Lots of love,
(l-r) Louis, Rachel, Matt, Joe, Max, Elliot and Michael.
I get press releases from Manchester University, but none with quite the impact of this one.
A former Kenyan slum child who found University of Manchester prospectus leaflets in a dustbin will finally achieve his dream of gaining a Masters degree tomorrow (13 Dec).
Sammy Gitau discovered the documents inside a discarded cardboard wallet decorated with the University’s name in a well-to-do neighbourhood near his home in Mathare, Nairobi 's oldest slum district.
Sammy read references to his country on a page about a course based at the University's renowned ‘Institute for Development Policy and Management’.
And after a struggle of epic proportions he’ll receive the accolade on Thursday. Aged 13, Sammy became his family’s breadwinner when his father, who brewed illegal alcohol, was killed in a hammer attack.
After he was beaten by angry mobs for thieving he became a drug seller in 1997, hitting rock bottom when he overdosed on cocktail of drugs soon after.
Even after he was accepted on to the course, Sammy was forced to take on the UK immigration service, which after hearing about his limited schooling, refused to believe he was a genuine student.
The ruling was overturned seven months later.
Drawing on his experiences, Sammy established a community resource centre which lobbies for fresh water and an electricity supply, as well as helping young men to come off drugs and find a job.
A group of wives of local and international officials - including the wife of the head of the Kenyan EU delegation Monica Quince - helped Sammy to convert cargo containers into classrooms from which he could teach skills to disenfranchised youngsters, such as carpentry and computing.
And it was another EU official Alex Walford who encouraged Sammy to apply to the University’s School of Environment and Development to take the MSc in the ‘Management and Implementation of Development Projects’.
He said: "After the drugs put me in a coma, I remember hearing hospital staff telling me I was going to die and when you are dying, you make a deal with God.
"You just say, get me out of here and will do anything. I will go back and stop children going through the same kind of life as me.
"This may be the end of the first part of my journey, but it certainly isn’t the end of the road.
"In my field work last in July this year, I was able to share and set some foundations of how best to work effectively with slum communities.
"It is the hope and the trust in the eyes of my people that strengthens and ensures me of great success in future.
"I have big plans for the centre – I hope to expand the project into other areas of Nairobi.
"Who knows, it be may a model which can be emulated across Africa.
"If it wasn’t for my amazing experience and support from my friends at Manchester University and constant support from donations around the world, this dream would never have become a reality."
Sammy’s University programme director, Dr Pete Mann said: "I found it humbling to teach Sammy - it really is a remarkable achievement.
"In class, he was reflective, thoughtful and creative - a very successful student.
"A development project or agency can only benefit from one who has witnessed so much adversity yet brings such intense spirit of endeavour on behalf of others.
"We have only begun to hear from Sammy Gitau."
It will be officially opened by Guest of Honour, Michael Heseltine on Thursday 6th December 2007 in the Albert Dock’s Grand Hall. Proceedings will start at 17.30 and continue through to 19.00. Lord Michael Heseltine has a long standing relationship with
American Vanity Fair is to release a one-off magazine compiling a list of the 50 greatest film soundtracks. Purple Rain tops the list even though it was described as "perhaps the best badly acted film ever," by editors at Vanity Fair, while Trainspotting came in at No.7 and Saturday Night Fever was eighth.
A Hard Day's Night came in a No. 2, followed by The Harder They Come, Pulp Fiction, The Graduate and Superfly. American Graffiti and The Big Chill rounded out the top 10.
I'm obviously a biased Northern git, but I thought the 24 Hour Party People soundtrack was pretty immense. Pulp Fiction would probably get my vote.
To the Cornerhouse for a double bill of musical and cultural indulgence. A seminar (part of In The City) followed by Control, the film about Ian Curtis. The panel discussion featured punk spokesman and talking head John Robb, musical historian CP Lee, Terry Christian, a bloke from Channel m and the producer of Radio 4's Front Row. Terry was very well informed, at times funny, but then lurches back into default idiot savante who has to be more plebian than anyone else. CP Lee I could listen to all day with his amazing stories.
Control was an awesome film. Apart from the obvious historical and musical points of interest it was an incredibly powerful film, beautifully shot, about the unbearable pressure of a young man terrified by his future and unable to face up to the choices he has to make. We've all been there.
When the closing scene drew to its inevitable conclusion and the hum and the drum roll at the beginning of Atmosphere kicked in, my throat did swell. Not just because it took me back to that memory at Tony Wilson's requiem mass as that sad sad procession started to that same sad sad song, but also as the screen filled with the image of the smoke billowing from the chimney at the same Macclesfield crematorium where we lay our friend John Flint to rest in 2003.
The University years – I had a shocking time playing at University and really paid the price for wasted teenage years. I turned out for Cath Soc a couple of times. I did however turn out for Manchester Football Supporters Association against Merseyside in a charity game for Alder Hey at Marine FC. I was marked out of the game by Mike Lyons and Terry Darracott.
Roverrrs, first time, the best of times – my best ever goal v
Best celeb I ever played with - our winger was Neil Arthur, pop star and top lad. Our midfield general was PC Pat Whittle – Bad Lieutentant – who once famously told Neil - “Get Blancmange back together, Neil: there’s always room in the charts for a couple of puffs with a synthesizer.” He asked me: “Why do you play up front? You couldn’t score in a barrel of fannies.”
Dirtiest ever side played – Rotherham United London Supporters Club. None of them from
Dirtiest side ever played for – Wansdyke, circa 1994. When I lived in
Best player ever played with. My mate Rick Ogden, who now lives in
Because the memorial is here already, it consists of a young man and woman with an unreserved, joyous and passionate love for their dad. If I had brought you two up I would be the proudest father on the planet. There is no memorial in the world that would make him prouder; there is no doubt in my mind that Tony considered his greatest achievement to be you two.
The full link is here.The survey on the Travel Counsellors website, which monitors airport delays, has named Manchester as the worst airport in the country for the longest check-in, security and immigration queues. Average times for check-in was 35 minutes, followed by 32 minutes for security, the study found.
Hold on a moment. The league table is a summary of all the reported airport delays. The airports that appear on the table are those that have received data from passengers. The number of passengers that have posted data for each airport is also shown. Manchester had reports from 138 passengers. Heathrow from 178, Aberdeen, one of the best, had recorded 4 comments. So it's hardly scientific.
Neither, therefore, is what I am about to say. I don't enjoy travelling through Manchester Airport. In my personal experience Manchester also compares less favourably to wherever I happen to go. Faro (better facilities, never delayed), Malaga (didn't lose my bags), Marakech (cleaner), Stansted (longer queues, but it was August, and the bars and shops are far better) and Munich was just such a pleasant experience in comparison I wouldn't even know where to start.
It's just another of things that Manchester needs to sort out before it's too late. I personally still can't understand why it's owned by the councils and think it should be flogged off now.
“It’s a dreadful programme.”
On investing:
The questions an investor needs to ask are: “How much money are you looking at? What business are you in? How many divorces have you had?”
Moulton says analysis of investments showed companies run by someone who had been divorced once are more successful than those run by happily married men.
However, people who are twice divorced are not to be relied on, while when he puts money into companies run by people who have been divorced three times, he has lost the lot.
“After one divorce you are hungry; two divorces – he must have a lot of spare time and doesn’t concentrate too much at work. Three divorces – he is not driven by his head, is he?”
Anyone who knew me before I joined knows that I am quite aware and at times sympathetic to the arguments against the war in Iraq. If you think the only way a person could bring themselves to volunteer for this war is through sheer desperation or blind obedience then consider me the exception (though there are countless like me).… Consider that there are 19 year old soldiers from the Midwest who have never touched a college campus or a protest who have done more to uphold the universal legitimacy of representative government and individual rights by placing themselves between Iraqi voting lines and homicidal religious fanatics.
But do go to the full feature, here.I love hearing from an old pal out of the blue. Yesterday I got an email from a character called Kenni James who's had his head down plotting his comeback in the big bad world of commercial radio.
The just of it was this:
I've just launched Tameside Radio and into our first week on air. It booms in across most of the North West and it’s going well.