Christmas in Cardiff



Had a great time up in my home town over Christmas, taking in some lovely country walks in the Brecon Beacons, wolfing down real ale, (half) climbing mountains, shouting at sheep and playing the crazy EyeToy Playstation games with my nephews.



It wasn't all good though, as the mighty Cardiff City put in a woeful performance as we froze on the terraces on Boxing Day.

Thankfully, a few beers at the Butchers Arms in Rhiwbina soon put things right.



See more photos here

urban75 in the House Of Commons!

Spliffed-up tortoises on sticky buns appear in The Hansard!

The Draft Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (Amendment) Order 2005 was discussed in the House of Commons, with a host of MPs sat around the table.

The assembled representatives were discussing whether the 'dance drug' Ketamine should be made illegal.

The debate was recorded in The Hansard:

Martin Horwood (Cheltenham) (LD): I support my hon. Friend the Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Lynne Featherstone) and the Minister in welcoming the proposal to add Ketamine to the register.

It is true that there is a great deal of information about the drug and its misuse. I found one disconcertingly well-informed website called urban.75.com, which explained the effects of Ketamine. It stated:

“If you’re on a dance floor music can sound heavy, weird and strangely compelling, lights seem very intense and physical co-ordination can fall apart along with an overall feeling of numbness.”

That is not surprising, given that Ketamine is an anaesthetic. The website went on to warn clubbers:

“This may turn you into a gibbering, spaced out bore, mumbling and slurring away while your dancing may begin to resemble Bill and Ben on acid. Your movements may become as swift as a spliffed-up tortoise crawling across an extra-sticky big bun on a very hot day. You may be unable to move at all.”

That is humorously phrased, but the serious point is that an anaesthetic is not the best thing for someone’s dancing, and if a person falls as a result of taking the drug and is injured, they may not realise it. For instance, they may be bleeding without realising it. The website warns of the further effects that the Minister and others mentioned: mixing the drug with other drugs may induce serious side effects, including, at its most extreme, heart failure.

Pleased as I am to see urban75 described as "disconcertingly well-informed", I can only guess the faces on the MPs when he started quoting my words about "a spliffed-up tortoise crawling across an extra-sticky big bun on a very hot day."

Horwood finished by saying:

"I support my hon. Friend the Member for Hornsey and Wood Green in calling on the Government to support education. In that respect, allowing and supporting websites such as urban75.com is essential. National charities such as Addaction have taken the same approach in pursuing education in media and language that are relevant to young people, which is worth much more than high-profile Government PR campaigns. I am happy to support the order"

All of which reminds me that I started the urban75 drugs section precisely because the government had failed to provide adequate, sensible and impartial information online.

Offline photos are up!

The hangover finally cleared long enough for me to post up 50+ photos from the monster blow-out Offline Christmas party on Friday.



The night was fantastic: ten bands, 15 DJs, acoustic acts, poets, stand up, VJs - the lot!

Tiger Force were amazing, Milk Kan rocked the house, Jim Bob got the whole dancefloor singing along to 'Sheriff Fatman'... shit I could go on all night about brilliant the bands were!

Photos here

Carol singing in Parliament Square
December 21st 2005
Singing in the face of bad government

In a test of the ludicrous Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (which bans spontaneous demonstrations outside Parliament), the protesters were cordially invited to take part in a carol service in... Parliament Square!

Report and pics here

(Offline photos to come soon!)

2005 warmest ever year in northern hemisphere

A new report shows that 2005 has been the warmest year on record in the northern hemisphere, according to Brit scientists.

It's also the second warmest globally since the 1860s, when reliable records began, while ocean temperatures recorded in the northern hemisphere Atlantic Ocean have also been the hottest on record.

Somebody tell that fucking clown, George "Kyoto's Bad For Business" Bush, please.

[BBC]

Offline tomorrow!

A quick reminder about tomorrow's bash. I'm ageing rapidly as I'm trying to organise 10 bands, 16 Brazilians drummers, 15 DJs, 2 VJs and a load of cabaret acts for the night - but it's looking good!



Offline Christmas special at Brixton JAMM , 261 Brixton Road, SW9 9pm-6am
Bands onstage 9-12.30, cabaret 1am, DJs all night till 6am.

JIM BOB (from the fabulous Carter USM)
The ACTIONETTES (Fabulous all-girl 60s dance troupe with a Christmas special)
MILK KAN ('Mike Skinner meets Dylan meets punk)
TIGERFORCE (Spiky art-rock riot grrl)
MARACATU ESTRELA DO NORTE (16 piece Brazilian drum outfit complete with traditional dancers!)
MESSENGERS OF GOD (Brixton dark country)
CLAIRE NICOLSON CLAIRE NICOLSON (acid folk rock)
HELEN & the THE HORNS (Country electro)
BLIND LEMON AND MYO (Soul jazz)
HELA (acoustic electronica)

As ever, VIC'S CABARET CORNER will be serving up another fine bill on our second stage, with top notch comedy, stand up, political rants along with acoustic acts, to include:
SHEENA SALMON (a spectacle of insurgency)
BASS6 (Beatbox maestro)
BARRY FITTON (Big bloke from Rochdale via Amsterdam)
SWING IT (In yer face jazz poetry with sounds)

We've got a stellar cast of DJs including, DUBVERSION, EDITOR, SKIM, IANW, DJ WRONGSPEED, DJ HOAX, BROKENYOLK and more.
There'll also be protest videos, photo galleries, specials guests and more. It's going to be a whopper!
Admission: A mere £3 (£5 after 12) GET THERE EARLY!
Venue info: Brixton JAMM, 261 Brixton Road, London SW9.Tubes: Brixton/Oval. Buses 133, 333, 159, 59.

Oil explosion update

It seems that my entry (way below you, readers!) about the Buncefield oil depot fire was featured on the Guardian's website today, so hello Guardian readers.

It's good to see the (sub) Standard newspaper has also got into the spirit of things, with their newspaper billboards screaming this stark warning today:

POISON CLOUD IS COMING

(Readers expecting an evil green fug to descend on choking Londoners are advised that this 'poisonous cloud' will most likely take the form of a slightly cloudier day in London).

While I'm on the subject of newspapers, I'm delighted to say that the urban75 Drug Section is now officially approved by the Times, who praised our "impartial and comprehensive advice" in a curious article which recommended "sucking your thumb" after a night of excess... Most odd.

Are you lit up for Christmas?

A local paper asks:


From Hemel Today

Panasonic Lumix LX1 on test

Took delivery of a Lumix LX1 camera for review yesterday and managed to grab a few snaps around central London.

Although I'm yet to be see if its low light performance is as bad as some reviews suggest, it has to be said that it really feels like a 'proper' camera compared to the Fuji F10 - it's got a proper mechanical switch to flip to manual focus, a natty joystick for focussing and loads of manual options. I like it!

And who can feel a little extra beat of the heart when you see the word, 'Leica' on the lens?!

There's some test pics up here or you can click on the pic below for a bigger preview.

The fuckwittedness of Fox News



Early this morning, there was a series of huge explosions at the Buncefield oil distribution depot near Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, shooting flames hundreds of feet into the sky. It was so loud, we heard it loud and clear in Brixton, south London (the BBC is reporting that it was heard as far away as the Netherlands).

Thankfully, there seems to have been no fatalities, although 36 people have been treated, with two reported as seriously hurt.

With an eye for the dramatic, Fox News cranked their hyperbole-o-meter to eleven, running the story with the truly ridiculous headline, "Britain Ablaze."

Strange then that with the entire country supposedly ablaze, we can only muster "at least 12 fire crews" to the scene!

The article then goes on to declare Hemel Hempstead to be in London, fuelling the hysteria with the grossly misleading headline, "Explosion sets fire to London suburb" (it's an oil terminal that's on fire, not a suburb, fuckwits.)

Not satisfied with their jazz interpretation of geography and facts, Fox finally decide that the oil terminal isn't in a London suburb after all. In fact, it's not even in England or the UK, but is in the "country of Hertfordshire," wherever that is.

Fox News

OFFLINE All night party coming up!

I'm going grey trying to organise all this, but check out the bill - it's amazing!

Come on down to our bumper Christmas special at Brixton JAMM next Friday, 16th December!!

DETAILS

FRIDAY 16th December, 8pm - 6am, OFFLINE All Night Mash Up Christmas Party
BRIXTON JAMM, Brixton Road, Brixton (nearest tubes Brixton/Oval)

Brixton's biggest night out moves to bigger premises at JAMM for an all-star Christmas special. As ever, there'll be massive array of fantastic live acts, DJs, performers, poets, stand-up, dancers, videos and multimedia including:

JIM BOB (Carter USM)
ACTIONETTES (Fabulous all-girl 60s dance troupe with a Christmas special)
MARACATU ESTRELA DO NORTE (16 piece Brazilian drum outfit complete with traditional dancers!)
MILK KAN ('Mike Skinner meets Dylan meets punk)
TIGER FORCE (Spiky art-rock riot grrl)
MESSENGERS OF GOD (Brixton dark country)
CLAIRE NICOLSON (acid folk rock)
HELEN & THE HORNS (Country electro)
BLIND LEMON AND MYO (Soul jazz)
HELA (acoustic electronica)

Bands are onstage from 8.30pm-midnight and then its DJs/stand up/live acts through till 6am.

As ever, VIC'S CABARET CORNER will be serving up another fine bill on our second stage, with top notch comedy, stand up, political rants along with acoustic acts, the urban75 Christmas choir and more surprises!

We've got a stellar cast of DJs including, DUBVERSION, EDITOR, SKIM, IANW, DJ WRONGSPEED, DJ HOAX, BROKENYOLK and more.

There'll also be protest videos, photo galleries, specials guests and more. It's going to be a whopper!

Admission a mere £3 (£5 after 12) GET THERE EARLY!

Offline website

Stats! Stats! Stats!

For those of you who like rummaging amongst numbers, here's the access stats for 2/3rds of the urban75 empire:

urban75.org/net stats for November 2005

urban75.org (2nd busiest month on record!)

Unique visitors: 265,759
Number of visits: 364,188
Total pages looked at: 2,084,636
Hits: 26,563,885

urban75.net (3rd busiest month on record!)

Unique visitors: 80,968
Number of visits: 176,796
Total pages looked at: 3,902,368
Hits: 26,363,124

Bulletin boards: November 2005

900 new posters registered
141,753 new posts
4,283 new threads

London Routemaster Farewell



The Powers That Be have decided that the hugely popular, much-loved Routemaster buses will no longer run on London's roads, and today saw the last surviving service - the 159 from Marble Arch to Streatham - being withdrawn for ever.

Traffic ground to a halt in Oxford Street as the last Routemaster left on its way south, and the streets along the route were packed with people saying their goodbyes to this London landmark.

Such is the huge affection held for the buses, the entire BBC London news evening broadcast was dedicated to the bus!

I'm going to miss them.





More pics here

New York Panoramas

I'm still sifting through the zillions of pictures taken on my recent US trip, but I've now posted up 15 panoramas from New York City, Brooklyn and upstate.

As ever, they're all around 250k in size, and you'll need Java installed on your machine to see 'em:

Washington Square, NYC
Grand Central Station, NYC
Beacon railroad station, New York state
Bedford Avenue/N6th St, Williamsburg
Orchard Street, Lower East Side, NYC
Canal St, Chinatown, NYC
Mercer Street, Lower Manhattan, NYC
Union Square West, Manhattan, NYC
East River from Williamsburg, Brooklyn
East Coast Memorial, Battery Park, NYC
Great Hall, Ellis Island
First Avenue subway station, NYC
Williamsburg Bridge from Brooklyn
SoHo street scene, NYC
View from Ellis Island

Hope you like them!

Alfie, Michael Caine and the Brixton connection

Not a lot of people know this, but two short scenes from the fab 1966 hit film 'Alfie' were shot in Brixton.

Thanks to the generosity of the urban75 board massive, I was able to get a DVD of the film, grab some stills, print them out and then scuttle out on the streets to photograph the same scenes, forty years on.

And here's the results:
Alfie in Atlantic Rd, Brixton
Michael Caine in Station Road, Brixton