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Areas of Concentration / Programs: Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, 2011-2012
The concentration in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies gives students basic knowledge of the Middle East and broader Muslim world, and allows students to employ discipline-specific tools for advanced work in this area. To complete the concentration, students are required to fulfill several requirements. First, they must demonstrate competence above the intermediate level in a language pertinent to their area of research (A, below). Second, students must take two courses in which they learn about the Middle East and Islam (B, below). Third, students should pursue areas of inquiry related to the Middle East and/or Islam and specific to their interests by taking four electives, at least one of which is at the 300 level (C, below). Examples might include anthropological approaches to the study of Islam or Middle East, the art of the Muslim world, Islam in African politics, medieval Persian history, Jihadi movements, the Iranian Revolution, modern Arabic literature, etc. Fourth, students must write a thesis in their major department that addresses Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies and is approved by the Concentration Coordinator (as well as the major advisor).
We strongly encourage students with interests in the Middle East and Islam to meet with the Concentration Coordinator early in their college program (in their first and second years). We also invite students to take advantage of Haverford's study abroad programs in Egypt, Morocco and other appropriate locations to advance their work in the concentration.
An "Area of Concentration" at Haverford is designed to facilitate a student pursuing an area of study distinct from her major, but which s/he can use the disciplinary tools of her major to pursue. To that end, at least two courses, and no more than three, fulfill both the student's major requirements and the concentration requirements. In practical terms, this means that students who want to concentrate in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies will usually major in Anthropology, Comparative Literature, History, Political Science, Religion or Sociology. In some cases, students may find that other majors can be joined with a concentration in MEIS (for example, History of Art and Growth and Structure of Cities at Bryn Mawr are two departments that sometimes have two or three course offerings that could count for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies). Students who can demonstrate that at least two courses in their major are about Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies can petition the Concentration Coordinator and Faculty to have their major approved.
In addition to the Haverford Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies proposal, students may choose to concentrate in Middle East Studies at Bryn Mawr, or minor in Islamic Studies at Swarthmore. The Bryn Mawr Middle East Studies concentration has two key differences from the Haverford program: 1) they offer an option to concentrate without language work, and 2) they require study of the pre-Islamic period. The Swarthmore Islamic Studies program differs from the Haverford program in that it is a stand-alone minor, rather than a concentration. Only one course in the student's major can count toward the Islamic Studies minor. Swarthmore's Islamic Studies minor can include instruction in kathak, a form of classical Indian dance.
- Students interested in concentrating in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies must demonstrate competence above the intermediate level in a language pertinent to their area of research. In cases where a student has selected Arabic as his or her relevant language, this means completion of Arabic B004. If a student is doing research for which another language is more appropriate, s/he may need to study at the University of Pennsylvania (Pashtu, Persian, Turkish, and Swahili) or Bryn Mawr (Hebrew), or take other Haverford language classes (e.g., Chinese, French). Some study abroad programs are also suitable for gaining language competence. Students should consult with the Concentration Coordinator about the course of language study to fill this requirement.
- Students must complete two of the courses listed below, in two of the three departments listed below. By completing this core requirement, students gain broad exposure to the history and politics of the Middle East, and to Islam as a major world religion and social and political force that began in, and continues to be affected by, the Middle East. The core course options are:
- History:
History 117 Modern Mediterranean History
History 266 Sex and Gender in the Early Modern Islamic World
History 270 From Empire to Nation: The Ottoman World Transformed
- Political Science:
Political Science 256 The Evolution of Jihadi Movement
Political Science 357 Conflict in the Middle East
- Religion:
Religion 108 Vocabularies of Islam
Religion 218 The Divine Guide: an Introduction to Shi'ism
Religion 248 The Qur'an
- History:
- Students must take four elective courses in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies selected from the following Haverford departments: Anthropology, ICPR/Art History, History, Peace Justice and Human Rights, Political Science, Religion, or Sociology. A minimum of one course must be at the 300 level (or the equivalent). Courses at Haverford which fulfill the elective requirement in MEIS include:
- Anthropology:
Anthropology 241 Anthropology of the Mediterranean
Anthropology 259 Ethnographies of Islam
Anthropology 361 Advanced Topics in Ethnographic Area Studies: National Imaginaries of the Middle East
- ICPR/Art History
ICPR 204/PEAC 204 Picturing War: Goya to Abu Ghraib
ICPR 237 Art and Cultural Identity
- History
History 117 Modern Mediterranean History
History 266 Sex and Gender in the Early Modern Islamic World
History 270 From Empire to Nation: The Ottoman World Transformed
- Peace, Justice and Human Rights
Peace, Justice and Human Rights 304 Cosmopolitanism and Toleration in Enlightenment Europe
- Political Science
Political Science 151 International Politics
Political Science 253 Introduction to Terrorism Studies
Political Science 256 The Evolution of the Jihadi Movement
Political Science 333 International Security
Political Science 345 Islam, Democracy and Development
Political Science 357 Conflict in the Middle East
Political Science 358 The War on Terrorism
- Religion
Religion 108 Vocabularies of Islam
Religion 118 Hebrew Bible: Literary Text and Historical Context
Religion 203 The Hebrew Bible and its Interpretations
Religion 212 Jerusalem: City, History and Representation
Religion 218 The Divine Guide: an Introduction of Shi'ism
Religion 248 The Qur'an
Religion 306 Of Monsters and Marvels: Wonder in Islamic Traditions
Religion 307 Imaging Islam: Icon, Object, and Image
Religion 308 Mystical Literatures of Islam
- Sociology
Sociology 207 Internal Disorder: Deviance and Revolution
Sociology 233 Topics in Sociology: Islamic Modernism
Sociology 237 Topics in Historical Sociology
Sociology 298 Law and Sociology
- Spanish/Comparative Literature
Spanish 266 Iberian Orientalism and the Nation
Spanish 340 The Moor in Spanish Literaturev
- Anthropology:
- Students may select from a list of designated electives at Bryn Mawr and Swarthmore (see below), or request approval from the Concentration Coordinator to take other appropriate courses at Bryn Mawr, Swarthmore or the University of Pennsylvania's Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations Program to fulfill their elective credit. Students may also petition the Concentration Coordinator and MEIS faculty for approval of a course that is not on the electives list, but which the student feels provides important content for his or her specific research topic.
- Students must write a thesis in their major department (Anthropology, History, Political Science, Religion or Sociology) that addresses Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies. The thesis topic must be approved in advance by the Concentration Coordinator to count for the MEIS concentration. To request approval, students should submit a brief (one page) thesis proposal to the Concentration Coordinator, and arrange a meeting with him/her to discuss the proposal.
Coordinator and Faculty
The Concentration Coordinator serves as the primary faculty resource for all students interested in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies. S/he is the advisor for all students who choose to concentrate in MEIS. S/he will meet with all students who have questions about the concentration, curriculum, study abroad related to the Middle East and/or Islam, language work, research internships, summer programs and other student opportunities related to this area. The coordinator will organize meetings of MEIS faculty, be the point person for events that publicize and advance the mission of the concentration (such as lectures, workshops, symposia, film screenings and artistic residencies) and ensure that student concentrators select thesis topics that are appropriate. The concentration coordinator will inform him- or herself about study abroad programs that are useful for MEIS concentrators and work with the Dean of Global Affairs to help students select programs and ensure that the college maintains sufficient study abroad opportunities to support the concentration. The concentration coordinator will maintain the MEIS website.
MEIS faculty will introduce students to the concentration. When appropriate, MEIS faculty will talk about the concentration in their classes, and about events that support the concentration. MEIS faculty will consult with the Concentration Coordinator about the program, including curriculum, expansion positions, summer opportunities for students, language study and pertinent programs at other area institutions which support the concentration.
ANTH 361 Middle Eastern Nationalisms
Zainab Saleh
HIST 335 Sex, Law and the State in Europe and the Ottoman Empire
Farid Azfar, Lisa Jane Graham
ICPR 237 Art and Cultural Identity
Carol Solomon
POLSC 256 The Evolution of the Jihadi Movement
Barak Mendelsohn
POLSC 333 International Security
Barak Mendelsohn
POLS 345 Islam, Democracy and Development
Susanna Wing
REL 108 Vocabularies of Islam
Jamel Velji
REL 248 The Quran
Travis Zadeh
REL 303 The Ineffable Word: Mysticism and the Limits of Language
Travis Zadeh
SOC 233 Topics in Sociology: Islamic Modernism
Mark Gould
HIST 117 Modern Mediterranean History
Alex Kitroeff
HIST 270 From Empire to Nation: The Ottoman World Transformed
Alex Kitroeff
ICPR xxx Contemporary Art of the Arab World, Iran, and Turkey
Carol Solomon
POLS 151 International Politics
Barak Mendelsohn
POLS 357 International Relations Theory: Conflict and the Middle East
Barak Mendelsohn
REL 307 Imagining Islam: Icon, Object, and Image
Travis Zadeh
REL 353 Seminar in Islamic Philosophy and Theology: Hidden Knowledge and Islamic Revolutions
Jamel Velji
SOC 298 Law and Sociology: Islamic Constitutionalism
Mark Gould
SPAN 340 The Moor in Spanish Literature
Israel Burshatin
MEIS Approved Elective Courses at Swarthmore:
FREN 045 France and the Maghreb: Postcolonial Writing in a Transnational Context
HIST 006A Formation of the Islamic Near East
HIST 006B The Modern Middle East
HIST 025 Colonialism and Nationalism in the Arab Middle East
HIST 018 Cities of the Middle East
HIST 111 Christians, Muslims and Jews in the Medieval Mediterranean
LITR 076 Female Authors from the Arab World
RELG 008 The Qur'an and its Interpreters
RELG 119 Islamic Law and Society
RELG 053 Gender, Sexuality, and the Body in Islamic Discourses
RELG 054 Power and Authority in Modern Islam
SOAN 009 Cultures of the Middle East
MEIS Approved Elective Courses at Bryn Mawr:
ANTH 261 Palestine and Israeli Society
ANTH 275 Cultures and Societies of the Middle East
ANTH 276 Islam in Europe
ANTH 382 Religious Fundamentalism in the Global Era
CITY 248 Modern Middle East Cities
GNST 158 Themes in Middle Eastern Society
HART 212 Medieval Architecture: Islamic Cities
HEBR 110 Israeli Cinema
HEBR 283 Introduction to the Politics of the Modern Middle East and North Africa
HIST 283 Introduction to the Politics of the Modern Middle East and North Africa
HIST 288 The Political Economy of the Middle East and North Africa
POLS 282 The Exotic Other: Gender and Sexuality in the Middle East
POLS 383 Two Hundred Years of Islamic Reform, Radicalism, and Revolution


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Below is the poem entitled The ESCAPE which was written by poet
Scripca. Please feel free to comment on this poem. However, please remember, PoetrySoup is a place of encouragement and growth.
Read Poems by
Iolanda Scripca
I fly with eagles on the one lane to Freedom
Through the desert of the lost souls of drought
Tears are dissipating from the speed of my Fate
Spirits chanting in the rhythm of the desired rain...
The sky commits suicide in my rearview mirror
The blackness of Death stabs memories with lightning
Sad drawers of my soul keep on being burglarized
By the same thief of the heart of an eternal romantic
I press time hard to the floor, put on make-up of Arizona red
The rays slap me with Hope through the sunroof of my car
Wings sprout painfully through my shrinking shoulder blades
I don't ask anyone anymore permission to fly with Eagles...

subset: commoncrawl


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Gossip Girl
Top 10 Quotes From Gossip Girl Season 6, Episode 7: "Who Would've Thought Chuck Bass Turns Out to Be the Good Guy?"
We needed a shower after that knockdown drag-out claws-bared shitfest of a Gossip Girl episode. But even with all the screwing over and double-crossings, there were still some shining moments of hilarity ensuing. Here are some of our favorites:
10. Apple, meet tree.
Chuck Bass (Ed Westwick): "Don't do this. My father will screw you and screw you over."
9. She opens her "arms" to all generations.
Ivy (Kaylee DeFer): "Sorry to interrupt this Oedipal showdown, but I think I have what you're looking for."
8. Headbands make great slingshots.
Nelly: "And what makes you think the Katniss Everdeen generation is going to care about you?"
7. At least she's thorough.
Ivy: "All I want is for Lily to be left with no one and nothing."
Nate (Chace Crawford): "Who would have thought — Chuck Bass turns out to be the good guy, and Dan Humphrey is the villain"
5. She makes offers they literally cannot refuse.
Sage (Sofia Black-D'Elia): "Everyone loves a crown, but when it comes to power, the mob totally trumps the monarchy."
4. You can't fight that logic.
One of the Dons: "Devotion to great clothes trumps five family loyalty."
3. The Olsen twins destroyed all copies of Billboard Dad
Nelly: "She's stuck in the middle. And what could be less cool than being a tween?"
2. Hit the showers, Humphrey Sr. Your useful days are numbered.
Rufus (Matthew Settle): "Ivy's not who I thought she was. I know I should have been tipped off by the whole 'pretending to be your niece' thing"
1. Why is everything funnier in a low growl?
Bart: "Where are you going? Does Blair need you to come over to kill a spider?"
Want more Gossip Girl goodness? Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter! You know you love us. XOXO


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Nice pictures, Playadlc!!
Did anyone ever tell you that you look like the actor Robert Mitchum?
"panic" only comes from having real expectations
Never heard that one, GAC. That is a first. Hmmm, I'll have to check out some pictures on him. I'm not quite sure what he looks like.Originally posted by GAC
Did anyone ever tell you that you look like the actor Robert Mitchum?
u look exactly like finch from american pie!....haha...nice picture though man
We'll win it all next year...
Board Moderators may, at their discretion and judgment, delete and/or edit any messages that violate any of the following guidelines: 1. Explicit references to alleged illegal or unlawful acts. 2. Graphic sexual descriptions. 3. Racial or ethnic slurs. 4. Use of edgy language (including masked profanity). 5. Direct personal attacks, flames, fights, trolling, baiting, name-calling, general nuisance, excessive player criticism or anything along those lines. 6. Posting spam. 7. Each person may have only one user account. It is fine to be critical here - that's what this board is for. But let's not beat a subject or a player to death, please.


text:
1 Review
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Share your thoughts with other customersCreate your own review
Most Helpful First | Newest First
3.0 out of 5 stars Can you recall when . . . ?,
Jevons & Hollerith Books (Columbia, MD USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Integrated Software Packages for Microcomputers (Hardcover)
Apple's 1984 Macintosh triggered the push for "Integrated Software" on IBM PC-compatible computers. The proposition that computer programs needed to be tightly coupled in order to share data effectively has been debunked. However, when this book was published in 1987 all the large commercial software firms (and many smaller ones) offered word processing, spreadsheet, and database modules together with some way to pass data back and forth between modules. The real solution to easier data sharing lay in better operating system support (see above: Macintosh), but given MS-DOS' incompetence at the time, software vendors were forced to build their own proprietary linkages.
The author is an academic librarian who has pursued his interest in office and library automation, and in the microfilm and optical storage hardware to support it, for more than 25 years. This review of integrated microcomputer software packages seems to me to have been a bit of a side trip for him, just as it was for anyone who used the 1001 proprietary packages that emerged and then faded when a real solution arrived.
This book may be of interest to computer historians and collectors of computing arcana, but otherwise has the same practical significance as a 1987 Consumers' Report on refrigerators.
Most Helpful First | Newest First
Integrated Software Packages for Microcomputers by William Saffady (Hardcover - Dec 1987)
Used & New from: CDN$ 92.00


text:
Gear Question
Anybody know: does the MSR Whisperlite...
Anybody know: does the MSR Whisperlite International fit inside this thing? Thanks.
Ryan Hamilton
The whisper light is .25" too tall with the lid on, otherwise it fits the other dimensions. You could put the whisper lite in the pot and shove the lid somewhere else in your pack to keep things compact.
View More Details on MSR Quick Solo Pot


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Nerve magazine is produced by Catalyst Media,
which is run by unpaid volunteers.
We need to raise funds for the running costs for our office, our
website and printing.
Click here to download a
standing order form (Word document)
Together Now!
'Campaigns For Justice' Conference
and Art
index of Nerve 25
| April
| June
| July
| August
| September
| November|
Get your free copies of Nerve 25 and the Love, Hope
& Resistance Calendar from News
from Nowhere, Bold Street, Liverpool, L1 or from
these places
War on the Kurds and ISIS - 28/07/2015
On 24th July, the newspapers reported that Turkish fighter jets
had, for the first time, struck ISIS targets in Syria and rounded
up hundreds of suspected militants within its own borders. Later
on that day, Turkish F16s and artillery began to pound PKK bases
in Iraqi Kurdistan. So how have we ended up in this situation? It
is the aim of this article by Thomas Phillips to explore the events
leading up to the return to war. Part
One and Part
Notice – Doctor Faustus - Wed 12th
August 2015
Burjesta Theatre are auditioning for their next production,
a modernised adaptation of Christopher Marlowe's 16th century play
- 'Doctor Faustus'. Doctor Faustus is a classic tale of a man who
sells his soul to the devil and eternal damnation in hell in return
for 24 years omnipotence on earth. Auditions will take place starting
from 6.30pm on Wed 12th August at The Casa, Hope Street, Liverpool,
L1 9BQ. Read
mystery of the disappearing libraries! - 9/7/2015
Lovers of 'crime' novels were faced with a new mystery today at
Sefton Park library - completely empty shelves in the 'Crime Section'.
The crime section was deliberately targeted by a mass borrowing
from members of the Save Liverpool Libraries campaign. Read
Preview - 9th - 11th July 2015
Showcasing the work of artists from Liverpool and Barcelona, cultural
exchange LIV-BCN is set to take return to the city from 9 - 11 July
2015 with a programme featuring music, art and film. LIV-BCN will
take place at The Kazimier, Liverpool John Moores University and
Liverpool Small Cinema, and the Merseyside event complements the
Barcelona edition that took place on June 12 - 13. Read
for Rojava in Syria - 4th & 5th July
The Revolution in Rojava - An
afternoon of film with Kurdish speakers, music, art and poetry looking
at the situation in Northern Syria and the Kurds. Saturday 4th July
2pm to 5pm, The Casa, Hope Street, L1.
Sponsored cycle ride for Rojava, Syria
- Darren Guy is doing a 60 mile bike ride from Liverpool to Chester
on 5th July for the charity Heyva Sor to raise much needed funds
for Rojava in Syria. Read
Election Blues - 15/6/2015
An analysis of the outcome of the British General Election by John
Owen, a political activist and campaigner and long-term contributor
to Nerve. Political activists across the country will be chewing
over the General Election defeat for the Labour movement for a while,
wondering who, what, why, where and when it happened. Read
Quarrymen Party - 11/6/2015
Lynda-Louise Tomlinson reports on the The Quarrymen Party held at
St Peter's Church Hall, Woolton, where John Lennon performed with
his band The Quarrymen in the church grounds on 6th July 1957 with
a young James Paul McCartney watching with his school friend Ivan
Vaughan. Later that day, Ivan introduced Paul to John in the church
hall, "the most important meeting in popular music history".
Pop Overthrow Festival 2015 - 11/6/2015
New Nerve contributor Lynda-Louise Tomlinson extensively reviews
the International Pop Overthrow Festival, now in its 13th year,
staged at the Cavern Club and Pub. The festival boasts bands and
singer / songwriters from Liverpool, the UK and across the world
with back to back gigs at the Cavern Pub, Club and Live Lounge.
in Soho - Saturday 20th June 2015
A play by Howard Zinn being performed at The Casa, Hope Street.
Karl Marx has agitated with the authorities of the afterlife for
a chance to clear his name. Through a bureaucratic error, though,
Marx is sent to Soho in New York, rather than his old stomping ground
in Soho, London, to make his case. The play introduces us to Marx's
wife, Jenny, his children, the anarchist Mikhail Bakunin, and a
host of other characters. Read
for artwork for exhibition on the 2015 election campaign - 29/5/2015
The Bullshit Gallery is looking for artists responses to all the
bullshit we have endured during the 2015 election campaign. The
Bullshit Gallery is what we are calling the act of displaying artworks
of all media at DumBULLS, 2 Dublin Street, Liverpool, L3 7DT. Read
- Interview with Dave Smith - 11/5/2015
Dave Smith and Phil Chamberlain have written a book exposing how
secret files held on workers by an organisation called 'The Consulting
Association' have been passed between employers, the police and
security services, and led to workers being stopped from earning
a living. Dave Smith is currently on tour promoting the book and
Ritchie Hunter interviewed him for Nerve. Read
'Storytelling Directions'- Burjesta Theatre Workshops - Starting
Wed 6th May 2015
In a new series of workshops Burjesta Theatre will be looking at
how some of the worlds great dramatic writers put together
their stories, narratives and plots and then looking at how to them
out. They will examine how they used different techniques
'starting in the middle of a chronology', the big opening,
withholding the hero, ironic knowledge of the
audience' to name but a few. Read
The Media - Starts Thursday 30th April,
1pm till 4pm
After a productive taster session at Leaf Cafe, Nerve and WEA are
expanding this session into a 21 hour course on writing features
that make a difference as well as looking at how we can make a positive
impact on the media. The course begins on Thursday 30th April at
Liverpool Central Library at 1pm till 4pm. Read
Firsts' @ Workers' Education Association - Starts
Tues 28th April 2015
Following on from the success of the first Women's Theatre
Course earlier this year Mikyla Jane Durkan starts this new course
with a series of 11 drama based workshops exploring the theme of
'Firsts' for Women – both in theatre i.e. acting
on stage, playwrights and some key historical events and to explore
their dramatization. Read
Election Debate - Monday 27th April 2015
Active Community Enterprise (ACE) by public demand are organising
an election debate on Monday 27th April 2015, 1pm - 3pm, at Camp
and Furness, 67 Greenland Street, L8. All the main candidates for
the Riverside ward, including the present Labour MP Louise Ellman
will be answering questions and giving their parties position on
disability. Read
Event about Immigration - Wednesday 29th
April 2015
WEA's next Talkshop event will look at immigration. You are welcome
along whatever your beliefs to engage respectfully with those with
different perspectives and experience. The event is free to attend
and will be held in The Brink, 21 Parr Street, L1 4JN. The date
of the event is Wednesday 29th April and the time is 7 - 9.30pm.
Read more
Talkshop on Housing Crisis - A Punter's View - 23/4/2015
The Workers Education Association have organised a series of debates
in the run up to the election. They have proved very successful
with their aim to encourage real engagement with politics. The most
recent event focussed on the Housing crisis. Read
- Launch of the book - Tues 28th &
Wed 29th April 2015
'BLACKLISTED - The Secret War between Big Business and Union Activists'
by Dave Smith and Phil Chamberlain is to be launched on Tuesday
28th April, 6pm at the Unite building on Islington, with a book
signing on Wednesday 29th April, 1pm in News from Nowhere Book Shop
on Bold Street. The book exposes how companies collude with the
police and the secret services to control workplace employment.
@ The Bombed Out Church - Saturday 18th
April 2015
The darkest Greek Tragedy of them all - the terrible revenge of
a woman savagely wronged, will be performed at Liverpool's
most iconic building and all for £3!! So come rain, wind,
or sun - come and witness one of the greatest dramas of all time,
Euripides' Medea, still standing the test of time, 2,500 years
on... Read
Boggart Launch - Wednesday 13th May 2015
Launch of a new book of myth and fairytales by David Greygoose,
with artwork by Cate Simmons, a film of images by First Take and
music by Hannah James. Giles Lewis and Emily Portman accompany the
launch and reading which is at the Bluecoat Arts Centre on Wed May
15th. Read
Union Freedom Rally - 3/4/2015
John Owen went along to the rally organised by the Campaign For
Trade Union Freedom at the Adelphi Hotel on March 25th where approximately
eighty trade unionists, community campaigners, and generally politically
active people gathered to hear the high and the mighty, the great
and the greater, and the so-called learned experts on hand, discuss
and debate statistics economically gleaned from the learned tome.
In Creative Confidence by Chumki Banerjee - 23/3/2015
Parameters of Perception - chemicals which alter minds: how I lost
mine and found it again in Neil Campbell's music.
Review of Neil Campbell's CD Tabula Rasa and a bit of introspection
by Chumki Banerjee. Read
activist Gina Shaw champions campaign to create a dementia friendly
society - 19/3/2015
Paul Tarpey interviews Gina Shaw, who after being diagnosed with
Alzheimer's, has been campaigning to create a dementia friendly
society. The word 'dementia' carries a power in itself.
The spectre often clouding realities. The image many of us have
is not one that could easily be associated with Gina Shaw. She is,
however, well aware of common misconceptions and has focussed her
time since her own diagnosis on challenging them. Read
For Palestine - 18/3/2015
Artists for Palestine UK is a growing network of artists, cultural
workers and activists who wish to make a stand in support of justice
and equality for the Palestinians, and defend arts organisations
and individuals who do make such a stand against politically motivated
attacks and censorship. Read
Learning Disability disco takes new venue by storm - 11/3/2015
Active Community Enterprise (ACE), whose successful Tuesday discos
closed down on Tuesday 10th March at Lloyds bar, moved into their
new disco venue in style on the same day. ACE left their old Lloyds
Bar Venue in a procession at 1.30pm and entered their new venue
at 2pm, via Concert Square and Bold Street. The procession was lead
by the Pied Fiddler of Liverpool, drummers and a numerous array
of magical Liverpool characters. Read
The Roof For Housing Conference - 10/3/2015
Tracey Dunn reports from the Raise The Roof For Housing Conference
held in Liverpool and hosted by Left Unity for 'those directly affected,
all housing campaign groups and committed housing activists'. It
was a very packed room with groups and individuals from all over
the UK. There were many speakers who had ten minutes each to tell
us about their campaigns. Speakers included the film maker Ken Loach,
whose almost fifty-year-old film 'Cathy Comes Home' about a woman's
struggle with homelessness and the welfare system has never been
more relevant. Read
am not one of you - neither of you (About observers and observations)
- 10/3/2015
Claudia Latro who is a writer and activist from Germany living
in Sarajevo, takes a look at the international community in Bosnia
and Herzegovina.
For five months now I have been living in Sarajevo,
Bosnia and Hercegovina. I have six more months to go. During this
time I have been repeatedly approached by friends and acquaintances
asking me if I would consider writing a blog about my experiences.
The idea of openly writing about my life here and the people I share
it with provokes pure antipathy in me. Read
Vanitas Tradition in Western Art - 9/3/2015
This feature by Sandra Gibson was inspired by her watching the BBC
drama series, Wolf Hall.
History aficionados will be waiting eagerly
for Hilary Mantel to write the follow-up to the excellent Wolf
Hall, the everyday story of Tudor wives, written about a time
when power cuts did not so much apply to the candle bill but rather,
affected the neck. The series on BBC 2 was permeated with the threat
of death: from plague, from childbirth, from religious heresy, from
rivalries at court. Read
Kepes: First solo show at Tate Liverpool - 6th
March - 31st May 2015
Pippa Jane Wielgos looks at György Kepes' first solo show at
Tate Liverpool which presents over 81 experimental photographic
works comprising of 'camera-less' photograms, photography and photo-montages
during his teaching in Chicago in the late 30's and 40's. Born in
Selyp in Hungary (Budapest) in 1906, he trained as a painter at
the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Budapest), where he graduated in
1928. Read
The Media - Thursday 5th March 2015 at
Launch of two new courses on writing features that make a difference
with a taster session at Leaf Cafe on Thursday March 5th. This session
will outline the two aspects of the courses; turning ideas into
features and challenging how the media creates negative stereotypes.
All experiences welcome. Read
- The Struggle for Power and Supplies on the Waterfront - 6/3/2015
Column by Sandra Gibson which celebrates the persistence of wildlife
in urban conditions.
As I walked along the quay of the Albert Dock
I noticed piles of broken shards of mussel shells on the paving
stones. It surprised me how much liquid was released by these shattered
blue-black caskets of edible gold, which had already disappeared
down the gullets of gulls. Of course, I had often watched blackbirds
using the smash-shell-and-devour-snail technology of avian cuisine
but this was the first time I had seen it used by gulls. Read
Austerity Conference - 3/3/2015
On Saturday 14th February, 2015 the most militant and most active
forces in the city's campaign groups put differences aside and gathered
together to help thrash out a policy to unify the anti-cuts movement
against the growing tide of government cutbacks. All lines of inquiry,
tactic stratagem and slogans - as well as the more traditional standing
of candidates - wrestled against pro-cuts councilors. It was awkward,
messy and protracted yet democratic and kept to the point. Read
Call Time on the Tuesday Disco for People With Learning Disabilities
- 2/3/2015
Hundreds of people with learning disabilities are upset and confused
at the decision by Wetherspoon to cancel their city centre ACE
discos, that have been running every Tuesday for the past
9 years. Wetherspoon the owners of Lloyds Bar in Concert Square
have decided that the disco is no longer for them and have decided
to close their doors on the hugely successful Tuesday afternoon
event, despite the fact that managers at Lloyds bar admit takings
for food and bar are sometimes double that of any other day. Read
York City, for the Discerning Musician - 2/3/2015
For the musician with a sense of jet set adventure and an appetite
for discovery and development of their craft, there is no better
destination than New York City. Taking a bite at the Big Apple is
like investing in a lifelong harmonious seed planting which, if
nurtured through practice, will continue to bear fruit with that
well known adage what you sow so you shall reap....
Intrepid travel across the pond can and will increase a performers
insight and ability to enrich their business of making music, or
at the very least, as part of a musical hobby horse it will be an
engaging and eye opening time. Read
Liverpool International Photography Festival - 15th
May - 31st June 2015
LOOK/15, Liverpools third edition bi-annual International
Photography Festival focuses its 2015 theme on EXCHANGE exploring
interchanges through a series of exhibitions and events that look
at MIGRATION, WOMEN & PHOTOGRAPHY and MEMORY. It will present
emerging, mid-career and established local and international artists,
including new commissions by Xavier Ribas of the University of Brighton,
Ignacio Acosta (Chile), Jona Frank (USA), and the Liverpool photographer
Tony Mallon. Read
Are Never More Than Six Feet From Rathole Radio - 27/2/2015
Dan Lynch is the voice of Rathole Radio. The online podcast has
been one of Liverpool's major underground success stories
of recent years remaining resolutely independent and thoroughly
entertaining. Dan wanted to be a musician from a young age. He also
wanted to be John Peel. Then he threw into the mix a slow burning
love of all things Internet. It has all collided with Rathole's
podcasts and Nerve spoke to him about his journey to cult internet
stardom. Read
Theatre presents 'Medea' - Starting
23rd March 2015
The most shocking play from the Classical Greek Age from the pen
of 'that most tragic of tragedians' - Euripides. Medea,
lover of Jason has been abandoned by him for the King's daughter
and now faces exile for herself and her two young sons. But whosoever
thinks Medea will passively accept her fate is dangerously mistaken.
Read more
Women's Day event at the Plaza - 8th March
Celebrate International Women's Day and the achievements of
working class women, locally and throughout the world at the Plaza
cinema on Sunday 8th March 2015 at 7.45pm. This FREE event, in partnership
with Sefton UNISON, features a special screening of 'Bread
and Roses' directed by Ken Loach and contributions from two
remarkable local women. Read
Socialist Singers Benefit Concert for International Women's Day
- 6th March 2015
With Paula Kelly-Ince, 67, Ffrench and Wwilliams, La Bomba, Vinny
Spencer and Alun Parry. On Friday 6th March from 7pm - 10pm at St
Bride's Church on Catharine Street. Tickets £5. Link
to Poster
Park Meadows - 10/2/2015
Mayor Joe Anderson opposes the tree loss, but Redrow's planning
application is still going ahead. Make your objections by 19th February
2015! The campaign give 10 good reasons why save this green space
should be saved. Read
- Perce-neige - 9/2/2015
Column by Sandra Gibson which celebrates the persistence of wildlife
in urban conditions.
By banishing leaves, winter reveals line and
structure; in creating decay and cold temperatures it brings cultivated
grass into prominence. The eye is struck by the fresh brightness
of green in gardens and in public spaces, which contrasts so strongly
with the brown of decay and the relative rarity of floral colour.
the Future of the NHS - 17th Feb 2015
The WEA are hosting an event with the focus on the NHS as part of
their political engagement events. The NHS is likely to be a crucial
talking point in the coming election and may even decide it so they
feel it vital that people are given the opportunity to come and
speak to others and hear their views on the NHS on what they feel
is the best possible direction for it to take. 17th February at
The Brink. Read
with Zoe Dronfield of I Want My Mummy, a project concerned with
domestic abuse victims - 29/1/2015
Nerve writer Paul Tarpey interviewed a victim of domestic abuse,
Coventry businesswoman Zoe Dronfield, who survived an attack that
left her in hospital with devastating injuries. Her project, I Want
My Mummy, has acted on behalf of thousands of women who have been
victims of domestic abuse. Read
film from Argentina 'The Take' - 5th
Feb 2015
The Take is a Canadian documentary film released in 2004 by Naomi
Klein and Avi Lewis. It tells the story of workers in Buenos Aires,
Argentina who reclaim control of a closed Forja auto plant where
they once worked and turn it into a workers cooperative. Read
Calendar in Palestine! - 19/1/2015
Photograph showing Kefah Mansour, Friends of Freedom and Justice
on the West Bank, getting a copy of the Nerve Calendar off Liverpool
Friends of Bilin. See
the photo...
sculptor to be honoured at first 'Dooleyday' - 17th
Jan 2015
One of Liverpool's most famous sons, Arthur Dooley, is to
be honoured with a day of events on January 17th with a walking
tour, pub crawl, play read-through and documentary film screening
form the basis of the inaugural 'Dooleyday'. Read
Burjesta Theatre Workshops - From 14/1/2015
Explore through our Theatre Laboratory an updated version of the
medieval morality play 'Everyman' – transformed
into 'Everywoman' and the resurrection of certain Norse
myths aided by some Scouse Surrealism for two shows to be performed
in July.
Read more
- Revelation - 7/1/2015
Column by Sandra Gibson which celebrates the persistence of wildlife
in urban conditions.
Winter exposes the bare-branched filigree wonder
of our deciduous trees. For a brief time the emphasis is on linear
structure rather than plenteous shapes and colours. This is not
entirely true: the bareness of these trees also emphasises the evergreenery
of conifers and ivies and reveals more sky, with its perpetually
changing drama of colour. Read
for Adults: 'Women's Theatre' - The 2nd Actor
Takes The Lead - Starts: 13/1/2015
The course will provide an overview of women in theatre from a historical
perspective. Explore roles and themes relevant to group through
devising and extracts from classical pieces focusing on women as
main characters and challenging traditional and historical views
of women in the arts. Read
with Francesco Mellina - 6/1/2015
Paul Tarpey talks to Francesco Mellina whose book "REVEALED:
Youth culture, pop culture, subculture The Photographs of Francesco
Mellina 1977-1982" has just been published. If you have any
interest in post-punk, new romantic or the fashions of many other
rock movements you will have seen a picture he took and his book
is a collection that focuses on a scene that developed from Eric's
in the late 70s but still inflames the city and its culture. Read
with Liverpool pop polymath Esa Shields - 15/12/2014
Liverpool alternative pop polymath Esa Shields recently issued an
excellent debut LP Ovum Caper through underground vinyl only German
label Gagarin Records. Long part of the city's musical underground
Esa's music has sometimes been so subterranean discovery of
it necessitated the kind of excavation equipment utilized in Journey
to the Centre of the Earth. Richard Lewis from Nerve met up with
him for an interview. Read
Nevis Mountain trek for the victims in Kobani - 15/12/2014
Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced from their homes
as a consequence of the on-going struggle in Kobani. This fundraising
event has been organised to raise money for those victims who are
in desperate need of support. One of the participants, which takes
place in March 2015, gives some background to the situation and
what the money raised will be used for. Read
Together Now': The Christmas Truce Statue - 15th
- 21st Dec 2014
On 25th December 1914, as day dawned over a Flanders battlefield,
soldiers who had faced each other in battle climbed out of their
trenches and tentatively shook hands. Amidst this uneasy peace,
someone produced a football and the war was left behind. The Christmas
Truce Statue has been created to commemorate this and the most famous
football game in history. Read
- Shudder - 10/12/2014
Column by Sandra Gibson which celebrates the persistence of wildlife
in urban conditions.
This morning I watched a rat walking along
my garden wall. First it walked one way, then the other way. I watched
it as it negotiated the grey coping stones and passed through and
beneath bare and evergreen branches. It was so purposeful.
Playhouse & Everyman Spring Season Programme - 5/12/2014
A major revival of Willy Russells Educating Rita will open
the Playhouses 2015 Spring Season. The Everyman season will
begin with Associate Director Nick Bagnalls fresh take on
A Midsummer Nights Dream. The second half of the season is
marked by two world premières; a never-before seen Arthur
Miller screenplay The Hook at the Everyman and the first ever stage
adaptation of a Coen Brothers film will see The Hudsucker
Proxy come to life on the Playhouse stage. Read
Charity Night for Kobani and Shengal - Wed
3rd Dec 2014
Kobani & Singal Charity Event to raise money for the people
of Kobani under attack from ISIL, with performances from Koma Sersi
(Band), Mansour Izadpanah (vocalist and guitarist), Hamid Nasaei
(Tar Instrument), Koma Bikurdi (Band). Speakers for the night are:
Doz Osman from Kobani, Ahmad Moslem from Kobani, and Alex Forster
from Amnesty International. Read
- Glorious Sadness - 21/11/2014
Column by Sandra Gibson which celebrates the persistence of wildlife
in urban conditions.
Autumn is gloriously sad. This year summer
has lingered into its frost free weather. Summer plants like sweet
lavender and spicy nasturtiums coexist with autumn- and winter-flowering
characters such as sorbet-yellow mahonia, with its serrated martial
leaves, and fatsia, whose delicate white efflorescence looks like
miniature fireworks. Read
Radical Film Festival 2014 - 13th - 16th
November 2014
A diverse range of films, exhibitions, talks and social events will
take place during the festival (13th November - 16th November) which
will seek to challenge social, political and cultural perspectives.
Events and films include The Film That Buys The Cinema, Radical
Snippets, What's going on in Rojava, Syria? and Gay Football
Screening. Read
Notice - Medea by Euripides - Wed 26th
Nov & Wed 3rd Dec 2014
Auditions for Burjesta Theatre's Spring 2015 production of an original
adaptation by Liverpool-based writer and poet Jonathon Bibby of
Euripides' 'feminist' play, Medea. Written in 431 BC by Euripides
Medea is a shocking play with quite possibly theatre's greatest
female protagonist. Read
to WW1: drawing inspiration 100 years on... Sat
15th and 29th Nov 2014
Course starting on November 15th exploring the diverse groups who
resisted WW1 - the women's movement, trade unionists, movements
in the colonies, religious groups... and what inspiration we can
draw from their values and actions in the search for alternatives
to war in our contemporary world. Read
with Liverpool band Etches - 5/11/2014
Paul Tarpey from Nerve interviewed experimental Liverpool band Etches,
who have just released their second single, 'Ice Cream Dream Machine'.
If you like your pop curdled but still tempting then you don't
have to shop elsewhere. Etches are making the kind of music that
gets into your bloodstream without you knowing the damage has been
done. Melody isn't a dirty word to them but they do like to
mess their melodies up. Read
Jamieson Memorial Event - Sat 8th November
On Saturday 8th November at Baltic Social, Parliament Street, there
will be a memorial fundraising event to celebrate the life of James
Jamieson. Many of you will have known him, worked with him and almost
certainly drank with him. Read
to Parliament Square during Occupy Democracy Week - 27/10/2014
Tracey Dunn went to Parliament Square where people had decided to
occupy the square for a week starting the night before the 'Demonstration
against Austerity' march. The first night ended very early the next
morning with almost everyone being arrested for trespassing. People
were being invited to come along to learn, discuss and participate.
Ocean Planet - 24/10/2014
Colin Serjent from Nerve spoke to Carlee Graham, founder of environmental
group Blue Ocean Planet, who talked, among other ecology-related
topics, about the various projects they run to raise awareness about
the profound problems facing the global ecosystem. Read
Theatre presents All Quiet on the Western Front - 14th,
15th, 17th, 19th 22nd Nov 2014
Erich Maria Remarque's classic anti-war novel brought to the stage.
Europe 1914. The outbreak of hostilities begins World War I. Paul
Baumer and his school mates enlist in the German army and soon find
themselves alongside millions of others fighting on the Western
Front. None could have imagined the horrors they are to experience...And
none of them will return home quite the same... Read
of the GMB 'Campaigns For Justice' Conference -
Minnie Stacey writes about the GMB "Campaigns For Justice"
Conference which took place in Liverpool in September, the first
of its kind. Neil Findlay, Member of the Scottish Parliament for
Lothian, observed 'There are common threads
for all campaigns against state power and it is our duty to resist.
I hope this is the start of something - we owe it to ourselves and
our class.' Read
articles from the Nerve Writers Group - 8/10/2014
Diane Jansen writes about the closure of the Liverpool
Academy of Arts, Graffiti
on the Cell Wall? by Sandra Gibson about human expression, and
a letter
to 'Uncle Joe' Anderson about the cuts to Council services.
with Mixnots - 7/10/2014
The Mixnots or CantMixWontMixShdntMixDontMix are a DJ collective
from Liverpool with an irreverent DIY approach that has annoyed
some purists but put fun back on the agenda. We interviewed all
of them before their support slot with DJ Yoda at East Village Arts
on 9th October and this is the mix we came up with. Read
Booming for Crafty Birkenhead Company - 7/10/2014
A 'crafty' Birkenhead business is becoming so popular
that it has now increased the size of its business unit for the
third time this year. Inkymits is owned by mixed media artist Maria
Simms, who sells craft sets and products and runs popular workshops
to teach people how to make the most of their creative side. Read
Dr Hakim Adi book launch - Fri 3rd Oct
This coming Friday historian Dr Hakim Adi launches his new book
Pan-Africanism and Communism: The Communist
International, Africa and the Diaspora, 1919-1939 at the
University of Liverpool. Based on research in Africa, Russia, the
US, Britain and France, the book examines the relationship between
the Communist movement and the global struggle for the liberation
of Africa and the African Diaspora during the inter-war period.
The Taylor Room, Sydney Jones Library, The University of Liverpool,
Abercromby Square, Liverpool, L7 7BD on Fri 3rd October at 5.30pm.
- Putting on a Front - 29/9/2014
Column by Sandra Gibson which celebrates the persistence of wildlife
in urban conditions.
When a Member of Parliament claimed expenses
for the maintenance of his moat we ordinary folk were scandalised,
partly because such considerations belong in the mediaeval backwoods
of hierarchical dominance. Yet we all have a version of the moat
- in most cases it's our front garden and it represents a
protective buffer between our 'castle' home and the
badland wastes beyond our gate. Read
25 - Liverpool's first 1-to-1 performance event - 8th
Nov 2014
Happening in everyday spaces and places in Liverpool, Control 25
invites audience members/participants to surrender, share and take
control as they go on a solo voyage around the streets of the city.
8th November 2014, 12pm onwards. Read
with DJ Yoda - 25/9/2014
Duncan Beiny, aka DJ Yoda, began a mission over a decade ago to
put a smile back on hip-hop's surly face. This aim has been
achieved with some of the most inventive mixtapes you can drop into
pockets. Paul Tarpey chatted to him about his style and what to
expect at his upcoming gig at the East Village Arts Club on November
9th. Read
Debate On Inequality - 14th October 2014
"Men are born equal but some are more equal than others"
(George Orwell).
Toxteth TV, based on Windsor Street are hosting a free talkshop
debate on Tuesday 14th October (6pm - 8.30pm) on the many issues
regarding inequality in the UK. Read
comes to Merseyside - 8/9/2014
The government keeps spouting that Fracking is the answer to our
energy security, but what is immediately and fundamentally wrong
with this assertion is that these last dash attempts to monetise
our remaining fossil fuels will leave us far from secure. Liverpool,
the Wirral, St.Helens and Ellesmere Port and surroundings areas
are heavily under threat from these new dangerous technologies.
Singleton Tribute - 8/9/2014
Ethel Singleton, who died on Wednesday night aged 81, was an activist
in both Abercromby and Kirkby. Here is a tribute created by Gerry
Cordon, one of the student radicals who supported the 1969
tenants struggle against the Liverpool University. Read
outrage over threats to close library - 5/9/2014
70 people packed the local community centre in Lark Lane to hear
of the threatened plans to axe 11 libraries including local Sefton
Park branch. A large audience sat to listen to local children's
author Alan Gibbons detail the plans of the council cost cutting
measures. Read
with Immortal Technique - 4/9/2014
The levels to which the mainstream has attempted to co-opt the voice
of hip hop culture is testimony to its ability to empower.The pride
and passion of many early artists was soon extricated from the message
and fed back to the public as arrogance and greed. The foundations
have proved strong though and those artists who strived to keep
debate at the centre of the culture are finding a means to stay
independent and to reach an audience hungry for honesty. One of
the most determined and skillful voices belongs to Felipe Andres
Coronel, aka Immortal Technique. Read
Earth Fest Announces Musical Line Up - Sept
12th - 13th 2014
The second Wirral Earth Fest returns for some good green fun at
St Bridget's Church, West Kirby on September 12th for an evening
time launch and continues on September 13th with a day of music,
food & drink, workshops, children's activities and more
besides. With two weeks to go until the festival takes place it's
time to announce the music based content of the festival, following
a very successful first year in 2013. Read
not Redrows: Save Sefton Park Meadows - 28/8/2014
Local campaigners vow to save the Meadows after Liverpool City Council
announces its choice of Redrow Homes North West as the preferred
developer to attempt to secure the essential planning consents before
the Meadows are sold and 'exemplar' executive housing is built on
the beautiful green space of Sefton Park Meadows. Read
Waters - the First World War Reflected in the Arts' - 16/9/2014
Mikyla Durkan of Burjesta Theatre is running this course for the
WEA starting Tuesday 16th September 2014. This course offers a series
of workshops featuring the theatre, cinema, literature, poetry and
painting from 1914 - 1918 and how art reflected the realities of
a wartime Europe. The course will also include session on a selection
of scenes from an adaptation of All Quiet on The Western Front.
More info
Poems by Tom George - 22/8/2014
Four poems by Tom George including On The Other Side of The Wall,
written about the conflict in Gaza, plus Tender Memories, Don't
Ask Me Why and Neville's Scared Of Spiders. Read
travel the UK and Ireland with new show - 22/8/2014
Liverpool's PurpleCoat are hitting the road next month after they
take Shakespeare's Twelfth Night on tour across the UK and
Ireland. Supported by Stephen Fry, the RSC and National Theatre,
and well into development of their first feature film, this will
be PurpleCoat's first tour. Read
'Campaigns For Justice' Conference - Fri
5th & Sat 6th Sept 2014
GMB has organised a 2 day "Campaigns for Justice" conference
at John Moores University in Liverpool on Friday and Saturday 5th
& 6th September with speakers from the different campaigns for
justice for those who have suffered as a consequence of powerful
forces thinking they are above the law. Read
- Summer Fantasy and Beyond - 18/8/2014
Column by Sandra Gibson which celebrates the persistence of wildlife
in urban conditions.
During the summer season the media offer us
the experience of a spacious and gracious life outdoors. I am struck
by a magazine photograph of garden chairs so elegant they seem like
sculpture, so fragile you wouldn't risk sitting on them and
so expensive they need a security guard. Read
Theatre - Greek Theatre Workshops - Starts
Wed 20th Aug 2014
'The Origins of Drama' - 2500 years ago theatre left behind its
religious roots and took its first steps to create the dramatic
forms we have today, in the process producing some of the most dramatic
stories the world has ever seen. Burjesta Theatre are running a
12-week course of workshops dedicated to exploring Classical Greek
Theatre. Read
against proposal to close 11 libraries - 15/8/2014
Liverpool Council's proposal to close or hand over to volunteers
eleven of the existing nineteen libraries is a major blow to the
cultural life of the city and attempts to promote reading. To take
one example, if Walton, Fazakerley and Spellow Lane libraries were
all to close, north Liverpool would be a cultural wasteland, with
users of the service having to travel to Norris Green, Croxteth
or into town. Read
Society The Musical receives its Liverpool Premiere - Sun
17th Aug 2014
This much anticipated feature film produced by local award-winning
Production Company First Take receives its Liverpool Premiere as
part of the Liverpool International Music Festival. With 15 original
musical numbers and over 300 local people involved in the making
of the film this is a homegrown spectacle not to be missed. Read
(The song of the book) by Elspeth McLean - 11/8/2014
Poem written about the abandoned books in Great Homer Street Library.
Up here at the top it's a bit of a
We're cover to cover in line
It's been a long time since we felt a fresh breeze
Or the warmth of a hand on a spine - Read
To Let - 5/8/2014
This weekend, whilst walking past Liverpool's Town Hall, Tracey
Dunn and Colin Serjent noticed that in every direction there were
'TO LET' or 'FOR SALE' signs on many buildings. From Water Street
to Castle Street and even behind the Town Hall at Exchange Buildings
there were large amounts of vacant offices or shops. Read
from Gaza demo in Liverpool and petition to cancel contracts with
security company G4S - 5/8/2014
Images of the demonstration and pickets that took place in Liverpool
on Sat 2nd August 2014 against the Israeli bombing of Gaza and UK
companies involvement with Israel. Plus a petition by Liverpool
friends of Palestine calling on Liverpool City Council to cancel
their contracts with the security company G4S who are complicit
with Israel's illegal actions in Gaza. Read
Like a Girl: Interview with film makers Harry Sherriff and Marie
Hazelwood - 31/7/2014
Film makers Harry Sheriff and Marie Hazelwood have recently completed
shooting their debut short film feature Hits Like a Girl which won
funding from the BFI and Creative England as part of their inaugural
iShorts competition. Nerve met up with them for an interview. Read
Giants - 29/7/2014
Ritchie Hunter has another look at the visit of the Giants to Liverpool:
On Lime St, there was cheering and clapping
as the elderly woman came down the middle of the road. But this
wasn't the giant granny it was just an old lady pushing a
shopping trolley, trying to get to the other end. When she realised
everyone was cheering her, she smiled graciously. Around the corner,
we stood at the side of the road holding peace banners, trying to
counter the glorification of war. Read
Audition Notice - All Quiet on the Western Front - 13/8/2014
Burjesta Theatre are holding auditions for their 9th production
to date, an in-house adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque's classic
anti-war novel 'All Quiet on the Western Front' on Wednesday 13th
August. It is set in World War I, and seen from the perspective
of ordinary German soldiers, both at the front fighting with the
French and British and also on the Home Front. There are plenty
of parts and not exclusively for men with significant parts for
women too. Read
Protest in London - 24/7/2014
John Owen reports from the march held in London on July 19th against
the Israeli bombing of Gaza.
"From a warm and sunny Liverpool just
coming awake the pitta patter of tourist feet and squeak of luggage
in search of cheap digs a coach miraculously appeared to whisk promptly
in 6 hours to London.
The group slowly morphed together over the journey that was to become
the Liverpool friends of Palestine contingent going away to make
our mark and protest over the bombing of Gaza by Israel."
Veggie Cafe open for business! - 21/7/2014
Liverpool Quakers and Blackburne House are committed to equality
and to building community. That's why the opportunity to open a
new venue in the centre of Liverpool was too hard to resist. The
vegetarian cafe will offer a broad menu with an emphasis on fresh
and seasonal with Pam our pastry chef making cakes and pastries
daily. All profits generated by the cafe will support the charitable
aims of the organisations, such as providing bursaries for women
to access training and developing work around concerns for poverty
and sustainability. Read
bias protest and "Rockets in the Free World?" - 18/7/2014
Images of the Demonstrations that took place in Liverpool about
the attacks on Gaza and outside the Neil Young concert over his
decision to play Tel Aviv. See
Wanted for the Liverpool Academy of Arts final exhibition -
The Liverpool Academy of Arts have been in Seel Street for over
25 years but they have to vacate the building at the end of August
and their future looks uncertain. For their final exhibition they
are holding an open exhibition (but this time with no specific theme)
and are asking for people to show their skills with colour, shapes,
texture etc. Entries have to be in by July 28th and the exhibition
runs from Wed 6th August to Thurs 28th August 2014. More
International Carnival and The World in Princes Park Festival
- Sat 12th July 2014
Dance along to the mighty drumming sound of KalentuRa from the Netherlands
and catch the highest stilt walkers around from the Republic of
Trinidad and Tobago. Liverpool International Carnival is an explosion
of costumes, dance and music and sets off at midday from the City
of Liverpool College, Myrtle Street, making its way through Toxteth
and coming to rest in Princes Park. The World in Princes Park will
be bursting with exciting new collaborative productions, home grown
talent, cultural food and activities for all the family to enjoy
and takes place from 1pm - 7pm, Sat 12th July. More
IWW, the Internet and Len McCluskey's Great Escape - 4/7/2014
What happened when Len McCluskey, boss of the Unite union, was due
to attend a screening at FACT, and the Industrial Workers of the
World announced they would be holding a picket outside in solidarity
with workers at the Ritzy cinema in Brixton, who are holding regular
strikes for a London Living Wage of £8.80 an hour. Read
& Playhouse Autumn Season - 1/7/2014
The Everyman & Playhouse theatres are looking ahead to an autumn
season featuring three ambitious new productions, full of invention
and humanity. Juno and the Paycock, Sex and the Three Day Week and
Bright Phoenix have been created to reflect our time and place and
the theatres' desire to be daring and create plays that connect
the theatrical inventors of the present and future to the heartbeat
of the city. Read
World in One City - Sunday 6th July 2014
One World Festival 2014 will celebrate the multiplicity of cultures
in Liverpool and feature a cultural fusion via Street Arts, Animation,
Music, Dance, Acrobatics and Carnival artists, presenting an artistically
diverse programme bringing the city centre to life and turning it
into a powerful cauldron of global arts. Read
Calling - Saturday July 26th, 2014
Having sold out across St. Luke's Bombed Out Church and The
Shipping Forecast in its debut year, Liverpool Calling has grown
into a huge one day event for 2014, spanning across 10 city centre
venues and hosting over 50 acts. Joining the acts already announced
are scouse legends Space, indie-rock starlets The Repeat Offenders
and dance music's new darlings D R O H N E. Read
- Saturday 5th July to Friday 10th October
The Cornerstone Gallery is ten years young this summer and to mark
this occasion is presenting an anniversary exhibition titled TEN,
starting on Saturday 5th July until Friday 10th October 2014 to
coincide with the Liverpool Independents Biennial. The Gallery has
hosted seventy-three exhibitions within the last ten years. Read
Good Samaritan - Short story by Sharon Riley - 27/6/2014
Walking in Princes Park on a sunny, autumn
afternoon and 'It's oh so quiet' now – as in Bjork's song
title – but I remember the Brouhaha Festival in July when
the multitudes gathered see the parade enter the park followed by
live music and a riot of colours.
Then, seeing the tennis courts, I give a wry smile recalling how
I first learned how to cycle there in 2005! Also that February when
the park was covered in a white blanket with the snow flakes drifting
down from the heavens, making it look not too dissimilar to Narnia.
Burjesta Theatre Workshops - Portraits of Liverpool - From
Burjesta Theatre are beginning a new series of workshops entitled
'Portraits of Liverpool'. They're working on nine stories that workshop
participants have come up with, true stories they've witnessed in
Liverpool over the last six months. Some are dramatic and intense,
some touching. There are funny ones, ones full of pathos and some
just plain weird!
Read more
Oye Preview 2014 - Sat 21st and Sun 22nd
June 2014
Chumki Banerjee looks at the line-up for this years Africa Oye which
includes Misty In Roots, Joe Driscoll and Sekou Kouyate, Abdoulaye
Samb and Minnjiaraby, and Finley Quaye and is on the weekend of
21st and 22nd of June in Sefton Park, Liverpool. Plus an interview
with Kenny Murray,
the founder of the festival. Read
Song - Short story by Andrew Lee-Hart - 13/6/2014
I am not sure if it was the music of William
Byrd that drove Saul mad, or whether he was already mad and just
looking for a trigger. In the end it doesn't matter, and anyway,
last time I saw him he seemed in a state of ecstasy that few can
reach. God knows where he is now.
We worked together in the old central library in Angel Row Nottingham,
now demolished and replaced by something more modern and high tech.
Outside the city centre where it is cheaper to build things.
Radical Underground - 12/6/2014
By Tom George: "My first visit Berlin
six years ago coincided with the global financial system going into
meltdown. It was all over every screen in my hostel, with panicked-looking
people in suits trying to explain incomprehensible columns of figures.
But I wasn't there as a financial journalist; I was on a mission
to explore a very different universe which exists at the heart of
Germany's capital - the radical underground of Berlin..."
Green to Brown' - 5/7/2014 - 10/8/2014
John Davies has an international reputation for his B&W photographs
of dramatic urban landscapes but during May this year he decided
to make a series of colour portraits of people who are regular visitors
to Sefton Park Meadows in Liverpool. Many people, who may have otherwise
refused to have their picture taken, were positive because their
image might help promote awareness of the potential loss of these
ancient and valued Meadowlands. Read
Physical Possibility of Inspiring Imagination in the Mind of Somebody
Living" - 26th June – 26th
July 2014
To run in advance of and concurrently with the Liverpool Biennial
one of the distinctive artistic installations will feature a derelict
shop window, which will in the evening open its shutters to host
a vast water tank of 20 living jellyfish. Read
Jackson: Supporting the Breast Cancer Campaign - 7/6/2014
Geoghegan Jackson are delighted to be supporting the Breast Cancer
Campaign by staging a fundraising gig at the Lomax on June 7th.
Entrance is free – but donations (£4.00 waged/£2.00
unwaged) are encouraged. Geoghegan Jackson are an exciting acoustic
duo based in Liverpool, UK, playing original indie/folk music and
gigging widely. Read
Balkans Hit by Devastating Floods - 20/5/2014
You can be forgiven for not knowing, that whilst the media has been
focusing its euro attention on Nigel Farage and the Eurovision song
contest that during April and May the Balkans (also in Europe) has
been hit by largest floods in decades, leaving dozens dead and ten
of thousands of people without food, security or shelter. Read
Garrett Archive - 3rd - 31st May 2014
Going to the newly refurbished Liverpool Central Library is a weird
experience. With its shiny up-to-the-minute feel, it serves as a
hint of what public services could be like, if only a decent amount
of resources were dedicated to them. On the other hand, it also
doubles as an excuse for Liverpool council to point to as they devastate
public services - including public libraries - and the lives of
the people who rely on them. Read
the Cheese - Urbin Flack - 12/5/2014
Urbin Flack's new short story collection TALES FROM THE VALCRO ROOM
VOLUME 3 is out now. Available in News From Nowhere for £2.
I write this down not because I need to make
a point and not because I feel the behavioural approach to life
needs one more jot of justification. I merely obeying a compulsion
that has served me well so far (and which I perhaps execute with
some skill). Read
Sheep at Livestock - 25th May 2014
Part of Farm Feast 2014 on Sunday 25th May, Peter Hook and the Light
are the confirmed headline act playing a mix of Joy Division and
New Order tunes, Stealing Sheep are supporting and have recently
supported huge music acts such as Alt- J, Vampire Weekend and St.Vincent.
Vanity of Small Differences - 16th May
– 10th August 2014
A series of six tapestries by the Turner Prize winning artist Grayson
Perry will be shown this summer at the Walker Art Gallery as part
of Liverpool Biennial 2014. Produced in 2012 as part of the documentary
BAFTA award winning Channel Four series "In the Best Possible
Taste", they analyse the ideas of taste held by the different
social classes of the United Kingdom. Read
of Liverpool: City of Working Class Resistance and News from Nowhere's
40th Birthday - 8/5/2014
John Owen reviews the Liverpool: City of Working Class Resistance
and News from Nowhere's 40th Birthday events held at the Adelphi
Hotel on Saturday 3rd May, 2014.
"Life begins at 40", "100
is the new 30", with this in my deteriorating cranium and
addled mind I expected to find some people eluding the Grim Reaper's
call, people who should have let go of the reins long ago.
City of Working Class Resistance & News From Nowhere's 40th
Birthday Party
2 events on May 3rd 2014 at the Adelphi Hotel. From 11.30am Liverpool:
City of Working Class Resistance with talks, discussions, film,
music and poetry.
From 5pm News From Nowhere's 40th Birthday Party with live music
from Dead Belgian, River Niger Orchestra, Bolshy, Saytr Play. Read
Docks and Locks of Merseyside - 23rd May
- 1st June 2014
An exhibition by Jan Sear presenting a visual record of the Liverpool
and Birkenhead docks before they disappear from our landscape.
At Lark Lane Community Centre from Friday 23rd May – Sunday
1st June, 11am-5pm.
of Doctor Faustus - Fri 25th & Sat
26th April 2014
The Brimstone players present Doctor Faustus, written by Christopher
Marlowe and performed at the Valley Community Theatre, Childwall
Valley Road, Belle Vale, Liverpool, L27 3YA on Friday 25th and Saturday
26th April 2014, 7.30pm start.
Tickets are £7 or £5 concessions. Book online at www.valleytheatre.co.uk.
Enquiries and reservations: 07973 930 271
Way for Titanic Housing - 15/4/2014
People walking along Lime Street might have noticed that the former
station hotel which has been student housing for many years has
recently undergone a name change. The sign that used to announce
ownership by Cosmopolitan Student Homes
has been replaced by Sanctuary Students.
The same has happened with Cosmopolitan Housing signs everywhere
else. What happened? Read
Theatre presents 'Reign of Vampires' - Starts
May 10th 2014
In the 19th century Karl Marx used the vampire as a metaphor for
the capitalist class he saw around him. We've taken his idea and
applied it to the 21st century, thrown in a bit of 'Blade', a sprinkling
of Jason Bourne and a great soundtrack of music to get your feet
tapping and your hips swaying. Read
with Love ArtUK - 10/4/2014
Over the last year or so the word LOVE has been appearing around
Liverpool city centre. Spray-painted onto walls and pavements it
is the work of urban artist Love ArtUK who was a tank soldier for
twelve years before having a mental breakdown brought on by his
experiences in the forces. Returning home and attempting suicide
he found himself in psychiatric care. It was whilst in hospital
that he began painting in the occupational therapy department. It
was here that Love ArtUK was born. Read
Addiction, My Plastic Predilection & Pushers Tales - Part 3
- 7/4/14
In the third of a three part series on her addiction to vinyl records,
Chumki Banerjee interviews Geoff Davies of Probe and Probe Plus.
An omniscient child of a certain time, place and musical climate,
Geoff literally pulled the rug from under his own feet, quitting
the carpet showroom, taking a trip in more ways than one to float
his own magical mystery carpet, Liverpool's first independent
record shop, Probe. Read
FACT statement - 2/4/2014
Nerve and FACT have collaborated closely in the past, and this has
been productive for both organisations, so we are hugely disappointed
that FACT have decided to dismiss workers and then use zero hour
contract staff or volunteers to fill their jobs. It is with regret
that we have to announce that, unless FACT reconsider their position
with regards to these changes in working conditions, we can no longer
work with them. Read
Addiction, My Plastic Predilection & Pushers Tales - Part 2
- 31/3/14
In the second in a three part series Chumki Banerjee subjects Bob
Packham from Cult Vinyl and Carl from Hairy Records to cross-examination.
Next week will have Geoff Davies from Probe Records. Read
Addiction, My Plastic Predilection & Pushers Tales - Part 1
- 24/3/14
In the first in a three part series Chumki Banerjee reveals her
love for vinyl records and explores the remaining places in Liverpool
that feed her addiction. Parts Two and Three in the following weeks
will have interviews with Bob Packham from Cult Vinyl, Carl from
Hairy Records and Geoff Davies from Probe Records. Read
Moss: brutally arrested woman charged with assaulting police!
- 21/3/2014
"The Tactical Aid Unit appear out of control"
Simon Pook, solicitor. Monday's brutal arrest of Barton Moss protector
and mother of three, Vanda, by Greater Manchester Police Tactical
Aid Unit shocked tens of thousands of people around the world who
viewed the disturbing film and still images. Yesterday, incredibly,
Vanda was charged with assaulting the police and jailed at Styal
Prison for a week until her court hearing on 25th March. Full
details here
Penis Monologues come to Liverpool for an April Fools Special Debut
- Tues 1st Apr - Fri 4th Apr 2014
This April The Nomadic Academy for Fools brings their unique improvisational
theatre to Liverpool with The Penis Monologues. To date the show
has had three sell-out performances in Bristol and Glastonbury,
Somerset and has just returned from a successful run in London.
Women's Day Demonstration at Liverpool Town Hall - 10/3/2014
Activists chained themselves to the railings of Liverpool Town Hall
on Saturday 8th March 2014 to protest the impact of national and
local government cuts on women, this International Womens
Day. They borrowed a direct action tactic and dress style from suffragettes,
to highlight their opinion that the interests of women are still
not represented by those in elected office, and call for women to
organise resistance against cuts which disproportionately affect
them. Read
more on the AWOL Blog
In Liverpool - 29th March 2014
Legendary ambient house progenitors and international club favourites
The Orb are set to return to East Village Arts Club in Liverpool
on Saturday 29th March for a special late night show. With dancefloor
friendly chart hits like Little Fluffy Clouds and Toxygene
The Orb were at the forefront of ambient house, securing their place
as icons in the electronic music history books. Read
city - 14th - 22nd March 2014
An English photographer finds himself in Chicago. Exhibition of
photography by Robert Harrison runs from 14th - 22nd March at the
Art Gallery, 30 Stanley Road, Bootle, L20 2AA. The Art Gallery is
a new independent space in Liverpool specialising in outsider art
and alternative photography. Opening night 14th March.
Celtic Bazaar - 1/3/2014
Celtic Bazaar started life in 2008 with a series of contemporary
folk and blues concerts at the Old Police Station in Lark Lane and
the aim of the nights is to present the best of music with the emphasis
being on supporting local, emerging and established singer/songwriters
and bands. Every third Friday of the month at The Pilgrim (upstairs)
in Pilgrim Street. Read
Fest 2014 - 8th - 9th March 2014
The first ever HOPE Fest is a two-day music festival, in aid of
The HOPE Project (a young, volunteer-led organisation which helps
the homeless) and will be held over the weekend of 8/9th March 2014
at The Brink and Lomax respectively. Featuring 30 acts including
Osaka Punch, Joe Symes & The Loving Kind, Field Trip to The
Moon. Read
Fiction: New Death - 27th March –
22nd June 2014
A major contemporary science fiction exhibition will be at FACT
(Foundation for Art and Creative Technology) in Liverpool between
27 March – 22 June 2014. Artists will present works which
explore how technology is creating new ways of living (and dying)
making our everyday lives feel increasingly like science fiction.
and more Cuts - 17/2/2014
On the 5th March 2014 Liverpool Council will vote in more cuts.
According to the Guardian, Liverpool is the poorest place in the
country, and will be the most deeply cut of all by nearly twice
the national average. With 56% of its funding gone, it will now
cut 25% of statutory adult and children social services, with mass
closures of adult day centres and children's centres, with more
libraries and swimming pools going. Read
Visit to Liverpool by the President of Somaliland - 7/2/2014
Tracey Dunn was invited by a friend, who teaches Somali children
in Toxteth, to attend this event at the Devonshire Hotel in Edge
Lane which is not far from where many of Liverpool's Somaliland
community live around Lodge Lane, Toxteth. The President, Ahmed
Mohamed Mohaoud, studied at London and Manchester Universities in
the 1960's taking a bachelor's degree in economics. Read
Liverpool 2014 - 14/2/2014
V-Day Liverpool 2014 Presents A Benefit Reading of The Vagina Monologues
with Migrant Artists Mutual Aid and friends. On February 14th, 2014,
at 7.30pm, V-Day Liverpool will present a one-night only benefit
reading of Eve Ensler's award winning play The Vagina Monologues
at The Capstone Theatre, Liverpool Hope University. Read
Kuya - Obituary - 14/1/2014
Dorothy Kuya died on 23rd December 2013 after a short illness aged
81. Dorothy was a tireless campaigner against discrimination and
racism and she has been variously been described as a cultural historian
(reflected in her interests in African culture and heritage), a
political activist (member of the British Communist Party from a
young age), a community champion (a leading member of Granby Residents
Association). Read
at the Philharmonic Hall - 19/2/2014
Kodo are back in Liverpool, by popular demand, with a brand new
show, never been seen before on Wednesday 19th February 2014 at
7.30pm. They are famous for spectacular, athletic stage shows (which
inspired Stomp and Cirque du Soleil) and a dedication to preserving
all traditional Japanese culture. Read
XXX by Laid Bare Theatre - 14/1/2014
Laid Bare Theatre will take multimedia theatre show Project XXX
on a 10 performance date tour of the Northwest region in January
and February 2014. This dark, romantic comedy explores the mainstreaming
of internet pornography, the changing face of technology and its
impact on human relationships and a young person's burgeoning
sense of self. Read
Theatre Auditions - History of the Vampires - 1st
Feb 2014
Burjesta Theatre are auditioning for their latest production 'History
of the Vampires' on Saturday 1st February at The Casa, Hope Street,
Liverpool from 12pm onwards. Audition will be in the form of a workshop
followed by script reading and an informal chat afterwards and will
last a few hours in total. Read
Jazz Festival 2014 Launched - 27th Feb
- 2nd March 2014
The Capstone Theatre, organiser of Liverpool International Jazz
Festival 2014, is delighted to announce four new acts for the festival
as it officially launches its second year. Liverpool International
Jazz Festival is back and will run from Thursday 27th February –
Sunday 2nd March 2014, promising to be even bigger and better than
its 2013 debut, when audiences were treated to four days of the
finest artists on the national and international jazz scene. Read
Liverpool a welcoming place for Asylum Seekers and Refugees?
A project using photography to show a refugee and asylum seeker
perspective, on at the Central Library, William Brown Street (First
Floor, outside Picton Room) from Friday 10th - 25th January 2014.
Articles | Listings for
the Liverpool area


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Hang tight!
Recipe by Jeri Williams
"Wonderful salad as a side dish or as a lunch salad."
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1 cup
olive oil
1/3 cup
distilled white vinegar
1/2 cup
white sugar
1 (3 ounce) package
chicken flavored ramen noodles, crushed, seasoning packet reserved
1 large head
fresh broccoli, diced
carrots, grated
2 bunches
green onions, chopped
1 cup
sunflower seeds
Love this salad! I halved the amount of dressing and used a bag of brocslaw, and it was plenty for 4 people. I also like to mix everything a few hours ahead except the seeds and noodles, which I add at the last minute so they stay crunchy.
good even better with cabbage!i make it for my family and is especially good with grilled chicken
153 Ratings
Great recipe, I'll make it again for sure and I was asked for the recipe. I made for a crowd so I doubled the broccoli (two large banded bunches) but kept the other ingredients the same and it was great. I would definitely reduce the dressing if not making so much. Can't wait to make it again! UPDATE: I make this all the time now and it's always a hit. You have to cut the oil by half and then its perfect. I now use chopped red onion and also add dried cranberrys!
I have made this great salad three times since Xmas. I prefer it made a day ahead. It turns out good if you use the bagged brocslaw as well. Thx for this recipe Jeri.
Very yummy!! Instead of the white vinegar, I used half apple cider vinegar and half white wine vinegar. Also, I used the Oriental flavored ramen noodles. You really could make this a day ahead. That way the ramen noodles would absorb some of the dressing for extra flavor.
I made this last night for dinner and I absolutely loved it! It was definately a nice change from steamed broccoli. I did think it was kind of oily, next time I will reduce the dressing ingredients in half and add more broccoli. The texture was great the broccoli had a nice crunch to it but was not as tough as regular raw broccoli. At first I just thought it was an ok salad, but as the night progressed I had to keep going back to eat more, and even today I keep going into the kitchen for a bite here and there. I would recommend this to others. Enjoy!
So tasty! I added a few peanuts too. Yum!!
I almost left out the sunflower seeds - boy would that have been a mistake, they make the salad! Only change was to use apple cider vinegar. Wonderful!
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
Broccoli Coleslaw
Serving Size: 1/7 of a recipe
Servings Per Recipe: 7
Amount Per Serving
** Calories: 413
** Calories from Fat: 282
Kale is the healthy, green leaf that transforms into a crunchy snack chip in your oven.
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Crunchy, savory and sweet combination of broccoli, ramen noodles, seeds, and nuts
Fresh broccoli with lots of bacon, grapes, almonds, and a sweet, tangy dressing.
A kicking, creamy 5-star broccoli salad with bacon and cheese.


text:
Pretty Little Liars
The 5 Biggest, Most Revealing Clues About "A" So Far on Pretty Little Liars
The closer we get to the Pretty Little Liars Season 2 finale, the more we are returning to past clues about "A"'s identity to predict what will happen when the big reveal occurs. We decided to round up the five biggest clues from the season so far to see just how well we can narrow down the suspect list:
1) "A" Is Probably Female
In one of showrunner and executive producer Marlene King's most recent interviews, she made a very revealing comment when asked about "A": "[T]here's something else the girls are about to find that are about to lead them to her." Given the fact that "A" has written notes to the Little Liars in red lipstick, including the girly phrase "nosey bitches," and answered the question, "Who's the prettiest Little Liar?" with "Me," we think it's probably a safe bet that "A" is a girl.
2) "A" Answers Our Questions
Members of the press were given the opportunity to ask "A" questions, and "A" responded to many revealing inquiries. For example, "A" has attended Rosewood High. "A" is "most interested" in Toby (Keegan Allen), of all the Little Liars' boyfriends. "A" has a unique and so-far-unknown relationship with Alison. We've already heard "A"'s voice. "A" is always in the background.
3) "Pretty eyes."
At the end of PLL Season 2, Episode 12: "Over My Dead Body," a waitress tells "A" that he/she has "pretty eyes." This was a major clue for several reasons: Jenna (Tammin Sursok) probably isn't "A," since no one would call a girl wearing dark sunglasses in public "Pretty eyes." Also, "A" has, well, nice eyes.
4) Alison Was "A"'s First Victim
As we discovered in Season 2, Episode 13: "The First Secret," Alison (Sasha Pieterse) was roughed up by a masked mystery person on Halloween. Coupled with this clue is the revelation from Season 2, Episode 17: "Blond Leading the Blind," that Ali was getting threatening notes from "A" just before she was murdered.
5) Alison's Family Matters
As far as the Little Liars (and the rest of Rosewood) knew, Alison DiLaurentis was just another bitchy high-schooler. But in the course of nearly two seasons, we've discovered some unsettling information on the DiLaurentis family. For starters, we've never once met Alison's father. Where is he? Why hasn't he been mentioned or introduced as a character? Then we have Ali's older brother Jason (Drew Van Acker), who left town intermittently, used to smoke pot with Ian (Ryan Merriman), was a member of N.A.T., and claims to have no memory of the night Ali was killed. Most telling, however, is the photograph we saw for the first time on Ali's wall during Episode 13. In it, we see Jason flanked by photos of Alison and...someone who looks exactly like Alison. As for Ali's mom Jessica, we think it's safe to say that she had an affair with Spencer's father, just before Ali was born — which means Jason is Spencer's (Troian Bellisario) (and Melissa's [Torrey DeVitto]) half-brother.
Which major clues do you think we left out? Which are the most revealing? Tell us in the comments!
Catch an all-new Pretty Little Liars tonight, February 6 at 8pm ET/PT on ABC Family.
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