Review of Dom Joly's 'The Dark Tourist'

I will be finishing off my reviews for series 4 of 'The I.T. Crowd' once I have handed in my dissertation however, in the mean time I have written a review for 'The Dark Tourist' by Dom Joly. Here it is for your reading pleasure...

Whilst most travel writers would baulk at the thought of holidaying in the ‘Killing Fields’ of Cambodia or the exclusion zone around Chernobyl, comedian Dom Joly readily takes up the mantle of the morbidly fascinated in ‘The Dark Tourist’.

Better known for his antics on ‘Trigger Happy TV’ dressed as a giant squirrel or shouting into a giant mobile phone, Joly’s adventures are a clever mixture of macabre history and witty observations that weave in his own experiences of growing up in war-torn Lebanon.

The title refers to ‘dark tourism’ which involves travelling to destinations associated with death or suffering, and there is no shortage of assassinations and torture here. Each trip offers an insightful snapshot of places which are only glimpsed in news reports. During his visits to the ‘Axis of evil’ that are Iran and North Korea, Joly discovers how people live under these oppressed regimes and whether his preconceptions hold true.

At points his accounts prove to be surprisingly moving, particularly during one surreal episode where he is offered Pol Pot’s shoes for a half million dollars only to realise that the vendor is a war criminal.

There are of course the cultural gaffes when Joly decides to play the bumbling outsider who evades the local authorities, so as to lighten the mood, but really he is questioning his own desire to venture into these places of pain and misery.

Compared to the abundance of light travel literature littering the shelves of bookshops ‘The Dark Tourist’ is a refreshing antidote that delves into the complexities of the human psyche and explores our own heart of darkness.

Review of episode 2 series 4 of 'The IT Crowd'

Beware! Here be spoilers for episode 2 series 4 of ‘The IT Crowd’.

If episode 1 paid homage to RPG enthusiasts then ‘The Final Countdown’ (episode 2) was a tribute to ‘Countdown’ fans everywhere.

This was Moss’s episode and audiences saw him manage to make it onto ‘Countdown’. As you would expect, he was a natural and never came up with less than an eight-letter word.

Meanwhile Jen was trying to get into the mysterious heads of departments’ meetings and Roy was attempting to convince an old school friend that he wasn’t a window cleaner.

Yet it was all about Moss’s foray into ‘Countdown’ which led the episode. It was surreal in the best way possible and brought to our screens the phenomenon of Street’ Countdown’. (It’s basically like ‘Countdown’ but played outside and with more letters. It can get cold.)

With writer-director Graham Linehan it’s all about the finer details and this instalment was no exception. The group singing the countdown clock music was simply an act of genius. There was also a portrait of His holiness, the late Richard Whiteley, complete with angel wings and bathed in a saintly glow that made me laugh.

Saying this, I was slightly miffed as to why Negative One (David Crow), Moss’s ‘Countdown’ rival, appeared to be speaking in street slang. He was using ungrammatical sentences rounded off with an obligatory “you get me”. My only theory for this is that Linehan was looking to avoid the cliché of a geek-off and this deviance from convention proved comically refreshing.

Then there is Moss’s sex appeal which sounds like a paradox but not in the world of ‘Countdown’.

In the ‘normal’ world Moss's experience of the fairer sex doesn’t extend beyond his mother. He is like Norman Bates but with computers instead of stuffed birds and shower killings.

However, give him a red beret and a glass of milk, and Moss is sex on legs. This week he’s sleeping around with ‘Countdown’ groupies who are “the most sexually voracious and the most beautiful of groupies”.

I think Moss is the heart of the show. Richard Ayoade manages to exude all his innocence and geekery to fantastic effect. Moreover, there is something about the character’s British reserve that makes Moss’s awkwardness plausible which unfortunately didn’t work so well in the U.S. version.

On a final note, I loved the references to ‘The Matrix’ and ‘Fight Club’ because of the cult status they have as well as familiarity in popular culture, which will satisfy nerds and non-nerds alike.


Quotes that will live in infamy:

“I just totally want to re-invent myself. From this moment on everything is going to be different.” PHONE RINGS “Hello I.T., have you tried turning it off and on again?” – Roy

“Good morning, that’s a nice TNETENNBA.” - Moss
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"This is London, Jen. It's not someone with cake unless that cake is made of dog poo and knives." - Moss from 'The IT Crowd' explaining why he doesn't open the door.

“If you call that mindless, animalistic rutting ‘sex’, then yes…I suppose we did.” - Moss (answering Roy's question of whether he has slept with a groupie.)

“I came here to drink milk and kick ass and I’ve just finished my milk.” – Moss

Review of episode 1 series 4 of 'The IT Crowd'

This post is about three weeks late due to academic commitments but here is my review of episode 1, series 4 of ‘The IT Crowd’.

After the third series I did worry whether the show had run its course but episode 1 soon put those thoughts to bed.

This instalment revolved around Jen (Katherine Parkinson) becoming Reynholm Industries’ resident pimp to visiting businessmen. But it was also about Roy (Chris O'Dowd) dealing with heartbreak and Moss (Richard Ayaode) helping his friend via a 20-sided dice and the medium of RPG (role-playing games for the uninitiated).

For the first time the audience was shown Roy’s sensitive side. He could barely make it through a sentence without breaking down which was hilarious to watch probably because it cut close to the bone.

As a recent casualty of heartache myself, I was welling up during the “goodbye” scene between Roy and Moss as Queen Eliza Eldridge of the Elves. I found it genuinely touching and was slightly frustrated by the canned laughter. Saying this, the scene worked well because of the swings between comedy and tragedy and I did find myself caught on a see-saw of laughter and tears.

I think O’Dowd’s performance in that scene just goes to shows his versatility as an actor and it is probably the best audition for any straight roles he may want to pursue in the future.

The idea that Jen is a pimp was used cleverly during her pep talk with Roy. The key is in the reversal of the gender roles. Roy is vulnerable while Jen is the one with the power. The scene was played out brilliantly by Parkinson who flits between affection and aggression: it is all wonderfully sinister. One moment she is whispering to him and in the next she is grabbing his face, and in another she is stroking his head before sending him to face the Johns.

Keeping on the subject of role-playing, the innuendo surrounding RPG was another good touch. In my mind it reinforced the notion that ‘The IT Crowd’ is a tribute to nerds everywhere and that geek is chic.

I have no doubt that following this episode there will be a resurgence of popularity in ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ and RPG, the likes of which hasn’t been since ‘The Lord of the Rings’.

After watching ‘Jen the Fredo’ I have high hopes for the rest of series 4. It appears that the characters have developed and will continue to do so. Moss and Roy in particular have moved away from the stereotypical anti-socialites we first met. All in all, a great start to series 4.

On a side note, was it just me or did John 2 (Ed Weeks) look suspiciously like Steve Mangan from ‘Green Wing’? I had to do a double take just to make sure it wasn’t him.

Quotes that will live in infamy:

“It’s like someone broke up with Stalin” – Moss referring Roy photo-shopping his ex-girlfriend out of his pictures of them. The photos end up looking like Roy is by himself.

“Oh shut up Dumpo, the elephant that got dumped!” - Moss

“Eiffel Tower!” – Phil, John 1, John 2

“Goodbye.” – Moss as Queen Eliza Eldridge of the Elves

“No...there were rumours that there was a rumour but that was bull****.” – Douglas Reynholm

Haunted by "coconuts"

This week I heard a racist term that hadn’t violated my ears for a very long time.

It was the word “coconut” and it was used by Lib Dem councillor Shirley Brown to criticise her Conservative counterpart Jay Jethwa during a debate at Bristol City Council.

Last February Cllr Jethwa proposed cuts of £750,000 to funding for the city’s Legacy Commission which seeks to educate people about the history of slave trade. The derogatory remark was made by Cllr Brown in her response to the plans.

The story has re-surfaced because Cllr Brown is planning to appeal after she was convicted of racial harassment this week.

Despite my personal opposition to the cuts, Cllr Jethwa is simply doing what Conservatives do. There is nothing unusual or shocking about her suggestion given her political stance.

The term “coconut” refers to a person who has lost their culture and to put it crassly is brown on the outside and white on the inside.

It is generally used between those of the same race so Cllr Brown as an Afro-Caribbean insulting an Indian has caused confusion in some quarters.

I was also a recipient of this racist slight at secondary school. The snide little comment was as precise and as painful as a paper cut.

I had never heard it before but the crudity of the imagery left me in no doubt to its meaning and I felt inexplicably ashamed.

It is said that by naming something you can control it. In that moment my fragile teenage identity was stripped away and I was re-defined.

I will always wonder what my persecutor’s definition of “white” was. What was the reason that I wasn’t a true Asian?

Was it the fact that I was a second generation Bengali girl who spoke an (albeit) flawed version of her parents’ mother tongue? Or maybe it was because I went to Durga puja and Kali puja every year instead of celebrating Diwali. Or possibly it was because I never judged others by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character.

The word is a slur upon “being white”. I don’t understand what the social construct of “whiteness” is based on. How do you define a whole race? Like all racism it seems to be born out of ignorance.

As to Cllr Brown’s statement, yes a conviction may have been too harsh but it was racial harassment.

I am just glad to see that this remark has evoked a strong response because it is unacceptable to use such racist words.

This sort of name-calling is not the language of politics and has no place at the debating table.

Review of 'Secret Diary of a Call Girl' - Series 3

Another piece of coursework, this time written in the style of The Times 2. I didn't pitch this one.

Secret Diary of a Call Girl – ITV2 (one star out of five)

Last night’s finale of series 3 for Secret Diary of a Call Girl brought an end to what has been a dismal run for everyone’s favourite escort.

The episode revolved around the wedding of fellow working girl Bambi (Ashley Madekwe) and Belle’s (Billie Piper) discovery that her perfect publisher-boyfriend, Duncan (James D’Arcy) has been seeing other women.

Yet any attempt to expose Belle’s vulnerability fell short as her heartbreak was fleeting and she was soon jetting off to see her next client.

In fact, as series 3 has progressed both the plot and characters have remained static and it has been a tedious repetition of the same motions.

Belle is still as narcissistic as ever and oblivious to anything beyond the next appointment. While Ben (Iddo Goldberg), Belle’s ex-boyfriend and best friend, has become all the more frustrated and lovelorn as his unrequited feelings linger on.

He spends most of the series apologising for drunkenly insulting her new beau. Then there is doe-eyed Bambi whose naivety is matched by her equally clueless and eccentric aristocratic fiancé Byron (David Dawson).

The only new element on the latest outing with Belle is the relationship with her publisher but even this seems stale given her previous attempts to find love which have proved to be disastrous.

At the end of the last series Belle’s book was published anonymously and for the follow-up novel Duncan pushes her to seek out clients with all manner of kinks. But apart from some Sploshing (sex involving food), role play and a bit of cross-dressing thrown in for good measure only the most superficial of glances is given to sexual fetishes.

Unlike its predecessors, series 3 fails to delve further into the little-known world of high-class prostitution instead much of the charm and intrigue have been replaced with soap opera storylines.

Fundraising can improve your life and career prospects

A piece I wrote as part of coursework earlier this year. It's written in the style of 'Take A Break' magazine. Unfortunately, they decided they didn't want to publish it. Maybe next time.

There are hundreds of people across the country who go that extra mile for charity. You probably know some who’s training for a sponsored run, bike ride or walk. It might be a friend, a colleague, your sister or even your mum. They are ordinary folk who really want to make a difference and their small contributions make a big difference to others. But did you know that fundraising can also be good for your career and general wellbeing?

Managing Director of recruitment consultants Office Angels, David Clubb, says: ‘Being involved in fundraising is a great way of raising your awareness of social responsibility – something which many businesses take very seriously.’

‘It’s important to remember that being involved in fundraising work goes much further than standing outside shops with a coin collector. Being involved in fundraising work is often a real eye-opener for many people.’

‘For those currently between jobs fundraising work is great way to gain experience in a number of sectors and job roles. It also shows future employers that you are proactive and keen to be working and assisting others.’

Fundraising can not only boost your career prospects, it can also be a source of personal growth. Life Coach Carole Ann Rice has worked with individuals from all walks of life and says: ‘Helping other people either through fundraising or working in a voluntary capacity removes you from your problems and your world. It’s almost like a natural Prozac to help other people.’

‘At least if you’re doing something like raising money for a good cause you feel you have achieved something and I think there’s a great deal of personal satisfaction and confidence and self-esteem that can be raised through that sense of achievement on behalf of other people.’

She adds: ‘I think it certainly ups your chances of having a sense of focus, satisfaction and fulfilment in your life.’

Daniel Barnes, 31, of Brockley, Southeast London is running 500 miles this year for Josie’s Dragonfly. The charity gives cash donations to children with cancer not considered curable. Josie Madeline Grove was Daniel’s cousin who died from leukaemia in 2007. Daniel has just broken the 100 mile mark and is still going.

‘Last year I lost my job and spent a month or so sitting around the house feeling glum and eating cakes.’

‘Over Christmas, the idea of running 500 miles over the year came to me as a way of motivating me to get out. I am not very athletic, so I thought I would try something difficult. The other side is that it is a good excuse to raise money for a good cause.’

‘Running 500 miles was on my CV and I was asked and talked about it in a couple of interviews.’

‘I think it did add something unique to the CV, which probably helped a little.
For all the interviews I had, I always checked where I might run, or if I could run home.’

‘Knowing I have done this for charity is a bonus. I try to act nonchalant about it, that I was running anyway so it made sense to just raise money too, but in fact it does make me proud that I can make a difference. Maybe I'll aim for 1000 km in 2011.’

Lindsay Topham, 24, from Twickenham, Southwest London, is another fundraising superhero. She is gearing up for the London Marathon in April to raise money for Oxfam.

Lindsay says: ‘They’re just a charity that I really believe in and believe in the work that they do. I find them quite effective as a charity. I was really keen to run the London Marathon anyway so when Oxfam had some places it felt like it was the right thing to do.’

‘I wrote to Oxfam and said I would really like to do a charity place and they rung me and asked a few questions and then gave me a place.’

‘I think it’s important to push yourself and challenge yourself. It’s the nerves and having to promote yourself. And it’s all about personal growth.’

‘You sign up to something like the marathon because it’s only you that can get through it. You are the only competition.’

She adds: ‘It’s a real sense of achievement to know that you’ve put your body through all that and it’s not just that one day, it’s the nine months leading up to it. I’m looking forward to the whole day: the excitement, the getting there.’

“I think in a year or so after running the marathon I would like to climb Mount Kilimanjaro or some sort of mountain.”
JustGiving is a website which helps people who want raise money for charity. More information can be found at: www.justgiving.com

Re-evaluating pensions

The link between the BP oil spill and British pension funds has got me thinking that maybe it’s time to reflect on where our retirement funds come from, and whether we should look at re-investing.

A couple of years ago I wrote a story about Aberdeen Asset Management launching a series of socially responsible investing funds in the Netherlands.

SRI funds, as the name suggests, look to make returns through investing ethically or socially consciously.

For example, they would not be invested in munitions factories or companies with poor human rights records. Instead they focus on areas such as green energy and social justice.

I was told that SRI funds had gained popularity in the Netherlands following a documentary entitled ‘The Clusterbomb Feeling’, which aired in March 2007.

The programme revealed that several Dutch pension funds had been investing in cluster bombs, land mines and companies that were guilty of child labour.

The revelations shocked the Dutch public and put pressure on pension funds to re-assess their investments.

I think perhaps Britain needs to have its own cluster bomb moment. Most people do not know where their retirement money is coming from and if they did, then they maybe put off from following a specific plan.

Also, as this environmental disaster unfolds and BP faces increasing pressure to halt dividend payments to shareholders, it now seems like the right time to look to greener companies.

British pensions are heavily invested in BP which poses a problem for people if dividend payments are frozen because they will not receive retirement contributions from the company.

If dividends are stopped, it could have a detrimental effect on individuals getting ready to retire amid concerns of a double dip recession and tax rises.

Add to this the fear of oil running out and fossil fuels in short supply, makes the step towards SRI seem more logical.

Retirement funds are about the long term, stable investments rather than the short term therefore, it would make more sense to invest in sustainable sectors.

However, oil, gas and other such industries make massive returns therefore, it is unlikely that retirement funds will stop investing in them anytime soon.

But the question is: what will it take for pension funds to change their ways? And will it require a spill bigger than BP for us to look at where our retirement is coming from?