Airports, the Olympics and Tibet March 29, 2008
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Politics , add a commentIn a week where chaos reigned at the opening of Heathrow Terminal 5, China managed to smoothly open not one major international airport, but two. Beijing’s Terminal 3 has been slowly dealing with more flights over the last month, and in Shanghai, the new Terminal 2 for Pudong Airport opened apparently without a hitch on Wednesday.
Of course, the British media were all over the problems at Heathrow, whereas China’s media are tightly controlled. But they are international airports, so you’d expect some mention somewhere in the blogosphere if there had been big problems. I couldn’t find any.
There can be no doubt that the Beijing Games this summer will be the best organised in history. China, whatever is thought of their system of government and politics, is a formidible force and not to be treated lightly or with disrespect.
This is why they must be tackled on Tibet now. If a boycott of the Olympics helps, then a boycott of the Olympics must happen. Those who say that the Olympics are about sport and fellowship and should not be disrupted by politics are naive in the extreme. Hosting the Olympics is a political statement of national and civic pride. The Nazis knew this in 1933, when they started the torch procession ‘tradition’ (hat-tip to the wonderful Prof. Mary Beard for that one). Even if they were hosted in Canada, they would be a political event. Hosted by China, as with the USSR and USA in the 80s, it is unavoidable, and one of the few ways that small places can seriously challenge these superpowers.
But, we must take care to make sure that protests are about Tibet, and not about some sort of xenophobic fear of people who build airports well. It is very very hard to get an idea of how Chinese people see Western attitudes towards Tibet without being able to read Chinese, but I can’t imagine they like having their country vilified any more than anyone else does, and they certainly seem to have a low opinion of the Western press as this youtube video shows. I’m not sure about the claims they make here, but it would not be the first time our media misbehaved. Over 27000 comments, the first few pages mostly in support, and supportive video responses all point to Chinese anger at the way they are protrayed.
It is time to support Tibet, and the Dalai Lama, in every peaceful way we can. Not because everything in the western media is true, or because we’re scared that Western power is waning, but because this is probably the last chance Tibet has for religious freedom and self-determination.
Do You Like Rock Music? - British Sea Power March 27, 2008
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Reviews , 1 comment so farDCI Gene Hunt shooting through plate glass to the strains of Ultravox’ Vienna might just be the coolest thing on telly so far this year, but I am getting very very bored with all this 80’s revival. Trying on a suit the other week, the shop assistant suggested a satin blouse with bow-tie collar. NO. The eighties are over, and I still have a shirt like that in my lockup in Auckland. Nostalgia should be a private indulgence, not a mass movement.
And so, to drag myself back into the noughties, I have just bought my first chart album by a new(ish) act in a very long time. British Sea Power are a UK band, originally from Cumbria but now based in Brighton. They’re classified as alternative / indie rock, with clear and interesting lyrics, strong guitars and lots of reverb.
“Do You Like Rock Music?” is their 3rd album, and it’s worth sitting and listening carefully. ‘Lights out for Darker Skies’ is indeed a plea for less light pollution. ‘Waving Flags’ welcomes Eastern European immigrants with ‘You are astronomical fans of alcohol. So welcome in’. There’s even reference to the 1953 floods in ‘Canvey Island’. There are also a couple of pure instrumental pieces, including The Great Skua, and yes, I had to look that one up as well.
Pub quiz, anthem omnibus, danceable and good for doing the ironing. Their live shows sound great too. I may finally have to venture into Koko the next time they’re in this part of the world.
A small blow against the surveillance society March 26, 2008
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Travel , 1 comment so farBlimey, the Information Commissioner might be effective after all. The beeb is reporting that BAA have decided not to fingerprint everyone going through the new Terminal 5 at Heathrow when it opens tomorrow. At least until they’ve worked out how to harrass passengers legally.
It is amazing that with a brand new terminal, BAA decided not to keep domestic and international passengers separate, so that the possibility of coming in on an international flight and switching boarding passes with an accomplice to get onto a domestic flight didn’t even arise. And this isn’t even about ’security’, just about the odd illegal immigrant. Is it really such an easy way to get into the country that it is worth hassling everyone? And shouldn’t they just recheck passports and boarding passes at the gates?
Pray for Tibet March 14, 2008
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Politics , add a commentOver a decade ago I went to India on a business trip. One weekend, I took an overnight bus to Karnartaka state in the South and visited the monastery of a friend. This monastery had been established after Dalai Lama and many of his followers (including my friend) went into exile in 1959. Over the next forty years, the people had established a community in exile, carrying on with their lives while always remembering the mountains from the dry plains of the south.
And now, on the 49th anniversary of the original uprising and exile, and as China rises to become an economic superpower, Tibetans are rising again. And paying an enormous price. The original of the monastery I visited, Drepung, is reported to be under siege by Chinese forces with many arrests.
The spectacle in Beijing this summer will draw the eyes of us all to China. Can we, and our governments, be persuaded to look beyond the sporting glamour?
For the sake of all sentient beings
Embedding a Youtube video March 12, 2008
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Blogging, Camden , add a commentThis should be really simple. Just take the embedding code from the video and paste it in.
and indeed it is. The only catch is to make sure you’ve turned off the use of the visual editor for the user so that Wordpress doesn’t rearrange the
By the way, this video is a trailer for the new Shane Meadow’s movie Somers Town, you might remember that I was interviewed for a documentary that is supposed to be on the DVD when that comes out. It was shown at the Berlin Film Festival in February, but there’s no word about when or how it will be released in the UK.
Virtual Beachcombing March 11, 2008
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Miscellany , 2 commentsThe last couple of hours have disappeared down the broadband pipe, and I collected some interesting flotsam on the way.
First, a serious, if light-hearted, take on the use of web 2.0 technologies by political activists, and why it may not be such a bad thing that so many people use so much technology just to swap pictures of cute cats.
I’m starting to get worried about Phorm, a new ad-serving mechanism where your ISP logs all your traffic and uses it to let participating sites decide which ads you get to see. I don’t mind targetted advertising, but I don’t expect the pipe seller to be looking at what goes through the pipes. Sticky paws off my data, Virgin Media! I first saw this story in The Register (see related links at the end) last week, and it hit the Guardian a couple of days ago.
If you’re in the UK, and haven’t been watching The Last Enemy, download it on iplayer, and watch the latest episode now. And then worry about where the surveillance society is taking us, and whether Robert Carlyle will be the new Doctor Who. Anamaria Marinca, last seen in Sex Traffic on Channel 4, is extremely good.
Keeping an eye on sites which regularly debunk pseudo-scientific silliness is a favourite hobby. Real Climate expects you to read some maths, but rewards the effort. Ben Goldacre, writer of the Bad Science column in the Guardian is a lot more accessible, and pointed me to Phun. Just download it and watch the hours slip away.
And Phun led me over to YouTube, where I’ve been meaning to watch Sigur Ros’ film Heima. I seem to be accumulating a vast collection of 80s music videos and clips of favourite actors over there, which you can see on my YouTube profile.
Comment delays March 2, 2008
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Blogging , add a commentThanks to everyone who leaves comments, its a real buzz to know that there’s someone out there! I’m sorry it takes so long for them to come up. I’ve switched on moderation, so if its the first time you comment, I have to approve it first. That’s because about 95% of the comments are pure spam, most of it just junk, some quite offensive.
Once you’ve done it once, future comments come straight on through, so please do keep popping in!
The Ashes of Life on Mars March 1, 2008
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Reviews , add a commentAshes to Ashes, currently playing on Thursday nights on BBC1, has been disappointing after Life on Mars, but this week it started to come into its own.
In Life on Mars, John Simm’s DI Sam Tyler finds himself suddenly in Manchester in 1973 after a car accident. He doesn’t know if he’s in a coma, mad or travelling in time. He’s a wonderful actor and his character, a 21st century politically correct metrosexual is on another planet in a police station in 1973. The series was part old-fashioned cop show, part pyscho-thriller, and one of the best things on the telly in ages.
Ashes to Ashes follows a similar premise, with Keely Hawes’ DI Alex Drake finding herself in 1981, with the same set of back-in-time characters. She is a psychologist, constantly analysing her situation with no confusion about what has happened - she is in a coma, and its all in her mind. The character is intensely annoying, and Hawes’ hamming it up makes it worse. In this weeks episode, she finally starts to calm down. The relationship between her and Glenister is becoming less cliched ‘Neanderthal cop vs post-feminist professional’ and is starting to be the pillar of the series that the relationship between Tyler and Hunt was in Life on Mars.
There are two very good things about Ashes to Ashes. Philip Glenister’s DCI Gene Hunt is an illicit delight and, for those of us who remember the early eighties through a somewhat befuddled and nostalgic haze, the music and sets are wonderful. Audi Quattros, bizarre new-rom makeup on blokes, colourful but tailored clothes.
I’d forgotten Visage’s Fade to Grey until it popped up in the first episode. Playing desert island discs, there are a few more I was playing in about 1981.
Psychedelic Furs Pretty in Pink would work well for DI Drake, though pink and grey came along a little later I think. Weren’t galah’s terribly trendy in about 1983? Talking Head’s Once in a Lifetime has a terribly David Bryne - indulgent video but is worth listening to. I don’t think I heard Laurie Anderson’s Big Science until rather later, but it was released in 1981. For an NZ flavour, how about Split Enz’ History Never Repeats, because in Ashes to Ashes, it does. And finally, for a more sombre beat Joy Division’s Heart and Soul. The luxury will have to be the beautiful bronze/gold court shoes I had for my 6th form ball. And as for the book, 1981 was the year of Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children.
