Khmer Rouge trials ready to start

The long-awaited Khmer Rouge trials in Cambodia are ready to start, after a panel of judges approved ground rules.
The deal was reached in a week-long meeting, after a delay of more than six months because of disagreements between local and UN-appointed legal officials.
The tribunal is expected last for three years, with trials starting in 2008.

As many as two million are thought to have died during the four years of Khmer Rouge rule in the late 1970s, but no-one has ever faced charges.
The movement’s former leader, Pol Pot, died nine years ago.
But the regime’s former head of state, Khieu Samphan, and Foreign Minister Leng Sary have both been living freely in Cambodia. (BBC News)

With a bit of luck and some cooperation I will do some coverage of the trail, that means inside and outside courtroom pressphotography.

shriekback – glory bumps (new album)

the glory bumps is a comin’… and now we’re very proud to announce the arrival of shriekback’s eleventh album, and their second on malicious damage… all sumptuously packaged as normal…

glory bumps is in many ways more recognisably the descendant of their mid-80’s ‘alt-rock’ classic oil and gold than any since… anthems, hooligan choruses, big guitars, brass, a smattering of psychobilly and, as usual, shed-loads of words…

glory bumps has a curious tangential relationship with barry andrews’ and martyn barker’s recent improvised album monstrance, a collaboration with xtc’s andy partridge – glory bumps uses a number of loops created from the monstrance album ['because they were there'] as well as martyns’ inimitable live drums and real-time guitar contributions from andy… barry co-produces with stuart rowe, who was one of the engineers from monstrance… however there is no doubt that this is a shriekback album 100% – as you will hear. wendy partridge who has sung backing vocals on every shriekback album since 1986 features as does barry’s son finn andrews [of the veils] who lends his intense vocals to the happy-clappy title track…



the album’s title is a reference to the goosebumps experienced by fundamentalist christians ‘when the amount of misery prevalent in the world presages, or so they believe, their abrupt assimilation into the bosom of their lord’ although we suspect that, on the day of the rapture, shriekback will not be amongst them…
glory bumps is released on 4th june 2007 but you can order it now and get a free copy of the mini-album having a moment  – and we’ve got shriekback t-shirts too!!

HA NOI black and white…

“…HA NOI black and white.
A new series of images taken by Dutch photographer and artist Eric de Vries in february 2007. It is all about the streets, the people, the buildings.These photographs capture the Old Quarter as well as the Ba Dinh Square-area. The book also has a couple of ‘background’- images for future projects….”

Doing a bit of self-promotion here for my new book. You’ll find more information at lulu.com

In a couple of days it will be at the cleartrails website, so look out for that one…..