2009 November 10

‘This Is Us’: The Fashion Behind The Backstreet Boys

November 10, 2009 By rparris Leave a Comment

By Rahsian Parris

With newly released album – This Is Us, the follow up to 2007′s Unbreakable, and in the midst of their This Is Us World Tour, the Backstreet Boys have no qualms about remedying myths that they are no longer a household name; but seven albums, one departure and over 100 million record sales later, how do these megastars of the 90s stay fashion forward without compromising the trademark style and personality that the world fell in love with over a decade and a half ago? Innovative stylist and costume designer for the Backstreet Boys, Nicole Janowicz, enlightens us on what goes into styling, for the stage, one of the biggest selling artists of all time.

It is a bitterly cold evening in Glasgow and as the heavens open up, showering the unmissable buzz of the city center with the patter of winter rain, it is easy to get dragged into the drab feeling of the night as more and more bodies climb in and out of taxis, typically headed for mundane Saturday night bar crawls; but a little ways into the city, laying abreast the north bank of the River Clyde and next door to the famous ‘Armadillo’ there is a different kind of hum. Hearts are pounding, screams of excitement crescendo out of the SECC Arena and into the Scottish air; behind the curtains the Backstreet Boys prepare to burst out onto the stage, ready to live it up, dressed to kill.

Nick in his first outfit during 'PDA'

Opening with 1997′s top ten hit Everybody (Backstreet’s Back), Howie Dorough, Nick Carter, Brian Littrell and A.J McLean grace the stage in suave black and white with lashings of denim. A.J and Howie wear predominantly black cotton with vibrant monochromatic patterns on their ties, A.J in an almost mafia-esque suit and trilby which clearly indicates his naturally ‘edgy’ look and Howie in a fitted black shirt and jeans. Humble. Chic. Brian, on the other hand dons more fitted trousers and a black blazer broken up by a dynamically patterned, monochrome tie and white shirt; this is topped off by a baseball cap which he wears back to front, a notable reflection of his ‘on tour’ attire of the early Backstreet Boys tours and a depiction of his bright personality and love of sport. Nick never fails to surprise and since the notably uncomfortable Never Gone era – in which he never quite seemed content – the youngest member of the Backstreet Boys has gone from strength to strength and looked especially dapper in a white shirt, black fitted waistcoat accompanied by dark jeans and stylish trainers, looking ultimately comfortable in his own skin. Individually they could all easily have been your mildly eccentric boyfriend on his first dinner date and together, in theory, these outfits should not work, but yet they do; oozing style and individuality that many musical groups of today irrefutably lack, whilst gelling to form a bond that amends any fashion faux pas. Nicole Janowicz, the secret weapon behind the newly resurrected fashion of the Backstreet Boys says “Every guy [in the group] has a different personality and style so the most difficult part of my job is consolidating everyone’s personalities and moods to find the happy medium where both are reflected yet they look like a cohesive group. Just like everyone else, the guys’ moods change and sometimes they just want to be comfortable in jeans and sneakers or they feel like dressing up a little more. The most rewarding aspect of dressing the four guys as a group is seeing a photograph, music video, TV show, or concert where they look great and the guys’ reactions are “Wow! We look good together!”"

Stylist and costume designer Nicole Janowicz has been working with the Backstreet Boys for over three years now. After graduating from the University of California, Los Angeles, where she majored in psychology, she turned her hand to fashion journalism for a spell before deciding to pursue a career in fashion styling. Having styled various clients including actor Adrien Grenier (Entourage) and musical artist Kid Rock, as well as styling for a variety of magazines, she was lucky enough to cross paths with the Backstreet Boys. “[They] were preparing to launch their album, Unbreakable and wanted to revamp their image. After seeing my work they contacted me and asked me to style them for the Unbreakable cover. After shooting their album cover and Inconsolable music video together, we developed a great working relationship and they asked me to style and accompany them for their promotional tour. While we were out on tour, the guys started brainstorming ideas for their Unbreakable World Tour and asked me to do the costume design as well as go out on the tour with them. We have been together ever since.”

Brian in the 'BSB' hoody

Five tracks in and the swift disperse and disappearance of the boys signals a wardrobe change, with a short video interlude creating valuable dressing time. The boys emerge as the title track of the album begins and in contrast to the first set, are kitted out far more casually for what eventually becomes the trade mark ‘slow’ section of the concert where the majority of the chosen ballads are performed. Each backstreet boy is uniformed in an achromatic T-shirt, matching gray, jersey, zip hoodies with ‘BSB’ embellished on one breast in sparkly ruby red, (similar hoodies appear as part of the tour merchandise that can be bought at the venue on the day of the show) and a pair of jeans and trainers. The style choice for this section of the show seemed slightly questionable at the time, but proved to be a fresh, contemporary perspective on the matching suits and trilbies that usually accompany this section of a Backstreet Boys show. Janowicz reassures saying: “Costumes play a large role in the show. They communicate the theme of the songs in a particular section and the theme of the show overall. They tell a story. They have to be visible to everyone in all seats of a venue, but not overpower the performer; but at the same time, I have to remember that the costume has to last for many, many shows. They will get sweaty and have to be washed and repaired. When designing a costume, I have to ask myself, “If I am in the middle of nowhere with only the supplies I packed and this piece breaks, how will I fix it?” If the answer is “there is no way I can repair this by myself”, then I do not use it”. With that said, there is something about the hoody and jeans combo during the ballad section that makes you feel at ease. No longer does it feel like a regimental stage production (however exciting it may be), but when the boys climb down the metal stair cases on either side of the stage and get closer to the crowd, a sudden feeling of nostalgia swoops over you like a gust of warm air from the pacific. If only until the next part of the show, you are fifteen again, back in your baby pink wallpapered bedroom, wrapped in the fluffy dreams of your favourite Backstreet Boy as you sing along to All I Have To Give; be it only for a moment, everything in the world feels right again.

Nick in the 'pops of neon' outfit

Half way through the show and after another brief interval accompanied by a video clip, all four boys take to the stage again to up the tempo of the show with 2001′s epic single The Call. This time around you get a real feel for the Backstreet Boys as individuals. At first glance you would not even think they were ‘styled’. A.J looks like he has just popped out to the supermarket in a casual slogan tee that reads ‘never grow up’ and a pair of dark jeans with a ‘worn’ look on the thigh. Nick masters the art of the blazer/jeans look with a fantastic white jacket with an adorning large print on the back, a white and silver printed tee and dark jeans accessorised with a red striped belt that adds a bit of Rock ‘N’ Roll grit to his outfit; so effortlessly that you could swear that there is a fashionista brewing inside him just bursting to get out. Brian teams a light blue, retro print T-shirt with a black PVC looking ‘puffer’ gilet, washed out jeans and high-top trainers; adding retro/cool to an otherwise sporty concept. Howie knits the individual looks together by wearing a modern interpretation of the gilet in black and white which ties in with Nick’s monochrome attire and is also wearing a print tee; his jeans, that are very similar to Brian’s, mean that two of the boys are wearing dark jeans and the other two boys wearing lighter jeans.

Janowicz tells of how she captures the boys’ individual styles and how that translates into how they look as a group: “they all have very strong personalities which naturally come through. Brian is very athletic and sporty and loves textures and colors. I have him wear distressed jeans, really soft cottons, cashmere, things that are very comfortable and colorful. A.J is very rock ‘n’ roll so I focus on pieces that have an edge and are very unique. He likes taking fashion risks and loves to shop with me. Nick is preppy with a little urban twist. I use a lot of patterns and colors, while maintaining an effortlessly cool look. Howie is chic but youthful. He looks so great in a suit so I like to pair suit pieces that are a little more sophisticated with casual pieces. I also include my own style preferences”, and what about when the boys do not agree? “They know I am really serious about a particular look when I say, “As your stylist, I feel really strongly about this.” If we are divided on something, we all take a vote and the majority wins. Sometimes I come in with a look and they have their own suggestions to add. In that case, we collaborate and develop a really great look.”

A.J and Howie in the Larger Than Life costumes

I wonder if this was the case for the next couple of outfits that hit the stage, notably Nick’s addition to the Trance inspired ‘Pops of neon’ outfits, where his pair of skin tight ‘skinny jeans’ come ‘treggins’ (a hybrid between trousers and leggins) gave many a Backstreet fan a show they had not bargained for. Be that as it may, the visual highlight of the show was undoubtedly the stage costumes from the performance of Larger Than Life (although Nick’s ‘treggins’ came in close second). An innovative blend of military chic, android attitude and traces of inspiration from the official music video made Larger Than Life a visually stunning spectacle. “Those costumes evolved over a month and went through many trials” says Janowicz “The choreographer originally had a vision of building a robot on stage. While I was pulling clothes for the Straight Through My Heart music video, I saw a piece of gear for motorcyclists that I thought could look really great if I somehow turned it into robot armor[...] I called every set designer I know and did an extensive internet search. Eventually, my friend at Set Masters developed a way to form and bolt polished aluminum to motorcycle protective gear. The resulting costume along with the music and choreography has become a highlight of the show.”

As Straight Through My Heart belts out its last anthemic chorus and multi-coloured confetti showers the audience from above, it feels almost ludicrous that such a brilliant show is about to come to an end; but as A.J, Brian, Nick and Howie hold each others raised hands as they plunge forward in a large bow, the reality dawns upon all. However, with all great concerts there is one reassuring factor and that is that the greater the show, the more the memory of the night stays embedded in your mind. For years I figured this was down to just how well an artist sung, but there is so much more that goes into a great live show other than good vocals (of which the Backstreet Boys are masters of the trade). What we remember primarily is what is aesthetically pleasing. Without the expertise of innovative and creative stylists and designers such as Nicole Janowicz, would we even remember what happened at a concert? It is true that all the major points and structures of a good show are marked by wardrobe changes which ultimately signifies the immutable connection between fashion and music. So next time you are at a live show, as you chant along to your favourite song, stare dreamy eyed and your favourite artist, remember those few individuals behind the scenes that spend untold amounts of time helping to make the memories you will have for a lifetime.

As I slowly leave the Glasgow SECC Arena, trying to replay every moment back in my mind like a vivid home video, I do not even notice that it is still raining and that I’m being bumped every which way by over zealous Backstreet Boys fans still very much on cloud nine. The horns of near by traffic are completely drowned out by my own mental rendition of Straight Through My Heart and I smile to myself; maybe because that was the best show I have ever been to, maybe because I feel like a teenager again or maybe it is because I have just remembered the ‘treggins’.

The Backstreet Boys This Is Us World Tour hits London’s O2 Dome tonight – Doors – 18:30. For more UK dates visit Backstreetboys.com

From Store to Tour: Want the Backstreet look? Get some inspiration from some of the designers and brands that the boys wear themselves: Dior, Dolce and Gabbana, Gucci, Hysteric Glamour, H&M, Joe’s Jeans, Levis, Marc Jacobs, Nike and Reebok

Filed Under: Entertainment, Features Tagged With: 2009, A.J McLean, Bigger, Brian Littrell, D&G, Dior, Glasgow, h&m, Howie Dorough, Larger Than Life, London, Nick Carter, Nicole Janowicz, O2, SECC, Straight Through My Heart, The Call, This is us, Tour

Shell Royally Humbled

November 10, 2009 By ADF Innes Leave a Comment

By Al Innes

Nearly 5,000,000 poppies are produced in Edinburgh each year for the Poppy Appeal.

Shell today reversed its ban on poppy collections in their garage forecourts following the possibilty of a boycott by the Royal British Legion.

“Having reviewed our policy and listened to customers, we are happy to immediately endorse collection boxes for the Poppy Appeal at Shell petrol stations. We realise our customers have been upset by our original policy. We apologise.”

Shell had initially backed it’s ban on poppy collections in it’s garage forecourts by saying it already contributed to charities such as Macmillan Cancer Support and the RSPCA.

Royal Dutch Shell is regarded as one of the six “supermajors” in oil production and Shell was listed as the world’s largest corporation for 2009 by Fortune magazine.

Shirley Cinco, at Shell’s customer service centre had written to the Royal Legion in the days following the decision:

“Shell prefers to donate skills, time and knowledge as well as money. It is in the context of this strategy that Shell Retail will not be allowing any further charities, including the poppy appeal, to use its forecourt network to collect monies.”

Neil Griffiths, press officer for the Royal British Legion commented that:

“I accept that no charity has an automatic right to place their collecting cans wherever they want, but it does seem strange for a company that has benefited so much from the armed forces to fail to acknowledge that.”

“All of their rigs in the North Sea are regularly patrolled by the Royal Navy and Royal Marines,”

The Labour MP for Falkirk, Eric Joyce stated that Shell’s position seemed insensitive to the sentiment of the public.

“Given the current situation in Afghanistan it is more important than ever to support poppy week,” said the former Black Watch officer.

“Shell’s refusal to allow collecting cans in their service stations is mindless and misguided and they need to think again and reverse this policy.”

There had been fears among some that the lack of support for military charities was being exploited by groups such as the BNP.

Along with the support for collection boxes at it’s petrol stations, Shell are continuing with their plans to project a display of poppies onto their Headquarters in central London in an effort to highlight the poppy appeal.

Remembrance Day is on the 11th November.

Filed Under: Economy and Business, Science and Technology

Lasting Peace for Northern Ireland?

November 10, 2009 By nb03 Leave a Comment

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Image Courtesy of nibureau

by Nicola Branagh

US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton met with First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness at Belfast’s Stormont Castle on the 12th October 2009 in light of the ongoing talks of the devolution of policing and justice in Northern Ireland.

Mrs Clinton held private talks with the First Minister and Sinn Fein regarding the transfer of powers in which Unionists and Republicans would share responsibility for the justice system in Northern Ireland. Details of the devolution of policing and justice in Northern Ireland have not yet been finalized but both parties have been working closely with Prime Minister Gordon Brown to secure agreement.

So as Prime Minister Gordon Brown calls for the devolution of policing and justice to be completed soon, we must ask ourselves, has lasting peace in Northern Ireland really been secured. Following the erection of the peace lines in Northern Ireland in the early 1970s, the peace lines made from corrugated steel and barbed wire have in fact been extended and reinforced numerous times, to divide the feuding Catholic and Protestant communities.

So is this really a sign that lasting peace has finally been achieved? Mrs Clinton also pointed out that their is still a huge threat from paramilitary organisations throughout the country, Mrs Clinton pointed out in her speech at the hilltop legislature, ‘ There are still those looking to seize any opportunity to undermine the process and destabilise this government.’ In response to the assassination of two British soldiers at the Massereene army barracks in March 2009 Mrs Clinton highlighted the threat from paramilitary groups, ‘They want to derail your confidence. And though they are small in number, their thuggish tactics and destructive ambitions threaten the security of every family in Northern Ireland. Moving ahead together will leave them stranded on the wrong side of history.’

Belfast’s thriving and cosmopolitan city centre marks a huge change in the outlook and perspectives of the people of Northern Ireland. The opening of Victoria Square shopping centre in Belfast city centre has given the the country a new bustling tourist attraction with leading designer shops generating mass publicity for the city. The development of the ‘Titanic Quarter‘ is also key in the revival of the country’s character while embracing history and heritge, the waterfront development is well-rooted in the city’s history and will be a grave asset to the country. The once boarded-up, non-functioning centre has now been renewed and revived.

Northern Ireland has come a long way from the dark days of ‘The Troubles’ but has the country finally found lasting peace? During her meeting with the assembly in Northern Ireland Mrs Clinton stated, ‘Today Northern Ireland stands as an example to the world of how even the staunchest adversaries can overcome difference to work together for the greater good so I encourage you to move forward with the same unstoppable spirit of grit and resolve.’

So in light of the devolution of policing and justice in Northern Ireland we must look into the past to see the changes that have taken place. A lasting peace may not be fully secured at this time, but this handing over of power to the Northern Ireland government is a huge step in the right direction towards a true peace within the people of Northern Ireland.

Filed Under: All Politics Tagged With: Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland Politics, Peace in Northern Ireland

A peek into the life and writing of Quintin Jardine

November 10, 2009 By Ashlie Skye Watt Leave a Comment

Image courtesy of network.nationalpost.com

By Ashley Watt.

Quintin Jardine is a famous Scottish author of two best-selling series of detective novels. He was born and educated in Motherwell, Lanarkshire before going on to study law at the University of Glasgow. He then stepped into a career which began in journalism as a trainee on his local newspaper.

In an interview Quintin revealed to Edinburgh Napier News that this was a key influence on his work, along with his editor, Robin and also his wife Irene who motivated him to stop procrastinating and pushed him to begin his career in writing. ‘Everything you do informs your writing. Journalism was very helpful, particularly as it involved the police which played a main role in my writing.’

Quentin worked in various different positions throughout his life, he worked in Edinburgh as a government information officer, a political spin doctor and an independent relations consultant. Gradually he evolved into a full-time writer, with his first novel ‘Skinners Rules’ going into publication in 1993. This further went on to become a nomination for the John Creasy award of the UK Crime Writers Association.

Edinburgh Napier News asked Quintin what he feels makes stand out among other authors in terms of his writing. Quintin replied, ‘I wouldnt say that. My characters are different, however. Take Skinner for example, I wanted to keep him outside the box and not your stereotypical detective. He was a high flyer who’s already flown.’ Quintin further explains that his characters play an important role in what makes him unique amongst other writers of the same genre as he feels it is ultimately the characters in a novel that the audience relates to.

Quintin Jardine has appeared at numerous writers festivals around the world, including, Edinburgh, Glasgow, London, Vancouver, Toronto, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington. He reveals, ‘I love travelling and seeing different places in the world, it is inspiring and gives you insight into other cultures.’

Throughout his life he has achieved an exceptional amount and today Quentin Jardine lives alternately in Gullane, East Lothian which he described ‘home-base’ and L’Escala, on the Spanish Costa Brava.

Filed Under: Entertainment, Life and Society Tagged With: detective novelist, Quintin Jardine, scottish author

British Winemakers Bask in Climate Change Sunshine

November 10, 2009 By dickj91 2 Comments

By J.C Dick

Vineyard Wanderers (Courtesy Reuters)

Two people wander gaily through a vineyard in the balmy autumnal sunshine, buckets in hand picking pinot noir grapes. However this is not Burgundy, or Champagne, this is Dorking, home to Denbies Wine Estate and the largest vineyard in England with 265 acres of land under vines.

Denbies are in the process of reviving a tradition of winemaking in Britain that has been relatively unseen for over 600 years. This revival is due to the global shift in climate that has seen the southern regions of England begin to have more temperate climates that are near perfect for wine production. Research carried out by the University of Burgundy has shown that the best latitudes for winemaking in the northern hemisphere may move 1,000 km (620 miles) north by the end of this century if nothing is done to stop global warming.

This has naturally caused a rift in opinion as British winemakers such as Denbies are keen to cash in on an improving climate but in traditional wine growing regions outrage is growing. These developments prompted fifty famous French chefs and sommeliers to write an open letter to President Nicolas Sarkozy urging action as fine wines, “jewels of French culture,” were in danger.

However though the genuine advent of British wines seems a little further off in the future as British vineyards are still struggling to ripen grapes that produce the most popular varieties of red wine. As well as these unavoidable natural issues, cost continues to prove a problem as English red wines sell for approximately 8 pounds a bottle, against an average price of 4.26 pounds for a bottle of wine in the UK. Wine critics and wine buyers remain unconvinced as Wine buyer Field said while some “very nice” reds are being made, Berry Brothers has been unable to find one it feels is good enough to stock.

Filed Under: Science and Technology Tagged With: alcohol, Britain, environment, global warming, wine

British Faith In Afghan War Faltering

November 10, 2009 By gemmashaw17 Leave a Comment

By Gemma Shaw

Photo courtesy of World Culture Pictorial

The British government is under increased pressure as the public question the war on the Taliban, in Afghanistan.

Recent YouGov surveys have revealed general ill-feeling towards the war. In a survey of 1021 British adults, commissioned by Channel 4 News, 73% wanted the troops removed from Afghanistan, and 57% thought that victory is not possible for the British army.

Another YouGov survey, by Sky News, indicated that 55% of the 1014 British adults surveyed were unclear as to why the British troops are in Afghanistan. 82% think that the British Government should be doing more to support the soldiers.

Several recent events may have contributed to this week’s anti-war outcry.

Remembrance Sunday brought the news of the 200th and 201st deaths of British soldiers in action in Afghanistan. Also, Gordon Brown is engaged in an argument with the mother of Jamie Janes, who died in Afghanistan on 5th October, over seeming disrespect, due to the misspelling of her name on a handwritten condolence letter, further belittling the war effort. The news of American president Barack Obama’s withdrawal of American troops from Iraq may also be contributing to the British public’s anti-war feeling.

Filed Under: All Politics Tagged With: afghan war, public opinion, UK Government

Text Messages Replace Greetings Cards

November 10, 2009 By ryanculling Leave a Comment

By Ryan Culling

A recent survey by a mobile phone price comparison website has found that traditional greetings cards are gradually being replaced by text messages, as people choose to show that they care with technology instead of paper and a pen.

The survey, conducted by the UK’s leading mobile phone price comparison website, www.rightmobilephone.co.uk, studied 1, 014 people.

Family members proved to be the most likely to receive a card, with 66% of people saying they would buy their immediate relatives a card for a special occasion. However, only 42% of people said that they would to the same for a friend.

Image Courtesy of rightmobilephone

Just under two thirds of people surveyed said that they would send a text message instead of a card to a friend. 31% of those people said that the reason for this was down to cost. 46% said that they texted because it was easier and 5% said that it was because they did not remember until the actual day.

When asked whether they thought it was unnecessary to send both a card and a text message, 83% of people answered yes. The survey also found that 91% of Facebook users send messages via the site to family and friends on special occasions after they are reminded on their social networking page.

Co-founder of rightmobilephone.co.uk, Neil McHugh, speaking about the results of the research, said “Text messaging now plays a major part in most people’s day-to-day lives and it’s a quicker and much more efficient way of contact than letters or cards, especially with the recent postal strikes taking their toll.

He continued, “Texting is also a more cost-effective way of sending a message on a special occasion, as greetings cards can be fairly expensive and most only end up getting thrown away after the day. When you look at it that way, it’s no surprise that more people are texting ‘Happy Birthday’ than putting it in a card.”

Filed Under: Entertainment, Life and Society, News in Brief, Science and Technology Tagged With: cards, Christmas, Facebook, greetings, Survey, texting

Children of Alcoholics

November 10, 2009 By alicecroal Leave a Comment

By Alice Croal

Childhood, for many of us at least is a time we look back upon fondly. We reminisce about the time when we did not have a care in the world, however for some children in Britain, childhood is a time of fear and isolation.
These children are referred to as COAs (Children Of Alcoholics). Britain has always had a difficult relationship with alcohol and we are constantly reminded of the dangers of binge drinking and its effects to ourselves, what we are less aware of is the effect excessive use of alcohol by a parent has on children.
Alcoholics Anonymous is set up to help support and care for people with an alcohol dependency, but this does not help children who must tackle living with their parents alcohol dependency with little to no support, often experiencing psychological damage along the way.
A recent report from the Priory brought to light the shocking statistics of the effect alcoholic parents have on their children. In the case of child abuse 90% of cases involved at least one parent with an alcohol addiction and that 70% of COAs go on to later develop one or a variety of addictions such as alcohol, gambling, drugs, sex or food. It is not only young children that are effected, around 80% of all teenage suicides come from alcoholic homes and that if a child is raised with an alcoholic parent they are four times more likely to become an alcoholic in later life. This stems from that fact many scientists believe there is a hereditary predisposition to alcoholism. COAs often feel different from other children, and therefore unable to talk about it to anyone, many simply withdraw into themselves to help hide their parents problems from public scrutiny. It is ridiculous that a child should have to protect a parent.
In a report by Martina Tomori about the personality traits and characteristics of children with alcoholic parents the main uniting factor amongst COAs is the feeling of isolation they experience from other children at school. COAs often exhibit behavioral problems, preferring to keep themselves to themselves. The most common effects of living with an alcohol dependent parent are; low self-esteem, loneliness, guilty, helplessness, fear of abandonment and chronic depression. These personality traits can lead to problem with making relationships with others, the Priory report also states that a child from an alcoholic background is 50% more likely to get married to or live with an alcoholic in adulthood. Various non-profit organisations come to the consensus that children can end up blaming themselves, believing it is their fault for a parents behavior.

Isolation (courtesy of MNTC)

So the real question is, what are we doing to help these children? COAs are not few and bar between, in America alone 15% of all children are living with an alcoholic parent and it is estimated that in an average size classroom 6 children will have one parent with an alcohol addiction.
There are a variety of different non-profit organisations that specialize in helping COAs, such as Childline and NACoA (National Association for Children of Alcoholics) and the lesser known Alateen. A press release by Alateen states that they help children by giving them ‘an understanding of the illness and feel the benefits of realising they are not alone. They learn that they did not cause this problem and that they are not responsible for their relative’s or friend’s drinking or behaviour’.
Alateen is a branch of the Al-Anon group set up by Lois Wilson, wife of Bill Wilson, founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. Al-Anon is a world wide organization which focuses on supporting family members of an alcoholic, already making clear that the actions of alcoholics do not just effect them but all those around them with the tagline ‘Someone else’s drinking can affect your life’. Alateen was set up by a teenager in California who had a father in the AA and a mother in Al-Anon. The organisation offers support for children between the ages of 12-17 on how to cope with having an alcohol dependent parent. Support groups are set up and there are 800 groups across the UK and Ireland today. Alateen offers literature such as the book Hope for Today designed for the children of alcoholics which offers ‘daily thoughts and meditations based on the sharings of Al-Anon members with the family disease of alcoholism’. A member of this group, who wishes to remain anonymous commented that it’s ‘good to talk with others in the same age group. Some feel they can’t discuss any issues bothering them with the rest of their family’.
The truth is that there is no easy answer for alcoholics and COAs. We can however hope that with a raised awareness of the dangers of abuse and psychological problems, children in Britain can hope that for the future they will not have to feel alone in carrying the burden of living with an alcoholic parent.

Filed Under: Features, Life and Society Tagged With: Alateen, alcoholism, children, COAs

Edinburgh Lectures about the History of Scotland

November 10, 2009 By carolinef1 Leave a Comment

By Caroline Fraser

Edinburgh Lectures and The Open University are holding a lecture about the making of BBC programme, A History of Scotland, a two-part series which began its second installment on Sunday, November 8 on BBC 1. The programme is presented by Scottish archaeologist, historian, author and broadcaster Neil Oliver, famous for hosting hit BBC show Coast.

The lecture will take place on Wednesday, November 11 in The Hub, Royal Mile, Edinburgh and will begin at 6.30pm. The lecture is going to be chaired by journalist and broadcaster Ruth Wishart with the rest of the panel consisting of Dr Catriona MacDonald, Senior Lecturer in History, Glasgow Caledonian University and members of BBC staff who help make the programme, including Neil McDonald, the series producer who is also Creative Director of Documentaries at BBC Scotland. Other staff on the panel include Richard Downes, the BBC series producer for A History of Scotland and the series historian Dr Mark Jardine.

Courtesy of 1adventure

The Open University, who also co-produce the BBC programme, will have a panel ready to hold an interesting and lively debate Wednesday evening, which is also open to the public.

The topics to be addressed include how the production team decided just what aspects of Scotland’s history and culture should be included in the series as it is limited to 10 hours broadcasting time. Therefore, the debate hopes to discuss the content of the programme and what has been left out. Also, the debate will ask pertinent questions such as can television history programmes be made without compromise? And, how does national BBC 1 manage to secure a wide range of audiences from a programme solely about Scotland? These issues and questions, among others, will be raised at the lecture.

The first programme of the second installment entitled God’s Chosen People educated and entertained audiences as Oliver travelled through Scotland’s past recalling the story of the Covenanters whose religious beliefs were declared in the National Convenant of 1638. It is Scottish history such as this that will be examined in the debate as the series producers will discuss why such topics are included in the programme.

Professor Ian Donnachie, Professor in History at The Open University is looking forward to the upcoming 60 minute programmes in the new series as he says, ‘As the series moves on in time it highlights major themes in the history of Scotland to our own times. ‘ Donnachie continues to say, ‘Many important and controversial issues that are addressed and debated in the programmes help to explain how Scotland came to be the country it is today.’

The debate hopes to reinforce this view as the panel discuss and put forward their views in support of the programme as it continues to educate, and entertain for the remainder of the series.

Filed Under: Entertainment, Life and Society, Travel and Communities Tagged With: A History of Scotland, BBC, Edinburgh Lectures, Scottish history and culture, The Open University

Is community ownership of schools the way forward?

November 10, 2009 By Ashlie Skye Watt Leave a Comment

By Ashley Watt.

Is community ownership of schools the way forward? This is the question being put to East Lothian residents as new plans are proposed for East Lothian Council to become the first in Scotland to pioneer a scheme which aims to give schools more freedom and independence.

Head teachers have suggested that attempts to raise standards of schools are hindered as they have little control over many areas such as spending. These new plans would put in place what has been dubbed ‘Community Learning Trusts or Partnerships’. In other words, a body within local schools which would be given complete control of how the school(s) are run and the way in which money is spent to enhance learning. This would mean removing the established local authority which is currently ‘The Educational Institute of Scotland‘ and rendering them powerless in terms of contributing to decisions made about community schools.

Many local residents such as one, Jane Baxter are in favour of the proposals. She told Edinburgh Napier News, ‘I think the community learning trusts are a fantastic idea and will allow more individual attention to be given to the specific and unique needs of each school in turn. I can see how this will benefit the standards of our local schools.’

East Lothian Council are keen to promote the involvement of local people in the community, including parents in their plans. Many people are on board and have expressed that the community partnership scheme will be beneficial through increasing flexibility and control to schools.

Conversely, many concerns have been raised. One of which is that the role of head-teacher is already an extremely stressful and demanding position before adding the responsibilities of distributing funds etc. These are issues which would have been previously managed by a whole separate body. With current recruitment issues in the education system, adding extra pressure to the post will only discourage applicants and put unnecessary strain on existing head-teachers.

East Lothian Council have revealed that any changes would take at least two years to come in to action and if proposals are approved there is much more research and development required before anything is likely to be finalised.

Image courtesy of East Lothian Council.

Filed Under: Life and Society Tagged With: community learning partnerships, community ownership, east lothian council, education system

Scottish Students Face Rising Drink Prices

November 10, 2009 By nb03 Leave a Comment

By Nicola Branagh

Courtesy of Pubguide

Binge drinking teens in Scotland face a swift change in lifestyle due to the new drinking laws introduced in September of this year. The new laws state that all drinks promotions must remain constant for at least 72 hours, so will this result in rising prices for students living in Edinburgh? or will the laws, in the long term, simply deter binge drinking and underage drinking?

In introducing these laws that prohibit the sale of alcohol after 10pm and ban drinking promotions, unless they remain consistent for at least 72 hours, the government are aiming to tackle the problems of excessive binge drinking and underage drinking throughout Scotland. According to Scottish Info it’s estimated that dealing with the effects of alcohol costs the Criminal Justice System and the Emergency Services in Scotland £276.7 million a year.

However, Mark Cullens, manager of busy pub Biddy Mulligans based in the thriving student area of Grassmarket has said, ‘I do think the new drinking laws introduced will have an affect on long term drink sales’, but in terms of deterring binge drinking Mark Cullens said, ‘The only thing that will change is that instead of happy hour it will be happy week.’ Many people believe that students will simply sacrifice other things in order to afford drinking alcohol in nightclubs and bars. Peckhams Delicatessen, based close to both Napier and Edinburgh University, had a late license to sell alcohol up to midnight prior to the new laws, but is now in keeping with the new laws and only sells alcohol until 10pm.

The government feel as though drinking promotions encouraged excessive drinking and so many nightclubs have been forced to curb some of their two for one drinks offers. Nightclubs such as Lava and Ignite in the Tollcross area of the city have kept in line with the new laws by mainly keeping open at the weekend and closing during the week apart from Wednesday, which is always a popular student night, ‘POP’ is held at Lava and Ignite on a Wednesday with a cheap £1 entry for girls which is advertised through their Facebook events page. Many of the up-market nightclubs in the plush George Street area have opted to aim week nights at the student population of Edinburgh, and focus on and older crowd at weekends. On many of the George Street nightclubs websites such as Lulu and Opal Lounge drinks prices for the weekends are not actually shown. So although weekends are expensive in terms of student living weeknights are still reasonably priced for students.

Many bar owners have praised the new laws that have been introduced and feel they will help to curb excessive drinking. A spokesman from the Three Sisters bar in the busy Cowgate area stated that the new laws were a good idea, and many of the ideas were already in place but people simply didn’t realise it. However, will all students be affected by the new laws or will it simply be the students who were drinking irresponsibly in the first place? Many £1 per drink nights have been axed due to the new laws such as The Tron’s Wednesday evenings.

It is still possible for students in Edinburgh to go to nightclubs without having to spend a vast amount of money on drinks. Weekends are very expensive so many students avoid nightclubs at the weekend and simply go out during the week. Many nightclubs still have drinks promotions but keep them in place for the minimum 72 hours. So students that want to recklessly drink alcohol to excess still have this opportunity, but this is simply personal choice and cannot be deterred by these new laws.

Filed Under: Features, Life and Society Tagged With: Binge Drinking, drink prices, underage drinking

Eviction Causes Homelessness for Five Children a Day

November 10, 2009 By lmcgirk Leave a Comment

Image courtesy of Shelter

By Lucy McGirk

A new report released by leading charity ‘Shelter Scotland‘, shows the shocking figure that 5 children per day in Scotland are threatened by homelessness due to eviction.

Shelter Scotland has, in this report issued a five point action plan for the Scottish government to help tackle this issue and suggests alternatives to eviction which they believe to be more efficient. The report shows that the cost of evictions in 2007/8 was £11 million, Director of Shelter Scotland Graeme Brown said

‘It is vital alternatives to eviction are sought and it needs to be recognised that eviction is not the best way to recover rent’.

The report also questions whether it is fair to evict families due to disputes with neighbors.

‘Eviction wrecks lives, leaving families and children without a home and causing severe distress. Families who fall into arrears, more often than not, are struggling with the harsh reality of living in poverty. One family we worked with were evicted for rent arrears following a mix up with housing benefit. This led to the family being homeless for three years and moving four times to different types of temporary accommodation, which was very unsettling and upsetting; particularly for the children’.

Shelter Scotland is calling for a summit on this issue in order for the best outcomes to be reached.

Filed Under: Life and Society, Uncategorized Tagged With: homelessness, scottish government, shelter

A Gaming Revolution or Evolution?

November 10, 2009 By klodya Leave a Comment

Image courtesy of Slash Gear

By: Claudia Menting

Following Nintendo‘s widely popular interactive technology with the Wii console, Microsoft have gone and reached out further by removing the use of controllers completely. Based purely on Motion sensors and body recognition Project Natal is plunging the gaming industry head first into a new age of science fiction reality.

At first glance the Wii was considered as being a big step towards the expansion and development of the gaming world. The Wii provided a more pleasurable interactive way to entertain family and friends. Capturing the endless joy of jumping wildly in the air trying to catch imaginary tennis balls or dodging every which way to shoot zombies more effectively proved to be extremely popular in the way of having a lot of fun mixed with a bit of exercise. Nintendo has over 53 million Wii consoles being sold world wide and they currently are dominating the market place having almost more than twice the sales of the PS3 and the Xbox 360 consoles combined.

So what will happen when Project Natal hits the market in 2010? Retailers already anticipate a very large number of sales and an extremely wide market for the product considering that the Wii has been such a tremendous success. Although many avid gamers said they were definitely excited at the innovative techniques of Project Natal and anticipate it’s release others said they would first prefer have to see it in action and have hands on experience with it before deciding to invest or not. Many were also concerned by the games which would eventually become available for Project Natal, saying that a lot of the Wii games which are currently available are mainly aimed at younger children and teenagers where as very few are purely for adults.

Project Natal not only uses 3D body and facial recognition to fully incorporate the user into the game but it also ‘knows you’. It distinguishes individual players and calculates exactly where your limbs are and what is essentially a part of you. It also makes a series of calculations based on your height and weight to therefor give an accurate digital impression of your body. Thus in the event of a family pet or younger sibling running past, your game will not be interrupted or ruined. This also means that you will be able to move more freely and faster without the hassle of a remote which constantly needs to be charged, calibrated and located on the screen.

Microsoft is also currently working with Lionhead Studios who are creating an interactive game called ‘Milo’ specifically for use with Project Natal, in which the player will openly interact and converse with characters on the screen and vice versa the characters will also be able to recognize you and react to you and your movements. This is edging technology very close to a Matrix style science fiction reality and artificial intelligence, overall a very big breakthrough for Microsoft developers in the way of controller free entertainment.

Filed Under: Entertainment, Life and Society, Science and Technology, Uncategorized

Experts Warn of Infection Death Sentences if Careless Prescriptions Continue

November 10, 2009 By The Daily Fail 2 Comments

by Elliot Adams

Antibiotics which kill dangerous bacteria have no effect on flu-causing viruses; Image courtesy of ECDC

The European Centre of Disease prevention and Control (ECDC), which is focused on controlling infectious diseases like swine flu in Europe, is to write this week to all practicing GPs, warning them of the dangers of routinely prescribing antibiotics for coughs and colds because their overuse is contributing to the spread of hospital bugs and putting vital treatments under threat.

This is not a new problem, the prescription of the drugs, which are not necessary in most cases, has long fuelled the rising number of antibiotic resistant infections. But experts at the ECDC centre say that modern medicine is reaching a point when it will no longer be able to function because antibiotics are fast becoming powerless to fight life-threatening hospital infections.

The process of producing new antibiotics is too slow-paced to allow for the current growth in resistance; an ECDC spokesman said that “If we continue to consume antibiotics at the current rate, Europe may face a return to the pre-antibiotic era where a common bacterial infection could be a death sentence”

The ECDC is leading the pressure to stop improper antibiotic use. Left to right: Z. Jakab, Director of ECDC, Professor Giesecke and Dr. Coulombier of ECDC; Image courtesy of ECDC

Dominic Monnet, from the ECDC’s Scientific Advice unit warned that this would mean a halt to treatments with a high-infection risk like organ transplants, intensive care and chemotherapy.

“It is the whole span of modern medicine as we know it, that we will not be able to do if we lose antibiotics.”

These concerns echo conclusions drawn from the findings of a recent European Medicines Agency study into the rising number of multi-drug resistant bacteria.

Dr Bo Aronsson who led the study said, “Industry’s pipeline contains few new antibiotics active against multidrug-resistant bacteria. Without stimulating research and development into new antibiotics, an increasing number of infected patients will be without effective treatment”.

80% of antibiotics prescriptions in the UK are from GPs and community pharmacists, as opposed to hospitals where there is more legitimate need for them. Dr A. Adams, an Edinburgh medical practitioner commented, “The simple fact of the matter is that antibiotics do nothing to help viral illnesses like your cold, sore throat or flu. Antibiotics kill bacteria, not the viruses that cause flu. But GPs are often under pressure from patients, parents or pharmaceutical interests to prescribe antibiotics for these conditions,” adding that this situation will only be “exacerbated by the approaching flu season and predictions of a second wave of swine flu.” A 2002 survey found that 60% of people surveyed did not know that antibiotics do not work against viruses, so perhaps this pressure is understandable considering the lack of public understanding on the subject.

These warnings from the ECDC are only one of many attempts to steer GPs away from this path of least resistance, and to raise public awareness of just what antibiotics can and cannot do. For instance, this Wednesday will see the first annual European Antibiotic Awareness Day, a Europe-wide campaign aiming to inform and educate the public about the danger of antibiotic resistance and the importance of prudence in antibiotic use – emphasising the need to take antibiotics only as prescribed in order to maximise their effects and prevent the emergence of resistant bacteria.

According to the Department of Health, the government’s progress on this matter is “well ahead” of other European nations, but says that the Department of Health “recognises that this work must be sustained, with joint working across disciplinary boundaries, and that action must be maintained at local, national and international levels” to be effective.

As for those of us who are unfortunate enough to catch the flu this winter, the Chief Medical Officer of England, Sir Liam Donaldson simply advises that “you should rest, take plenty of fluids and speak to your pharmacist who will advise you on over the counter remedies that are available.”

Filed Under: All Politics, Life and Society, Science and Technology Tagged With: Antibiotics, Doctors, Drug Resistance, drugs, ECDC, GPs, Health, Hospitals, Medicine, MSRA, Politics, Scare Mongering, swine flu

COD: Modern Warfare 2 Midnight Launch

November 10, 2009 By klodya Leave a Comment

By: Claudia Menting

Queues formed outside Princes Street Game stores in Edinburgh as Activision‘s first person shooter game Modern Warfare 2 hit UK stores at midnight November 10th. Even though a majority of gamers were just eager to get their hands on the game, many admitted to enjoying the anticipation, excitement and theatre-like atmosphere of going to a midnight launch to get the game. The allocated stock for the whole of the UK is 1.3 million copies, and Game stores alone in the UK have been given 1 million copies. Retailers overall expect Modern Warfare to be one of the best selling games of 2009.

On the 13th of May 2008, Grand Theft Auto IV made history by breaking the Guinness World Records for “Highest grossing video game in 24 hours” as well as the “Highest Revenue Generated by an Entertainment Product in 24 Hours”. Game developers and producers are anticipating Modern Warfare 2 to come close to and maybe even beat this record, or at any rate beat the overall sales. Another interesting world record to beat will possibly be the number of online players to be playing the same game at one time. Activision CEO Robert Kotick expects the game to be one of the biggest media launches of any kind of all time, considering the pre-orders for this game have been the highest in history for the firm.

This is the 6th game in the Call of Duty line up and the second Modern Warfare game developed by Infinity Ward, Modern Warfare 2 is a direct follow up from the original Modern Warfare: Call of Duty 4 game, and is the most anticipated game in 2009.

Avid gamers claimed to be disappointed by the latest Call of Duty game: World at War and were extremely eager to start playing Modern Warfare 2. Many claimed this to be because World at War was developed by a different company, Treyarch, and the game lacked historical accuracy as well as not being as intense as COD4 and one gamer claimed ‘There wasn’t enough substance in the game to make playing constantly online worth while’.

Modern Warfare 2 is not for the feint of heart, and massive bloodshed is to be expected, and although players may be unsettled during the single player campaign by the wild change of maps and main characters, the game doesn’t disappoint. It delivers brilliant graphics using high resolution texture streaming functionality which enhances the detail in characters and environments which allows the player to feel completely immersed into the game.

Filed Under: Entertainment Tagged With: Call of Duty Modern Warfare, Infinity Ward

‘Best Bar None’ Pubs to Receive Metal Detectors

November 10, 2009 By gemmashaw17 Leave a Comment

By Gemma Shaw

Photo courtesy of NHS Sefton

The Scottish Government announced plans today to cut down knife crime in bars and clubs by giving metal detectors to first-time winners of Best Bar None awards.

The government has set aside £30,000 to award winners with handheld metal detectors and training on their effective use, in an attempt to keep knives out of pubs and clubs. This is the latest step in an ongoing plan from the government to remove weapons from Scottish culture. In a press statement, Community Safety Minister Fergus Ewing said: ”We are now doing more than ever to tackle knife crime with tougher sentences and tough police action to take weapons off our streets. Changing the booze and blade culture won’t be quick and it won’t be easy but we can not go on as we are.”

The Best Bar None scheme was launched in Glasgow in 2005, and now covers areas across Scotland including Aberdeen, Dundee, Inverness and West Lothian, with plans to spread the scheme to a further 5 areas in Scotland currently in progress. The scheme aims to keep licensed premises safe by giving awards to the venues which meet the set guidelines, focussing on safety, one of which being the ability to prevent crime and disorder issues. The bars are graded with bronze, silver and gold awards.

The winners of this year’s Best Bar None awards for the Glasgow, Perth and Fife areas will be announced in an award ceremony taking place today.

Filed Under: All Politics, Courts and Crime, Economy and Business Tagged With: Best Bar None, knife crime, scottish government

Young Offenders Get Creative

November 10, 2009 By lmcgirk Leave a Comment

Image courtesy of the Sun

By Lucy McGirk

Young offenders in Polmont took part in a workshop to encourage creativity run by theatre group Visible Fictions. This on-going exercise involved the prisoners working together with a professional writer, director and set designer to put together a play based on the first chapter in Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’.

The company’s Artistic Producer, Dougie Irvine, compared this chapter, which involves sailors, unbeknown to them, trapped on a ship with the vampire, to many of the youngsters circumstances. He cited them as being “trapped” in destructive patterns.

He also said, with regards to the reception of the theatre group by the young people, that “I’m sure it was a laugh at first”, but that it was “truly remarkable to watch these boys grow and develop through art”. In an interview he also gave a number of stories of individual offenders, one of whom wanted to re-schedule an appointment with his lawyer regarding his appeal in order to appear in the show, and another who initially could not read or write, but took classes and was given greater motivation to learn so that he did not let down his fellow inmates. Irvine also stated that having a goal to work towards was “essential” for these boys, and that the sense of collective pride was “amazing”.

Alison Haylock, a former teacher at an English prison said about jail time that, “I believe that it should give convicted criminals a chance to re-make themselves and come out better equipped to deal with the world than when they went in”. This, in the eyes of Visible Fictions is the goal they’re striving for.

Visible Fictions are looking to expand this project, involving the cooking classes at the institution to cater for guests.

Filed Under: Courts and Crime, Entertainment Tagged With: Polmont YOI, Visible Fiction

Trinity Mirror Put a Stop to Final Pension Schemes

November 10, 2009 By carolinef1 Leave a Comment

By Caroline Fraser

The Trinity Mirror Group who publishes national titles such as the Sunday Mirror has had to stop pensions schemes to its existing staff members due to increasing costs of running the publishing service.

The Group recently announced that a two month consultation will take place as the group put forward their reasons for the drawback being necessary. Pension fund losses have increased from £37 million in 2001 to £275 million by the end of June this year. Such dramatic deficits have resulted in the group’s 3000 members changing to a ‘defined contributions scheme’ in which the active members will have a pension based on the amount payed in, rather than a fixed amount of money which relates to each individual employee’s earnings.

This news has left many employees ‘shell-shocked’ as the National Union of Journalists, (NUJ), have criticized the Trinity Mirror Group regarding news of the current pension scheme stopping. Paul Holleran, NUJ Scottish Secretary, said: “This announcement on a Friday afternoon has left many of our members shell-shocked… the scrapping of the final salary scheme is the latest in along line of attacks on staff at Trinity Mirror and serious questions need to be asked and answered about the capability of the senior Trinity directors.’

The Trinity Mirror issued a statement which read: ‘Closing these schemes to future accrual would help limit the increase in liabilities…’ The Trinity Mirror Group seem confident with their pension scheme alterations and by offering staff another pension plan. Meanwhile, discussions regarding the final pension payout stopping are continuing.

Image courtesy of journalism.co.uk

Filed Under: Life and Society Tagged With: Final Pension payout stopped, NUJ, Trinity Mirror Group

Oxfam To Sell Arctic Monkeys Single

November 10, 2009 By ryanculling Leave a Comment

By Ryan Culling

Following the huge success of the single ‘Crying Lightning’ 7″, which was sold exclusively through Oxfam shops, Arctic Monkeys have again teamed up with the charity for their new single, ‘Cornerstone’.

One of the biggest selling vinyl singles of the century so far, ‘Crying Lightning’ sold in the region of 10,000 copies in just a few weeks. These sales were against the trend of 7″ vinyl singles, of which sales have more than halved since 2007.

‘Cornerstone’, a limited edition single, will go on sale in Oxfam’s top 50 music shops on Monday 16th November. It will cost £4.99 and each single comes with a download code, which will allow fans to get an MP3 version of the song for free. Oxfam will also be giving away pairs of tickets to see the Arctic Monkeys forthcoming sold out UK tour.

Courtesy of Oxfam

Domino Records and Arctic Monkeys are also encouraging people to bring in any unwanted albums or singles when they go to pick up their copy of ‘Cornerstone’ from their local Oxfam shop, in order to provide Oxfam with vital funds needed for years to come.

Founder of Domino, Laurence Bell, said “Our co-operation with Oxfam around the ‘Crying Lightning’ single was a great success for all parties and did plenty of good. We are extending the partnership for the release of ‘Cornerstone’, which will hopefully drive many more punters to both shop in and donate to Oxfam stores.”

Oxfam’s Director of Trading, David McCullough, said “Oxfam shops have always been one of the best places on the high street to find great music, as the success of ‘Crying Lightning’ proves.

“The partnership with Domino has broken new ground for us, and we’re delighted to be continuing it. Arctic Monkeys fans can pick up and exclusive from the band at the same time as helping us to fight poverty around the world.”

Filed Under: Entertainment, News in Brief Tagged With: Arctic Monkeys, Cornerstone, Domino, music, Oxfam, vinyl

Shoplifters Booming During Recession

November 10, 2009 By dickj91 1 Comment

By J.C Dick

The Centre for Retail Research today released figures for the first half of 2009 that show a hike of 20% in the value of stolen retail goods. The total value of shoplifted goods in the UK hit £4.88bn, making Britain the biggest victims of shoplifters in Europe, and third biggest globally bettered only by the US and Japan globally.

Global Retail Theft Barometer (Courtesy BBC)

This rise in value of stolen retail goods does not necessarily correlate to a rise in the number of shoplifting incidents, according to data on what goods are actually stolen it is actually the price of goods being stolen that has risen. This statistic points to a shocking revelation that during the recession shoplifting among the ‘middle class’ has spiked dramatically.

Neil Matthews, Vice President of Checkpoint Systems who commissioned the report, said that the rise was “epitomised in the recent uprising of the middle-class shoplifter, someone who has turned to theft to sustain their standard of living. This is driving theft of items such as cosmetics, perfumes and face creams, alcohol, fresh meat, mobile phones, computer games and DVDs, as well as small electrical goods like cameras, iPods and personal care gadgets.”

However, despite the rise in thefts to maintain standards of living, thefts carried out by employees still massively outstrip ‘external’ thefts in value. The study shows that the average shoplifting value was £80.31, but average employee theft was a massive £1,595.66 per incident in the UK.

During a recession this is a particularly worrying trend as retailers look to minimise losses across the board they are forced to invest more money in security with an estimated £926m being spent last year on measures such as CCTV, security staff, and electronic tags. As Mr Matthews of Checkpoint Systems says “Retailers simply cannot afford to ignore this problem, it is not going to go away and is the equivalent of criminals taxing every UK household £227 per year.”

Filed Under: Courts and Crime, Life and Society Tagged With: Credit crunch, Recesssion, theft

ConCERNing Science and Fiction

November 10, 2009 By Today I don't like... 1 Comment

By Ewan Angus

Recently the University of Manchester was home to the release of an anthology that was a little bit different in its approach. It wasn’t just a anthology of short stories, it wasn’t just an anthology of science fiction. It was an anthology of science fiction writers writing the stories with real scientists bringing the science fact. Named When it Changed, the book has a vast pull of British Sci Fi Greats.

It was, in effect, a team up of britain’s leading scientists and Science fiction authors. Think of it like a real life literature version of an issue of Marvel Team Up.

Taking 14 leading authors and asking them to write a short story that is scientifically relevant and realistic was the main goal of the project and has been made even more plausible by the inclusion of afterwords by the scientists to back up the science in the stories. Headed up by Geoff Ryman, author of the critically acclaimed Was, a surreal take on the Wizard of OZ and Air. as editor of the anthology I spoke to him about the process, how it came about and the reasoning behind it.

The premise of the book is to make the science in science fiction novels more believable by giving the facts held within to back up the plot. A large goal and one that is strangely unique.

“In 2002 I started a movement called the Mundanes with a bunch of young writers who didn’t like where a lot of SF was going. In those days, even then, people didn’t seem to be taking on board the difference that peak oil and climate change might make to our future. You got faster than light travel, very fast travel with no time dilation, time travel… the commericial wing of the genre (not the really good stuff) seemed trapped writing about ideas that were not only very unlikely to ever become true and which were getting stale.”

“I felt that maybe we needed another approach, one that specifically identified more positively what we actively wanted, not just what we didn’t want. I can’t now remember who had the idea for this specific anthology me or the publisher. I do know Ra Page came to me asking if I wanted to edit a short story anthology. No matter who contributed what to the final idea, there was no doubt in my mind that it was a great idea. The Manchester area is full of unis and research institutions full of people doing brilliant work. Marry them up with writers and see what will happen. The idea got huge amounts of support from within the University of Manchesrter and from the Manchester Area Beacon, Dame Nancy Rothwell. There was then a lot of work, getting writers to agree, then scientists, then introducing them to each other, then watching sometimes as the collaborations didn’t quite work. It took a year longer than scheduled, but it worked in the end.”

Authors such as Ken Macleod, author of the critically acclaimed trilogy Engines of Light and the Orwellian Night Sessions, was teamed up with Dr Richard Blake, the director of STFC’s Computational Science and Engineering Department at Daresbury Laboratory. their story revolved around the possible horrors of future supercomputers. This isnt Ken’s first anthology as he has featured in Nova Scotia, an anthology of Scottish Science Fiction Writers with the likes of Hal Duncan.

Marvel comics scribe and part of the Doctor Who 2005 revival, Paul Cornell took time out of his busy schedule to contribute a story revolving around a facility that is akin to the current Large Hadron Collider. His current work on A list Comic titles such as Dark Reign: Young Avengers, Dark XMen and the celebrated, Captain Britain and MI:13 has been lauded for its tight plotting and in depth character growth. The subject is one that scientist Dr Rob Appleby is very clued up on, he works at the LHC with CERN in Switzerland.

Other authors for the anthology include Adam Roberts, author of Stone and Swiftly, Gwyneth Jones, Feminist Science Fiction author who is known for comparisons to Ursula K. Le Guin.

Editor of the anthology Geoff Ryman contributed a short story centering on how current technology may help us to explore and learn more about artifacts from Mars.

“My scientist gave me all kinds of great information about how physics is now used in archaelogy and the study of artefacts. I went away and wrote the story, but the good bit was having someone to check the result out with. Not just to correct errors, but to tell me if there were any bright new directions or ideas that I was missing.”

The Book is available now from Amazon.co.uk.

Filed Under: Entertainment Tagged With: Adam Roberts, Cern, fiction, Geoff Ryman, Ken Macleod, Marvel, Nova Scotia, science

Get Some Bottle: Dolphin Slaughtering in Japan

November 10, 2009 By rparris 2 Comments

Dolphins after slaughter - photo courtesy of wendmag.com

By Rahsian Parris

With the new movie The Cove due to hit UK screens this month, the riveting depiction of the horrors surrounding Japanese Whale and Dolphin slaughtering has come at an ideal time. The beginning of hunting season.

Under the light of the warm summer sun herds of small children and adults alike pour into dolphinariums, theme parks and marine mammal parks to get a small glimpse of these spectacular creatures in action. The applause crescendos into a roar of happy cheers, a sea of smiling faces, as one of the most intelligent animals on the planet performs an array of playful tasks. Swimming backwards? Check! Balancing a ball on its nose? Check! The benevolent mammals seemingly have no qualms about jumping through hoops for their superiors, but when the sun starts to set, the doors begin to shut and the chill of the night air sets in, the only reminder of the joys of the day are the empty candy floss sticks stuck to the concrete floors.

Fast-forward a few months and in the small fishing town of Taiji, Japan, Dolphin hunting season has begun. Select fisherman of the 3,500 populated town, are poised in position, watching with stealth and trained eyes for a pod of dolphins. When the group are identified they are debilitated by fisherman who bang metal rods together in the water, disorientating the mammals and effecting their ultra sensitive sonars. The crippled animals are quickly driven into a cove blocked off by other boats and nets, trapped, they are left overnight to calm down. The next day the Dolphins are individually captured and then killed one by one. A sharp metal pin is driven into the neck of the Dolphin. It dies almost instantaneously. This method of killing is said to be less brutal than the previous method which has been made illegal in Japan, where after the Dolphin is separated from the other captives, its throat is slit and the Dolphin is left to violently convulse before its imminent death.

The hunt starts at the beginning of September, with the first day bringing in at least 100 Bottlenose Dolphins and maybe some Pilot Whales, but Japan’s annual quota is approximately 20,000 Dolphins. Aquariums can pay up to £90,000 for one of these Dolphins, but most of them are killed, their meat being sold for about £330 per carcass. Tickets for a show at a dolphinarium can cost as little as £20.

It has been argued that Whale and Dolphin hunting is part of the Japanese tradition, that the meat gathered during the hunts becomes part of the local dishes, which are part of the culture, which is paramount to the identity of the nation, however, after capture, the slaughtering takes place very much under wraps, behind (several) closed doors (barriers), as far away from prying eyes as it is from patriots. Although there are several organizations that continuously strive to put a stop to the slaughtering of Dolphins and Whales in Japan, and on a smaller scale, in other places, drive hunting, as it is known, continues to be a serious, global, animal welfare issue.

One activist in particular has been making a stand for over three decades. Ex-Dolphin trainer, Ric O’Barry is a dedicated campaigner against the atrocities of drive hunting, saying “I’ve been working with dolphins for most of my life. I watched them give birth. I’ve nursed them back to health. When I see what happens in this cove in Taiji, I want to do something about it.” In his new film The Cove he seeks to uncover the truth surrounding the multi-billion dollar Dolphin entertainment industry that he himself use to endorse (O’Barry captured and trained all 5 Dolphins that were used in the television series “Flipper”). The movie seeks to expose, educate and inspire people into action, showing the reality of the blood thirsty industries that hide behind sugar coated notions and sun kissed dreams.

Over a montage of breath taking clips of Dolphins swimming out at sea, coupled with grim, savage scenes filmed on hidden cameras by O’Barry’s team of activists, we hear the voice-over “If I destroy anything in nature, I’m taking it away from myself and the human race has to wake up to that, because we’re losing it all and we’re losing it at a horrifying rate.” and suddenly you are taken back to those fond, sun drenched, childhood memories where the summers are extra long and the future is a certainty, yet the in the back of your mind an image lingers and in this image there are no hoops, no beach balls, no tomorrow.

The Cove is in cinemas from the 23rd of October