Three amigos fail to inspire team

Chris Horrie, failed to inspire his team to victory in a pulsating match played at the University of Winchester, yesterday. Mark Lovell hammered home the winning goal for the third years a few minutes from time, to silence their critics.

“Hobbes is a traitor and he knows it,” said Grant Payne after his team lost in the dying minutes of the game. The second years had every reason to feel robbed, after having led for the better part of the game.

The match was played at a scintillating pace, with both sides displaying some deft touches. Brian Thornton, playing his debut match showed glimpses of brilliance every time he probed forward. And really, there could have been no more fitting player to set the second years on their way than Thornton, after Joey Lipscombe withdrew from the starting line-up. The third years, absorbed pressure from the onset and could have easily been beaten.


Josh Duffy, Chanin Lloyd, Joey Lipscombe,Rob Anderson and Tom Otrebski added spark to the spectacle, as they were part of the media entourage covering the match live.

Tom Hepworth from the BBC was a guest player for the second years and had a relatively good game – though his presence could not deter the resilient third years from victory. With the game seemingly heading for a stalemate, Mark Lovell hammered home the winner to sent his team into a frenzy. Horrie’s trump card Joey said he will be back for next week’s encounter.

News is about people doing things

Tom Hepworth,BBC South

Yesterday, was a day that will remain embedded in our thoughts; for we were privileged once again, to have a guest speaker in Tom Hepworth.The BBC South prodigy started his broadcasting career in radio before joining BBC South, as a video journalist.

Mr Hepworth watched all the video packages produced by Winchester Journalism students and gave expect advice accordingly.Below are some of the important aspects of journalism he mentioned.

.If you decide to do a piece to camera,there must be a valid reason for that.
.A piece to camera must never be in the excess of 30seconds unless otherwise.
.It is important to plan how you intend to set the package in your storyboard.
.Sequencing is vital,as it gives emphasis to actuality
.A piece to camera can also be used to add actuality and reality
.News is about people doing things, when you are interviewing a chef,make sure he is doing something.
.When you go out for an interview,try to find another story

Mr Hepworth also took time explaining and illustrating the best technics when shooting a story on your own.

I have come to the realisation that the real world of journalism is about precision and time.Putting up telly packages can be quite daunting if there are no plans in place.But with more effort it can be done.

BBC guru graces Winchester University

Former BBC news editor,Ian Anderson,visited the University of Winchester today,as part of an initiative to engage students with industry professionals.

"You have facilities which i could only have dreamt of," he said.

Having started at the Reading Evening Post,Mr Anderson went onto work for the press association,as a news sub-editor.A few year later,'I was recommended to the BBC by a friend,' said Mr Anderson. He told journalism students that,he spent the past 20years working for the BBC in various roles before leaving last year.

Asked about his most memorable moment at the BBC , Mr Anderson said:"producing news at Westminister,close to the end of the Thatcher era," and 'being on the first flight to New York after 9/11.'

The former news editor gave students some 'very valuable' advice on creating televison packages.This was after he took time to review recent packages produced by journalism students.His emphasis was more on the content of the packages,the storyboard and the general persona of a successful journalist.

'The move to invite Mr anderson by the course leader is essentially what we needed,' said one of the students on condition of anonymity.

libido personified

The week leading to last Thursday's lecture by Chris on Freud created such a moment of anxiety and excitement.Chris had consciously posted a message on the site,that the lecture was bound to be of explicit nature and advised abstinence to sensitive journos.My gut feeling was,all females would consider staying away from the lecture.Guess what?In fact i am embarassed to say,the opposite sex outnumbered us.Before the lecture,one female friend of mine who i can not name for legal reasons,said:'Arnold,i can't wait for Thursday's lecture'.I suppose,what drove every female to that lecture room was the subject of sex.Of course,the reason why all guys attended is public knowledge.

It's quite interesting to note that Freud linked philosophy and science by using greek methology and literature in exploring psychoanalysis.The 19th century was individual against science and by the time Freud made his observations in the 20th century,it was struggle with self.However his pyschoanalytic theories were developed at the expense of women and religion.

Freud noted that women were more masochistic and narcissistic than man.He felt that female identity grows from an infant girl's shocking discovery that she lacks a penis.In Freud's thinking,boys and girls focus on the penis at around the age of six.I assume all this happens at the play ground.Generally kids at this stage seem to fiddle around with whatever hangs on their genitalia.In Freud's world,a girl becomes frustrated with herself because there is nothing to touch,anyway.Thus,the term penis envy was born.As the boy child grows and reaches the stage of proper conscience,he finds himself alienated(in hegelian terms).The alienation coming from not being allowed to masturbate for fear being of castrated.Freud used an analogy of a greek mythical character,Oedipus who kills his father and marries his mother.

Freud thought women were a frustrated species who were annoyed by themselves.He observed that the drive to love and bear children arises from women's sense of being mutilated.The other reason why Freud believed that women didn't like themselves was the aspect of menstruation periods.For men,it is a mysterious and sometimes frightening phenomenon - the shedding of blood without visible injury.Some religions don't even allow women in mosques when they are menstruating and not even allowed to cook - for goodness sake!

If,i were to remain impartial i would not entirely blame Freud.He is certainly not guilty of persecuting women alone.Even my own bible is written in such a way that it gives women a very inferior role in the society.So who is to blame,Freud or the books of faith.The bible and the quran alike negate the fact that women are as important as men.

So should the bible or quran be re-written?

Griffin - a victim of conspiracy theories!

Last night,i waited for 'Question Time' with intent because,the advocate of britishness was to appear on the popular BBC one show.I have always wanted the BNP leader to vindicate himself from 'assumed' public outrage.Of course,last night meant that he would gain ground in changing public perception or lose those who provisionally pledged allegiance.My probable reason for anxiety could have been the fact that i am dark skinned and an 'alien' according the manifesto of the BNP.

Poor Griffin,the moment he agreed to appear on the show is the moment, he fell into the trap of political gimmicks.Oh dear,the panel on the show savaged him at every opportunity and never gave him time to finish responding.The key focus of discussion was on immigration and religion.

If i was born with a skin that requires tanning,i would have been tempted to change my perception on the BNP leader.His explanations were quite logical, given the toxic issues which were on the agenda.He explained why he is at odds with Islam as an ideology,gay and lesbian rights and immigration.He wants gays to enjoy themselves in the privacy and security of their own home.

A survey carried out this morning by two television stations show that three quarters of the people interviewed felt Griffin was bullied and i agree.

As a black person i am kind of juxaposed to Griffin's views but hey that's part of democarcy.Someone once said the genocide that took place in Rwanda was good because it was a way of reducing the population.Of course,it's an outrageous school of thinking but that is freedom of expression.Democracy says,worship as you please.Have sex with who you chose and say what you want without fear of prejudice.

Griffin is what Mike Tyson was to Boxing, and what Ben Johnson was to the Olympics - controversial!

'God is dead'

The advent of science,philosophy and politics could have marked the death of God,according to Nietzsche.As a die hard christian,my emotions were left in mock despair on the realisation that,God had been pronounced dead by a modernist philosopher.I initially found the assertion baseless,since there is no empirical evidence that,the all mighty is nomore.Therefore i decided to investigate.

Nietsche appear to have used a phantom character in his book,The Gay Science, to emphasise,the infamous statement.I also noted that,at the time Nietzsche wrote his works in the later half of the nineteenth century,the shared belief of God was waning.I suppose the overriding fact,was that Charles Darwin and his insghtful writing on evolution brought a new dimension on how people perceived God.Where God once stood alone,as a centre of influence,meaning and eternal life - a plethora of voices were now being heard and God was now being pushed to the peripheries by the society.

The Darwin doctrines,and an assortment of human science created a crisis of faith and culture.In essence,God was now dead in the modern man's head.Nietsche observed that the death of God would lead to nihilism,where morality does not exist.In other words because,man would have found solace in philosophy and science,there would be no need to conform to the norms of the society - because there is no fear for God.Religion of course,is blamed for fostering a slave mentality.In doing so people would never revolt for their rights in fear of God.

So i guess when Nietsche said,'God is dead',he didn't mean it as one might think.

Voice of reason

Oh my God where do i start?Emile Zola - the godfather of investigative journalism!Germinal is perhaps one of the best novels i have ever come across.Centering on a French coal mining community in the 19th century, Zola mixes social commentary, and political philosophy to create a story that is stunning,brutal,heart-breaking and at times painful.Unlike the bloody diamond mines of Sierra Leone,where the poor fight amongst themselves for survival in a hash and uncompromising economy - Germinal expresses outrage at the exploitation of many by the few,but also shows humanity's capacity for compassion and hope.The reason,why the story is so captivating is that - it's not only a mere narration about mining,labour strikes or human suffering but it's about the strengths and weaknesses of human spirit.

This is a classic example of ,class struggle that led Karl Marx at one time to be a proponent of a communist ideology.Marx felt that in a capitalist society,the rich are parasites, and will remain so, as long they control the means of production.The poor would remain poor,with no resolution, even though it's within reach and view.But in the long run, a revolution would be necessary to bring about change.But change comes at a price!

Germinal begins with the arrival of Etienne Lantier,an unemployed railway worker,who is clever,uneducated but possessing a very dangerous temper.Seeking employment,he profits from the death of a workman to take his place.Shocked at the poor conditions the miners are subjected to Etienne stirs up the miners to go on strike.The strike goes on and on all through the winter,until the general starvation and anger eventually leads them to go on a rampage.Army officers are summoned to restore order and Etienne evades arrest by hiding underground,where his accomplice ,Catherine later dies.Only survivor,Etienne is hospitalised a few weeks before heading back to Paris.

Thus, in muchokomanian terms,a violent revolution is not necessariy the only way to bring about change because there are bound to be casulties.But can a dialogue with your oppressor bring change?The advent of the 1976 Soweto uprising against Bantu Education can be attributed to the freedom of present day South Africa.Nelson Mandela had several chances to come out of prison long ago but he denied the concession that the apartheid regime wanted him to follow.He was meant to give up politics and fighting for freedom.But he refused and kept telling his comrades to keep fighting,until freedom was attained.

Zola wrote Germinal,i suppose as a social ideal that would give birth to trade unions and other human rights groups

VICTIMS OF CONSPIRACY THEORIES

Are semites victims of their own creation or are they orphans of a misconception, regarding their utopian hereditary background?,I wonder.I felt compelled to use the word, utopian because,the arabic translation of the word semite,refers to something noble and majestic.And to put in muchokomanian terms, a custodian of the heavens, with a privilege to report to God - the father directly,with no intercessors in-between.In direct audience with God,i meant.

Was Alfred Dreyfus a victim of circumstances in France? or was his case the bonfire that led to the spread of anti-semitism?.If so what role did Edouard Drumont play or was he merely a decoy in the conspiracy theories that led to the extermination of so many innocent souls?

Now bear with me, as i dismantle conspiracies of doom.

Having defeated France in the war of 1870, Otto Von Bismarck's predominant aim in foreign policy was to isolate France, thus unabling it to wage a war for the recovery of the lost province of Alsace Lorraine.He did this in a typical Bismarckian manner by signing the Dreikaiserbund treaty.This treaty consisted of Germany,Austria-Hungary and Russia.Since France was now in abject isolation,there was so much polarisation against the government,especially in Paris.Bismarck's policies were so sophisticated that the peace treaty with France included ,a triumphal entry into Paris.The resentment of the bandits/militia in Paris grew to such an extent that they took over the entire council and implimented a social democratic ideology - Paris commune,which only lasted two months,before being murdered by the goverment troops.

This culmination of events led to a conspiracy against the jews(semites).France had lost national pride - a defeat against Prussia,the near Coup De tat - by the national guard(Paris commune), and general public disapproval.

Alfred Dreyfus,who was charged with treason for allegedly disposing military secrets to the German Embassy,would have obviously been convicted using circumstancial evidence.His prominent visits to a Prussian suburb and being of a jewish origin,made him the probable suspect.Some native French soldiers found him arrogant because,he never bothered to learn French.

Thank Goodness Emile Zola,an Italian who adopted French naturalisation wrote a very provocative article Jaccuse,directly addressed to the head of the government.The birth of investigative journalism,meant Dreyfus would survive another day in court after being exonerated.My gut-feeling is, Zola did not act unanymously in exposing the flawed case outline against Dreyfus by the Martial court prosecution.George Clemencue,who later became the German leader might have instigated the move to propel his own political agenda.That's just the muchokomanian way of thinking.

I would be naive,if i were to assume that anti-semitism started with the Dreyfus affair!If you open your bible,to those who believe,you will see that Jesus himself rebuked the Jews,after they vehemently rejected him.Historically,when christianity became the state religion of Rome,in the 4th century jews became objects of religious and political oppression.Christians believed that Jesus was brutally murdered, through the insistance of the jews.Even Emperor Constantine 1,instituted several laws to supress 'God's chosen people'.

You might wanna visit http://www.davidicke.com for some mind-boggling conspiracy theories.Word of warning though, only aspiring philosophers should do so at their own risk - you might never see the world the way everyone sees it again.

Rightiousness exalts a nation,but sin is a reproach to any given people

The social contract that led to the codification of present day laws,may be the direct reason why some urge,whether we have the autonomy to control our own lives.Or conversely,do society impose what is socially acceptable.

We did not all ratify the laws and norms of the society we live in but are bound to morally behave in a socially acceptable way.I read an article three days ago in the Daily mail,about Simon Cowell's extravagant 50th birthday bash.Of course,all those who attended - under my assumption, would have been on the guest list and Max Mosley the F1 boss was one of them.

The author of the article wrote:
Despite the fact that guests of honour included the host's 84-year-old mother and a local vicar, the party's entertainment included exotic topless dancers, naked women gyrating behind a big screen, and a guest enjoying a good whipping on stage from a dominatrix.

But the highlight of the show was the appearance on stage of a giant replica of female genitalia, joined by two giant sex toys. What a jolly jape to humiliate every woman in the audience.
I'm only surprised disgraced Formula One boss Max Mosley wasn't there doing a turn.

As Journos,how far can we then go in naming a man who won a liable case against a newspaper publisher before?To what extent will the author and publisher justify that this is a fair comment?Can there be a legal writ against the paper,if Max Mosley decides to sue for defamation.

Or are we continuing to walk on quick sand again?

HORRIE.COM

Sometimes life is not worth all the fuss,that is associated with it.But some things are worth the fuss associated with them.As i strayed on the net for a moment,i came across the revered Horrie site and the time spent on it was great whilst it lasted, to say the least.

The site is so customised to such an extend that,you are tempted to believe that it's a marketing or business site.The massive New York city boulevards and the landmark towering office and residential buildings give the site such a cosmetic background.This is what i would boldly refer to as,the Horrie show,nevermind that i later renamed it the Horror show,after failing to get any links to Horrie's favourite blogs.

The site is unequivocally infested with the author's professional background and left me wondering why the queen has not yet found the audacity to knight him - Sir Horrie to be precise.Essentially the man's cv is true testimony that he is no gatecrasher or novice to the career path we have all chosen.

However,i would probably have preferred to see links with snippets of the author's books.

All in all the site is something worth a visit.

The death of mainstream newspaper vending

As much as,i have so much sympathy for the sometimes vulnerable and destitute newspaper vendors - it is time to raise our eyebrows ,as journos and see where the world of new media is leading us to.Or can i blame the recent announcement,that The London Evening standard newspaper is gonna be free for all - to its acquisition by a former KGB Russian billionaire.Or is it due to the mediascape which has been deviously changing the course and dynamics of how we in the media used to conventionally do things.

Surely,the newspaper vendors will soon be out of sight and journos might be in for a rude awakening. The apparent unmitigated reason for disposing The London Evening standard newspaper,is due to a marketing gimmirck by the Russian. To boost circulation, so we are told. And the enormous production costs will apparently be paid for by the somehow ambitious advertisers.

In principle, all newspapers might follow suit ,but what are the probable repurcations to such a move, especially to journalists and vendors alike?If i were to be pragmatic then,i suppose that move will leave many of us out of mainstream media. The internet is being blamed for the shift in the way, media corporations operate but will relying on advertising revenue only be the panacea to this dilemma. I wonder.

Will have to wait and see where technology is driving our illustrious profession!But the future for vendors and journos look gloom and this somehow takes the gloss off our profession.That's just my view

WHEN I CEASE TO BREATHE

One day when i cease to breathe,take me away to a place i will see the sun nomore,a place of peace and tranquility: Such a rhetorical thought from an addicted born again christian.But hold on ,at least for now.I am just hoping against the hope that Minerva,the virgin roman God of wisdom will reveal,the secret of what lies ahead - life after death.Is there any existence beyond the phantom and imaginary 'Gods'?,that we have come to accept and embrace,yet there is nothing empirical to prove the mythical world beyond our sight.

Existence in this moment, is the only reality.Interestingly,reality contains everything that exists,but existence is only a subset of what is real.Therefore nothing unreal exists.Western philosophical idealists like Hegel,somehow approved the notion that,in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.And the earth was without form and full of darkness.In essence,i suppose this was derived from oral tradition,where religious beliefs were passed on from generation to generation - in a quest to understand the supernatural.

Typically Philosophical materialists believed that in the beginning there was matter - these assumptions were purely based on empirical and scientific evidence.Theocracy tells us that the world is merely 2009years after the death of christ,yet human endevour using scientific methods suggest that ,the world has been in existence for millions of years.If i may bring Hegel back into this phenomena,his arguments are concurrent with biblical suggestions that,all man are immortal - thus succumb to the death of the flesh and the spirit gets reunited with the creator.

Of course,Hegel's arguments did not go unchallenged.Even though Karl Marx enthused on emulating Hegel,he noted that there were fundamental differences in how things are seen pertaining to the world we live in.To clarify an event is(for Hegel no other than) to explain it in terms of logical necessity - the world comes to self consciousness and man rests in God.Whilst Marx felt compelled to radically assume the world revolved around the material state of things.Afterall Marx might have tried to develop his theories using propaganda by denouncing Hegel's earlier philosophical approach.

So does love make the world go round or does the world make love go round?Food for thought!

The mere reason,we keep visiting relics like the gravesites of our beloved one's,is a norm which is synonymous with the religious whitewash that pre-existed.Thus we will die clueless,of whether there is a heaven for the 'innocent' souls.

I suppose God lives in the sun - anyone who tries to go near it using scientific instruments will melt to death,anyone who looks direct into the sun will fall blind,and without the sun,the entire world will freeze to death.Interestingly,the moon itself does not have any light but the light it possesses, is a reflection from the sun.