Letter to Brighton & Hove City Council – Preston Park parking scheme

Letter to Parking Strategy Manager Charles Field; Environment Initiatives Team; Councillors Juliet McCaffery, Amy Kennedy, Kevin Allen, Pat Drake, Ken & Ann Norman

I write regarding the current consultation over the introduction of a parking scheme in the Preston Park Station area.

I feel resident’s parking is a good idea, who wouldn’t want a virtual guarantee of a space in their street?  However charging for the privilege seems unreasonable.

Reform not Rhetoric

This was written on behalf of Conservative MEPs in the European Parliament…

1. A Europe of Nation States
‘The Union needs to become more democratic, more transparent and more efficient… restoring tasks to Member States.’
The Laeken Declaration, Signed in 2001 by the EU Heads of Government.

Securitas 2006 – Britain’s Biggest Armed Robbery

Five men have been jailed for at least fifteen years for their part in Britain’s biggest ever robbery.

The 53 million pound heist happened back in February 2006 at the Securitas depot in Tonbridge.  The men were convicted of kidnap, robbery and firearms charges.

Is ‘30 Days of Night’ a smooth transition to celluloid?

Successful movie adaptations of novels are rare.  Directorial attempts to compete with a reader’s imagination more often than not fail for obvious reasons.  But what about adaptations of comics?

Before any movie goes into production it goes through the storyboarding process, and what better way to describe a comic than a series of unfolding events detailed in a storyboard.  So if a director followed each comic ‘panel’ exactly, would an adaptation to the big screen equal the original format?

In The Blink Of An Eye – Second Edition

The Conversation, The Unbearable Lightness of Being and The English Patient – all cut by Walter Murch, the latter for which he was awarded both an Oscar and a Bafta for ‘Best Editing’ in 1996.

I’m not sure what I was expecting from ‘In The Blink Of An Eye.’  I guess since I edit news footage on a daily basis and dabble as an amateur filmmaker, pearls of wisdom from an editor who’s been doing it for more than forty years.

This is a book best suited to the already practicing editor (even if your experience is limited to Moviemaker or iMovie). 

House of Lords – Second Stage of Reform

Since New Labour came to power in 1997, Tony Blair has pushed through massive changes to the House of Lords.  Changes which were never going to happen under a Conservative government, after all up until 1999 the vast majority of the House was Tory.

However, other than the hugely outdated ’hereditary peers’ who’ve been chopped down to just 92 members following the first stage of reform, the House of Lords was made up of extremely intelligent, worldly, experts in their field.  This ensured serious debate unlike the House of Commons where most of the time those present behave like animals.

Is ‘Enhanced 2-Tier Status’ the Answer for Local Government in West Sussex?

The ‘Local Government Bill’ is currently going through Parliament.  It aims to place more power at local level and give people a bigger say in how local services are run.  It also gives shire counties the opportunity to apply for Unitary status.

However, West Sussex County Council believe that amalgamating all the District Councils into one Unitary Authority would give central government even more control and would result in less democracy locally.

Another option is to submit a ‘pathfinder’ bid.  This would greatly enhance the structure of local government but due to time constraints (plans have to be submitted by 25th January) and the fact that it would take those involved away from their day jobs, a bid couldn’t be put together in time.

Instead the County Council have chosen to submit their own plan:  ‘The West Sussex Way.’

The Nightly News – Issue 1

As a broadcast journalist with a conscience ‘The Nightly News’ is refreshing.  Many of my colleagues sensationalise tragic events, not pausing for a second to think about the effect it could have on those involved.

Only last week I was reporting on a story about an old couple found dead in their home.  Two weeks passed before they were discovered, one of the bodies was in such a bad state of decomposition it’s head had come off.

The reader that afternoon sounded like she was getting off on the fact!

Compositing in Contemporary Cinema

In this essay we’ll look at the different types of compositing used in contemporary cinema. By the end, hopefully like myself you’ll have a reasonable understanding of how different compositing effects have helped achieve the impossible in films such as ‘Star Wars, Superman’ and ‘Forrest Gump.’