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thisisUll.com, the alternative media website from Hull in England! This website is about people's lives and experiences - whoever they are - for us all to share. Every article, poem, story, review is contributed by you. Say what you feel, say it like it is. We do our best to publish everything you send to us. Please email your friends and send your stories to: contributions@thisisull.com. thisisUll.com has provided a free, independent platform for anyone and everyone to use since August 2003. The site depends on its editorial and production team who continue to toil tirelessly and without pay to bring 'Ull to you. We run on a shoestring and rely solely on advertising revenue to fund the site. Please help support thisisUll.com. We can't do it without you! Advertisers - Please check our advertising rates - Click Here Bands, promoters, venues and everybody else! Please help support us by buying a t-shirt or providing a link to thisisUll.com on your website or myspace page. Not sure how? Click here for information.

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Fiction - Side Orders - A Joe Geraghty Story By Nick Quantrill

	'Ahmet's paranoid, man.' I turned to Darren and shrugged. Ignoring him, I continued looking out of the car window and into the Hull night, the city flashing by. 'You've been robbed twice this week' I said. It had just turned midnight. People were staggering home, the streets slowly emptying, but plenty of drunks still wanted their fix of fast food. 'Bad luck, Joe. That's all. It happens.' Darren laughed. 'It's cool to have a bodyguard, though.' 'I guess so.' It'd make a good story down the pub, if nothing else. Read more...

News, Arts Free Theatre Tickets for Under 26's
	Now here's something you don't see everyday - FREE nights out from Monday to Thursday at Hull Truck Theatre. Here's how to get them: 1. Collect an application form from Hull Truck Box Office and fill it in. You only need to do this once and you will be able to book as many tickets for yourself as you like! 2. Post the form or drop it back into the Box Office. 3. Book your tickets by calling Hull Truck or dropping into the theatre. Read more...

Poetry - First Love and Your Love By Laurenceaux

I love you inside. Deep inside, protected and warmed where no-one-else has been, and as with undercurrents you move unseen in me, you stir my heart kick me inside Read more...

Poetry - Brief Encounter By Terry Ireland

I was walking to the station To catch an early morning train Not a very nice day Dark with drizzly sort of rain When this voice beside me said Hi would you like a lift I'm not normally here at this time Read more...

Poetry - Battered By Michelle Dee
	Did you fail to turn in, are you getting too thin? Is this the year to finally stop all the drugs you're taking? Kid yourself it's all okay. You already know you'll have to pay. So lie inside, die inside, it doesn't really matter. Just another night and day, when you got battered. Read more...

Articles - You Scare Me By Alex

'You scare me' Having that said to you, just once, is one time too many. Why? Why was this person scared of me? Drunken rage? Membership in the BNP? A predilection for bumming puppies? Nope, none of those (admittedly scary) things. I had done nothing but acquire a label; 'Psychotic'. So what do people understand by that? Usually it's some media inspired portrayal of a reality avoiding, maniac with a large blade. The reality is both fairer and fouler than the common perception. No, psychotics are not automatically or overwhelmingly prone to violence or abuse. Read more...

News, Arts Write to Speak Featuring Tony Walsh and Dennis Just Dennis at Hull Truck on Wednesday 15th July 09
	The next Write to Speak presents northern poets Tony Walsh and Dennis Just Dennis at the Studio Stage at Hull Truck. Supporting Tony and Dennis will be Hull poetry performers, Joe Hakim and Mike Watts with more of their down to earth poetry pieces. If you've missed the previous shows, now's your chance to catch some real performances, showing you poetry like you've never seen it before. Edgy, dynamic and sometimes shocking, Write to Speak will challenge and entertain Read more...

Places to Visit - Rudd On The Road Part Thirteen: The Green Side of Hollywood By Steve Rudd
	Keen to see a side of LA that the majority of visitors to the city never get to appreciate, I couldn't have been more pleased when my friend Dave Kebo, a movie-maker who was raised in LA and knows much of it like the back of his hand, offered to show me around. It was St. Patrick's Day, and our first port of call was a cafe in the Silver Lake district, east of Hollywood. Neither of us had so far indulged in breakfast, so we ordered up and sat back, sitting out on the busy sidewalk in order to increase our chances of spotting a celeb. Read more...

News - New parking prices make shoppers smile at St Stephen's Shopping Centre
	St Stephen's Shopping Centre continues to offer great service to customers by reducing the parking price to just £1.00 after 4pm during the week and all day Sunday. From Monday 6th July 2009 Hull city centre visitors can enjoy this reduced parking price - perfect for after work shopping visits or meeting friends for a bite to eat and evening's entertainment at Reel Cinema or nearby Gala Bingo. With all stores, now joined by Next, open until 7pm weekdays, 6pm Saturdays, and 8pm on Thursday, you can shop 'til you Read more...

Poetry - The Speaker of The Commons By Patrick Henry
	Mick Martyr, a Clyde worker, worth his metal, Falls on his sword, they carry for State Opening. Rows rage on MPs, on two home loans, two jags, Two lav. seats, two blue films, two mistresses, To show the masses, who now their master is; Two turtle-doves, to bill and coo, in their cote, To house the ducks, spare no expense; to float Read more...

News, Arts Take My Hand - Peter Lowsley
	An avid follower of Hull City and with a life-long passion for the city, Peter Lowsley decided to champion both in his own words. Peter's first attempt at writing a book, Take My Hand , is out now. Over the course of the last season Peter and his family followed the Tigers home and away. 'The book covers our historic first season in the Premier League and charts all of the games.' Although keen to point out it's not a string of match reports, Peter can't deny it's a real pro-Hull story! Read more...

Reviews, Theatre - Write to Speak featuring Luke Wright at Hull Truck - Monday 29th June 09 By Mark Walmsley
	After attending the first Write to Speak session back in May featuring Mike Watts, Joe Hakim and Mandi Lowe, I certainly wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to attend the second instalment with Luke Wright on Monday night. I arrived at pretty much the same time as the last Write to Speak performance at about 7.20 pm for an 8.00 Read more...

Reviews, Films - Emma Rugg's Directions Tour By Steve Rudd
	It's fair to say that it has been relatively quiet on the Emma Rugg front over the past couple of years. I, for one, thought she'd relocated to the United States in the wake of the Directions Tour she undertook there with Henry Doss in 2007. Having first made contact through the BBC radio show Raw Talent in 2003, Emma had visited Henry in the states on a couple of occasions prior to heading over to hit the Read more...

News, Arts Write to Speak Featuring Luke Wright at Hull Truck on Monday 29th June 09
	Following its sell-out debut at Hull Truck last month, Write to Speak, Yorkshire's first theatre based spoken word/poetry event presents spoken word artist Luke Wright with his latest show, A Poet's Work is Never Done as part of the Humber Mouth Literature Festival. 4Talent award winner Luke Wright might just be the hardest working Read more...

Poetry - We interrupt your programming to go live to the BBC News desk ...
	'Reports are just coming in that... Democracy has just been assassinated From the comments from the gentleman in the hat He witnessed the murder as orchestrated There is widespread panic on the streets Carnage, devastation an attack on the elite' Read more...

CD Reviews - Winds Of Time - Glenn Williams and The Ullbillies (Lazy Swede Productions) By Jim Soars - Courtesy Of Maverick Country Music Magazine
	Hull's very own Glenn Williams is one of the hardest working composers and musicians in the UK country roots crossover genre. His latest release Winds of Time highlights his song writing credentials with ten new tracks making their first appearance. Again ably assisted by his regular band The Ullbillies that comprise guitarist / percussionist / keys Read more...

Poetry - Relationship Ret-con By Joe Hakim

the staples that bound us have come unstuck as we fall to bits like a ripped up book you rant and issue your prime directive our horizons shift into a Jack Kirby perspective Read more...

Poetry - People By Mike Watts

Don't ever be afraid To speak your mind Even if you find Your words smacking Like a fist Into the face Of the person that You're speaking to Read more...

Music Reviews - Friday 29th May 09 - Moonbeams Acoustic Evening at the Bell Hotel, Driffield By Steve Rudd
	In light of the fact that it was the final Moonbeams before summer, organiser Leila Slater had gone all out to arrange the greatest line-up imaginable, managing to replace Hayley Gaftarnick with Edwina Hayes at the last minute when Hayley unfortunately came down with tonsillitis. Opening proceedings, resident barman at The Bell, Joe Pickering, Read more...

Fiction - A Story About My Brother By J.W. Robinson
	I was about twelve-years-old when my brother, James, came home from the supermarket carrying an enormous cardboard box and announced that he was going to live in it. He had been behaving strangely for a while. My mum said it was a phase he was going through and she didn't like to antagonise him too much; he was prone to emotional outbursts. Nevertheless I think she worried when he took that box up to his bedroom and climbed inside. Read more...

News, Arts National Write A Poem About the News Day 2009 with Kate Fox
	Here's a chance for all you poets out there to reach a wider audience. thisisUll.com would like to encourage as many local writers as possible to take part in this national event. Instead of just tutting at what's on the news, everyone in the country is being asked to write a poem about it. The first ever national Write a Poem about the News Day is launched on Wednesday June 24th. Read more...

Poetry - A Wish for Unity By Suraya Begum

It’s time for us all to unite, Stop trying to separate Black from White It’s time for people to get along, Everyone together will make the world strong Racism can have such a bad effect, People coming together is what will earn respect Read more...

Poetry - The Farmers Market By Gary Clark

I saw a farmers market today on Prinny Dock side A good place for a market thought I How long have farmers made plastic tractors for kids? And little aeroplanes that fly around on a stick? Looked a bit desolate, the traders bored stiff Not many farmers and nowt for a quid The fat and the skinny the big and the tall Read more...

Poetry - The Right to Rule By Patrick Henry
	The Bother Boys come blowing in, By stealth through the back door. Euro Polls gave them the nod. Round corners lurk dozens more. Garbed like bouncers, they’re in fact Gatecrashers, sneaking backwards in, Thought a loony fringe safely outside; Read more...

News, Arts The Humber Mouth Literature Festival 2009
	The Humber Mouth Literature Festival takes place in Hull between June 20th and July 7th 2009, presenting a wide range of events featuring authors, speakers and artists from the UK and around the world. The festival celebrates literature, language and text-based arts, combining author events with special commissions and community projects, and builds on a year-round programme of literature development activities. Read more...

Places to Visit - Beinvenue: Paris in 3 Days for Less Than 100,000 Calories! By Ruth
	Prologue: The long weekend in Paris was a spur of the moment idea hatched by my daughter. I was initially sceptical about the cost. Summer fares to Europe are never less than extortionate. My cousin in Paris pointed out that fares spike sharply at the end of June and remain high throughout the summer months. Armed with that information, we checked flights for the first week of June Read more...

Articles - Channel 4 Students and Friday Night Stars By Phil Prethero

	2007, The One Stop 24 Hour Shop, High Street, Lincoln It's Saturday, it's 7 in the morning, and I'm at work, hung over, stood here like a trampled on torn up tampon - of use to absolutely nobody. Why the fuck I agreed to these shifts is beyond me, normal people at the age of 21 and in their last year of uni are in bed at this time, they'll get up at about 11, Read more...

Poetry - House of Commons Lunch By Terry Ireland

Politicians soup they called it Very clear and very thin Like those election promises No substance to put in And it was fed to the people And while they lived on that The snouts at the trough Read more...

Poetry - Poetry versus Art By Mark Walmsley
	If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, then art is a personal expression If diction is a rule of language, then poetry does not have a connection. How can an art critic judge, when he has no talent of his own? Read more...

Poetry - Hannah By Steve Rudd

	The snow. That's what it came down to. And, of course, the cold That penetrated the folds So the sheep couldn't see the shelter Amidst the pristine whiteout. That's why they roamed At right angles to shepherds, Read more...

Poetry - Ode to the Insomniac By Scott Rorrison

	Pixelated spectres drift through the train station: Commuters going this way, and that, Lives filled with collecting bric a brac Stick in his soul Like insomnia Weighted sheets. Sleep is as far away As the feel of a good woman Read more...

Places to Visit - Rudd On The Road Part Twelve: Onwards and Upwards By Steve Rudd
	I don't do early mornings. At least I don't do them very well. I mean, was it 5 a.m. already? We'd had less than two hours of sleep, and it was time for my friend Evangelina to whisk me to the airport in order for me to catch my 7:50 a.m. flight with 'Mexicana' back to Los Angeles. Having joined a bunch of Evangelina's friends for some food and drink at a cantina close to Bellas Artes in the Historical Centre of Mexico City the previous night, Read more...

News, Arts Caffeine Nights Publishing Signs New Authors
	Caffeine Nights Publishing is pleased to announce the signing of two new authors to its fold. Crime fiction author, Nick Quantrill and Neuroscience thriller author, Greg Dawe are the first signings for the Kent based publishing company. Quantrill's novel, Broken Dreams - a gritty urban crime thriller set in Hull, amid a background of local government corruption and murder, is the first novel featuring Quantrill's new private detective, Joe Geraghty. Read more...

Articles - Can You Help? Hull Clubs in the Sixties Keith Fairhurst

I wonder if you can help me. I am searching for the name of a 1965 Hull beat club. The club was at the end of a passageway between two buildings off a one-way street in the centre of the city. It had a small opening/courtyard in front of the main entrance. The passageway was on the right hand side as you travelled down the street. I believe it was called The Black Cat Club or Kontiki Club Read more...

Poetry - Has Anybody Told You ... By Andy Grant

	Has anybody told you that you're ugly? Has anybody told you that you're fat? Has anybody said you have a face for the radio? Well they have me, and well, that's that. Has anybody said that you're lovely? Has anybody said that you're cute? Read more...

Reviews, Arts - Adrian Johnson: All Wound Up - Red Gallery exhibition, March-April 2009 By Philip Wincolmlee-Barnes
	I am currently re-reading John Carey's The Intellectuals and The Masses, a fascinating (and sometimes troubling) survey of how the former regarded the latter from the late 19th Century until the 1930's. He charts a course via Nietzsche's theories of 'the Superman vs. the common people' (guess his preference Read more...

Poetry - Poetry ...1980 By Mike Watts

It was the Yanks And Russians That frightened me Winding each other up Constantly It bothered me More than girls Read more...

News, Arts Picture Perfect with Hull College School of Art and Design BA Photography Degree Show - Friday 5th to Saturday 20th June 09
	The Hull School of Art and Design BA Photography Degree students will be exhibiting their diverse array of works at The Red Gallery, Osbourne Street. Experience first hand this explosion of new, emerging talent from Hull College students by visiting the exclusive preview taking place at 6.00pm - 9.00pm on Friday 5th June, where visitors can enjoy FREE drinks Read more...

Poetry - The Headlines By Joe Hakim Video:

The headlines scream at me - I'm eating flyers and chewing coffee grounds, looking for all the losts I've found. A job for life or eventuality, at least my teevee isn't guilty of impartiality. The kid on the bike, teeth hanging off the back, front wheel stuck in the railway track, Read more...

Articles - The Interview: The Four Ps - Plan, Prepare, Participate and Be Positive.By Mike Kemp, CV Satisfaction

	As individuals who are looking to find employment the interview proves to be the most daunting task. But this doesn't have to be the case using the four P's system: Plan, Prepare, Participate and Be Positive. This is a system that was devised by CV Satisfaction which covers all areas of the interview from the beginning to the end. Let's look at each one individually. Read more...

Poetry - Addictive substance By Mark Walmsley
	It starts early in the morning, the first thing in my head I shake with a fever, Mouth all dry as I step wearily from my bed I hope I have enough powder left from yesterday's last fix I am a useless shell without it, and it's only half past six Down the stairs I steady myself, shakily I go Read more...

Poetry - Nonsense (inspired by Manuro) By Laurenceaux

The wide mouthed speaker swallowed my soul as the light spoke to the wall, casting shadows from a chair that spoke in raindrops, and wept for the mythical king who lost his throat and his farting Read more...

News, Arts Creative Vision Photography Exhibition - Friday 5th to Saturday 13th June 09
	Photography has, over the past few years, become a more and more popular past time for many people across the globe. Aside from the millions of people who now call it a hobby or a pastime the many genres of photography play a vital role in the lives of many people who have forged a career or intend develop one in this field. The Creative Vision photography exhibition aims to show off Read more...

Music Reviews -Monday 19th May 09 Musicians Night featuring Disaster Radio New Zealand, By Michelle Dee
	Annie, budding stand-up comic from The Willows women's centre begins a night where it seems the strange and the stranger have come to congregate in the Adelphi. Annie has an old style ghetto blaster on which she is attempting to record her homework. Was she funny? Yes, but it wasn't easy to pin down why. A bizarre opening to a night that was to get steadily more fantastical. Read more...

Places to Visit - Rudd On The Road Part Part Eleven: Going Barmy in Barra. By Steve Rudd
	As I grew increasingly accustomed to the laid-back beach-life around which the tiny Pacific Coast town of Melaque revolves, I realised it was going to be no easy task to pull myself away from this area of Jalisco, Mexico. The pace of life which afflicts Melaque is a world away from the hustle and bustle that comes as part and parcel of larger towns and cities Read more...

Reviews, Theatre - Write to Speak at Hull Truck - Wednesday 27th May 09 By Mark Walmsley
	Having found the thisisUll website by accident while looking for an outlet for my hobby and passion, Writing, I was welcomed by Cilla after an initial contact who took a page of my work I submitted and pasted it on the World Wide Web as seen, titled as The Right Hand of God. In addition to this, she asked me if I would be interested in attending the Write to Speak gig at the Hull Truck on Wednesday 27th May. Read more...

Poetry - My Blood In Every Line By Paul England

	Shit I'm just like shady when digging up my pain, I wrote my lines of life with blood from every vain. I wrote that shit with heart but no one even read, my blood has been forgotten Read more...

News, Charity - HERIB Mind Body & Soul Day ... Sunday 31st May 09 ... Ramada, Willerby
	Are you a new business trying to promote your great products and services, or an established business looking for some fresh exposure? If so, HERIB are delighted to provide you with the chance to show what you have to offer at our Mind Body & Soul Day on Sunday 31st May at the Ramada Jarvis in Willerby. Read more...

Poetry - Hull City Stay Up By Michelle Dee
	By hook or by crook Hull City stayed up. No win today, but Newcastle's result went our way. City fans can breathe again, three cheers for Phil Brown's men Around the KC the tigers roar, Read more...

Poetry - The Right Hand of God By Mark Walmsley
	I bless this creation, the animals and all The Garden of Eden, the trees so tall The crystal waters that run through the brook Fresh air you breathe, I will record in my book I curse the land, you cast me beneath I swear a vengeance through my gritted teeth The fire and torment I endure each day Read more...

Music Reviews - Tuesday 12th May 09 - Silent Revolution Magazine Presents 59 Violets, The Shadow Cops and Kill Youth Culture at New Adelphi Club, Hull By Michelle Dee
	Barton's 59 Violets have been busy writing and recording new material for their forthcoming album. The band remain a four piece with Lee Drinkall on vocals/guitar and Matt Cade on drums alongside Digsy vocals/guitar, and John Amos (known as Bill to his friends) on bass. The new material sounds more considered with Lee taking on some of the vocals from Digsy; on one number Digsy was just doing backing vocals and chorus. Read more...

Album Reviews - Horse Guards Parade 'EP' (Download from iTunes) By Nick Quantrill
	Formed by former Salako front-man, James Waudby, Horse Guards Parade are one of Hull's hidden treasures. Describing themselves as 'psychedelic anti-folk', this debut EP is, as you might expect, a mixed bag of sounds and ideas. Lead track, As The Plane Lifted Its Wheels is a galloping number which sounds like the soundtrack to a fight in an old country and western movie. Read more...