The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK, or Britain) is a sovereign state located off the north-western coast of continental Europe. The country includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border the UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel and the Irish Sea.
The United Kingdom is a unitary state governed under a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary system, with its seat of government in the capital city of London. It is a country in its own right and consists of four countries: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. There are three devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in Belfast, Edinburgh and Cardiff, the capitals of Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Associated with the UK, but not constitutionally part of it, are three Crown Dependencies. The United Kingdom has fourteen overseas territories. These are remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in 1922, encompassed almost a quarter of the world's land surface and was the largest empire in history. British influence can still be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former territories.
Alexander Medawar "Alex" Garland (born 1970) is a British novelist and screenwriter.
Garland was born in London, England, the son of psychoanalyst Caroline (née Medawar) and political cartoonist Nicholas Garland. His maternal grandparents were zoologist Peter Medawar and author Jean Medawar. Garland attended the independent University College School, in Hampstead, London, and the University of Manchester, where he studied art history.
His first novel, The Beach, was published in 1996 and drew on his experiences as a backpacker. The novel quickly became a cult classic and was made into a film by Danny Boyle, starring Leonardo DiCaprio. The Tesseract, Garland's second novel, was published in 1998. This was also made into a film, starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers. In 2002, he wrote the screenplay for Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later, starring Cillian Murphy. His third novel, The Coma, was published in 2004 and was illustrated with woodcuts by his father, Nicholas Garland.
In 2005, a script for a film adaptation of Halo was written by Garland (for which he was paid $1,000,000). D. B. Weiss and Josh Olson rewrote during 2006 for a 2008 release, though the film remains in development hell. In 2007, he wrote the screenplay for the film Sunshine – his second screenplay to be directed by Danny Boyle and to star Cillian Murphy. Garland also served as an executive producer on 28 Weeks Later, the sequel to 28 Days Later. He is the co-writer on the video game Enslaved: Odyssey to the West for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. He wrote the screenplay for the film Never Let Me Go, based on the novel by Kazuo Ishiguro. He also wrote the script for Dredd, an adaptation of the Judge Dredd comic book series from 2000 AD Currently in post-production.
Plot
TJ is a young man in his late twenties, the first draft of his book titled ZR-7 is long overdue for the publisher to review. He decides the entire draft will be recorded on a tape recorder and only his butler (Alphonso) is an actual witness, he begins to tell his story as the action comes alive. The story is a classic life of boarding school adventures in Africa involving TJ with six of his friends (Rolly-D, Chiedu, UK, Tokunbo, Femi & James) while in JSS 1 (7th grade). The boys are initially shocked by all the hoops they have to jump in order to survive teachers, prefects, wicked seniors, dining hall food, thieves, cutting grass, washing toilets, puppy love and all the other regular experiences anyone in a public Nigerian boarding school would experience. But when TJ and the boys accidentally see a man and two female students in an uncompromising position, what they do with that information is not their only problem in school, but the resulting scandal would change their lives far beyond their wildest dreams...
When life in boarding school got tough, we got even
Plot
A young girl, Ai Qin, pays $25,000 to be smuggled into the UK in order to support her family back in China. She is forced to live with eleven other Chinese in a small house in Thetford, Norfolk, working in factories and fields preparing food. The film was inspired by the Morecambe Bay tragedy of 2004, when a gang of Chinese cockle-pickers found themselves trapped tide coming in.
Keywords: based-on-true-story, chinese, cockle-picker, cockleshell, migrant, morecambe-bay, sundance, year-2004
Morecambe Bay, February 5th 2004, 23 lives, 23 souls
Black clouds moving gray sky to thunder
Kinetic sunrise fever and blood
Fire and water element anger
Horizon melting to blood
By the light of day
By the light of day
Silent wheel advancing years
Power and glory growing fears
Love's a dream that some pretend
Accelerates an early end
By the light of day
By the light of day
By the light of day
Creamed-up kitten screaming for her next injection
Dead dog in the driveway - protein intection
The most exclusive restaurants have a few uninvited divers
Don't worry if you're under age - they've special schemes for minors
Caesar's Palace blues
You lost your shirt on your last hand, you nearly sold your shoes
You came up tumps last weekend so you've got to pay your dues
Cards fall, faces change, Cat's cunning shows
Same rules still apply, either way you lose
Caesar's Palace blues
Lovers on the carpet, Cupid's dream for certain
But there's always someone hiding right behind the hotel curtain
They've cameras in the casino and bugs under your bed
But all the gold in Reno couldn't bring old Caesar back from dead.
Caesar's Palace blues
Rip the sheets off cold ice again
Wolf at the door
Can I stand
A dog's life here for one day more
Close my eyes imagine somewhere
So far away
Silversand
And azure Carribean Sea
Sick of solitary holidays
Cause I never get away from here
I listen to the water drip down
In to the cell
Run amok
If I survive this living hell
Holding up this cold calaboose
C A P T I V I T Y
Even takes
My lucid thoughts away from me
TIME TO KILL
going nowhere
KILLING TIME
staying where there's...
TIME TO KILL
going nowhere
KILLING TIME
Midnight Mass a yellow moon
Wonder walked from my window
Now she sings a different tune
Golden tunes, out of the blue
Now the sky is clearing
Looking through her crystal eyes
Waiting Windows loom before hre
Cutting her back down to size
The thing she's searching for is
The only thing she needs
Gazing in simplycity
toward ambitions that she craves
The best thing since Arithmetic
MBB's and current raves
Now the sky is clearing
Looking through her crystal eyes
Waiting Widows loom before her
Cutting her back down to size
The thing she's searching for is
Darkness descends on the freeway
Traffic lines turning to stone
I'm driving myself half crazy
I wish i were headed for home
Say girl when we're not together
I feel like i'm losing my mind
Night after night
I look in the eyes of a stranger
Reminding myself of the past
Yesterday is what i will leave it
The future is moving too fast
Say girl when we're not together
I feel like i'm losing my mind
(chorus b)
Night after night
It's the same lousy fight
And i know it ain't right that
It's night after night
I see the red lights on the runway
The jet is moving too fast
I hear the last roar of the engine
And beautiful silence at last
Think of the distance between us
All of the words left unsaid
(repeat chorus)
[hammond solo]
Think of the distance between us
All of the words left unsaid
Nevermore
The sights
Black forest
Cool moonlight
Blue shadows
Reflect
In windows
In direct
Oh to go
Down to Soho
There bold spirits don't sink so low
Gold amber
Of lights
Beer glasses
Misty nights
Oh to go
Down to Soho
Black tie, night out, hobo outright
Singles bars
Cruising shark cars
Soho neon glow
Nevermore...
When day is dawning
You wipe the sleep slowly from your eyes
Then you remember
Soho's neon disguise
Eyes reflect
In windows direct
Don't let me catch you with no-one else
That would cost you dear
I'll stay beside you 'til the end of time
(by your side)
As long as you want me here
If you should stand me upon a stage
Naked before my peers
I'd sing my heart out for you every night
As long as you want me here
(chorus)
As long as you want me here
I'll do anything for you
Tell me what else can i do
I don't care what people say
Here i am and here i'll stay
(in any order)
I see your photos in those magazines
(pictures)
They burn me up inside
I'll work forever just keep you satisfied
As long as you want me here
And if catastrophies fall on you
I surely will appear (?)
I'll follow gladly to hell and back (?)
As long as you want me here
(repeat chorus)
I will stick to you, as long as you don't put me down
'cause i won't be leaving you, believe me i'll be around
It's 5 o'clock
driving sown Park Lane
as London leaves
for the weekend again
through the dark city streets
in the clinging rain
I take my car
towards the Thames
and Waterloo...
Rendezvous 6 02
Rendezvous 6 02
Was that a face I saw?
No, just a trick of light
It's getting clearer now
but moving out of sight
It's cold and late
and I can't miss that train
I turn around
walk through the arch
of Waterloo
Rendezvous 6 02
Rendezvous 6 02
I see the same hooded face
He beckoned me from the gate
Did you not know, my friend?
Ten years ago was the end
After the war
Waterloo was no more,
But your ticket states
There is one train
It's leaving now
And there is a place
Remember my face
Dakara...
nanimo iwanaide
kimi wa tada sukoshi ima wa obieteiru dake dakara
nanimo iwanaide
kimi wa tada sukoshi kanashimi no naka ni iru dake dakara
saigo no toki no naka de inori o sasageru
tsuki no mahou wa... shalle a le rilla
amai koe de sasayaku kara
mou ichido dake kanaunara
te o tsunaide kimi to waraitai
yume no naka de...
kioku no naka de kitto mata aeru ne...
kimi no egao ga torimodoserunara
hohoenda kimi ga irunara
kanashimi wa yasashisa ni kawaru yo
"tooi kioku no mama de" negai o komete
tsuki no mahou wa... shalle a le rilla
kimi ga namida o wasurerunara
yasashisa ni furerareru no nara
kimi no soba de nemuritai
tsuki no mahou ga kierunara
sayonara ga mata otozureru kara
ima omoi ga tsutawarunara
te o tsunaide kimi to odoritai
hikari no naka e kaerubeki basho e
mata dokoka de kimi to aeru kara
Nevermore
The sight
Black Forest
Cool Moonlight
Blue shadows
Reflect
In windows
In direct
Oh to go
Down to Soho
There bold spirits don't sink so low
Gold Amber
Of lights
Beer glasses
Misty nights
Oh to go
Down to Soho
Black tie night out or hobo outright
Singles bars
Cruising shark cars
Soho neon glow
When day is dawning
You wipe the sleep
slowly from your eyes
And you remember
Soho's neon disguise
Eyes reflect in windows direct
Stop...
been wrong so many times before
was always laying down the law
and all attractions ware a bore
they led me back to you
Uniforms were an allergy
they never felt quite right to me
they conjured wartime Germany
ang God knows we need that
Temptation boundaries does vener know
the time when my morale was low
the circumstances always show
the place was yours or mine
Carrying no cross before me
with no prze no to idolize no story
to hell of adolescent glory
Just void... empty spaces nothing to show
no point of reference to place to go
but one thing I'd ignored and so
the light came shining through
INSTRUMENTAL
I've been wrong so many times before
was always laying down the law
one thing you cannot ignore
bad boys can come clean
Emotions I could not control
Illuminate my heart and soul
I saw a light, I scored a goal
Don't tell me that
the wages of sin are for real
The writings on the wall
(What's) the score what's the deal?
Don't wonder we can't see
(thru) the wood for the trees
No perfume we design
can ever veil the sickness on the breeze
By The Light of Day
Rip the sheets off, ice cold again
Wolf at the door
Can I stand
A dog's life here for one day more
Close my eyes, imagine somewhere
So far away
Silver sand
And azure Carribean Sea
Sick of solitary holidays
'Cause I never get away from here
I listen to the water drip down
Into the cell
Run amok
If I survive this living hell
Holed up in this cold calaboose
Captivity
Even takes
My lucid thoughts away from me
Time to kill – going nowhere
Killing time – staying where there's
Time to kill – going nowhere
Killing time – staying where there's...
Time to kill – going nowhere
Killing time – staying where there's
Time to kill – going nowhere
Mental medication
Sweet music's conversation
Play for all creation here
Melody fair
Lost in contemplation
Drown'd in meditation
Need your inspiration near
When I'm alone
I remember
Truth is lasting
With the sun in your eyes
And a simple disguise
You fooled me
Strange how your calling is clear
From the sound of your voice
You don't give me no choice
You move me
Deep lies desire for your quick'ning fire
Well it's a hell of a ride
When your courage inside
Deserts you
Clear though the calling may be...
In a terrible way
You continue to say
You need me
Show me the way through your dark red door
Mental medication
Music's conversation
Need your inspiration near
Are you one of mine who can sleep with one eye open wide?
Agonizing psychotic solitary hours to decide
Reaching for the light at the slightest noise from the floor
Palms of hands perspire,
Heart goes leaping at a knock from the door.
In the Dead of Night
In the Dead of Night
Rich and powerful ascend complicated bends to be free
To indulge in what they will and jaded thrill or fantasy
Shuttered windows that belie all stifled cries from within
And prying eyes are blind to proceedings of the kind that begin
In the Dead of Night
In the Dead of Night
In the Dead of Night
I'm 3000 miles from home, I'm so tired and I'm all alone,
It's a good thing I'm single, wish I could swing all nite long,
but I got a job with a price on my head so I must get away,
It's one hell of a life style but then it brings in the pay,
Nowhere to hang my gun (No time to say hello)
And every mother's son (He wants to see you swing)
I take the job again (And you will never know)
I dread the moment when (The telephone will ring)
Danger money
Danger money
Danger money
Danger money
I got a Luger strapped to my thigh, I got a Magnum as well,
I got my cold eyes for comfort, I can be hotter than hell
I'm a professional man, I could see you in seconds flat
I can show you no mercy, well they don't pay me for that.
A fine political mess (and someone's got to go)
Just leave name, time and address (in plain sealed envelope)
I get out just in time (and no-one tells the tale)
And all that's left is mine (but how do you feel?)
Danger money
Danger money
I'm a soldier of fortune, I've got the will to survive,
But when the brass tacks are down I'm lucky to be alive,
When I think back on my past, well I'd do the same thing again,
I got a bug now for the danger, just take the money and run.
I start this whole machine (And when the bullets fly)
I'm nowhere to be seen (You're too afraid to die)
It's on the news tonight (They wonder who you are)
I'm on another flight (but you're going nowhere)
Danger money
It's 5 o'clock
Driving down Park Lane
As London leaves
For the weekend again
Through the dark city streets
In the clinging rain
I take my car
Towards the Thames
And Waterloo
Rendezvous 6: 02
Rendezvous 6: 02
Was that a face I saw?
No, just a trick of light
It's getting clearer now
But moving out of sight
It's cold and late
And I can't miss that train
I turn around
Walk through the arch
Of Waterloo
Rendezvous 6: 02
Rendezvous 6: 02
Rendezvous 6: 02
Rendezvous 6: 02
I saw the same hooded face
He beckoned me from the gate
Did you not know, my friend?
Ten years ago was the end
After the war
Waterloo was no more
But your ticket states
There is one train
It's leaving now
And there is a place
Remember my face