This story is fully copyrighted to myself,
Elizabeth Edwards (1stAngel) All rights reserved 2009
NO reprinting or republication without written permission

The young girl, still wearing her hockey uniform, sat impatiently tapping her hockey stick on the metallic train floor as it sped through the town.  She craned her neck round to see where they were and pouted prettily when she realised they were still many stops from hers.  She didnt look at the guy sitting opposite, but he was watching her.

————————————————————

In the next compartment an older woman shifted uncomfortably on the hard seat and shifted her shopping bag as the coffee jar dug into her leg. Her husband would be wanting his dinner when he got in from the factory shift and she was running late.  Her stomach churned and she looked down and smiled.  Rubbing it gently with her free hand she murmured, ‘Not long now pet, then Daddy can give us both a hug’, She sighed happily and leaned back a bit to give her baby some more room.

The man behind her made his plans.

————————————————————

Time travel in 2069 was a standard practise in the European Police Force.  They had been using it for many years now covertly and it was one of the reasons that the world had joined its police into one large, connected, network of law enforcement.

Dan Taylor finished reading the case study and went and looked out of the London Headquarters 3rd floor window.  Small coupes whizzed past and he envied their pilots their innocence on this Monday morning.  To them it was just another work day, to him it was another day dealing with death and insanity.

His junior partner, Clare walked back into the room.  ‘Another bad one Dan’.

‘Yep! But then again when are they ever not…’.

‘Shall we go immediately?’

‘I think so’, he answered and they pulled their coats off the rack and headed for their pods.

————————————————————

‘Hi’ said the man.  ‘Anyone sitting here?’

The young girl giggled and looked around at the otherwise empty compartment.

‘Er, no’

He sat beside her and grinned.  She saw he wasnt bad looking for an older guy.  Perhaps the trip wouldnt be as boring as she had thought.

————————————————————

The train pulled up at a stop and the woman grabbed her shopping bag and got off.  She stretched and smiled at the porter who had rushed to help her out of the compartment.  He grinned and thought of his grandchildren as he watched the very pregnant woman leave the platform, her husband trailing along behind her.

————————————————————

‘Who are we grabbing this time Dan?’ asked Clare as they strapped themselves into their respective pods.

‘A serial killer named Edward Giddy.  He killed 24 women over a course of 16 years, starting with this one, one Daisy Turner.  We will position her in safety and then grab him when he is alone.  As normal’

Clare smiled and finished buckling her belt.

‘Ready?’ he asked her

‘Ready!’

There was a flash of light and then an empty space where the pods had been.

————————————————————

The young girl was regretting her decision to flirt with the guy.  He had asked for a kiss and she had stupidly said yes, for a laugh and something to tell her mates that night, but now he was pushing her back onto the bench and his hands, rough, were hurting her breasts, his breath stale and tasting of old whisky was making her feel sick, and she was now very scared.

She struggled and tried to reach her hockey stick, but it had fallen onto the floor.  He laughed coarsely and reaching down with one hand undid his trouser belt, the other hand ripping her top.

————————————————————

The woman stopped and the footsteps behind her stopped too.  She shrugged and continued down the alley that led to her street, through the estate.

She felt rather than heard the movement behind her and she spun round as the man hit her a glancing blow on the head with the brick.

She fell, dropping the bag and hearing, in a daze, the coffee jar exploding as it hit the path.

‘Have to buy another of those’ she thought absurdly as she drifted out of consciousness, her hands automatically cradling her stomach as she lay, like her baby, in a foetal position.

The man looked down at her, rage abating, he glanced quickly behind and in front of him and then took out his knife.

————————————————————

Screaming through the noise of the train, the girl had slid to the floor and the man with her.  He was grunting in her ear as he rocked in time to the train movement.

Her hand stretched out and found the handle of the hockey stick that had slid under her seat.  She raised it as high as she could.

————————————————————

The young girl, still wearing her hockey uniform, sat impatiently tapping her hockey stick on the metallic train floor as it sped through the town.  She craned her neck round to see where they were and pouted prettily when she realised they were still many stops from hers.  She smiled at the young couple who strode through her compartment into the next one.

In the next compartment an older woman shifted uncomfortably on the hard seat and moved her shopping bag as the coffee jar dug into her leg. Her husband would be wanting his dinner when he got in from the factory shift and she was running late.  Her stomach churned and she looked down and smiled.  Rubbing it gently with her free hand she murmured, ‘Not long now pet, then Daddy can give us both a hug’, She sighed happily and leaned back a bit to give her baby some more room.

She looked up at the young man as he sat beside her.

‘Hi’ he said, ‘Could I ask you to accompany my partner into the next compartment?  We are getting this compartment ready for a party to come on board… We are so sorry for the inconvenience but we dont want you to get jostled at all. ‘

The young woman smiled at her and so Daisy, reassured, got out of her seat and followed the woman into the other carriage.

Dan turned, once they had left, and looked at the man still sitting on the seat a row behind.  He smiled.

————————————————————

The girl moved her hockey stick as the woman with the shopping bag sat beside her.  They started to chat about dates of births, and the girl told the woman about her hockey match.  The man opposite sighed and got off at the next station.

————————————————————

Neither of the two woman saw the flash of light.  They were too busy talking, laughing, as the woman remembered her school days and the young girl forgot her boredom.

A team led by Professor Chris Carr from The School of Materials has broken down and filtered large amounts of bird feathers.

Researchers then used special machinery - unique to The University of Manchester - to turn the feathery pulp into paper.

And to mark the festive season, Prof Carr has joined forces with Dr Nick Clarke from The University’s state-of-the-art Digital Print Centre to create colourful feather-based wrapping paper.

The new innovation from Manchester scientists - piloted using duck, goose and poultry feathers - opens up the possibility that in future years the paper used to wrap a family’s presents could be made from feathers plucked from the turkey they are eating for Christmas lunch.

According to the National Farmers’ Union (NFU), 10 million turkeys are consumed in the UK over the festive period - with around 6 million of them reared in the UK.

And according to DEFRA figures, in 2007 the UK produced 1,264,400 tonnes of chicken*.

The vast majority of feathers plucked from these birds are incinerated or end up in landfill. Each of these methods has implications for the environment.

It is estimated that around 120,000 tonnes of poultry feathers are produced every year in UK alone.

And there is a pressing demand for an alternative processing route for the feathers - especially as companies currently have to pay for unwanted feathers to be taken away.

As well as paper, scientists at the University have been able to make plant pots that are potentially flame retardant and more biodegradable than traditional plastic plant pots.

Researchers believe these feather-based pots may also offer enhanced fertilising properties as a result of the nitrogen supplied by the protein in the feathers.

Using The University of Manchester’s unique paper pilot plant, they have even made prototype EGG BOXES from unwanted feathers.

And in future years vegetable peelings may not go to waste, as researchers have even looked at making paper from these.

Professor Carr said: “Over recent years we have been working closely with industrial partners to characterise feathers, develop suitable cleaning technology and identify potential opportunities for new and novel products.

“Our progress in this field and the production of prototype products would have been impossible without the unique paper production pilot facility we have on campus. We are fortunate to be the only university in the UK to boast such advanced equipment.

“We are very excited and encouraged by our results and the prototypes we have produced, although there is still some way to go before products start to appear on the shelves.

“We see this as a real opportunity to take the large volume of poultry feathers, which are currently being incinerated or dumped into land fill sites, and put them to good use.”

The University of Manchester is currently working with industrial partners to develop the necessary processes and technology to produce commercially viable feather-based products.

Hmmm some of you may say..’what the hell is a Facebook Application?’ and others will say, ‘Facebook Applications? Yes I can knock one out after tea’…

Well I am making an application at present.  A role playing game about art.  Its… erm.. a LOT harder than I thought it was and I am really struggling even though I am using a game maker.

I mean, how hard can it be to ask someone to do something that then does something else?  Its absurdly hard and I think this may end up as not so much an application as more an appliHUH?……….

Still I WILL make it and if it works great, and if it doesnt, well at least I tried!

On another note, two of the nicest ladies I know are meeting tomorrow in London.   I  SO want to be there too but its very hard for me for several reasons, the main one being that I find it hard even now to go off on my own alone.  Still, at least I get out now, there was a time when I was scared to even go out of my front door so things are looking up :)   Must be brave, Must be brave!!!

So the two ladies meet up tomorrow and I wish them all the best and I hope they have a sunny, gorgeous day :)  I KNOW they will get on perfectly they are both truly nice people

Finally, the lady from eBay has told me she will refund my money on that medialert pendant, so we may have a happy ending. At present my neck has got worse and I am trying to keep it in one piece with Savlon.

So, that’;s it for now.. no more excuse to stop building the application for a while *sigh*  Back I go……….wish me luck LOL

Well, they were very expensive and as an artist I never have spare money to throw around so, you can imagine my delight when I found a medialert pendant on eBay for £5 +£2 P&P

Very cheap and the clincher for me were the words

Please also look at our Stunning Personalised Photo Engraved Keyring

and other Engraved items

All Items are Nickel Free

Thank you for looking.

Notice that All Items are Nickel Free bit?  Awesome as I have dermatitis and cannot wear nickel.

So I bought it.  It arrived speedily and was priced nicely…packaged nicely…  I left good feedback…very pleased….

Then a day after putting it on my neck started to rash up…  Ok I thought and emailed her to let her know that her chain is NOT allergy free and she needs to let people know.

‘I will MENTION it to my suplier’ she says…

Excuse me?  You need to TELL them not mention it.  Tell them that they are advertising it to you incorrectly so you are advertising it to your customers AND you need to remove that mention of nickel free immediately from your spiel!

So I rechained.  But then my area where the pendant sits starts to rash up and now I can hardly move my neck as it is so sore.

None of this pendant is nickel free.  None of this pendant is allergy free.  She is still advertising it that it is.

]]> http://1stangel.co.uk/art/i-bought-a-medi-alert-from-ebay-dont/feed http://1stangel.co.uk/art/uk-seeks-two-year-extension-on-artists-resale-right http://1stangel.co.uk/art/uk-seeks-two-year-extension-on-artists-resale-right#comments Sat, 03 Jan 2009 18:40:36 +0000 1stAngel http://1stangel.co.uk/art/?p=3203 The UK Government has notified the European Commission that it intends to maintain its existing derogation from resale right for the works of deceased artists for a further two years.

The extension means that resale right will continue to apply in the UK to works by living artists only.

Resale right entitles authors of original works of art, such as paintings, engravings, sculpture and ceramics, to receive a royalty each time one of their works is resold in a sale involving an art market professional.

The decision to extend the derogation comes after extensive consultation with a wide range of stakeholders including artists and traders.

Ministers decided that the current economic climate could only but affect the art market’s ability to cope with the application of artist’s resale right to the works of deceased artists.

John Denham, Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills, has written to the European Commission’s Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy to notify him of the UK’s intention to extend this derogation.

Mr Denham said:

“We are committed to supporting businesses, including the UK art trade, through the current downturn. Applying resale right to deceased artists at this time would place a considerable burden on the art trade.

“If the art traders are seeing a reduction in business they will not only sell fewer works- but will not buy them from artists either. This will have a knock on effect for artists who will find that there is less of a market for their work.”

The UK has been working closely with the European Union (EU) and other member states to raise the issue of resale right at an international level and will continue to press for international action.

Although I have had a blog for years (online diary it was back then) and have had this site, 1stangel.co.uk, running now for 11 months, I have never really written about myself on it, or them.

Finding words about other people is easy…. I could tell you about my friends problems, lives, hopes and fears, it would take a long time but I could do it with no problems.  To tell you MY hopes and fears though is another story and I don’t know if I can do it.

I have been accused of being a ‘closed’ person.  I listen and chat along with the rest, but even to my nearest and dearest I do not share ‘ME’.

A person I correspond with said tonight that he is having problems finding out who he is after a relationship breakdown.  I write back saying that he needs to know who he is himself before he can hope to move on, and that no-one can find out who he is, but himself.  Perhaps I need to do some soul searching too.  Take time OFF the internet to actually face my demons head on instead of working through their screaming.

So, I sit here again another night….. asking myself… what shall I write now?

This is a custom print done for a friend showing a German Shepherd Dog.

This image is for sale as prints, framed or unframed.

CONTACT ME if you would like an image made for you.

Staring Over The Lake by Elizabeth Edwards — View Larger

Close up view

Prices for prints of Staring Over The Lake begin at $9.34, subject to change.

Tags: Elizabeth Edwards , Staring Over The Lake, Imagekind,

We are supposed to be able to blog by post now. However, when I test this I get a title and no post. Why? I don’t know. Perhaps I have missed something off ? Does someone know? Would you share with me LOL
Ah well. I will send this now as I suppose you wont even see it

Beth, by email

If anyone out there has free time and likes helping people out from thebotto of their hearts, feel free to contact me as this is really new territory and I am a little lost LOL

I especially need to know how to get this all to work on WPMU.

Anyway, here it is, its coming….