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Archives for January 2019

Homelessness

31/01/2019 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

Having just written a review of The Silver Sword, which is a children’s book about running from oppressors, and having to live rough and then finally finding a home and reconnecting with parents, I was again drawn to think about homelessness; in particular how today, to be precise at 8 AM this morning as I walking to work I saw three different homeless humps in doorways in the middle of my

I know that this is not unique, indeed the incidence of rough sleepers (and within that group homelessness) has increased exponentially since the current government’s austerity policies which have impacted on everyone both directly and indirectly

This was again brought home when I read two separate articles on the BBC News site:

1 Why some Japanese pensioners want to go to jail

2 The city with no homeless on its streets

Both articles reflect on the society they are written about In Japan people of pensionable age are taking to crime so that they have somewhere warm and free to live. Having achieved pension age, they are finding that their pension is insufficent to live on, so they are forced to become “criminals”.

Whilst in ‘Finland’s capital Helsinki rough sleeping has been almost eradicated.’ due to radically thinking outside the box to provide homes, to make people feel worthwhile and whilst they are in a home helping them to come to terms with who they are, and supporting them.

The Finnish policy is being adapted by various areas of the UK, but it cannot in itself succeed unless proper funding is put in place from the national purse. And this funding needs to be sustained, just as our Health Service needs proper funding (and not the various lip service pieces which government have said about extra funding when it is not).

I don’t know the answers, I just know that as a society and as individuals we need to do more, not just walk past these human being, for they are human beings, and deserve support and recognition as.

 

Filed Under: Community Journalist Tagged With: criminals, government, homeless, life, money, pension, politics

Adventure Movies 2018

31/01/2019 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

According to one pundit,

Adventure Movies (Films) are exciting stories, with new experiences or exotic locales. Adventure Movies (films) are very similar to the action movie/film genre, in that they are designed to provide an action-filled, energetic experience for the movie/film viewer.

Another describes an adventure as an event or series of events that happen outside the course of the protagonist’s ordinary life, usually accompanied by danger, often by physical action. Which when you look at the 17 movies I have listed, and these are not all of those I could have listed, you can see that they appear to be nominated under the correct genre

  • Adventure Movie 1
  • Adventure Movie 2
  • Adventure Movie 3
  1. Venom
  2. The Nutcracker and the Four Realms
  3. Alpha
  4. Incredibles 2
  5. The Meg
  6. Avengers: Infinity War
  7. Christopher Robin
  8. The Spy Who Dumped Me
  9. Ant-man and the Wasp
  10. Aquaman
  11. Goosebumps: Haunted Halloween
  12. Solo: A Star Wars Story
  13. Johnny English Strikes Again
  14. Robin Hood
  15. Ralph Breaks The Internet: Wreck It Ralph 2
  16. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
  17. Black Panther

Those of yo who read my article about movies, will have noted that I have bypassed the genre of ‘Adult Movies’ This is not because I am in any way prudish, however as everyone’s proclivities is different, no list for this genre would work I leave it up to you as an individual to delve into those places and find what takes your fancy

Further research:

  • Movieweb Lists
  • ACOMSDave – Movie Lists

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: lists, movies

The Silver Sword – Book Review

31/01/2019 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

The Silver Sword is a children’s book which is equally at home on an adult’s bookshelf. It is a story about family, about hardship, about war and its impact on the order of things. The Silver Sword is a novel by Ian Serraillier, a children’s classic, first published in the UK in 1956 by Jonathan Cape and then by Puffin Books in 1960

The Silver Sword

The story shows us a glimpse of human depravity, and of human goodness.

Re-reading this story after a gap of ovr 50 years, brought a new understanding. As an adult I now bring my own life experiences, but also a better understanding of a well-written story, but of equal importance is that of an understanding of history – in terms of my understanding of Nazi Germany, Western Germany after the war, but also of more recent history and the refugees who are trying to escape from the Middle East wars.

The journey undertaken by the Polish family named Brlick from Poland to Switzerland, the depths of despair, the hardships they face and the goodness they come across are just as liable to be applicable to those of the children we see in the camps in France, Italy, Cyprus etc.

The family ends up in four units; the father (Joseph) taken away to a forced labour camp for ‘re-education’, which is a joke gone wrong as he was a teacher who loved teaching and didn’t want to be curtailed by Nazi propaganda. The mother (Margret) was forceably taken away to work in Germany

We also then have the three children, Ruth of 18 years, Edek of 11 and Bronia 3 years old; the three children then spend the winter living in the cellar of a bombed house on the other side of Warsaw, and the summer living in woodlands outside the city

The father and mother gone, the children have to go on the run because Edek shoots and wounds a German soldier and the Germans thus take away their mother.

I don’t want to give more than this away except to bring into the story Jan, a young boy who has lost everything and everyone, and has learnt to survive on his own on the streets, and who befriends Joseph in his escape to Switzerland, which is where The Silver Sword comes in.

The Silver Sword Journeys

I highly recommend this story but also ask you to put it in context in relation to today’s refugee children. In 2015 it was estimated that there were more than 60 million displaced people in the world. This equated to nearly 1 in 100 people worldwide being displaced from their homes and in a lot of cases from their countries. Some areas have a higher rate than others; for example, more than one-in-twenty people living in the Middle East are displaced. Between 2008-2015, about 198,500 unaccompanied minors entered Europe seeking asylum – nearly half of which arrived in 2015 (FACTANK)

Unicef has stated that nearly half of all refugees are children. The following graph shows the breakdown

This is a global problem, which needs to be resolved by some joined up thinking and actions. Otherwise the story outlined in the Silver Sword will become the blue print (if it isn’t already) for the millions who have become without home. Kate Todd, The Guardian)

Further reading:

Wikipedia – The Silver Sword

Global Forced Displacement Reaches a New High

Global forced displacement hits record high

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Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: book review, journey, Nazi Germany, Poland, Switzerland, The Silver Sword, World War 2

Visions of Loveliness

28/01/2019 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

Just short of two years I attended a number of events in Belfast Pride, the 2017 edition. There had been a raft of things to do, and that was by the end of the fourth day since its launch. Like I think most people in the community, I had picked and chosen what I wanted to see; I went along to The ‘Law’ event not realising I needed a ticket (my fault), then I took myself to watch Marquee which was on at the Queen’s Film Theatre (even though I knew it was also being shown on BBC4 on Monday night), and the day before I went along to see the ‘Visage’ exhibition of photographs of six of Belfast’s most formidable ‘Drag’ Queens (Visions of Loveliness), which was being held at the
Artcetera Studio in Rosemary Street, Belfast. This comprised of a series of portrait photographs with each of studies being depicted in both their male and drag identities, which resulted in 6 A1 sized hung photographs and then each photograph has been broken down into stip fitted onto a payramid. It was an interesting concept, which did force you to take your time and think about each photograph and character.

Within the Visions of Loveliness exhibition, each photograph was coloured in the 6 primary colours of the ‘rainbow flag’:-

  • Red – Matthew / Cherrie Ontop
  • Orange – Adam James Renshaw / Rusty Hinges
  • Yellow – Marcus Hunter-Neill / Portia Di’ Monte
  • Green – Michael Hillman / Misty Falls
  • Blue – Joshua Cargill / Blu Hydrangea
  • Violet – Robert McCready / Titti Von Tramp
Visions of Loveliness (1)

I really enjoyed this exhibition, but what would have possibly made it more interesting is possibly some audio interviews with each of the 6, or even if possible some video interview tapes – possibly generated pre-Pride from questions gathered within the community.

To this also a calendar maybe showing their forthcoming shows for the next 3-6 months would also have been a welcome addition.

This is an area which needs to be documented and explored more, to enable more understanding and acceptance and to move away from the judgemental.

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: art review, black and white, drag, homophobia, politics, Pride, Pride Festival, Visions

Family Matters

27/01/2019 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

Frans Gertenback, is an artist living in Ballyclare. His exhibition ‘Family Matters’ consists of video installations, portraits and a large number of abstract works.

The underlying concept is one of the influence of family on your life. This is both the immediate family (mother, father, brother,sister grandparents) and the extended family which we all have.

The video installations are short looped items and are thought provoking in terms of place, time and styles. The portraits cover early life and later life, whilst the abstract paintings are just that abstract; it is up to each individual to interpret these as they will.

The exhibition runs from the 3rd to 31st January 2019 at the Artledera Studio, 43 Rosemary Street, Belfast.

I came away from the exhibition with little backward thought, unfortunately for me. I did not find the xhibition thought provoking as intended; but as with all exhibitions, this is my review and opinion, and I would suggest you go along, make time for the ‘Family Matters’ exhibition and enjoy the body of work.

For me one item of the exhibition stood out, and that was a portrait of a man shown below.

Further Reading:

  1. Artcetera Facebook
  2. Belfast Art Map

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: art review, artist, emotions, Family Matters, Frans Gertenback, Northern Ireland

Civil Liberties

09/01/2019 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

So when should we start worrying about our ‘Civil Liberties’?

The answer is off necessity at all times.  If we as a nation are not careful then we lose our civil liberties;  in the past, we have had police confiscating cameras and phones being used to cover demonstrations under the guise of ‘national security’, which was proved to be a falsehood.  We have had people through the guise of rendition locked up without trial, and again later release and compensation paid.

In February 2009, Tracy McVeigh reported on a number of sold-out conferences which were about

‘The government and the courts are collaborating in shaving away freedoms and pushing Britain to the brink of becoming a “database” police state’

Have things changed and improved?  That is for each of us to judge, but we need to realise it is our individual responsibility to monitor the government and hold them accountable, and that we do this be turning out to elections.

Civil Liberties

Further reading:

  • The Guardian – Is Freedom Being Eroded?
  • Britain’s Unwritten Constitution
  • Civil Liberties and the World Wide Web

Filed Under: Community Journalist, Government & Politics Tagged With: civil liberties, government

Movie Lists

06/01/2019 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

After writing many reviews of moves, of all genres, I thought that I would try to provide a list of various genres of movies, with my recommendations. During the next year I hope to provide you with my suggested movie lists for these genres:

Movie Lists in a library

  • Action
  • Adult
  • Adventure
  • Animation / Anime
  • Biopic
  • Childrens
  • Comedy
  • Crime / detective /spy
  • Documentary
  • Drama
  • Horror
  • Family
  • Fantasy
  • Historical
  • Medical
  • Musical
  • Paranormal
  • Romance
  • Sport
  • Science fiction
  • Talk Show
  • Thriller / Suspense
  • War
  • Western

However, to start with, I must say here and now that I have not come up with definitive movie lists for each genre, because every movie has some merit, and deserves to be viewed in terms of its story, the action (or non-action) the director and especially the actors as just some things to look at.

There is one genre during the last year or two which has hit the headlines, mostly for good reasons; and this the genre of LGBT movies. You will notice it is not in the genre movie lists shown above, and that is because LGBT uniquely seems to encompass all of this list in various forms, but due to the homophobia that was rampant within the population and fanned by the media, it is only recently that we have seen so many positive movies with LGBT characters.

If you haven’t watched any of them, then I heavily suggest you do. They warrant viewing, and as the LGBT community has been recognised by so many as something which is part of human pysche. The following lists cover 2017 and 2018

2017

  • A Quiet Passion
  • Paris: 05:59: Theo & Hugo
  • 4 Days in France
  • Staying Vertical
  • My Life as a Zucchini
  • Frantz
  • The Assignment
  • BPM
  • Tom of Finland
  • The Ornithologist
  • The Ornithologist
  • Dream Boat

2018

  • Rafiki
  • We The Animals
  • Plaire Aimer Courir Vite
  • The Happy Prince
  • A Kid Like Jake
  • Bohemian Rhapsody
  • Howard – The Howard Ashman Story
  • Duck Butter
  • McQueenThe Gospel According to Andre
  • Mapplethorpe
  • Boy Erased
  • EveryAct of Life
  • The Death & Life of John F Donovan
Movie Lists in a penny arcade in Louisiana
Boys looking at penny movies in an arcade in Louisiana

Links to Out which reviewed these movies:

  • 2017
  • 2018
Cinema graphic to cover movie lists

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: lists, movie lists, reviews

Blogging for Fun (or even to make money)

05/01/2019 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

Blogging for Fun is compulsive, or it should be, and if it is not why are you doing it or contemplating doing so? Here is my guide to blogging, we all go about it differently, but there are some basics which you need to get on board with!

Shakespeare - Blogging for Fun

General Principles

  • Before you start know why you want to blog, and ask yourself whether you have the time to post on a regular basis.
  • Make it clear how often you will post – you will loose followers if you con’t keep to your planned schedule/timetable
  • If you decide to quit writing your blog, then be kind and let your followers know, You never know, you might just decide to come back!
  • Define your goals:-
    • Ask yourself what you are hoping to achieve by blogging?
      • What is your blog about?
      • What effect do you want to have on your readers?
      • Where do you think your readers will come from?
  • Understand what your reader wants, or expect from reading your blogging
  • Grab the reader’s attention:-
    • Spend time thinking about the title of your blog posting (and make it relevant)
    • Write an introductory sentence that tells the reader why they should spend their ‘valuable’ time reading your blog article
  • Make your posts easy to read – Short, clear and concise sentences, with plenty of white space (blank lines), heading styles, bold text, bulleted and numbered lists to make it easy
  • Always, Always review and edit what you write
  • Write as you talk – a blog is a conversation between you and the reader.
  • Express and opinion – don’t just lists facts, but express your personality and opinions
  • Be consistent – not only as to the frequency of your posts, but also in terms of the tone, style and content.
  • Be open, honest and inviting – remember a conversation is two way. Expect (indeed encourage) your readers to comment on and challenge your opinions; but also be prepared to defend your opinion.
  • Be visible and responsive – you don’t have to be online 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year, but be regularl in reviewing comments and responding. This is good blogmandship!
  • Be polite, professional and respectful of others – Always think twice before posting a response
  • Promote your blog – look for similar types of blogs, or event those which are just downright interesting to you, and comment on their posts, leave your blog details in the comment.
  • Use links – using links serves several purposes; they connect what you are writing to the rest of the world and connects people to information you consider useful and relevant.
Blogging is fun, but it also needs planning and work

Some other blogs to look at:

  • NIche Blogs
  • The world’s 50 most powerful blogs

Filed Under: Community Journalist Tagged With: blogging, fun, guides, how to do it

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