Newsquest action

Action being taken at Glasgow. Read all about it at
http://business.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1121572007

Charity jackpot

Love and kisses to everyone who turned last night. It was a great effort on a foul night and we have raised £120 for NUJ Extra thanks to your doughty attendance.

Forgot to take my camera along so there are no pix. Lots of people won prizes and I hope some of you are happy with them and apologies to the person who entered hoping for a crate-full of booze but who ended up with the guidebook to Birmingham. All the good prizes were down to Rachael's efforts - all the bad ones down to me, if you're looking for a scapegoat!

Looks like the barbie will be rearranged for one of the last three days in August. Don't forget the meeting later this month, with speaker Formula 1 expert Anthony Rowlinson.

Wet weather plan

You may have noticed there's been a wee bit of rain about the last few days, so we've come up with a wet weather plan. It's a complicated one: if it rains, we'll meet at a pub instead. That took days of planning.

The pub is the Bedford Tavern on Western Street, almost opposite Embassy Court and very close to the Peace Statue. Once there we will drink, chat and, eventually, send some poor sod out into the rain to cook all the food.

If the weather is okay then the plan is still to meet at the groyne to the east of the Meeting Place cafe (near the Peace Statue) today, Thursday July 5, about 7ish.

Free booze, food and a brilliant raffle with more prizes than you can shake a stick of rock at. We look forward to seeing you all. Non-members are welcome too.

If anyone gets lost on the day please give Rachael a call on 07939 258 172 or Adrian on 07944 566 728.

Beach Barbie

We're nearly there. Wednesday is booze-buying day. The fun starts at 7.30pm on Thursday at the groyne next to the Meeting Place cafe on Hove seafront. Look at the sea from the cafe and the groyne is about 70 to 100 yards to your left.

We'll have a short meeting first followed by sossie rolls and drinks after. Don't forget to buy some raffle tickets - all for charidee - as we have some brilliant and some not-quite-as-brilliant prizes up for grabs.

Book it!

Picked up a couple of books which anyone is welcome to borrow - email us and I can bring it to the beach barbie next week.

First up is Nobody Told Us We Are Defeated by ex-Argus journo Rory McCarthy - stories of ordinary people in the aftermath of the Iraq war. Bloody excellent

Second is Young Stalin by Simon Sebag Montefiore. 'Rip-roaring' barely does it justice. It's like the best thriller I've ever read. Bloody brilliant.

Third up is the NUJ Centenary Book, which I haven't read yet. You can borrow it, or buy it for a tenner direct from HQ.

Space wanted

Does anybody out there know of anyone with anywhere that Stephen, a musician, can rent at a reasonable cost to use as a teaching space (no loud bangy stuff -- honestly) and maybe storage for the (hopefully) short space of time between his selling his flat (going through now) and us buying anew house? I thought maybe a room above a shop, an attic or converted garage or somesuch might be suitable.

Contact Naomi Marks at naomi_marks@yahoo.co.uk

Bordeaux-ed of work? Drink this then

Dourthe, a renowned Bordeaux producer, has kindly donated a mixed case of Bordeaux. That's 12 bottles of wine waiting to be quaffed. I would expand more but my wine knowledge is pretty low despite (or possibly because of) a drunken wine course. A quick google shows Tim Atkin of the Observer likes some Dourthe wines, so that's okay then.

Tony Benn back in the Frontline

A panel including former Labour MP Tony Benn, Times columnist David Aaronovitch and NUJ general secretary Jeremy Dear will be discussing the future of the NUJ at the Frontline Club on Friday 15 June.

The world is changing fast, with new media springing up and the old ones rushing to keep up. Journalists are driven harder to keep their publications going, often for less reward. The union has a vital role to play but what approach should it take?
This and other key questions about the role of the NUJ will be addressed at a lively discussion led by the panel.

The event will double as the London launch of the union's acclaimed history book - JOURNALISTS: 100 years of the NUJ - by Tim Gopsill, editor of the Journalist, and Greg Neale, former Father of the NUJ Chapel at the Times and the founding editor of BBC History magazine. Published by Profile Books at £17.99, it will be on sale at the special price of £10.

The debate is at 7.30 pm on Friday June 15 at the Frontline Club, Paddington. Admission £7.00. The Club is at 13 Norfolk Place, two minutes from Paddington station. Walk up Praed Street towards Edgware Road and Norfolk Place is second on the right.

Places are limited so please book in advance. Go to www.frontlineclub.com

Desperately seeking staff (freelance)

Ilex Press are always on the look out for indexers, thorough proof readers and copy editors, and are very desperately seeking Americanisers, anyone with any experience editing in and converting to American English. If you can do any of these give Adam Juniper a call on 01273 403 124 or e-mail juniper@ilex-press.com.

Ilex is part of the Ivy Group, and produces illustrated books on everything from Digital Photography to Erotic Comics (no, really) - the work is akin to working through magazine spreads, though there tend to be more of them.

Wow wow wow

Like spoilt children you will probably refuse to read any post that doesn't include a prize, so here it is - the last of the prizes piled up in my now very cramped flat.

Two day passes for Senspa at Careys Manor Hotel in Brockenhurst, Hampshire. Winners will be able to relax and use the facilities all day at this New Forest spa and a delicious spa lunch is included, as is a mind and body class. The spa has six thermal rooms, experience showers and swimming pool. Visit www.senspa.com for more information.

A session at the Aveda concept salon Mowgli. Tucked away in Primrose Hill, London, Mowgli is offering an Organic Express treatment which involves a hair spa and blowdry. For those who don't know what a hair spa is (and I get the feeling that will be, ooh, pretty much everyone), oils and proteins are used to put some life, swing and general pizazz back into your locks.
www.mowglihaircutters.com

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/