All change

Posted on April 7, 2014 by Liz

Crouch End

Where once was Blockbuster video is now a hip new coffee shop. The shelves where we would hover and scrutinise film titles, seeking an evening’s entertainment, have been replaced with chandaliers and easy chairs. But a rather good flat white, albeit in a glass rather than a cup.

And so on to Arthouse – a new cinema! In Crouch End! In the old Salvation Army Hall!

It’s been adapted in an inviting fashion, concrete floors, wooden mismatched tables and chairs with a bar selling coffee and alcohol, and another small sitting area up some wooden stairs. And two cinema screens. All looking very good and eminently supportable.

And so we booked to see The Double. Jesse Eisenberg, James Fox, Mia Wasikowska, Chris O’Dowd, based on a Dostoesvsky story – it was so promising. Unfortunately, it was not as good as it should have been. It was not a story I was ever going to enjoy, a pathetic man being trodden down by his confident doppelganger, but it was irritating, the silences, the dark depressing set and the predictability of it all. However, the cinema was full, and there were trailers for some very good looking films. A positive development.

Next time – artistic creation. An attempt at cake making. Should this be the cover of A Sense of Occasion?

SouthLAnd

Posted on March 20, 2014 by Liz

Southland is a new police series, set in LA, that has snuck onto More4 with very little razzamataz. 11pm on a Thursday. Why so late? As ever there are not enough women, but it does past the Bechdel test. The women talk to each other and not about men. It is the story of daily police life in downtown Los Angeles which involves a lot of running down alleys, and the creaking leather of belts and shoes when officers kneel to speak softly or arrest someone. Some of the incidents are banal, some more serious. People get hurt, the police get drunk. It’s nice and gritty.

And it has the most wonderful opening music from a track by the Portuguese artist Dulce Pontes The track is Cançao do mar – it was used in the film Primal Fear (featuring Richard Gere. This does not pass the Bechdel test. Oh Richard). SouthLAnd (spelt like that because of its location, obviously) uses the first minute or so – the instrumental. It foretells danger, intrigue, love, loss. Wonderful. Watch it tonight. Or set it to record.

The Cuban Five – part 2

Posted on March 11, 2014 by Liz

The Cuban 5 are Rene Gonzalez, Ramon Labanino, Fernando Gonzalez, Antonio Guerrero and Gerardo Hernandez. Last week, Fernando Gonzalez was freed after serving 17 years in jail.

The range and number of witnesses to the Commission of Inquiry indicated the width and complexity of the issues involved. The first day of the two day hearing dealt with the background to the actions of the 5. The daughters of two victims of attacks against Cuba – one a mid-flight attack on a Cuban plane, the second an attack on the Cuban Embassy in Lisbon, Portugal, in 1976, spoke of the deaths of their parents. Giustino di Celmo, by video testimony, the father of the victim of the attack on the hotel in Havana on 4 September 1997, described the events of that day. Lorenzo Gonzalo from Radio Miami spoke of the activities of the groups in Miami. And there was a panel discussion, not part of the Commission, with Ramsay Clark, a former US Attorney General, Miguel Angel Marinez, the Vice President of the European Parliament and Ricardo Alarcon, the former President of the National Assembly of Cuba. And finally, Rene Gonzalez gave his testimony via a Skype link, from Havana. Rene Gonzalez was released from custody in 2011, having served 14 years in jail.

Rene Gonzalez speaks from Cuba

Through a link that was weak, cracked, and sometimes completely absent, he described his work, infiltrating the groups in Miami and learning about their projects aimed at destabilising the Cuban government. The information about the groups and their projects was handed to the American authorities. But instead of arrests being made from the membership of those groups, the Cuban 5 were arrested.

And then began the judicial treatment of the 5 which has been the basis of the concern of campaigners.

On day 2 of the Commission – International Women’s Day – the panel heard evidence about the legal process. Martin Garbus, described as the world’s leading human rights lawyer, who took over the case after the death of Leonard Weinglass in 2011, spoke about the background and the appeal process. Then, speaking from a page containing the briefest of notes, Philip Horowitz, the defence lawyer of Rene Gonzalez, held the 300 members of the audience spellbound as he gave what was in effect a closing speech to a jury. He described the moment the phone in his office rang in 1998 when a representative of the local court said words to the effect, ‘We have a man who needs a representative. We gave the case to one lawyer but when he became aware of the background to the case he said it was too political and he wouldn’t touch it.’ And at that moment the life of Philip Horowitz changed. He has seen the children of Rene Gonzalez grow up and have children of their own, he has worked tirelessly to raise the issues, to get visas for the family to visit, to see the papers in the case, to have the trial moved, to take appeal points when possible. And when Irmita Salanueva, the daughter of Rene Gonzalez, and Olga Salanueva, his wife, gave their evidence, they expressed their enormous gratitude to this down-town defence attorney from Miami.

The trial took place in 2001. It lasted 7 months. The jury returned guilty verdicts after 4½ days deliberation. Between the verdicts and sentencing, September 11 happened. It does not take a wild stretch of the imagination to imagine that the events of that day had an impact on the sentences the men received in December of the same year.

Amnesty International through Angela Wright, gave evidence of the great concern at the treatment of the 5, and their families. Amnesty has said that the US treatment of the Cuban 5 is ‘unnecessarily punitive and contrary both to standards for the humand treatment of prisoners and to states’ obligation to protect family life.’

Gerardo Hernandez is serving two life sentences for alleged involvement (a charge of conspiracy) in the shooting down of two planes belonging to the Brothers to the Rescue group, flying over Cuban air-space, where 4 pilots were killed. It is feared that he will die in prison. Adriana Perez, the wife of Gerardo Hernandez and Elizabeth Palmeiro the wife of Ramon Labanino, gave moving evidence of their struggles to see their husbands. Difficulties obtaining visas, being questioned for hours by immigration officials, long journeys across America to the different prisons, to be told on more than one occasion that there was a lock-down in the prison, and no visits were taking place.

On the second day, as on the first there was a panel discussion. On that second panel were Alice Walker, the novelist, Irmita Salanueva, the daughter of Rene Gonzalez, Mirta Rodriguez, the mother of Antonio Guerrero, and Kenia Serrano the President of the Cuban Institute for Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP). During the panel session, as Irmita was speaking, a mobile phone rang. Irmita stopped, saying she was distracted because Mirta Rodriguez was talking to Antonio. It was Antonio Rodriguez, one of the Five. He was speaking from prison in the US. Quickly the phone was switched to loud-speaker and amplified through a microphone and Antonio spoke to the audience. It was a completely unexpected and powerful moment. Antonio Rodriguez is due to be released in 2017.

In May 2005 the United Nations Commission on Human Rights adopted a report criticising the trial and the sentences, noting (section 29) ‘from the facts and circumstances in which the trial took place and from the nature of the charges and the harsh sentences handed down to the accused that the trial did not take place in the climate of objectivity and impartiality that is required in order to conform to the standards of a fair trial…’

At the end of the second day the panel presented their Preliminary Conclusions, where they expressed the view that pardons should be immediately granted to all five. The report of the 2014 International Commission of Inquiry is expected to be published in time to be presented to the White House and used as part of a lobbying and information exercise to Congress in June 2014.

The campaign continues.

The Cuban Five – part 1

Posted on March 10, 2014 by Liz

On Friday 7 March 2014 the International Commission of Inquiry into the case of the Cuban 5, opened its doors at the Law Society in Chancery Lane, in London. I was one of the co-ordinators.

Rene Gonzalez speaks from Cuba

Rene Gonzalez – the first of the Cuban 5 to be released – was to be the star guest. However, earlier in the week he was refused a visa to attend, because he had a conviction which had resulted in a sentence of more than 4 years in custody – ironically, the very reason he was coming to London. At a last minute Judicial Review on Thursday afternoon, the judge said that he would not overturn the decision to refuse the visa, partly because there were other means whereby Rene Gonzalez could give his testimony. One of them, the judge said, was by Skype. I wonder if the judge has ever Skyped, to an international audience of 300 people, from a distant land. It was not easy – the connection broke up, we lost visual contact, the sound was uneven. But Rene Gonzalez gave his testimony.

The issues that are raised in the case of the Cuban 5, sometimes known as the Miami 5, are the rule of law, the right to a fair trial, and political decisions described as judicial procedure.

Most people know that there is a difficult relationship between Cuba and the US. After the revolution in 1959 many people left Cuba and settled in Miami. A large number of them are passionately opposed to the current Cuban administration and are actively working in Miami to weaken and ultimately bring down the Cuban government. Fidel Castro is a political leader against whom there has been the greatest number of assassination attempts, ever.

Over the years there have been terrorist acts against the Cuban state, both in Cuba and elsewhere. People have been injured and killed.

In the morning of 4 September 1997 explosions shook three tourist hotels in the Cuban capital of Havana, killing an Italian resident of Canada. The explosions were the latest in a series of bombings at Havana hotels, but the first to result in a death. On 5 August 1997 there had been an explosion at the tourist Hotel Melia Cohiba. On 12 July 1997 a small explosion in the Nacional and Capri hotels injured three people. These explosions were ostensibly part of a campaign by dissidents, aimed at the growing Cuban tourist industry. There had also been an explosion on 4 August 1997 at a Cuban tourism office in Nassau in the Bahamas. For more information see the documents referred to by Stephen Kimber in his book What Lies Across the Water

Cuba sent people to infiltrate the groups working in Miami. It seems clear that the US authorities were aware of the groups activities, and also the fact that Cubans were coming over to in effect spy on those groups. In 1998 the 5 were arrested. They were kept in solitary confinement for 17 months. They were not allowed to see all of the prosecution papers – not even papers which had been seized from their own homes. An application to move the trial away from the area – where 50% of residents were Cuban Americans – was refused. There was a concerted media campaign against the 5 during the trial.

Appeals have been made – in one case, the convictions were overturned because of the refusal to move the trial – but that decision was in itself appealed.

And so – an Internation Commission of Inquiry with a panel of three eminent jurists, from India, France and South Africa, taking place over two days, in the great hall of the Law Society building on Chancery Lane. Three hundred people attended, from 27 countries. The languages of the Inquiry were English and Spanish, with volunteer interpreters doing a magnificent job.

The Rule of Law

Posted on February 6, 2014 by Liz

Through the wind and the rain and on the wrong bus I battled my way to the Ebsworth Memorial Lecture in the Great Hall of Middle Temple. How long is it since I slipped along the cobbled pathway that is Middle Temple Lane? How long since I actually went into the splendour of the Great Hall? It is where I ate my dinners, where I was called to the Bar, and where I have perhaps twice had lunch since then.

The speaker was a judge from the American Supreme Court, Justice Stephen Breyer, talking about Judicial Independence. In fact his lecture was more about the Rule of Law. Even if you don’t agree with a particular part of it, he talked of the words that describe a society governed by the rule of law – humane, decent, civilised, and what the alternative is – random, incoherent, effectively chaos. He did talk about the impossibility of reconciling an elected judiciary with the notion of judicial independence. He talked about the major decisions which are taken by the Supreme Court, which are often quite technical, not to say apparently boring, but which can affect people’s daily lives and which are routinely ignored by the press, but the moment the word abortion, for example, is mentioned, the Supreme Court is all over the news. He touched on the case of Bush v Gore, which decided the result of the 2000 presidential election, by majority of 5-4. He mourned the cuts in public funding of schools which mean that Civics lessons, learning about government and the Consitution, are removed from the Curriculum so that people aren’t being taught what law is.

But what most interested me in what he said was when he talked about the 1958 Supreme Court case of Cooper v Aaron. The issue was the desegregation of schools in Little Rock, Arkansas. Although it had been decreed by the school district that the school would be desegregated, when the black children turned up to attend school in 1957, they were turned away. The Supreme Court found that the problem lay with the view of the State government which opposed desegregation. The decision of the Supreme Court was unusually unanimous and signed by all 9 members of the Court and was to the effect that states were bound by the Court’s decisions and had to enforce them even if the states disagreed with them. And Justice Breyer touched on the human and public side of that debate, involving two young women at the time, one black, one white, Elizabeth Eckford and Hazel Bryan, and how the 4 September 1957 became a day that neither of them would ever forget. He mentioned a book that has been written about their stories. Here is the trailer.

Star crossed

Posted on February 1, 2014 by Liz

Today I begin writing sensibly, with ear phones, so as not to disturb Joss who has come to deal with the drainpipes. But let me tell you – if you are tempted to try this – that the first note of Any Time At All, by the Beatles, if not regulated, can cause severe ear damage. It’s like a gun shot. But such a good song.

So, Thursday, off to see Mark Steel.

A long chat with the very friendly guy at the ticket office of the Leicester Square theatre. We agree that 2 hours is long for a show, and he warns darkly, ‘There is a projector.’ But this leads on to a discussion of film.

We compare a 2 hour stand up performance to a 3 hour film – I have just seen ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ and he has been thinking of going. Three hours, at first blush, not an attractive proposition. But I urge him to see it because the time flew by. Too many naked women of course – why why why? – but otherwise a fab film. Leonardo di Caprio acts his socks off, literally and metaphorically. So much better than American Hustle, I say. Yes, he has seen that and we agree we can not see what all the fuss is about. The first 10 minutes are good he says, and after you’ve got the idea there’s not much else. Quite so. After checking, he says, yes, Mark Steel starts on the dot of 7pm.

So a mercy dash to Pizza Express, two pizzas, Four Seasons and La Reine, plus the necessary red wine, ordered for me and C – currently stuck on a stationary train in darkest Surrey. Will she get here in time? Yes, no, yes, no. Yes! And he is good, very good. Lovely to hear socialist humour. So little of it about in the world of stand up – or at all. And, as if he is the Wolf of Leicester Square, two hours fly by. The projector is good too. Audio visual aids are rarely a bad thing. He is a very good impressionist – Ian Paisley, Tony Benn, others. A bit of chat with the audience. He makes it look so easy.

Romance is in the air, or on the air. With a Daily Telegraph journalist asking stupidly rude questions of Francois Hollande – like a child. You want to say – ‘that’s not clever or funny.’ But people who decide what news is broadcast on Radio4 obviously got a shiver of pleasure as he dared to speak. Did they think, ‘Ooh, so brave’? And the questions are played over again. How is that good journalism? My mum – who is not a journalist – could ask questions about people’s personal lives – except she wouldn’t. There are wars going on and absurd amounts of money being paid to bankers, and issues about income tax (let’s just remember we need, we love, income tax – it’s what society’s all about). But no, we have to ask the President of a very large country, adolescent questions on who you’re going out with.

But in the spirit of reconciliation, and remembering that the Beatles sang, ‘All You Need is Love’ (although I never really liked that track) onto the old British Legion Hall in Crouch End for an unlikely performance of Romeo and Juliet

It is a modern day production, set in a caravan park, reminding me that I once represented a man charged with a murder committed in a caravan park. So I am a little anxious that I might know how the story ends. And I am right! Tragedy all round. But a great evening. A wonderfully enthusiastic young cast, no prompting. The balcony scene translated into a discussion through a caravan window – so well done. And for the audience, tables, candles, sofas, and an open bar. We are at the holiday camp too. Starts at 8, ends at 10. Good parking. And one more night to go – book your tickets now! £7. A bargain.

Reviewing the situation

Posted on January 22, 2014 by Liz

Amazon have just written to ask me to review Understanding A Photograph – Penguin on Design. It is a book by John Berger which I gave C for Christmas. And what I would really like to put in the comments box, is this:

And leave it at that.

But of course it may not express what she thinks.

Bach to Bach

Posted on January 19, 2014 by Liz

How alluring it sounds – a candle-lit concert in St Martins in the Fields. And it was.

Bach’s violin concertos played by the London Concertante

We were – unsurprisingly, since I bought the tickets – sitting in the cheap seats, which translates as hard and unforgiving. But the music was wonderful – and as a treat just before the end of the first half, they played Oblivion by Piazzolla, a slow slow Argentinian tango.

There was no dancing on our night – well, none that we could see. But in that dimly lit room with flickering candles and sumptuous chandeliers, and the polished deep dark wood of the pews, the pure notes of the violin and the underlying deep tango rhythm was wonderful.

It was the interval. We had enjoyed it all. We left.

And the Bridge – you have to concentrate so hard, and the depiction of autism for a woman in that position is sometimes hard to believe, but what a treat on a Saturday evening.

Culture

Posted on January 18, 2014 by Liz

There has been much activity in the world of culture.

Exhibitions

In the pouring rain I arrived at an evening opening of the National Portrait Gallery (Sainsbury Wing) – to see Facing the Modern: the Portrait in Vienna 1900 just before the exhibition closed. This was just lovely. Many pictures we had seen in Vienna – Klimt, Schiele, Kokoschka, but also there were unexpected paintings – by Schoenberg, who knew he painted as well as composed? A wonderful self portrait of a woman artist Teresa Ries – proud, assertive, confident. And some very modern work by Richard Gerstl who died tragically young. There was also some moving work – artists drawing or painting their partners on their death bed. Schiele’s wife who was six months pregnant succumbed to the flu pandemic in 1918. Schiele’s sketches of her were the last works he completed before he died three days later at the age of 28.

Then a day trip to Liverpool to the Tate, to see Art turning Left: how values changed making1789-2013

On the fourth floor of the museum, overlooking the Albert Dock, this was a provocative, involving exhibitions. There was the work of groups and movements from Argentina, Russia, France, Italy, some simply bringing art to the people, other work railing against injustice. The exhibition revived fond memories of the Seventies – the women’s campaigns, for equal pay, nurseries, the Hackney Flashers. It raised the importance of a signature on a work of art, the involvement of the viewer, sewing as art.

Sometimes it was not easy to see what point was being made. Was it the photograph or was it the subject of the photograph which was important? Of course it was both, but what were we being invited to look at? On the whole though, it was another reminder that so much of what we see around us – adverts, furniture, art – began in small secret workshops as a response to injustice in the world. But it was also a reminder that art is a political tool.

And then by accident we noticed an exhibition at the Walker Gallery – David Hockney: early reflections.

This was David Hockney’s very early work, when he was at Art school, and his first commissions, his infatuation with Cliff Richard – he was entranced by a newspaper headline about the rescue of two students – Boys Cling to Cliff All Night. There was also a photo opportunity – a gold lame jacket, round black spectacles, a blond wig, were draped on coat hooks at the entrance to the exhibition.

Also, unusually, there have been films – all of which are contenders in one category or another for an Oscar.

In Paris we saw Inside Llewyn Davis. See my review of this in my blog, the paris train under Nouvel An. Basically, he wasn’t thin and scrawny enough. The cat was good.

American Hustle – was this a clever enough hustle? Short answer, no. Was this a comedy? Who’s laughing? A man in curlers does not make a film a comedy. And would someone who looks like Amy Adams, whatever her character’s desperate background, have fallen for someone with that serious a comb-over? No. Call me superficial, but that just didn’t happen in the 70s. Or at all. I haven’t watched the Grifters for a long while, but I have a memory that it was sharper and cleverer.

12 Years a Slave – now then. This was powerful stuff and the film has had a tremendous impact. It’s a subject we should all have in our minds at all times, because the inhumanity goes on. And presumably some people don’t know about the terrible things that have happened. But was the film good enough for the material it was handling? I think about Beloved by Toni Morrison and the heart-wrenching, gut-wrenching power of her descriptions. There were beautiful shots in this film and Chiwetel Ejiofor plays his part magnificently. But I was left curiously unmoved, and angry because it could have been so much more.

Next post – Bach by candlelight in St Martins in the Fields, and the Bridge.

New Year coffee

Posted on January 9, 2014 by Liz

Coffee. They say now, it’s very good for you. In Vienna is the Cafe Central where Trotsky used to hang out, making a coffee last all day, planning revolution. In London there is also a Cafe Central, where you can certainly get a good flat white. But which is which?

Cafe Central

Cafe Central…

The week so far has consisted of wrapping up the Christmas Tree decorations in newspaper from 2008, unfortunately the Sports Pages, so nothing amusing to be reminded of; a visit to Chelmsford; a court hearing; and an appearance in a Comedy Club.

These last three are connected in ways. Court prepares you for public speaking, stand up is public speaking of the most extreme kind, and the routine was based around Chelmsford, the city we love to love. And in fact all four could be said to be connected, since Christmas decorations represent the glamour and glitter of a pub basement in a side street off Picadilly Circus. But it was fun.

Driving back from Chelmsford, passing through Epping Forest and seeing the geese and goats and the occasional peacock (really?) that roam wild on common ground, is always a pleasure. Entering the metropolis, as the sun is going down, you see different sights.

Elizabeth Woodcraft

writing about the law, books and other matters of obvious importance

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