The protective measures have been taken by the owners of the buildings that Banksy chose to adorn with his work - not really surprising, seeing as his work is now selling for almost two million pounds.
“Quite a lot of residents are keen on them and, generally, they are in favour of them. So, where it has been possible, we have helped to repair them. If it would cost a fortune, we wouldn’t do that,” the council spokesperson explained.
He added that even a real Banksy would be removed, if it led to complaints - which none of Banksy’s works in Islington have in the past.
“If our residents say we don’t like this piece of graffiti, because it is aggressive or promotes guns or something like that, we’ll get rid of it. We are not going to say ‘Oh, let’s keep it, it’s a Banksy!’”
In the trailer for brand new documentary film New Muslim Cool, a radio talk show host says the following to rapper Hamza Perez:
You are a single dad, a Muslim, a Puerto Rican, you are from the hood, you are an artist, a rapper - you sound like America’s worst nightmare.”
The film centres on Perez, a former drug dealer who converted to Islam and started over as a Muslim preacher in North Pittsburgh. Opening a mosque in a rough neighbourhood and attracting a sizeable following with his unconventional fusion of Islam and hip hop, Perez soon arouses the suspicion of both, local drug dealers and Homeland Security.
Eventually, the FBI raids his mosque and Perez has to come to terms with post-9/11 realities. The archenemy of the state is no longer the African- or Latin-American drug dealer. Muslims are the nation’s new usual suspects, often seen as little more than terrorists-in-waiting.
So far, so familiar. But, luckily, the film doesn’t end there. After the raid, instead of turning his back on society and minding his own business, Perez challenges his own reservations and begins reaching out to Christians and Jews in his own unusual way.
I just came across this on YouTube and it blew me away. Below is a clip from this year’s Million’s Poet, the Arab take on Britain’s got Talent.
Poetry is a popular artform in Arab countries, where poets are veritable celebrities - an alien concept to most Westerners, myself included. Contestants competed for $1,361,207.64 this year, which was awarded to Saudi poet Ziyad Hijab bin Naheet (34).
I admit, my jaw dropped in wonder watching this clip of a fully veiled female contestant bringing poetry to primetime TV:
Competition is getting tougher - even in areas that used to have an air of the unchangeable. In Germany, the funeral business is being taken over by low-cost chains as more people resort to cheap package options. What has already happened to airlines and supermarkets is now hitting old-school funeral homes.
As reported by Die Zeit (in German), a growing number of Germany’s dear deceased are being put in the ground for as little as 499 Euros (a popular offer by German funeral service franchiser Aarau Bestattungen)
Now, I am the first to be cynical rather than nostalgic about this. Funerals, like weddings, have become a greedy business, where big brands compete to profit from fuelling people’s emotions - including the ugly kind. After all, there is a lot of money in guilt, envy, anger and fear. Having a cheaper option simply must be a good thing.
Nevertheless - and to my own surprise - the news made me whince involuntarily.
Apparently, Klaus Schneider, the ultra-entrepreneurial founder of Aarau Bestattungen, chose the name because a double A would get his services listed first in the phonebook. He plans to turn his company into the funeral equivalent of discount supermarket Lidl. Maybe that’s the bit that got to me.
Be that as it may, I couldn’t help it - I had to see whether this trend had already arrived in the UK. The answer: not quite. I didn’t come across a comparable low-cost offer, but some extremely depressing research revealed that the cheapest available service in the UK is currently offered by Direct Funerals - also a nationwide franchise.
Their basic package starts at GBP 960 and includes…
“transferring the deceased from the place of death during normal working hours and placing them in a simple dignified coffin suitable for either burial or cremation, lined and fitted with handles and matching plate of inscription.”
Well, now you know.
PS: Note to self - pick less morbid subject for next post.
Twitter users don’t like it when their ‘friends’ start trying to sell them stuff. Corporate lawyers, on the other hand, don’t like it when their clients get sued by fragile, righteous, greedy or otherwise extremely-easy-to-offend internet users.
It looks like life is getting tougher for corporate Twitter users - IE marketing professionals and their contractors who use Twitter as a promotional tool.
The Wall Street Journal reports that some corporate Twitter users have come under fire from both private users and their own corporate lawyers because their tweets might breach corporate communications regulations.
Marketing via social media may be cheap, but it comes with the risk of exposing a brand to the unfiltered fury of consumers. The static, formal, tightly regulated world of big business often doesn’t gel well with the flippant, free-for-all spirit of web 2.0.
That’s why big brands often bring in A-list bloggers: on the one hand, veteran bloggers boost brand credibility because they already have a substantial following; on the other, they are capable of translating corporate PR garble into web 2.0 speak.
Which is exactly what eBay had in mind when they hired Richard Brewer-Hay a few years ago. His popular blog and Twitter feeds helped eBay appear more personable and - above all - attract consumers via social media.
But now Brewer-Hay has reportedly been asked to post formal disclaimers on his blog and Twitter page at the request of the company’s legal team, who fear backlashes and lawsuits as a result of careless, instant tweeting.
