqgH9zhSMox7zCENG5z0juq3bH1c/s200/08042011.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Film theorist/artist <a href="http://kent.academia.edu/PaulTaberham">Paul Taberham</a> and myself captured a gorgeous April day in a short piece of video art this weekend. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stan_Brakhage">Stan Brakhage</a> was a strong influence. I hope you enjoy. Double click on the image below for the full screen (otherwise you'll only see the left half of the picture):<br />
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<object style="height: 390px; width: 640px"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/wzq9ELX_bNE?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/wzq9ELX_bNE?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="390"></object>Karen Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11541344386669774364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492277044204173210.post-85929723779560911422011-04-01T18:33:00.000+01:002011-04-01T18:33:33.951+01:00Speaker's House and Rose Hudson-WilkinI was in the Speaker’s bedroom this afternoon: <br />
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There isn’t a sheet under the bedspread (maybe it’s with <a href="http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23920176-our-bedroom-secrets-by-sally-bercow---becoming-speaker-has-turned-my-husband-into-a-sex-symbol.do">Sally</a>). And it’s polyester (in case you thought it was satin).<br />
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Anyhow, the reason we were there was to hear Revd Rose Hudson-Wilkin, the speaker’s chaplain, talk about her work. She’s the first woman - and the first black woman - to be appointed since the role was created (she’s the 79th person in post). <br />
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She talked about how she wanted to give young black people positive role models, just as she had wanted her children to see positive images of themselves when they were growing up. When her husband (a Geordie vicar) was offered a job as a priest in rural Oxfordshire some years ago, Rose personally told her husband’s boss that they weren’t able to move to rural Oxfordshire because it wasn’t a multi-ethnic area. Her husband’s boss turned around and said: “But there are lots of black people in the prisons.” I reckon that’s what Jackie Kay would call casual racism.<br />
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She also said that her work in Parliament had not stopped her being active in her church in Hackney and that when someone invites you into their home and lets you love them, then that’s a great privilege. I thought that was profound.Karen Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11541344386669774364noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492277044204173210.post-75484467088823369232011-03-24T10:53:00.000+00:002011-03-24T10:53:16.321+00:00Elizabeth TaylorGlamour icon Elizabeth Taylor is all over the press today hailed as “the last goddess” who marks the “end of an era” that will “never, ever return”. <br />
<br />
Some great Elizabeth Taylor quotes in today’s <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1369180/Elizabeth-Taylor-8-marriages-50-movies-2-Oscars-100-operations-360m-fortune.html">Daily Mail</a>. <br />
<br />
The <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9434000/9434480.stm">Today </a>programme this morning featured Elizabeth Taylor’s co-star Angela Lansbury who said this to Sarah Montague:<br />
<br />
<blockquote>“We will never, ever see those days again. The world has done a complete roundabout turn. Never, never will it be like that…<br />
“I did like (Elizabeth) because I felt she was a good egg, do you know what I mean by that?”</blockquote><br />
Things haven’t changed so much that we don’t know what that means.Karen Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11541344386669774364noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492277044204173210.post-20165644647132206092011-03-16T10:37:00.002+00:002013-02-21T19:41:29.822+00:00AV Referendum on May 5thOh dear. This is what <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/mar/15/miliband-av-good-for-voters">Ed Milliband</a> wants us to ask ourselves on May 5th:<br />
<br />
<blockquote>"Are you happy with the state of British politics? If the answer is no, then seize this opportunity for change."<br />
</blockquote><br />
This is not the question that voters are being asked. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1365293/AV-voting-reform-threat-democracy.html">Here </a>is a more chilling point to consider:<br />
<br />
<blockquote>“(Under an AV system) Supporters of fringe parties, such as the far-right BNP, are likely to have their second, and perhaps third, preferences counted, while those backing mainstream parties may be counted only once.<br />
In an open letter yesterday historians warned that the proposed changes would undermine ‘the principle that each person’s vote is equal, regardless of wealth, gender, race or creed... a principle upon which reform of our parliamentary democracy still stands’.<br />
They added: ‘For the first time in centuries we face the unfair idea that one citizen’s vote might be worth six times that of another. It will be a tragic consequence if those votes belong to supporters of extremist and non-serious parties.’ <br />
</blockquote>Karen Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11541344386669774364noreply@blogger.com0