Saturday, March 01, 2008

New Labour, New Template

Following Hercules at the end of January, I have decided it is time for a bit of a change in the People's Republic and have therefore changed my template following complaints back in November when I joined Blogpower that 'No 897' was difficult to read (yes, planning permission in the People's Republic is as bureaucratic as the old country). 'No.897', which recently has not been showing the banner properly, was originally chosen because I felt it best represented freedom, mainly due to the star in the header. It was also the template of the Cornish Democrat when he applied to Blogpower, but where the wheels of bureaucracy move slightly quicker than the People's Republic (he changed it within a week of joining).

What do you think of the new template? Please leave a comment below and/ or vote in the sidebar. I am looking to make further changes to the layout so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

6 comments:

fake consultant said...

maybe it's just my own bias, but the new look needs a bit of art.

a "worker's revolution" mural, perhaps?

Louis said...

Thanks for the tips, fc. I agree that a picture is needed and was thinking of some views of Brum that I had taken myself. Art is a great idea but I do not want to infringe upon someone's copyright.

fake consultant said...

i use my own photographs exclusively here, and i did forget the copyright issue must be considered.

is there great art handily available that you might yourself photograph?

in the case of photographing monuments, buildings, and museum displays there is often no issue with copyright...for example, at one time i had a photograph from the "wall of names" at our state's vietnam memorial, and at another time i used a photograph of the "field of wheat" wwII monument that is also located on the state capital campus.

Louis said...

I am not sure if the local Art Museum allows visitors to take photos of the exhibits. My plan is to photograph landmarks and buildings in Birmingham but sadly, since 9/11 and 7/7, I feel very conscious as an Asian taking photographs of landmarks particularly with many recent police campaigns.

fake consultant said...

i have to say i find your comment striking, not because of the "security" issue, but more because of the suggestion of longsdtanding racism that underlies your observation.

but to get a more complete understanding i have to ask a personal question: when you self-identify as asian, do you refer to south asia (and specifically the indian subcontinent) or east asia?

the reason i ask is because it makes an especially sad comment on the current state of affairs if there is a fear of terrorism from other members of the commonwealth...not that fearing east asians because of the racial association isn't just as sad, but you would think other brits would know better.

but it also suggests either there are brits who cannot tell the difference between south asians and those they fear in the mideast...or there is a lingering racism that is not related to a fear of terror at all, but instead simply uses that fear as a means to drum up hate against an entire community.

Louis said...

When I say Asian, I refer, as most Brits will, to the Indian subcontinent (I find it interesting that Americans and Australians are more likely to be referring to East Asians, which make up bigger immigrant communities in those respective countries).

However, it is not as irrational as it might first appear. The Islamist terrorist threat in Britain is slightly diffent from that in America and is quite likely to be carried out by homegrown British Muslims of (generally) Pakistani origin, like the attacks on 7/7 were. I must also say that this is a feeling of self-conciousness rather than any explicit reactions by others, brought on by idiotic police campaigns such as the following:

http://www.pickledpolitics.com/archives/1755

Although I think you will agree the parodies are hilarious!

The biggest irony, however, is that I am probably under more suspicion now then when people of my religion were responsible for terrorist attacks against Britain; namely Catholics in the 80's and 90's, under the banner of the IRA.