Christmas cracked?

I investigate whether the iconic British retailer M&S is set for a recovery this Christmas, in a feature written for the BBC news website.

Red Hot Roundhouse

Home to The Doors and Jimi Hendrix gigs in the 60s, the Camden Roundhouse has re-opened and is once again emerging as venue of choice for the world's biggest bands.

Read my live review of The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, which features in this week's Camden New Journal.

Colourful comedy but banal bands

It was a rather surreal moment on Tuesday night as I sat amongst a row of strangers all doing their best monster impressions. We had been encouraged to do so by the cast of Madman in the Courtyard at Theatro Technis.

Fortunately this was the only slightly embarrassing audience participation us stiff-upper-lip Brits had to endure in this Mugensha Theatre production, which is inspired by Franz Kafka’s The Knock At The Manor Gate, but set in modern Japan.

To make ends meet, a group of writers, based on real Japanese authors, decide to pawn themselves then act out their stories.

It’s easy to become immersed in the play as the audience sits at stage level surrounding the cast.

Each actor has been given freedom by the director to research and develop their character. There is much improvisation as the colourful cast work together with great synergy.

Black comedy transcends the play but there are elements of toilet humour with sound effects too.

Much of the play’s dialogue is in Japanese, although some English phrases are used. There is an English translation voiceover for critical dialogue and a narrator explains background Japanese traditions.

It is visual enough to ensure the plot can be followed through vivacious use of miming, puppetry, costume and props including words written on scrolls spelling out joke punch lines.

The play runs until 21 October although the level of improvisation and audience participation mean it could be worth seeing more than once

This review originally featured in the Camden New Journal.

Old Mac opens up

Former Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie says Janet Street-Porter would need to pay £4.7mn to join him in a night of passion and that if he had one “bucket of shit” left, he would pour it over fellow ex-Sun editor David Yelland. Read the Press Gazette article I wrote on his interview with Rob McGibbon.

New media, new establishment

Ranging from the Media Guardian 100 to Five's 100 Bitchiest TV Moments, top 100 lists are ubiquitous. But for the first time, a list is being created which grabbed my attention. Press Gazette are producing a ‘power list’ of people who are driving new developments in online journalism.

Here are a few of my own suggestions of people who have made real impact on web and digital journalism in recent months:

Kevin Anderson, the BBC's first online reporter based outside of the UK, is set to make waves in his new role as head of blogging and interaction at Guardian Unlimited. Ben Hammersley, his predecessor, has made a great impact to this point and is now working on projects to further develop the site. Kevin's role will be pivotal in keeping the Guardian a step ahead of fast encroaching competition.

Tim Faircliff, the head of Reuters.co.uk, heads up its European multimedia operations and mobile and interactive TV strategy. Recent updates to the website have improved navigation, aiming to increase the time consumers spend using Reuters' online services.

Peter Bale, recently appointed as editorial director of digital strategy for the Times, has helped drive the surge in Times Online users. Times Online's introduction of Times Online TV, enabling readers to view Reuters news footage, shows the team are preparing for Web 2.0.

Edward Roussel, the Telegraph's online editorial director's impact on the site has been clearly visible with recent improved navigation and increased user involvement. The launch of Telegraph PM and deal with ITN to produce video content show the Telegraph is taking internet journalism seriously.

Steve Hermann, editor of BBC News Interactive since last December, has been a key figure in giving greater emphasis to user-generated, 'most-read' and audio and video content on the BBC news website. He has helped drive prominence of the different ways of accessing news including RSS news feeds, mobiles, emails and podcasts.

Paul Clabburn, editor of interactive TV and broadband at the BBC has been a driving force behind the increased prominence of audio and video content on the news website.

Ben Perreau, editor of NME.COM, has transformed the site, giving greater eminence to audio and video content, transforming it into the UK's most visited magazine website.

Nick Gilbert, CEO, NewsNow.co.uk has developed the site into the UK's leading news aggregator and online news monitoring service.

Surely no list would be complete without mentioning Tim O'Reilly? Coining the phrase "Web 2.0" has helped inspire the next generation of internet-based services.

The air up there

For reasons unknown I found myself at the UK Air Guitar Championships last Friday. The evening was infact suprisingly fun. Here's my review of the event.

Riches to rags story

Destitute, graduating from university at 22, but with a good management degree in the bag, the M&S graduate scheme seemed like an obvious choice.

Most of my course mates were becoming investment bankers but that certainly didn't appeal to me.

Travel and writing were the only two things I really felt passionate about. I had enjoyed doing student journalism but at £3000 for a post grad course and living expenses to pay on top this wasn’t a viable option.

At least going into merchandising, I would get the chance to see a bit of the world, and hopefully write about it?

The graduate scheme had its benefits. The training was good, for those interested in merchandising anyway, and I could afford to live in London.

My manager left within my first year and for a month I was in charge of sourcing and planning M&S knickers for the country.

I was then moved to run the ladies nightwear department. The perks of the job included meeting glamourous lingerie models and free undies for my friends and family.

However, M&S suffered from terrible sales figures in 2004 and the working environment at head office left a lot to be desired.

I was offered a job with Tesco, a company whose clothing sale pattern was the antithesis of M&S at the time. I was told I had been strategically brought in to move Tesco from third to first place in the schoolwear market.

It was motivating to be working for a successful company but the achievements of Tesco seemed to come at the expense of many of the staff’s well being. The systems were archaic and within clothing, the staffing levels couldn’t keep up with the company’s phenomenal growth. Twelve hour days became the norm.

I did get a trip out to Bangladesh but sleepless nights filled with daunting excel spreadsheets meant I had no time to see anything of the country, let alone write about it.

I envied those who could stick with it. People spent longer in the office than they did at home or with their loved ones. I appreciate this is the case in many jobs but I found the overwhelming emphasis on number crunching mind numbing and soul destroying.

People seemed constantly stressed about the next season and there was never time to look back to celebrate the success that had been achieved.

Fortunately I was earning enough to be able to save up and plan my escape. Other people were not so lucky.

Dropping a mid thirties salary to start a career in a competitive low-paid industry was a big risk.
At 26, I started my post graduate diploma in journalism at Westminster University. It allowed me to develop journalistic writing skills from scratch and gain essential understanding of law and government. I also got the chance to get work experience with a number of companies - from the Camden New Journal to the BBC.

I’m now freelancing for the BBC news website and trying to do as much writing as I can in my spare time. I love the challenge of having the blank canvas of a Word document in front of me and knowing I have a deadline to create something I can be proud of.

I’m finally working in an industry that inspires me and I want to be a successful journalist more than anything I’ve ever desired.

If you have few commitments but are miserably sat at your office desk, gazing out of the window, dreaming of a career you think you might excel in, perhaps even enjoy, my advice would be to take the risk and make the move.

It may be the best decision you ever make.

Post 9/11 breakdown

Outside It’s a warm July evening in Covent Garden, but within the Tristan Bates Theatre the stage is set as a contemporary Manhattan apartment, complete with chrome Smeg fridge and white leather sofa, and the date is September 11 2001.

Covered in debris and ash, Matthew is standing face to face with his wife, after having escaped from the World Trade Centre. In this New Company production we witness his mental decline and marriage collapse following the attacks on New York.

Alex Zorbas and Kelli Kerslake give fervent performances as Matthew and Marta whose approaches to life are at antitheses. He is intellectual and doesn’t care for money. She is decadent, materialistic and doesn’t approve of over-thinking things.

There is a very black humour to Marta’s crass character. The first thing she says when she sees him following the attacks is, “Oh my God, we have no money.”
When she discovers that through insurance money they receive from the ordeal, they are saved from bankruptcy, she says “God does things for a reason” and toasts to the fact their apartment is saved.

Matthew develops a despondent demeanour and becomes disconsolate with Marta. He begins to confide in a TV cameraman, telling him that he feels small and undeserving. As Matthew becomes more aloof, Marta forms a relationship with their smooth lawyer.

The final scene is the strongest as an ostracised Matthew, near naked and sweat-covered under the dim yellow spotlight of the TV camera, confesses, “Everything I feared was true about my life was true.”

Undoubtedly, this play will leave you feeling shell-shocked and rather depressed. During each scene change, we witness sound effects of chatting and laughing, terminated by a harrowing crash, which I assume represents the first plane hitting the Twin Towers

New York playwright Francine Volpe’s script shows how a big event can create moments of epiphany. We learn how Matthew and Marta had been drifting apart and attending counselling before 9/11 but it is the event itself that triggers Matthew’s rapid mental deterioration.

Volpe suggests most World Trade Centre survivors acted in desperation rather than heroism. When the TV crew interview Matthew and ask if he witnessed any acts of bravery, he sharply retorts “No”. He says people ran over him and someone stepped on his neck.

As Volpe touches on how New Yorkers’ behaviour on public transport has changed since 9/11, we wonder if Matthew’s situation maybe representative of others since the events, but this idea, like many others could have been further developed.

If you are prepared for a thought-provoking if rather bleak evening, then I would recommend the play. However, there will no doubt be plenty more post-9/11 themed plays to come that may encompass more depth, questions and answers. If you’re prepared to wait for those, you may prefer the prospect of a pint outside in the sunshine in Covent Garden.

This review originally featured in the Camden New Journal, Islington Tribune and West End Extra.

Everybody loves the sunshine

Read my review of the anti-racism Rise music festival which was published in the print version of The Independent.

The week that rocked London

The first week of July last year was one that I and other Londoners will never forget. We experienced an emotional rollercoaster, travelling though the highs of Live 8 and the Olympic 2012 winning bid decision to the low of the largest number of fatalities from a bombing in the capital since the Second World War.

A sea of more than 200,000 fans formed in Hyde Park on 2 July to see stars such as U2, Madonna and Sir Elton John perform at Live 8.

The event’s objective was to put pressure on G8 Leaders, who were meeting at a summit at Gleneagles in Scotland that week, to tackle poverty in Africa. As the concert culminated with a finale of Paul McCartney singing the Beatles' Hey Jude, there was an overwhelming sense of comradeship in the crowd that a difference could be made.

On 6 July, Londoners waited patiently in a sunny Trafalgar Square for the announcement of the winning city of the 2012 Olympic bid. In the seconds before the announcement was made, you could hear a pin drop.

As it was revealed that London had beaten favourites Paris, balloons and confetti launched into the air and champagne corks popped. Red Arrow pilots took everyone by surprise in an unannounced fly-past leaving blue, red and white smoke trails. The jubilant celebrations were in stark contrast to the raindrops falling on disappointed Parisians outside their capital’s Hotel de Ville.

Tony Blair’s voice was quivering with emotion as he said it was a "momentous day for Londoners".

"It's not often in this job that you punch the air and do a little jig and embrace the person next to you," he said.

For Londoners, so used to delayed tube trains and disappointment, the news seemed too good to be true. We thought, could this be the start of a new golden era for the city?

The following morning, in the midst of rush hour, bombs exploded on three London underground trains within 50 seconds of each other. A fourth bomb exploded on a central London bus nearly an hour later.

Joy swiftly turned to sorrow and fear. Fifty-two innocent people and all four suicide bombers were killed plus 700 people were injured.

The London Olympic bid had emphasised the importance of multiculturalism. Ironically, within days of the explosions, it emerged the bombers were home-grown Muslim youths.

Much has changed for Londoners since 7 July. For me, commuting on the tube in the days following the bombings felt like being on a ghost train. Many Londoners walked or cycled rather than use public transport.

In the weeks following the bombings there was a huge increase in police presence on the tube. There appeared to be more police in than commuters at King’s Cross, where the bombers had entered the tube on that deadly date.

A second series of tube and bus explosions on 21 July, where the explosive charges failed to detonate, warned Londoners that 7 July was not a one-off.

Apprehensive stares at people’s bags became commonplace on the underground. Ethnic minorities of all creeds were victims of suspicious glances.

Since the bombings, police shootings of two innocent men, one of them fatally, in anti-terrorist operations, have damaged public confidence in the Met.

Police say they have prevented three major terrorist attacks since 7 July. But despite more than 12,000 leads being followed, not a single person has been convicted in connection with the attacks.

New anti-terrorism legislation, including doubling the time terrorism suspects can be held without charge to 28 days and criminalising incitement to commit a terrorist act, have been introduced by a government keen to be seen to be acting tough on terrorism. But measures have been diluted in the face of backlash from politicians and judges who believe people’s civil rights are threatened.

As the weather turned colder in the autumn, commuters returned to the tube. Walking through London’s busy streets this summer, it’s hard to imagine how the attacks brought the city to standstill.

Most people realise there could be another attack at any time, but haven’t stopped embracing all the city has to offer. The stiff upper lip British attitude ‘things must go on’ has been pervasive.

The sense of elation of winning the Olympics felt on 6 July has never returned. It’s just been down to business. An inquiry has heard London’s timetable to be ready for the games is "extremely tight". Legal wranglings are underway over the compulsory purchase orders of land for the Olympic site.

As for the influence Live 8 has had, Bob Geldof told the BBC last week, that G8 countries are "all off track" in meeting the commitments. The London bombings swiftly shifted the public’s attention from the cause, a sad and no doubt unintended ramification of the tragic events.

Job from hell

Read why i'll never be able to eat a courgette again, on Times Online.

The good life

Stress seems as much a part of modern life as budget airlines, mobile phones and the Da Vinci Code. But National Downshifting Week highlights how a growing number of city types are jacking it in for a simpler, quieter life. Find out more in my feature on the BBC news website.

Why is the Conservative Party blue?

David Cameron is urging people to "vote blue, go green". But why are the Tories blue, and Labour red?
I investigate for the BBC news website.

Timeline: Ground Zero redevelopment

Since the 11 September 2001 attacks on New York's World Trade Center there have been many disagreements over the design of the redevelopment of Ground Zero. Work finally began on the Freedom Tower last week.
Here I track the key developments over the last four years.

NEW BLOG: LIVE MUSIC REVIEWS

Interested in new bands breaking into the UK music scene?

I have set up a new blog of live music reviews I have written from gigs across London:

andydangerfieldmusic.blogspot.com

These reviews have also been featured in the Camden New Journal, West End Extra and Islington Tribune.

Camden winter shelters help homeless

As she let people into a Camden winter shelter, Linda Warwick was threatened by a man not on her list, on Sunday night.

The man shouted at her that he would blow off the door if she didn’t let him in to St Michael’s church hall. Linda, the coordinator of the Camden churches’ winter shelter scheme, handled the situation calmly, advising him to contact the Spectrum Day Centre to find out how to get on the scheme.

Cold weather shelters for the homeless have been set up by Camden churches since the start of January. Seven churches each provide free supper, a bed and breakfast, to homeless people, one night a week.

Only 13 people are allowed on the scheme at any one time, due to the limited space in churches. This compares to 350 rough sleepers who were contacted by outreach teams in Camden last year.

Linda says that the threat of violence is unusual. “We try to be firm, only allowing thirteen people. It’s sad when people queue and we can’t let them in,” she adds.

Imogen Black, pastoral assistant at St Michael’s Church, who helps run the Sunday night shelter, says, “It’s difficult as there are so many people we can’t take on.”

More than a dozen people volunteer to help there each week. “We’re well placed for volunteers. There’s a limit on what they can do,” she says.

Mandy Fernie, 42, and Marie Cafferkey, 55, who help at the Sunday shelter, eat, play scrabble and stay overnight with the homeless people.

“We just mix with the homeless like they were one of us. They’ve come from all backgrounds. We’ve had ex nurses and teachers. The shelter allows people to rest. It helps them to get their heads together and sort themselves out,” Marie says.

The homeless people have to leave the shelter by 9am. They will be put up in another church from 7.30 that evening. “People have to leave by nine as the churches are used for other purposes in the day,” says Imogen.

Linda says that each church only takes the homeless people for one day in a row as “volunteers are more able to commit to one day a week.”

As for what the homeless people can do in the day, the Spectrum Day Centre is open. However, people can only stay there for two hours at a time. The rest of their time is mainly spent on streets. Two people have started attending college. Appointments are also set up with the scheme’s advocate worker, Rory Welks, who gives guidance helping people look for jobs and accommodation.

Homeless agencies, such as the Spectrum Centre, put forward people to go on the scheme. People of any age, race, creed and sex are accepted. "We won't ask people what they believe in. One man on the scheme is a Muslim,” Imogen says.

One female was at the Sunday night shelter. The remainder were all 20 to 50-year-old males. Linda comments on why there are more homeless men than women, saying, “Men are less likely to ask for assistance, due to a sense of pride.”

Homeless people sign an agreement to say they will not indulge in drinking, drugs or anti-social behaviour, before entering the shelter. "We don't discriminate against people with drink and drugs problems. However, drink or drugs aren’t allowed in the churches. These good behaviour conditions make things safer for the homeless and volunteers,” Imogen says.

Drug users will be offered help. "We offer an experienced listening ear," Imogen adds. However, two people were kicked out of the shelter for anti social behaviour this month.

People are allowed on the scheme for a maximum of 28 days. However “in certain situations, if we need to give people extensions, we will,” says Linda.

When asked why the scheme only runs from January. "At Christmas, there are agencies that help people. We set up homeless shelters, between January and March, as homeless people have less help then,” Imogen explains.

Ken Scott had been homeless for two years before he was accepted onto last years winter shelter scheme. “I didn’t need to worry where my next meal was coming from. Because they provided the basics, I could focus on my life and sort out my priorities,” he says.

He was referred to permanent accommodation by contacts he made at the shelter. He now volunteers on the scheme, helping on the Saturday night shelter.

Ken, who has done an eight week key worker course, hopes to gain a full time job helping the homeless in the spring.

The scheme runs until 31 March.