Class Post 2: Farnham Still a Safe Town…despite Recent Crime

Farnham is a “historic market town” on the Western border between the counties of Surrey and Hampshire in England. With a population of nearly 40,000, this town is cherished for its historical landmarks and its scenic forests. It is a quaint town to visit although restless souls such as the thousands of students applying to the University of Creative Arts, formerly the Surrey Institute of Art and Design, might have trouble living there. And yet, even in a place reminiscent of 1950’s American suburbia, this town is not without crime.

On February 8, a house near UCA Farnham was burgled. Police told the Farnham Herald, a local daily newspaper, that the thief probably broke into the house between 9.30am and 8.30pm. A Dell laptop worth 10£ was stolen and the culprit damaged the entrance to the patio in the house.

Surprisingly though, students and staff from UCA Farnham do not appear to be phased by the event. According to an opinion poll carried out, half of the people interviewed said that the crime made little difference on the safety of the town:

“I don’t think things have particularly got worse here…We’ve been here for a year and a half and I don’t think things have gotten particularly worse here in that year and a half,” said Henry Kelly and Charlie Russell, age 22 and 24 respectively.

25 per cent of the interviewees felt that there was nothing unusual about the event despite the good reputation that the town has for security:

“Let’s not kid ourselves,” said student Chris Parkinson, 22 “At the end of the day, it’s a town where people live. There’s bad people and good people and just because it looks like Laura Ashley Ville, it doesn’t mean that there isn’t any violence or any crime…You have to expect it anywhere you live. I do like it here, it looks very peaceful or so it looks,”

Class Post 1: Future of Bishop's Meadow remains largely unknown

According to an article by the Wey River Freelance community, Bishop’s Meadow was to have been designated as a SANGS (Special Accessible Natural Green Space). Liberal Democrat MP Candidate for South-West Surrey Mike Simpson later expressed disapproval of this move on his website saying that it would only lead to crippling over-development in other areas:

Bishop’s Meadow, Farnham’s famous water meadows has been the subject of much controversy over the past year. The water meadows have been the source of irrigation canal leading to houses on West Street during Tudor times. During the Civil War, the meadows were used as a defence rampart. According to the Farnham Society, the land has been used to host county fairs, ice skating rinks, and travelling circus events. The land, owned by a local family for 80 years, was put up for sale in 2009.

“We urge the local authorities to firmly resist pressure to develop Bishop's Meadow for housing or commercial use. We further urge them not to use it as a SANGS site permitting damaging development elsewhere in Farnham.”

For a time, there was speculation that a Land Bank (a bank issuing long term loans on real estate in exchange for mortgages) had almost come close to the bidding price, causing much panic for the Bishop’s Meadow Trustees.

Their fears were later laid to rest when 32 of the 34 acres of land were bought by Sir Ray Tindle, media industrialist and owner of Farnham’s local newspaper and radio station.














Mr. Simpson later wrote in his blog:

“Don’t panic everyone – the sale of most of the Water Meadows has gone through today – but it has not gone to a developer. Instead the land has been sold to Sir Ray Tindle, the owner of the Farnham Herald (and many other newspapers).

“He will now sell on the land to the recently formed Bishop’s Meadow Trust as and when the Trust raises the funds. And Sir Ray will sell the land at the same price that he has paid for it today.”

The Trust continues to appeal for more donations in order to raise the exact amount of money needed to buy the land from Sir Tindle. Once the land is bought, the question remains with what the community plans to do with the land.

Finn Jackson, head of Transition Town Farnham, proposed that the water meadows could be the site of a community farm in a blog post:

“To me, it makes sense not to build on the land because it is on a flood plain,” he later said in an interview. “It would be more useful to have the land to produce something than to have it as a park.

“Producing something useful means that it could be a farm. The problem is that it does flood periodically.”

SEAL Scroll to be used to monitor progress in class

For the next few posts, I will be posting classwork from my Online Radio class. This announcement is to avoid any confusion over posts that are not germane to the arts, culture, and entertainment.

Tim Burton: The Man who will President

Tim Burton is to be the next president of the Cannes Film Festival, the AFP (Agence France-Presse) revealed on January 26.

According to the French press agency, the US director of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and Batman will be presiding over the prestigious film festival from May 12 to May 23. The director described his nomination as "a dream come true".

Festival president Gilles Jacob described Burton as a "magician", praising Burton for his cinematography.

"We hope his sweet madness and gothic humour will pervade the Croisette," he added, referring to the boulevard of Cannes by the sea.

Burton is famous for his Gothic and surreal films and animations, such as Sleepy Hollow and The Nightmare Before Christmas. However, Burton has also produced a children's film (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), a fantasy film (Big Fish), a biography (Ed Wood), two science fiction films (Planet of the Apes, Mars Attacks), and a musical (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street). His next project, an adaptation of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll will hit the silver screen in March and will star Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter.


External Links:

http://www.france24.com/en/20100126-tim-burton-head-2010-cannes-film-festival-jury

http://www.france24.com/fr/20100126-tim-burton-president-prochain-festival-cannes-cinema
(Original page in French)

http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/about.html

Christmas Package

The following video footage is the Christmas Shopping News Package, filmed in Boots Pharmacy and the Lion and Lamb Courtyard, and edited in the studio.

Members:

Shehan Jayasinghe

Katie Williamson

Holly Moore

Anna Verdon

Eric Lafif

Farewell, Oprah

Ladies and gentlemen and general Oprah fans, if you have any tissues or handkerchiefs, whip them out. After September 2011, The Oprah Winfrey Show will be no more.

Chat show presenter Oprah Winfrey has announced on the 20th that she would be taking her show off the air in September 2011. This event will mark the 25 years she has been a talk show presenter:

"Twenty-five years feels right in my bones, and it feels right in my spirit - it's the perfect number, the exact right time,

We are going to knock your socks off. And until that day in 2011 when it ends, I intend to soak up every meaningful, joyful moment with you," the 55-year-old host said to her live audience.

Oprah Winfrey began her TV show in 1986 and has since been broadcast in 145 countries. The talk show was founded to allow frank and open conversation between Oprah and however decided to come to the show, attracting guests such as President Barack Obama, Michael Jackson, Bob Hope, Tom Cruise, and many more.

Oprah is also famous for her Book Club, which has caused books by authors such as Janet Finch to become overnight best-sellers. She also has a radio station presented by author Dr. Maya Angelou. In addition, Oprah's support proved to be invaluable to President Obama during his election campaign.

So for anyone who felt inspired by Oprah, watched her show, or are simply sad to see her go off TV, cheer up. We've still got a ways to go.


Source:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8369689.stm

http://www.oprah.com/index

From the Hand of Donatello to a Physician

The V&A launches its Medieval & Renaissance galleries with some spectacular art works by the likes of Donatello. The most fantastic piece to make it into the gallery includes a "tondo the size of a plate" that was a gift for the doctor Giovanni Chellini da San Miniato who writes about it in the Ricordanze, his economic diary. Back in the Renaissance, well-to-do men would keep small journals about their finances (e.g. debits and credits, dowries, etc). Occasionally, the author would add a small commentary or two.

Chellini did the same on the 27th of August 1456, when to his surprise, the physician treated a celebrity. The celebrity in question was none other than Donatello, one of the most iconic visual artists of the Quattrocento (what the Italians called the 1400's or the Renaissance). As payment for the doctor's treatment of an unspecified illness, Donatello gave a tondo of the Virgin Mary, who is forced to bend her neck to avoid being out of the boundary of the sculpture. On either side, two angels stop her from going to the left or right.

The fact that the good doctor accepted a work of art as a form of payment comes to show that visual artists were held in greater esteem than in our modern times. In addition, Donatello created art that replaced beauty with emotional honesty, making him the first expressionist visual artist before even Van Gogh equated emotion with art.


Sources:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2009/nov/21/donatello-vanda-medieval-renaissance-galleries

http://www.answers.com/topic/tondo-art-1

http://www.lib-art.com/imgpaintingthumb/3/3/t9233-chellini-madonna-verso-donatello.jpg