Friday, 2 September 2011
Thursday, 4 August 2011
E17 Art Trail 2011
The theme of this year's trail is 'On your Marks' which relates to the fact that E17 is in the London Borough of Waltham Forest, one of the five boroughs connected to the 2012 London Olympics. My work looks at the contradictions between the olympian and modern life. Text below is a bit dull because I've just cut and pasted the blurb from the E17 Art Trail website but more details and pics to come soon. ..
Man Machine
Man MachineThe physical fluidity of the Olympic ideal is a sharp contrast to the sedentary and technology- dependent reality of contemporary life. Electronic immersion now begins earlier and increasingly dominates leisure as well as work time.
An unreflective market aggressively drives desire for products that are constantly updated in terms of form, but increasingly less in terms of actual technological substance. While assessed in the broad and usually positive terms of social and political impact, the potential negatives on the level of the individual, both physically and mentally, are largely absent from the discussion.
For this year's Art Trail, I have created an installation called Man Machine, which occupies the entire front room of my house. Featuring paintings, posters, skeletons, text and an interactive wall, it is a disturbing work that explores some of the more damaging dynamics of the contemporary mind-body-machine relationship.
Monday, 30 May 2011
Walthamstow... twinned with Gaza*
It is not often that my somewhat diverse worlds collide but last week they did.
I took part in a local exhibition with my arty community of Walthamstow which was great because it's the first time I've done any art for almost a year. Called The Long Conversation, this exhibition explored the relationships between poetry and art through painting, print, artist books and installation On the opening night I was amazed to discover that it also included work by a guest artist from Gaza - Majed Shala.
Majed Shala is a founding member of the Shababeek (Windows) Artist's Group in Gaza which has consistently tried to promote contemporary Gazan art and provide education and training for young Gazan artists. Shala's work has been exhibited internationally over the years but last week he was here for his first UK solo show at the Arab British Centre in London. This show was organised and coordinated by the Arts Canteen project headed by Aser El Saqqa who just happens to live in Walthamstow. As a consequence he arranged for two of Shala's works to feature in The Long Conversation as well.
Majed Shala uses Arabic text, cut up and arranged in vertical forms on canvases layered with texture and vibrant colour.These distinctive compositions suggest classical Arabic calligraphy while undermining the form at the same time. The arrangement of materials and shapes also creates a strong visual tension between abstraction and the figurative which are contained simultaneously within the image.
The show entitled Breathing the Air consisted of a series of paintings exhibited in the gallery space at the Arab British Centre (ABC) which was also a surprise. The last time I went to the ABC in 2004 it was an earnestly old fashioned organisation in a completely unmemorable office space. However, in the past few years things have definitely changed! With a small and young team of staff, ABC now focuses much more on culture and, with the help of Off Screen who share the building, it now houses an impressive collection of art by some of the Middle East's most interesting contemporary artists. It also has a great library ... but to be fair it always did.
* Twinning idea from Aser El Saqqa and Arts Canteen
A conversation with Majed Shala:
Wednesday 1 June, 6 – 8pm
Mangobajito Gallery
107 Kingsgate Rd
Inside the Kingsgate Community Centre
London NW6 2JH
Tel 020 73724144
I took part in a local exhibition with my arty community of Walthamstow which was great because it's the first time I've done any art for almost a year. Called The Long Conversation, this exhibition explored the relationships between poetry and art through painting, print, artist books and installation On the opening night I was amazed to discover that it also included work by a guest artist from Gaza - Majed Shala.
Majed Shala is a founding member of the Shababeek (Windows) Artist's Group in Gaza which has consistently tried to promote contemporary Gazan art and provide education and training for young Gazan artists. Shala's work has been exhibited internationally over the years but last week he was here for his first UK solo show at the Arab British Centre in London. This show was organised and coordinated by the Arts Canteen project headed by Aser El Saqqa who just happens to live in Walthamstow. As a consequence he arranged for two of Shala's works to feature in The Long Conversation as well.
Majed Shala uses Arabic text, cut up and arranged in vertical forms on canvases layered with texture and vibrant colour.These distinctive compositions suggest classical Arabic calligraphy while undermining the form at the same time. The arrangement of materials and shapes also creates a strong visual tension between abstraction and the figurative which are contained simultaneously within the image.
The show entitled Breathing the Air consisted of a series of paintings exhibited in the gallery space at the Arab British Centre (ABC) which was also a surprise. The last time I went to the ABC in 2004 it was an earnestly old fashioned organisation in a completely unmemorable office space. However, in the past few years things have definitely changed! With a small and young team of staff, ABC now focuses much more on culture and, with the help of Off Screen who share the building, it now houses an impressive collection of art by some of the Middle East's most interesting contemporary artists. It also has a great library ... but to be fair it always did.
* Twinning idea from Aser El Saqqa and Arts Canteen
A conversation with Majed Shala:
Wednesday 1 June, 6 – 8pm
Mangobajito Gallery
107 Kingsgate Rd
Inside the Kingsgate Community Centre
London NW6 2JH
Tel 020 73724144
Monday, 14 March 2011
Jumping on the Gaddafi Bandwagon...
There has been a lot of coverage recently of Saif al Islam al Gaddafi, one of the sons of the (allegedly) dope smoking, finger poking, gun toting, hair dyeing one man circus who claims not to be the president of Libya. What is it with the black hair dye and Arab leaders? Gaddafi, the late Saddam, Mubarak, Ben Ali ... they were all at it. There's probably a bit of facial nip and tuck as well, particularly if you happen to be a good friend of Silvio Berlusconi.
However, my interest here is in the Gaddafi Jnr. who has appeared regularly on both Libyan and international media since the Libyan leg of the regional revolutionary tour kicked off. In Libya he seems to be on TV doing very bad impersonations of his Dad, while his international appearances have consisted of indignation, regime justification and the high drama of embracing the inevitability of a political martyr's death on national soil.
Given Saif al Islam's connection to the UK there has been considerable hand wringing especially about his links to the London School of Economics, which has since disassociated itself from him and his generous donation. This is a little hypocritical given some of their other sources of funding but this is an issue for many UK universities that will no doubt worsen after huge spending cuts to higher education by the current UK government.
Despite all this coverage and analysis there has been almost no mention of Saif al Islam Gaddafi's former career as an artist. His association with The Desert is Not Silent, a touring exhibition of Libyan antiquities and contemporary art was occasionally mentioned but nobody had picked up on the fact that a substantial number of works in that exhibition were actually painted by Saif al Islam himself.
The Desert is Not Silent was most recently shown in Moscow in 2010 but was launched in London in 2002. It was a huge, champagne flowing affair in a specially constructed tent (sound familiar?) in Kensington packed with a bizarre and uneasy mix of politicians,.diplomats, academics, spooks, fixers, journalists and a few tokens from the art world.
The exhibition included the work of several contemporary Libyan artists and a collection of antiquities all of which were very interesting. However, because it was essentially Saif al Islam's project and he was present, it was his work which dominated. One of the rumours circulating the big tent was that he hadn't actually painted them himself. Fortunately, spouse knew the security man at the event so I was able to glide easily through the largely psychophantic (sic) crowd and get close enough for a question. I asked him about the technique and material used on one particular highly textured work and he gave me a very enthusiastic and plausible answer. So I believe he did paint them.... or at least the one I asked about!
If only he had stuck to the painting who knows where he could be now? Probably not at the Sharjah Biennial but possibly at Art Dubai. Incidentally, I found an article about him published in The National to coincide with last year's Moscow opening and it is a most informative read!
Unfortunately, The Desert is not Silent website just happens to be down for maintenance so for those of you who were wondering about the work of the Gaddafi 'Prince Formerly Known as Artist', here is a selection from the 2002 catalogue. It probably breaches copyright laws but I couldn't get hold of him to ask for permission and I'm guessing he's too busy to sue right now.
An article written about this exhibition at the time included parts of an interview with Saif al Islam and ends with the line:
The image above received more attention at the exhibition than any other which was not entirely fair because there were more interesting works. However, Gaddafi Senior looming over earthly proceedings from the sky is a guaranteed attention grabber. Painted in 2000, part of the catalogue text for this read:
Still Life
However, my interest here is in the Gaddafi Jnr. who has appeared regularly on both Libyan and international media since the Libyan leg of the regional revolutionary tour kicked off. In Libya he seems to be on TV doing very bad impersonations of his Dad, while his international appearances have consisted of indignation, regime justification and the high drama of embracing the inevitability of a political martyr's death on national soil.
Given Saif al Islam's connection to the UK there has been considerable hand wringing especially about his links to the London School of Economics, which has since disassociated itself from him and his generous donation. This is a little hypocritical given some of their other sources of funding but this is an issue for many UK universities that will no doubt worsen after huge spending cuts to higher education by the current UK government.
Despite all this coverage and analysis there has been almost no mention of Saif al Islam Gaddafi's former career as an artist. His association with The Desert is Not Silent, a touring exhibition of Libyan antiquities and contemporary art was occasionally mentioned but nobody had picked up on the fact that a substantial number of works in that exhibition were actually painted by Saif al Islam himself.
The Desert is Not Silent was most recently shown in Moscow in 2010 but was launched in London in 2002. It was a huge, champagne flowing affair in a specially constructed tent (sound familiar?) in Kensington packed with a bizarre and uneasy mix of politicians,.diplomats, academics, spooks, fixers, journalists and a few tokens from the art world.
The exhibition included the work of several contemporary Libyan artists and a collection of antiquities all of which were very interesting. However, because it was essentially Saif al Islam's project and he was present, it was his work which dominated. One of the rumours circulating the big tent was that he hadn't actually painted them himself. Fortunately, spouse knew the security man at the event so I was able to glide easily through the largely psychophantic (sic) crowd and get close enough for a question. I asked him about the technique and material used on one particular highly textured work and he gave me a very enthusiastic and plausible answer. So I believe he did paint them.... or at least the one I asked about!
If only he had stuck to the painting who knows where he could be now? Probably not at the Sharjah Biennial but possibly at Art Dubai. Incidentally, I found an article about him published in The National to coincide with last year's Moscow opening and it is a most informative read!
Unfortunately, The Desert is not Silent website just happens to be down for maintenance so for those of you who were wondering about the work of the Gaddafi 'Prince Formerly Known as Artist', here is a selection from the 2002 catalogue. It probably breaches copyright laws but I couldn't get hold of him to ask for permission and I'm guessing he's too busy to sue right now.
An article written about this exhibition at the time included parts of an interview with Saif al Islam and ends with the line:
So what of the future? Is there a Gaddafi succession planned? "No," he said. "Not me or anyone else. There will be no succession after my father. There will be a democracy."All going according to plan then?
The Challenge
The image above received more attention at the exhibition than any other which was not entirely fair because there were more interesting works. However, Gaddafi Senior looming over earthly proceedings from the sky is a guaranteed attention grabber. Painted in 2000, part of the catalogue text for this read:
Libya was as strong as a rock against which the arrogance of the neo-crusaders was broken. In this tragedy of the new world order the leader becomes the 'unique eagle'.Only two other images had any political theme or content. War (relating to Kosovo) and Intifada which could easily be a symbol of some more recent revolutions! Most other works reflected themes of bedouin culture, desert landscape, abstract colour and the emergence of art from original cave drawings and paintings. Medium was usually oil or mixed media on canvas.
Intifada
War
The Tent
Untitled
Untitled (Oil on Bedouin Fabric)
Untitled (Oil on Bedouin Fabric)
Selection from series The Desert is Not Silent
Still Life
Endless Colours
Bella Rosa
Monday, 28 February 2011
Happy New Year....
May seem a bit late to be wishing people a happy new year but given the winter I’ve had it is understandable. Besides, spring has always seemed a rather more logical time to celebrate the new year than January but I guess we can blame the Romans for that seasonal anomaly.
Anyway, the reason it only now feels like new year to me is that I have spent the past two months either in bed, at the osteopath, or painfully dragging my sorry ass round the house with much wailing, gnashing of teeth and general bemoanment (?) of my fate. To cut a long story short, the bonkers workload of one particular project finally took its toll and my back muscles decided they were mad as hell and weren't going to take it any more. Managed to extricate myself from said project at the end of last year and am only now beginning to emerge from the whole experience. Moral of the story: 1) Never do a project you don’t really want to do but feel obliged to do because you have been specifically requested to do it and 2) Never assume that the people you are asked to work with know what they are doing.
I have only had one other experience of a job so stressful and awful that it made me ill but that was over ten years ago and involved Palestinian negotiating positions so is a very different story! However, talking of the Middle East, I would like to extend a deep personal thank you to Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen and Libya for rescuing me from the cultural twilight of UK daytime TV. Despite revisiting a teenage obsession with Sci-Fi by reading the entire 4 volume Rama Cycle by Arthur C. Clarke, I still had a lot of time in bed with nothing but daytime TV for company so thank you also Al Jazeera, the BBC and Sky.
One other thing…. throughout this process I have discovered much more than I ever really wanted to know about the true nature of UK health care, both public and private. Observations suggest that the public sector is hopelessly addicted to drugs while the private sector secures numerous income streams by mercilessly exploiting the low fitness and body awareness levels of Gulfies with more money than sense.
So .. now planning to resume the projects that had to be temporarily abandoned and get fit again ... ... in the meantime here's a brief summary of what I've recently learned. .
Anyway, the reason it only now feels like new year to me is that I have spent the past two months either in bed, at the osteopath, or painfully dragging my sorry ass round the house with much wailing, gnashing of teeth and general bemoanment (?) of my fate. To cut a long story short, the bonkers workload of one particular project finally took its toll and my back muscles decided they were mad as hell and weren't going to take it any more. Managed to extricate myself from said project at the end of last year and am only now beginning to emerge from the whole experience. Moral of the story: 1) Never do a project you don’t really want to do but feel obliged to do because you have been specifically requested to do it and 2) Never assume that the people you are asked to work with know what they are doing.
I have only had one other experience of a job so stressful and awful that it made me ill but that was over ten years ago and involved Palestinian negotiating positions so is a very different story! However, talking of the Middle East, I would like to extend a deep personal thank you to Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen and Libya for rescuing me from the cultural twilight of UK daytime TV. Despite revisiting a teenage obsession with Sci-Fi by reading the entire 4 volume Rama Cycle by Arthur C. Clarke, I still had a lot of time in bed with nothing but daytime TV for company so thank you also Al Jazeera, the BBC and Sky.
One other thing…. throughout this process I have discovered much more than I ever really wanted to know about the true nature of UK health care, both public and private. Observations suggest that the public sector is hopelessly addicted to drugs while the private sector secures numerous income streams by mercilessly exploiting the low fitness and body awareness levels of Gulfies with more money than sense.
So .. now planning to resume the projects that had to be temporarily abandoned and get fit again ... ... in the meantime here's a brief summary of what I've recently learned. .
Wednesday, 13 October 2010
The Jerusalem Show 2010
It's terrible that I no longer have time to write on my own blog but what I have been doing instead is writing on other blogs...
I have just come back from a two week long trip to Jerusalem where I reviewed and documented the Jerusalem Show and it was great. It's the culmination of an archive project I've been working on for about 6 months. It starts with the history of the Al Ma'mal Foundation in the Old City of Jerusalem and concludes by being right up to the present with reviews and documentation of the 4th Jerusalem Show which finished on October10th.
It's an amazing thing especially given the fact that the situation in the city is so difficult. After the opening of the Show there was a visit to the gallery from Israeli security to check there was nothing too provocative on the walls. Another partner venue also had a visit from the police for the same reason and the visiting international artists got ten tons of shit from security at the airport on their way out.
The only 'democracy' in the region? What a joke. It's as brutal and reactionary as any other and even more paranoid. It's truly bizarre to see the situation on the ground and try and connect that with the absurdity of 'peace process' diplomacy. Most of what happens on the ground happens fast and is invisible to the outside which means that policy is always years behind reality... as well as being flaccid and irrelevant :) Thank god for small mercies .........
Click for link to The Jerusalem Show
I have just come back from a two week long trip to Jerusalem where I reviewed and documented the Jerusalem Show and it was great. It's the culmination of an archive project I've been working on for about 6 months. It starts with the history of the Al Ma'mal Foundation in the Old City of Jerusalem and concludes by being right up to the present with reviews and documentation of the 4th Jerusalem Show which finished on October10th.
It's an amazing thing especially given the fact that the situation in the city is so difficult. After the opening of the Show there was a visit to the gallery from Israeli security to check there was nothing too provocative on the walls. Another partner venue also had a visit from the police for the same reason and the visiting international artists got ten tons of shit from security at the airport on their way out.
The only 'democracy' in the region? What a joke. It's as brutal and reactionary as any other and even more paranoid. It's truly bizarre to see the situation on the ground and try and connect that with the absurdity of 'peace process' diplomacy. Most of what happens on the ground happens fast and is invisible to the outside which means that policy is always years behind reality... as well as being flaccid and irrelevant :) Thank god for small mercies .........
Click for link to The Jerusalem Show
Friday, 20 August 2010
Get out more...
Noticing things are really going quite weird recently. While I am aware of the obvious causes of frustration like a) being owed (lots of) money b) only one member of my family has visited or called me in the last 15 months c) I have to leave the country in order to see my friends and d) I appear to be having about 50% of the menopause symptoms listed on Wikipedia… the net impact of it all passes me by.
However, given the fact that I am owed (lots of) money and needed to generate some urgent cash flow, I agreed to copy edit a book on the perennially sexy subject of global terrorism which seems to provide a rather more circumspect and less political analysis than much of what has gone before. One point reiterated in relation to mindset was that rejectionism during youth is common but is usually followed by a 'mellowing' in subsequent years, particularly as the demands of work and family force individuals to negotiate with and accept their social environments. However, itinerant existences ranging across the Middle East, Asia and Europe not only mitigate against this shift but also erode any true sense of collective identity.
Hmmmm……
I find it deeply disturbing that an academic paper about terrorism is actually providing me with a useful framework for understanding the current state of my own life. In some cases all I have to do is provide one qualifying insertion and everything makes perfect sense:
"The prison experience [ie. months stuck in house working from home] cemented a worldview which a former leader of Islamic Jihad said, is 'not just politically "unhealthy" but it also distorts reality and leads to hasty and reckless decisions."
Never was there a better reason to get out more… which I duly did. Last night I went to an exhibition opening for the first time in months. It was a show of new work by Iraqi artist Rashad Salim called 'Soundbase'. I felt a bit like I’d been let out on a ‘care in the community’ programme at first but after a nice chat about setting fire to pianos, everything suddenly seemed perfectly normal again.
So the moral of the story is a) if you work at home don’t forget you also need a life other than occasional visits to the supermarket and b) employ terrorist tactics with people who owe you money (This is a joke... I think).
However, given the fact that I am owed (lots of) money and needed to generate some urgent cash flow, I agreed to copy edit a book on the perennially sexy subject of global terrorism which seems to provide a rather more circumspect and less political analysis than much of what has gone before. One point reiterated in relation to mindset was that rejectionism during youth is common but is usually followed by a 'mellowing' in subsequent years, particularly as the demands of work and family force individuals to negotiate with and accept their social environments. However, itinerant existences ranging across the Middle East, Asia and Europe not only mitigate against this shift but also erode any true sense of collective identity.
Hmmmm……
I find it deeply disturbing that an academic paper about terrorism is actually providing me with a useful framework for understanding the current state of my own life. In some cases all I have to do is provide one qualifying insertion and everything makes perfect sense:
"The prison experience [ie. months stuck in house working from home] cemented a worldview which a former leader of Islamic Jihad said, is 'not just politically "unhealthy" but it also distorts reality and leads to hasty and reckless decisions."
Never was there a better reason to get out more… which I duly did. Last night I went to an exhibition opening for the first time in months. It was a show of new work by Iraqi artist Rashad Salim called 'Soundbase'. I felt a bit like I’d been let out on a ‘care in the community’ programme at first but after a nice chat about setting fire to pianos, everything suddenly seemed perfectly normal again.
So the moral of the story is a) if you work at home don’t forget you also need a life other than occasional visits to the supermarket and b) employ terrorist tactics with people who owe you money (This is a joke... I think).
Friday, 30 July 2010
European Summer - Part II
Given the extravagance of last years 2-month road trip, our holidays this year were rather more modest. In fact, thanks to some good friends, it was almost free. Said friends have an organic smallholding in Corsica so we got a cheap flight and then spent a week in a tent, under some trees, next to a stream, halfway up a mountain.
All we did was go on short hikes where we found abandoned houses and trucks to play in and amazing Cork Oaks to climb. We laid on beaches, saw old mountain villages, cooled down in the chilly waters of the stream, basked under the solar shower and contemplated life from the composting toilet.
We learned some organic and permacultural stuff too, got some great tips on how to improve our composting and came back determined to start growing a few veg of our own in the back garden. We also learned a lot about Corsica: it's really not France - they speak a dialect of Italian and love the English!
At night we watched the moon, listened to the Skops owls and the sheep bells and ate great food grown almost exclusively on this piece of land:.
We also learned all about the wonderful world of WWOOF .........
WWOOF stand for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms - people who are interested in learning about permaculture, organic farming and in this case, Corsica, come and stay for free in return for working on the land and doing a few other things related to the business (The source of income here is from four cabins that are rented out in the summer).
Given that spouse and I were a) on holiday and b) there to catch up with said friends we were not assigned any hard labour We did volunteer to cook one evening and did a few other minor chores but most of the week was spent with our feet up, sipping the local wine and watching other people work.
The friends have been here for most of the past 10 years and I really wish that we had got round to seeing them here sooner because this could be their last year. They are planning to come back to the UK and the whole place is now up for sale. So if you want a new life half way up a mountain growing your own food let me know and I'll pass on your details!
Thursday, 29 July 2010
European Summer - Part I
A couple of weeks ago spouse was asked to speak at a conference in Germany. His flight was paid for so we concluded that we would get another flight and have a long weekend in Koln after the conference.
It was spouse's birthday that weekend and an old friend of ours, who lives in Berlin, also came up to Koln for the weekend. As usual when the three of us meet, a riotously drunken night was had by all. In fact spouse and I never get so completely inebriated as we do with this particular friend. I think there is a kind of mutual nihilistic chemistry that is only activated when we are in close physical proximity in European bars and spouse and I always seem to end the evening by dancing to whatever live music happens to be on. In this case it was a piano man in a hotel bar possibly playing 60s soul but could just as easily have been Barry Manilow or Rachmaninov. I really can't remember. A rapid exit followed.
The next day we got up very late and did very little except wander around town and eat. It is a long time since I have been in an historical environment like this (not counting London) and it was great. Koln Cathedral is a masterpiece of European Gothicity and its free - everyone has to pay to go into historic church buildings in London these days. What was also nice was taking short flights. I always forget just how close the rest of Europe is. The bizarre thing about the UK is that the continent of which it is a part seems to get less news coverage than others much further away. Can we still blame the empire for this?
There's always some historically referential graffiti....
It was spouse's birthday that weekend and an old friend of ours, who lives in Berlin, also came up to Koln for the weekend. As usual when the three of us meet, a riotously drunken night was had by all. In fact spouse and I never get so completely inebriated as we do with this particular friend. I think there is a kind of mutual nihilistic chemistry that is only activated when we are in close physical proximity in European bars and spouse and I always seem to end the evening by dancing to whatever live music happens to be on. In this case it was a piano man in a hotel bar possibly playing 60s soul but could just as easily have been Barry Manilow or Rachmaninov. I really can't remember. A rapid exit followed.
The next day we got up very late and did very little except wander around town and eat. It is a long time since I have been in an historical environment like this (not counting London) and it was great. Koln Cathedral is a masterpiece of European Gothicity and its free - everyone has to pay to go into historic church buildings in London these days. What was also nice was taking short flights. I always forget just how close the rest of Europe is. The bizarre thing about the UK is that the continent of which it is a part seems to get less news coverage than others much further away. Can we still blame the empire for this?
There's always some historically referential graffiti....
Monday, 28 June 2010
World Cup deficit
Here are some pics of the Canary Wharf towers which survived a month outside in a local nature reserve. Unusually there hasn't been much rain recently so they only had to cope with sunshine and curious children. Not sure what to do with them now but have had several suggestions including: setting fire to them outside Citigroup, selling them to the FT, donating them to Alan Sugar or just abandoning them on random street corners in London. I think I like the last idea best.
Went to see Jawad al Malhi's new show in London and even got paid to review it for Nafas Magazine which was an unexpected treat. This is first serious review I've done in a while and I really enjoyed it. Made me think about a lot of stuff I haven't thought about for a while.
The other Palestinian writing project is going well and a new job has just come in from my favourite emirate - Sharjah. The Sharjah Art Foundation is creating an ambitious website that serves both as information portal and archive resource. It will link all the people, artists and organisations who have been connected with the biennial and its associated projects and gatherings since it began in 1993. The plan is to launch later this year with the lowdown on the last two biennials, and then work backwards gradually adding archive material.
Apart from the unusually hot weather the other local news is of course the world cup. It is a patriotic duty to watch England's humiliation every four years,usually at the hands of a far superior German team. But what do they expect? They couldn't even beat Algeria! Perhaps each of the England players could donate their salaries to the nation as penance. That would clear a substantial chunk of the deficit.
Apart from the unusually hot weather the other local news is of course the world cup. It is a patriotic duty to watch England's humiliation every four years,usually at the hands of a far superior German team. But what do they expect? They couldn't even beat Algeria! Perhaps each of the England players could donate their salaries to the nation as penance. That would clear a substantial chunk of the deficit.
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