LONDON (AFP) - Carlos Tevez had Alan Curbishley dreaming of a great escape after his double strike destroyed Bolton and lifted West Ham out of the relegation zone.
Argentina striker Tevez scored two goals, a fantastic free kick and a well-worked tap-in, before providing a killer pass for Mark Noble as the Hammers stormed to a crucial 3-1 win at Upton Park on Saturday.
Curbishley's side have their fate in their own hands for the first time in months and he has told his players they must grab their unlikely relegation lifeline.
That may prove easier said than done however as West Ham, who have won six of their last eight games, are only guaranteed to survive if they become just the second away team to taste victory in a league match at Manchester United this season.
Curbishley will be hoping United are already crowned champions by then and he said: "We find ourselves out of the bottom three for the first time. It's in our hands and we have given ourselves a chance, the question is - can we grab it?
"No one can quite work out how it's going to fall but if we can go to Old Trafford and take anything we have done our bit."
Wigan chairman Dave Whelan, will not have been pleased by the afternoon's results. While Whelan was rallying his counterparts to bring legal action against the Premier League for not deducting points from West Ham, the player whose transfer from Corinthians sparked the controversy was scoring the goals that have taken the Hammers above Wigan in the relegation fight.
With Wigan losing by a goal to nil at home to Middlesbrough, the Latics could slip into the Championship instead of West Ham.
Tevez's two and his hand in the third will certainly be worth more than the 5.5 million pounds West Ham were fined if West Ham do manage to avoid the drop. Premiership survival is currently valued at 40 million pounds.
Asked whether the turmoil surrounding Tevez had been an inspiration, Curbishley added "Not so much. The inspiration is to stay in the Premiership."
While Curbishley was a model of calm, the disappointment was evident all over debut manager Sammy Lee's face. He conceded Bolton's defeat had left them with it all to do in the last game of the season, next week at home to Aston Villa, if his side are to secure their second UEFA Cup spot in three years.
Lee said: "[The UEFA Cup] matters because it showed that we are taking it a stage further. We did it two seasons ago and everyone enjoyed that tour, it's whetted everybody's appetite.
"We try to get as high as possible every season and by getting to UEFA that would be a vindication of everything we are trying to do."
Lee's first game in charge was a difficult one, with a number of first team regulars, including El-Hadji Diouf and Tal Ben Haim, still out through injury.
Lee said of his first experience as manager: "It's different and I've learned a lot about myself today. In the first half there was so much going on and I was thinking about how to change it. It's been a great education for me."
Bolton's improved second half performance had much to do with Lee's decision to substitute David Thompson just after half time.
This allowed Ivan Campo to move out of rightback, where he had been brutally exposed for pace and skill by Tevez and Bobby Zamora, into his more familiar holding midfield role.
With Campo shutting down West Ham in midfield, Bolton soon began to play some decent football.
The culmination of this spell occurred in the 66th minute as Nicolas Anelka fed Gary Speed from wide on the right hand side, the Wales midfielder allowing the ball to run across him before slotting a left foot shot beyond Robert Green. But it was too little, too late for Lee and company.
Tuesday, 8 May 2007
Monday, 7 May 2007
Boxing article for City
As soon as you enter the newly repainted Islington Boxing Club on Hazellville Road, you are greeted by a somehow familiar soundtrack of skipping ropes flicking, bags being pounded and pain being endured.
That, and the smell of graft and sweat.
The odour has had a good 25 years to settle into the mats, during which time boxing luminaries such as Commonwealth gold medallist Courtney Fry, WBU titleholder Colin Dunne and Olympic gold medallist Audley Harrison have graced the club’s floors.
Yet the cliché goes you’re only as good as you’re last fight, and they have all had theirs, whatever the noises emanating from the Harrison camp about a proposed comeback.
Garv Krasniqi is the future, and the board that sits next to the gym’s practice ring suggests that at 16 years old he is “ready” to fight.
On April 1st at Bethnal Green’s York Hall arena, Krasniqi will fight in the ABA London Championships, with an eye on progressing to the national finals if he wins both his quarter and semi-final.
Krasniqi trains everyday, three nights a week at the Islington club, Tuesday evenings at the Angel Amateur Boxing Club, with the other days filled with running and gym work.
He does all this while attending La Swap Sixth Form College.
Asked when he gets time to do the normal things people of his age do, Krasniqi smiles wryly – “I guess in the afternoons I have time to watch films, listen to music and play football, but most of my free time I spend here.”
It’s obvious that his coach, Paul McMahon, has instilled the right ethos of discipline and ambition in the youngman’s mind. Watching Krasniqi train is like watching a big cat on the hunt, he moves from bag-to-bag with a grace and power remarkable for one so young, and his eyes retain a palpable hunger as he works his routine.
“I started boxing to get fit but then moved onto contact. Boxing is good for your self-respect and for learning to respect your elders and other people. I’m one of the youngest here, the others are a bit older, 18-20, but the age goes up to 30.”
Oner Avara, the 34-year-old coordinator of the club, says “He’s got a good chance of progressing. From our experience, when you look into their eyes you can more or less tell straight away if they will box, if they will keep coming and the effort they will make when training.”
Krasniqi has been training with Avara for two years and it’s a long process to get someone newly through the door into the ring and boxing competitively.
“We start them out running and then do a bit more pad work before moving onto sparring. Once they do the sparring that’s when they realise whether they will box or not,” says Avara.
Now the club has three amateurs it considers ready to get in the ring out of a roster 31 seniors: Krasniqi, Reece Shagourie and Carlos Moreno, all youngsters based in the area around the club.
Krasniqi says “Islington is a good club. It’s got good coaches who are friendly and do a good job of training you hard.”
Even though Krasniqi will be the only one actually boxing on April 1st, Avara is insistent that the rest of the club will be at York Hall to support him.
“These guys have been working hard for this and of course all the other kids will go down to support. It encourages others to compete when they see their mate doing so well and getting so much attention.”
Yet boxing is about more than being the best and keeping fit. Avara stresses the other aspects of the sport. “In terms of self-discipline, this is the best sport I have ever seen. Because you don’t want to get hurt you don’t need anyone to tell you to go training, you don’t want to lose. Life is full of competition and this is a smaller scale competition that will help you prepare for the rest of your life, when you go outside you know how to compete with other people and not lose your self-control.”
Krasniqi will see how much self-control he can retain when he steps in the ring on April 1st.
That, and the smell of graft and sweat.
The odour has had a good 25 years to settle into the mats, during which time boxing luminaries such as Commonwealth gold medallist Courtney Fry, WBU titleholder Colin Dunne and Olympic gold medallist Audley Harrison have graced the club’s floors.
Yet the cliché goes you’re only as good as you’re last fight, and they have all had theirs, whatever the noises emanating from the Harrison camp about a proposed comeback.
Garv Krasniqi is the future, and the board that sits next to the gym’s practice ring suggests that at 16 years old he is “ready” to fight.
On April 1st at Bethnal Green’s York Hall arena, Krasniqi will fight in the ABA London Championships, with an eye on progressing to the national finals if he wins both his quarter and semi-final.
Krasniqi trains everyday, three nights a week at the Islington club, Tuesday evenings at the Angel Amateur Boxing Club, with the other days filled with running and gym work.
He does all this while attending La Swap Sixth Form College.
Asked when he gets time to do the normal things people of his age do, Krasniqi smiles wryly – “I guess in the afternoons I have time to watch films, listen to music and play football, but most of my free time I spend here.”
It’s obvious that his coach, Paul McMahon, has instilled the right ethos of discipline and ambition in the youngman’s mind. Watching Krasniqi train is like watching a big cat on the hunt, he moves from bag-to-bag with a grace and power remarkable for one so young, and his eyes retain a palpable hunger as he works his routine.
“I started boxing to get fit but then moved onto contact. Boxing is good for your self-respect and for learning to respect your elders and other people. I’m one of the youngest here, the others are a bit older, 18-20, but the age goes up to 30.”
Oner Avara, the 34-year-old coordinator of the club, says “He’s got a good chance of progressing. From our experience, when you look into their eyes you can more or less tell straight away if they will box, if they will keep coming and the effort they will make when training.”
Krasniqi has been training with Avara for two years and it’s a long process to get someone newly through the door into the ring and boxing competitively.
“We start them out running and then do a bit more pad work before moving onto sparring. Once they do the sparring that’s when they realise whether they will box or not,” says Avara.
Now the club has three amateurs it considers ready to get in the ring out of a roster 31 seniors: Krasniqi, Reece Shagourie and Carlos Moreno, all youngsters based in the area around the club.
Krasniqi says “Islington is a good club. It’s got good coaches who are friendly and do a good job of training you hard.”
Even though Krasniqi will be the only one actually boxing on April 1st, Avara is insistent that the rest of the club will be at York Hall to support him.
“These guys have been working hard for this and of course all the other kids will go down to support. It encourages others to compete when they see their mate doing so well and getting so much attention.”
Yet boxing is about more than being the best and keeping fit. Avara stresses the other aspects of the sport. “In terms of self-discipline, this is the best sport I have ever seen. Because you don’t want to get hurt you don’t need anyone to tell you to go training, you don’t want to lose. Life is full of competition and this is a smaller scale competition that will help you prepare for the rest of your life, when you go outside you know how to compete with other people and not lose your self-control.”
Krasniqi will see how much self-control he can retain when he steps in the ring on April 1st.
Taiwan - when can I return!?
From
May 3, 2007
Made in Taiwan
With its numerous English-language teaching opportunities, great salaries and low living costs, Taiwan has much to offer cash-strapped British graduates, writes David Green
Look at the back of many consumer products - toys, electronic goods or sports equipment - and you will be met with the familiar phrase “made in Taiwan”. Those goods contribute to the island’s £10 billion trade surplus, a remarkable achievement for a country with only 23 million inhabitants.
The good news for British students is that the Taiwanese government knows that sustaining its export-led economy requires a continual stream of fluent English speakers who can conduct business and foster trade relations abroad. As such, Taiwan’s drive to make English its second language (Mandarin is its first) provides a golden opportunity for British graduates to teach English and pay off their student debt.
As many graduates know, it is near impossible to save money on a starting wage in many of the UK’s cities. In Taiwan, the situation is markedly different. Opportunities to teach abound: in kindergartens, chain schools and universities. Native speakers of English are not required to have a TEFL certificate, just a degree in order to start teaching, although some kind of teacher training or experience is recommended. Contracts that include health insurance start at £10,000 a year - an income that can be neatly supplemented by teaching privately at a rate of £10 an hour or more.
It may not sound like much, but when you consider a nice apartment in the capital, Taipei, can be rented for as little as £75 a month and living costs are significantly lower than at home, the benefits soon become apparent. It may also be helpful to know that large bottles of beer cost under a pound.
Barry Goertzen, a 25-year-old Canadian now living in Taipei, went to Taiwan on a whim after he graduated in journalism in 2004 and has remained there ever since. “If you’re on a budget, have a steady job and perhaps some private lessons, you can save a decent amount every month," he says. "I think what surprises people is how long it takes to get going here. Flying over, getting an apartment and buying all the stuff that comes with it...it all takes money. But once you've been here for a while and are on a budget, things can go really well.”
Steph Weston, 30, from Derby, lived in Taiwan for three years and reaped the benefits of high wages and low living costs. “I was earning £1500 a month working from eight until six," she recalls. It was pretty hard graft but with rent at about £100, bills £20 and £1.50 a week going on petrol for my scooter, I was saving £800 a month. Now I’m back home and debt-free, the sense of freedom is amazing. I just bought a new laptop, made in Taiwan, something I would never have done before.”
Yet Taiwan has more to offer than just good pay and opportunities to teach. Taipei is determined to become the world’s first ‘cyber city’, with wireless web access now available across 90 per cent of the capital, making it easy to do business and keep in touch with friends. It is also an excellent place to study Mandarin, with exchange options and private tuition widely available at institutes across the country. Those graduates with an eye on the future would do well to learn the language of the 1.3 billion people who live in China, the world’s fastest growing major economy.
The country also has a strong sense of national identity and this is even reflected in the language, the mainland using simplified Chinese characters while Taiwan retains the more complicated traditional versions. The Taiwanese are stoical in their attitude to relations with China. Taiwan will not declare formal independence for fear of reprisals but holds its own elections, a foremost factor in which is the candidates’ stance on independence.
Yet the island will do whatever is can to assert its right to independence in other ways, most recently by rejecting Beijing’s plan to include the country as part of the Olympic torch’s route, pointing out that the torch’s subsequent destinations, Hong Kong and Macao, imply that Taiwan is part of mainland China. The political identity of Taiwan’s students is almost entirely informed by the apparent stalemate between the two countries. For an island such as Taiwan, other international concerns fade into insignificance in the face of such future uncertainty and teachers would do well to remember this when teaching older students more complicated topics.
Taiwan’s close relations with the United States mean the country is welcoming to westerners and can rightfully be called a bridge between east and west. The island is home to a vibrant and multicultural expat community, well-served by English signage in the more popular areas. The people are also some of the friendliest around, only too happy to show the way, even if it means riding a bus they later tell you took them in completely the wrong direction. Crime, for a westerner, soon becomes a distant memory. It is remarkable how this sense of safety can relieve an underlying stress that you become accustomed to in the UK, its presence noticeable only after you return having experienced something different.
The curious cultural quirks can be delightful too. Strains of Beethoven’s Für Elise drift over Taipei during the evening, a source of puzzlement until you move into a place of your own and realise the music is a cue for residents to gather in the streets and throw out their rubbish. Taiwan travels by scooter and while the metro is cheap and efficient, getting your own wheels and riding pell-mell through the capital’s narrow alleys during a pre-typhoon storm is one of the most exhilarating experiences around.
Away from the cities, Taiwan’s countryside offers a reminder of why Portuguese explorers named the island Formosa, from the Latin for beautiful. A spectacular marble gorge runs the length of Taroko, the country’s most prestigious national park, and a spine of towering peaks runs down the middle of the island, both of which are easily reachable by train, car or scooter. You may also like to travel to picturesque Green Island off the south-east coast where scuba diving is the major pastime.
For those who relish the challenge of working abroad and are keen to learn new language skills, pay off their debt and experience a different culture that is warm and welcoming, Taiwan is most definitely the place to go.
Know before you go:
Check the visa situation. Visa requirements change regularly and at short notice. While a tourist visa is reasonably easy to obtain, it can be difficult to get a teaching visa first off, especially without a job lined up.
Do your research. The web has an abundance of material on teaching in Taiwan. Teaching English and Living in Taiwan is an excellent first port of call and has information on jobs, accommodation, friends, sports clubs, scooter rental and equipment exchange. It’s also worth checking the classified section in the China Post and Taipei Times for jobs.
English in Taiwan offers advice on teaching materials and also information on the legalities of teaching. Many foreigners teach without the appropriate visa and it can also be illegal to teach children under a certain age, so get your facts straight before you go.
Bikefarm is the best resource for renting a scooter in Taipei.
Taipei Language Institute is a good place to start looking for Mandarin lessons.
Understand the culture. The Taiwanese attribute a large degree of importance to not losing face. It is a cultural issue that often confuses foreigners when they first arrive. Never insult, embarrass or otherwise demean a Taiwanese person. While this may seem obvious, the issue often raises its head when negotiating wages. While the Taiwanese will often agree to an arrangement, do not be surprised if they later renege on the deal because rejecting your proposal would have resulted in them losing face. Take a look at this blog for an overview of Taiwanese culture and other matters. Alternatively, The Peking Duck offers intelligent insights into political and cultural matters in both China and Taiwan.
AFP News brief
Tevez puts Hammers on brink of safety
by Dave GreenCarlos Tevez fired West Ham to the verge of a remarkable and controversial 'great escape' from relegation by scoring twice and making his side's third goal in a 3-1 win over Bolton on Saturday.
The three points lifted the Hammers out of the relegation zone at the expense of Wigan, who were beaten at Middlesbrough and now look certain to take legal action over the Premier League's failure to impose a points penalty on West Ham for the serious rule breaches involved in the signing of Tevez and his Argentina team-mate Javier Mascherano last August.
West Ham's player of the season produced a virtuoso performance, scoring a fantastic freekick and a well-taken tap in, as well as supplying a great cross for the Hammers' third.
Three goals in the first half an hour were enough to see off a disappointing Bolton and Gary Speed's second-half consolation goal will do little to ease new manager Sammy Lee's fears his side may miss out on UEFA Cup football next season.
The Hammers' opener came after Bolton's Abdoulaye Meite brought down Tevez just outside the area. The Argentina international stepped up to take the freekick and curled the ball beyond Jussi Jaaskelainen into the top left hand corner of the goal.
West Ham's second typified the renewed vigour apparent in the side since Premiership survival became more than an impossible dream.
Captain Nigel Reo-Coker lost the ball in midfield but battled back to win it and release George McCartney down the left. McCartney fed Luis Boa Morte, running down the inside left channel between Campo and Meite, for the midfielder to slide the ball into the feet of Tevez, who slipped the ball under Jaaskelainen.
The third came with Bolton still reeling, Tevez's cross from the left being met with a great right-foot volley by the unmarked Noble at the back post.
Bolton's performance in the first half was tepid at best as their moves were snuffed out by a resolute Hammers' defence. James Collins was particularly hard to beat in the air, ensuring Campo's lofted freekicks, Bolton's primary outlet, rarely reached another Bolton player.
West Ham initially continued to make the running after the break but Bolton finally began to press when Nicolas Anelka's shot from the edge of the penalty area was tipped just wide by Robert Green.
With just under quarter of an hour left, Speed capitalised on poor defending to fire a left foot shot under the advancing Green but Bolton never looked likely to stem the home supporters' chants of "We are staying up."
Carlos Tevez, seen here in action in December 2006, fired West Ham to the verge of a remarkable and controversial 'great escape' from relegation by scoring twice and making his side's third goal in a 3-1 win over Bolton on Saturday.
© 2007 AFP - Andrew Yates
Tuesday, 1 May 2007
Puppet masters
In an age when the faces of many human actors are made obdurate and expressionless by over-liberal injections of botox, Gregory Doran’s puppet version of Shakespeare’s little known tragic poem is a refreshingly natural change.
The hour-long collaboration between the Little Angel Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company is a fusion of Elizabethan myth and Japanese bunraku puppet theatre, its seamless realisation a testament both to the production team’s hard graft and the seemingly infinite adaptability of the Bard’s work.
The tale of the goddess Venus’ unrequited and obsessive love for the beautiful yet callow Adonis captivates the audience from the moment Venus first appears riding in her golden conch chariot, deftly manipulated from above by an array of strings.
Narrator Harriet Walter masterfully invigorates the marionettes, her command of the language ensuring you soon lose any sense of reality and start looking into the puppets’ huge eyes, searching for signs of life.
A guitarist sits opposite her to the left of the proscenium stage, providing unobtrusive accompaniment to the action as five black-clad puppeteers do their work, three of them working a puppet at one time to ensure the movement flows naturally.
Adonis’ stubborn refusal to engage with Venus’ amorous play is comically rendered, the puppets flirting like modern lovers: Adonis stamps his foot in righteous indignation at Venus’ unceasing advances, she steals a kiss or an inappropriate touch whenever his guard is down.
Director of Puppetry, Steve Tiplady, has paid attention to the language - Venus’ hand movements leaving little to the imagination as Walter intones: “Graze on my lips; and if those hills be dry, stray lower, where the pleasant fountains lie.”
The two leads are supported by a cast of animal puppets that cavort around in front of the stage, as well as through the intimate theatre’s aisles, the half life- size horses’ lovemaking intent an ironic counterpoint to Adonis’ frigidity.
These bestial interruptions ensure the production retains a decent pace as the action takes a more melancholy turn, Adonis refusing to heed Venus’ prophecy of his impending death should he hunt the bristling boar.
Rob Jones’ stage proves as adaptable as the puppets themselves as, in an astonishing climax, death rears his rictal face from atop the golden arch above the stage and casts out his skeletal arms to transport Venus high above the boards.
Although the, mostly elderly, audience really enjoyed the show, you cannot help but think it a shame the sex scenes were deemed too risqué to show to under fourteens – they would have loved it.
The hour-long collaboration between the Little Angel Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company is a fusion of Elizabethan myth and Japanese bunraku puppet theatre, its seamless realisation a testament both to the production team’s hard graft and the seemingly infinite adaptability of the Bard’s work.
The tale of the goddess Venus’ unrequited and obsessive love for the beautiful yet callow Adonis captivates the audience from the moment Venus first appears riding in her golden conch chariot, deftly manipulated from above by an array of strings.
Narrator Harriet Walter masterfully invigorates the marionettes, her command of the language ensuring you soon lose any sense of reality and start looking into the puppets’ huge eyes, searching for signs of life.
A guitarist sits opposite her to the left of the proscenium stage, providing unobtrusive accompaniment to the action as five black-clad puppeteers do their work, three of them working a puppet at one time to ensure the movement flows naturally.
Adonis’ stubborn refusal to engage with Venus’ amorous play is comically rendered, the puppets flirting like modern lovers: Adonis stamps his foot in righteous indignation at Venus’ unceasing advances, she steals a kiss or an inappropriate touch whenever his guard is down.
Director of Puppetry, Steve Tiplady, has paid attention to the language - Venus’ hand movements leaving little to the imagination as Walter intones: “Graze on my lips; and if those hills be dry, stray lower, where the pleasant fountains lie.”
The two leads are supported by a cast of animal puppets that cavort around in front of the stage, as well as through the intimate theatre’s aisles, the half life- size horses’ lovemaking intent an ironic counterpoint to Adonis’ frigidity.
These bestial interruptions ensure the production retains a decent pace as the action takes a more melancholy turn, Adonis refusing to heed Venus’ prophecy of his impending death should he hunt the bristling boar.
Rob Jones’ stage proves as adaptable as the puppets themselves as, in an astonishing climax, death rears his rictal face from atop the golden arch above the stage and casts out his skeletal arms to transport Venus high above the boards.
Although the, mostly elderly, audience really enjoyed the show, you cannot help but think it a shame the sex scenes were deemed too risqué to show to under fourteens – they would have loved it.
A travel piece from Taiwan (happy memories)
Of all Taiwan's six national parks, Taroko is the most sublime
"Taroko" means 'magnificent and splendid,' a description originally bestowed by one stunned indigenous explorer, as he stumbled upon the view from the gorge's eastward opening onto the Pacific Ocean.
Stretching 36km from north to south and 42km east to west, the park houses numerous peaks of over 3000m, including the foreboding Mt. Nanhu and the distinctive Chilai Mountains.
I had spent much of my time in Taiwan riding my scooter pell-mell through the cramped confines of Taipei's bustling thoroughfares.
Fun though this can be, I longed to exchange the capital's claustrophobic skyline for the unspoiled and endless horizons of Taroko (太魯閣).
I admit I had visions of an Easy Rider-esque scenario, albeit with a slightly smaller bike. So I took the four-hour train ride down to Hualien (花蓮), on Taiwan's east coast.
There, a short walk from the train station (veer right as you exit), is a line of motorbike vendors, anxious to pack you off into the mountains on 150cc scooters for as little as NT$400 a day.
After an hour's drive along the coastal plain, hat turned to the back, not as a gesture of style but because to wear it correctly almost sheared my head from my shoulders, I arrived at the last gas station.
Before entering the park proper, one should pay a visit to the park headquarters. The center has an excellent relief map, some stunning photographs, and information on the indigenous tribes that live in Taroko.
Following a short ascent up the gorge's winding and well-paved roads, during which I was passed by the real Easy Riders -- Taiwanese with Goldwing-sized bikes -- I came to the Shakadang (沙卡礑) River.
Though there is a picturesque walk along the cliffs, I wanted to be closer to the gorge and so decided to do some river chasing. The river is low during summer, but it's important you come equipped with sturdy footwear, as the current is frequently strong enough to sweep flip-flops from your feet.
Light reflected from dissolved calcium carbonate gives the ice-cool water a striking blue coloring, and down among the boulders I believed I was the only traveler for miles.
As I swam, hopped, jumped, dragged, tripped and fell my way up the river, tiny fish zipped around my feet and I soon located two fat frogs basking on a rock. They seemed pleased -- an abundance of frog's spawn lay strewn about them.
The onward drive from the river mouth towards Tien-hsiang (天祥) is one of unparalleled natural beauty, comparable even with the views from California's Highway 1.
Of course, there is a certain difficulty in taking in all that's to be seen while keeping your scooter on the road, but I often had both lanes to myself -- and a huge grin on my face.
The marble rock formations glistened; waterfalls gushed and trickled down to the roadside and at every turn a new vista unfolded, revealing overlapping ridges like stairways to the clouds.
Just before Tien-hsiang stands the entrance to the Baiyang (白楊) waterfall: a huge, gaping tunnel mouth.
I recommend walking through this at night, when the wind howling tunnel seems to want to suck you into oblivion. I even began to doubt my disbelief in ghosts; this is Taiwan after all.
The waterfall itself, complete with rickety rope-bridge, is impressively powerful and it's possible to follow its path quite a distance down the mountainside.
The final tunnel, which takes about 40 minutes to reach, is really cave, and sports the marvelous phenomenon of indoor rain, made possible by the porous limestone ceiling.
Perched on the cliff top, a steep climb up from Tien-hsiang, stands the statue of the White Lady. It's well worth the short hike just to eat lunch in the Huoran Pavilion and enjoy the panoramic view.
Tien-hsiang is an excellent base from which to explore the surrounding area. It even has an ATM, but beware, I found to my cost that it will not accept Cirrus branded cards and was forced to dine on instant noodles and betel nuts.
I opted to stay at the Catholic Hostel, NT$500 a night for a double with en suite and air con. It's a charming place of rabbit warren design; walkways overhead and below, and a maze of stairs and ladders connect the rooms.
Lying on the breeze-cooled roof was a welcome relief from my usual sweat-ridden berth in Taipei. I listened to the susurrus of running water, the manifold sounds of nature in the surrounding trees, and thought how lucky I was to have escaped Taipei.
I have only sketched some of the many possibilities in the park. There are numerous other trails, hikes and sights, all of varying interest and difficulty. How adventurous you are, how far you stray from the beaten track, is really up to you.
In Taroko, as with much of Taiwan, anything is possible.
An aritcle I wrote for the Islington Gazette
Charity helps promote rise of citizen journalist
11 April 2007
 |
| Billy Rippe: “We thought it would be nice to add the voices of people all over the world |
SIMON Kelner, editor of The Independent, reckons "no one listens to podcasts."
The five men and women sitting silently behind their computer screens, cocooned by headphones, think differently.
Their faces twitch with the efforts of concentration as they are race against the clock to finish their very own podcasts by lunchtime.
The three medical professionals and two AIDS charity workers from Ghana are coming to the end of a two-day course in citizen journalism hosted by On Road Media (ORM), a social enterprise that operates out of the Grayston Centre near Old Street Tube station.
Founded in 2005 by Nathalie McDermott, a former producer for Radio Five Live, ORM trains marginalised groups of people and charities to create podcasts - audio reports which can be downloaded via a computer to an MP3 player - and audio diaries, as well as websites upon which to host them.
Today it's the turn of Owusu Kwasi-Poku, a representative of charity Theatre for a Change, which uses workshops and performance to investigate issues around HIV/AIDS and young people's rights. Owusu has come all the way from Ghana to drum up support for the charity and learn some new skills in the process.
He smiles as he puts the finishing touches to a sound graph he's been tinkering with. "We do projects with young people that try to promote awareness of health issues in Ghana and this is a great way to get the message across to a larger community. It's been fun and should be very useful for our jobs," he says.
In many ways ORM is at the forefront of the citizen journalism revolution that has forced so many changes in the way the so-called "old media" operates.
In America, hyper-local newspapers such as Chicago's Chi Town Daily News, which relies on reporters based in the communities they write about, eschewing professional journalists in the process, are raking in readers as conventional newspapers lose sales.
This is what Nathalie sees as citizen journalism taken to its logical conclusion. She says: "We're supporting people with sustainable skills so they can do it themselves. And citizen journalism is that. It's about people talking for themselves, not through the conduit of an impartial third-party journalist."
Although the hyper-local news revolution is yet to hit Britain with any real gusto, projects like ORM are planting the seeds of the coming change by giving people the tools they need to report on the local issues that concern them.
Earlier this month, homeless charity Ten Feet Away, which runs out of the Union Chapel on Compton Avenue near Highbury and Islington station, launched a website created as a result of ORM's training.
Billy Rippe, the project's coordinator and formerly homeless on the streets of Islington himself, explains the idea behind the project.
"We wanted to deliver an international website and thought it would be nice to add the voices of people all over the world. So we contacted ORM and arranged two days training in citizen journalism."
Now, just a week after the launch, the website already has posts from similar groups in Japan and Argentina, with a forthcoming visit to Russia likely to add voices from another country to the stable.
The content is highly varied and of a high quality, so high in fact that in a few months the best pieces of art (audio and visual) posted on the website will be featured in a Guardian Arts Unlimited online exhibition. Vodcasts supplement blogs, pictures supplement podcasts and the result is that reflections on homelessness, prison stints and art are all conveyed through multimedia in a way unthinkable a few years ago.
"We wanted to create a network of homeless charities so we can have a look at what's going on in other countries and compare, say, homelessness in Islington and Buenos Aires," says Billy.
The training is all conducted on open source software that is free to download, which enables the trainees to take the skills they have learned back to their communities and workplaces. Billy has taken this a step further and extended the reach of the training beyond the UK. "Our international partners can blog anytime they want. We created a training package that we have on our website to support the international people so they can do podcasts as well."
Ten Feet Away is exactly the kind of project that innovative radio slots like Radio Five Live's Pods and Blogs are interested in. The show, hosted by Chris Valance, features content from citizen journalists, interviews with bloggers and reports on developments in new media at home and abroad.
Chris is anxious to see more citizen journalism on the show to supplement the hard hitting podcasts it has already broadcast on topics like the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the 7/7 attacks on London and the reaction to a spate of shootings in London.
Chris says: "I do think that the media could do more to raise awareness of how empowering the new technology can be. Of course it's time consuming, costs money, and there are elements that are technically challenging, which is where groups like ORM can help people on the wrong side of the digital divide gain a voice. That kind of work is hugely valuable as is the content it creates."
Chris is reluctant to say the show has broken any stories as most are featured on blogs before they reach him, yet his show has been the conduit through which some major stories have reached a wider audience.
"The story about the US army using white phosphorus for more than just illumination was first broken by a blogger, but he tipped us off to the story and we passed that on to colleagues covering the military."
Citizen journalism is changing the way the media operates across the globe. If Islington's homeless are already on the web reporting, blogging, vlogging and podcasting, that change will surely know no bounds.
* Examples of Ten Feet Away's homeless arts podcasting project can be found online at www.tenfeetaway.wordpress.com
Something I did for Roy Greenslade
The business of selling newspapers dictates that editors must create a product that appeals to the marketplace. With the near instantaneous transmission of news and the Internet providing a means of accessing information from a variety of sources, news providers have had to think up new ways of distinguishing their product. Yet the notion newspapers have increasingly focused on ‘infotainment’ does not necessarily mean quality journalism has suffered as a result.
In his book The Vanishing Newspaper, Philip Meyer demonstrates through empirical evidence how accuracy, trust and credibility are the primary drivers of audience creation and retention. He says: “The way to achieve societal influence is to obtain public trust by becoming a reliable and high quality news provider, which frequently involves investment in news resources and editorial output.” According to Meyer, the market model provides sufficient incentive for newspapers to strive for accuracy and truth because this is what the public, and as a consequence advertisers, desire. If Meyer is right, newspapers should be varying the nature of their content without sacrificing the bedrock journalistic values of truth and accuracy.
Anna McKane, career journalist and director of the BA Journalism and Contemporary History programme at City University, has recently undertaken research on accuracy standards across Britain’s newspaper industry. Although she is keen to stress she has not yet completed the survey, her preliminary findings offer an insight into the nature of the debate in the UK.
“I think that what’s being shown is that the news stories are nothing like as inaccurate as people believe. The problem lies with the increase in the number of columnists. There’s certainly more fiction in the columns,” says McKane. “Overall the tabloids aren’t terribly accurate but that’s because they are filled with a lot of stuff that’s not news. We just can’t check the gossip stuff.”
So while newspapers appear to have retained a commitment to accuracy and truth when it comes to hard news, the rest of the content has changed in order to serve a public demand for gossip and opinion that is largely unverifiable and loosely sourced.
Yet Jay Rosen, author of influential new media blog PressThink, believes standards have decreased. He says: “I think the ‘bad habits’ of the traditional press have been magnified, underlined and analyzed more starkly than ever, in part because of the rise of new media. Maybe some of them - a weakness for celebrity news, a tendency to pack journalism, and casual attitudinizing - are even worse.”
Rosen’s view holds a lot of currency in the United States and his criticisms could be levelled at the British tabloids. But it’s not just the tabloids that are changing the nature of their content and how it is presented. John Mair, International Editor of the Times, concedes that the ‘quality papers’ have also had to adapt to changes in the marketplace.
He says: “One aspect is the way the Guardian and the Times have increasingly turned to giving side-panels to stories. It’s another point of entry into a story – info bites that would feed into the category of infotainment by providing an extra presentational dimension.”
He also believes that standards of accuracy are still high when it comes to the delivery of hard news yet concedes that the level of opinion and comment has also increased.
“Hard news is still there but there’s been a change in the extent to which we want a mediator. With blogs and people posting information on the web, we are now in competition with alternative news sources. It’s the extent to which people trust mediation and the extent to which that mediation has gone.”
Mediation is the way in which newspaper columnists and commentators interpret the news. It could also be called the spin that opinion makers put on events. Mair is suggesting that, far from decry the loss of objectivity inherent in mediation, audiences are actively seeking a certain level of mediation from news sources they believe they can trust.
Mair points to competition from the Internet as a key driver of this change: “In a multilayered society newspapers must demonstrate that they are in touch with [developments on the web] but also that they offer more. This has led to an increase in the number of columnists – they sell newspapers. All of that feeds into the argument about how newspapers are responding.”
So what seems to be happening is that newspapers are changing the way news is delivered, with the emphasis placed on interpretation.
Rosen contends this kind of interpretation is exactly why some people trust blogs to a larger extent than mainstream media: “Successful blogs with regular users in the thousands or more develop trust in a different way. For example: by being transparent about their interests and perspectives rather than claiming ‘no interest, no perspective.’”
It seems that an increasingly media savvy public can accept that their news is delivered with motives other than pure objectivity in mind. What the modern media audience is looking for is the ability to interact with that news and correct opinion should they deem it to be wrong, all changes ushered in by the rise of news media.
Mair agrees that the web has led to changes in the way the mainstream media operates: “What the web has done to newspapers is to make everything more transparent. They have been sharpened up. You are less likely to get away with inaccuracy as people can challenge things very easily.”
Rosen supports this, saying: “The first instinct when challenged used to be, ‘we stand by our story.’ Today that's breaking down a little because it's a lot easier for the people who think you got it wrong to get together and prove it.”
So while newspapers are increasing the amount of mediation and interpretation they are also being forced to maintain standards of accuracy because journalism is becoming less of a lecture and more of a dialogue - a change fostered by developments in new media. Newspapers retain a large degree of what Mair refers to as “residual trust.” Despite the rise of new media, it will take some time for newspapers to lose the position of most trusted medium because of their historic roles in the communities they serve. However, what newspapers must beware of, as competition form the Internet increases, is a temptation to sacrifice the very standards that earned them that trust in the first place, in order to be first to the news.
Mair sums up the predicament with these words of warning: “Now there’s not time to get a real perspective, to make the distinction between what’s news and what’s new. Legislation prevents newspapers printing certain things and this applies less to the web. It’s pushing newspapers into taking greater risks. We have been overstepping the mark now all the time. There’s been a relaxation in accuracy, a kind of response to things elsewhere and this is what we have to watch out for.”
In his book The Vanishing Newspaper, Philip Meyer demonstrates through empirical evidence how accuracy, trust and credibility are the primary drivers of audience creation and retention. He says: “The way to achieve societal influence is to obtain public trust by becoming a reliable and high quality news provider, which frequently involves investment in news resources and editorial output.” According to Meyer, the market model provides sufficient incentive for newspapers to strive for accuracy and truth because this is what the public, and as a consequence advertisers, desire. If Meyer is right, newspapers should be varying the nature of their content without sacrificing the bedrock journalistic values of truth and accuracy.
Anna McKane, career journalist and director of the BA Journalism and Contemporary History programme at City University, has recently undertaken research on accuracy standards across Britain’s newspaper industry. Although she is keen to stress she has not yet completed the survey, her preliminary findings offer an insight into the nature of the debate in the UK.
“I think that what’s being shown is that the news stories are nothing like as inaccurate as people believe. The problem lies with the increase in the number of columnists. There’s certainly more fiction in the columns,” says McKane. “Overall the tabloids aren’t terribly accurate but that’s because they are filled with a lot of stuff that’s not news. We just can’t check the gossip stuff.”
So while newspapers appear to have retained a commitment to accuracy and truth when it comes to hard news, the rest of the content has changed in order to serve a public demand for gossip and opinion that is largely unverifiable and loosely sourced.
Yet Jay Rosen, author of influential new media blog PressThink, believes standards have decreased. He says: “I think the ‘bad habits’ of the traditional press have been magnified, underlined and analyzed more starkly than ever, in part because of the rise of new media. Maybe some of them - a weakness for celebrity news, a tendency to pack journalism, and casual attitudinizing - are even worse.”
Rosen’s view holds a lot of currency in the United States and his criticisms could be levelled at the British tabloids. But it’s not just the tabloids that are changing the nature of their content and how it is presented. John Mair, International Editor of the Times, concedes that the ‘quality papers’ have also had to adapt to changes in the marketplace.
He says: “One aspect is the way the Guardian and the Times have increasingly turned to giving side-panels to stories. It’s another point of entry into a story – info bites that would feed into the category of infotainment by providing an extra presentational dimension.”
He also believes that standards of accuracy are still high when it comes to the delivery of hard news yet concedes that the level of opinion and comment has also increased.
“Hard news is still there but there’s been a change in the extent to which we want a mediator. With blogs and people posting information on the web, we are now in competition with alternative news sources. It’s the extent to which people trust mediation and the extent to which that mediation has gone.”
Mediation is the way in which newspaper columnists and commentators interpret the news. It could also be called the spin that opinion makers put on events. Mair is suggesting that, far from decry the loss of objectivity inherent in mediation, audiences are actively seeking a certain level of mediation from news sources they believe they can trust.
Mair points to competition from the Internet as a key driver of this change: “In a multilayered society newspapers must demonstrate that they are in touch with [developments on the web] but also that they offer more. This has led to an increase in the number of columnists – they sell newspapers. All of that feeds into the argument about how newspapers are responding.”
So what seems to be happening is that newspapers are changing the way news is delivered, with the emphasis placed on interpretation.
Rosen contends this kind of interpretation is exactly why some people trust blogs to a larger extent than mainstream media: “Successful blogs with regular users in the thousands or more develop trust in a different way. For example: by being transparent about their interests and perspectives rather than claiming ‘no interest, no perspective.’”
It seems that an increasingly media savvy public can accept that their news is delivered with motives other than pure objectivity in mind. What the modern media audience is looking for is the ability to interact with that news and correct opinion should they deem it to be wrong, all changes ushered in by the rise of news media.
Mair agrees that the web has led to changes in the way the mainstream media operates: “What the web has done to newspapers is to make everything more transparent. They have been sharpened up. You are less likely to get away with inaccuracy as people can challenge things very easily.”
Rosen supports this, saying: “The first instinct when challenged used to be, ‘we stand by our story.’ Today that's breaking down a little because it's a lot easier for the people who think you got it wrong to get together and prove it.”
So while newspapers are increasing the amount of mediation and interpretation they are also being forced to maintain standards of accuracy because journalism is becoming less of a lecture and more of a dialogue - a change fostered by developments in new media. Newspapers retain a large degree of what Mair refers to as “residual trust.” Despite the rise of new media, it will take some time for newspapers to lose the position of most trusted medium because of their historic roles in the communities they serve. However, what newspapers must beware of, as competition form the Internet increases, is a temptation to sacrifice the very standards that earned them that trust in the first place, in order to be first to the news.
Mair sums up the predicament with these words of warning: “Now there’s not time to get a real perspective, to make the distinction between what’s news and what’s new. Legislation prevents newspapers printing certain things and this applies less to the web. It’s pushing newspapers into taking greater risks. We have been overstepping the mark now all the time. There’s been a relaxation in accuracy, a kind of response to things elsewhere and this is what we have to watch out for.”
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