Clifford to call time

Picture: Sky News

Since being diagnosed with cervical cancer, Jade Goody has always stated that the purpose behind her media involvement in the final weeks of her life is:

To benefit her children after she is gone,
To raise awareness about cervical cancer,
And to urge the government to lower the minimum age for women to have smear tests from 25 to 20.

However, Jade has been advised by Max Clifford that "enough is enough". Mr Clifford has made it very clear to Jade that he will withdraw her from the public eye if he feels she is too ill to accept requests from the media.





Telegraph.co.uk - Max Clifford tells Jade Goody: 'enough is enough'

Feat. a little dutch courage

'Name three songs you could be convinced to sing at a karaoke bar.'

Whole Lotta Love by Led Zeppelin

CLASSIC. That's the reason.

Subterranean Homesick Blues by Bob Dylan

Trying to get all the utterly confusing (yet genius) lyrics correct and in time with the beat would be amusing and, even though I would do the song no justice, I'd get lost in trying to achieve perfection.

Pour Some Sugar On Me by Def Leppard

"Listen! red light, yellow light, green-a-light go!
Crazy little woman in a one man show
Mirror queen, mannequin, rhythm of love
Sweet dream, saccharine, loosen up"
- The lyrics are made for singing along to. Its a no brainer.

You've changed.

'Name three songs that you've changed your mind about, for better or worse.'

Mr Blue Sky by ELO

Its the sort of uplifting song that will alwasy get you moving even if you hate to admit it. Its grown on me an amazing amount since I first heard it. A nice little pick-me-up.

Overkill by Colin Hay

First of all it was just a song from 'Scrubs'...now its the second 'most played' song on my iTunes. It's just one of those songs that you can always listen to without getting fed up of it.

I Kissed A Girl by Katy Perry

I do not care if you kissed a girl or whether you liked it or not because now a lot of middle-aged, intoxicated women share your views whenever this comes on in a pub/bar/club and, quite frankly, its embarrassing to watch.

You're irritating...sit next to me, please.

'Who would you rather be seated next to on a daylong bus trip: a talkative person with a really irritating voice, or a quiet person who keeps staring at you?'

With my iPod by myside I couldn't go wrong: plug in and turn the volume up to the maximum.
There is nothing worse then feeling like someone is staring at you. Its unnerving.

Dignified Dignitas?

Photograph: PA Wire/PA

Peter and Penny Duff, a married couple from the UK, who both suffered from terminal cancer, travelled to commit suicide together in the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland.

Their deaths come at a time when doctors are being asked to allow dying patients greater say over how and when they die.

Those in favour of euthanasia prevention have criticised the Dignitas clinic, which helps around 100 from the UK end their lives each year, saying they are more interested in money than ethics.

However pro-euthanasia campaigners argue that if the law were to be changed that people would be able to find the peace and support they need to end their lives in the way they want. Sarah Wooton, chief executive of Dignity In Dying, said: "This is an extremely sad case of two more terminally ill UK citizens being forced to travel to an unfamiliar country to die"

Alex Schadenberg - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition (Blog)

'British husband and wife helped to die at Swiss clinic' - The Guardian

'Couple die togtehr in Swiss clinic suicide pact' - The Times Online

Dignity In Dying organisation

DIGNITAS

Give it some welly

We all like to delve into different genres of music from time to time. I know personally, I can go from Atreyu to Tori Amos to Death Cab for Cutie in the flick of the track forward button on my laptop.

So when I decide it’s time for a good night out, I don’t want to have to spend all night listening to tracks that are meant to be different but sound as though the same song has been playing on repeat all night, just with a different woman singing over the top from time to time. (That could just be my untrained ear actually. Maybe a seasoned listener to that genre of music will be able to tell where each track starts and finishes with ease.)

The next decision is where to go? I don’t want to go anywhere to quite, I want to be able to dance about without feeling like I’m on strictly come dancing, being judged.

So far, the checklist is variation of music, lively and close to home.

As home for me is a town in Lincolnshire at the south side of the Humber Bridge, there aren’t that many thrilling places to go.

Unless, however, you feel like nipping over the bridge to Hull (not the best place in the world but it’s nightlife is its redeeming factor).

All of those who are fans of NME might have heard of ‘The Welly Club’ (Also known simply as [W]). It’s always rated as a good venue. Moreover, if you are from Hull and you have never been, SHAME ON YOU!

Anyone who enjoys music from The Foals to MIA right back round to faithless and Kanye West needs to visit. It will not fail to impress.

Every time I’ve been, it’s been one of the best nights I have had in a while. I get home after every welly trip and think ‘We need to do that again soon!’.

With great club nights like ‘Jelly @ The Welly’ on Thursdays and ‘Club NME’ on Saturdays, it's a must.

[W] has plays host to many upcoming bands and artists and has seen the likes of Glasvegas, Pendulum and You Me At Six to name a few of its more recent visitors.

[W] is a sure fire winner for a night out.

‘GIVE IT SOME WELLY’

Sheffield - The students speak out.

Rob, 20 from Hull said:
Sheffield is lively and Hallam is great. It’s not too far from home so it’s easy to pop back if I need to. Quite a few of my friends came to Sheffield, which is also good it means I’m not on my own. The nightlife is good too, there’s always something to do. I’ve made some friends here that I know I’ll keep in contact with after my uni life is over and that’s an amazing feeling. I think getting involved in all the things the SU puts on really helped with that.

Kate, 21 from Sheffield said:

I love Sheffield! I’ve lived here all my life so staying here to study was an obvious choice. I don’t regret not going elsewhere because I’ve got all my family and friends here and it’s made the whole experience more fun. I moved into a small flat with a couple of friends who also stayed in Sheffield so I’m still getting the independence of university, it’s just that its closer for me to go home for tea.

Tim, 19 from Leeds said:
I’m at Sheffield Uni and I absolutely love it. I couldn’t have made a better decision. The whole Sheffield package is everything I wanted. A good uni, a good course and a good nightlife because of course socialising is high on the agenda. Fresher’s week really confirmed that I had made the best choice. The city centre is lovely, it’s nowhere as near as busy as Leeds city centre and I like that a lot. I couldn’t have seen myself living in Sheffield and enjoying it this time last year but now I love it and I can’t wait for next year already!

Simon, 19 from Scunthorpe said:
Sheffield Hallam happened to be the best place for the course I wanted to do and I like the city. It’s not too far from where I live and the train runs directly there every hour so I never struggle to get home and people can always come and visit. I love the nightlife, it’s really good. Back home there isn’t really a great music scene either so I enjoy the live music here. I live quite near the Leadmill so I can always go and get my fix or live music, which is essential. The only problem with living in Sheffield is I can’t get my drum kit in my room!

Smile Lily.

I defy anyone, male or female, to look at this picture and tell me that Lily Allen doesn’t look amazing. Its official: Lily Allen is on fire.

Lily Allen is a paparazzi favourite. The Daily Mail might as well start a fan club (albeit for negative reasons) and Media moguls everywhere must be rubbing their hands together in glee because it’s clear Lily Allen sells magazines.

Search her name on Google and amongst the result are those she wouldn’t mind (Smile YouTube videos, Lilyallenmusic.com and her MySpace) and those she’d probably stick two-fingers up (links news articles, with titles like ‘Lily Allen 'hit by credit crunch'’ and ‘Lily Allen unhappy with tattoo’.). Numerous images come up; Lily jumping off a boat in a foreign climate topless, Lily drunk stumbling out of a club and the occasional image taken for a magazine and these are what I am more interested in seeing.

Lily’s portrayed as a binge drinking, foul mouthed, brat that doesn’t give a monkey about anyone else but herself. Reading her blogs and more personal interviews, she just comes across as a dry, simple, sarcastic and funny person. She’s in your face but that’s not something to hate, it’s something to embrace.

She doesn’t see the world in rose tinted glasses, she just tells it straight, even if it offends some people. Lily has worked hard to get where she is. She has had to fight off her fair share of bad mothers, bad reputations and all age-old jeers that come with having a parent in the public eye (Keith Allen).

Personally, I think Lily Allen is an excellent person. She has battled some real problems and taken some serious stick but her music isn’t whiney and full of self-pity. She might use her music to express her opinions on certain things or people (‘Smile’ was written about ex-boyfriend Lester Lloyd). However, there is undoubtedly something in her lyrics and the way she performs that is not reminiscent in anyone else in the music industry. Kate Nash is often compared to Lily but the music just isn’t even on the same scale as Lily’s.

Lily Allen is an amazingly talent artist and THAT is how she should be seen. Forget the pictures of her stumbling out of a club or the article speculating whom her latest love interest is. At the end of the day, she deserves more respect than that.

With a slightly posh Southern drawl, stunning good looks and a troth of famous associates such as Mark Ronson, Jamie Winstone, Damien Hirst and Boris Johnson, a magnificent voice and personality to boot Lily Allen is one of the great British artists I have complete respect for.

Q Magazine April 2009

Lily Allen Q mini-site

Lilyallenmusic.com

Lily Allen MySpace

A real American Beauty.

10 years on and American Beauty is still an iconic film.

Winning Oscars for 'Best Actor in a Leading Role', 'Best Cinematography', 'Best Director', 'Best Picture' and 'Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen' and numerous other prestigious awards, it had critics rubbing their hands in delight.

Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening's on screen relationship is fantastic. Humorous and tense at the same time; combining laughs, anger and language enough to make the best of use feel uneasy.

Thora Birch and Wes Bentley treat us to beautiful and untainted view of breaking boundaries and rules to find solace in the most unlikely of places.

Mena Suvari's performance introduces us to a seductive yet insecure teenage who users her appearance and attitude to mask the deeper insecurities she holds

American Beauty is a deep psychological thriller enhanced with unusual comedy and dark and acutely exaggerated characters. The worst of each character is portrayed, yet they remain human and touching. American suburban life is exposed with irony and cynicism.

A sarcastic, yet inspiring look behind the fronts that people and communities use to mask the truth.

The scene in which Ricky videos a plastic bag in the wind is possibly, for me, one of the most inspiring scenes in film history. With a spine-tingling soundtrack to accompany it, it is truly a scene I will never forget.
"It was one of those days when it's a minute away from snowing and there's this electricity in the air, you can almost hear it. And this bag was, like, dancing with me. Like a little kid begging me to play with it. For fifteen minutes. And that's the day I knew there was this entire life behind things, and... this incredibly benevolent force, that wanted me to know there was no reason to be afraid, ever. Video's a poor excuse, I know. But it helps me remember... and I need to remember... Sometimes there's so much beauty in the world I feel like I can't take it, like my heart's going to cave in."

Kevin Spacey - 'Lester Burnham'
Annette Bening - 'Carolyn Burnham'
Thora Birch - 'Jane Burnham'
Wes Bentley - 'Ricky Fitts'
Mena Suvari - 'Angela Hayes'


American Beauty is an intelligent piece and deserves all the acclaim it has recieved and that which it will continue to receive. - 9/10

"I'm throwing my arms around Paris"

So, Morrissey is 49, he's been active since the 70's and he can still roll with the young ones.

In January, he released "I'm throwing my arms around Paris". I looked forward to hearing it as I have a little place for Morrissey in my heart. "This Charming Man" is one of my all time favourite songs and his work whilst in The Smiths in general is pleasing.

So, I get on itunes, I buy the song and as soon as it appears in my library, I put it on and hope I'll like what I hear.

A pleasant intro – that’s always good. Morrissey is on top form vocally as he kicks in. The lyrics as usual are poetic yet simple - I like that, its typical Morrissey.

The true test however, is whether I will listen to it again when I next come on iTunes or whether, if it comes up on shuffle, I will skip it. Well, before I got chance to get back to iTunes, I found myself singing it in a traffic jam, looking like a complete idiot to anyone watching but feeling great as I belted out the lyrics in the best Morrissey voice I could muster. I find myself wanting it on a CD so I can put it on in the car (I have decided it will make a good driving song in the summer by this point).

A good song. Catchy, a nice melody and Morrissey is sounding on top form.

"Throwing my arms around Paris"...I'm throwing my arms around it, in a big musical appreciation kind of embrace thats for sure.

"I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris" Video

Slumdog Millionaire

The critically acclaimed, eight times Oscar winning film, the brainchild of British director Danny Boyle and Indian co-director Loveleen Tandan, hit screens in the UK with an unbelievable force when it was released on January 9.

With so much hype, I was unsure whether it would live up to my expectations. I did not want to be disappointed by a film that had been picked apart and had the tastiest bits slapped on its trailer so I knew what was going to happen before I even paid for my ticket. Nor did I want to go, settle down and find the film had completely missed my expectations and I walked away feeling I would never be able to watch Boyle's great such as 'Trainspotting' in the same way again. Fortunately, this was not the case.

As I settled down with a close friend at my side, someone who is possibly even more critical on films than me, we slid back in our chairs and waited in anticipation while the trailers rolled through.

I'd built up quite a collection of opinions and expectations about the film from people who had seen it already, heard reviews and even my Nanny who, like myself had watched Jonathan Ross and had been won over by Dev Patel and his 'quirky good looks' as she described it.

As the movie began I felt a little anxious. Could this film really be worth all the hype? Could a Brit-flick really bowl over so many critics?

A) No.

B) You might as well walk out now.

C) A Brit-flick? Never.

D) Absolutely.

The opening scene which oozed suspense. Jamal K. Malik (Dev Patel), an 18 year old orphan from the Mumbai slums has been arrested on suspicion of cheating after reaching the 20 million rupee question on the Indian version of 'Who wants to be a millionaire'.

The opening scene offers the audience this question:

"Jamal Malik is one question away from winning 20 million rupees. How does he do it?
A) He cheated.
B) He’s lucky.
C) He’s a genius.
D) It is destiny."

The answer is not revealed.

In a desperate attempt to try to prove his innocence Jamal tells inspectors his life story. First we are taken back to Jamal's life in Mumbai when he is asked about Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan, one of his idols. While Jamal explains that this question was simple the others have been chance helped by events in his life that have meant he knows the answer to the question he has been asked.

The film rockets the viewer on an emotional journey.
As an audience we witness:
The death of Jamal's mother in Hindu-Muslim riots.
The encounter and adventures with Latika, who is to become the love of Jamal's life.
Encounters with violent gangsters.
The growth in independence of Jamal and his brother from the slums of Mumbai, to living and travelling on top of trains, to pick pocketing and acting as tour guides at the Taj Mahal.
The introduction to Salim's involvement in crime and the devastating effect it has on the relationship between Jamal and Latika.

Each phase of his life holds the answer to a question he is asked on the game show.

However, as an audience, we are left wandering what an 18 year old orphan from Mumbai, with no apparent want for such a vast amount of money, is doing on the show?

With help from Latika and Salim, Jamal goes on to answer the final question. With sixty million viewers watching and praying for Jamal, the right answer changes both his life and the dreams of others in an instant.

Leaving the audience with the answer to the question posed in the beginning.

D) It is destiny.

I think I will choose D for my questions too...
Could this film really be worth all the hype? Could a Brit-flick really bowl over so many critics?
D) Absolutely.


Slumdog Millionaire mixes love, tragedy and humor with amazing results. - 8/10

First post.

Seeing as this is my first post on this blog, I will give you a little bit more background detail about me.

I read an article on things to do before you die. No particular order. There are a few that would be on there but I have done them. ('Go to San Francisco' and 'Swim with dolphins' being the main two.) So...

1. Go back to San Francisco.
2. Spend at least a month there.
3. Travel around the world with only a ticket to fly out of the UK booked.
4. See Van Morrison live.
5. Drive Route 66.
6. Go to London and take part in a protest.
7. Bungee Jump.
8. Write some form of book.
9. Get another mention in a book.
10. Learn to surf.
11. Swim with sharks.
12. Fly a plane.
13. Own a horse.
14. See Paul Simon perform the ‘Graceland’ album in it’s entirety.
15. Have a conversation with Stephen Fry.
16. Make a difference to someone’s life.
17. Cover a major event either in a newspaper or on TV.
18. Own numerous properties.
19. Pick Louis Theroux’s brains.
20. Earn enough money to give some back to my parents.
21. Go on a holiday with just my siblings.
22. Meet Jack Nicholson.
23. Learn Latin.
24. Go from John O’Groats to Lands End using only buses, going via various British landmarks.
25. Own two Labradors.
26. Buy a clarinet and learn to play again.
27. Take the piano from my house and learn to play at a higher level.
28. Watch the Northern Lights.
29. Learn to ski.
30. Ski in Canada.
31. Scuba dive at the Barrier Reef.
32. Write for The Times.
33. Make my Dad so proud he cries.
34. Get married.
35. Ride a Harley.
36. Trace my family tree back as far as possible.
37. Give to charity (Time and/or money) and see the results.
38. Visit Egypt.
39. Live in Egypt for a period of time like my Dad did.
40. Go back to Rome.
41. Talk to a homeless person and write down their story.
42. Visit India/Thailand/China.
43. Have children.
44. Take them to all the places my parents have taken me all over the world.
45. Take my Nanny to Dunoon so she can show me where she was born.
46. Buy a house in Norfolk.
47. Own a boat.
48. Hear my granddad say he is proud of me.
49. Hitchhike.
50. Sleep under the stars.
51. Read the communist manifesto.5
2. Work for the BBC.
53. Share an embrace with Jeremy Clarkson.
54. Watch all the Coen Brothers films.
55. Visit a volcano.
56. Be successful in my chosen career.
57. Show my mother how much she means to me.
58. To wake up in the morning and have breakfast in bed, cooked by someone special.
59. Get a tattoo that actually means something (but isn’t garish or overly visible).
60. Talk to Eddie Izzard.
61. Learn to play acoustic guitar so I can play numerous José González songs.
To be continued.


The most meaningful insight I could give...



(Currently listening to: 'Seven Years' (Acoustic) - Saosin)