29/04/2015

Bristol sound - 25 years ago - Live on British Television: "Safe From Harm"



 Remember how we were all - ok some of us - obsessed with music videos and bands' appearances at that time? TV was something else back then, before the internet...

Shara Nelson and 3D in one of the first of Massive Attack Live appearance on the 'Dance Energy' Music Show on BBC2, in June 1991:


Massive Attack - 'Safe From Harm'
(Live - Dance Energy 1991)




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Bristol 2015 series for Rfi English - Part 3/ 3


My latest report for Rfi English:

http://www.english.rfi.fr/europe/20150429-bristol-Green-Party

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WEDNESDAY 29 APRIL 2015
Bristol European Green Capital 2015 series part 3/ 3

Bristol Cathedral
Bristol Cathedral
Klafubra/Wikimedia Commons



By Melissa Chemam


In the last part of a three-part series, RFI reports on the history of the Green Party in Bristol.






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BRISTOL ON RFI ENGLISH - PART 2



 
TUESDAY 28 APRIL 2015
Bristol European Green Capital 2015 series part 2/ 3
Bristol Pounds £B5 and £B10 notes, showing St Pauls Carnival and Hannah More.
Bristol Pounds £B5 and £B10 notes, showing St Pauls Carnival and Hannah More.
Trevj/Wikimedia Commons
By Melissa Chemam
The British city of Bristol is currently the European Green Capital. In the second of a three part series, RFI reports on the Bristol Pound, an alternative currency being used in the city.
TAGS : CURRENCIES - BRITAIN - UNITED KINGDOM - ECONOMY - GREEN
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BRISTOL FOR RFI ENGLISH - First report


 Hello everyone,

here is my first report about Bristol 2015 for RFI English:
http://www.english.rfi.fr/environment/20150427-bristol-european-green-capital-2015-series-part-1-3

Hope you'll enjoy it!


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MONDAY 27 APRIL 2015
Bristol European Green Capital 2015 series part 1/ 3

 
By Melissa Chemam


The British city of Bristol has been named the European Green Capital 2015. In the first of a three-part series, RFI reports on the city's green credentials.
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"Tea & Sangria" remains on London screen



Lovely pan-European romantic comedy still to be seen in London at the Empire cinema in Walthamstow:


http://www.empirecinemas.co.uk/synopsis/tea__sangria/f4440/

FILM SYNOPSIS

15

Tea & Sangria

110 mins (excl Trailers, Advertisements)


Tea & Sangria 15 (S)



Love-struck Londoner David drops everything and makes for Madrid to be with his Spanish sweetheart Marisa, but quickly finds himself dumped, dazed and confused in a land and a language very different from his own. With the help of some lively and outrageous locals, David immerses himself in Latin life and discovers (with a few complications along the way) that in order to love a Spanish woman you first have to learn to love Spain. A charming romp through romance, rejection and culture shock, this romantic comedy plays like a cinematic love letter to Madrid.


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Watch the trailer here:




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Here's a piece the Watershed in Birstol put up about Peter's film-making history:
http://www.watershed.co.uk/…/bristol-filmmaker-returns-to-w…
We are delighted to welcome ex-Bristol filmmaker Peter Domankiewicz back to Watershed with his new feature Tea & Sangria on Tue 28 April. Multi-talented...
WATERSHED.CO.UK

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28/04/2015

"Migration is not a Crime" - Hope Not Hate campaign



See more here:

http://www.hopenothate.org.uk/

Juste sharing this Facebook campaigning illustration:





HOPE not hate structure

HOPE not hate seeks to challenge and defeat the politics of hate and extremism within local communities, building resilience against the politics of hate and fear, at a national and grassroots level. In order to maximise our contribution to the debate and comply with all UK legislation, HOPE not hate operates via two separate and distinct legal entities, through which we deliver a range of activities and services. 2014 marks HOPE not hate’s 10th birthday as a national campaign.
HOPE not hate Educational Ltd (HNH Ed) is our charitable wing, which is the main vehicle for the development and execution of our community action & engagement plans, training and educational services. HNH Ed seeks to equip local communities and groups to defeat hate at a grassroots level. We also seek to influence the national debate by providing briefings and training to public policy figures as well as statutory and non-statutory bodies. HNH Ed enables us to make direct interventions during and after challenging events. HNH Ed also publishes regular pamphlets, toolkits, informational literature and analysis about extremists and the politics of hate both in the UK and abroad. HNH Ed was founded in 1992.
HOPE not hate Ltd (HNH) was originally established as Searchlight Information Services in 1986. HNH’s main role is to investigate, expose and campaign against the activities of the far right and other promoters of hate in Britain and Internationally. HNH is also the delivery vehicle of the award winning HOPE not hate campaign which has been the driving force in defeating the BNP in communities up and down the country. HNH is a registered third party for the purposes of election campaigning and is not aligned to any political party.
HOPE not hate Educational Ltd is registered with Companies House (2738367) and the Charity Commission (1013880)
HOPE not hate Ltd is also registered Companies House (8188502) as well as with the Electoral Commission.

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And I add: I'll keep on "Daydreaming":





27/04/2015

Today's discussion in Bristol: "Why we can't afford the rich"


Today's talk:


GESF - Why we can't afford the rich



27 April 2015, 4.00 PM
Andrew Sayer
4.10, 35 Berkeley Square - Bristol
Hosted by: Globalisation, Education & Social Futures
Time: 4 - 5:30pm
 
About the book:
As inequalities widen and the effects of austerity deepen, in many countries the wealth of the rich has soared. Why we can’t afford the rich exposes the unjust and dysfunctional mechanisms that allow the top 1% to siphon off wealth produced by others, through the control of property and money. Leading social scientist Andrew Sayer shows how over the last three decades the rich worldwide have increased their ability to hide their wealth, create indebtedness and expand their political influence. Written accessibly for a wide readership, this important book uses simple distinctions to burst the myth of the rich as specially talented wealth creators. Furthermore, as the risk of runaway climate change grows, it shows how the rich are threatening the planet by banking on unsustainable growth. The author forcefully argues that the crises of economy and climate can only be resolved by radical change to make economies sustainable, fair and conducive to well-being for all.
 
Biography:
Andrew Sayer is Professor of Social Theory and Political Economy at Lancaster University, UK. He has a long-standing interest in moral economy and has written several books on political economy, inequality, class, and philosophy and ethics, including Radical Political Economy: A Critique (Blackwell, 1995); The Moral Significance of Class (2005) and Why Things Matter to People: Social Science, Values and Ethical Life (2011) (both Cambridge University Press).
 
Copies of the book will be available to purchase from PolicyPress before and after the talk.

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"Unfinished Sympathy"



Nothing to add to this wonderful track for now...





25/04/2015

This Saturday's programme: Bristol Anarchist Bookfair




7th Bristol Anarchist Bookfair 






Full Bookfair info and the FULL PROGRAMME is here - http://www.bristolanarchistbookfair.org/2015-bookfair/


The Bookfair will include 2 halls filled with stalls – from local campaigns & groups to national anarchist distros & publishers; plenty of workshops & meetings to discuss & debate the key issues; the Radical History Zone just down the road at Hydra Bookshop; activities in Trinity’s outdoor permaculture garden & green space; an outdoor Soap-Box for Ranters; a quality vegan cafe; an indoor kids space; and a few surprises too!

Seven years on from our first Bookfair, 7 years on from the start of the global financial meltdown, after 7 years of austerity cuts and the rich getting richer, we are still here kicking and fighting back, providing alternatives and demanding a new world based on co-operation, total equality, and freedom. A new world we carry in our hearts and dreams.

We’ll bring you Bristol’s largest, free, open to the public, political event in the month before the election. As just a small part of a Britain-wide anarchist intervention into the key debates surrounding the election, we may well be a part of the largest electoral block – the Non-Voters. Because just as you know, whoever the public votes for – the government always gets in.





The British political system doesn’t just need tweeking, a bit of devolution here or PR there, or a new face in No.10 or City Hall. It is fundamentally flawed, it doesn’t work, and whichever bosses party runs it they will never act in the interests of the majority. It doesn’t need an overhaul, we need systemic change. All over the world, resistance and experimental alternatives to this rigged, biased & broken system are well under way. From everyday resistance enacted in the home, workplace or school, to more spectacular forms of direct action. From a thousand spanners in the works to a million spades in the earth, people are occupying, creating and organising new ways of living without hierarchy, domination and capitalism.

The Bookfair is a space for radicals, independent thinkers and those pissed of with & alienated from the political system, to come together and think outside the box. To discuss, network, laugh, cry and share the ideas, inspirations and strategies to resist and thrive. Leaders, politicians and representatives are never going to create the future we want. A better world is in our hearts – but is only through considered self-organised action, together, that we can make it a reality.



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Full Programme – as of 15th April is now printed x 1000 copies! It’s a black&white affair, sized A3 then double folded to A5. There will be a few copies atHydra Bookshop & Kebele social centre to browse through, with the rest handed out on the day. Right here right now you can download the full programme in 2 separate parts:
1. download the centrespread showing all the meetings as a pdf BF15_All meetings timetable and then…. 
2. download the outer pages as a pdf (4mb) in A3 format BF15prog_outerpages_A3format
or as a pdf (4mb) in A5 format BF15prog_outerpages_A5format and enjoy.
The Radical History Zone at Hydra Bookshop is a 5minutes walk down Old Market. It is co-ordinated by BRHG – the full RHZ  is here or download as a pdf RHZ_full info
GovtgetsinFBPublicity – we’ve now produced and printed our Bookfair poster, flyer, and we’ve been given some stickers too. You can see all publicity here. Feel free to download/print images, and share them with your friends & comrades on social media and in real life. If you want to pick up some copies from us, drop in at one of our meetings, or send us an email. Cheers!
Keb_20logo_textCafe at the Bookfair – the vegan cafe will be run once again byKebele Cafe & friends, on the ground floor at Trinity. There will be hot/cold drinks, snacks & cake available from 11am at latest, and main meals from about 1pm, all at very affordable prices. Proceeds from the Cafe help fund the Bookfair, and also a new roof at Kebele. Hydra Bookshop also sells coffee & cake at the Radical History Zone.


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23/04/2015

Bristol, beauties and doubts


 Beautiful days. 




Sunny and soft light, lovely life. 




In a peaceful, green, adorable city full of lovely people...



Clifton, near Suspension Bridge 


Just trying to BE, really.



Wall in the city Harbourside area




And yet so much doubt...
Let it be, bee.


View on Bristol's outskirts from the sky...


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22/04/2015

"The Right Path"




Hi Capricorn,

You've been heading down the home stretch for weeks, now look for a big sign welcoming you to your destination -- it could be a social invitation, a pay raise or merely a smile that indicates that you've broken through someone's tough shell. 

You're absolutely on the right path, and the crowds are cheering you on -- listen a bit harder, and you can hear them. 

Support is all around you -- it's payback for all the times you've been there for the people you love...

Karma is on your side today.


21/04/2015

Armenia / Turkey on my mind - 1915 / 2015



Just sharing a few meetings, events, and this report from my fantastic friend Achren Verdian:


Diffusion sur FRANCE 24 du 18 au 25 avril.
Achren Verdian & Johan Bodin
Journalistes FRANCE 24


Jours et horaires de diffusion:
- 18/04: 22h10
- 19/04: 4h10, 12h10, 18h10
- 20/04: 2h40, 12h40
- 21/04: 16h45
- 23/04: 2h15, 10h10
- 24/04: 11h15
- 25/04: 14h10

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Hrant Dink Foundation
Panel: 
DANGEROUS SPEECH/HATE SPEECH & MEDIA PLURALISM

 Date: Tuesday, April 28, 2015
from 18.30 to 20.30

Venue: Havak Hall, Hrant Dink Foundation Anarad Hığutyun Building
 
Hrant Dink Foundation invites you to the panel entitled “Dangerous Speech/Hate Speech & Media Pluralism” on Tuesday, April 28, 2015.

Susan Benesch from Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, and Dr. Elda Brogi who is the Scientific Coordinator of the European University Institute’s Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom will talk on dangerous speech, hate speech, media pluralism, and the challenges faced by their institutions/projects. Prof. Dr. Fuat Keyman from Sabancı University and Istanbul Policy Center will moderate the panel.

 
The Hrant Dink Foundation is carrying out the Media Watch on Hate Speech project since 2009 with the aim of combating racist and discriminatory discourse in the media through awareness-raising activities. Until now, our activities have consisted of organizing international conferences and workshops with scholars and journalists; monitoring the printed press in order to expose hate speech and discriminatory discourse in media through periodical reports, the project website www.nefretsoylemi.org, and our social media accounts; and sharing our works with NGOs, universities, newspaper editors, journalists, and various other institutions.

The decision to initiate some fundamental steps towards establishing a Hate Speech Laboratory/Research Center under the roof of the Hrant Dink Foundation was taken in January 2014. Sponsored by the Open Society Foundation and the Istanbul Policy Center (Sabancı University-Stiftung Mercator Initiative), the Hate Speech Laboratory/Research Center Project began in September 2014 in order to design the structure of the laboratory, and develop possible projects that can be run in and through such a laboratory/research center. Through the ideas and suggestions that will be collected during the three roundtable meetings we will hold until June 2015, the structure of the laboratory will be designed, and an action plan will be prepared to initiate and coordinate its establishment in the near future.

Elda Brogi and Susan Benesch will be in Istanbul with us in April 2015 in order to contribute to the establishment of the Hate Speech Laboratory/Research Center. The panel will be held on Tuesday, April 28, 2015 from 18.30 to 20.30 at the Hrant Dink Foundation Anarad Hığutyun Building’s Havak Hall.

We would be honored to have your presence.

Simultaneous translation to Turkish will be provided.

ELDA BROGI is the Scientific Coordinator of European University Institute's Center for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom. Elda’s main interests span Constitutional, European and Media law. She teaches Information and Communication Law at the University of Florence, and previously taught at the University of Macerata. Elda has worked as a Parliamentary Assistant at the European and Italian Parliaments, and as research fellow at the Universities of Florence (Media Integration and Communication Centre) and Perugia. She has participated in many European and Italian research projects covering her main topics of interest. At the University of Florence, she was the coordinator of the project "Support to the reform of Serbian Media Legislation towards EU standards and strengthening of legal and technical skills of media professionals” (CARDS) and recently she has been working in the Mediadem project at the Law Department of the EUI.
She holds a degree in Law (University of Florence), a Ph.D. in Public Law and Constitutional Law (University La Sapienza, Rome) and is an Italian qualified lawyer. She is a member of the Committee of Experts on Protection of Journalism and Safety of Journalists at the Council of Europe.

SUSAN BENESCH founded the Dangerous Speech Project, to find ways of diminishing inflammatory speech – and its capacity to inspire violence - while protecting freedom of expression. She has developed a framework to estimate the dangerousness of speech in context, and has tested ways to help audiences to resist dangerous speech, especially in Kenya. While at Berkman, she carries out a new project to test the effectiveness of anti-hatred efforts online. Her relevant work is described atvoicesthatpoison.wordpress.com anddangerousspeech.org.
Susan teaches international human rights at American University's School of International Service. She also currently serves as the Everett Fellow in Genocide Prevention at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. In the past she has worked at the Center for Justice and Accountability, Amnesty International, Human Rights First, and at the war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
Before studying law at Yale, Susan was chief staff writer for the Miami Herald in Haiti, and Latin America correspondent for the St. Petersburg Times. She covered wars in El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Guatemala, invasions in Panama and Haiti, and also wrote for a variety of magazines and websites.
 


Paris - Bristol: My interview with Tricky




Tricky - Reportage lors de son dernier concert à Paris







Extrait de mon Reportage avec le Kid de Bristol, Tricky, lors de son dernier concert à Paris, au Bataclan, fin février 2015 (voxpop + Itw + Voxpop) - écoutez ici : 


https://soundcloud.com/melissa-chemam/tricky-extrait-de-reportage-lors-de-son-dernier-concert-a-paris




Photos: Melissa Chemam



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Mon article :


[INTERVIEW] L’ENFANT DE BRISTOL TRICKY RETROUVE PARIS AVANT DE S’ENVOLER POUR BERLIN

23 février 2015 Par
Melissa Chemam

Tricky était de retour à Paris vendredi, au Bataclan, dans le cadre de la tournée européenne suivant la sortie de son album « Adrian Thaws », de son vrai nom. Un album de la maturité pour l’artiste qui se dit plus serein, est revenu sur les traces de ses jeunes années à Bristol et va notamment enregistrer avec DJ Milo qu’il a connu à la fin des années 1990 avec le Wild Bunch devenu Massive Attack. Rencontre.


Il se dit plus épanoui, apaisé, et plus libre aussi, car il est à la tête de son propre label, False Idols, basé à Londres, comme lui. Après avoir vécu des années à Paris, puis à New York, Tricky est rentré en Angleterre et cela lui va bien.
Le « Tricky Kid » de Bristol, qui a la réputation de détester les interviews, a mis en pratique sa nouvelle sagesse, semble-t-il. Rendez-vous au bataclan, Paris 11ème, et la star s’installe à la terrasse du café malgré la pluie et le trafic d’enfer. Il sort une cigarette, commande du miel à mettre dans son café et sympathise avec un fan qui lui montre les tatouages qu’il a sur son bras en hommage : « Tricky = Adrian Thaws », et un peu plus loin, « Robert Del Naja » aka 3D et « Massive Attack ». Pourtant, si le groupe devenu légendaire de Bristol a lancé Tricky avec une collaboration inoubliable sur leur premier album ‘Blue Lines’, Tricky n’aime pas parler de ses anciens meilleurs amis. « Quand je vais à Bristol, je retourne dans mon quartier, Knowle West (au sud-est de Bristol, ndlr), mais je ne vois pas Massive Attack, non ». Le Kid turbulent de l’une des villes les plus créatives d’Angleterre a pourtant longtemps été colocataire avec 3D et a même enregistré deux morceaux avec lui à Paris, en 2013, dont les fans attendent avec impatience de savoir lequel des deux va le sortir sur son prochain album…
Bête de scène

Enthousiaste, souriant, détendu, Tricky se prête au jeu de l’interview et reconnaît que ce dernier album lui a permis de revenir sur lui-même. D’ailleurs il porte son nom, Adrian Thaws, comme son premier disque portait celui de sa mère, Maxinquaye, qu’il a perdu tout jeune enfant.
« J’ai fait un tour complet. A mes débuts, j’avais une totale liberté, et mon premier album portait le nom de ma mère, Maxinquaye. Elle a donné naissance à Adrian Thaws, et voilà je suis là de nouveau. Et je me sens mieux. J’ai mon propre label. Sur mon premier disque j’ai travaillé avec Island Records et Chris Blackwell et dès le début ils me laissaient faire ce que je voulais, ce n’était pas un commerce. Mais quand je l’ai quitté les choses ont changé ; je dois gérer des gens qui veulent vendre des disques et ça ce n’est pas mon travail, moi mon travail est de faire un album. Aujourd’hui, je pense qu’avec mon propre label, je n’ai plus de pression. Si je suis diffusé à la radio, tant mieux, mais sinon, je fais quand même ce que je veux ».
Même s’il a la réputation d’être difficile sur scène, il dit toujours adorer les tournées. Il aime produire ses albums rapidement – petite pique aux meilleurs ennemis de Massive Attack qui ont pris jusqu’à 6 ans de travail entre deux albums ou encore Portishead, également de Bristol, qui n’ont produit que trois disques en 25 ans.
« La scène pour moi c’est comme un match de boxe, par exemple quand un type dans le public me demande ’plus !’ ou ‘encore !’, ça me donne envie de ne rien faire ; si on me demande de faire quelque chose, cela me donne envie de faire le contraire. Je déteste qu’on me dise ce que je dois faire. Donc la scène est un défi, elle demande de la discipline. Etre en tournée, c’est un test, et c’est bien, comme on doit voyager dans plusieurs villes, il faut apprendre à y survivre ; et cela vous fait voir de nombreuses choses, des cultures différentes, et c’est différent de voir comme les gens sont différents, c’est très intéressant ».
Paris, « second home »

Paris c’est aussi un choix particulier pour achever cette tournée, car l’artiste y a été en résidence au 104 et y a vécu pendant plus de 5 ans.
« Paris, c’est un deuxième chez moi. Je suis en tournée depuis 4 semaines, partout, je me suis senti étranger, mais ici c’est comme chez moi. J’ai vécu ici, si je cherche une chose, je sais où la trouver. Ce que j’aime ? C’est un peu chaotique, et il y a toutes ces cultures différentes, arabes, africaines, et on peut aller d’un quartier à un autre et tout change. J’ai vécu dans plusieurs quartiers mais j’ai adoré la rue La Chapelle : avec son mélange de cultures, et cette vibration. Le 19ème est aussi un chouette quartier, j’y ai rencontré plein de jeunes du quartier, où toutes ces cultures fusionnent. Bien sûr, la vie noctambule parisienne est devenue très ennuyeuse mais pour rester s’asseoir, prendre un café, regarder les gens, j’adore observer les gens, alors Paris est le lieu idéal ».
A Bristol en tout cas, Tricky est loin d’être oublié. Les plus jeunes musiciens comme Kahn et son collectif de DJs Young Echo disent avoir grandi en l’écoutant, tout comme Massive Attack, et ces derniers n’ont que des mots tendres pour parler de leur ancien compagnon de studio et de bons souvenirs.
Le Bataclan est pour ses fans une petite salle qui donne l’occasion de voir Tricky dans l’intimité. La salle s’est en tout cas vite remplie dès 19h30, et des fidèles de trois générations espéraient voir le musicien au mieux de sa forme. Certes, il n’est pas venu à Paris depuis longtemps mais a aussi la réputation de ne pas toujours beaucoup donner sur scène. Enfin, cela dépend des concerts, disent certains. Mais ce vendredi soir, ils n’ont pas été déçus.

Les fans ne sont donc pas déçus, loin de là, même si le concert s’est en grande partie déroulé… dans le noir. Un jeu d’ombres et de lumières qui ressemble parfaitement à Tricky !

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