Bits

After my hiatus from blogging I'm back. If there is anyone who reads this (and I've never received a comment on anything I've written yet, so I have no idea) I apologise for not putting more on.

A few things that have taken place in my life since:

*Emma and I have become immersed in the world of Couch surfer.It's well worth a look. We signed up after reading about it in a magazine in Warsaw. For those unfamiliar you basically put your name forward onto a website, with your address, and people ask if they can stay with you. In return you can request to stay at all the other addresses. It's a way of encouraging a "community" feeling across the world and travelling at its finest.

We were trepidatious - and within two days of signing up we had our first request. Who would it be? A Zambian warlord wanting a room for him, his 17 mistresses, a hog's head and a voodoo shrine? A neo-nazi BNP super-facist? Even worse, a vegetarian? Thankfully it was none of these. We had the pleasure of hosting Ash for two nights, a poet and comedian who was in the area delivering workshops to pupils at three nearby schools. He was charming and funny and we enjoyed having him.

I know the idea of having a total stranger staying at your house might be scary but check couchsurfer out - it might be a real adventure.

*Won money on Joe Calzaghe (went for him to win on points) and David Haye (knockout). Wasn't sure about Hatton. Obviously he looked great; not just technically better but just plain fitter. Also good to see Jim Bagg, who is a columnist for the Ring Magazine, get his words stuffed up his arse. "The Bagg" wrote about how much he revelled in British fighters getting reduced to a horizontal state (referring to Amir Khan) as if it representing boxing returning to its natural state. Brits 3, Yanks 0 Bagg.

I hope my betting run continues with Pacquiao vs De La Hoya. I'm going for Manny. De La Hoya's stamina has never been good, and providing Pacman survives the first four or five rounds - which I think he can - his fitness can prove to be the deciding factor down the stretch.

*Went on a wild goose chase around Long Sutton over the weekend. You can see on our website (spaldingtoday.co.uk) the Cannom story. I tried to find out more about her and no-one knew her. No-one. And then I thought "Would I know anything about my neighbours? Their names and jobs? No idea."

It didn't really surprise me because of the lack of community spirit in the world, and the advent of the internet and Playstations and technology, meaning people never go out of their doors anymore. They just survive, immersed in their own boredom. Sad really.

Anyway, more to come later in the week. Watching I'm a celebrity. Dreadful.

Obama Drama

Anyone who's been hiding under a barock and wants to know what the election result was last night... this controversial story from the Onion might give it way

http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/black_man_given_nations

Last night was momentous. To be aware of an acutal historical event as it happens is that most precious rarity. I can think of a few others in my lifetime - 9/11, the fall of the Berlin Wall, Susan and Karl Kennedy reconciling - but none as exciting as this.

Obama's key word was change, and it's needed in politics desperately. Didn't he remind you of a fresh-faced Tony Blair in '97 last night? Let's hope the same cynicism and spin that blighted his premiership doesn't barrack Barack.

The early signs seem promising. Obviously he will need help from other nations with the economy, but America can take the lead in its military matters. Obama wants to engage more with Iran, bringing troops out and placing other in Afghanistan. He has already been warned by Karzai (Afghanistan's president) over an American attack which killed a host of people at a wedding party. It's not going to be easy...

*Joined something called couchsurfer the other day, a communal website encouraging like-minded travellers to host each other when asked. Sounds like a fantastic idea and we've had our first response. Will keep you informed!

A mer woman

Not one to be messed with; This is the mythical mermaid, and unlike the normal spritish representation (such as that found in Copenhagen) this is a warrior, a mean nasty-looking piece of work, like Pat Butcher on steroids. She is one of three mermaid statues to be found in Warsaw, and apparently in Polish folklore she helped a young prince rescue two boys named Wars and Saw - hence the name.

Debated sitting up all night to comment on the US presidential slugfest, but I've been feeling pretty rough today. Rented a device called a "Rugdoctor" from Focus to clean our filthy carpet and it's great but tiring. So illness, being tired, and just seeing an advert for a film called "Zack and Miri make a porno" which looks to be one of the most execrable movies ever created, are enough to send me to bed.

Warsaw pics

Returned from Warsaw on Saturday, and immediately knew I was back in England. Predictions for our holiday in Poland told us to expect four days of rain. We got half an hour. Meanwhile Luton was a quagmire - I knew it was bad when I went to pick up the car and saw Dennis Hopper chasing Kevin Costner in the distance, such was the rainfall. From the airpark at Slip End (!) I drove out of Luton, taking the wrong turn (M1 and A1 are so easy to confuse) and at one point skimmed around the outside of Leicester, about 40 miles from my intended route. I'm blaming the driving rain.

Warsaw itself was amazing. The pics above are the Palace on the Water, two pics of Castle Square, and some drunk guys who wanted my scalp for Halloween.

We stayed in Nathan's Villa Hostel off Marshall Street. The best hostel I've ever been in - clean bathrooms, quiet, and even our own balcony: what more could we want?

Much of my pre-conceived notions of the country were justified. The beer was cheap and good and the Old Town, similar to that of Tallinn, was breathtakingly pretty. One whole side of the square (pic to be added later) was Poland's national museum, with the interiors of the houses removed so you could pass through. It was a rare example of tourism - Emma was bitterly disappointed by the lack of shops, asking (justifiably) where people bought clothes. I didn't see a single music shop or newsagent chain in four days.

Many of the grey, dismal communist style tower blocks were still intact, intermingled with the grim reminders of Poland's part in WW2. A bunker where Jewish immigrants hid, before one blew himself up in a suicide pact as the Nazis closed in. Remembrance walls with the names of some of those executed. Most poignantly Pawiak prison where 100,000 people including children, pregnant women, elderly and disabled were held, beaten and killed. Poland's invasion can never be allowed to be forgotten.

The food was unusual but cheap and exciting. Pike was delicious; Blood sausages indulgent; tripe and beef soup far more pleasurable than it sounds. Zywiec, which I pronounced in at least ten different attempts as my tongue fumbled its way through the Polish language over the four days, was around £2 a pint.

A disappointing aspect was the unscrupulous nature of taxi drivers. Even in the foyer of the Frederick Chopin airport we were hounded by drivers pleading to escort us to the hostel. Our trip to the old town from the hostel cost anywhere from 12 to 90 zlotys (4.5 zlotys to the pound), meaning there was roughly a £15 difference between drivers for a mile-long journey, depending entirely on which driver you got. I made a rookie mistake of climbing in one cab (at 11.30pm in the freezing cold) and the meter was dimmed, meaning that it probably had about 40 zl on it before we'd even started. Scandalous.

More pics to come later.

ps Must just congratulate Keiran Westwood, Coventry's star goalkeeper, whose stunning performance kept out Kevin Phillipset al for our 1-0 win at Birmingham last night. I was 4 years of age the last time we won there. Work it out.

Pole glancing

A few weeks ago I told you that I was starting reading the news for my beloved Spalding Guardian - and here it is. The delivery isn't bad and we're getting better at putting the vids on. Enjoying it.

Thought you might enjoy the photo from Waikiki as well - through the magic of Photoshop I've combined two photos of one of the main roads, one of which was underexposed, the other over exposed. Photoshop is not easy to use initially, but I'm getting there.

Talking of Photoshop I'll be using it agin next week. Off to Poland on Tuesday with the lady. It will be the 8th different Eastern European country I've been to, alongside Bulgaria, Romania, Estonia, Czech Republic, Croatia, Slovenia and Hungary.

All the obvious jokes have come out when I tell people I'm going to Poland - "Why didn't you go to Peterborough?/Is there going to be anyone left over there?" etc etc.

But Eastern Europe has some spectacular jewels. Tallinn, for example, is an unbelieveable blend of medieval churches and bijou bars. Cheap beer in fantastic surroundings - and a bar themed entirely on 80s band Depeche Mode. Ultra-weird.

Split, in Croatia, is another. Seafood restaurants on the Adriatic coast (only a few miles from Yugoslavia) literally surrounded by ruins from the time when the Roman empire spread its claws across Europe. Fabulous nightlife (although be careful - the most expensive birthday present I ever gave myself was in a stripclub in Split with no prices on the wall...) and good activities - try the white water rafting in the nearby rivers.

There are others - Bled, Veliko Tornovo, Sighisoara (Dracula country) in Romania and Prague were memorable. I've also been to some shockers. Bucharest was particularly horrendous, although we did play an England - Romania grudge match with some youngsters yards from a busy roundabout in the city centre at midnight (3-3 and I bagged a brace, including a beauty of a right footed strike from a tight angle, not that I'm sad enough to remember it!).

I expect it to look like Prague, with an old town square, restaurants that serve acquired tastes such as pike, a Museum for the destruction of Communism and enlightenment of the Proletariat, old Citroens and Ladas being driven by bald guys with beards and grudges, and drunk men lying on park benches. Will put photos on next week!

A tough story

Being a journalist is quite exciting sometimes. I have done some brilliant things in the past 3 1/2 years. parachuting, food tasting, car simulator racing, golf, giving blood, raising money for charity in numerous ways, etc etc are some of the interesting things I've enjoyed or hated since my stint at the paper.

Sometimes it's absolutely horrendous. On Tuesday I was faced with the most distressing court story I have ever had. I won't name the woman involved in the case, but she was facing a charge of concealing a child. Wondering what that means? It means she had a baby (without knowing she was pregnant) which was stillborn, and in a panic the traumatised woman put the body in a loft for a year, before telling her partner. It was the most desperate story I would ever write.

Behind the story was a sub-plot, not mentioned. The woman and her partner applied to the high court in London for an injunction to stop our paper writing about the story. It failed, but there was still the potential for the family to apply for a "section 39" order when it arrived in Spalding magistrates court.

Under section 39 of the child and young persons act 1933 magistrates have the power to impose anonymity on witnesses, defendents or complainants involved in a court case in adult court. In other words, had this been imposed on the woman's other children (who were mentioned in the case) we would not have been able to name them, or reference them in any way. The defence lawyers apply for it, the magistrates consider it, and then say yes or no.

I knew I was covering the story so spent an evening researching what I would do if the defence tried to convince the magistrates to apply this.

It's nerve-wracking. You have to stand up and address the court and everyone in it, clearly arguing your case. The opportunity for humiliation is massive, and I didn't sleep well, even though there were several arguments against the Section 39.

These included the facts that the children were not witnesses, defendants or complainants, the fact that the injunction had been thrown out, the fact that it would severely comprimise other aspects of the story, and the main point - that in the original injunction the woman's lawyers had admitted that if the injunction failed they could not apply for a section 39 because it was invalid.

They didn't even try and apply for it. I breathed a sigh of relief, but was also a little crestfallen - I have a 100 per cent record in overturning section 39 attempts, and was confident I would have done it again.

So I took the notes and we got the story. The woman was inconsolable as the grim particulars were read out. I felt terrible. The woman pleaded guilty and will be sentenced later in the month, but we now had the facts.

And then what? Where do we put it? Our photographer snapped her on the way in - do we use the photo? Do we name her? Do we comment on whether a case where there was no victim should ever have gone to court? Can we morally justify putting such an upsetting story on the front to sell papers? Do we even use it at all...

Asking around the office produced no concensus. Some wanted it front page with pic. Some wanted it page 3, no pic. Some wanted it front page, at the bottom, no pic. My opinion was that the front page was justified but the picture was harsh. People would recognise her at work, when she was picking her kids up from school, in the street - is there really any need to punish her further.

It ended up on page 2, no pic. I think we were all satisfied. Also ended up, disgracefully, in the Peterborough Evening Telegraph with another reporter's name on it.

Next time you read the paper you might want to think what goes on behind the scenes. It was certainly a story and process none of us will forget in a hurry.

Cole Corry

Just bought a block of tickets to Legoland.

Right, now that's out of the way (and don't say it doesn't make you chuckle when you get it) just a quick comment on a few things.

*Ashley Cole is out of the next England match against Byelorussia with a pulled hamstring and bruised ego. Yes, the bad pass for the Kazakhstan goal didn't help, but Cole sums up everything that's wrong with football, and no matter what he does on the pitch his attitude off it will overshadow it. Even £55,000 a week can't buy popularity.

*A little nervous tonight over something that I have to do tomorrow...will tell you if I was successful later in the week.

*Just watching Coronation Street, for my sins. Learning a few tips and bits of info about Stag dos. At the moment I'm not having a best man for mine (not till 2011 so I've got time to change my mind) but whenever I say that I get the strangest looks from people.

The simple reason is that I have no real friends from childhood, or secondary school who I regularly see. I haven't seen any of my uni mates or hourno study mates for years. In short, there is no best man for me. The best man should surely be your best friend, or someone you admire and have fun with above all others. He doesn't exist.

I intend to either do my own speech, or have several best men. A clutch of hardy warriors who've been next to me while I've struggled through thick and thin, and of course all other anatomical descriptions of ex-girlfriends.

We also don't intend to have a top table. In fact, we have so little money, we might not even have a table at all. Or a top. Skins it is then...

*Poland is two weeks away. Can't wait. Somebody said to me the other day: "Why haven't you pact?" I replied: "Warsaw the fuss about?" The first joke has been done, the second is fresh. For you.