HEADLINES from GB

British music has spent the last ten years or so in the doldrums with an annoying churn out of manufactured pop. But it's starting to get back to its best again - with rock band Arctic Monkeys at number 1 in the US indie album charts (the fastest-selling indie album in the US EVER) and James Blunt at number 1 on the US Billboard Chart. KT Tunstall is also doing well in the US.

Monkeys a hit in the US

Alex Turner - Vocals, guitar.

Jamie Cook (Cookie) - Guitar, backing vocals.

Andy Nicholson - Bass, backing vocals.

Matt "The Cat" Helders - Drums, backing vocals.

THE ARCTIC MONKEYS have officially made it in America.

Their album, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not, has just become the country’s biggest-selling indie album of ALL TIME.

I can also reveal that ALEX TURNER, MATT HELDERS, ANDY NICHOLSON and JAMIE COOK have landed a slot on one of the most popular TV shows across the pond, Saturday Night Live.

Oscar-nominated actor MATT DILLON will introduce them a week on Saturday.

They will perform I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor and When The Sun Goes Down on the show in New York before kicking off an 11-date tour of the States and Canada.

And I thought the boys didn’t “do” TV?

Film-makers in Los Angeles have also caught on to the Arctic buzz and are backing them to pen a movie soundtrack.

Hollywood movie types have downloaded the teenagers’ tracks and are totally taken by the quirky lyrics.

A source told me: “They are being touted as the next big thing.

“From the buzz around LA at the moment it won’t be long before they are snapped up to write a soundtrack.

“Saturday Night Live reaches audiences of 10million so it’s a massive launching pad for them.

“UK acts are doing extremely well at the moment. JAMES BLUNT is at No1 and audiences love KT TUNSTALL. The Arctics are going the same way.”

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EX Army man JAMES BLUNT is well on his way to world domination.

He has hit No1 in the USA Billboard charts with single You’re Beautiful. And his album Back To Bedlam is at an impressive No5.

The last British star to top the USA charts was ELTON JOHN in 1997 with Candle In The Wind, so his success is no mean feat.

thesun.co.uk

The Mirror.

May 2006

Most young Americans can't find Iraq on map - study

By Deborah Zabarenko

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Most American young people can't find Iraq on a map, even though U.S. troops have been there for more than three years, according to a new geographic literacy study released on Tuesday.

Fewer than 4 in 10 Americans aged 18-24 in a survey could place Iraq on an unlabelled map of the Middle East, a study conducted for National Geographic found. Only about one-quarter of respondents could find Iran and Israel on the same map.

Sixty-nine percent of young people picked out China on a map of Asia, but only about half could find India and Japan and only 12 percent correctly located Afghanistan.

"I'm not sure how important it is that young adults can find Afghanistan on a map. But ... that is symptomatic of the bigger issue, and that's (U.S. young adults) not having a sense that things around the world really matter that much," said John Fahey, president of the National Geographic Society.

The study results confirm Fahey's concern: 21 percent said it was "not too important" to know where countries in the news are located.

Half of respondents said it was "absolutely necessary" to know how to read a map, but a large percentage lacked basic practical map-reading skills.

For example, most young people were able to locate a port city on a fictitious map, but one-third would have gone in the wrong direction in the event of an evacuation.

In general, natural disasters appear to have a limited impact on young Americans' view of the world, the study found.

Only 35 percent identified Pakistan as the country hit by a catastrophic earthquake last October, killing over 70,000 people; 29 percent thought it happened in Sri Lanka.

Most respondents could find Louisiana and Mississippi, but still more than one-third failed to find those two states that were the subject of daily news coverage after the onslaught of hurricanes Katrina and Rita last year.

There were some positive signs: young people who go online for news and who use two or more different news sources show a greater knowledge of geography, the study found.

In addition, the American Association of Geography reported that enrolments in college geography classes is up.

Young men did better on geography questions than young women.

International travel and foreign language study improved geographic knowledge although recent immigrants and the children of immigrants tended to get fewer questions right.

The study was conducted in face-to-face interviews with 510 respondents in the continental United States in late 2005 and early 2006. It has an error margin of 4.4 percentage points.

Aiming to improve geographic literacy among U.S. young people, National Geographic joined with businesses, non-profit and educational groups to launch a five-year multimedia campaign called My Wonderful World. More information is available online at www.mywonderfulworld.org.

mirror.co.uk

Is the red-headed British warrior queen, the leader of the Iceni tribe who fought against the Roman Empire, buried next to a McDonald's in Birmingham?

Bo buried at McDonald's?

By ANDREW PARKER

EXCITED archaeologists may have found the grave of legendary warrior queen Boadicea — beside a McDonald’s burger bar.

If their hopes are realised, the discovery will end a mystery stretching back 1,945 years.

Test digs have unearthed ancient artefacts suggesting the chariot-riding tribal monarch pegged it in the Birmingham suburb of Kings Norton, right by the local fast food joint.

Her 200,000-strong army was wiped out after making a last stand against Roman occupiers in 61AD.

And rather than be captured Boadicea killed herself near the battlefield by sipping poison.

Her struggle was memorably recorded in The Sun’s brilliant book Hold Ye Front Page, which reported on great historical events in our own unique style.

Birmingham’s planners have suspended plans to build houses and flats beside the restaurant so the archaeologists can carry out a full excavation of the site.

And local wags reckon that if the link with the battle against the Romans is proved, the burger bar will start serving Big Macs-imus.

Historians have always believed Boadicea’s rebellion ended somewhere near Birmingham.

They are sure the battle took place in the Midlands as Roman legionnaires marching from Anglesey, North Wales were confronted by English tribes heading up from London. The undulating and wooded topography of the area by the McDonald’s, known as Parsons Hill, matches descriptions given by Roman Empire chroniclers.

And test trenches dug in the soil have yielded Roman artefacts including ancient pots.

Local councillor Peter Douglas Osborn, an archaeologist and keen conservationist, said: "It’s thrilling to think we may unearth something so intriguing right here in Birmingham."

"Nobody knows exactly where the last battle took place but we know it is somewhere in the West Midlands. It would be priceless if Boadicea’s last stand was next door to a McDonald’s but this site does fit the only descriptions we know of.

It is on the route to Metchley, the Roman fort discovered in Birmingham.

If only because of this, it represents a real possibility. However, it is even more encouraging when you consider the evidence and well-preserved artefacts unearthed from trial trenches.

The location matches historical descriptions of the battle site in that it is hilly and surrounded by trees. I also hope the dig may unearth evidence of what name the Romans gave Birmingham."

A McDonald’s spokeswoman said: “We’ll be thrilled if it turns out Boadicea’s last stand was next to one of our restaurants.”

The big dig could take months or even years. Dr Mike Hodder, Birmingham City Council’s senior archaeologist, said: “There’s no doubt it’s an important site and may be the location of the Boadicea battle.

“We know that pots discovered mean Romans were probably there and we know her last battle was fought on a hilly site and was somewhere nearby.

“Everyone is very positive about the find.”

Boadicea was married to King Prasutagus, who ruled over the Iceni — the Celtic tribe occupying East Anglia under the authority of the Romans.

Emperor Nero, who ruled with an iron fist between 54AD and 68, provoked her by forcing her people to endure conscription and pay heavy taxes.

But the final straw came when Prasutagus died in 60AD.

The Romans plundered Boadicea’s chief tribesmen and brutally annexed her dominions.

She vowed to take on Nero and his legions.

And other tribes from all over South East England came to her side ready to die in the fight for freedom.
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She relished a battle

BOADICEA led an epic bid to make the Romans "burger off" before her death.

She revolted after Emperor Nero seized her Iceni tribe’s territory in East Anglia following the death of her husband, the clan’s king.

Boadicea, or Boudicca as she is often known, was tortured and beaten.

Her two daughters were raped and other members of the Iceni nobility were enslaved.

The warrior queen and her subjects responded by attacking the Roman colony of Camulodunum, now Colchester, where many inhabitants were former legionnaires and their families.

When Nero sent one of his top legions to crush the revolt, Boadicea’s forces wiped them out.

Her army, by then numbering more than 100,000, then launched bloody onslaughts on the towns of Londinium (London) and Verulamium (St Albans).

Many imperial officials fled and Boadicea was on the point of winning independence for the Britons.

But Roman governor Paulinus Suetonius gathered 10,000 well-trained legionnaires and marched to meet the queen.

He chose his battleground carefully — on a hill between two woods, where his men could not be surrounded.

thesun.co.uk

I wonder how Boudicca would feel being buried next to one of the most potent symbols of modern imperialism and cultural homogenisation?

Isn't Boadicea that blind Italian guy?

Oh dear I feel rather dumb. I know there's a joke in there or something Blue_Nose, but I just don't get it! Explain?

Andrea Bocelli.... I know, it's a stretch, but that's the first thing i thought of.

I don't know what to say but :roll:

!

Better luck next time!

If she was alive today, she wouldn't be fighting the Roman Empire, she'd be fighting the American Empire.

Awesome! Perhaps it's not Time Team but I'm sure BBC will cover this story well if it proves to be Bo. :lol:

Those "golden arches" are a Symbol and were designed to be just that, a Symbol. Because you do not see them as such is not indicative of anything except your ignorance of design and symbolism. :wink: