Kent anti folk band Tom Williams & The Boat have announced the final details of their June tour. The run of 5 shows was an innovative project with detourjam.com that allowed fans to choose where the tour went simply by buying a ticket. The first 5 cities to sell 50 tickets got a show.
The band will play Leeds, London, Birmingham, Tunbridge Wells and Manchester from 4th to 8th June.
Following the release of his latest album ‘Too Tough To Live’ in January, American rock and roll singer Dan Sartain is to release a new single and has announced a full European tour in May, including 3 UK shows. It will be released on 21st May 2012 on One Little Indian Records. Sartain, from Birmingham, Alabama, is renowned for the energy of his live shows.
Dates are as follows:
5th May – London, Lexington
6th May – Leeds, Brundell Social Club
8th May – Manchester, Night & Day
‘I’m Aware’ is released on 21st May 2012 by One Little Indian Records.
Sir Ian McKellen to guide adventurers on journey to Tolkien’s homeland
Registration has opened for Crisis Mission: A Journey to the Midlands (and back again) – a high-tech quest from London to Tolkien’s homeland in the Midlands. The event is in aid of Crisis, the national charity for single homeless people.
One does not simply walk into Birmingham, so Sir Ian McKellen has signed up to guide intrepid teams along the way, peppering the route with a series of fiendish video questions, tough challenges and cryptic clues to unravel.
Teams will use interactive tablet PCs with GPS technology to provide location-based clues and live results. They will then be challenged to locate the GPS ‘hotspots’ on the way to the Midlands and crack the clues and complete challenges to earn as many points as possible.
The quest takes place on Saturday 12 May and sets off from London and Birmingham. Teams of up to six people can sign up at www.crisis.org.uk/mission.
Ian McKellen said: “It is a scandal that homelessness still exists in 21st century Britain, so I’m happy to support Crisis by guiding our adventurers on their journey. Best of luck to those intrepid teams as they explore Tolkien’s world.”
Leslie Morphy, Chief Executive of Crisis, said: “It is incredibly exciting to have Sir Ian McKellan on board for Crisis Mission: A Journey to the Midlands. All the proceeds will go towards our work to end homelessness across the country.”
This is the third Crisis: Mission event. In 2010 teams raced from Thames to Tyne, and in 2011 Anneka Rice and Jeremy Paxman led contestants on a high-tech treasure hunt in Crisis Mission: Oxford.
Birmingham was chosen as the destination for the event as Crisis runs an outreach education and training programme for homeless and vulnerably housed people across the city.
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Frost: Did you always want to be a director?
PC: I guess so – although I started as an editor & that seemed a great role, like finishing a jigsaw puzzle from a large pile of disparate elements, many of which don’t seem to join together. Then I realised I’d like to create those disparate elements myself, but not make them quite as disparate.
How did you get your start in the business?
I started in theatre & Yvonne Arnaud in Guildford, before enrolling at Ravensbourne for a new TV course, them got my first job at Central TV in Birmingham.
What was your big break?
Editing Crossroads.
What is your favourite thing about working in film?
Teamwork: No matter what ideas I get, there’s always other people who can add to them & make them better.
And the least?
The gaps between projects.
What are you working on at the moment?
Three short interlocked comedies, two 60 minute broadcast documentaries and a feature paranormal thriller.
What is your favourite film?
The Conversation.
What mistakes do actors make at auditions?
Not show the range of emotions that is available in their arsenal.
What projects are you hoping to get off the ground?
A feature paranormal thriller.
Favourite actress?
Michelle Pfeiffer in The Fabulous Baker Boys.
Thanks Peter.
A 68 year old Ealing resident is still fighting for this life today. Police have expressed worry for the pain who is still on life support. He was attacked on Tuesday after confronting rioters who had set fire to a bin. He was trying to put the fire out. He was attacked and has ‘savage’ head injuries that left the police unable to tell his age, he has since been identified and the police are looking for his family.
On Wednesday morning three young Asian men were knocked down and killed while trying to defend their properties. Police in Birmingham have launched a murder inquiry. A man was arrested and had his car impounded following the incident near a mosque in the Dudley road area.
The father on one of the victims, Haroon Jahan, 21, called for peace and asked for their no be no more violence or retribution for his son’s death. He stated that this was not a ‘race’ issue.
A spokesman for the West Midlands force said: “The incident took place close to the Jet filling station on Dudley Road in Winson Green at approximately 1.15am. Three ambulances, two rapid response vehicles and an incident support officer was sent to the scene.
“When crews arrived, they found around 80 people at the scene with resuscitation ongoing on three men. Crews used their advanced life support skills while police officers provided support.”
Violence in Birmingham on Tuesday was not as bad as Monday but it spread to West Bromwich and Wolverhampton. London was relatively calm after 16,000 police officers hit the street with rubber bullets.
Independent record labels and filmmakers have been left devastated after a fire destroyed a blaze in a Sony warehouse in Enfield. The Pias Group feared a ‘ruinous’ stock loss. The three-storey, 20,000 square-metre building in Enfield, owned by Sony DADC was burned to the ground.
The fire affected Domino and film production companies with DVD stock. Pias is the UK’s largest independent sales, marketing and distribution company.
Other labels that might be affected include 4AD, Warp and Beggars Banquet.
A on Pias’s website said: “There was a fire last night at the SonyDADC warehouse which services the physical distribution for Pias in the UK and Ireland. Pias is working closely with SonyDADC who are implementing their emergency plans. Pias’s UK offices in London and all other areas of our business are unaffected. More information will be communicated shortly to all our labels and partners.”
The release of Arctic Monkeys’ new single, The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala, was affected, all stock going to retail outlets had been destroyed in the fire.
There has been a lot of debate about the riots from various sources, including Darcus Howe, a West Indian Writer and Broadcaster. His controversial interview has been seen by millions of people.
I disagree with him on three counts, 1) Not all of the rioters were black 2) Working class white people are just as disenfranchised as blacks. 3) There is never any excuse for this behaviour, no matter where you are from.
The student who was mugged while bleeding has spoke of his ordeal. Ashraf Rossli said: “They threatened to stab me, they told me they had knives,”. The student from Malaysia only arrived in England a month ago.
He went on to say:
‘Some of them were quite young, maybe still in primary school. They had their hoods on and demanded my bicycle.’
In the YouTube video he is apparently helped to his feet by a Good Samaritan but the thieves took his wallet, phone and Sony PSP games console.
The video was even mentioned by David Cameron today in his address to parliament.
‘When we see children as young as 13, looting and laughing, when we see the disgusting sight of an injured young man with people pretending to help him while they are robbing him, it is clear that there are things that are badly wrong in our society,’ said the Prime Minister.
The 20-year-old finance student had his jaw broken but said “Britain is great” and said he felt sorry for this attackers.
A petition calling on the Government to evict the looters from council houses and stop their benefits has had 83,000 signatures in 24 hours. It only needs 100,000 signatures to be debated in parliament.
Have your say below.
Mark Duggan ‘did not fire at police’
It has emerged that Mark Duggan had a blank-firing gun which had been converted to hold live ammunition
16,000 police on duty in London
England game against Netherlands at Wembley tomorrow called off
Jamie Olivier’s restaurant in Birmingham was targeted by rioters
Police Cells are now full and 44 more police officers have been injured
Three people arrested for attempted murder of police officer
Cost of cleaning up the riots could cost taxpayers £100 million
Prime Minister David Cameron has recalled Parliament for Thursday so he can make a statement
Sloane Square Tube station was among dozens that were closed last night during the rioting
Youths congregating at Piccadilly, riot police are there
People urged to stay indoors
In Clapham youths went on the rampage trashing dozens of shops and walking out stolen goods.
Residents complained that police were very slow to respond as a Debenhams store was ransacked.
This morning Clapham high street was cordoned off as a investigation and the clear-up got underway.
Rioting began in Hackney at about 4pm yesterday when hooded youths began hurling missiles at officers and setting fire to bins and cars. Masked rioters on BMX bicycles armed with batons attacked a crowded London bus during the evening rush-hour, chasing terrified commuters as they tried to escape.
Some of the thugs were as young as eight and they forced the driver to stop the double-decker by pelting it with champagne bottles stolen from a nearby Tesco. About 40 passengers ran away, some carrying their children.
Within hours similar scenes erupted in Lewisham, spreading to Peckham, Deptford and Croydon.
Hundreds of fires were started all over the capital, North London; Camden, Woolwich in the south, in West London; Ealing. People were forced to take the law into their own hands to protect themselves and their family.
In Dalston and Hackney, shopkeepers fought back against looting youths and protected their businesses. Surrounding areas were pillaged as members of the town’s large Turkish community stood up outside their homes and businesses to protect them.
Home Secretary Theresa May said this morning that there had been 450 arrests in the last two nights but she ruled out bringing in the Army and using water cannon. She told BBC Breakfast:
‘British policing has always meant and always depended on the support of local communities and that’s what we need now.’
She told Sky News the capital needed ‘robust policing’ – and claimed that police budget cutting had not had an impact on the violence.
‘Don’t let police budgets be used as an excuse for what is going on on our streets is sheer criminality and nothing else.’
Patrick Mercer, the Tory MP and former Army officer, hit out and told the Telegraph that tougher policing should be used.
He said: ‘I find it strange that we are willing to use these sort of measures against the Irish yet when Englishmen step out of line and behave in this atrocious and appalling way, we are happy to mollycoddle them.’
Met Police Assistant Commissioner Stephen Kavanagh seemed to contradict the Home Secretary and said using the military had not been ruled out.
‘All options were discussed last night and that means, not that we’re doing it, the people of London need to know that the Commissioner and his management board team are considering everything and working through those options as we go forward,’ he told BBC Breakfast.
Mr Kavanagh said it was ‘a shocking and appalling morning for London to wake up to’ and he was struck by the ‘sheer scale and speed with which the attacks took place across London last night’. It ‘was truly unprecedented’
He said there was a ‘changing nature’ in the make-up of the rioters, with the profile changing ‘dramatically’ last night from 14 to 17-year-olds to ‘older groups in cars doing organised looting’.
He added: ‘And there was the far more focused attempt at injuring London Ambulance staff, there to help the community, trying to injure Fire Brigade officers and, of course, police officers.’
In Birmingham, West Midlands Police said it had made about 100 arrests and confirmed that a police station in Handsworth, Birmingham, was on fire. Merseyside Police said there were a number of incidents in South Liverpool and that cars had been set on alight.
Somerset Police reported 150 rioters were in Bristol city centre, with main roads closed and a number of shops damaged.
Councilors have said it will cost £227,000 to repair Tottenham
There is a brilliant article here on how the poverty these kids have is moral, not financial.http://www.thecommentator.com/article/359/london_rioters_are_the_pampered_children_of_the_welfare_state
And the Telegraph has a brilliant article with pictures of london before and after the riot
You can help people made homeless by the London riots by donating bedding, clothes, etc to Apex House, 820 Seven Sisters Road, London N15 5PQ