It’s my life ........................3

In the news.........................4

Talking heads ....................4

The week in pictures...........4

Past/present .......................5

Close-up on Brighton ...........5

Around the world ............6 & 7

Late breaks .........................7

Reading matters.................8

Cooking in style ..................9

Drink talking......................9

Weekend walk.................10

Gardening ......................11

DIY .......................................11

The vet ...............................11

Cover story..........12, 13 & 14

TV preview......................15

Pick of the week................15

The week’s TV .............16-23

Vanora on the box............24

David Roper ....................24

Contents

2 Weekend Saturday, February 19 – Sunday, February 20, 2005what’s inside

Is something bothering you? Then get it off your chest by emailing rant@theargus.co.uk Only contributors who include their full name and address will be considered for publication, although we shall only show an

abbreviated form of the address. We reserve the right to shorten letters.

the rantI CONFESS to beingaddicted to my mobilephone. I have a packagewhich includes 400 textmessages a month (all usedup) and I’ve been known totap away at dinner parties,in shops, airports, doctors’surgeries, up mountains –anywhere and everywhere. If I accidentally ventureout without my mobile, I feel as if my left leg has been cut off.That aside, I believethere’s no excuse for thetoll SMS text messaginghas taken on Britishliteracy. We’ve bred a whole generation ofteenagers whocommunicate in bizarreabbreviations such as “cul8r m8” (see you later, mygood friend), “ru gd 42moro” (are we still on fortomorrow’s fixture?) and“spk to u b4 wknd” (we shall communicate before Saturday). I dread to think what theywill put on their GCSEexam papers. If the haplessyoungsters are fortunate,the exam markers willmistake the relentless tideof abbreviations foralgebra or hieroglyphics.

Adults fall flat whentrying to condense theirdeepest inter-personalthoughts into 160characters on a mobilephone screen, instead ofputting pen to paper. I mean, whateverhappened to writing aletter to one’s romanticpartner or valued friend? I’d much rather receive athoughtful, sealed-with-a-loving-kiss missive onquality writing paper thana scrambled “have a micetime spk 2 un soon”, whichis what tends to happenwhen the writer’s fingersand predictive text system

have both gone astray.Indeed, predictive textmessaging (where thephone struggles to workout what you’re typing)can throw variouswobblers of its own accord.If you don’t pay attention,the name “debs” turns into“fear” (ideal for causingoffence to friends), while“I’m going home” can alltoo easily become “I’mgoing good”. In a discussion about “is itworth coming to theparty?”, the latter couldconfuse the recipient intomaking a wasted journey,

only to find six remainingparty guests sitting rounda warm can of beer.Worse still, texts conveyvery little sentiment,which can lead to thembeing misunderstood. For example, a friend senther new boyfriend amessage saying she had “alot of options”, following a conversation about jobinterviews. He assumedshe meant rival suitorsand was offended. It wasthe beginning of the end! This could never happenwith a polite letter orphone conversation.Bearing in mind thecomplexities of modern-day relationships, SMSmessages have securedtheir own special place atthe root of many neuroses. Is your special frienddeliberately ignoring you?Did you send the messageto the right person(perhaps it went to yourboss instead of yourlover)? Is the recipientsimply too busy to reply?Are they, in fact, dead?I believe we should allconsider what BT oncesaid: “It’s good to talk”.

Jo Chipchase

Texts havesecuredtheir ownplace at the root ofour neuroses

COVER: LIZ FINLAYSON 90109-5

barking Martin Fish

SEEING STARS IN NAMIBIAP6 & 7

TO CRUMBLE FOR P9

HEDY STUFFP24

FAR AND A WEY P10

GOLDENGLORYP11

FLAMINGFAREWELL P15