And... another donation!

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We've got several Lemon Jelly-related items to come up soon - JellyB's JellyBagPlus, some signed goodies from Kenwood House via Monkeyhands and Hamstall, and so on.

Now we add another donor to the growing list - NewThing, who is sending us several Jelly CDs!

We continue to be amazed at the JellyGang's generosity. Jellyosity?

Thanks folks. Tholks!

"Urban Gothic" schwag added to auctions!

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We're happy to announce that we have a whole bundle of goodies from "URBAN GOTHIC" to auction off - T-SHIRTS, BOOKS (some signed by a stack of top horror writers!), VIDEO BOX SETS, and even ORIGINAL PROPS FROM THE SERIES!

THE RATHER GOOD NEWS!

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THE FIRST HOUSE IS FINISHED!





In fact, it was finished off several weeks ago, while we were ill, then offline due to our gateway & email servers being dead. Since then, we've been waiting for the photos to arrive.

(Way, way back, back in February, we sent over a new camera, batteries and a stack of films. That was easy - getting the films back with pictures on is the tricky bit!)

A family has already moved in - a husband and wife (the chap is unfortunately disabled), and his elderly mother.

A second set of pictures is on it's way to us, so hopefully we'll be able to post them up soon.

We'll be updating the website as soon as we can. (Hey, it's after 5 in the morning, I got to get some sleep sometime!)




MEANTIME, THANK YOU ALL VERY, VERY MUCH!

THAT'S THE FIRST ONE BUILT, IT PROVES WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

The MTR Auctions begin!

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As promised for ever such a long time now, we're about to start doing some auctions. We've now got enough lots to make sure we've always got something being sold on eBay over the next few months, so there'll be a "Current Auction" link on the site to take you straight there, and as each one comes near to closing, a new one will start so that they'll overlap.

What have we got? Well, look in "Upcoming Events" - we've got everything from incredibly rare and exclusively signed music to Hairy Drums! (Yes, that's right, the Original Hairy Drums!)

Not to mention Toast Of A Certain Design... in fact:

AUCTION #001
Lemon Jelly Album Cover Toast
(eBay #7535424579)
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7535424579



OK - we'll add more every week to keep it going...

AUCTION #002
"Urban Gothic" Horror TV show - T-shirt, Book & Complete Series on video!

AUCTION #003
The first of the Hairy Drums!

AUCTION #004
JellyB's Lemon Jelly JellyBagPlus

AUCTION #005
"Metamorpheus" CD, signed by Steve Hackett

AUCTION #006
"Urban Gothic" Horror TV show - T-shirt and Prop (A Cannabalised Finger!)

...with more to follow.

So... what's been happening?

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Well, we'll try to keep it brief. I've been ill, she's been ill, and our computers have been ill. We've been having to do loads of writing and form-filling and stuff to get lawyers and carers and house adaptations and things sorted out. And I've got to work while doing all this too. We're now getting close to me having to stop working and have an operation, so things are pretty hectic here.

Biggest news is though that K's doctors, over the last few weeks, have lengthened her recovery time from "1 to 3 years" through "2 to 4 years" to the latest, which is "a little better in 5 years, and that's as good as it gets".

So, we're now gearing up for dealing with lawyers and insurance companies, moving home, etc. We're going to be busy, so please know - we're not ignoring you or Make Things Right, it's just that our lives are changing in a way that's keeping us way more than busy.

Oh... and one other reason is that we were waiting for some pictures of the Rather Good News - but they haven't arrived yet, and we've been delaying and delaying waiting for them but they seem to be lost in the post, so we're going ahead and telling you anyway, and will post the pictures (a new set have been taken and sent to us) when we get them. You'll see the Rather Good News shortly, above...

We're back... nearly... sort of...

We had a phonecall from The Hamstall earlier today letting us know folks were asking after us. Thanks to all concerned for being concerned. We hadn't forgotten you, but we've been a bit overwhelmed recently with some personal problems that have left us without anywhere near as much free time, and some practical problems that have meant when we have had free time we couldn't do much anyway. (For example, we were internet-less for quite a while, and we're only just getting to grips with our backlog of email now too.)

There's been more progress with Make Things Right going on, including some Really Good News That's Quite Exciting, and we're hoping to get a newsletter out and an update done to the website over the weekend. We'll keep you posted - it'll be worth a look.

Meantime, thanks for thinking of us - it cheered us up to know you'd been asking after us.

Daily Telegraph 28 May 2005

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Going Backwards through Advertising!

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You might have noticed that the amounts raised and the percentage of the target achieved has gone backwards. How come? Well, thank Google for that.

We'd signed up for Google's AdSense programme, hoping it would make some contribution to the funds going towards building the houses. It seemed simple enough - we give space for adverts on our website, visitors to the site click on them and get to see the advertisers' web sites, and we get a few pennies for each advert clicked.

Over the last few weeks, and especially when we ran the Lemon Jelly poll to coincide with the General Election here in the UK, we generated quite a bit of interest in the site, which led to (in turn) quite a few clicks on the adverts. In fact, we'd raised over $100 at the rate of about $50 per month. Google promised that the cheque would be in the post as soon as we typed in a code they sent us by mail. After two weeks, it didn't arrive. So we asked them to send it again.

Then the ads disappeared from our site.

So we wrote to say we still hadn't received the code, could they send it again, and could they have a look at what was wrong with our ads, please?

In response, we were barred from our account - so we can't check on exactly how much was earned in total or per day, or any other details, and we received an email from them saying that they believed that the clicks on our adverts had been generated artificially by software robots!

To date, our requests for proof of this, for reinstatement, for any details we can have so that we can determine quite why they think this is the case have been met with either a form letter saying that they don't discuss what makes them believe this (as it would, supposedly, give away trade secrets), or by silence.

Isn't that a nice situation? You take their adverts on trust, run them, they get the clicks, charge the advertisers... and then tell you you're guilty of an offence for which they offer no evidence AND won't allow you to check it or see it. You just have to take their word for it!

However, a very quick search in Google itself popped up several similar cases...

The upshot?

Well, we'd counted in money due from Google, so we've had to take that back out the pot now. We've gone down by abut £50, roughly - or from 90% to 88% of the house paid for.

We're still hassling Google for an explanation / apology / reinstatement / payment, but from what I've seen this might take a looooong time, and I might just be tilting at windmills. We've also signed up for some other advert suppliers, but we've learned the lesson - we won't count the money they promise until it's actually in the bank.

Jake

I've only just found out that an old mate of mine, Jake, died.

You wouldn't probably recognise his name, he hid behind so many others - Optica, Alien Mutation, Indigo Egg, Crystal Moon, Ganja Beats, Dr Psychedelic, Shamanic Tribes On Acid, Optic Eye... so many styles, he couldn't be pigeon-holed.

Jake was always, always a happy soul. Any time I left him I was always the better for having seen him. Incredibly gifted as a musician, he was also amazingly prolific and at the same time incredibly laid back about it all. Never a name-dropper, he knew everyone and worked with most of them.

It turns out that when he left us he was helping Chris from Organic Records put together a CD compilation - the Tsunami Benefit CD set. As well as his own contributions, there's a stack of unreleased or unique mixes of tracks from The Orb, Future Sound Of London, Juno Reactor, System 7, Eat Static, Banco De Gaia and a shedload more. It's just typical of Jake - knowing him, and knowing that he was a genuine mate of just about everyone and that he was such a generous bloke - that he'd be in there, helping pull this together.

I've spoken to Chris Organic, and they're about to write the first cheque to start dispersing the proceeds. However, there are still copies available from HMV, so if you're just about to get paid and fancy hearing some greats of trance, dance & electronica and help the Tsunami appeal all at the same time, you know what to do.

See you later, Jake.

Monsoon season

This is the monsoon season now, and the daily torrents of rain are making it difficult for the rebuilding of homes. It's stopping sand from being dredged from the riverbeds, and like so many other building materials this scarcity is driving prices higher.

The constant downpours mean people are generally unwell with colds and flus too - like they didn't have enough to contend with already, it seems nature is continuing to pile it on to them.

However, for those living in makeshift tarpaulin homes, where shelter from the constant rain means little ventilation, infections are spreading rapidly and it is the smallest and weakest children who suffer the most.

Some have died and more will die - but even one was too many.

New Year update

It was the Sinhalese New Year a few weeks ago. Normally it's a very festive time of the year, celebrated with a mix of old traditions, and especially with food prepared at an auspicious time, new clothes, and happy family gatherings. This year the festivities have been kept very low key out of respect for those who lost their lives, their families and their homes on December 26th.

While telling me this on Monday, Ammi ("mother") also said that they didn't buy (as they usually would) new clothing tocelebrate in - how could they when there are still children living in the temporary camps with no shoes and little clothing?

Instead, they used the money they would normally spend on themselves to purchase shoes and schools uniforms for some of the children and distributed them at the camps.

You never know what to expect.

(Some personal comment)

We're at 87% of the first house paid for. We just leapt another 4% in the last few hours, and I'm going to bed - as I do so often these days - feeling incredibly lucky to be here to see what you're doing.

I think it's fair to say that I'm generally regarded as cynical, doubting, even grumpy. Over the last few months I've watched as you routinely dig in to your pockets or your possesions to help us get these houses built. More than that though, I've watched you doing it with such huge generosity of spirit, with such good humour, with such abundant trust that hardly a day goes by without me being moved, really emotionally moved by what you guys do.

I can't give you the examples I would love to, because I'm sure that people would identify others they know - but oh boy! What secrets we keep! To know that X has done something that nobody else knows about that probably did something like pay for the windows of the house, or that Y's actions are not just generous but brave and full of a beautiful dignity...

So whan I say "you guys are wonderful", I really mean it, you really are full of wonders.

How am I supposed to become a grumpy old man with you around?


You guys are wonderful!

More from the Tsunami survivor's diary

Hasini Nuwansi continues to send in reports to The Independent on Sunday, echoing what we're hearing about progress:

"...Rebuilding is under way in my area, but the government has ruled that no permanent structures should be erected for 18 months. A number of those who lost their homes have moved from tents into "transitional" houses which are made of wood, with a metal roof. But they have no electricity or running water, and are too small for a family to live in.

I don't understand why it is taking so long to build new houses. And when people got tired of waiting and started erecting new shelters where their homes used to stand, the government told them they couldn't live there, because of the new rule preventing construction within 100 metres of the shore. The problem is that there's not enough spare room inland for new houses..."

The whole story is on the Indy website HERE - I'm not going to reproduce it in full, but I really do recommend you have a read of it. It's incredible what's going on over there.

Karen got a call through to Sri Lanka this morning too - if she's well enough tomorrow, she'll write up a little report for you all, and if not, I'll take dictation, since from what I've heard so far it's not the best news, but it is important.

OWN A PIECE OF ROCK HISTORY!

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Thanks to the outstanding generosity of the deeply wonderful HOWARD DEVOTO of the BUZZCOCKS, we'll be bringing you a chance to own a piece of bona fide rock history!

Not only has Howard - the original front man of the BUZZCOCKS, as well as the main man behind LUXURIA and MAGAZINE - agreed to sign a RARE 12" BLUE VINYL EP for us to auction, but he's also dipped in to his own archives to donate something rather special!

"SPIRAL SCRATCH", the BUZZCOCKS' first EP is a pretty rare 7" in it's own right if you're after a copy from the first pressing. Why would you want that? Well, because it was the FIRST PROPER INDIE PUNK SINGLE ever released in the UK, way back in 1977!

As if that wasn't enough, this copy is a MINT CONDITION UNPLAYED copy! AND it's HOWARD DEVOTO's OWN COPY! AND he'll sign it too! Could this BE more unique?

More details and pictures as we can!

Sri Lanka told to quicken relief

Hardly a day is going past now without some story about how the aid is being held up and not getting where it's needed. This latest, from the BBC, called Sri Lanka told to quicken relief gives some astonishingly dismal figures.

Try not to get too angry.

What a teary old day it's been

THANK YOU to everyone who has been so generous in helping us to Make Things Right. Or, as they would say in Sinhalese 'Hamadema Hondawenawa'. I think! :) Today has been a teary old day for me - since I had the film developed this afternoon, the tears just keep rolling. I knew it was all for real, but having now seen the photographs, the reality is heartbreaking, and heartwarming.

I spoke to my 'family' in Sri Lanka today, and they told me they have been warned of another tsunami this coming weekend, 26th March. There have been so many warnings like this, and people are scared, waking in the night from the sound of the pounding sea, and running for their lives for fear of another giant wave.

We can't stop the sea, but we can help get people living out of tarpaulin tents by rebuilding their homes. And to all of you wonderful folks helping us help them - you know who you are - and not forgetting a special mention to the 'Jellyheads', THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU.

XX

Second tranche of money has arrived in Sri Lanka!

Some good news!

The second tranche of money - £1,000, or about 190,000 Sri Lankan Rupees - arrived over there today. That means they can go buy roofing and windows and so on for the first of the houses!

It's getting pretty exciting - we're making some real progress towards making a huge difference in some lives over there!

First pictures arrive!

We've just received a parcel with the first of the films from Sri Lanka, showing the aftermath and the start of rebuilding on the first house in the project. It's getting developed this afternoon, and we should have the pictures up on the site later tonight.


(To bring you up to speed, in case you missed it earlier - when we first got involved with this project, we sent a new little camera with a box of films and batteries over so they could get back stuff to us without too much hassle. The film was posted a few weeks ago, it's taken quite a while to get here. We'd also like to reassure you that none of any money donated to the cause was used to obtain the camera, films atc.)

More verification

The BBC have an article entitled "Is tsunami recovery on track?" on their website at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/4367925.stm which opens a debate with:


"...It is almost three months since the Asian tsunami disaster which left nearly 300,000 people dead and many thousands more without their homes and livelihoods.

Last week the Asian Development Bank (ADB) urged governments around the world to honour their financial pledges to the countries worst-hit by the 26 December earthquake and sea surges.

There is a shortfall of more than $4bn (£2.1bn) from what was promised for rebuilding India, Indonesia, the Maldives and Sri Lanka.

Do you have any direct experience of how relief money is being spent? Is progress being made? How much more needs to be done?..."


Following that - and we'd urge you to go have a look - are several messages from folks that are out there in the field helping, or have very recently returned. Many mention how THE AID IS JUST NOT GETTING THROUGH!

That's why we're doing this.

Help us cut out the middlemen - let's make a REAL difference!

Some firsts for us over the last 24 hours...

* our first PayPal donation received
* our first cheque donation received
* our first deposits into the bank account

AGAIN, THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH!

The Independent on Sunday

Any of this sound familiar?

From The Independent on Sunday : Tsunami survivor's diary : 20 March 2005...

"...Some reconstruction of houses has started in Dickwella, but it isn't on any organised basis, just people building themselves basic wooden huts that leak in the rain.

While the government keeps talking about a grand plan, I don't see it happening. Relief work is mainly the result of individual efforts, such as the people at work who are organising a cricket tournament and charity walk to try to raise money for new housing in the town.

It's strange that so much foreign aid was pledged, yet people are not seeing much of the money. Of course things are going to improve, but at this rate it looks like it's going to take a very long time..."


It seems that what's happening in the Kalutara area isn't unique - all over Sri Lanka, aid isn't getting through the layers of Charities, Aid Agencies and Government to the people that actually need it right now.


That's not the only similarity - the author, Hasini Nuwansi, also reports that

"...people are still terrified of the sea. They are convinced another wave could hit at any time since the sea has become rougher since the disaster..."

and that

"...they believe that ghosts now inhabit many of the coastal areas. People living in tents say they can hear screaming at night. Many children won't even look at the sea..."


When Karen spoke with her Ammi there on Saturday she was told how only a few days ago there was a mass panic as waves swept up on to the Galle road again. I just can't imagine how it must be to live in constant fear like that and have to cope with rebuilding your home and your life from nothing at the same time.

Update from Sri Lanka

Today I spoke with my Ammi (mother) in Sri Lanka. Like so many of our recent conversations, she told me of the sadness that is still an everyday part of life following the tsunami. Just this morning as she was travelling home, she saw people sheltering from the rain underneath pieces of cardboard, or by using their saris for cover. So many homes were flattened by the tsunami that even the local Temples can’t offer enough shelter to the many homeless. There is plenty of talk by the Sri Lankan government of projects and schemes to rebuild homes, hospitals and schools over the next few years, but as yet they have not seen anything concrete happen, nor have they seen any sign of any international aid.

Immediately after the tsunami hit, my family were busy making food parcels to hand out to those who were left with nothing, along with supplying everyday needs such as underwear to people they knew and those they didn’t know. They pledged to help rebuild homes of some of the local girls that lost everything – at the moment, they're concentrating on the first 5. One home is now ready for roofing and windows, and our transfer this week of £1000 (thank you so much to the generosity of Richard and the Directors of Signs and Labels) will buy the timber and materials needed to do this.

Until recently, there had been concern of disease from the decaying bodies still being washed up by the ocean. The Sri Lankan Government has given the all-clear to eat fish once again, although people are still a little wary of eating it. This is great news for a community that is largely dependednt on fishing for both sustenance and income.

People are trying to get back to ‘normal’, but those who lived and worked so close to the sea are having to cope with a new sea now. The once tranquil and serene beaches are being pounded with the sound of ‘hard waves’, as Ammi called it. This sound is scaring people, and they are all too ready to start running for their lives once again. Only 2 days ago, there was another tsunami scare, with waves causing water to come inland once again to the Galle Road – the main road which links Colombo to the southwest coast of Sri Lanka.

Both Ammi and Thaththi (father) are keeping very busy these days, trying to co-ordinate the rebuilding of 5 homes whilst running a business and looking after their family – and yet still Ammi apologised for not being able to send gifts to us here in England! I am so proud of my Sri Lankan family.

Ammi asked me to convey their heartfelt thanks to everyone who has donated money.



{posted by T on behalf of K}