Just For Lookin' Thru

Many women born in the 1950s have seen their incomes dive because they expected to receive their state pension at age 60 and were astonished to discover, without adequate notice for any preparation, that their pension age was to be increased to 65. 3.4 million women have been affected by the lack of notice of the 1995 and 2011 Pensions Acts and t he Government did not observe an appropriate timeframe for this change. Worse, the state pension was further increased, to 66 for some and 67 for others. Women affected by these changes are advised to write to the DWP where over 700 complaints are being investigated in October 2017. The WASPI (Women Against Pensions Inequality) campaign provides guidance on how to complain. See http://www.waspi.co.uk/action The cancellation of these pension payments at the April 2017 state pension rate of £155.65 per week means a loss to each of these women of £8,093 per year, totalling £40,469 for the 5 years, £48,563 for 6 years, and £56,657 for 7 ...

What moment would you pick as the standout moment in a weekend of adventure travel films, workshops and presentations camping and bush craft, organised by Lois Pryce and Austin Vince ? It’s a tough call. You may have been baffled by Tim Cope and Chris Hatherley’s fourteen month trip from Russia, across Serbia and Mongolia, to Beijing, enduring cold, hunger, exhaustion and frostbite. The two twenty year old guys from Australia shared a tent, their sleeping and waking hours, and the arduous journey in ‘ Off The Rails’ (2001). Maybe you were impressed by the nomadic Bakhtiari people in the 1976 film ‘ People of the Wind ,’ filmed by Anthony Howarth, making the annual migration across the Iranian mountains, leading their flock from Summer to Winter pasture.  With speaking much, without visible signs of communication or affection, the families are individually focussed on their roles: small children carry their younger siblings, lambs or puppies, colts or calves, along haza...

According to Emma Graham Harrison and Rory Carroll’s news feature in The Guardian (2 June 2014), Bowe Bergdahl sounds like an unusual young man. Raised and home schooled in a book filled cabin, without a telephone, but with the Idaho countryside as his playground, he is described as ‘thoughtful and quiet.’ A well read thinker who joined the US army, Bergdahl is quoted in Rolling Stone as emailing home to say that he felt ashamed to be American because: “These people need help, yet what they get is the most conceited country in the world telling them that they are nothing and that they are stupid, that they have no idea how to live. “We don’t even care when we hear each other talk about running their children down in the dirt streets with our armoured trucks … We make fun of them in front of their faces, and laugh at them for not understanding we are insulting them.” His father, Bob, spoke of Bowe’s apparent disillusionment prior to his capture, the exact details of whi...

Tonight is the final episode of Sally Wainwright’s unmissable Happy Valley . The whole sorry mess of a kidnap instigated by a local businessman’s weak and resentful accountant has become more violent episode by episode. There have been criticisms of the shocking violence, and questions as to whether it’s necessary. It’s only necessary to the casual rapist and throat slitter Tommy Lee Royce (played by James Norton), as his method of shutting people up; if they can’t be relied upon to keep quiet they have to die. The kidnapped young woman, Ann, (played by Charlie Murphy) was roughly handled, then raped, then injected with heroin, and raped again (neither rape filmed). Not a classic weeping victim, her character is refreshingly tough; she resisted, yelled and struggled and, when discovered in the cellar by Sgt. Cawood, wrestled herself free, wrenched some dumbbells from the floor and swung them at her captor, dealing him a decisive blow. The plucky lass dragged and heaved the badly...

Paulina will be awarded her doctorate in July. In the UK from Poland for a holiday in Somerset, she’s bored sitting about in her family’s home so she’s signed up with an agency for some temporary work. I met her and Nora before a charity function where I’m waiting to interview some of the guests. Paulina’s PhD is in chemical engineering and she tells me there will be work for her, in some country, but maybe not in Poland where her fiancé is living. She is rueful, “Germany perhaps, but then I won’t see him.” She is resigned to living where she finds work, and missing her loved ones. A guy dressed in kitchen wear comes out and says, “There are Russian jets in our air space, and they’ve got ships in our territorial waters, off Scotland .. and they won’t leave." When he gets no response from this cheery piece of news, he disappears back through the swing doors. The barmaid leans forward and yells into the room, to no-one in particular, “We’re going to war, and I don’t give a sh...

When thinking of walking in any fine city It’s always agreed that Paris is pretty But the stink of men’s piss And squashed dog crap means this: A stroll in this city’s quite shitty. Pity. (written in response to the allegation that the esteemed actor needed bladder relief during a flight)

Although unusually over elaborate for the army, the Royal Wedding brilliantly disguised the true nature of William and Harry's almost lifelong training for this significant day, distracting almost the entire world. Friends of these blood brothers have revealed that William and Harry had been in arduous training for some years alongside Kath and Pip, for their long planned operation to nip over and assassinate Bin Laden on the night of the apparent nuptials. It's staggering that this operation has been over six years in preparation. In 2005, as soon as it was known that a fortified mansion was being built for Bin Laden, MI6 sought the best candidates to blast their way in and remove the alleged mastermind of the Twin Towers attack. A long courtship between Britain's two best operatives was set up while the pair were still at University, culminating in the huge event we witnessed on Friday. It didn't quite go according to plan. Harry almost blew their cover; wa...

The tall young man at the back of the church stands with an air of complete assurance, his height lending elegance to his simple grey lounge suit. His hair has a natural curl, cut short and neat, his face a pleasing mix of even featured attractiveness and authority. He scans the interior, walks with swift, long strides up the aisle to the altar where he confers with an obese man, shabbily dressed in faded black sweatpants and crew neck sweatshirt, his hair and beard greasy. This enormous man is pale, his skin the sickly hue of a corpse beside the pink faced young man beside him and, when the exchange is over, he moves away, slowly pushing the bulk of his stomach ahead of him, breathing with difficulty. The young man hurries to the back of the church, gives instructions to a pre-pubescent boy, and walks forward to stand beside a fidgety dark haired young man in the front pew. The boy gathers up the orders of service, placing one on each seat and the two men stand together, their backs...

I should have done some research before going to see this because I thought it was going to be about lovers in the Arctic Circle. Instead of being transported to the icy wastes of an unfamiliar landscape the film is set in urban Spain, but in a very cold Spain with wind, rain and everyone in thick jumpers. Shot in near monochrome, the effect is cold and the Spartan interiors of apartments provide a bleak, comfortless setting for love to blossom. Otto and Ana meet as children and are attracted to each other due to the nature of coincidence, and coincidence plays a large part in the narrative. The two children are engaging and there are some comic scenes between them when young and, later, as teenagers, with trysts in the night and their love kept secret. However, once they’re older the story loses momentum and, at times becomes surreal and confusing as the viewpoint moves in and out of the two characters’ imaginations. Otto suffers an extreme grief reaction when his mother acci...

Ah, it is Valentine’s Day when thoughts turn to love, and what inconclusive thoughts. Now wouldn’t you have reasoned that, after living on this planet for centuries, a formula could be identified that makes a relationship between a man and a woman take off and work? There seem to be essential ingredients to a good film, a good book, a good job, meal etc. Let’s take a man’s seduction technique for starters, a little flattery goes a long way. A guy only needs to say, ‘You look lovely,’ with the right look of simple appreciation and, if this is a date, arrive on time to pick her up. Flowers are questionable. If she’s not become keen yet, they can imply too much emotional expectation from you. Plus, she’s about to leave the house, so now she has to go back into the kitchen and fuss around trying to find something to put them in. However, if you’ve come to dinner at her place, they are essential. In the car, you say, ‘I thought you might like such-and-such-a-place,’ and take her there. You’...

A Day to discuss our freedom, privacy and rights - Saturday, 23 January 2010 Chaired by Kate Adie, broadcaster and author Speakers include: Henry Porter - journalist, campaigner, novelist Frederick Taylor - historian and writer of WW2 Katharine Whitehorn - columnist and broadcaster Oliver Baines - environmental campaigner Stephen Otter - Chief Constable for Devon and Cornwall Ursula Owen - campaigner for free speech Inspired by their visit to The London Convention on Modern Liberty, Jane Turnbull (Literary agent for former publisher) and Jessica Mann (novelist and journalist) decided to hold a conference on the freedom and rights of the British citizen in Cornwall. Concerned by the erosion of Britain’s long tradition of liberty, in response to perceived threats of terrorism, Turnbull and Mann gathered together a panel of writers and thinkers, attracted a huge audience, and enabled a debate to take place. What a great opportunity to hear a rang...