6 years and all done

Well, I got my final course result and it was a very comfortable PASS! I have my degree! I have graduated with a 2.1 in Religious Studies :-)

I still can't quite believe that it is all over. After six years I finally have no coursework to do, no big qualification to aim for. It's weird and a bit scary. What do I do now? I have no idea.

The big question right now is will I make it to my graduation ceremony? It's on Saturday 28th March... the baby is due on the 12th March, so I think I might be a bit busy!

Victory in Europe

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled in favour of two men who took their case to them after the UK government refused to removed their DNA records from the database. The two men were arrested, one was acquitted, the other had his charges dropped, but their records were kept, according to current procedure.

That the ECHR has ruled in favour of these men is a huge step for liberty in this country. The decision was unanimous from the 17 senior judges appointed to the case. They found in favour of the men on the grounds of article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Although there are no immediate changes this will set a precedent for future cases of innocent people's personal data being stored and will be a severe spanner in the works for Labour's disastrous ID Card campaign. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has snubbed the ruling, in typical fashion for this government when faced with criticism of the DNA database.

To find out more about how you can help stop the government robbing us of our privacy visit http://www.no2id.net/ and to read the whole news story visit http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7764069.stm

X Factor?

I'm no fan of the show, not by a long shot and for the most part I manage to tune out all the fuss each year. But now I live back near my family and my parents are fans. Seeing them almost every day has made it much harder to ignore the show this year and I must admit that one contestant has caught my eye.

Diana Vickers is an extraordinary talent and a surprise to see on a show designed to find a spark of talent and stomp on it until it resembles every other manufactured pop blah out there. With the notable exception of my parents, of course, the audience of X Factor is not known for its ability to recognise and acknowledge genuine musical ability. So I see from all of the vitriol I have noticed online about Diana that despite never appearing in the sing-off, this girl has a tide of anti-support.

It seems that the fans of the show are incensed by the inclusion of a singer with personality, talent, individuality and the very real and scary potential to become a credible recording artist. It does make me wonder whether the show ought to change its name. The producers of it are basically looking for someone who will sell records, fine. They are also attempting to present a show that will draw viewers, the lowest common denominator, I'm sad to say, is NOT looking for anything interesting or unique. They are looking for another pop tart.

Is it wise to name a show after a quality that neither the producers or the audience are actually looking for?

This year's winner will release a cover of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah, one of my favourite songs of all time. I don't normally expect X Factor winners to do justice to great songs like this one, but Diana Vickers stands a real shot of recording a very respectable cover. What I find amusing is one blogger's view that this is a suitable Christmas number 1! It begs the question of why the song was picked by the producers. Is it purely about the current popularity of the song? Leonard Cohen's current sell out world tour? Do they genuinely think it's an appropriate song for Christmas?

I wonder if they have listened to and understood the lyrics. Yes, the song contains the title word a hundred times, and yes, it does contain biblical references, but the context of those references does actually matter in considering the meaning of the lyrics. It is hardly a song of praise to Jesus Christ (written by a Jew), and the lyrics point vividly to sexual references.

Is this really a suitable song for the season? Is it really a suitable song for a manufactured pop tart to sing?

No.

But could Diana Vickers record a beautiful and inspirational version that would go multi-platinum? Probably.

One more thin gypsy thief

I won't attempt to write a full review, words fail me. All I really have is... wow.

I am of course talking about seeing Leonard Cohen at Birmingham NEC on Saturday. Two and a half hours of genius and stunning, understated charisma. He's a surprisingly humorous guy and full of energy quite striking for the grand old age of 74.

Unlike many crooners of his generation, Lenny's voice has not cracked with age and drugs, he sounds as good now, if not better, as on his recordings from the start of his extensive career.

I feel privileged to have seen him live, especially as I had long given up hope of the opportunity after his 14 year hiatus from live shows. I know that it is an experience not likely to be repeated. The baby seemed to enjoy it too, I could feel it grooving away right to the end of the long set!

Anyway, 5 stars. One of the best gigs I have ever been to and certainly a moment I am likely to cherish for the rest of my life.

Politics on the Dancefloor

As a long time Strictly Come Dancing fan I couldn't let the events of this series go without comment. John Sergeant has pulled out of the competition yesterday due to the controversy surrounding his continued presence on the show. Prior to this news I was a little split on the issue. I agree with him that it is a television show and prime time Saturday night light entertainment. I agree that the viewers can vote for whoever they want to see dance again. However, I also agree with the judges that it is a dance competition. The challenge for the celebrities who agree to go on the show is to learn to dance.

Arlene Phillips described the situation well at the start of this week, that the competition was divided into the other contestants who were all competing on the basis of dancing to the best of their abilities; versus John, who himself admitted that he couldn't stay in the competition on the merit of his dancing and so he and Kristina must win votes by being entertaining. He was playing a different game and it was unfair to the good dancers who had to leave the competition before him.

Since he announced his retirement from the show I feel a little relieved. The whole issue had gotten out of control and was overshadowing the dancing to the detriment of the show, which is ultimately what John says was his reason for stepping down.

The judges are saying now that they don't believe the public would put John through to the final, that they would eventually start voting for the more deserving dancers. But I don't agree. While in the past public support for the comedy participants has waned in time for the most talented dancer to take the trophy, this year it felt different.

John was not another Kate Garraway or Julian Clary. They won public votes due to the rather disturbing tendency of the British public to enjoy seeing people humiliate themselves. That tendency runs its course in the end, people get bored. But John Sergeant is genuinely loved and respected by the public. People were voting for him on that basis, there were internet campaigns set up to get him through to the final, some people were honestly supporting him to win. This never happened with Kenny Logan or any other celebrity who stayed in the competition beyond their ability level.

The level of frustration felt by his critics (myself included) was spoiling the season and excellent dancing performances were getting lost in the debate. Had his continued presence in the competition not drawn so much press attention and criticism then I probably wouldn't have objected to his potentially winning. Had there not been six or seven other truly gifted dancers in it this year, had the competition not had such tension and excitement purely from the high standards of the other contestants, then I would have been fully supportive of John.

It is an entertainment show and Louisa Lytton is right when she says it's about having fun and raising money for charity. Maybe next year the producers could fill the show with celebrities who can all compete on that level?!

Back from a long break!

I can't believe it's been so long since I posted. It's not as if life has been quiet the last four months! A brief summary of my liberal life goes something along the lines of:

Andy and I started trying for a baby in June, we got our Big Fat Positive in the very first month and I am now five months pregnant, expecting in mid March 2009. This wonderful news got work to my grandad's house going over August, September and October and Andy got headhunted! We moved to Yorkshire on 31st October (sadly leaving Samhain unmarked this year), Andy started his shiny new job on 3rd November.

We are now in the slow process of unpacking and getting furniture sorted out.

I stopped protesting in September, once I started to show, but have continued to lend my support to the Bristol crew. It feels like the global movement is slowing down, many Anons seem to have lost interest now that the weather has turned and the lulz are lacking. A few cases of Fair Game may have scared some away too. It's a great shame, but I think the core activists will keep going for longer. The protests may have grown smaller, but there are other projects going on behind the scenes that will probably keep going and have just as much impact on the cult of $cientology.

Unfortunately, despite the wonderful pregnancy and the move home, the year has not really gotten any better. There are some serious hard times approaching for my family (have they been Fair Gamed?) and the future looks very bleak and scary right now. What should have been a very positive move has been shrouded in a dark cloak.

Meeting Magoo and WBM

So the protests continue. We have now started raiding Bristol. Although there is no visible $cientology presence here there have been incidents here in the past, such as the suicide of Richard Collins in 1996. He jumped to his death from Clifton Suspension Bridge after being harassed by salespeople from the cult trying to book him onto new courses and prevent him leaving.

The Jive Aces, a $cientology swing band played a gig in Bristol recently, drawing some belated attention from Anonymous. We plan to hit their next gig here in September. The band are also playing at a summer party at St Hill, East Grinstead on 3rd August. Plans to protest the town and manor on that date are already in place.

We won't sit back and let Bristol become a recruiting ground for this cult. With the losses and disruption being caused by Anonymous worldwide, it would not surprise me to see the cult trying to put roots down in new territory that they believe to be free of Anonymous. If we make a lot of noise now they shouldn't get a chance.

At the last Bristol mini-raid on 5th July we got a good response from the public and managed to find a few new recruits for the main event on 12th July. The next Bristol raid is scheduled for 9th August.

London on the 12th was epic. Numbers were up from May and June, in no small part down to Anons flocking in from Brighton and further afield to meet Tory "Magoo" Christman and Mark "Wise Beard Man" Bunker who we flew over from California to be with us.

I was excited about meeting them, but never imagined I would end up going to dinner with them! They were in high demand all day and generously hugged all those who approached them, WBM even allowed people to stroke the beard! At the end of the day, after much nattering in the pub post-raid (I sat at a table with some Bristol Anons and Tory, as well as Anonyunderpants from York), we moved on to a rather nice Chinese restaurant. It was slow going, due to poor Tory's bad feet and there were about 25 of us, so we couldn't all be seated together.

I ended up at a table with my parents, a rather nice cult researcher, some Bristol/South West Anons and the celebrities. It was slightly surreal, but excellent fun and an experience I'm not likely to forget!