Shareholders who quite probably don’t shop at Morrisons are of course unimpressed with the deal, and some papers have compared the handout with the unsightly amount Adam Crozier negotiated  from ITV.  But as someone who regularly shops at Morrisons (and uses the Royal Mail) I would say Bolland is a far more deserving case.

Remember Safeway?  It was that cheap-looking alternative to Somerfield, which changed almost overnight into Morrisons.  The giant yellow lettering made me think it must have become another Wilkinson-type store – a place I never frequented aside from for the odd cheap picture frame.

Then there came the re-calls of their pre-packaged salads because of a salmonella scare, a supermarket I once vaguely ignored now sat in my mind as being less than hygenic, and quite frankly I would rather go to Lidl for my staples, and get my fresh fruit and veg from the local grocery.

All the while though rumours of a ‘great fish counter’ and good prices began to spread, many which I chose to ignore until a Morrisons opened its doors in my neighbourhood.  It does indeed have a great fish counter and much much more.

Marc Bolland has created a British supermarket with a slightly European flavour (think bold signing and traditional looking displays).  The prices feel about right, and the offers are great. I once bought three decent sized packets of king prawns there for £5.

However above all is their customer service.  At the counter are pleasant, ordinary people.  They don’t demand to see my loyalty card, neither do they count out how many bags I have used, and there is this genuine smile – and even a conversation if I feel like it.

At first I found the experience strange, but now it seems normal.  The staff at my Morrisons are happy to be there, and the result of that is I am there more often, and Morrisons’ market-share is up to 12.5% (beating Asda).

Sadly the same cannot be said for the Royal Mail.  Its customer service feels like some of the worst around. Saying that, if you do happen to get through the automated system to an actual human, they are generally very helpful (and apologetic).

I feel for ITV staff who now face a future under Adam Crozier, maybe it is time to make that move to Marksies.

2009’s most important story has been Iran and its relationship with the West.  For three decades mistrust has existed between Iran and the West, particularly with the United States.  This year the question over Iran’s production of enriched uranium has heightened dissent between the Islamic Republic and Western powers.

In June, tensions magnified as incumbent leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claimed victory in the elections. Doubts about its authenticity were widespread among supporters of the opposition leader, EU member states and the US.  It sparked Iran’s biggest protests since the 1979 revolution.

Ahmadinejad’s response did not please Western critics, and hostility intensified when Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei accused Britain of leading a conspiracy to destablise the country by fomenting protests. Western media were also banned from the streets of Tehran.

The UN’s nuclear watchdog has now issued sanctions against Iran, after accusing it of withholding information.  In response, Iran, who says its developments are peaceful, is refusing to co-operate with the IAEA.  This echoes events in 2002 when the Iraqi regime apparently refusing to co-operate with the UN over inspection of its weapons of mass destruction.

Further to this, Iran has over the past 12 months arrested a number of apparently innocent Western citizens. President Obama is pushing for more sanctions, and is looking for support from other countries against Iran. The events of 2009 appear to be accelerating the perception of the need for a war in Iran, which is why I believe it is the year’s most important story.

Twelve or so girls turned up, different ages, sizes and ethnicities, but all United as women who want to play football.  Warming up we side-stepped around tiny coloured cones, skipped and ran backwards, forcing any fears of tripping or twisting an ankle to one side, as we raced to catch up with the girl in front.  Coach showed us how to swing our knees up and kick behind in one movement, and told us to put all our effort into sprints

Bibs were handed around: “girls in red your aim is to score as many goals as you can, girls in blue – you defend, no bibs – you stand on the edges and support the attackers”.  It was not as easy as it sounded. Using just half the small pitch meant there were a lot of girls in quite a small space, and the range of abilities had the ball being lost to the other side too often. But it was fast paced, exciting and the icy feet of ten minutes ago were long forgotten.

Girls football probably looks funny to boys, it is slower and there are cries of ‘oww that kills’ when the ball thuds into a womanly bust. I should expect that is one of the reasons why the BBC turned up to film the session, under the proviso their report is about women, fitness and the community.  But if you want a good work out, fresh air, some time to socialise then it is a far better for that than a visit to the gym.

Heroin addiction ruins thousands of lives every year across the UK.  Giving up is never easy – but treatments available vary massively between different areas.  Wales’ capital Cardiff is one city where addicts are made to wait.

My reaction to this was probably bolstered by the three or four glasses of wine I had put away at this point, I was surprised to say the least (and still am).  I can’t remember the last time something good was said about the Labour party, and to be honest the stream of bad behaviour stories which emerge almost daily is in my view just surreal.

Anyway, for this person to tell me they were handing out pamphlets for the government, and not because they have been forced to under some ‘compulsory community work‘ scheme for teenagers, I was (as I said) somewhat surprised.  Perhaps I would have been less taken aback if he had said he was now a fully fledged Tory party member.  I’m sure if he had said Lib Dem had won his support, not an eyelid would not have been batted, and these musings would be about young people getting into politics.

His reason for signing up:

He has been a Labour supporter his whole life (not that long then, there’s still time to change!)

Personally, I had always pinned him as a leftie Lib Dem (or even a green!), evidently my party-dar is not that functional..

Yes, he tells me, the current Government have made, and are making lots of mistakes, and he doesn’t support the direction in which they are moving.  He also fully expects them to lose the next election.  And that would be  a good thing.  That’s interesting I say, so you are supporting a party to lose?  I bet that’s not what your pamphlets say..

“Well no… but there needs to be a massive turn around in the party… and that’s not going to happen while we are in power.”

This morning I read the former Labour MP Alice Mahon has decided to leave the party after 50 years of loyal membership.  She had been unhappy under Tony Blair’s leadership, and had expected things to change under Brown.  She is quoted as saying, “I hoped we might go back to being a caring and progressive party. In the event I couldn’t have been more wrong”.  I wonder how many others are thinking along the same lines?  And I wonder how many are, like my friend, are signing up to support them?  Would you?

This blog could have been about the rise in youth political movement, students getting back into activism, a “summer of rage” as reported by the Guardian a few weeks back.  But I think it’s interesting that it is not just an anti-establishment, more socialist movement that is re-emerging.  Young people  seem to be able to look beyond what is happening now, and are looking to the future.  My Labour peer (!) is hopeful that by supporting the party now, once back in opposition they will return to their old values, and once a Tory term has been sat out, they will return with stronger and more positive policies to improve British life.

I only wish I could be as optimistic.

2. There is no agreement about the rights and wrongs of the Israelis.

3. The Gaza crisis is not seen to be just a ‘humanitarian crisis’ it is also a huge ‘political crisis’.

4. The story was still ongoing (And since the decision there have been infrigements of the ceasefire).

5. The DEC’s Appeal does not get counterbalanced by an Israeli appeal (unlike a Party Political Broadcast – where you have balance across the parties).

6. Unlike Party Political Broadcasts, editing and writing would be at the BBC’s cost and using its resources. If the BBC had broadcast the appeal it would have been seen to be giving it another stamp of approval.

7. It was not guaranteed that the aid could be delievered safely, and in fact, after the appeal was broadcast there were incidents when Hamas officers seized aid.

8. If it was on the other side (i.e Israeli victims), the BBC would have made the same decision not to broadcast.

9. Impartiality does lead to making unpleasant decisions, but the next time a decision like this has to be made, then it could work to an advantage (i.e you don’t want to set the wrong precedent)

10. There are suspicions that the DEC has political motives itself. A previous appeal proposed by the DEC was rejected by broadcasters because it was seen as overly sympathetic to the Palestinian cause (although this was not publicised).

11. Giving to a charity does not need BBC approval.

12. It is not the collection of money that was the problem, it is the way in which it was being done, by using very emotive pictures.

Additional points made:-

* It would have been easier to justify broadcasting the appeal if it was a more balanced conflict (if there were as many Israeli victims as Palestinian)

* It is not the BBC’s job to ‘save the world’. It is the BBC’s job to report what is happening, so that other people can try to save it.

** This is from John Bridcut’s lecture at Cardiff’s School of Journalism.

John Bridcut wrote the BBC’s review of Impartiality in the Digital Age, ‘From Seesaw to Wagon Wheel’. He started his journalistic career as a BBC producer on Radio 4, Nationwide, The Money Programme and Newsnight, before becoming one of the country’s most successful independent current affairs and documentary film makers, most recently producing arts documentaries on Nureyev, Elgar, Britten and Vaughn Williams and writing a book, ‘Britten’s Children’, about the composer’s relationship with young boys.

They are working through the Complete Works of Shakespeare, month by month, reading them out loud.

The Cardiff Shakespeare Readers’ meeting’s at Chapter Arts Centre start with a brief introduction, a civilised doling out of parts and then with no more ado, they get right into reading through the play. For over a year now the group have been meeting, and as they work through the plays in chronological order, they are drawing more people into their helm.

Reasons

Most of us gave up Shakespeare when we left school, and aside from watching the odd film (Al Pacino is fronting the next blockbuster: King Lear) we don’t really think about the Bard that much.

The members see the meetings as an opportunity to practice speaking an old language, to read his more obscure works (The Pheonix and the Turtle and the Henry IV trilogy just to name a few).

To them it is a social event, and the twenty or so people who show up enjoy a giggle over it.

Actor Elise Davison from Cardiff said “I saw it in the brochure for Chapter and I thought it was a really brilliant idea of reading the Complete Works, in however long it takes”

Understanding Shakespeare

Back in school learning Shakespeare for many was a tiresome exercise, working through endless passages, translating the text.

But for children coming up through the Comprehensive School system now, that is no longer the case.

Owen Evans teaches English at St Teilo’s C.I.W High School in Cardiff he said, “We now teach Shakespeare in a range of different ways, through games like Guess Who, by watching the films, and as much as we can, we go and see the plays.”

“The great thing about Shakespeare is every time you re-read the text, there is so much more to learn, whatever level you are at, so in that respect the enthusiasm that we have in the department hopefully gets delivered to the class.”

Motivation

 But motivating yourself to keep that enthusiasm for Shakespeare up is not an easy task, and that is probably why so many people are now enjoying taking part with the Shakespeare Readers.

Michael from Cardiff’s been a member for about a year, he said it is just about “getting the chance to do some Shakespeare, and if not acting it, then at least reading it.”

Some of the people who turn up regularly are actors, and others want to expand their knowledge of the playwrights work.

Shakespeare Month

Next month more events are being held in Cardiff to celebrate Shakespeare.

The Cardiff Shakespeare Festival includes a radio performance of Hamlet on March 8 on XPress Radio (Cardiff University Radio), Measure for Measure at The Wales Millennium Centre, and a talk by Richard Wilson an English Literature Professor from Cardiff University.

***

Natalie Donovan meets the Cardiff Shakespeare Readers:

Once you’ve done that, click on the big upload button, give your audio a title, description and tag. Carry on, then you can search for the file, and have the choice of making the audio public, or keeping it private.

After it’s uploaded, you’ll get two boxes, one which gives you the audio’s URL, and the other which contains the Embedding code.

Copy all the Embedded code, and go into your WordPress blog. You need to paste the code into the HTML part of your blog.

(For those who don’t know: you can opt to be in the ‘html’ part, by clicking on HTML on the top right hand side of the post window – next to Visual, which is where you normally type)

The tricky bit is then finding the part of the code which will make the thing work.

From what I can see, you need what looks like a normal URL (starting with http://www.soundlantern..) and finishing with .mp3

This is what my code looked like, and I have highlighted the bit you need to keep in bold.

Get rid of the rest of the junk, and then simply make it look like this…

Test it by clicking on the Preview button, and you should see a play button on your blog! have fun…

During the days of bombing on Gaza, every evening the Western media would bring us lengthy reports about conditions there.  We heard from experts, military officials, our Prime Minster, our Foreign Minister, ministers in Israel and less frequently from those who represented Hamas and the Palestinians dying there.

The fighting provoked large protests in London, and elsewhere around the UK.  These have not stopped; yesterday, a student activists’ meeting was held in London with speakers including Tony Benn, George Galloway MP, Jeremy Corbyn MP and Lindsey German from Stop the War.

Local Demonstrations

While in Cardiff, around 40 demonstrators gathered at the Nye Bevan statue on Queen Street to show their solidarity to the cause.  Although organised by Stop the War’s Adam Johannes, the children led the chants on loud speakers, calling on shoppers to stop what they were doing and give a little money to the Disaster Emergency Committee (DEC) appeal.

Hassim, 10 from Cardiff said “Look at the Palestinian people, when they go home, what are they going to eat?  Nothing.  They haven’t ate for ten days or something, probably a month, people are dying just because they didn’t eat.”

“People are still suffering”

Adam Johannes from Cardiff Stop the War Coalition explained how important it is that Gaza is not forgotten now it has left the media’s attention.

“The war in Gaza is not over, people are still suffering,  we’re collecting money for the humanitarian appeal, which the BBC have refused to broadcast.  If the BBC refuse to broadcast it, then people in the grassroots have to broadcast it.”

“We’re really trying to tell people that over 60% of the farmland in Gaza has been destroyed, hospitals, schools, and the only University in Gaza have been bombed… Not only are thousands of people without employment, but also thousands of people are threatened with starvation”

Action

The protest was organised three days after more than 900 students packed out Cardiff University’s Great Hall for the final date of the Cageprisoners Tour “Two Sides- One Story:  Guantanamo from both sides of the Wire”.  During the talk students heard from two former Guantanamo detainees (Sami Al Haj and Moazzam Begg) and Christopher Arendt, an ex-Guantanamo guard.  It was organised to mark seven years of abuse and torture at the notorious American camp and also reveal some other instances of unlawful detention centres across the world.

This Wednesday (11th February) Cardiff Stop the War Coalition are  organising a talk to put pressure on Cardiff University to stop their investment in the arms trade.

Adam Johannes says “Cardiff University invests £225,000 in the international Arms trade including BAE Systems & the Smiths group”.

“This is an Arms trade that is and has been hard-wired for corruption, promotes rather than stems conflict around the world, and funds oppressive regimes”.

We don't want to see any of these at the airport

I thought there was a touch of irony to last nights BBC news at 6.  After a day of remembrance for holocaust day, the BBC decided to air Danny Savage’s report on a firmwhich is offering chav-free holidays. How could they guarantee it?  Well somehow it can be judged by what someone is called.  If you are called Britney, Wayne or Shazza (is that Shannon for short?) then you would be banned from booking onto that trip.

“Stand up to hatred” was the theme for this years Holocaust Memorial Day, and during the morning on BBC Radio Wales I heard a piece from a teacher and pupil who were marking the day in Porthcawl.  The teacher reiterated the message, that hatred often starts from little jibes on the school playground, bullying and so on.   In Saturday’s Guardian Weekend magazine there was a feature on red-heds, where Simon Hattenstone described ‘gingerism’ as the ‘last acceptable prejudice’.  

What bothered me about the BBC report was not the topic, although it was an obvious piece of promotion for the company.  It was more the lighthearted way in which Savage dealt with it, and the giggles Fiona Bruce had after it was broadcast.   Could dealing with the subject in this way normalise the term?   Does it make it acceptable to judge people (either by their name or by what clothes they wear)?

In the dictionary it’s defined as “the lower class; uneducated and ignorant people”.   While the word Jew on the same online reference website comes with a warning “It is widely recognized that the attributive use of the noun Jew, in phrases such as Jew lawyer or Jew ethics, is both vulgar and highly offensive”.  

During Shannon Matthews’ disappearance last year, lots was said about where she came from and her class.   Media who weren’t giving the case much attention were criticised for not covering it in the same way they had when Madeleine McCann went missing.  Then when she was found, there was some mild insinuation perhaps this was some sort of class issue. 

I don’t want to over-emphasise or be too critical of the BBC’s report, but I think we need to take a greater precaution when using the word chav, and stop its wide acceptability as a way of describing someone.   I am sure if the holiday company had been offering trips abroad excluding any gingers, or gay people or Jews for that matter, they would have had a very different tone.

 Image courtesy of welovepandas on the Creative Commons License on FlickR