The Invisible Wheelchair

Cuts seem to have become a major issue for everyone in the UK. Also Organisations supporting disabled people are facing cutbacks. 

But what does this really mean? We take a look at one organisation and at the group they support. 

The boat race

1829 the idea of a rowing race between the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge was born. 

Two friends - Charles Merivala, a Cambridge University student and his Harrow school friend Charles Wordsworth, who was a student at Oxford came up with the idea.

On 12 March 1829 Cambridge sent a challenge to Oxford - the tradition was born which has continued to the present day - the loser of the previous year's race challenges the opposition to a re-match.

The race still runs along the same lines from Putney to Mortlake, but has now become a major international sporting occasion, drawing millions of viewers from around the world.

This year Oxford was the lucky winner. But Cambridge still leads the serience by 80-76. The 157th Boat Race takes place on Saturday, 26 March 2011 at 17:00.

Watch finish line moments 2011:

Apple's iPad 2 launch, London

Yesterday Apple released the iPad 2, the next generation of its device for browsing the web, reading and sending emails, enjoying photos, watching videos, listening to music, playing games, reading ebooks and more.

Whooping, clapping and cheering by the mass of blue t-shirt wearing staff inside greeted the first customer through the door at 17:00.

Starting outside the store the queue stretched the entire length of Hanover Street, then as far as the eye could see down St. George Street.

Those nearer to the front of the queue have been in place since the day before.

Does Apple turn human beings into maniacs?

Being a huge Apple fan myself, I understand that being one of the lucky iPad 2 owners must be magical. But why do people have to be first holding the new device in their arms?

Does it make a difference to wait a few days and then just go into a shop and get one? Isn't it so much easier?

I talked to a guy waiting in the queue: "It is not about being first. It is about being here, enjoying a fantastic, sunny day with friends - doesn't it look more like a festival to you too?"

Well, I must admit, it was a great day and the atmosphere was incredible. Is Apple the new culture?

Under construction

www.london-performers.co.uk  is what 7 journalism students, including me, have been working on the last couple of weeks.


London Performers is a multimedia website, showcasing the distinguished talent in London. It incorporates informative writing, photography and multimedia content to reveal the unknown side of cult and popular culture.

Our aim is to encapsulate the trends of London's current entertainment scene through publishing issues focussed on certain groups of performers.

It is a website aimed at anyone interested in performing and anyone visiting or living in London.

We hope to expose entertainers who may be beginning their career, or those who have never had the right coverage before.

We want to expose London's entertainment in all its glamour and grime.





We will look at specific groups of performers in London, each aiming to take the theme of 'performing' in a literal and abstract sense.

Every story aims to explain what these performers do, why they do it and how they are doing it.
We are a team of seven international journalists working together to produce a truly original take on what London has to offer.

Check it out: www.london-performers.co.uk

Road to Revolution

While marching to the Egyptian Embassy yesterday the message was clear: "Power to the Egyptian People", "Hands off the Middle East", "Down with Mubarak!"


"We march from the home of the puppet master, represented by the US Embassy to the home of the puppet, the Egyptian Embassy" were the opening words on Saturday's Solidarity for the Egyptian people demonstration organised by the Stop the war coalition (STWC).

Eyewittness talks about her experience at Tahrir Square 

Speakers included Tariq Ali, Vice President of STWC and Cairo eye-witnesses, who spent four days last week at Tahrir Sqaure in Egypt. For her those days were the "most inspiring and humbling experience."

She spoke about what she has seen on Tahrir Square: People in Egypt have lost their fear. They don't want foreign intermission. They want to make their own decisions.


Tariq Ali about what will happen next

"Have no doubt" is what Tariq Ali is repeating. He is certain that the US want to replace Mubarak with as he says "a less known torturer: Suleiman."


"Suleiman and Mubarak made Egypt into a torture camp. No to Mubarak but no also to Suleiman. We want the entire regime to go."

Thousands of people had to go on the streets and fight to make the world understand what is happening in Egypt.

Ali says, they understood, the only one who didn't is Tony Blair. People laughed. He called him corrupt and shameless.

To Ali what is happening in Egypt today is also a response to the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Londons view 

While marching to the Egyptian Embassy, I talked to one of the protestants. For him the people in Egypt are heroic.

"Mubarak is gone already, he is just finding an exit stragedy" was his answer when I asked what he thinks will happen next. "The people have lost their fear, there is no way back. Mubarak is a dead man."

Another protestor told me people in Egypt will hold out longer than others might think. They waited a long time for this.

She is sure that the power of the Egyptian people is very strong. She told me that it started amongst people who had nothing and they just want to have something better for their children. "They have nothing to loose."










An unordinary sight for some of us. At this demonstration Islam, Christianity and Judaism are fighting together in what they belief: In a better future for Egypt.

Smile For London

The Underground has never been the most welcoming place, but it feels like this time of the year it is especially depressing. 

The Christmas lights have been removed, the sun won’t appear for another few weeks and the recession is still part of our everyday life. 

A cultural company has set up an interesting way to take some colour hundreds of feet below the earth - to the London Underground.


















Eliza Cloppenburg and Laura Geissweiller explored the world of a smile.
Press play to listen:

A Tower.

Press Play to listen:

Her Majesty’s Royal Palace and Fortress, better known as the Tower of London was build in Middle Ages along the river Thames. It was used as castle, strong house, royal palace and prison for prisoners of the upper class. More over the coin, the city archive, the armory and a observatory was placed there.

Until Jacob the first all British Kings and Queens were living there from time to time. It was common practice that the monarch would sleep in the Tower the night before coronation and would ride in festive procession through the city to Westminster.

Today the British crown jewels are stored in the Tower, also a rich historical collection of arms and armour.

Wilhelm the conqueror ordered to build the White Tower at this place. It was supposed to secure the supremacy of the City of London and further regions to the Normans.

Expansion over the years

In the following centuries the castle was constantly expanded. It is surrounded by a wide moat. An outer wall is protecting the inner buildings. In the middle of the terrain there is the so-called White Tower almighty Keep. From a distance it seems to be quadratically, but three of the corners do not build a right angle and all four sides are of different length.

Today the Tower is a tourist attraction, since the British crown jewels are displayed here. But also the buildings itself, the collection of arms and armour and a last bit of the city wall of the antique city Londinium, what London was called in the Holy Roman Empire are making this place worth a visit.

World Cultural Heritage

By reason of its historical importance the UNESCO announced the Tower 1988 to world cultural heritage.

As postcard-attraction maybe more known but historically and functionally completely independent is the close-by Tower Bridge, which was named after the Tower. It was completed after eight years of construction in 1894.

Pulling out a tooth

One can hide a rotten tooth with claiming everything is okay. Sooner or later it will hurt and the tooth has to be pulled out. Ireland has waited almost to the last day.

Admitting Ireland’s bailout by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund was inevitable and almost like pulling out a tooth.

The bailout is an extreme embarrassment to Ireland and its people who have been extremely protective of their independence and sovereignty since the formation of the state.

“We serve neither King nor Kaiser but Ireland” was once written on a banner that hung from Dublin’s Liberty Hall in World War I.

There is an irony that now Britain, while not a member of the European monetary Union, is prepared to provide help as well. “Ireland is a friend in need and we’re here to help”, said George Osborne.

General election in January

The tooth is pulled out but the Irish people aren’t happy at all. The junior partner in the Irish Republic’s governing coalition, the Green Party called for a general election in January to provide “political certainty”.

John Gormley, the leader of the Greens, said on Monday the Irish people felt “misled and betrayed” after Brian Cowen, the prime minister, finally bowed to foreign pressure and agreed to the bailout from the IMF and EU.

Cowen’s coalition of his Fianna Fail and the Greens has a majority in the lower parliament of only three and the withdrawal of the support of the six Green politicians means it cannot survive.

The Irish government has accepted up to $124bn in loans and will publish a four-year budget plan on Wednesday to show how it will balance its books ahead of a budget for 2011 expected on December 7.

Protests expected

According to the Telegraph, Irish ministers are concerned over protests. Police already had to intervene after about 50 protesters forced their way into a security hut at Government Buildings in Dublin.

The news of the bailout has sparked anger within Ireland, where many people feel “humiliated” by the move.

The government has been saying for weeks that it didn’t need any aid and now it has turned around and said yes it does need it.

Ireland could be compared to a little child afraid of pain and exposure. It waited almost until the last day. It was time to pull out the tooth and to expose.

Old meets New

On a rainy day there is nothing better than visiting a museum. These are the days when I finally try to tick all the things from my list, things I never found time for before. 

This time it was raining really badly so I decided to visit the British Museum. Quite impressive building I must say, I felt small surrounded by huge walls – a fantastic combination of old and new.

People have recommended me to go to the watches and clocks exhibition room somewhere on the third floor. It was a hassle for me finding the right stairs to take, to climb them up and finally reach the third floor.

But there was an old bath tap I touched and wasn’t allowed to, so I got screamed at from the museums supervisor. There were old jewels, coins and battle equipment, but no watches.

I knew I was lost. After asking a helpful lady at the information desk I finally got what I came for. Kind off.

Time for disappointment 

Maybe I am not easily to be impressed, but these were watches, clocks, and nice ones for sure, but a few of them could also come from my parents’ house. I was disappointed.

But, I must admit, I love this place. Just standing in the massive entrance hall, soughing about how impressive it is – was totally worth a visit.

I might come again, bring a huge lunch bag and have a picnic in the crowd of in ancient history interested people. I am part of it.

The Secret

2800 postcards made by different artists are displayed at the Royal College of Art in London anonymously and signed on the reverse – the artist remains a secret until the cards are purchased.

Each postcard costs 45 pounds and a maximum of four postcards may be purchased per person. The RCA organizes this contemporary art exhibition and fundraising sale every year.

The artists include Grayson Perry, Yoko Ono, Jake Chapman, Olafur Eliasson, Yinka Shonibare, Sir Peter Blake, John Baldessari, fashion designers Manolo Blahnik, Mary Quant and Sir Paul Smith, animator Nick Park, photographer David Bailey, film maker Mike Leigh and designers Ron Arad and James Dyson, as well as students and graduates from the Royal College of Art.

The exhibition ends today at 9 p.m. – tomorrow at 8 a.m. people will already be queuing in front of the college in order to be first in the row – getting the picture that may be a hidden treasure.

Since Tuesday a group of people started camping in front of the college, securing their position in the queue.

The 2800 postcards range from a simple glove glued onto the postcard to fantastic portraits and creative masterpieces. Nobody knows what’s on the reverse side of the postcard. Maybe there is another picture? Maybe it is only the signature.

The pupped player

I pampered myself with the Mahler Anniversary concert of the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall.

After Strauss’ Death and Transfiguration, Mahler’s setting for voice and orchestra of five poems by Friedrich Rückert didn’t really get me.

The French contralto Nathalie Stuzmann put her best German on and had an amazing range of octaves. Still without a microphone it seemed to me her voice ceased to exist in this generous hall.

‘I am dead to the world’s commotion and at peace in a still land’, she sang over a delicate harp-seasoned orchestra. 

Ravel hit it off

In Ravel’s Suites Nos. 1 and 2, Daphnis et Chloé the Japanese conductor Kazushi Ono and its orchestra were fabulous. 

I liked how he played the puppet player and I could see, he’s more than enjoying what he is doing. It even felt like those were the compositions they were all waiting for after starting off with the slower pieces.

The hall wasn’t fully booked; the royal gallery was empty (they really have bigger problems to cope with right now) and the applause wasn’t overwhelming. Still, if I like a concert I expect to get encores. There wasn’t one.

On the streets.

I feel like the rise of the tuition fees and the demonstrations against it are following me everywhere I go.

I have never been a big fan of demonstrations, having a strong opinion and going out on the streets to fight for it. No, I think I am more of a relaxed kind of person.

Of course, I also have times when I want to stand up and scream – and believe me I am doing it.

Education should be accessible to everyone. A rise of the tuition fees would take us back to the past where just the most sophisticated people under us were privileged enough to be not only rich but also intelligent. That shouldn’t be the case in the year of 2010.

Still, I find demonstrations are getting way to popular. Do we miss fighting for things? Is it a bad thing that everything is provided without the need of struggling? Or is it more an excuse for a huge party?

Student party in Vienna

I remember the demonstrations in Austria last year. It was cold, I had to study a lot and it was just before Christmas.

And there they were, thousands of students demonstrating on the streets, occupying the lecture theatres, spraying the walls with slogans such as “educations should be for everyone”, listening to very loud music, drinking and smoking in the University - not only tobacco. I was confused. I felt like I was the only one not being a hippie. No offence.

Isn’t there another way to state one’s position? For sure, they showed everybody that there is a need of education. I don’t want to know anything about the amount of money cleaning the mess afterwards. It must have been tremendous.

Is it going to be the same now the tuition fees are to be risen in the UK? Will I have to go through all this again? Please tell me the country of tea and posh accent is handling this situation differently.

Fraud.

This post is about what I experienced last week while looking for a part-time job in the UK on the Internet.

I am a student, so I thought it would be great to be working here and then to save some money. I did a lot of research and screened all kind of job platforms in the UK.

Finally I found two jobs that sounded just great. One job was a cleaning job, where a guy wanted me to clean his new five-bedroom apartment before he is going to move in.

He offered me £300 for the total cleaning and decoration. It sounded great and since I don’t have too much time to work next to my studies I thought this is a great opportunity for me to save some money.

I applied for the job and received an answer not long after. He liked me and wanted me to have the job. The message sounded a bit confusing though.

Something is wrong

Since he is not in the UK right now, he wanted me to receive the payment via Western Union Money Transfer. Okay to me. But then he said he would transfer me the first rent of the apartment as well, which I had to transfer to the landlord.

Why couldn’t he make the transfer himself? It is not such a big deal these days to make an international bank transfer. I was confused.

The other job I applied to was a babysitter job. A Canadian mother wanted me to look after her 3-year-old son, while she is in the UK for two weeks, working at an antique auction.

She offered me £350 pounds for 2 hours of babysitting every evening during these 2 weeks. I was happy. Finally I had the opportunity to earn good money in a short period of time to boost my bank account.

What is going on?

I applied and shortly after I received a message, saying she would love me to look after her son. The message also said, I would receive the payment via Western Union Money Transfer since she doesn’t have an UK bank account.

Now I knew there must be something wrong. She wanted me to receive a higher amount of money, so I can transfer a certain amount to another bank account in the UK.

What? Why? Confusion.

I did a bit of research and I found out: This is fraud. These people want to use people like me to transfer money they didn’t pay tax for. Maybe they received this money in an illegal way and now they want are using me in order to launder this money.

I send both of them a message saying I cannot work for them since I have a lot of work to do for University.

I must say, I’m still a bit worried – they have my mobile number and they have my address. I don’t want to have the mafia standing in front of my door.

If you have observed a similar case, please let me know!

A girl’s life.

 

The texture of the chairs fabric is pictured all over the palm of Zhou Zheng’s hand. It takes a moment until we can see the lines in her palm again. 

The first line is representing the job, the second line stands for love and the third line is displaying life, she explains. “My life is smooth”, she says.

One time somebody looked at her face and told her, she will marry a very good guy. Her sign is Libra. She says, its true, it is really hard for her to make decisions. He made a decision.

Zhou Zheng is from the Hubei Province in China. By train she could be in Shanghai in about four hours. But she didn’t go there often. Her father is a manager of a car battery fabric her mother is an accountant.

When she was young, she always wanted to be a teacher. The blackboard and everything, she just liked it. Her plans changed. She doesn’t want to be a teacher anymore.

New life in London

Now she is living in London, now she studies Journalism, now she wants to work in the media industry. Life has changed.

For her London is a very clean city; and the people, they are “not very nice, but kind of nice,” she says.

The biggest difference to China is the closing time of the shops. What she likes to do in her free time? She likes to go shopping and traveling.

A great experience in Lijiang

After she graduated from school, she traveled to Lijiang. “Lijiang is a very special city”, she says, “it is the most romantic city in China.”

For her, it is hard to explain why; it is the atmosphere, the mood. It’s all about “enjoying the sunshine and the free time.”

Traveling Europe

While being in Europe, she wants to keep on traveling. She already went to Bath, Cardiff and Manchester. Over Christmas, she will go to France and Sweden.

Her boyfriend now lives on the other side of the world. He is studying in Beijing. She is seeing him twice a year, but that’s okay to her. They talk on the phone every day.

One day they will be together. Maybe he will come to London. And maybe, he is the very nice guy she is going to marry.

Oktoberfest? Oktoberfest.

There are all sorts of stereotypes in terms of people from different countries. The French are not wearing any bras and the Germans are famous for wearing white socks in open-toe sandals. 

But actually we all know, there are French woman wearing bras and yes, Germans are not always wearing socks and open-toe sandals.

During the Oktoberfest, Germans are wearing dirndls and lederhosen! And that's what everybody loves the Germans for - the beer and a plunging neckline on a girl.

Hanna Essinger is the sales and events coordinator of the Bavarian Beer house in London and knows a lot about this cultural experience in Germany. Hanna, what exactly is the Oktoberfest?

 

Where are the Asian football players?

In the UK you won’t find a lot of Asians playing football, although 4% of the total population are Asians. 
  
Kick It Out is the national anti-racist football campaign supported and funded by the game's governing bodies. Along with Football Unites,  Kick It Out is one of the core partners who operate the Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE) network. 

Kevin Coleman, the Grassroots Development Officer at Kick It Out said at a press conference earlier today “racism won’t disappear; it will always be there.” He knows about the problem with Asian football players and says they are the most hidden group. He stated that there are lots of Asian football players, they just don’t play in the clubs – they play for themselves on the public pitches.

A survey from a Manchester University found that young Asian males had amongst the highest rates of participation in football of any ethnic grouping. Another survey conducted by the CRE found a total of 10 Asian players at Premier League Academies.

Racism in football does exist. Although the Hooligan problem of the 80’s and 90’s has moved on, other problems like homophobia and anti-Semitism come up. Kick It Out is cooperating with 50 counties trying to solve those problems with different anti-discrimination strategies.

For a lot of people football is a way of release. You can express a lot through football. Maybe that’s why there are around 5-6 million football players in the UK.

THE CUTS

The most striking of the new cuts announced on October 20th was a package of seven billion pounds in extra welfare cuts. Eliza Cloppenburg summarizes the situation.

 

 

Beer rather than wine

Sniffing, sipping and gargling is what comes to ones mind thinking about choosing a drink from the wine list at a restaurant. At http://www.belgo-restaurants.co.uk in the heart of London, rather than a wine list, you will find a beer list.

The Belgian restaurant with its five branches around the city offers a wide range of Belgian beers next to typical Belgian food such as mussels and fries. From beers on tap, blonde beers, blonde ales, white beers, amber beers and dark beers you will also find fruit beers and beers brewed in the monasteries of Belgium. 

Monks were not allowed to drink wine in the older times, which is why they had to come up with something different to allay their thirst. Maybe that’s why the alcoholic strength of the monastery beers goes up to 11,3 percent.

The taste is quite different from the beers we know, it ranges from sweet to sour, from bitterly hopped to roasted malt and especially the girlish ones of us will find themselves with an empty glass before noticing. Here you don’t just drink beer, you live it! To keep up with the Belgians, you have to drink 150 litres of beer a year – can you beat them?

"It is as simple as that"

At the Houses of Parliament in London, it feels like time stands still. Old traditions are kept and still in use, which makes this place so fascinating.

In the House of Commons you can find red lines on the floor, which are not allowed to be crossed. In the old days they were a border to avoid swordplays. Nowadays they are not to be crossed either. Although swords are not beeing used anymore, arguments still exist.

While all over the world computer and electronic equipment accompany our lives, the member of the House of Commons do not have a lot to deal with computer skills. Even for votings, they do not use electronic systems. 

Votes are delivered by going into different entrances. “It is as simple as that”, is what a tour guide from the Houses of Parliament is repeating. Why should this system be changed? It worked like this for centuries.

Here and there you will find a glimpse of modern arrangements like television screens or the bullet proof glass, which is protecting the members of the House of Common from visitors attacking them. Anyhow, the ancient telephones which you may detect around this place seem to be much more appropriate.