tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36569260Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:24:14 +0000FOCUS: CULTURAL AND ETHNIC DIVERSITY / MIGRATION. SOCIAL / CULTURAL / POLITICAL COMMENT AND OBSERVATIONhttp://www.bleedingheartburgess.com/index.phpnoreply@blogger.com (bleeding heart burgess)Blogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36569260.post-5056444984259514117Sat, 23 Jan 2010 04:11:00 +00002010-01-22T21:13:26.759-07:00WOODY HARRELSONI have just seen a movie called the Messenger which stars Woody Harrelson, Ben Foster and Samantha Morton. In my humble view, Harrelson is building up a decidedly impressive ouevre. His sheer physicality and screen presence is immense, certainly Brando or James Gandolfini (Tony Soprano)’esque. He inhabits his characters at a deep level, in keeping with the best traditions of methodhttp://www.bleedingheartburgess.com/2010/01/in-praise-of-woody-harrelson-avaaz-and.phpnoreply@blogger.com (bleeding heart burgess)10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36569260.post-7866474504549711850Mon, 28 Dec 2009 04:30:00 +00002010-01-07T12:47:10.569-07:00Just wanted to express my solidarity with all those brave souls in Iran who are laying down their lives in the cause of freedom, in the face of a most brutal Fascist state.http://www.bleedingheartburgess.com/2009/12/solidarity-with-irans-revolutionaries.phpnoreply@blogger.com (bleeding heart burgess)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36569260.post-5819942629131832516Thu, 26 Nov 2009 20:48:00 +00002009-11-26T14:14:17.618-07:00Greeny...He's quite gentle reallyDerbyshire Dales, UKDominic and the White Monkey, TucsonDominic and the BuddhaPet Lizard in TucsonBrooklyn Bridge, New YorkHindu Festival of Divali, LondonThe Thames, LondonEdgware Road, LondonCanary Wharf, LondonAyvalik MannequinsAyvalik sunset Ayvalik, Aegean Coast of Turkeyhttp://www.bleedingheartburgess.com/2009/11/2009-photos.phpnoreply@blogger.com (bleeding heart burgess)7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36569260.post-9101456347827205226Thu, 26 Nov 2009 18:45:00 +00002009-11-26T11:47:43.944-07:00Unlike vegetarianism, which relates solely to one’s diet, Veganism is a philosophical decision about how to live the good life. Vegans avoid either consuming or using animal products. In dietary terms, they do not eat any meat, poultry, fish or dairy. Nor do they imbibe anything which contains an animal by-product such as gelatin or rennet. Moreover, all materials derived from animals, be it http://www.bleedingheartburgess.com/2009/11/veganism.phpnoreply@blogger.com (bleeding heart burgess)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36569260.post-5215299595681423614Wed, 25 Nov 2009 05:37:00 +00002009-11-24T22:38:42.399-07:00MEET FREDDIE…..GREETER PAR EXCELLENCEFreddy, the greeter at Fry’s supermarket on Grant and First, is more than happy with his lot in life. Patrolling the entrance area, he is doing what comes naturally to him, interacting with people. Of Mexican descent, he is a short, dark, balding 48-year old, dapperly dressed in an open-neck cream shirt, black pants and matching black waistcoat, replete with ahttp://www.bleedingheartburgess.com/2009/11/meet-freddie.phpnoreply@blogger.com (bleeding heart burgess)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36569260.post-7312136735233110277Wed, 25 Nov 2009 05:32:00 +00002009-11-24T22:32:32.506-07:00 http://www.bleedingheartburgess.com/2009/11/blog-post_24.phpnoreply@blogger.com (bleeding heart burgess)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36569260.post-2825382986186122151Sun, 17 May 2009 18:11:00 +00002009-05-17T11:14:10.717-07:00I wish my writing job had yielded even half as much as the $15 an hour I pay both my wonderful Mexican cleaner and my sublime Mexican Spanish teacher. Come to think of it, I would even settle for a quarter. Surely not, I hear you say. A writing job that pays less than $3.75 an hour. Well, I kid you not. I earned either $5 or $6 a page and normally had to work to a 48-hour deadline. I was writing http://www.bleedingheartburgess.com/2009/05/writing-for-peanuts_17.phpnoreply@blogger.com (bleeding heart burgess)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36569260.post-4146824308460256046Thu, 09 Apr 2009 04:37:00 +00002009-04-08T21:45:06.408-07:00I stumbled upon an overtly anti-semitic comment made by Aidan on Facebook. Being shocked at what I'd read, I initiated the following dialogue with Aiden. Not sure yet if the ongoing (fingers crossed) dialogue is a real dialogue or the social network equivalent of reality TV!! i.e. am i indulging myself at the expense of a working - class lad?Harvey BurgessJanuary 5 at 3:49pmWhat a pathetic http://www.bleedingheartburgess.com/2009/04/me-and-aidan.phpnoreply@blogger.com (bleeding heart burgess)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36569260.post-2380044893306349938Sat, 17 Jan 2009 05:13:00 +00002009-01-16T22:17:02.405-07:00So the death toll in Gaza is now more than 1000 (including some 350 children) matching that in the Lebanon in 2006. The massacre of 106 refugees in a UN shelter in Qana is mirrored by the deaths of 40 Palestinians in a UN school in Gaza. The slaughter of the Marwahin civilians in Lebanon who were ordered to leave their homes and then gunned down by a helicopter gunship is matched by civilians http://www.bleedingheartburgess.com/2009/01/israeli-war-crimes-enough-is-enough.phpnoreply@blogger.com (bleeding heart burgess)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36569260.post-1842584033565106596Sun, 14 Dec 2008 21:27:00 +00002008-12-14T14:43:49.045-07:00Here are a selection of recent photographs. Hope you like them. The Mexican Lucha Libre masks are made out of clay by my mate Zach. I am always impressed by the Public Art in this city, even the bus shelters are imaginative (the pipe vista at the top is in one).http://www.bleedingheartburgess.com/2008/12/tucson-photos.phpnoreply@blogger.com (bleeding heart burgess)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36569260.post-7852313249067202808Wed, 17 Sep 2008 00:59:00 +00002008-09-16T18:10:26.864-07:00My friend Scott, fellow Tottenham Hotspur supporter and anglophile (for the benefit of my American friends , Tottenham are a North London soccer team), invited me to attend the Arizona Wildcats American football game at the University Stadium here in Tucson. Undeterred by my lukewarm response (I’ve always thought of American football as the poor man’s Rugby), he proceeded to sell me the whole http://www.bleedingheartburgess.com/2008/09/brit-lost-in-sea-of-tailgates.phpnoreply@blogger.com (bleeding heart burgess)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36569260.post-6535909741095609302Mon, 26 May 2008 04:10:00 +00002008-05-25T21:20:10.241-07:00A few days ago, my friend Bonny woke up $600 richer. She was one of millions of US citizens who had benefited from the Bush government’s economic stimulus package. A cheque from the Federal government, ostensibly a tax rebate, landed on her doormat. The theory behind it is that those who receive the money will immediately plough it back into the economy, thereby stimulating the profits of http://www.bleedingheartburgess.com/2008/05/mickey-mouse-economics.phpnoreply@blogger.com (bleeding heart burgess)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36569260.post-4857376751450496041Sun, 16 Mar 2008 01:10:00 +00002008-03-25T14:48:58.926-07:00At the traffic lights on Speedway and Main last week, I saw something I had never seen before. A woman in the car on my left was flossing. She appeared to be totally immersed in what she was doing as she inspected the inside of her mouth in the rear view mirror. I was transfixed by this somewhat gross spectacle. I really could not believe what I was seeing. I mean, would blood not spatter over http://www.bleedingheartburgess.com/2008/03/things-we-do-in-public.phpnoreply@blogger.com (bleeding heart burgess)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36569260.post-618877592956855683Sun, 16 Dec 2007 03:23:00 +00002008-01-03T18:36:48.379-07:00‘The first toys I can remember were a plastic skeleton and winged devil, gifts from my grandmother. Other kids had GI Joes and Batman action figures but I was never envious of them. My toys allowed my imagination to stretch its boundaries and make friends with the very things that gave other children nightmares.’Ladislao Loera – Day of the Dead ArtistThe Day of the Dead originates in Mexico. The http://www.bleedingheartburgess.com/2007/12/day-of-dead-dia-de-los-muertos.phpnoreply@blogger.com (bleeding heart burgess)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36569260.post-4527660060144165969Mon, 10 Dec 2007 01:39:00 +00002007-12-15T20:42:51.640-07:00America’s 2 million prisoners constitute a quarter of the world’s entire prison population. I find that a staggering statistic. In the mid-1990’s there were only 5 private prisons in the US. There are now over 100 holding 62,000 inmates. This is set to increase exponentially over the next 10 years, at the end of which period there will be an estimated 360,000 prisoners in the private sector. No http://www.bleedingheartburgess.com/2007/12/criminal-matters.phpnoreply@blogger.com (bleeding heart burgess)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36569260.post-5201657513444086780Sun, 11 Nov 2007 20:48:00 +00002007-12-04T18:12:15.361-07:00It is the night before they are to surrender their freedom yet again. Father Louis Vitale, a 74 year old Franciscan Priest and Father Stephen Kelly, a 58 year old Jesuit Priest, are amongst the speakers addressing an audience of their supporters at the First Christian Church in Tucson, Arizona. In the morning, both of them will almost certainly be sentenced to several months in jail for having http://www.bleedingheartburgess.com/2007/11/priestly-inspiration-fight-to-end.phpnoreply@blogger.com (bleeding heart burgess)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36569260.post-6770003377347970524Tue, 16 Oct 2007 05:49:00 +00002007-10-15T22:52:38.284-07:00October is Domestic Violence Month in the States. Campaigns to increase awareness of a crime that impacts on 1 in 3 women in this country, at some point during their lifetime, are being conducted. In Arizona, there were 107 deaths from domestic violence in 2006.The statistics in both the US and the UK are shocking: In the US, 5.3 million women are abused each year; Around 1200 women are killed http://www.bleedingheartburgess.com/2007/10/domestic-violence.phpnoreply@blogger.com (bleeding heart burgess)8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36569260.post-3768078891194209827Sat, 13 Oct 2007 00:57:00 +00002007-10-15T02:09:28.116-07:00Tower Bridge, River Thames:The Gherkin, River Thames:Office building, London:Gallipoli, western Turkey: Me on the west coast of Turkey (comments most welcome): Troy, western Turkey:Cannakale, West coast of Turkey, very close to the Dardanelles, the strait where the 1915 battle of Gallipoli took placehttp://www.bleedingheartburgess.com/2007/10/photos-turkey-and-london.phpnoreply@blogger.com (bleeding heart burgess)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36569260.post-5976782005402056520Sat, 13 Oct 2007 00:37:00 +00002007-10-15T02:06:22.218-07:00 Videos and the Virgin Tucson's murals are wonderfulhttp://www.bleedingheartburgess.com/2007/10/photos-tucson-3.phpnoreply@blogger.com (bleeding heart burgess)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36569260.post-4270921106798806239Sat, 13 Oct 2007 00:19:00 +00002007-10-15T02:05:36.273-07:00Usual sight of mega mobile home parked up in a supermarket car parkIs this car insurable? Is the owner sane?(rhetorical)Bus used by travelling performing arts theatre groupHow weird is this hybrid?Big is beautiful. That's not my front garden by the way.Dig this community food bank vanhttp://www.bleedingheartburgess.com/2007/10/bus-used-by-travelling-performing-arts.phpnoreply@blogger.com (bleeding heart burgess)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36569260.post-7914218121205114850Fri, 12 Oct 2007 23:47:00 +00002007-10-15T02:03:41.884-07:00Yours truly with Chicago, the metal manThe metal manThe Bone Yard, Tucson. Disused Air Force planes. Totally awesome, surreal place. Love that whale like, yawning mouth Goose in Reid park, Tucson Japanese dogs in Tucson supermarket. Don't you just love those tongues. And the owner's pretty cool as well!http://www.bleedingheartburgess.com/2007/10/yours-truly-with-chicago-metal-man.phpnoreply@blogger.com (bleeding heart burgess)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36569260.post-778561265707346394Thu, 27 Sep 2007 01:00:00 +00002007-09-26T18:09:32.248-07:00Hi folks. Hope you all had a pleasant summer. Hi fellow Brits. Hope you all enjoyed your mini Indian summer.Until I arrived in Tucson I had always thought obsession with the weather was a peculiarly British trait. How wrong I was. We have got nothing on Tucsonans. The percentage chances of rain on any given day, how many consecutive 100-degree days there will be, when the monsoon season will http://www.bleedingheartburgess.com/2007/09/desert-heat-its-no-sweat.phpnoreply@blogger.com (bleeding heart burgess)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36569260.post-2671681018018389830Sat, 04 Aug 2007 03:43:00 +00002007-10-15T01:59:36.767-07:00I recently ventured across the border into Mexico, for the first time in my life. We, (me and my friends, Amanda ‘the slothful e-mail returner’ Shauger and the oh so feisty, Cactus Cathy, both of whom have shows on KXCI Community Radio Station, 91.3 FM, easily the best radio station in Tucson, http://www.kxci.org/ ), crossed by car, only had to show documents on re-entering the States and were http://www.bleedingheartburgess.com/2007/08/agua-prieta.phpnoreply@blogger.com (bleeding heart burgess)5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36569260.post-8137708772355232365Thu, 19 Jul 2007 01:55:00 +00002007-07-18T18:58:09.910-07:00I knew that I would be surrounded by all things big before I arrived in the states but nothing could have prepared me for the monstrosities which one regularly encounters up one’s rear end on Tucson’s highways. Whenever I am crowded by one of those designer humvees, as I tootle along in my Nissan Sentra, I shudder. And as for those dirty great pick-ups, whose owners have paid anything up to 5 http://www.bleedingheartburgess.com/2007/07/brit-takes-to-tucson-roads.phpnoreply@blogger.com (bleeding heart burgess)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36569260.post-7171077621357950054Wed, 04 Jul 2007 23:18:00 +00002007-07-29T19:42:31.831-07:00OPEN LETTER TO HUGO CHAVEZ:Dear HugoLet me say straight away, (at grave risk of being labelled sycophantic but I care not), that you are one of my heroes. Your charisma is unparalleled in 21st century world politics.Every time I hear the European or American bourgeoisie moaning about your alleged abuses of power and how dangerous you are, I know that you are on the right track.And no one can http://www.bleedingheartburgess.com/2007/07/you-are-wrong-on-iran-hugo.phpnoreply@blogger.com (bleeding heart burgess)2