A Land Far, Far Away

So I finally return after two weeks flitting between Europe and the UK. I'd love to say on business, but I was on a bit of a jolly, really.

I spent a week in the Algarve, in Portugal, with my best friends on our big holiday after final exams. We had a great trip, despite it being in the middle of absolutely nowhere.

Towards the end of the week, we went to a small fishing village called Guia, famed as the 'founder' of piri-piri chicken. We stopped outside a small art gallery, which had some jewellery in the window. Bearing in mind Isobel was there, we HAD to go and have a look. Cheers love.

This art gallery was owned by a man called David Haines, who was Welsh. He and his wife moved to Guia 15 years ago, where they decided to open something they both loved to do - to paint and to create.

I took a look at the beautiful art whilst they looked at beads and bracelets, and an hour later, we left. Why did it take that long?

Because David was a very inspirational sort of bloke.

Our chat started very slowly, but by the end, we'd gone round the world in chat. His son has moved to China for a few months, and has been taking holidays trekking through New Zealand. He has travelled himself, and has told us he should go round the world whilst we can.

It's quite an incredible life, and thoughts started ticking that actually, the world IS so small these days, and everything is available to you on a plane. In 36 hours, I could be in Australia, via Germany, Russia and Singapore. The return journey could take in Argentina, the US and France. It's so easy to travel, so why don't we?!

Price is obviously he main factor. Time is another. But desire is certainly not one - I'm sure everyone has somewhere in the world they would adore to visit. I personally want to travel to Berlin, and travel to every state in the US, likewise visit China and Japan. But that's just me.

Every country is so, so different to one another. Compare the UK to the USA - supposedly two of the most similar countries in the world. Visit them both, and then tell me the same...

So go visit. Go travel. Go see the world whilst you can. If David can inspire me, he can inspire you. Why not go visit him in Guia?!

Tell him the five nutters who hate Cliff Richard sent you.

Taken from General Musings of an Idiot: http://www.gmoai.com

News of the World Scandal: Battleaxe Brooks Saves Her Ego

After 168 years, this Sunday will see the last edition of the News of the World come through the printing press, and end up in your newsagent. I won't bore you with the details; you're bound to have seen it plastered all over every news and media outlet in the UK, and around the world. The phone-hacking scandal under investigation by the police has exploded, and News International, who own NOTW, have decided that the best course of action is to completely wind up the organisation, and cease operations.

Now, I'm not going to write reams and reams of endless jargon today - that's not my job. There will be plenty written about this for months. But this is just farcical.

Rebekah Brooks, the former Editor of the NOTW, and now Chief Executive of News International, has managed to scrape through this with her job, but without her dignity. Brooks was the Editor when this phone-hacking supposedly happened. Remember, we still have nothing confirmed bar a private detective's word...

Brooks apparently announced the news that NOTW would be dissolved today 'in tears', and after immense pressure from the public, 'offered her resignation last night.' Now I don't believe that in the slightest - I think it's a very shrewd, quite vulgar move by Rupert Murdoch to keep a close ally near.

The compulsory redundancies from Brook's defiance in staying in her role have led to even further repercussions within the News International group - the Sun's sub-editors are rumoured to have walked out and asked the NUJ for advice on strike action. What Murdoch is about to force through will destroy the very essence of why he is so successful.

I've been Tweeting alongside the news all day, trying to keep on top of the industry that I wish to enter. But I really do fear for the print media industry now - especially tabloids. A lack of advertising within newspapers in which scandals takes place will kill them off. Web journalism will sky-rocket over the next few years as the print media industry realise that a dying art will inevitably crash.

That's why Murdoch launched The Daily.

Brook's should not be an employee of News International this evening. News of the World should still be in existence. To save herself, she's just demolished the livelihoods of families up and down the country. She's ruined lives.

Nothing can take that away from her now.

Taken from General Musings of an Idiot: http://www.gmoai.com