What, even more prizes?

Yup, we think you lot are great so we've snaffled even more prizes.

First up is a hamper from Jordans. Perfect for the low-GI fanatic who enjoys breakfast thanks to the numerous packets of porridges and cereals, and a special, luxury muesli. All housed in a recyclable, happy cardboard box with waterbased ink. Makes you feel good in the morning.

Next up is something that is not even worth telling you about as I plan to buy all the tickets so I can win this. But here are the details anyway so you can see what you are missing out on. It's one set of the five shortlisted novels and the winner of this year's Independent Foreign Fiction Prize with a bottle of Champagne Taittinger Brut Reserve Non Vintage. The winning novel is The Book of Chameleons by the Angolan author José Eduardo Agualusa, and his translator Daniel Hahn.

Next, a bit of booze. We have been given two bottles of limited edition Apsinthion Absinthe. The bottles are rather handsome and apparently the liquid inside is also rather lovely. The Apsinthion Grand De Luxe Absinthe won 'Best in Class' at the International Wine & Spirits Competition in 2005 with it's De Luxe variant and 2007 sees the launch of the super-premium Apsinthion Grand De Luxe, of which only 1000 bottles per year available - we've got two so start saving your pennies for the raffle tickets.

Free food for starving hacks

I feel slightly uncomfortable perching above throbbing gristle, but here it goes anyway, it's the next update on prizes for the summer party.

This post is dedicated to all the rather nice restaurant people who have offered us meals for the raffle.

Thai-ed to London?
Then get down to The Mango Tree who is offering a free meal for two as one of the prizes. The award-winning Thai restaurant is also giving the winner a bottle of house wine with the meal. Having just looked at the website and recognised the interior, I can confirm that the food is indeed rather fab, having been there only two months ago. Dishes include Pla Pow, a grilled fillet of sea bass wrapped in banana leaf and fresh lemon grass served with spicy lime sauce and Larb Pla Tuna, a north-eastern-style tuna salad with dry chilli and lemon grass. Yum.
It is very close to Victoria station, ideal for all you commuters. www.mangotree.org.uk

Hop along to Oblong
Oblong has singlehandedly elevated the status of George St in Hove from culinary desert to foodie heaven since opening earlier this year. Owned by the quiff-sporting Mark, Oblong has a funky cooking-style while sticking to local, seasonal ingredients. The prize is a two-course meal for two, and if you are lucky there might be a spare table on the fabulous roof terrace. Typical dishes include wild salmon pink pepper crusted wild salmon steak with spring onion, maple syrup and griddled pickles and rump of lamb with feta and roasted vine cherry tomato salad.
www.oblongrestaurant.com

Dorset for the evening
The Dorset is an old favourite in the North Laine of Brighton. The continental bar/restaurant is always crowded at the weekend with folk able to sit outside, sip a beer and watch passers-by struggle with their bags of empowering crystals. The restaurant is popular with families and couples alike thanks to its generous portions of French bistro-style food. Manager Thomas is giving the NUJ a meal up to the price of £30 as a prize. Dishes include aubergine stuffed with gruyere, oregano and wild mushroom risotto served with tomato salsa and roasted pine nuts, and whole roasted seasbass crammed with lemon and thyme and served with parmesan rocket salad.
www.thedorset.co.uk

Throbbing Gristle

This is not a pornographic post.

I have two tickets for avant-garde industrial noise merchants Throbbing Gristle show on Saturday at the Tate where they play along to Derek Jarman films.

TG's lead singer Genesis P Orridge was a bloke, now he's a bird. Possibly the weirdest man/woman on the planet. I met him once in a Shaftesbury Avenue kebab shop in 1985 where he was accompanied by lesbian novelist Kathy Acker and he gave me his autograph and she gave me hers. It was my first brush with a superstar.

More here: http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/thelongweekend2007/9027.htm

Tickets are free - can't make the show cos I'm playing cricket.

Beach Barbie brill prize No3

It was a dump 20 years but now Birmingham's brill. Apparently.

And we've got a guide book to the concrete citadel as one of our barbecue special prizes. Maybe not as special as Rachael's goodies (see below) but it's hard to top them.

Worth at least a tenner and after spending three nights there at last month's ADM it has to be admitted - Brum's on the up.

NUJ ePetition - Newsquest's Scottish titles need your support

The NUJ ePetition is calling on Gannett/Newsquest to abide by the assurances they provided to the Competition Commission in 2003 on the transfer of The Herald, Sunday Herald and Evening Times and stop cutting jobs in these titles. Those assurances included their stated intention to maintain the quality and level of coverage of Scottish issues and opinions. For the third year in a row profits have increased at Newsquest (Herald & Times) and for the third year in row management have demanded job cuts across the board.

The Herald's position as a national newspaper is seriously under threat.
The Sunday Herald's role as an award-winning quality Sunday title is at risk.
The ability of Evening Times journalists to sustain the high profile campaigning identity of the paper is being dramatically undermined.
The real danger to these prestigious Scottish titles comes directly from Newsquest's demand for job cuts in each of the last three years.
Their profitable return on investment has been over 35% during this period. This is more than double the average company performance in the UK (14.8%)
Profits from the three titles more than doubled last year to almost £20million.
Parent company Gannett has a current operating revenue of $8033 million.
Now Chief Executive Tim Blott is demanding up to £3million savings from staff.

The Scottish public and civic society must stand up for these newspapers, which are much more important to this country than aspirations and demands of Newsquest shareholders. We need your support to protect titles which are an essential part of Scottish cultural, political and civic life.

Write to the company expressing your concerns and sign the petition.
Tim Blott, Chief Executive, Newsquest (Herald and Times) Limited, 200 Renfield Street, Glasgow G2 3QB.
Click here to sign the NUJ ePetition @ http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/heraldandtimes/

Free Press

Copies of the March/April edition of Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom's mag available. We can chuck em in the post if you email nujbrighton@gmail.com

Beach barbie and ken - get the look

Who needs books when you can have perfect skin? For those journalists who are bored of trying to look clever and want to add a bit of fun and frivolity to their lives, we have some pretty prizes for you in the summer raffle. First up is the Elemis Dream Journey Vanity Case worth £85, generously donated by Elemis.

















For the blokes Biodroga has rather fabulously donated a set of grooming products worth more than £100, including Facial Wash, 24hr Moisturizer, Morning Fit gel, and Vitalizing shower Gel.

And finally, for those whose hands are a mess of ripped cuticles and shredded nails, we have a manicure kit from www.GlossOnline.co.uk containing French Manicure duo, Mini Avoplex Lotion and Essie Crystal Nail File & Polish Set. All Brighton&Mid-Sussex NUJ members can get 10% when ordering online at www.GlossOnline.co.uk, contact Rachael at rachael_glazier@yahoo.co.uk for more info.

More prizes to be announced soon...

Educate...Agitate...Integrate

5 May, London - One-day conference on integration
The Guardian's Michael White and The Telegraph's Chi Chan will lead a discussion about the impact of the convergence and integration of media technologies on the role of journalists. Standards, ethics, staffing levels and much more will be discussed at this important round table discussion. If you would like to attend please contact campaigns@nuj.org.uk as soon as possible. Find out more about the conference by going to www.nuj.org.uk/inner.php?docid=1686.

Beach barbie grand draw Prize No1

You may have read recently that the union has been infiltrated by rootin', tootin', neocon-shootin' lefties and that civilisation is under threat etc etc.

Well here's further proof. Prize No1 for our summer beach barbie raffle is the Fidel Castro handbook, written by none other than that bloke off the telly, George Galloway. Worth a nominal £15. It is indeed written by Mr Galloway Respect MP for Bethnal Green and Bow.

400+plus pages but maybe half feature pictures of some bloke with a beard and of course an obligatory one of George embracing said fungus face. It's quite a breezy, if somewhat hagiographic, read. I thought it was bloody excellent. Published by MG Publications, other subjects in the series include Elvis, Che, cartoonist R Crumb, Jackie Onassis and Muhammad Ali. An eclectic bunch! Wonder if George wrote them too.

We're having a raffle at the barbie at the end of June to raise money for NUJ extra, which is the charity that helps impoverished journos down on their luck by topping up meagre pensions, for example, or making grants.

And don't worry, bear with us as we whip up the excitement to a feverish froth of unbearable expectation by announcing, weekly, prizes at the do. We do hav other stuff which is even better than this. Stay tuned to this site for the next one, which is definitely not two copies of the Fidel Castro handbook.

May Searchlight

May edition of the anti-fascist magazine Searchlight available - out in time for the May local elections, and features an item on efforts to in Bognor to counter far-right candidates.

Rover returns

At a recent meeting someone told one of us: "You should get a war correspondent to come and speak." Allah be praised, there's one in town next week, straight outta Baghdad, although we can't claim any credit for his visit.

You may have already spotted this on the Brighton Festival calendar but former Argus journalist Rory McCarthy is one of the starring attractions next week and some of us remember him as a callow youth, covering the transport beat with commendable vigour. It's on Sunday May 6 at the Old Market in Hove. Rory is the Guardian's Baghdad correspondent and last year wrote a book on the country and how its people are coping with war. He is joined by BBC film-maker Sean McAllister who made the film Liberace in Baghdad, which will be screened at the venue. It will be followed by a round-table debate on Iraq's continuing crisis.

Tickets - call Brighton 709709. Booking fee a despicable £2 but not if you buy direct at the festival box office. Tickets still available on Tuesday!

Job - Culture vulture wanted

Former branch member Jon Pratty is looking for a ‘middle-level journo’ with experience of online working to run Icons Online website. Deadline, Tuesday May 8. Five weeks holiday a year, 37.5 hours a week for £17,500 (we suggest you ask for a wage rise on your first day if you get it). Closing date Tuesday May 8.

ICONS, a major online project funded by Culture Online, is coming under the editorial supervision of the 24 Hour Museum. The job will be an interesting mix of tasks, from sifting nominations for ICON status and answering email enquiries, to researching and writing articles and features for new ICON entries, sourcing pictures and editing and uploading content.

The mix of skills, initiative and judgement needed to do the job successfully means we are seeking a qualified journalist (to NCTJ standard) with recent experience and a self-starting and positive attitude. A willingness to travel around the UK to research information and an interest in culture is essential. Duties include:

• Research and write articles, features and news stories for ICONS / 24HM website.

• Take responsibility for maintenance of the ICONS site. Maintain scrutiny of specific site sections and ensure they are accurate and up-to-date.

• Assist in maintaining a contacts book and story diary

• Liaise with contacts, press officers and PR agencies as necessary.

Plus any other duties that are seen to be appropriate to the post.

Contact Jon Pratty at editor@24hourmuseum.org.uk for an application form or we can forward a pdf on to you!

Crofts original

Cracking effort this evening - more than 20 people turned out for the talk on ghostwriting and freelancing by author Andrew Crofts who had some titillating tales about the likes of Gillian Taylforth and Lady Buck, courtesan (or should that be gold-digger?).

Even the gate-crasher ("I came in here looking for a talk on nuclear power.") hung around for an hour to enjoy the event. She didn't seem particularly interested in joining though.

VIGIL FOR ALAN JOHNSTON - 25 APRIL @ 12.30PM

The NUJ is calling on members to show their support at a vigil for kidnapped BBC correspondent and union member Alan Johnston.

The union, with the support of the International Federation of Journalists, is to stage a vigil for Alan Johnston outside the Palestinian General Delegation office (5 Galena Road, Hammersmith, London W6 0LT) on Wednesday 25 April between 12.30pm and 1.30pm. Members who can are urged to attend to show your solidarity with Alan and efforts to secure his release.

After visiting the NUJ conference last weekend IFJ General Secretary Aidan White arrived in Gaza last night. As an NUJ member Aidan is carrying a message from me on behalf of the NUJ to representatives of the Palestinian Authority demanding action against those who have kidnapped Alan. He is also taking with him a letter demanding Alan's release signed by 177 MEPs - the result of last Monday's day of action in Brussels organised by the IFJ with the support of the NUJ. The NUJ has also organised a day of action in Dublin today.

The US journalists union has also now taken up the campaign after its President Linda Foley attended the NUJ conference and met with NUJ officials.

A report of the trade union meetings with the Palestinian Authorities over Alan's kidnap taking place over the next few days will be given at the vigil. We will hand in a letter demanding further resources and effort be devoted to trying to secure Alan's release and provide information to his family, friends and colleagues.

This latest move comes after meetings and correspondence between the union and UK and Palestinian government representatives over the past few weeks, as well as vital work with the Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate to keep up the profile of Alan's plight . All our efforts have been to bring pressure to bear on the authorities, not only to work hard to secure Alan's safety and release but to address the threats to all journalists in the region and to enable them to work free from the threat of kidnap, intimidation and threats.

Please join us at the vigil if you can.
Jeremy Dear
General Secretary

Editorial assistant job

Brighton-based Journalism.co.uk is recruiting an editorial assistant. The news and recruitment website requires someone for web-based marketing research, data input and general admin. This is not a journalistic role but there will be an opportunity to write content for the site.

For more information go to http://www.journalism.co.uk/jobs/3331