Man sentenced for service order breach

A Tower Hamlets man appeared before Thames Magistrates court for breaching his community service order for the possession of Class A drugs.

Anthony Davey, aged 19, was sentenced today at the request of Probation Services for a harsher sentence.

The court heard that Probation Services had asked for him to be removed from the community service programme because this is now the third time he has breached the order.

Having first been sentenced in May, he has been ordered to do 80 hours of unpaid work, of which he has only completed 16, and made to pay a total of £120 in compensation and court fees.

Magistrate D J Seaman said: “If I see you again in this court I will be compelled to sentence you to detention. You will be issued with a further 20 hours. Considering you do not work and you are not in education you have no excuse but to complete the hours.

“Your childishness has got your into this situation, you must now find the maturity within yourself to get you out of it.”

EDL banned from marching through Tower Hamlets

Home Secretary Theresa May has approved the Metropolitan Police’s application to ban the proposed EDL march in Tower Hamlets for a period of 30 days starting from 2 September amid fears of violence and disorder.

Tower Hamlets’ Mayor, Lutfur Rahman, who campaigned for the EDL march to be banned, has welcomed this decision.

He said: “I thank the Home Secretary for making this decision, which means we can now move forward as a community free from the threat of the EDL marching through our borough with their messages of hate.

"This has always been a borough where people of different faiths, cultures and backgrounds live in harmony, and we will not be divided by the EDL or any other groups.

"It is the correct decision, and I would like to reiterate my thanks to the thousands of people that supported our efforts to get this march banned. Once again we have shown we are One Tower Hamlets and with the march now banned, I urge anyone previously planning to march in support of our cause to stand down. Their support has been fantastic, and I am delighted that our efforts have been successful.”

Pyrus from the EDL wrote: “Banning the EDL march will only serve to enhance radical Islam’s propaganda. If the government demonises and persecutes critics of radical Islam, then the radicals will be encouraged.”

Their website suggests that they will be progressing with the march as planned.

Aunti Netta and the Trouble with Asian Men

The producers of the hit film East is East, Tamasha, premiered its first comedy double-bill at the
Edinburgh Fringe Festival last night.

First on stage is Nimmi Harasgama who plays the Sri Lankan born internet sensation Auntie Netta: a bawdy asylum seeker with crazy hair and a very strange taste in clothes. 

She invites the audience into her home, treats them to pakoras and sweets and regales them with stories about her unique take on the British and “the U of the K”, including the wonders of Hadrian’s Wall and the mysteries of Venezuelan bikini waxes.

Her words are endearing, touching and hilarious.

What could follow such a class act? Divan Ladwa’s fantastic performance in the second part of the evening in The Trouble With Asian Men. Created entirely from interviews with members of the public, the spectators are made privy to the inner workings of the British Asian man.

TO THE END OF THE LAND by DAVID GROSSMAN

Jonathan Cape  Pub 02.09.10

£18.99

3 stars

This is the story of friendships that have survived the passage of time: the breakdown of a marriage and the love of a mother for her son. All this is set against the back drop of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The war is represented by the relationship between our protagonist Ora and the Palestinian Sami, He attempts to open her eyes to what is happening outside her front door but she is consumed by the fear of discovering her son Ofra may be dead.

She runs away from her son’s decision to rejoin the Israeli army and her naivety of the struggles of her countrymen against the Palestinian forces.

Ora hikes through the Gallilee accompanied by Ofra’s true father – the mutual childhood friend of both hers and her husband, Avram. Although he did not want any part in Ofra’s upbringing, Ora uses this opportunity to recount stories about Ofra and his journey to adulthood. Her words keep Ofra alive, not just for her, but also his estranged father.

Although the book is a little long-winded and occasionally becomes tiresome there is a fluidity to Grossman’s writing that takes you back and forth through time. He shares with his audience the day to day events of his characters juxtaposed with the earth shattering: the trials and tribulations of maintain intimate relationships.

In the end, this is a story of how life continues in a country in turmoil who is taking part in a war that is slowly engulfing the entire world.

Fred: The Movie

Fred: The Movie

http://www.reviewedonline.co.uk/dvd/2011/0411/2604/fred-the-movie-dvd-film-review/fred-the-movie-dvd-film-review.htm



Picture the scene: it is the height of summer in a quiet cul-de-sac when suddenly, over the sound of birds singing and the wind blowing through leaves, you hear a high pitched SQUEAL! No, it isn’t the sound of a pimped up truck tearing round the bend. Nor is it the sound of a small cat being strangled to death. It isn’t even the sound of a try-hard contestant on X-Factor.
This is the sound of high-on-helium-and-drugged-up-on-speed, Fred Figglehorn.
Fred: The Movie is the story of a teenage boy trying to win the girl of his dreams – with a twist! The usual formula for these sorts of stories is: geeky boy wants hot girl. Hot girl feels sorry for geeky boy. Geeky boy gets a makeover. Hot girl is wowed and falls in love with geeky boy and they all live happily ever after.
The problem with this film is that you want to kill ‘geeky boy’. If there was ever a time when I wanted the use of guns in the UK legalised, this would be it.
Following the apparent success of the YouTube phenomenon that is “Fred”, the powers that be thought a movie would be a great idea – how wrong they were.
Fred (Lucas Cruikshank) treks across town, on a bus (god forbid!) when he thinks his neighbour Judy (popstar Pixie Lott) has been kidnapped by Asians (excuse me?!) to rescue her, only to have pizza thrown in his face for his troubles.
The only thing this DVD would be good for is a drinking game: one shot for every pathetic tantrum Fred throws. You would be completely roaring drunk within the first ten minutes.
If you like the idea of having children, and not the idea of your brain splattered all over the walls, then, DO NOT WATCH THIS FILM!
I think I need to listen to some thrash metal grindcore to repair my burst eardrums and smash the DVD into tiny pieces so that this horror can never be inflicted upon the rest of humanity.
Dire, dull, and soul destroying viewing.

REVIEW: Fragments

Picture this: a typical American diner, a waitress with a southern drawl serving a cross-section of society. Enter the lunatic with a gun, bent on destroying the lives of those around him before turning the weapon on himself.

Based on the novel “Winged Creatures” by Roy Freirich, the film deals with each survivors’ post-shooting rebirth.

The director Rowan Woods uses experimental cinematic tricks and fragmented scenes to show the characters’ attempts at repairing their broken lives.

Quality over quantity is certainly not the order of the day in this film. Fewer characters and a much more indepth look at whether the characters ever reach that light at the end of the tunnel would have created a stronger emotional connection between us and them.

Although the film contains some interesting ideas, it’s a shame the all-star cast (Forest Whitaker, Kate Beckinsale, Guy Pearce, Dakota Fanning) are let down by shallow character development and an unsatisfying conclusion.

2 stars