Harrow’s young stars took centre stage last night at an open mic night to raise money for St Luke’s Hospice. The star on the night was the youngest singer, award_winning Shelina Devendrarajah. At just 11 years old, she has not only won Harrow’s Hidden Talent but has also sung at various events including the Watford Festival.

Esther Gillham, the Community Fundraising Team Leader at St Luke’s Hospice, told us: “We knew there was a lot of talent in Harrow, so we wanted to get everyone together and raise some money for the hospice.”

Shelina has been singing since she was only four years old and told us: “It’s something I love to do as I love to make people happy.”

Also on stage Nidhi Parmer just 13 sang Hallelujah, the version made popular by Alexandra Burke. she said: “Performing brings out something that no other experience ever has, singing is just magical” Amongst her biggest inspirations were Alicia Keys and her Mum. Her Mum told us: “Nidhi has been singing since the day she got her voice.”

A favourite with the crowd and definitely a star for the future was Dillan Mehta at just 16 years old he has already landed a place at a specialist arts school and won his school talent show after only being enrolled two days. He spent the summer with record producers Rollover Studios and performed at the N-Dubz after party.

He also teams up with his brother using the stage name D.Kash, they write and produce their own material and have done since Dillan was just 14. On the night he performed one of his own songs, New(I need to be) and is currently in the stages of recording and promoting his own material at different London venues, including Passion Lounge in Wealdstone. If you want to know more about D.Kash visit their youtube page www.youtube.com/user/OfficialDKash

The event was established to raise awareness and some money for St Luke’s Hospice in Harrow. If you would like to make a donation to St Luke’s Hospice or find out how to get involved with their fundraising visit their website www.stlukes-hospice.org or email Esther Gillham on egillham@stlukes-hospice.org

Hi Girls and Guys!

I haven’t blogged in a ridiculous amount of time and thought that I should probably have a little ponder. A few things have happened since blogging last and no I am not talking about the start of the Xfactor live shows or William and Kate’s Royal wedding. I mean things happened in the boring old life of Gemma Farmer, well I turned the big 21 that was pretty scary. I am officially old now boohoo… & on a boohoo note, my beautiful and brave Nanny departed this crazy earth in search of pastures new. She left us on the 17th of October and that was a pretty darn tough day. Through all the sadness and the upset I did manage to find an inspiration, as I thought back on her life, I realised that she was a very powerful, determined, intelligent, bubbly and warm hearted women and then I realised that my nan has passed on all her amazing characteristics to us. The people we have become reflect her in every way. She is the biggest inspiration to my life and I hope that one day I make her very proud as she is solely everything that I wish to be. A strong cultured women, An amazing Mother & GrandMother and a fantastic wife to two husbands who sadly passed her by. Imagination and dreams ran through her vains, class and feminity filled every breath she ever took and the presence of love filled her life since the day she was born. She was a very special lady to me and as I looked around the chapel at her funeral I realised that she had touched and changed every body in that rooms life in one way or another, be it small or large. She had made a difference to them and the way that they live their lives. I think that is an amazing gift to have, I hope that one day I can look back and feel that I had made a difference to the people around me and I hope they make a difference to me. While all this was going on I heard a very special phrase that I would like to share with you all, I thought it was lovely…

“There is no death, just a continuation of the spirit to another world.”

That filled me with hope.

xx

They say there is no bond stronger than that between a mother and her child. The moment that you hold your baby for the first time or hear their first breath of fresh air, you love them unconditionally, indescribably and to all extremes. Can you imagine your baby not crying, not taking it’s first breath? Can you imagine the pain that you would feel watching your newborn child lie lifeless in your arms, you would do anything to give them life anything to help them breath but eventually you would have to let them go. Now, can you imagine watching that from the side of a boat?

Hundreds of tourists go out on the whale watching boats hoping to see a whale or dolphin, a few of the lucky ones will experience an interaction with a mother and calf inside a pod, just as a human mother the female pilot whale will stay close to her calf and guide them through the early stages of life, protecting them from all danger and providing them with the nurturing they need to progress into adulthood.

Unfortunately not all female pilot whales will experience this amazing bond, a few times a year our volunteers will unfortunately encounter a female pilot whale carrying a dead calf. This is a very emotional and sad experience.

This is where the similarities between humans and whale’s become so very apparent, a pilot whale mother will never give up on her dead calf, she will carry the calf in her mouth or with her melon for weeks at a time, refusing to give up. Female pilot whales share the same strong maternal instinct as a human, they never stop believing in their child’s ability to pull through, they will carry their calf pushing it to the surface for air in a desperate attempt to give them life.

During this time the pod around the mother and calf act as a barrier to the outside world just as a human family would, they allow the mother to grieve and give up hope in her own time. The male pilot whales will dive for food and the rest of the pod will form a strong group around the female and calf, supporting her in her grieving process every step of the way. The maternal instinct of a pilot whale and that of a human are almost identical.

They pod will offer support and sympathy to the female just as your family would do to you. You can see in her eyes the pain and desperation she feels towards her dead calf as it slowly decomposes in front of her eyes. We have watched as she fights to the last second to give her child life, pushing it to the surface for air until she realises that there is no hope left and she will slowly let go.

These beautiful and emotional creatures are so close to humans in mind and emotion that it is eerie. We at AWF want to make a difference and raise money and awareness for the conservation of these amazing mammals and many other projects that also need our help as humans. Most of the issues that we are facing as a planet are caused by us. We at AWF urge you to do something over the summer, these projects need all the help they can get and every penny will help. Why not make it fun, the kids are on school holidays soon and it’s time to keep them occupied, do a sponsored walk, organise an event based around one of the projects, or why not let the kids think of a fundraising event themselves. It keeps the kids occupied, is great fun and it’s helping a very worthy cause.

Thanks Gem x

Japan have offered financial support to the smaller poverty stricken countries in order to secure their vote against keeping the ban. Which means that the majority of the vote could go towards lifting the ban, if they agree to lift it then commercial whaling could start immediately.

The commercial whaling industry is where whales are hunted for a purpose that is not essential for human needs, whale products are exploited for trade and profit. Japan, Norway and Iceland are amongst the biggest supporters of Whaling. Over 25,000 whales have been killed illegally since the ban was inforced, and 7 of the 13 species of great whales are still endangered, lifting the ban on commercial whaling will certainly lead to the extinction of many species, which will mean the next generation may not be able to see these amazing mammals as the human race would have completely wiped them out.

We are the cause and we are the ONLY solution!

We want to make a difference. If we can collect one million signatures to send to the president of the EU then under legal legislation they have to act on the issue. We need your help to do this, let’s make a difference and save some of the most amazing creatures So please sign the petition by following the link below and get as many people as possible to sign it too.

Every name makes a difference!

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/europeans-against-whaling.html

Dolly Jones is a self confessed fashion lover who admits she buys way to many shoes and still reads the same magazine she’s been reading since she was 12, Vogue. She’s won the British Society of magazine editors website of the year award amongst others and admits that the key item in her wardrobe is still her little black dress. Dolly never dreamed of a job in Fashion until a six month internship at Vogue opened her eyes to a desirable life in the fashion industry, since becoming the Editor of the online worlds answer to forward fashion she has increased Vogue.com’s credibility and built up relationships with designers who struggled to recognise the potential of having their collections talked about online, she is now a well thought of guest to all the shows and a self confessed fashion lover herself who still gets butterflies when watching a great designers show.

Since the age of seven Dolly Jones has been a great lover of clothes and the fickle yet enormously irresistible world of fashion, from the age of 12 she was covering her bedroom walls in cut outs from the most prestigious fashion magazine in the world, Vogue. Now 20 years on she is still reading the magazine religiously and is the editor of the most stylish and fresh fashion website in the UK, Vogue.com. After leaving school Dolly worked at an orphanage in india for six months before returning to Manchester to take a degree in the History of Art, but it was her love for fashion that urged her to apply for an internship at Vogue, she was offered three weeks work experience, her time at Vogue encouraged her to apply for a journalism course at the University of Arts, London. One of Dolly’s first assignments was to interview “A celebrity or someone at the top of their game” Dolly interviewed Alexandra Shulman, the Editor of UK Vogue, fighting through her nerves Dolly did the interview with a pen and paper as her dictaphone had conveniently broken moments before the interview, she made such a good impression she was offered a six month internship, “Frances Bentley rang and offered me a six month internship as editorial assistant at the magazine, which I accepted. Shortly after that, I was offered the position of “Writer” on Vogue.com – I took up that job in January 2000 and never left.” Dolly took up the job as editor of Vogue.com just 6 years after interviewing Alexandra Shulman for the first time. Dolly admits she still has a real passion for her job and still loves every part of the fashion industry “In over 10 years I can honestly say I have never been bored. I’ve been exhausted and frustrated occasionally but there hasn’t been a moment to be bored.”

Dolly is no stranger to London fashion weeks amazing shows and believes that British fashion is still very much an influence on the global fashion scene, “There is an energy at London Fashion Week that means it’s always exciting. You never know when the next Galliano or McQueen might turn up.” Although she couldn’t pinpoint her favourite designer or show she explained how Alexander McQueen could make you feel like you were watching fashion history every time, and how Lanvin gives her butterflies. Dolly tells how when attending a London Fashion week party, she wore a pair of Manolo Blahnik shoes that she had found in a vintage shop a few weeks before, whilst standing around someone tapped her on the shoulder and asked “Excuse me are they genuine Manolo Blahnik or are they fake” she turned around only to realise it was Manolo Blahnik himself standing there, he explained to her what had inspired them and he remembered the exact design, “To someone interested in fashion, that was pretty exciting.”

Dolly has made online history since editing Vogue.com, winning many awards and increasing the sites traffic tremendously, it has been hard for her to get anyone to take them seriously as they are online and not print, but now designers get frustrated when their collections are not reported on hours after a show, the website had come a long way and Dolly is thankful that her team work so hard and still love what they do, I asked Dolly who her biggest inspiration was and she replied “My parents for their enjoyment of life and their work ethic. I meet people all the time who inspire different feelings of admiration for many different reasons – but I feel very lucky to have had such a good start.” and when asked if she would have any other job Dolly answered “I love this job and I feel really lucky to have a job I love.”

I just wanted to post this video to raise awareness of Alzheimer’s, It is a degenerative disease which slowly destroys the memory, It is an awful disease to watch slowly steal someone from you and I just wanted to make everyone aware of the awful effects it has on the families of people with Alzheimer’s.

I have decided that I am going to start a proper blog as I feel that I need a rocket up my arse, I know what I want from life and I need to get going in order to get it. After a certain facebook argument pointed out, may be my “Grammar” and “Spelling” isn’t completely up to scratch so I am going to set up this blog and start improving.

I just came back from two weeks work experience at GQ magazine which was a completely life changing experience (cheesy I know, but it was) it made me realise that writing for a magazine is definately what I am meant to be doing and being only four floors away from Vogue magazine made me realise that my dream is reachable and not completely impossible any more. I  also met the editor of Vogue.com, a very helpful, cheery women by the name of Dolly Jones, she was a real inspiration to me in the few moments we shared in a lift, ever since I can remember I have wanted to see my name on the contributors page of Vogue, fashion has always been and always will be a large part of my life, I am a self confessed shopaholic and love the way that clothes can portray every part of someone’s personality. I hate the stereotypical ways in which people think the way you dress should catagorise you as a person, Goths, Indie, Chav etc, you are what you wear and what you wear is what you are, you make your own fashion and coincidentally your fashion makes you.

Anyway back to Dolly, when I met her she told me should could get me some work experience at Vogue.com and at that point I was having a little boogie inside, she got out the lift and cheerily said “I’ll be seeing you very soon then?”

Could I really start off where i wanted to end up?

Then I noticed on the Vogue.com website there was a little biog on Dolly Jones and how she became the editor of the most prestigious fashion website in the world, this is the bit that inspired me, Dolly did a six month internship at Vogue and this is how she got into the business, through work experience.

So when i turned up last monday to Vogue House expecting to make tea and run errands, I actually learnt a valuable lesson in life, “Even the best start at the bottom” I also realised that I want to concentrate on my Uni work and get the best grades I can, because I want that dream and now I see that with enough hard work and patience its touchable. Very Touchable.

Yorkshire Ripper-Peter Sutcliffe

The Man who terrorised Yorkshire in the 1970′s, killing 13 women and attacking 7 more is set to be sent to an medium security prison as opposed to the high security unit he is in now, once he is in the lower security prison the fears are that he may be able to start his appeal to have total freedom.

This is a huge shock for many as this man is deemed a danger to society, would you want your daughter, mother, sister or any other female you know exposed to this man on a regular basis? Doctors are claiming that Peter Sutcliffe has been treated for his illness and is now cured of the mental illness he suffered, which allegedly caused him to attack and murder so many women.

The real question is whether or not this man has had an illness which caused his mind to be distorted resulting in what he did or whether this man is just pure evil in which case he will never be cured and can never be set free to live amongst the public?

If Peter Sutcliffe is to be set free , he would be given a new name, identity, somewhere to live and all evidence of who he was or what he had done would be hidden, who is to say this man will not strike again, no one can guarantee that this man who committed a horrific crime will never commit again, Doctors are claiming that as long as he stays on his medication he will remain in a stable frame of mind and is not a threat to society, I believe this is an absolute disgrace, what happens if one day he forgets to take a pill or forgets a few days in a row, it is very easily done as anyone on medication will tell you, if he is only stable when reguarly taking this medication then whos to say that if he was exposed to the loss of medication he wouldn’t return to his previous deranged state of mind?

The thought that this man could ever live among the public again outrages hundreds of people.

Who has had a second thought for the families of the victims? Or the people who were closely involved with Peter Sutcliffe before he was found guilty, the lives of these people are the ones we should think about, giving them a good quality of life and making them feel as though justice has been served, not the man who had complete disregard for human life and those around him.

Today in The Sun there is a picture of Peter Sutcliffe and Frank Bruno shaking hands in Broadmoor, the picture was taken in 1991 just 10 years after he was sent down for the murder of ten women and the attempted murder of a further seven, the picture is almost chilling as Bruno shakes his hand politely and sources say” he wished him well with his treatment.”

Frank shakes hands with Yorkshire Ripper whilst opening a gym at Broadmoor

The Broadmoor source also says that “Looking at Peter in this picture, it shows exactly how he is. He is a nice guy with a good nature. He is easy to chat to and could be the bloke standing next to you in the pub. You would have no idea what his evil past is — and that is perhaps the most chilling thing about him.”

To read more on this story follow this link: TheSun.co.uk-25-02-09

Peter Sutcliffe’s lawyers are fighting to get him declared sane and moved to a lower security prison so they can then start his rehabilitation into society eventually resulting in him having a date for total freedom.

I hope for the safety of himself and the public he is never released, You can never cure evil!

I looked at a video on Dallasnews.com  called at the edge of life, it was a really interesting video as they combined the use of still images, video footage, interviews and a voice over all of which were in black and white, this added to the effect, it was almost like in some metaphorical way you were seeing the effects of the colour fading from your life, almost like being stripped right down to the basics, there wasn’t any fancy editing or the use of exciting transitions between shots, it was just back to basics, this was a really effective way of telling the news i felt, it was different and made you home in on the ideas and by using still images in between video footage it it was forcing you to look at the main ideas and focus on specific points that were signifiant to the ideas and feelings of the piece.

I liked how the significant quotes from each story were highlighted at the start almost as a title to their life, the mix of still images and video footage made each story really very effective in stirring emotions within the reader, by using still images in between the video it made you realise that eventually it will all stop, it will stand still and then you will have to just look, also by using still images it gives the reader the chance to interpret the text in their own way where as with video i feel you are less inclined to interpret what you seeing and tend to just absorb it. 

It wasn’t a conventional news story but i think it was really effective, some people might say it wasn’t news as such, but news is about current affairs and these issues of death and dealing with death are very current and always will be as death is the only thing in life that will always happen, i liked this way of telling news as i felt it was very effective and alot more interesting to watch.

I think a video like this  can only work well on the internet as people tend to have more time when on the internet. where as if you are watching it on the TV you have to watch it when it is on and they also have time limits on what can be shown and stories cannot have the same impact when cut down. You also have the time to take it what is being shown to you when watching it on the internet as i think people get more absorbed into what they are watching, compared to when you watch something on the TV.

Overall i think it was a really effective and well made video and worked really well by using the mix of still photography and video footage, i thought it was a really interesting and effective way of telling news and getting the news to actually be listened to rather than something that is absorbed and then dispensed when the next days news comes in. It was the kind of news that was hard hitting and sticks in your head and i feel that the same story could have a completely different feel and effect on the person watching it if it hadn’t been done in the way it was.