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PLEASE RELEASE ME...LET ME GO
I never learn. I always think I know best. Sadly, where commissions and deadlines are concerned, I'm just wrong. In fact, to borrow one of Clarkson's meaphors, the last time a man was this wrong, he was called Neville and he was waving a piece of paper in his hand talking about peace in our time. I've just put the final full stop in the final of two features that have been outstanding now for the best part of three months. That's right. A quarter of a year. I landed the commissions in August; the research and interviews were completed by the middle of October and I had everything I needed to write, edit and sumbit the copy then. I didn't of course, in the same way that the schoolboy me never completed homework until the night before it was due. I think I write better when under pressure. This time, I had a deadline of December - except Christmas kind of got in the way and...ah sod it, I'm rambling. Editor happily told me he could wait until today for the copy and on Wednesday, I finally bit the bullet and sat down to write. By mid-day yesterday it was all done. I am a free man again. Now, that didn't hurt, did it? What else? Had a meeting on Tuesday with a potential backer for a new magazine which I'm considering launching. Lots to sort out yet, but in principal, there's nothing to stop us - everything seems to be in place and there's a definite gap in the market. More when I know it.
Been utterly engrossed once again with the BBC's Big Cat Week which, as last year, has been running all this week on BBC1 at 19:00. It is utterly compelling viewing with three separate crews on the Masai Mara shadowing three families of Big Cats throughout this week - Bella the Leopard and her cub Chui; Cheza and Sala, two adorable lion cubs and their pride and Kike, a Cheetah and her cubs. To me, Leopards are one of the most beautiful species of animal on the planet and by far, my most favourite of all the big cats. They're so lean, so focused, so efficient in every respect. Every fibre of the leopard's being works to one common objective - to be a ruthlessly effecient hunting machine, despatching its prey quickly and cleanly with nothing wasted. There's something indescribably beautiful about the tragedy of the hunt, seeing any of these creatures stalking its prey and moving in for the kill. Sad though it is to see, there's an desperate inevitability about it, each animal playing its part in the circle of life. Watching the respective cubs struggle for survival against the odds, mum fighting conflicting urges to abandon them and hunt for their next meal or staying to protect them and so stare starvation in the face.
Once again, full marks to the BBC for yet another top nature program - informative, fascinating and beautifully shot. The final part is on tonight - watch it and contrast the inate beauty and purity of the idea compared to the crass, car crash TV that is Channel Four's 'Celebrity Big Brother' - another program which will be broadcast every night for the next couple of weeks. Have a great weekend all - it's nice to be back, and I can face the weekend knowing that I've nothing of any great weight facing me next week so blog-wise, normal service will resume then. |
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7.1.05 11:50 |
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OBFUSCATE, OBFUSCATE, OBFUSCATE
I'm still in regular contact with the people I met in Baghdad during my assignment there last year. Friendships forged under such intense conditions tend to endure given the shared experiences of life under fire, despite the erratic contact that living on opposite sides of the globe imposes. I had an interesting telephone conversation with J last week, one of the Brits who made my stay in Iraq so much fun. Unlike my parent agency, which recalled me to the UK when the security situation deteriorated, hers kept her out there and she's been working there ever since with just the odd trip back to England to keep her sane. She says that the situation on the ground there now is worse than at any time since the end of the War and that the close protection teams who provide bodyguard services to British and American staff are no longer prepared to guarantee security along the notorious Qadisiyah Expressway, the 15 mile stretch of road which links Baghdad's Green Zone with BIAP, its airport. When Tony Blair paid a surprise visit to the Green Zone last month, he made the journey by helicopter. It's a move which has now become the defacto means of transport for my friend J and those British and U.S staff still working tirelessly to rebuild the shattered infrastructure, whenever they enter or leave Iraq.
Until recently, the Qadisiyah Expressway betwen the airport and city centre was said to the world's most expensive 'taxi ride' as the CP teams employed to protect Coalition staff charged around £2,750 ($5,108) for the perilous journey. The route has long been the scene of regular attacks and kidnappings by insurgents and security costs have soared in Iraq to reflect the escalating risks for foreign workers. When available, the high-speed drive costs four times more than the £670 that Royal Jordanian charges for a one-way flight from London to Baghdad via Amman. It equates to about £183 a mile compared to 25p a mile for the 2,540-mile flight on the only commercial airline flying to Baghdad. Royal Jordanian offers two daily 90-minute flights, although times are subject to changes and cancellations, depending on whether the airport is under mortar attack. Known as 'BIAP', the airport is the hub of the US-led coalition's military activities, while the high-security "green zone" is the centre of civilian administration. What that £2,750 buys you is two armoured SUVs and four Western ex-military bodyguards, usually American, South African or British, packing MP5 submachine guns, M16 rifles and/or AK47 assault rifles. The client rides in one vehicle at speeds averaging 100 mph, while the other, called the "gun car", travels close-by, looking out for potential assailants. Since the beginning of the resistance, this vital route has come under attack from car bombs, suicide attacks, snipers and rocket-propelled grenades. As if to drive the point home, the three Britons killed in one attack last week were targeted as they left the military checkpoint at the Green Zone's Gate 12, which is the entry and exit point for the Qadisiyah Expressway.
J also informs me that the insurgents are using snipers with some success to target people moving around within the Green Zone - unconfirmed reports last week said that two people had been killed in this manner.
All of this should come as no surprise of course, given that many commentators reported last week that "the head of Iraq's intelligence service, General Muhammad Shahwani now puts the number of insurgents at 200,000" The BBC's report stated; "These figures do not represent an insurgency. They represent a war" with "insurgents now outnumbering the number of US troops in country".
Well, fair enough. Except that General Shahwani, appears to have been widely - and literally -misinterpreted. An original translation of the original Jan. 4 interview in Al-Sharq newspaper makes it clear he's talking about the passive support of the insurgency. Christoper Allbritton, the former AP and New York Daily News reporter who is working as a freelancer in Baghdad provides the following translation on his website, Back to Iraq:
At least the BBC included some of the supporting quotes in its report, putting the soundbite in context. But some other sections of the media - and much of the blogoshpere - seem intent on seeing only what it wants to see and reporting that as fact where Gen. Shahwani's quotes are concerned. Gen Shawani has his own agenda anyway, so just who are we to believe? Confusion, or deliberate misrepresentaion of the facts? Regardless of the actual figure, insurgents are engaging U.S and British forces in the worst type of battle - street by street, house by house, and with a faceless ghost of an enemy. BBC reporter Paul Wood was embedded with the US' 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment last month as they undertook bitter street fighting in the battle to capture Fallujah. The 16 minute video report which he filed is a first class example of battlefield reportage and captures perfectly the stress and chaos of house to house combat. Watch it here. With the planned election date of January 30th rapidly approaching, and no end in sight to the insurgents' attempts to destabalise the whole process, expect further half truths and obfuscation of facts to emanate from the various agencies involved as they attempt to aportion blame with the attendant internecine rivalries that encompasses. |
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10.1.05 13:18 |
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BACK TO REALITY
Had a really laid-back weekend with A on a sleepover at friends. A quiet night in on Saturday with a bottle of wine, a take away from the local Indian and a fantastic DVD on the home entertainment system - Francis Ford Coppola's seminal work, The Godfather. I bought P the box set of the trilogy at Christmas and with time on our hands, it seemed the perfect moment to settle back and enjoy the first of the three discs. Sunday was more of the same; a lazy morning with bacon sandwiches, plentiful black coffee and copious quantities of freshly squeezed orange juice courtesy of the Phillips Citrus Press I treated us to just before New Year. What a great buy! £8.00 and it's a real joy to use. Since I've had it, the kitchen has been stocked with bowls brimming with Oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruit and pineapples and every morning sees me busy making up glasses of fresh juice. Far nicer than anything shop-bought and claiming to be 100% fresh. P's off on holiday to Cape Town next month with a friend so she was busy making arrangement for that while I kicked back and surfed the net. Later in the afternoon, we watched Speileberg's artistic and commercial triumph, Schindler's List on DVD - me for about the 7th time, but P had never seen it before. It never fails to move me. Fancied something tasty for dinner last night so I made for the kitchen and cooked some home made prawn crackers. There's something therapeutic about cooking them, dropping them one by one into the wok, watching them crisp up in the hot oil and then removing them. They're quick and easy to prepare and far tastier than anything you'll get from your local Chinese take away which fries them in bulk in advance so that they're stale by the time they reach you. With the radio on and a glass of chilled Sauvignon Blanc in hand, I was in heaven. Prawn crackers on their own are fine, but accompanying a home cooked Chinese they're just devine. One of the benefits of home cooked Chinese is the depth of flavour of the dishes; unlike your local take away which will use whatever is cheapest, you can choose the finest ingredients, prepare them with care and serve them up unadulterated by MSG. I cooked Szechuan Chicken last night, one of my favourite dishes and I've included the recipe below. I'm a regular visitor to Wing Yip for staples like soy sauce, Shaosing Rice Wine, chili oil etc but most of the ingredients are available from your local Tesco or Sainsbury these days. Like many Asian recipes, this one is extremely tasty and simple to prepare. The chicken is best prepared and left to marinate overnight meaning that when you come to cook it, you need only chop the ingredients to stir fry it with and make up the sauce. I've adapted this recipe from one of Madhur Jaffrey's ethnic Asian cook books. The original dish used Beef, but I've substituted this with chicken thighs which I prefer over breast meat for its deeper flavour and better texture. This should serve three/four people and takes no more than ten minutes to prepare and cook. Serve with Thai Fragrant Rice and prawn crackers Szechuan Chicken
Ingredients:
For the marinade:ffice
For the sauce:
Method: First debone and remove the skin from the chicken thighs. Chop into small chunks. Make up marinade by mixing ingredients together; place chicken in marinade and leave in refrigerator overnight.
Finely slice the garlic gloves, the chilli and the tops of three spring onions; very finely slice the green stems of the spring onions and reserve for garnish.
Heat about 2 inches of peanut oil in a wok until smoking, then deep fry the chicken in three batches for 2 to 3 minutes until golden brown; drain well and reserve. Dispose of the oil, clean the wok and return to the heat until smoking. Then add a tablespoon of peanut oil and add the garlic, spring onions and chilli. Fry for one or two minutes to flavour the oil.
Add the deep-fried chicken pieces and stir-fry it all together for two to three minutes. Then add the sauce and as it starts to bubble, stir the chicken until its all well coated. |
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10.1.05 14:31 |
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IGNORANCE NO EXCUSE
Random Acts of Reality is a blog written by a London Paramedic called Tom. In it, he provides a fascinating insight into the trials and tribulations of life in the London Ambulance Service in much the same way as Copper's Blog does about the frustations of life as an English police officer. Both blogs attract significant traffic - in excess of 5,000 hits per day - and have been reported on by various sections of the media as representative of the blogging genre. Last week, Tom was invited to appear on a BBC Radio Scotland program to discuss the whole 'employee blogging' thing. Also on the programme were an internet lawyer, a pro-blogging journalist and an anti-blogging employer. Given the recent furore over U.S blogger Ellen Simonetti's dismissal by employer Delta Airlines when her blog came to light, the whole issue of blogs and employers has been thrust into the spotlight. Tom' saw his role on the program as an opportunity to show that "employees who blog are not some form of secret-leaking, confidentiality breaching, libel monsters". The program gives a fascinating perspective, if only due to the sheer ignorance and pomposity of "Bob, the anti-blogging business owner" who has to be heard to be believed. Thankfully, given the wonders of modern technology, you too can listen to him making an utter fool of himself here - the segment of the program about blogging is 16 minutes long and in RealAudio format.
Bob seems not to realise the irony of his position. Here is a man concerned about blogging from the perspective that it allows anyone to publish anything unchecked. He talks about his fear of blogs gifting their authors access to a large population without the checks and balances that attach to journalists through training. I guess his worry is that, without journalistic training, there is no onus on bloggers to check facts or report ethically leading to widespread incidence of libel. I'm guessing, because despite having some valid points to make, Bob's message is drowned out by his sheer pomposity and arrogance - whatever soundbite he was going for, he missed. The irony is that, having slated blogs for the platform they give to their authors, he then rants and raves to the listening audience of BBC Radio Scotland slandering Tom (branding him racist when he's quite clearly not), getting his facts wrong (saying Tom's New Year Resolution is to hurt drunks, when it was the exact opposite) and having no knowledge of anything that Tom does or where he works (apparently, he thinks "New Ham" is a place in London). Listen and laugh as Bob makes an utter twat of himself - by doing all the things he uses the show as a platform to dismiss. With Blogging taking off in the manner that it has, the issue of confidentiality and how it affects blogging and the work place will keep rearing its head until employers draft specific policies regarding their employees and weblogs. |
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11.1.05 15:48 |
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FACE/OFF
Freelancing is a fragile existence at the best of times, but January always seems to heighten the sense of insecurity for those of us seeking a living on our wits. I'm a 'glass half-full' type of person, but even I have difficulty getting a fix on how the landscape of my professional life is going to pan out this early in the year - my mind's a maelstrom of potential stories and features, but nothing's ever confirmed, reliant as I am on the agenda of others who have the power to make the things I want to do happen. As of yesterday, I was staring across an empty work diary. I'd cleared the decks of all outstanding commissions as 2004 yielded to the new kid on the block, met all my deadlines. As of yesterday, I'd had a week of kicking my heels, playing at house husband - which is effectively how I saw myself. Sure, I could call myself a journalist, and looking back, the past few years have been a rollercoaster of opportunity - manna from heaven for someone always looking for the next story, a hook to hang a feature idea from. But since January 1st, I've been treading water. Working up ideas, making calls but nothing definite on the horizon. That all changed just before 17:00 yesterday with a phone call, followed twenty minutes later by an unrelated email. Then, at 18:00, another email - and suddenly, it's all fallen into place.
The travel kit that I keep packed and ready for short-notice deployments is going to be fully employed over the coming weeks and suddenly, a diary that until yesterday contained nothing but social appointments is packed with assignments stretching into April. Plenty of opportunity for pictures, plenty to blog about and lots of experiences to further challenge me both physically and intellectually. I've a lot to sort out and little time to do it - my first foreign assignment of 2005 is a big one and I leave in the middle of tomorrow night. To Brindisi in Italy, then to Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi to Banda Aceh, Banda Aceh to Penang where the plan is to overnight. Penang back to Banda Aceh the next day, on to Colombo in Sri Lanka for an overnight and then back to the UK Via Abu Dhabi. Suddenly, the landscape of my immediate future has been cast in a different, more positive hue and the alien feeling of mild ennui that has been my companion of late has been cast out by a sense of anticipation to be replaced with my more normal bonhomie and optimism. Just a short trip, this one so look after this place until I get back would you? And enjoy your weekends, people. Edit: Ah, the joy of life as a freelance. I should have learned by now that until the plane touches down on foreign soil, nothing's ever guaranteed - with less than twenty four hours to go, the phone rang this afternoon: "Trip's cancelled - as you were". Arse. |
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14.1.05 12:23 |
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OF AUSCHWITZ, THE NAZIS AND 'THE FINAL SOLUTION'
In an effort to counter any apathy - and indeed to dispel any feelings of self-pity which might try and linger in light of my lack of industry so far this year, I've been tasked with reviewing the book which accompanies the BBC's series on Auschwitz, part of the coverage to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the camps on 27th January. Laurence Rees' history - Auschwitz, The Nazis & The Final Solution, is an incredibly well-researched and written account of one of the most shameful periods in human history. I've a long held interest in WWII, backed up by countless visits to the battlefields of Europe, but this one book has made me reassess everything I know. Ree's narrative has made me rethink, forcing me to reexamine my take on the whole thing and use my imagination to try and think in terms of only what was known at the time. I'm thus looking at things through a different perspective. We tend to view history's most notable events in isolation, as though we're peering through a pair of binoculars from the wrong end and consequently, our perspective is distorted by hindsight. It casts a different hue when one sets aside what history has coloured to face facts anew with the mindset of one of those involved. One of the book's most extraordinary revelations concerns the death camp at Belzec which, despite never attaining the same level of public consciousness as Auschwitz, still saw an incomprehensible number of people killed. The most astounding element though relates to the lesser-known camp's small scale - it encompassed an area of just 300 metres square. In a murder process that is an affront to human dignity at almost every level, one of the greatest affronts is that so many were killed in so small an area. As Rees says, "Somehow the mind associates epic tragedy with an epic space". Another revelation concerns the death camp at Treblinka and its commandant, Dr. Irmfried Eberl. Initially, the camp operated more or less as the Nazis had anticipated with 6,000 people arriving to be killed each day. But within months, the numbers doubled and the operation of the camp descended into chaos. Acording to August Hingst, a member of the SS at Treblinka, Eberl's ambition was to exceed the death toll at all other camps. He says, "So many transports arrived that the disembarkation and gassing of people could no longer be handled". As a result, they simply shot people as they arrived.
In little more than a month - between the end of July and the end of August 1942, it's estimated that 312,500 people were murdered at Treblinka. This phenomenal killing rate of 10,000 a day was not approached at any other camp until the twilight months of the war in late 1944 when Auschwitz was operating at full capacity. But the cost of this rate of destruction was too high for Dr Eberl's superiors to bear. After reports reached them of how Treblinka was degenerating into a spiral of disorganisation, Eberl was dismissed and transports to the camp temporarily ceased. One of the most telling aspects of the bizarre mindset of Nazi party officials was the peverted morality which existed at the very top as evidenced by comments from SS Oberstgruppenführer (General) Odilo Globocnik, one of those tasked to investigate Eberl's mismanagement of Treblinka. Globocnik is quoted as saying that he would '...bring him (Eberl) before a 'police court for the way he had run Treblinka'. In the peverted morality that was the world of the SS, Eberl deserved prosecution not for the mass murder of innocent men, women and children. His crime was that he had not commited mass murder 'well enough'. One aspect I've never been able to get my head around is how the SS doctors - those tasked with deciding on the ramp at Auschwitz which of those people arriving were fit enough to be worked and which were to be put to death immediately - justified their actions as compatible with the Hippocratic Oath which compels them to heal the sick. From interviews in the book, it appears many regarded Jews as "a cancer on the Reich", echoing Nazi doctrine that the Jews were responsible for Germany having lost the first World War and her subsequent problems. In attempting to justify the killing of the Jews, SS doctors fell back on the lie of Jews as a corrupting influence on the body politic. Fritz Klein, one Nazi doctor quoted says thus: " Out of respect for human life, I would remove a gangrenous appendix from a diseased body. The Jew is the gangrenous appendix in the body of mankind". It's difficult to comprehend the enormity of the atrocities commited by the SS and the Nazis, the sheer industrial scale on which they despatched so many innocent people with apparent ease. They tried a number of methods to find the most efficient means of killing but settled on gas for the way it enabled those involved in the killing to distance themselves from the horror. Initial attempts by the SS at shooting large numbers left those responsible distressed and somewhat traumatised, so after several SS officers complained, Heinrich Himmler ordered that a less stressful method be discovered. It should be stressed that this was not out of any concern to minimise the stress of those being killed - just those involved in killing them. With the 60th anniversary of the camps' liberation in January 1945 just a week away, widespread coverage is likely to be given to the events that gave rise to their birth. It's a difficult subject to confront but as nothing compared to the privations and suffering of those who experienced the horrors of the Nazi's worst excesses. This book goes a long way to explaining the background to the birth of the Nazi's 'Final Solution' to the 'Jewish question' and makes for some uncomfortable reading with its accounts of what happened within the camps set up to effect that solution, but it's a worthy addition to the library of anybody with an interest in the human race. |
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20.1.05 14:38 |
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FITNESS TO PRACTICE
There's a song called "London Underground" that's doing the rounds via email lists, blogs and websites over the past few weeks that will have a particular resonance with anybody who lives and works in the Capital. It owes its origins to 'Going Underground' by The Jam but it's not by them and if you're easily offended, or a tube driver, don't bother listening to it. Everyone else can download it from here. The song was penned by Suman Biswas and Adam Kay, two qualified doctors at Imperial College, London who describe themselves as "practicing medicine with varying degrees of success". They've produced a CD called "Fitness to Practice" which includes London Underground, together with 14 other self-penned tracks, all of which are eye-wateringly funny. You can listen to a few of them here:
If you like these tracks, dig deep and send the guys a cheque for £5.50; they'll send you a copy of the 15-track CD with all of the proceeds from sale going to Macmillan Cancer Relief, a charity which lies close to my heart. These two fellas have made quite a name for themselves within London but I've promised Adam I'd do all I can to raise their profile still further; so buy the CD! Further details are available from their website at www.amateurtransplants.com.
Personally, things are starting to pick up for me now; must be something in the air. I have a number of trips in the offing, the first of which is imminent - I'm waiting for confirmation of the date later this week. Had a fantastic weekend with a girlfirend, P staying over for dinner on Saturday night. I cooked Szehcuan Chicken with Thai Fragrant Rice and home-made chocolate mousse and things were going well right up until the point the drinking game came out; I'd like to tell you it improved after that, but I don't remember - somebody has stolen my memory. The Vodka shots were soo a bad idea! Sunday was predictably spent with us all lounging around nursing bad heads and less than healthy constitutions. |
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25.1.05 12:18 |
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