This will be my third publication with them and I am delighted to announce they are making the successful transition from pixel to paper. So it’s good to be on board for the inaugural edition, although I won’t be able to make the launch at The Studio, 55 Leroy St, London, SE1 4SN on the 21st September

People said the internet would kill the publishing industry but the reverse has happened. It’s opened up more opportunities and the possibilities of a wider audience, as well as giving readers the opportunity to ‘test’ publications out before subscribing. Everyone’s a winner, apart from the contributors of course. Yes, that’s right. Another unpaid one to add to the list, but at least this publication is a class act, aesthetic and thought-provoking. Definitely worth the long hours of coffee, cigarettes and keyboard tapping.

www.stimulusrespond.com. Subscriptions are priced at £30 (UK), £40 (Europe) and £50 (Outside Europe).

Another website I have been featured on can be found at http://www.literatureeastmidlands.co.uk/ and entailed a more vigorous inclusion policy. My motivation for appearing on this website is networking. I need like minded people from the region to get involved in a musical I am writing called the Council. Let’s see what happens.

I have written an article entitled ‘Free as a Bird’ for Stimulus Respond. This is a 2000 word piece on Le Parkour or ‘Street Running’ as it is also known and examines how this new form of urban expression challenges gendered notions of the body. The article is based on a three month ethnography I did with a group of 14-22 year olds in Nottingham called NottsPK
The remit for the magazine was: How is the relationship between genders defined by culture? Are the stereotypical ideas of man and woman true to life? How are ideas of ‘Man’ and ‘Woman’ influenced by biology? What is the importance of gender within society?

A word of advice for writers out there; make sure the editors include your web address or details before publication. That way you can be contacted which may lead to more work.

For those of you interested in where this odd title for a magazine comes from, read on. This was taken from Wikipedia.

The stimulus-response model describes a statistical unit as making a quantitative response to a quantitative stimulus administered by the researcher. The object of this kind of research is to establish a mathematical function that describes the relation f between the stimulus x and the expected value (or other measure of location) of the response Y:

E(Y) = f(x)

The most common form assumed for such functions is linear, thus we expect to see a relationship like

E(Y) = α + βx.

Statistical theory for linear models has been well developed for more than fifty years, and a standard form of analysis called linear regression has been developed.

Route are now kicking off in February with A Route Compendium, which is a small anthology of Byteback books, some of which are already on the site and some of new work. They hope that this can develop into a regular feature and a progression route for some of the work they publish. The Bytebacks have been very successful but as Ian goes on to say ‘we’re fully aware that the format, technology and necessary origami is not to everyone’s liking, so to move some of the work into printed books is a natural course.’ Watch this space…

http://www.route-online.com

The researchers also wanted to know if I knew of any ‘Chav’ hotspots in my local vacinity (despite the fact that I had explained in detail that Chavs do not exist and are a media creation.) Their dilema was simple. They didn’t want to shoot ‘Chavs’ in some of the ‘suggested’ areas around Manchester as they are under- going regeneration and investment (Wythemshaw) but were happy to come to my neck of the woods and shoot local kids on the street. Nottingham fits the stereotype at the moment with gun crime etc. I declined their kind offer.

The finished documentary achieved the usual standard: It failed to ask any serious questions or engage any kind of social or political inquiry. The only people to benefit were a few bored members of the public who got to air their prejudices to a wider audience which they could record and watch over and over again.

Slightly bored of seeing the working class ridiculed I have put forward an alternative stereotype for the media to digest called the Shav. (If you can’t beat them, deflect them) If the CHAV are supposedly Council Housed And Violent then the SHAV are Surrey Homed And Vulgar. It is time to turn the clock back to when the upper stratum were the victims of satire and abuse. You can read more about this (and add or disagree with the definition) at http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Shav