Local elections

I sent this letter to the local rag this morning - any comments?

My voting card arrived this morning. If this were a national election, I would be amongst the many that see nothing at all to inspire or excite amongst any of the main parties

This being a local election, however, local issues should be the focus on the decisions we have to make. I would, thus, propose three questions to all of the candidates:

1. Given that the matters over which local government has any real influence over have been drastically reduced, and the actual political decisions are made by a small coterie of councillors – the ‘cabinet’ – what is the purpose of so many additional councillors? Their role appears to be little more than an unqualified low-level welfare service, sorting out management failures of the council, given that they have no real political role any longer. Could we not manage with many less councillors given that no party is suggesting a return to direct service provision?

2. Would not a properly funded, trained, and independent Ombudsman service which operated locally be a more effective way of sorting out these problems? I accept that many councillors – including those in this ward – work hard and are sincere and genuine people – but its their actual role which I question, now that they have no political ‘say’ any longer unless a Cabinet member.

3. Given that Sefton Council has no overall majority and no party is principled enough to walk away from power, what we have is essentially an officer-run authority with an all-party coalition cabinet. Why, then, so much inter-party bickering in election literature when the decisions being criticised are the responsibility of all three parties?

I will be interested to receive any responses – my vote is up for grabs!

Forget nice....

So now we have that disgusting little worm, the Bishop of Hereford, Anthony Priddis, deciding to interrogate and turn down a gay man for a post as a youth officer.

Why, for goodness sake, can't people see just what a waste of time the institutional church is? There is no point in being part of something which is oppressive and has a homophobic message - its just not good for you! Would a black person join the BNP?

I find myself in a difficult position on one level. I can see nothing worthwhile in the Church, and ever more, see humanism as more appealing than Christianity. Yet the latter has been a large part of my own life and identity for quite a while....and I know there are things I still find attractive about the Christian message.

I'm going to do some proper reading about humanism and atheism. In the meantime, the fence will have to do, although its not terribly comfortable...

OK, I'll try to be nice

Fluffy bunny-dom was never my thing, but I seem to have given people the impression that I make Marcus Brigstocke look like a happy, cheerful person, so I will try very hard NOT to appear furious in today's post.

But WHAT THE HELL am I meant to say about Scooch? I mean, come on?? This utterly talentless troop of jokers win our ESC selection with an act that's already been tried, a song so mindless that a two year old could have written it, and to cap it all the BBC cock up the broadcast. You couldn't make it up.

As for the Budget, I never feel I have a lot to say. Our joint earnings put us well into the higher earner bracket and I tend to think that we will never really be affected by any Budget. Is that right? Theoretically, no, but its not going to change - because no party can win an election on the votes of the poor.

Sexual Orientation Regulations passed in Parliament

Excellent news - the Sexual orientation regulations have been passed and become law in April.

As you can imagine, the conservative Christians are absolutely apoplectic about it. They simply don't get that things have moved on and that their ludicrous beliefs and prejudices no longer mean much to the vast majority of people. It was amusing to note that the issue was hardly covered on the news at all once the decision had been made - to listen to that lot you would think the world had ended.

Naturally, Vatican plc are still whingeing on about keeping their adoption agencies open and how they may have to close. Well, they have a simple choice. They stop discriminating. Or they close. No problem there. They wouldn't be missed, anyway - plenty of other agencies could take on their role.

The other piece of interesting church related news is that the American Episcopal Church has told Williams the Spineless to get stuffed and that they wonlt be playing his little game. Its about time someone in the church actually displayed a bit of principle - now, where are the so-called liberal Bishops in the UK, who should be speaking out in favour of the US stance and making it clear that they stand with them, not with Nigeria and puppy-dog Williams the Coward.

Changing Attitude seem to have gone very quiet, too - perhaps because they recognise their strategy has failed and they too are going to have to make some hard choices.

Ist anniversary

We celebrated our first official anniversary the weekend before last - returning to the boutique hotel where we had the ceremony for a meal. We were offered free champagne and it was a lovely evening. Its good that we are now recognised. A lot of people have askewd me if it feels any different now its official. i suppose the answer is, not really, as we were always committed to each other in any case, but its good to know that we aren't second class citizens any longer. As I recall US comedian Scott Capurro say - closets are for clothes.

The Goods and Services regulations have been announced and are broadly as expected. The religious homophobes will be allowed to discriminate within their temples of prejudice, but as i don;t frequent them any longer, that's not a problem.

Funny how these things work out.I think there's a typical pattern
1. Government announces gay rights legal reforms to bring equality for gay and lesbian people
2. Conservative Christian groups oppose changes, usually saying that they 'do not support discrimination' in the case of the more wishy-washy of them. Various outlandish suggestions are made as to the outcomes of this legislation
3. Government passes the legal changes
4. The world carries on, and none of the outcomes follow through
5. Everyone else gets on with life and conservative Christians continue to fulminate. Only their words appear ever more hollow and hysterical because few care about their obsessions.

I'm sure this will be the same.

The ESC is still to choose just two songs, one of which is the UK> When thats chosen I will probably put together a review of the contest again.

Seems as if the political parties are falling over themselves to be greener than thou. But isn't it the classic NIMBY issue? Just about any suggestion which actually involves any sacrifice - road pricing, for example - will be met with a cry of protest. Being green costs, and I'm not convinced that people really want to pay.

I'm really going to make an effort to blog more often.I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't talk about work - nothing more boring than blogs which moan about their workplace - but I realise this has meant a scanty number of posts since I've never got into a pattern of regular blogging. Today ; we went over to Harrogate to see a friend of David's and his wife who are soon to be spending two years on the Falkland Islands. Certainly not doing things by halves. I'm sure it will be an adventure, but I'm not sure I could handle the isolation or lack of privacy.

Its that season again....

Eurovision season, of course!

I am preparing to write full reviews of all the songs in time, but so far this year, it is proving to be a little strange. There have been some good songs selected over the past few days, but there are also some absolute horrors. Most of all Israel's entry. Supposedly a satire, but how can Israel of all countries satirise nuclear weaponry??

As for the UK, we have six songs to choose from, three are good, two OK- and one diabolical.

The latest from the Church

I hate to say 'I told you so'

But I did.

It has been obvious to me that the Church is deeply and thoroughly homophobic. It is no good trying to make excuses or trying to pretend that things are any different.

What we now have is a simple choice. Either you can support gay and lesbian equality. Or you can leave the church. But trying to do both together is simply giving succour to an organisation which has had chances to change but has resolutely resisted such change.

The other question which i think requires attention is, quite simply, does Christianity really add up? Or has its good points been fatally and permanently outweighed by its prejudices?

First blog of the year

I'm really not doing too well at this, am I?

Anyway, a few thoughts.

Let's start with vomiting. By all accounts it is regarded as the world's most unpleasant sound.

Clearly, those who cited that example must be regular churchgoers, for the sound of vomit is the only think which comes to mind in listening to their latest garbage

We have the arrant hypocrisy of the Roman Catholic Church, Vatican plc, who deliberately covered up child abuse,pretending to have a position relating to 'morality' regarding adoption.The Catholic Church shouldn't be allowed any where near children . In addition, I do not believe that any self-respecting gay person should want to do anything with the Catholic church other than copiously vomit at its sheer evil and hypocrisy.

As for Rowan Williams. Well, what a pathetic specimen he is.This is the man who used to live next door to a gay couple, one a priest, bringing up a child with severe learning difficulties. This is also the man willing to sacrifice his friend because of institutional homophobia.

Williams, there is no-one in the world I despise more than you. You have no principles, you are a windbag who writes impressive looking, meaningless garbage. But you have nothing worth saying, and you are quite incapable of offering any sort of inspiration or leadership. Do us all a favour and piss off, eh?

I shall never return to the church until it splits and discards the nonsense it promulgates to the unthinking and deluded. No, lets be honest. I'm not going back to the church. I'm better off without it

Last Rites

I really should give Last Rites a plug.

Its about the best book I have read about the sad and sorry institution called the Church of England in the last few years.

I won't spoil it for you, but have a look at http://www.LastRites.co.uk

The most loathsome bishop in the Church of England hates it - a so-called progressive who thinks he is left-wing but justifies church homophobia to the hilt. The sort of sickening bastard which makes me glad that I will this year, and in future years, be having a church-free Christmas! So, if he hates the book, then it must be good....

The Royal Mail

Its interesting that this utterly inept organisation has so far, managed to avoid privatisation....yet surely this is one service that is crying out for some competition?

I'm awaiting a parcel. It hasn't as yet, arrived. Yet I can't phone my local delivery office to enquire, because the wankers at the so-called 'Customer service' section can't give me their number, because THEY have to sort it out. But of course, as they are not based locally, how are they to know if it has arrived or not? Everyone knows that the card system this organisation operates doesn't work, but essentially unless you keep the number to hand you have to go round the office to enquire.

That's customer service for you....

Vincent Nichols - bugger off back to Italy and take the rest of your squalid church with you

So, now we have Catholic Gauleiter Nichols threatening to withdraw co-operation from joint projects.

As someone who thinks that scvhools, adoption agencies, and frankly, british society, would be far better without the vile and disgusting influence of the Catholic Church, this can only be welcomed.

What an institution. Criticising consenting gay couples when half its priests are shagging schoolkids, have a history of abuse of everyone from single mothers to schoolboys, trying to prevent people from deciding when they wish to die, preventing women from controlling their own fertility - and we actually think this is a suitable organisation to be allowed to run anything?

The sooner the Catholic church in Britain breathes its last, the better for all of us

Rowan Williams - foot in mouth once again - and other thoughts

So now Williams gives an interview with the catholic herald which, naturally, he claims is misquotes. That may be the case. But why is this happening once again? Could it be that Williams (other than being a spineless, disloyal, pathetic , hypocritical irrelevance?) simply has neither media nor political skills, and is utterly incapable of doing anything other than providing vague, opaque soundbites that are clearly meant to mean exactly the opposite to how they read to everyone else?

As time moves on, I become ever more detached from organised religion of any description. I still go along to Quaker meeting, sometimes, but even there the spectre of those who cannot resist telling others what they should do, how they should think, what they should believe.

I have come to the conclusion that churches simply attract bossy people and that religion appears to be largely about policing of others.

Yes, this blog does still exist....

And my excuse is that I have a new job.
Which I am enjoying. I don't talk about work on this blog as a matter of principle but it is going well.

So...what to say

Gormley's Iron Men. I live in the Crosby area, and there is currently a local controversy with regard to the future of a public art installation currently on the beach - Another Place.
http://www.visitliverpool.com/site/product-p76741 for more details.

The short-sighted philistines who run Sefton Council - in particular the Tory group and PPC for Sefton Central Debi Jones (who is actually OK other than her politics) and some renegade LibDems of the 'we're working class, you know' variety, have voted not to give planning permission for its permanent place on the beach. It is a ludicrous decision. There is huge potential here - Crosby beach and marina is sorely needing renovation and needs a focus point. With the upcoming Capital of Culture in Liverpool, it is imperative that these statues remain here. Please write to Graham Haywood, chief executive of Sefton Council, graham.haywood@sefton.gov.uk and say so. They have a stay of execution until March as there is an appeal.

Political musings....

The LibDems conference this week, some of which I have watched. A sense of a lack of excitement and vision, or at least one which does not suggest that there is anything very different about the LD's from any other party.

Something does need to break this obsession with trying to gain as many voters as possible hence the lack of choice. Clare Short is right - we need electoral reform and I think only a hung parliament could offer that. Assuming people bother to vote next time....I think you would be very hard pushed to know what party most politicians belong to . They use the same soundbites, have the same essential message. There's nothing to inspire.

South Africa

Rather belated, but we spent 10 days in South Africa (Cape Town) and its about time I blogged about it.

Its a fascinating place. Cape Town itself has often been described as thinking of itself as a European city and certainly on one level it is less overtly African than other major African cities - the population is historically more diverse, for a start.

What immediately struck me was that in essense, apartheid still exists, in a practical sense if not in actuality as a political system. For example, restaurants appeared to be frequented only by white people. And recognising the still vast economic differences is at least one explanation. The sheer size of some of the townships, and the fact that much of them, particularly the largest, still consist of 'informal' housing - essentially shacks constructed from corrugated iron, board, and so on - emphasises this difference. Just a mile or two up the road are mansions costing millions. I know there are these diferences in London, but they seem all the more extreme, all the more stark.

What any government can do is limited, I suppose - or at least, it may take time, a long time, and when we visited a township with our excellent guide Duncan, local people did seem to have a sense of optimism. There is certainly a genuine sense of community on the townships, and I couldn't help but think that the design of the new 'pathway' housing will not facilitate this and appears to be more on the lines of the low level blocks of flats being torn down all over Britain.

Racism is still all too apparent, as is the assumption that because we are white, we would agree with them. Two particular occassions - at a crocodile farm where the owner launched into a racist rant, even using the word 'kaffir' (did you know that the only problem with apartheid was giving it a name - it would have been fine if they had just done it!), and in a supermarket of all places. Thats not going to disappear overnight either.

The city itself is remarkably beautiful, no doubt about that. We did the expected Table Mountain visit, and the views really are amazing. We also went to Robben island which was interesting but perhaps somewhat disorganised. The Robben Island Museum are building a new craft to take people to the island but have cancelled their existing contract before the new boat is available and replaced them, temporarily, with the old apartheid era boats which used to take the prisoners over to the island. Of historical provenance, yes, but not a comfoprtable ride to put it mildly, and they are still trying to run the old schedules on boats which are far slower. Daft.

Other things we did - travelled down to Constantia and halfway to Cape Point, where we saw penguins oin Boulders beach, and over to Hermanus for some whale watching - yes, they were more than in abundance. We went on a day safari which included rhinos, zebras, wildebeestes and so on...

Its certainly a foodie city. Great food everywhere we tried, and the exchange rate makes it a very cheap holiday once you have got there.

And the hotel must get a mention. The Cape Heritage Hotel in the city centre is a gem.

Great post about Williams the Spineless

Thanks to Dora in Texas for this - I hope she doesn'tmind my reproducing it

I have my own term for him. The Archmushworm of Canterbury. Spineless is putting it mildly. You have to be capable of actual definitive views before the concept of a spine even applies. The Archbishop of Canterbury reminds me of the overgrown flea larvae that infested my room one hot summer when my cat was ill. If you squashed them, they turned out to be completely made of flea excrement. They had no actual substance.

I'm not very good at this....

So, what have we been up to since the last missive?

A week in France.Now, that was very enjoyable. We travelled down to Normandy, the heart of the Pays d'Auge, and rented a cottage for a week, spending the days travelling round the region, eating very good lunches and chilling out. The evenings we spent at the cottage again chilling out. Very pleasant.
Normandy still keeps largely to traditional French hours - two hours for lunch - even the supermarket shut for 2 hours in the local town. The food was good, of course, particularly the cheese. And we did plenty of stocking up on wine, local cider and poire, and so on.

Dropped in to see some friends on the way back - who now run THE LANGTONS GUEST HOUSE in Eastbourne. If you're looking for somewhere to stay on the south coast, it is recommended (Anne's breakfasts are excellent!) http://www.thelangtons.net/ is the website

I'm still on the search for more work for the forthcoming academic year - really, all I want is a 0.5 permanent post somewhere within travelling distance. You wouldn'tthink it would be THAT difficult, would you?

Its one way to make a living....

Exam marking. Lots of it, hence not many blog entries.

Dorothy took her first wander out of the house today - Mum came down and we had a barbecue so we thought we would try her out in the back garden, which seemed to go well enough.

Some thoughts on items in the news.
Blair and Buying honours. Its always gone on. The Tories certainly don't want the police digging about in their records either. There are two answers. First, much lower caps on total spending along with, if needs be, more regulation of the press in terms of their bias. Second, state funding of political parties. democracy needs to be paid for, not bought by a few rich men.

As for the Middle east. Israel's disproportionate response backed up by Bush has made me wonder whether there really is any possibility of peace, and further convinces me that running foreign policy on the basis of either religious destiny or collective guilt is not a good idea. if the Jews wanted a homeland, it shoud not have been at the expense of the inhabitants of that country, and not in the middle of hostile territory.
A two state solution is still the ideal. But can israel live alongside anyone without getting its own way on absolutely everything? Doesn't appear to be the case.

Oh, and films. Forgot to mention films

I've seen three in the past couple of days

1. Confetti. Charming low-budget mockumentary about three weddings. If you like Best in Show or A Mighty Wind, this is a UK equivalent and most entertaining. The gay (but of course!) wedding planners are great, and topically they decide to get hitched at the end of the film

2. Friends with Money. One of those US independednts where nothing ever happens, but the characters are engrossing and convincing

3. Wah-Wah. Stunning Swaziland scenery and a charming throwback to a coming-of-age in the dying days of colonial control

I'd recommend them all

11th Commandment. Thou shalt not neglect one's blog

Only when you are drowning in marking it isn't always something one looks forward to...still....

Dorothy is proving to be a sweetie albeit a very mischievous one - she seems to like eating fish most of all and a draw or cupboard cannot be open without her entering it. Think it will be time for her to start to explore the great outdoors before too long.

Some opinions, I think.

First, PPI Forums and their future. I have sat on our local Forum for the past 18 months or so. Its OK, a bit toothless, but does manage to ask some questions. I went to a meeting in Manchester which ... well, here's the report I have produced. Speaks for itself. Along with effective privatisation of the NHS it doesn't bode well.

The Future of PPI Forums – consultation held at City of Manchester Stadium, 4/7/06

This was one of a series of consultation meetings held both to inform PPI Forum members of the proposed changes to Forums given the future demise of CPPIH, and to gauge our views.

Conveniently, the Government had delayed the announcement of the changes to a time after most of the meetings had taken place, but given that the changes had been leaked to the press, there is reason to believe that the outlined changes are accurate

These are:
* Given the Government’s decision to abandon ‘arms-length’ bodies, CPPIH, despite its recent establishment, is no longer within boundaries of Government policy
* PPI Forums are likely to be abolished in June 2007 along with CPPIH. However, PALS and ICAS are to continue.
* PPI Forums are likely to be replaced with local ‘health involvement networks’ which will have input from local organisations as well as individuals, hence diluting the ‘patient’ element of PPI Forums. Membership details appear scanty and imprecise and questions such as whether membership would be static or fluid dependent upon the issues being discussed, or the relative rights and influence of individuals as opposed to organisations appear to be topics for further discussion. There appears to be a recognition that the skills and expertise of current forum members should not be lost but no precise plans as to how these are likely to be maintained
* No satisfactory distinguishing was made between the role of these new networks and the existing strategic role of the Health Overview and Scrutiny committees of local authorities
* Similarly, there appears to be no clear description of their powers and no indication that they will have statutory force
* It appears likely that Local Authorities may be given the funding responsibility but that arrangements will be made with the VCS who will support and service the networks. It appears likely that Networks will be coterminous with local authorities and will have far more explicit ties with them – again raising the question of the differentiation between these networks, and the overview and scrutiny function. There is also no clear intention for the future of PPI within the specialist functions eg mental health

The likely ‘spin’ placed on these proposals will emphasise the centrality of patient and public involvement to Government strategies, perhaps as part of their ‘localism’ theme which stresses the importance of local people and organisations championing local issues. A briefing paper is likely to be in the pipeline which will pull together some of the achievements made so far. Both the benefits of wider membership and greater allocated resources are expected to be part of the ‘spin’

There is awareness of the possibility of a ‘gap’ between the end of PPI Forums and the establishment of the new Networks but no firm proposals as to how this will be dealt with.

CPPIH are planning an event in October where Forum members will be able to meet and discuss the issues with their MP’s.

Perspective of Forum members present

There was a considerable amount of agreement expressed by the Forum members present at the meeting. Some of the key points are outlined below

* It is vital that PPI functions remain independent, particularly from the influence of local authorities, political parties and large, well-funded organisations.
* There was little enthusiasm for the presence of organisations within the new networks as it was felt strongly that they could all too easily be effectively colonised by professional paid staff representing large single-issue, sectional voluntary organisations, marginalizing individual and patient representation. It was felt that if there had to be organisational representation, this should consist entirely of unpaid volunteers and that representation should not be able to be done in paid work time, by paid professionals. The priority of community not sectional interest was emphasised, and it was suggested that group membership needed to be regularly rotated to avoid this danger.
* The current range of powers needed to be retained and strengthened – the proposals indicate that key powers such as that of inspection will no longer exist. This was strongly opposed.
* Concern was expressed over the lack of provision for specialist trusts, whose concerns and priorities are likely to be lost in a more generalist local network
* There needs to be an assurance of continuity between the planned closure of Forums and establishment of networks, without a ‘gap’ between the two.
* There was a recognition that networks would need to retain a high level of support, training, and so on, and that this could be assisted by a more formal, independent, national voice of PPI networks where sharing of good practice could take place.
* Finally, there was an awareness that reinvention of the wheel was NOT required and that it was important not to lose the skills and knowledge of members, although it was also recognised that many may not wish to remain involved given the nature of the proposals.

I am concerned that the proposals as they stand appear to be poorly thought out and conceived, and far from widening involvement, are likely to deliberately marginalize the involvement of the grass-roots patient voice, to the benefit of organisations. Should paid voluntary sector staff be allowed to sit on the new Networks, I would forecast that they will become largely professional-dominated and are likely to merge with the Overview and Scrutiny function of the local authority, given that they will hold the purse-strings and are unlikely to want to duplicate existing strategic scrutiny. In the process, the strength of forums – their ability to raise concerns about ground-level experiences of the NHS, will be lost

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

We seem to be in the curious situation where the Conservative party is sounding slightly more left wing than the Government. They are less enthusiastic about nuclear power. Cameron's speech about young people made sense - certainly more than anything stated by that jackbooted thug Reid. Ex CP of course, and doesn't it show. Authoritarianism at its worse, and when attached to the right-wing ideas of New Labour, guess what you get - right-wing populist Daily Excess style Toryism, only with a Glasgow accent.
Last Friday we went to hear Jane Kennedy speak about the NHS. She resigned from her post recently. Well, not exactly. Truth is Blair wanted to shift her to the defence ministry and she didn't fancy it - but I didn'tfind what she had to say of much inspiration. She appears to be opposed to some of the privatisation within the primary care sector but thats only a small part of whats going on - David asked a question about dentistry which she made no attempt to answer.

I voted Labour, for an MP who I don't like much, at the last election. I did so ONLY because I feared Howard. I don't fear Cameron in the same way. Next time the Boundary Commission has shifted us into a safe Labour seat - if the current MP is the candidate then I won't be voting Labour under any circumstances in any case, but at present they are giving me no positive reasons to do so.
Lets see - we are still in Iraq, still slavering at Bush's every word, still supporting renewal of Trident and nuclear power, still allowing private companies to run schools and hospitals, the list goes on.
If Tory policies are what we are going to get, maybe the Tories are the best people to implement them?

A new member of the family. Welcome Dorothy!

We have a new baby.

She is a seven-month old tortoiseshell who we have named Dorothy, because she is going to have a lot of friends.

I had forgotten just how energetic a young cat can be. Particularly in her mad half hours where she tears around the house like a whirling dervish...

So dip me with chocolate, and throw me to the lesbians

Yes, we had our Jerry Springer Moment lastSaturday, and very wonderfulit was too.

Clashed with the first Ing-ger-lund game so not a full house, but awfully brilliant noneltheless

Oh, and there were three or four protestors outside , one of whom delightfully informed me, when I expressed my disinterest in his rant, that I would do so when I ended up in hell. Now, stupid morons who believe there really is a hell simply aren't worth taking seriously, but it was rather pleasant telling him exactly where he and his god could go fuck themselves. Oh, and they were distributing Chick tracts as well. Pathetic, deluded wankers.

Advance news for freedom lovers...JSTO is coming!

Yes, here in Liverpool we are delighted to have Jerry Springer- the Opera at the Empire in the near future.

Go and see it if you have the chance.

Reasons are:

1. Its excellent - very amusing and well put together

2. It is important that those of us who do not believe that right wing religionism should have any right to censor our choice of entertainment support this production

3. It will upset right wing evangelical nutters and hopefully offer some opportunity for counter-heckling [There's one born (again) every minute!]

Films, more RC bilge, and Trumpet

Excellent films seen this week - 20 Centimetres, and Time to Leave. Spanish and French respectively, and good examples of the creativity of independent European production as opposed to Hollywood predictability.

Vatican plc have kicked off about the Da Vinci Code. I have no interest in seeing this film which sounds about as much fun as watching paint dry, but isn't it just so predictable that Gauleiter Ratfinger starts getting on his high horse again - he is in Poland this weekend, whose neo-fascist far-right government should suit a former member of the Hitler Youth.

Went over to Manchester yesterday - we sampled a new (ish) Indian restaurant, very good, very authentic (EastzEast) and went to see a stage production of jackie Kay's wonderful book Trumpet, inspired by the life of Billy Tipton, the jazz musician who was female but lived life as a man, unbeknown to all until his death. In hindsight its interesting ; was it simply because of the sexism of the jazz world? Or was it because of inability to live as a lesbian, or the lack of understanding of transsexualism at the time? No-one will ever know.

HARD...ROCK...HALLELUJAH!!

Well, what a contest...here's my verdict

Switzerland - still love this though it didn't do very well. Well sung, charming anthemic ballad, very typical easy-listening harmony stuff, but then I like that!

Moldova - The stage presentation was a bit messy but its not a bad song, catchy and quite appealing.

Israel - What happened? At last a soul ballad in the contest, and Eddie just didn't cut the mustard - the backing singersd did their best to add some gospelly 'whooping up' but this needed a clear and strong lead vocal - for some reason he sounded strained and missed some of the high notes.

Latvia - This was never goping to win, too specialist, but it was a fine example of accapella singing with a jazz feel. Remains a favourite of mine

Norway - Very ethereal, all in white, perfectly sung and performed. Thought it would do better but perhaps the success of Bosnia meant it lost out as the two songs were quite similar in 'feel' and presentation

Spain - This got nowhere. There is so much good Spanish pop music around, particularly the ballads, and they put this in? Just drifts along getting nowhere and the sub-Bananarama unison singing didn't impress

Malta - Fabrizio was obviously having an off day. Painfully out of tune and it all sounded very 'end of the party karaoke' all told. I don't hate it by any means but wasn't surprised that it came last.

Germany - Now, this was something of a surprise. One of the best singers in the contest and a jaunty country song - maybe its back to the failure of strongly American styles to do well in the contest?

Denmark - A song about the twist with a breakdancer, one of my least favourite songs of the night. Couldn't wait for it to end.

Russia - Loved this. Pretty boy-band-handsome singer with a gorgeous incisive voice, just loved the way he sang 'broken glass' - and an energetic performance. One of the best of the night

FYROM - Dull and she didn't sound particularly in tune

Romania - What a voice! My favourite of the uptempo entries and it deserved to do as well as it did - good song, excellent singing, just good dance pop music

Bosnia - A beautiful piece of music, drifts along, instrumentation which sends a shiver up the spine. Again, deserved to do so well - would have loved to see them win but think their time will yet come

Lithuania - I just didn't find this funny and whilst they were clearly proficient, a novelty entry doesn't really work unless you find it funny.

UK - Coming straight after another novelty entry didn't really work, and a lot of people have said that the whole thing did come over as rather dodgy/pervy. Maybe it fell between two stools - not really serious rap (so no votes from France) , not novelty enough? Given how few female ballads, we should have sent Kym Marsh!

Greece - This was certainly the power ballad of the night - well opver the top, but it worked. She is a fine singer, no doubt about that.

Finland - What can I say? I'm very pleased for the Finns - to win after 44 years - and I think it won;t do the contest any harm. But I will never be a rock fan and this just isn't my kind of music.

Ukraine - This sounded like last years winner speeded up. Good singer, but didn't do a thing for me.

France - Beautiful song, but she was so painfully nervous every note sounded thin and strangulated, not a bit like the mellow, creamy voice on the CD. A shame - this was never going to win, but I couldn't help but think how Natasha St.Pierre or Lara Fabian could have made this something really special

Croatia - Gypsy-ethnic stuff, thought it was dire

Ireland - Pure professionalism from start to finish. Its a memorable little song but its no You Raise Me Up - still, Ireland are straight through to the final next year - wonder if Ronan will have a go?

Sweden - If there was one thing that cheered me up this year, it was that this derivative, safe, over-sung, boring schlager didn't win. 19 places too high in my book....

Turkey - This was so cool. I'm not usually a great fan of this sort of stuff but how Ukraine could have qualified whilst this didn't....a really good performance , unusual song, the most contemporary thing in the contest along with russia. Oh, and the dancers. Phew!

Armenia - He seemed to have gained in confidence and although I don't rate the song, it was a very impressive performance - and good to see a new country get through on their first try.

Eurovision semi....

So, the semi is over, and at least some of my favourites got through this year

My verdict

Armenia - thought this was a fairly typical ethno-pop song, sung not very well, and a surprise qualifier

Bulgaria - this was never going to qualify, just too moody and left-field for Eurovision. Think Bulgaria may have to try something a bit more mainstream in future - but I still loved it!

Slovenia - pretty boy, good performance but very ordinary, dated disco song

Andorra - poorly presented, could have been sung better too, but by no means the catastrophe promised in the blogs of the rehearsals. With the right singer this could have qualified

Belarus - dire in every way. Chris and Holger, go and open that language school and teach them how to sing...sad thing is there were two excellent songs in the belarussian final, but the Mafia chose this one

Albania - This was a charming performance of quite a sweet song, but not one of the most obvious ethnic songs and just got lost in the rush

Belgium - this was tacky in the extreme, a poor song poorly song, which richly deserved not to qualify. The choreography was particularly awful

Ireland - Oh, croon for me Brian! Great to see Ireland back in the Final with a memorable song, and I think a good chance of doing well. Delightful

Cyprus - The travesty of the night was the failure of this very accomplished performance to qualify. It seems that the American-influenced divas never do so well, thinking of Glennis last year, Still, my three other favourites made it

Monaco - Memories of Sophie Carle singing Harry belafonte. It didn't work

FYROM - This didn't do much for me, but it was well performed. But I still can't remember it. At all.

Poland - This didn't work. Too messy, too many languages, the rap didn't sound right. I don't dislike it but I wasn't surprised that it didn't qualify

Russia - very decorative - wouldn't mind a Russian plumber who looked like him. Great song. And I love his incisive voice - the way he sings 'glass' - this is classy stuff.

Turkey - This sounded excellent and really deserved its success.Not the sort of music i would listen to all that often, but sounds so contemporary and cool - I like it

Ukraine - Again, a good performance, but not to my taste

Finland - An unsurprising qualifier as the only rock entry and i think it will do respectably enough. I'm not convinced it comes over as quite the extravaganza on the TV though

Netherlands - Worst song of the night, competently performed, but I didn't like it

Lithuania - I don't really get it. But they were very competent and i suppose one novelty song had to get through

Portugal - They tried! All very retro, but again this was never likely to qualify. Some of the other stuff the girls have done was far better. Fado next year - about time Portugal tried something ethnic

Sweden - Dull as ditchwater, oversung 90's pop which simply wouldn't exist outside Eurovision

Estonia - Abba soundalike, well performed but nothing special

Bosnia & Herzegovina - well, ios it Sarajevo 2007? Don't rule it out. This is professional, relaxed and with drifting, ethereal instrumentation - I think its a strong contender if its at last, time for a ballad winner

Iceland - The joke's on them. Tasteless drivel - now if they had decided to put a proper song in this year and selected Regina Osk, they would be in the Final. Never were boos more deserved.

So, three from the semi I really like got through, and one I like, and there are plenty of good songs in the Final.

R I P Barnaby

Our old cat died today. We noticed that he didn't seem too well on Saturday, and on Sunday and Monday he seemed to go further downhill, not eating or drinking. As he was an old cat, we realised that the inevitable was coming and as we didn't want to see him starve to death thought we had better go to the vet - fearing the inevitable.

We both stroked and petted him for half an hour or so, then put him in his box. I felt sad, and had hoped that he could die at home naturally if at all possible. Just before we left the house, he died peacefully.

We have now buried him in the garden, and we have planted a cherry tree to remember him by

Sweet dreams Barnaby

More Christian homophobia

So, turns out that the mealy-mouthed fascist at the top of the British branch of Vatican plc sacked a press adviser once he found out he was gay.

Whilst one must ask why anyone with any sense at all, gay or otherwise, would want any sort of link with the Catholic church, thia again shows the deep and unremmiting homophobia of these people, and gives yet another reason why Ruth Kelly should neither be equalkity minister, or in my view, a Labour MP.

Equality and Catholicism don't go together. Simple as that. Its an inherently bigoted ideology. It needs to be opposed.

The right to die and the misguided naivety of traditional Christianity

As expected, the Joffe Bill was defeated in the Lords. But the time will come where the clamour for legal, rather than undercover, dignity in death will come.

However, we first have to remove and undermine the influence of the harmful dogmas of Christianity. Over the past three months I have realised that I am no longer anu sort of conventional Christian, and that society would be infinitely better without the pernicious influence of the mainstream Church and its warped 'morality'. Humanism has infinitely more to offer, a religious humanism which is able to draw from that which is good in Christianity, whilst discarding the nonsense and the will to control which is the inevitable outcome of believing in a creator, directive, intervening God who we are somehow 'responsible' to and who wishes us to 'worship' as a person. God is a human creation. We can create a God of inclusivity and worth, or we can worship the Church Christian god of control and superstitious mumbo-jumbo

Its nonsense, dangerous, damaging nonsense too.

People should have the choice to determine their own death. There is no benefit in lauding life at all costs - if we remove people's freedom to choose one way or another, we demen humanity.

I shall be joining http://www.dignityindying.org.uk/

Ruth Kelly ; 'equality'minister - who's having a laugh?

I have commented before on Ruth kelly, the Tory/Opus Dei inflitrator into the Labour party, who, thankfully, with the smallest of swings will be out of parliament next time, free to continue to breed profligately as her religion suggests. I hope she has time to fit in the flagellation.

What she is not suited for is the role of equalities minister.

RUTH KELLY IS A HOMOPHOBE.

She has voted against or abstained in every single gay rights vote in parliament. This is logical because it follows her exreme Catholic conservatism. However, it means she is not suited to this role.

She is also a liar, as she claimed that some of the issues she voted against were conscience votes - which they were not.

In any case, she will simply make it appear that the Government is not committed to equality - on the whole, they are. She ended up in this job because of the disastrous hash she made of her education brief.

Basically, she shouldn't be a Labour MP anyway. What the hell is a right wing supporter of a neo-Nazi secret society within a right wing religion doing as a Labour cabinet minister? Kelly must go and if she doesn't, then yet more Labour votes will be lost.

The Euston Manifesto

Even though I am and remain against the iraq war, I find much that I can agree with in this statement.

It appears to me that there is a basic truth which some on the left have forgotten in an attempt to be relativist - that fundamentalist religious regimes are not compatible with liberal democracy, and that when it comes down to it, Western values and principles are worth preserving.

Of course, the outcome of the Iraq war is no doubt another Islamic regime.....what we should be promoting is secular liberal governance, not excusing the inexcusable, whether that ne illegal wars or fundamentalist regimes.

Political games

So, as all governments find, life gets tough when you have been in power for a long time.

The three beleaguered.
Patricia Hewitt. She suffers from the same problem as Virginia Bottomley when a Tory health minister - unsufferably posh and prig. One can just imagine her towering over the bed, wagging finger on overtime, with that Victoria-Wood-posh-lady voice making one think of the pleasures of strangulation. However, the reality is that the problems are largely local management - seems that Government can't win. It decentralises and then is blamed for the problems, it manages from the centre and is accused of centralisation.

Charles Clarke. Certain level of incompetence here - but, again, the Home Office has been fraught with problems for years, largely because of the size and agenda of that department. Quite why there should be any complication at all in ensuring that all foreign nationals to be released are referred to the authorities is beyond me. It can't be that complicated, surely? The prisons themselves must know who is being released and where they come from? Think his days are numbered in this job.

John Prescott. I thought the vision of John Major having an affair was unlikely - but John Prescott? To me, people having affairs is trrelevant. I don't care about it.

Despite all this, I think I will be voting Labour in the local elections. The LibDems have done a disappearing act since the demise of our local councillor to alcoholism and disqualification, and I don't vote Tory.

The Cure for Information Overload

So important in today's Internet-led society -follow the link above for some ideas.

New York, New York, so good they named it twice....

Just back from NYC, and still jetlagged (why is sleep such an impossibility on planes?)

What a great city New York is. It really is unique and special although on return I feel like I need a holiday to recover such is the sheer pace of activity there.

What did we do this time?
Went to two small-scale shows - Confessions of a Mormon Boy, and Based on a Totally True Story. Both of which were chosen as they will probably never be seen in the UK. And both very enjoyable.

Art-wise, we went to the Whitney where they were showing their Biennial - so lots of new and creative stuff- and the Guggenheim, where there was a David Smith exhibition.

Took a trip out to the wineries in Long Island and made some purchases - its delightful out there, very amall-town America, wooden houses and so on.

Paid a visit to the MCC as well, where Troy Perry was the guest preacher. Interesting to see the unfettered pentecostal preaching style transported to a pro-gay church setting - and they have some very good social programs as well.

... and the final

Switzerland
Most fans hate this, but I think its wonderful. Pure easy-listening, but done so well - theres nothing at all I dislike about it and I think it will be an excellent opening song, given that it has anthemic qualities and six experienced professional singers.

Moldova
This is interesting and a bit daring - probably the most contemporary song in the contest. I don't love it but there's a lot worse on offer, and the live version I have heard sounds very professional

Israel
This is my sort of music, so I'm biased. First time I heard this, it took me back to the 1980's and the sweet soul of the Stylistics, Blue Magic and the Detroit Spinners. Certainly in my top 5. But the dual language really doesn't work as well with this song.

Latvia
This is ambitious stuff too. Again, your verdict will depend on whether accapella vocal jazz appeals - I think this is technically perfect, and is very much the sort of music I would listen to outside ESC. This will certainly get a televote from me but how well it will do is anyone's guess. A stunning performance and it could surprise many

Norway
The first 5 songs include 4 of my favourites. This is glorious folky-celtic stuff which I love.

Spain
After last years lack of success with the Ketchup Grannies, I didn't think Spain would be daft enough to gofor the real thing. Spain used to be one of my favourite countries but in recent years they seem to have declined rapidly - this is better than last years but then what wouldn't be? Not good. And I think definite Jemini potential for a live 'performance'

Malta
Fabrizio is a handsome young man and this is a nice enough song, but I think Malta's strength is in the ballads. This should do well enough, though - but I want Chiara to make it third time lucky!

Germany
Very professional and well sung, but somehow it lacks something - I think its the song,its just nothing special.

Denmark
Dire. The Danish final was no great shakes, but this was the worst on offer - its been in my bottom 5 since the beginning and I see no reson to move it!

Romania
I'm a ballad man at heart, but this is the best disco song ESC has had to offer for quite some time. Its an uplifting and memorable song, but best of all is the singer's superb voice. A good performance and we could well be off to Bucharest next year

United Kingdom
When I first heard this, I thought - no - white boy rap - but really, this should be viewed as a fun novelty song with a catchy chorus. The MYMU performance certainly won him that contest,and at least this year the UK entrant sounds nothing like anything else

Greece
Anna Vissi is a great singer, and this is a strong ballad, though perhaps it lacks that light and shade which the best ballads have in abundance. This is pure power ballad all the way.

France
Who knows? I'm hoping for something good.

Croatia
Again another permanent resident of my bottom 5. This makes Ruslana sound pleasant. Just a tuneless noise

Eurovision - my vedict on the semi-final

01. Armenia
This doesn't do much for me. Style-wise its very much in the ethnic/Turkish mode, I can imagine it in the background at Manchester's Armenian Taverna. Its pleasant enough but all too formulaic and predictable. If you like this sort of music it may appealp, but I don't.

02. Bulgaria
I loved Bulgaria's debut last year and this is also impressive. Its an intense ballad which builds and builds, with a singer who really 'lets go'. The more I hear this, the more I like it. But it certainly isn't very immediate, although musically,its a cut above the rest - very classy

03. Slovenia
A pretty boy singing a very inconsequential piece of disco fluff. Harmless enough, but wouldn't bother me if I never heard it again

04. Andorra
Reminding me of Sam Brown, this is a bluesy and soulful ballad with balls. Catalan is not, sadly, the prettiest language in the world but this remains a a good song

05. Belarus
Ohdear. Iloved the first Belarussian entry, quirky as it was. This is aimply a tuneless noise. Horrible

06. Albania
Certainly ethnic in flavour,with much the same in the way of backing instrumentation as Armenia, but this does have a certain charm, largely because of the singer and chorus

07. Belgium
The sort of song that simply wouldn't be heard outside the contest - this epitomises what outsiders think ESC is all about. Thankfully, it isn't. Its bland, tedious stuff sung by a bottle blonde with a weak, reedy voice. Dire.

08. Ireland
This is one of the songs which I remembered after one listen, and the new version has improved it considerably. Its a sweet, wistful ballad, professionally sung by a real singer.

09. Cyprus
Broadway calling. I remember a musical called Dreamgirls, about the Supremes, which featured a singer called Jennifer Holliday. This one could have come from the soundtrack. Its a real show tune, and I think most people will either love it or hate it. Of course, I love it, largely because divas singing histrionic overblown ballads will always have a place in my heart...

10. Monaco
This is so uplifting! Its nothing special, a cheery little calypso song, with a cute vocal, but it does have a sense of optimism and fun in a way that none of the supposedly uplifting schlagers ever could have.

11. FYR Macedonia
See Armenia - only I just don'tlike this one. Last year FYROM's entry was a real grower, but I can't see this one ever appealing more than it does now - which is, not a lot.

12. Poland
I still haven't seen the NF performance which I gather was poor. This group delivered the best performance of 2003,and whilst this is a very different style of song,I think its very good pop music, with the mix of voices working effectively

13. Russia
I've only just listened to adecent quality copy of this one, and yes,its very strong indeed. A contemporary ballad, its a pity that the accent is a bit too heavily Eastern European for what is a very 'American' song

14.Turkey
Back to the ethnic beats, and again, much the same comments apply. The problem is that I really don't like this sort of music much. This one is curiously dated, mixing what sounds like late 70's disco with the more ethnic sound, but I don't think it works.

15. Ukraine
Very fast, loud, tuneless. Again, not something I would ever choose to listen to. Horrible

16. Finland
A heavy metal loving work colleague of mine was raving to me about this today. I can't give a reasoned opinion because this is just the sort of music I hate. It may be very good of its genre, but...

17. Netherlands
The Dutch final was the only one I watched where I didn't really like anything at all on offer, but that doesn't explain how such a tuneless mess ended up being selected.

18. Lithuania
The most obviously 'joke' emtry of the night - this isn't really a song at all. After the last four entries it comes as something of a light relief but its not really very funny.

19. Portugal
I should hate this. Its a sort of Motown-meets-Abba (in terms of the song, not the style) which wasn't sung very well in the Portuguese NF. But that chorus IS catchy. Personally, I think it needs to be more of the Motown, and more obviously retro, I do like it, but goodness knows why!

20. Sweden
Entirely without any redeeming features,this tired, predictable, dirge epitomises the blandness of Swedisn music. For once, something actually got to the MF final that was worth listening to, but they chose the Poison Dwarf again.

21. Estonia
Ordinary. Its still better than the predecessor, but its very much in that sub-Abba, schlager mould.

22. Bosnia and Herzegovina
At last, something good. This is a classy, ethereal ballad which will come as something of a relief after so many upbeat songs.

23. Iceland
I just don;t get this. Its not in the least funny, and whilst she may think she looks like Cyndi Lauper, the difference was that she had a voice worth listening to, unlike Cheese Grater Silv. A dire end to a generally poor qualifier.

So. if I had to choose the qualifiers it would be:
Bulgaria
Andorra
Albania
Ireland
Cyprus
Monaco
Poland
Russia
Portugal
Bosnia-Herzegovina

Memo to self ;thou shalt not ignore one's blog....

Check this out - very funny

http://www.starz.com/features/brokebackmountain/index.html

Merseymike gets married!

Thanks to the Civil Partnership Act , after 14 years together, I married my partner David last Friday. It was a wonderful day - everything went so well, we really couldn't have asked for anything better.

Thanks to the staff at Liverpool Register office, and the Racquet Club, where we held our reception. And to all our friends and family who attended, and those who couldn't make it.

Eurovision latest....

Some more selections...

Iceland have gone with a joke entry that unfortunately isn't in the least funny and is musically horrible. i didn't think anything could be worse than the danish entry, but this is.

Belgium have opted for formulaic disco-kiddy-pop sung badly

Better news from ireland - a fine ballad from Bryan Kennedy.

And Switzerland have an excellent, uplifting harmony ballad which I think will do very well indeed.

Hoping for Annette to be selected for Cyprus tomorrow evening

Meadows, expert witnesses and the old boys network

Meadows is a charlatan. His so-called expert witness statements, based on nothing but his own supposition, sent three people to prison.

No way should these so-called 'experts' who I think should be banned from trials other than establishing facts be free from comeback if they make a mistake.

I wonder if the judge, salivating and fawning over meadows, celebrated with him in their gentlemens club or the funny handshake brigade afterwards?

By-elections , Everton and the Eurovison 2006!

An interesting result in last nights by-election. No real surprise for voters to have a bash at a Government during a third term, but it appears to me that in some areas such as education, New Labour appears to have dropped off the radar with regard to social democratic principles. We have our own local by-election in this ward in early March. The LibDem councillor who spearheaded their eventual success here was thrown off the council after a six month absence which itself followed a second drink driving conviction. By all accounts it was as a result of a technicality in that she hadn't given formal apologies.

I haven't as yet decided how I am going to vote - and it does appear rather incongrous that given the fact that local authorities directly provide very little these days and most councillors have no say at all in the policy direction of the authority, that the number of local concillors remains the same. The presence of a BNP candidate may increase the turnout. I hope they will be humiliated. The first example of their filth arrived through the door last week.

Everton are now out of the FA Cup after losing to Chelsea. No disgrace - everyone else loses at Stamford Bridge, but the match showed what can be done with plenty of cash. We were simply outclassed and outpaced. We need external investment - and urgently.

And Eurovision season is amongst us.
Selected so far (best to worst)
Norway - wonderful Celtic-influenced ethereal mid-paced ballad
Poland - catchy multi-lingual , well-sung pop
Albania - slightly ethnic, nice lazy feel
Malta - Pretty-boy Fabrizio is back, eye candy rating a 10 but the song is a bit bland
Estonia - yeawn
Slovenia - Retro disco stuff, camp and cliched

A couple of national finalists worth listening for - Irene Dorocheeva in Belarus, Cosmos in Latvia, Biber in Serbia/Montenegro, a couple of good ballads in Iceland, and Peter Evrard in Belgium (unlikely to be selected, unfortunately)

Sion Jenkins - guilty as hell

Let's hope that there are plenty of people around to keep reminding him. How can such an obvious conviction end in acquittal?

and yet more religion.....

So, we once again have the usual suspects jumping up and down in anger about 'those evil Muslims'
I don't have a lot of time for any conservative religion - yet I can see that there is quite a systematic campaign against Muslims and that they are very much fair game for those who would defend all sorts of other wacky nonsense - notably far-right Christians, who hide behind the safety of an established religion. A lot of the current antagonism does appear to be centred on the treatment of the Palestinians and the way that Israel's behaviour appears to be appeased at all times - in hindsight, Israel should never have been created. There are plenty of other places where a safe space for Jewish people could have been constructed without the subsequent havoc and the illegal occupation of other countries.

What isn't going to help at the moment are contributions which are clearly trying to be as unpleasant as possible about Islam in all its varieities

Religious Hatred Bill

Its an interesting one.

I kept changing my mind about it. On the one hand, I have long been of the view that religion itself cannot and should not be protected, any more than any other personal opinion. Yet I do see how groups like the BNP use Islam in place of Asian and that is wrong and provocative. The compromise seems reasonable, yet when you see the BNP being able to get away with saying stuff which is very clearly racist, it does make me ask whether we need to be quite clear about what is acceptable and what isn't.

Liberal Democrats

Intriguing, isn't it? Its hardly news that Simon Hughes isn't absolutely heterosexual, and I have always viewed him as somone not really at ease with himself ( clinging on to evangelical religion won't help him - give it up Simon, you know it makes sense!) .

Lessons which can be learned ; closets are not a place of strength and there will always be the risk of exposure as a liar. Don't say something which isn't true. Either say nothing or tell the truth.

And on a personal level, I hope he will gain some strength and self-esteem from being open - and I hope he wins the leadership contest. In these identikit days a party led by him may even offer a political alternative.

Went to Quaker meeting today...

It felt right. No definite intentions as yet, but thats one of the good things about friends, there are no problems in simply going along. Strangely enough, one of my oldest friends made contact with me over the weekend and it turns out that he has become a Quaker!

Everton FC

I have been somewhat circumspect regarding Everton's fate this year. There are times when only despair and the thought of games against Crewe seemed appropriate, but the win against Arsenal was much deserved, Beattie is starting to play like the forward we thought he was when we bought him, and Osman is well in form too.

But - and its a big but. We still need at least another striker. And just what really happened regarding Per Kroldrup? It seems bizarre to spend 5 million on an international, play him twice, then sell him at a loss. David Moyes says there is no-one he wants avaialable - but strikers are moving from other clubs, and we simply have to get someone. If Beats gets injured, we are stuffed.

Sex in the news again...

The British really do like their sex-related stories.

Mark Oaten, LibDem MP and erstwhile leadership contender, has had a 'moment of madness'that just happened to last six months, with a male prostitute. I hope he manages to sort himself out - but my thoughts were immediately just how many more gay people there are than will openly say so. Look at any police stats for public sex - you get married men. I wonder exactly why these men find the need to pretend to be something they are not? What is the drive which leads them to live a double life - is it the fear of having to standup and be other than the majority?

As for the sex offenders in schools story, as much as I loathe Ruth Kelly, this wasn't the issue to bring her down on (there are so many more!). The new regulations are more straightforward, but I think an unforeseeen consequence will be fewer on the register. To explain - at the moment, cases which have a poor chance of making court result in cautions. Police will now be obliged to inform those accused that a caution will see them lose their job. So, no advantage in accepting a caution. The cases will be no stronger and will probably never make court. As ever the sleaziest tabloids are in the forefront of the campaign. Oh, the irony.....

Satanic panic - is this nonsense still going on?

The documentary about the so-called Satanic child abuse cases in Rochdale was finally shown last night.

Makes me wonder what the hell was going on at Lancaster University where I studied in the 1980's. One of the social workers involved has the same name as a fellow student on the course. She was quite level headed then, so I can hardly believe it could be her - although another Lancaster graduate has produced an academic study which shows that she has been entirely conned by a group of fantasists who claim to have been 'satanically abused'.

Frankly, anyone who believes in Satan, devils, etc should not be allowed to work with people. let them stick to something less dangerous, like working in a bank. Then they can practice their paraniod fantasies on money and computers instead. No doubt they will see little devils perching on the top of the screen

Weekend away

Spent the weekend in Cardiff, with friends Chris and Holger ( hello, if you are reading this!) We really enjoyed the weekend, thinking that Cardiff is somewhere we could live, although its actually a bit like Liverpool in some ways. Dropped in on Sue and Chris from my Uni days on the way back for lunch - now going to collapse!

Slightly delayed, but welcome to 2006

Its my first entry for the year.

So...Christmas was pleasant enough, quiet and relaxing in the main, which was very much what I wanted. We wound down and relaxed, mostly, did see a few friends which was good, but generally it was time for us which we appreciated. I left my marking too late and still have some more to do tomorrow (yikes!)

Charles Kennedy and the LD's. What a bunch of bastards they are. The problem is that contemporary politics is all about the convergence of automatons. They will no doubt replace CK with the exceptionally dull and worthy 'Sir' Menzies Campbell (anyone pathetic enough to accept such a title in this day and age - well...) and there will be three centrist leaders saying much the same thing. And under those circumstance, I'll probably stick with the one I know.
For what its worth, at least Simon Hughes doesn't appear to have either been part of the 'coup', nor a fixation on the wonder of the market. So he would be my choice. I certainly wouldn't want to vote for a party led by Campbell. I always remember a Huddersfield councillor , in my LibDem days, referring to him as the leader of the fascist wing of the party - he always had him down as a Tory at heart.

And sad to hear of the death of Tony banks. You simply can't imagine the same sort of affection being shown for the colourless maching politicians who seem to receive preferment these days.

A poem from labi Siffre

A Civil Partnership Indeed

It is the right in law to be present at
my lover’s funeral or he at mine. it is
the right in law to be his next of kin
in hospital without having to insist
and persist in face of their disdain

it is the right to equality before the
law, recognising that our “loving
relationship” (our love) is to the benefit
of all and should be validated as such
- yes, in property, intestacy and tax
law; thank you very much

but we already have the romance
the passion, the deepest love the
celebration of something stronger than
the state's, till now, lawfully ill-concealed
contempt or hate

so this date will simply be him and me
turning up to collect what has been,
for forty one years, our rights withheld
by the vast majority now claiming
“it never bothered me, mate” and
worse expecting us to be gleeful
(perhaps a little grateful?) 'cause at last
they’ve shown some ethical backbone

brings to mind some lines i wrote for
Nelson Mandela in "The Gift":
You cannot give me freedom
I have always been free
Freedom lives in me

so forgive moi (or not as you please)
for not going soft at the edges shaky at
the knees or rosy red in the spectacles
to put you at your, comfortable,
complacent, makes me want to vomit,
ease.

Yopu can find this on his poetry blog, http://www.intothelight.info

Pigs can fly.....

The earth is flat
And nuclear power is safe....

When Skies are grey....

And after the last two performances, grey is certainly the word.

West Ham was bad enough - an own goal and a home defeat - but this afternoon was pitiful. No leadership, hoofing balls up the field for no-one to receive them, trying to play James Beattie as a single striker without support does NOT work - it was simply dire.
As for Richard Wright - I wonder if anyone has worked out how many goals he doesn't save, on average?

Things have got to change. I reckon at least half of the ground emptied we4ll before the end of the match.

dot.eurovision.com....BOTY contest!

As a Eurovision anorak, I spend some of my time on ESC websites talking to 0ther enthusiasts about the contest.

This time of the year is the fallow period whilst we wait for countries to choose their songs, so one site - dot-eurovision - organised a contest between Christmas and winter-related songs - the backside of the Year contest.

I entered the wonderful Fairytale of New York, the best Christmas song ever, by Kirsty MacColl and the Pogues - and won!

Opus Dei

Anyone listen to the R4 documentary about this bizarre cult, founded by a supporter of General Franco? Who Vaticanplc decided to canonise ( you couldn't make it up, could you?)

It is , I hope, a mark of the good sense of the British that there are only 500 members - and also an encouragement to see the Socialist government in Spain (where they have significant influence upon the Popular (right-wing) Party) ignore them.

However, it is most disturbing that Ruth Kelly, a member of this organisation, appears to find this congruent with her membership of the Labour party, and that she should be considered an appropriate person for the Cabinet. Would we think a member of the Moonies was a fit person to serve in cabinet? This group are far more sinister - it is clearly a secretive cult. It should be treated in that way, and its members should be regarded with the utmost caution..

Kelly should be deselected immediately as a Labour MP ; it is vital that the electors of Bolton West, if they are saddled with this neo-fascist sympathiser as their candidate next time around, vote for the candidate best placed to defeat her.

Cameron and the Conservatives

I am not a Tory.

I have never voted Tory, ever, and I cannot foresee any time in the future when I would choose to do so, even though on one level it might benefit us financially.

Still , Cameron appears to be a reasonable man, and at least he wants - so he says - to take the Tories well away from the neanderthal tendencies of the past...

We shall see.

Civil Partnerships

So, civil partnerships are here at last. When I think of the progress which has been made over the past few years, it really is excellent and not what i would have predicted, if I am honest. I am quite sure that colloquially, the relationships will be referred to as marriage ( which of course, they are), and that in time this is how they will be defined. Still, the important things are the benefits, the rights and responsibilities which they bring, and it is good to know that at least we are to be seen as holding an official status. That is very important.

Its also fun to watch the religious right fulminate and squirm. Their religion is a relic and a laager for the terminally fearful and prejudiced, and their impact, thankfully, is marginal in the UK. It is up to the rest of the Church to ditch them and to step out with a religious message worth believing in, shorn of many of the outdated superstitions that Bible -worship and adherence to supernaturalist improbability brings.

If they don;t , then we will become an entirely secular society, which would be preferable to the church as it exists now expanding.

www.soulspace.org.uk

Please join!

The Roman Catholic 'Church ' - an institution of pure evil

Now, this is not going to be a statement which suggests that all individual RC's are equally characterised.I know many, and they despair of a church to which, at least for the time being, they remain attached to. Whether the malevolent and evil influence of Ratfinger (a man who is the sort of person to make one which there really was a hell, for he would surely be burning at the very heart of it) will make them realise that as an institution, it is beyond redemption, is another matter.

I don't know if any of you have visited Vatican plc. A place of less spirituality cannot be imagined. The effect was to make me want to vomit, preferably over the many pieces of art and finery, the marks of self aggrandisement so beloved of this institution. Perhaps the blood of the millions of people who the Catholic Church have sent to almost certain death in Africa because of their mistaken policy of 'no condoms'.

So, I can see no good reason why any rational, thinking person would wish to remain in the Roman 'church'. The news that they are to try and weed out gay men from the priesthood is to be expected, but whilst I am opposed to all discriminatory practice, it should be patently obvious that no well-balanced gay man should or would choose to become part of such an organisation - and that most of those who do are either not well sorted with regard to their sexuality, or alternately still hold to delusions such as people being 'called to be priests' ( in the real world, its a job like any other, and why someone should choose a job which means no relationships, ever, probably needs some sort of risible superspiritual justification!)

The RC Church is a sick, corrupt and putrid institution which fully and richly deserves the loss of congregations it is experiencing in contemporary societies. Perhaps it can still con those who rely on its premodern suppositions. Thankfully, those numbers, in the UK, are constantly decreasing

Interesting times indeed.....

So, 90 day incarceration or internment without trial has been defeated. Should think so too - although it is genuinely tragic to see the Labour party, to which I was once proud to belong, voting for policies which would have disgraced the Tories under Thatcher. Blair really must go - and go soon.

On more positive lines, the Government have agreed to extend the provisions on protectiom against discrimination with regard to goods and services to gay men and lesbians. Well done, Tone. See. you can get it right some of the time....

Homotopia had brought forth some very good events. Two excellent fils - Bear Cub, contemporary Spanish cinema which was greatly effective, and a documentary on gay Nazis. Yes, you did read that right. I wonder what causes people to join that which is endemically hostile to them? Mind you, perhaps I should ask myself that question, given my contining membership of the Church. It is looking more and more as if there will be a split - I am counting the days. There is no reason why conservative evangelicals and liberals should inhabit the same denominational space, given how little we genuinely share. I spoke at a Deanery Synod earlier this week and it was interesting to hear people's reactions - I think the laity are far more wise than many would realise ( and their undemocratically fixed reps on General Synod, who virtually no-one has the right to vote for, would suggest)

Last weekend we also went to see The Laramie Project. A very powerful production dramatising the aftermath of the murder of Matthew Shepard in Wyoming. And featuring the stunningly handsome Warren Brown of Hollyoaks fame as well!

Moron Moments?

Your views on fighting terrorism

Home Secretary Charles Clarke has asked you for your views on the new terrorist threats that face all of us. Please fill in this quick form below to tell us what you think.

Do you think that our laws should be updated to cope with the current security threat?

Yes No Not sure

Do you think police should have the time and opportunity to complete their investigations into suspected terrorists?

Yes No Not sure

Do you think the government should make sure there are new safeguards to protect innocent people?

Yes No Not sure

Would you like to be kept up-to-date on the progress of this legislation and other issues?

Yes No ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Have you ever read such biased, unpatronising crap in your life? Who the hell is going to answer 'no' to some of these questions? This wouldn't fulfil the most basic methodology critique. And I actually voted for these bastards again? Pathetic.

Tory leadership contenders

OK, so I'm not the target audience, I am about as likely to vote Tory as swallow sulphuric acid or become a conservative evangelical. But I was surprised at just how lacklustre both Davis and Cameron were tonight. Nothing much there to excite.
Why didn't the Tories go for Clarke, who does have the ability to make an impact?

Blunkett and other stuff

So, Blunkett has gone. he has never been one of my favourite politicians, and I'm not sad to see him go on that level.

But....surely the problem is not so much what he did, which was not really against the rules in any case, but against 'guidelines', but the fact that MP's are viewed as able to make money from other sources at all. Isn't running the country a full-time job?

Move parliament out of london, ban MP's from holding any money-making positions, and lets see how many of the sharp-suited brigade disappear...

Things appear to be changing. A few Labour MP's are starting to get some teeth at last and perhaps this will encourage the departure of Blair, who I think is past his sell-by, and a return to policies which are associated with a social democratic party. The obsession with the private sector and the over-reaction to terrorism are two examples.

The thesis is now being looked at by a publisher - watch this space....

Noticed that a favourite restaurant of ours had recently shut - Bluu. Liverpool is a strange city. Some places take off, others just don't, and quality seems to have nothing much to do with it.

Venice

Rather belated, but we had a long weekend in Venice. Its an excellent city, and our visit coincided with the Bienniale exhibition of contemporary art. Our hotel turned out to be about three minutes walk from both sites, so we spent one of the days looking round that and it was well worth it.

Food was very good - Corta Sconta and Il Nuevo Galeon proved to be excellent fish restaurants, and Vittorio's Trattoria was an experience! Rather disappointed with Alle Testiere, though.

The city has some amazing buildings, even the most humble parish church seems to be decorated with Grand masters, and because there are no cars its a quiet and civilised pace of life. Though the insect bites were not fun - comes of having a room so close to a canal that I could probably have reached out and touched the water!

Life continues to be busy and eventful...

First, we think we have found another church to attend, St.Columba's in Anfield. A bit further from home, but the atmosphere and worship are both good and I like the feel of the church. I'm a bit reluctant to plunge in at the deep end after recent experiences, but its good to go somewhere where people don't sidle up to you to enquire which 'side' you are on, or constantly whinge about the Vicar.

I have been asked to attend a meeting to start preliminary discussions about publishing my PhD. I already have a contract offered, but its not ideal ( though I will opt for it if theres nothing else in the pipeline) and this option would be better.

I went for an interview for a training contract at the end of last week - again, no counting chickens but it did seem to go well and it would be very much what I am looking for to add to the lecturing commitments. I like the flexibility of the part time contracts, and the interest and variety of the work.

Politics. I wonder if the Tories are about to enter the real world and select David Cameron? I think he has behaved with dignity and consistency over the drugs issue- I couldn't care less what his personal habits are, only interested in his policies. And , it has to be said, he's still a Tory, and I can't really see me ever voting for the Tories.

But, I wouldn't fear a Cameron government, and his clarity that he intends to govern according to the place we are now, not the place we were 50 years ago is encouraging, along with his good voting record on gay rights issues.

This is the Tories we are talking about, though, and I wouldn;t put it past them to elect Fox!

Looking forward to HOMOTOPIA - the LGB arts festivel in Liverpool. I haven't had a lot of input into it this year but intend to be an enthusiastic punter.
Details on http://www.homotopia.net

Everton FC....

I have not mentioned the pight of my beloved team this year - simply too depressing. But, it has to be done....

If I knew the answer, then i'd be the manager, not David Moyes. But it seems that there are three main problems

• lack of striker - or at least, effective striker who can play 4.5.1. James Beattie doesn't play in that style, and has suffered a series of niggling injuries. Marcus Bent is fast but lacks accuracy. Duncan ferguson can be brilliant, but he can just as equally be dreadful. James McFadden doesn't appear to be particularly effective as a striker for Everton, although he scores regularly for Scotland. We are not scoring goals, and that is simply why we are losing.
• small squad - with the recovery of Kroldrup and van der Meyde this may improve but we are still scratching around for player - related to this, a couple of the players look out of form (Kilbane) or simply exhausted (Cahill).
  
• we haven't ever really got over the loss of Tommy Gravesen

Its not that they have been diabolically bad, just uninspiring and overly cautious, and thats not the way to win games.

Publication

What should I do?

Still pursuing two possibilities for publishing, but I'm not overly hopeful. Attemting to get a monograph published these days which isn't about something global, meaning the possibility of US sales, appears a virtual impossibility.

I have been offered a contract from a small, specialist publisher, but I will have to make a contribution.

I think I can do some specified publicity so am tempted to take the chance, as a publication is something which I feel to be important.

At last....

More blogging - and its always like this at the beginning of the new term. Teaching is settling down quite nicely, with a fair bit of extra hours at the main place I work, a further two hours elsewhere, and the possibility of further training and research work. All takes time to come together, but things appear to be falling into place for the time being.

So...some views.

The Tory leadership. If they choose Davis, I think they really must have a death wish. Duncan Smith mk 2, and the newly found inclusivity claims do not convince. Cameron appears to be a chance worth taking, and Blair himself had little real experience other than being an opposition spokesperson when he became Labour leader.
I don't think that any leader would really convince me to vote Tory, but Cameron would at least mean I would sleep soundly if we did end up with the Tories back in power. And other than Fox, who would be a surefire disaster, even more than Davis, electorally speaking, the homophobia of previous years appears to be absent.

We have started going to another church. Still not absolutely sure its the place for us, but at least it feels as if it could be....

Spain

We spent ten days in the South of Spain - traveling round Andalusia. We stayed in Granada, Seville and Cordoba, and whilost I was expecting to like Seville most, I thought it was a bit disappointing. The best example being the contemporary art museum which had exactly 24 exhibits , and the permanent collection had disappeared entirely.

Highlights...
The Mezquita/Cathedral in Cordoba. Its an intriguing building. Essentially a mosque with a cathedral core built in the middle of it, and lots of statues of the Virgin Mary. Well worth seeing

Carmona. We went here on the way to Seville, and the little town was reaching the end of its festival. Its a charming place, full of winding streets, old churches, with a village square where lots of people sit in the afternoon

Baena. Centre of Andalusian olive-oil poduction - the very best to be found, and we bought two
bottles. Its heavenly stuff - far too good for cooking, definitely salads and bread only.

Wine! In particular sherry - we went out to Sanlucar, one of the three towns in the Sherry triangle, where they produce largely manzanilla, my favourite dry sherry.

Julio Romero de Torres. I don't know if any of you have heard of this Cordoban painter and his somewhat unique style. Half naked swarthy Spanish women in seductive poses, furtive looking male guitar players, images of death - all quite bizarre. definitely worth seeing!

Lecturing begins next week - a fair bit on this week....

Memo to self...I must not forget to write my blog...

Publishers. Hmmmm. At one time, if you did a piece of research,a substantial piece, there was a fair chance that a publication deal would be a possibility. There was no expectation that huge sales would occur, but it meant that there was a solid range of academic research being published in full book form, rather than via the bite-sized option of articles in journals no-one reads...

Having been trying to find someone to publish my thesis, the responses have been interesting. A significant number of publishers simply said 'we only want to publish textbooks'. What will be the outcome of that sort of policy - that there will be no substantive work for the textbooks to include as references? Others want material which has potential for international sales. Read 'America'. So, if you're research is not American, or isn't general enough to be able to be marketed in America, forget it (it should be noted that monographs are still published in America, and when I was looking for relevant previous studies, I could find plenty of American ones, but precious few about the UK. Not very useful in an ethnographic study...)

Anyway, I shall plod on. I'm not the only one in this situation, as I found at a conference I attended this week...anyone reading this who works in publishing, you know where I am

Everton lost to Portsmouth yesterday. Yes, Portsmouth. We were embarrassingly rubbish.

I'll need to do a memory-check and return to this later...

Loony Right-wing Site of the week - part 2

Just look at this one.

http://endofbritain.blog-city.com/

Its named after a book by Peter Hitchens, which is screamingly funny - but whether he is the blogger or not, I am not sure.

This is another serious site which ought to be a parody.

Loony Right-wing Site of the week

http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/

This one has to be seen to be believed. Its one of those sites which is so ridiculous, it could well be a hoax, but I have a horrible feeling it isn't....

RIP Mo Mowlam

With the sickening stench of hypocrisy emanating from the Church, it is sad news to hear of the death of Mo Mowlam, a politician who inspired love and affection from all parts of the political spectrum.

I had the pleasure of meeting her three times, once before she was an MP when she addressed a CND meeting in Huddersfield, and then again twice after her election to Parliament. I think the reason why people liked her so much is that she was real, human, not 'spun 'and homogenised like so many of today's politicians.

Politics will be a lesser place without her. So will the Labour party. Robin Cook and now Mo Mowlam.

And this week I get a local Labour party leaflet so right wing it could have been composed by the Tories!

Sad days indeed.....

More Church nonsense

This time, its Bishopess of Europe, closet case Georgina Rowell, who has decided to admonish the Anglican chaplaincy in Riga for holding a service for Gay pride. With a baying mob, a coalition of conservative Christians and the neo-fascist far right, shreiking outside, Georgina thinks its more appropriate to moan that she hadn't been asked first whether they could hold the service (diddums) and to say not a word about the behaviour of thses Christianonazis outside.

Given that Georgina, like many of her ilk, loathes women priests - it would spoli their cosy closet boyz club - no doubt she will be far happier when she can de-CAMP to Rome.

Godd riddance to a hypocritical closet-case of the worst order.

Sad news about Robin Cook

Its easy to knock politicians, but I was particularly sad to hear the news about the premature death of Robin Cook MP. A principled man and a sharp intellect, with a self-deprecating sense of humour. Parliament and the Labour party will be a lesser place without him

The wonders of Montreal

Its a fantastic city. Its somewhere I had always wanted to go to, but it surpassed all expectations. Its a place of great contrasts, a North American city with a European feel, where French remains the main language used, where within half an hour one can be in the glorious wine-region countryside, or the resort area of the Laurentians, both of which we visited. Quebec's bog-standard still wine is nothing special, but they produce wonderful ice wines and ice ciders from frozen grapes and apples, and I tasted plenty of them and brought some home.

Some of the highlights.

Meeting up with Vincent and Lis again. Vincent is an old mate from University days. He's a great bloke, sceptical and principled, proud to have never voted in his life ( and has no intention of ever doing so .... I think he subscribes to the view that no matter who you vote for, the Government always gets in). He works overseas for the UN so has plenty of interesting and revealing tales. Lis is French-Canadian, a Montrealer, and they were spending some time on home leave, so it was a great opportunity to get together after some 11 years.

The Biodome. This is based in one of the old Olympic buildings (the 1976 Olympics, which Montrealers are paying for until next year - London, be warned!) - the cycle track, I think. It consists of four climatic region reconstructions under cover, including a rainforest and the Antarctic, complete with penguins. I do like penguins! The sort of place where you can be a big kid and get away with it.

C.R.A.Z.Y. I always like to see a film whilst I am away , and we were fortunate enough to find a cinema where this French language Quebecois was being shown with subtitles. Its excellent - well worth seeing. I'm not sure if it is due a British release or not.

The Biosphere. A museum about water - another big kid delight, and built on the 1967 EXPO site

Food! Montreal is a real foodie city, and we had some excellent meals. We would particularly recommend le Poisson Rouge, an informal French bistro which is a BYOW - bring your own wine - restaurant. Fish on the menu, very fresh and well cooked. On the more upmarket front, we liked le Chronique, Raza, and Brunoise. An occasion was the seafood platter at Au Pied de Cochon. To say it was large would be an understatement. Two tiers, including lobster, 2 sorts of crab, whelks, cockles, oysters, softshell crab tempura, winkles, mussels, huge clams - quite impressive to say the least. Their house special pud is a Quebec speciality 'pouding chomeur' - its the sweetest thing ever and quite divine.

Gay Pride. We visited during Gay Pride week, and attended the parade and the community fair. Both were great fun - though there seems to be something of a linguistic divide between the groups simply dependent upon what language they use in the group.

More still, but its getting late....

Montreal...more to come

Just returned from a fantastic holiday in Montreal. Its a city which I would thoroughly recommend, a real fusion of different cultures and styles. More whan I recover properly from the jetlag....

More on the Church

The latest is instructive indeed. Gauleiter Akinola, witch-doctor superior of Nigeria, that well-known country marked by its awareness of womens equality, freedom from government corruption, and peaceful co-operation, has suggested that the Church of England should be suspended from the Anglican Communion.

Now, in itself, this is amusing indeed. The ANGLICan Comnunion is defined simply by being affiliated to Canterbury, and if your church looks towards Canterbury, then it is Anglican. If it splits from Canterbury, it isn't Anglican. Nothing much more to it that that.

This is the latest in a series of threats and promises that a significant number of provinces, probably a majority of the world's Anglicans, will be moving away from Canterbury and starting their own denomination. This time, the CofE's inadequate and cowardly response to civil partnership legislation and its application to clergy members has been swooped upon. I don't think I have met anyone on any side of the argument who sees this as anything other than a dog's dinner. Its a compromise which will please no-one.

Isn't it clear that the Anglican Communion would be better off splitting - and , indeed, the Church of England too? But there is a lot of pride involved. Perhaps if people sat down and looked honestly at the situation, some sort of agreed split might take place, but it looks as if some are planning to walk in any case.

Wahey! Looks like I've made it!

To be recognised by Gaybaiter-in-Chief Green is praise indeed. Of course - a lot of it is wrong (I'm a Dr not a Mr, I haven't been on the Police Authority for a year, and I didn't apply twice, I was approached the second time and asked if I wished to be reconsidered, and was successful....).

But still, I must be doing something right - though there are plenty of other gay-related activities which I don't have very much contact with...